Chapter VIII: Preface: To the Sixth Volume (7)

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

BAROTSILAND:
British Protectorate proclaimed.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (RHODESIA): A. D. 1900 (SEPTEMBER).

BARRAGE WORKS, Nile.

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

BARRIOS, President: Assassination.

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

BARTON, Miss Clara, and the Red Cross Society.
Relief work in Armenia and Cuba.

See (in this volume)
ARMENIA: A. D. 1896 (JANUARY-MARCH);
and CUBA: A. D. 1896-1897.

BASHEE, BACHI ISLANDS, The American acquisition of.

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

BECHUANALAND, British:
Annexation to Cape Colony.

See (in this volume)
AFRICA: A. D. 1895 (CAPE COLONY).

BECHUANALAND, British:
Partial conveyance to the British South Africa Company.

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

BEEF INVESTIGATION, The American Army.

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

BEET SUGAR.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1896 (MAY);
and SUGAR BOUNTIES.

BEHRING SEA.

See (in this volume)
BERING SEA.

BÊL, Temple of:
Exploration of its ruins at Nippur.

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

BELGIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION.

See (in this volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION, 1897-1899.

{50}

BELGIUM: A. D. 1894-1895.
The first election under the new constitution.
Victory of the Catholics and surprising Socialist gains.

Elsewhere in this work the full text of the Belgian
constitution as it was revised in 1893;

See in volume 1
CONSTITUTION OF BELGIUM).

The peculiar features of the new constitution, especially in
its provision of a system of cumulative or plural voting, are
described.

See in volume 3
NETHERLANDS (BELGIUM): A. D. 1892-1893)

The singularity of the experiment thus introduced caused the
elections that were held in Belgium in 1894 and 1895 to be
watched with an interest widely felt. Elections for the
Chamber of Representatives and the Senate occurred on the same
day, October 14, 1894. Previously the Belgian suffrage had
been limited to about 130,000 electors. Under the new
constitution the electors numbered no less than 1,370,000, and
the working of the plural system gave them 2, 111,000 votes.
The result was a more crushing victory for the Catholics than
they had ever won before. Of 152 Representatives they elected
no less than 104. The Liberal party was almost annihilated,
securing but 20 seats in the Chamber; while the Socialists
rose to political importance, winning 28 seats. This
representation is said to be not at all proportioned to the
votes cast by the several parties, and it lent force to the
demand for a system of proportional representation, as the
needed accompaniment of plural voting, which had been urged
when the constitution was revised. In the Senate the
Conservatives obtained 52 seats and the Liberals 24. In the
next year an electoral law relating to communal councils was
passed. In this law, the principle of proportional
representation was introduced, along with that of cumulative
or plural voting. Compulsory voting, enforced by penalties
more or less severe, was also a feature of the law. In
November, the first election under it was held, and again the
Socialists made surprising gains, at the expense of the
Radical party, the Catholics and Liberals generally holding
their ground.

BELGIUM: A. D. 1895.
New School Law.
Compulsory religious teaching restored.

See (in this volume)
EDUCATION: A. D. 1895 (BELGIUM).

BELGIUM: A. D. 1897.
Industrial combinations.

See (in this volume)
TRUSTS: IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.

BELGIUM: A. D. 1897 (July).
British notice to terminate existing commercial treaties.

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

BELGIUM: A. D. 1898 (June).
The Sugar Conference at Brussels.

See (in this volume)
SUGAR BOUNTIES.

BELGIUM: A. D. 1898 (July-December).
In the Chinese "battle of concessions."

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1898 (FEBRUARY-DECEMBER).

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

See (in this volume)
PEACE CONFERENCE.

BELGIUM: A. D. 1899-1900.
Threatened revolution.

An explosion of discontent with the working of the electoral
provisions of the new constitution (see above) occurred in
June, and created for a time an exceedingly dangerous
situation. It was precipitated by an attempt on the part of
the government to pass a bill providing for proportional
representation in certain districts, which was expected to
increase the advantage already possessed by the Clerical or
Catholic party. Excitement in the Chamber of Deputies reached
such a height on the 28th of June that fighting among the
members occurred, and soldiers were called in. That night and
the next day there was serious rioting in Brussels; barricades
were built; sharp battles between citizens and soldiers were
fought, and a general strike of working men was proposed. On
the 30th, the government arranged a compromise with the
Socialist and Liberal leaders which referred the question of
proportional representation to a committee in which all
parties were represented. This quieted the disorder. In due
time the committee reported against the measure which the
government had proposed; whereupon a change of ministry was
made, the new ministry being expected to bring forward a more
satisfactory plan of proportional representation. It produced
a bill for that purpose, the provisions of which failed to
give satisfaction, but which was passed, nevertheless, near
the end of the year.

Commenting, in July, on the disturbances then just quieted in
Belgium, the "Spectator," of London, remarked: "The recent
explosion of political feeling in Belgium was a much more
serious event than was quite understood in this country. It
might have involved all Europe, as, indeed, it may even yet.
There was revolution in the air, and a revolution in Belgium
would gravely affect the military position both of France and
Germany, would rouse keen suspicions and apprehensions in this
country, and would perturb all the dynasties with fears of
coming change. The new electoral bill drove the Liberals and
Socialists of the little kingdom into one another's arms—both
believing that it would give the Clericals a permanent hold on
power—and whenever these two parties are united they control
the majority of the Belgian people. That majority is a most
dangerous one. It controls all the cities, and it includes
hundreds of thousands of men who resent their economic
condition with justifiable bitterness, and who are penetrated
with a tradition of victories achieved by insurrection. At the
same time they have no pacific vent for their discontents, for
the suffrage gives double votes to the well-to-do, and secures
to both Liberals and laborers on all economic or religious
questions a certainty of defeat. With the inhabitants of the
cities all rioting and killing the officials, the government
would have been compelled to resort to force, and it is by no
means clear that force was decidedly on their side. The
Belgian army is not a caste widely separated in feeling from
the people; it has no instinctive devotion to the Clerical
party, and it has no great soldier whom it admires or to whom
it is attached. The king is distrusted and disliked both
personally and politically; and the dynasty, which has no
historic connection with Belgium, has never taken root in the
soil as the Bernadottes, for example, have done in Sweden. If
the revolutionists had been beaten, they would have appealed
to France, where Belgium is regarded as a reversionary estate;
while if they had been victorious, they might—in our judgment,
they certainly would—have proclaimed a republic. … The danger
has, we suppose, for the moment been smoothed away; but it has
not been removed, probably can not be removed, while the
conditions which produce it continue to exist. The Belgians,
who are commonly supposed to be so prosperous and pacific, are
divided by differences of race, creed, and social condition
more violent than exists in Ireland, where at all events, all
alike, with insignificant exceptions, speak one tongue.
{51}
The French-speaking Belgians despise the Flemish-speaking
Belgians, and the Flemish speaking Belgians detest the
French-speaking Belgians, with a rancor only concealed by the
long habit of living and acting together,—a habit which,
remember, has not prevented the same contempts and aversions
from continuing to exist in Ireland. The Clericals and the
Secularists hate each other as only religious parties can
hate; far more than Catholics and Protestants in any of the
countries where the two creeds stand side by side. The
Secularist seems to the Clerical a blasphemer, against whom
almost all devices are justifiable, while the Clerical is held
by the Secularist to be a kind of evil fool, from whom nothing is
to be expected except cunningly concealed malignity. The
possessors of property expect that the 'ugly rush' which used
to be talked of in England will occur tomorrow, while the wage
receivers declare that they are worked to death for the
benefit of others, who will not leave them so much as a living
wage. All display when excited to a noteworthy fierceness of
temper, a readiness to shed blood, and a disposition to push
every quarrel into a sort of war,—tendencies visible
throughout the history of the country."

At the parliamentary election in June, 1900, under the new law
providing for proportional representation, the Socialists
gained seventeen seats from the Clerical party.

BELGIUM: A. D. 1900.
Relations with the Congo State.

See (in this volume)
CONGO FREE STATE: A. D. 1900.

BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM, Recent development of.

See (in this volume)
SCIENCE, RECENT: ELECTRICAL.

BELMONT, Battle of.

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

BENIN:
Massacre of British officials.
Capture of the town.

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

BERGENDAL FARM, Battle of.

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

BERING SEA QUESTIONS.

"Several vexatious questions were left undetermined by the
decision of the Bering Sea Arbitration Tribunal.

See, in volume 5,
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1886-1893.

The application of the principles laid down by that august
body has not been followed by the results they were intended
to accomplish, either because the principles themselves lacked
in breadth and definiteness or because their execution has
been more or less imperfect. Much correspondence has been
exchanged between the two Governments [of Great Britain and
the United States] on the subject of preventing the
exterminating slaughter of seals. The insufficiency of the
British patrol of Bering Sea under the regulations agreed on
by the two Governments has been pointed out, and yet only two
British ships have been on police duty during this season in
those waters. The need of a more effective enforcement of
existing regulations as well as the adoption of such
additional regulations as experience has shown to be
absolutely necessary to carry out the intent of the award have
been earnestly urged upon the British Government, but thus far
without effective results. In the meantime the depletion of
the seal herds by means of pelagic hunting [that is, in the
open sea] has so alarmingly progressed that unless their
slaughter is at once effectively checked their extinction
within a few years seems to be a matter of absolute certainty.
The understanding by which the United States was to pay and Great
Britain to receive a lump sum of $425,000 in full settlement
of all British claims for damages arising from our seizure of
British sealing vessels unauthorized under the award of the
Paris Tribunal of Arbitration was not confirmed by the last
Congress, which declined to make the necessary appropriation.
I am still of the opinion that this arrangement was a
judicious and advantageous one for the Government, and I
earnestly recommend that it be again considered and
sanctioned. If, however, this does not meet with the favor of
Congress, it certainly will hardly dissent from the
proposition that the Government is bound by every
consideration of honor and good faith to provide for the
speedy adjustment of these claims by arbitration as the only
other alternative. A treaty of arbitration has therefore been
agreed upon, and will be immediately laid before the Senate,
so that in one of the modes suggested a final settlement may
be reached."

_Message of the President of the United States to Congress,
December, 1895._

The treaty thus referred to by the President was signed at
Washington, February 8, 1896, and ratifications were exchanged
at London on the 3d of June following. Its preamble set forth
that, whereas the two governments had submitted certain
questions to a tribunal of arbitration, and "whereas the High
Contracting Parties having found themselves unable to agree
upon a reference which should include the question of the
liability of each for the injuries alleged to have been
sustained by the other, or by its citizens, in connection with
the claims presented and urged by it, did, by Article VIII of
the said Treaty, agree that either party might submit to the
Arbitrators any questions of fact involved in said claims, and
ask for a finding thereon, the question of the liability of
either Government on the facts found to be the subject of
further negotiation: And whereas the Agent of Great Britain
did, in accordance with the provisions of said Article VIII,
submit to the Tribunal of Arbitration certain findings of fact
which were agreed to as proved by the Agent of the United
States, and the Arbitrators did unanimously find the facts so
set forth to be true, as appears by the Award of the Tribunal
rendered on the 15th day of August, 1893: And whereas, in view
of the said findings of fact and of the decision of the
Tribunal of Arbitration concerning the jurisdictional rights
of the United States in Behring Sea, and the right of
protection of property of the United States in the fur-seals
frequenting the islands of the United States in Behring Sea,
the Government of the United States is desirous that, in so
far as its liability is not already fixed and determined by
the findings of fact and the decision of said Tribunal of
Arbitration, the question of such liability should be
definitely and fully settled and determined, and compensation
made, for any injuries for which, in the contemplation of the
Treaty aforesaid, and the Award and findings of the Tribunal
of Arbitration, compensation may be due to Great Britain from
the United States: And whereas it is claimed by Great Britain,
though not admitted by the United States, that prior to the
said Award certain other claims against the United States
accrued in favour of Great Britain on account of seizures of
or interference with the following named British
sealing-vessels, to wit: the 'Wanderer,' the 'Winifred,' the
'Henrietta,' and the 'Oscar and Hattie,' and it is for the
mutual interest and convenience of both the High Contracting
Parties that the liability of the United States, if any, and
the amount of compensation to be paid, if any, in respect to
such claims, and each of them should also be determined under
the provisions of this Convention—all claims by Great Britain
under Article V of the modus vivendi of the 18th April, 1892,
for the abstention from fishing of British sealers during the
pendency of said arbitration having been definitely waived
before the Tribunal of Arbitration"—therefore the two nations
have concluded the Convention referred to, which provides that
"all claims on account of injuries sustained by persons in
whose behalf Great Britain is entitled to claim compensation
from the United States, and arising by virtue of the Treaty
aforesaid, the Award and the findings of the said Tribunal of
Arbitration, as also the additional claims specified in the
5th paragraph of the preamble hereto, shall be referred to two
Commissioners, one of whom shall be appointed by Her Britannic
Majesty, and the other by the President of the United States,
and each of whom shall be learned in the law."

_Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications
(Papers by Command: Treaty Series, Number 10, 1896)._

{52}

Judges William L. Putnam, of the United States, and George E.
King, of Canada, were subsequently appointed to be the two
commissioners provided for in the treaty. Meantime each
government had appointed a number of men of science to
investigate the condition of the herds of fur-seals on
Pribilof Islands, President David S. Jordan, of Leland
Stanford Junior University being director of the American
investigation and Professor D'Arcy W. Thompson having charge
of the British. The two bodies of investigators reached quite
different conclusions. Professor Jordan, in a preliminary
statement, announced; "There is still a vast body of fur seals
on the islands, more than the commissioners were at first led
to expect, but the number is steadily declining. The only
cause of this decline is the killing of females through
pelagic sealing. The females are never molested on the
islands, but three-fourths of those killed in Bering sea are
nursing females. The death of the mother causes the death of
the young on shore, so that for every four fur seals killed at
sea three pups starve to death on shore. As each of those
females is also pregnant, a like number of unborn pups is
likewise destroyed." His formal report, made in January, 1897,
was to the same effect, and led to the following conclusion:
"The ultimate end in view should be an international
arrangement whereby all skins of female fur seals should be
seized and destroyed by the customs authorities of civilized
nations, whether taken on land or sea, from the Pribilof herd,
the Asiatic herds, or in the lawless raiding of the Antarctic
rookeries. In the destruction of the fur seal rookeries of the
Antarctic, as well as those of the Japanese islands and of
Bering sea, American enterprise has taken a leading part. It
would be well for America to lead the way in stopping pelagic
sealing by restraining her own citizens without waiting for
the other nations. We can ask for protection with better grace
when we have accorded, unasked, protection to others." The
report of Professor Thompson, made three months later, agreed
but partially with that of the American experts. He admitted
the extensive starving of the young seals, caused by the
killing of the mothers, but contended that the herd was
diminishing slightly, if at all, and he did not favor drastic
measures for the suppression of pelagic sealing.

The government of the United States adopted measures in
accordance with the views of Professor Jordan, looking to an
international regulation of the killing of seals. Hon. John W.
Foster was appointed a special ambassador to negotiate
arrangements to that effect. Through the efforts of Mr.
Foster, an international conference on the subject was agreed
to on the part of Russia and Japan, but Great Britain declined
to take part. While these arrangements were pending, the
American Secretary of State, Mr. Sherman, addressed a letter
to the American Ambassador at London, Mr. Hay, criticising the
conduct of the British government and its agents in terms that
are not usual among diplomats, and which excited much feeling
when the letter was published in July. This called out a reply
from the British Colonial Secretary, Mr. Chamberlain, in which
he wrote: "When Her Majesty's government sent their agents to
inquire into the actual facts in 1896, it was found that, in
spite of the large catch of 1895, the herd actually numbered
more than twice as many cows as it had been officially
asserted to contain in 1895. The result of these
investigations, as pointed out in Lord Salisbury's dispatch of
May 7, has further been to show that pelagic sealing is much
less injurious than the practice pursued by the United States'
lessees of killing on land every male whose skin was worth
taking. If the seal herd to-day is, as Professor Jordan
estimates, but one-fifth of what it was in 1872-74, that
result must be, in great measure, due to the fact that, while
the islands were under the control of Russia, that power was
satisfied with an average catch of 33,000 seals; subsequently
under the United States' control more than three times that
number have been taken every year, until the catch was,
perforce, reduced because that number of males could no longer
be found.

"Last year, while the United States government were pressing
Her Majesty's government to place further restrictions on
pelagic sealing, they found it possible to kill 30,000 seals
on the islands, of which Professor Jordan says (in one place
in his report) 22,000 were, to the best of his information,
three-year-olds, though (in another place) he estimated the
total number of three-year-old males on the islands as 15,000
to 20,000. If such exhaustive slaughter is continued, it will,
in the light of the past history of the herd, very quickly bring
about that commercial extermination which has been declared in
the United States to be imminent every year for the last
twelve years. Enough has perhaps been said to justify the
refusal of Her Majesty's government to enter on a precipitate
revision of the regulations."

{53}

The two countries were thus being carried into serious
opposition, on a matter that looks contemptible when compared
with the great common interests which ought to bind them in
firm friendship together. But, while the government of Great
Britain declined to enter into conference with those of
Russia, Japan and the United States, on general questions
relating to the seals, it assented at length to a new
conference with the United States and Canada, relative to the
carrying out of the regulations prescribed by the Paris
tribunal of 1893. Both conferences were held at Washington in
October and November of 1897. The first resulted in a treaty
(November 6) between Russia, Japan, and the United States,
providing for a suspension of pelagic sealing during such time
as might be determined by experts. The other conference led,
after some interval, to the creation of a Joint High
Commission for the settlement of all questions in dispute
between the United States and Canada, the sealing question
included.

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

So far as concerned its own citizens, the American government
adopted vigorous measures for the suppression of pelagic
sealing. An Act of Congress, approved by the President on the
29th December, 1897, forbade the killing of seals, by any
citizen of the United States, in any part of the Pacific Ocean
north of 35 degrees north latitude. The same act prohibited
the importation into the United States of sealskins taken
elsewhere than in the Pribilof Islands, and very strict
regulations for its enforcement were issued by the Treasury
Department. No sealskins, either in the raw or the
manufactured state, might be admitted to the country, even
among the personal effects of a traveller, unless accompanied
by an invoice, signed by an United States Consul, certifying
that they were not from seals killed at sea. Skins not thus
certified were seized and destroyed.

In his annual report for 1898, the United States Secretary of
the Treasury stated that no pelagic sealing whatever had been
carried on by citizens of the United States during the season
past; but that 30 British vessels had been engaged in the
work, against 32 in the previous year, and that their total
catch had been 10,581, against 6,100 taken by the same fleet
in 1897. The number of seals found on the Islands was reported
to be greatly reduced.

BERLIN: A. D. 1895.
Census.

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

BERLIN: A. D. 1896.
Industrial exposition.

An exposition of German industries and products was opened at
Berlin on the 1st of May, 1896. which excited wide interest
and had an important stimulating effect in Germany.

BERLIN: A. D. 1900.
Growth shown by the latest census.

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

BERLIN: A. D. 1901.
The Berlin and Stettin Ship Canal.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1901 (JANUARY).

BETHLEHEM, Capture of.

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

BIAC-NA-BATO, Treaty of.

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

BIBLE LANDS, Archæological exploration in.

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

BICOLS, The.

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

BIDA, British subjugation of.

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

BIG SWORD, BIG KNIFE SOCIETY.

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

BISMARCK, Prince Otto von: Death.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1898 (JULY).

BLACK FLAG REBELLION.

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

BLANCO, General Ramon, Captain-General of Cuba.

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

BLANCOS.

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

BLOEMFONTEIN:
Taken by the British.

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

BLOEMFONTEIN CONFERENCE, The.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1899 (MAY-JUNE).

BLUEFIELDS INCIDENT, The.

See (in this volume)
CENTRAL AMERICA (NICARAGUA): A. D. 1894-1895.

BOARD SCHOOLS, English.

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

BOERS.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL).

BOHEMIA:
Recent situation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

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

BOHEMIA: A. D. 1897.
The language decrees.

See (in this volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897; and 1898.

BOLIVIA: A. D. 1894-1900.
The dispute with Chile concerning Atacama.

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

BOLIVIA: A. D. 1899.
Revolution.

The government of President Alonzo (elected in 1896) was
overthrown in April, 1899, by a revolutionary movement
conducted by General José Manuel Pando, who was elected
President by the legislative chambers in the following
October.

BOMBAY: A. D. 1896-1901.
The Bubonic Plague.

See (in this volume)
PLAGUE.

BOMBAY: A. D. 1901.
Census returns.
Decrease of population.

A telegram from Bombay, March 6, 1901, reports that "the
census returns show the city of Bombay has 770,000
inhabitants, a decrease of over fifty thousand in ten years,
mainly due to the exodus of the last two months on account of
the plague. Partial returns from the rural districts show
terrible decreases in population through famine."

BORDA, President: Assassination.

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

BORIS, Prince: Conversion.

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

{54}

BOSTON: A. D. 1895-1899.
The municipal experiments of Mayor Quincy.

First elected Mayor of Boston in 1895, and reelected in 1897,
the two terms of the administration of Mayor Josiah Quincy
were made remarkable by the number, the originality and the
boldness of the experiments which he introduced in extension
of the functions of municipal government. They consisted on
the one hand in the substitution, in certain branches of
public work, of direct labor for the contract system, and on
the other in the provision of new facilities for promoting
popular health, recreation, and instruction. He established a
municipal printing office, a municipal department of
electrical construction, and another municipal department
which conducts every kind of repairing work that the city
requires; all of these to supersede the old system of
contracts and jobs. He instituted a great number and variety
of public baths,—floating baths, beach baths, river baths and
swimming pools. He opened playgrounds and gymnasiums, both
outdoor and indoor. He carried the city into the work of the
fresh air missions for poor children. He reorganized the
administration of public charities. He placed the artistic
undertakings of the city under the supervision of a competent
board. He instituted cheap concerts of a high order, as well
as popular lectures. Boston at length took alarm at the extent
of the ventures of Mayor Quincy, complained of the cost, and
refused him reelection for a third term. But the Boston
correspondent of a New York journal opposed in politics to
Mayor Quincy, writing on the 15th of December, 1900, testifies
that "most of the experiments are working well, and a study of
them cannot fail to be beneficial to those who have the
government of other cities in their hands. … The madness of
Mayor Quincy had evidently a method. It seems to have made
permanent a good many excellent institutions. Some good
citizens say that things were done too quickly, that they cost
too much money, that the Mayor was always robbing Peter to pay
Paul, as it were. But, after all, it seems cause for
thankfulness that they were done at all."

BOSTON: A. D. 1899.
Completion of the Subway.

In this year the city of Boston completed a very important
public improvement, undertaken in 1895, and carried out under
the direction of a commission appointed that year. This was
the construction of a Subway under Boylston and Tremont
streets, and under various streets in the northern district,
for the transit of electric cars through the crowded central
parts of the city. The section of Subway from Park Square to
Park Street was finished in the fall of 1897; the remainder in
1899. The entire length of underground road is one and
two-thirds miles. The cost of work done was $4,686,000: cost
of real estate taken, $1,100,000. The legislative Act
authorizing the work provided further for the construction of
a tunnel to East Boston, and for the purchase of rights of way
for an elevated road to Franklin Park, with new bridges to
Charlestown and West Boston.

BOWER, Sir Graham:
Testimony before British Parliamentary Committee on
the Jameson Raid.

See (in this volume))
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1897 (FEBRUARY-JULY).

BOXERS, The Chinese:
The secret society and the meaning of its name.

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

BRADFORD'S HISTORY:
Return of the manuscript to Massachusetts.

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

BRAZIL: A. D. 1897.
Conflict with the "Fanatics."

A religious enthusiast, called Conselheiro (Counsellor), who
had made his appearance in the State of Bahia and gathered a
great number of followers, began in 1897 to become dangerous
to the government, which he denounced as atheistic; his
following grew disorderly, and political malcontents were
taking advantage of the disturbance which he caused. Attempts
on the part of the government to stop the disorder were
fiercely resisted, and its conflict with "the Fanatics," as
Conselheiro and his followers were known, soon became a very
serious war, demanding many thousands of troops, and spreading
over wide regions of the country. Amazonian bands of women
fought with "the Fanatics," and were among the most dreaded
forces on their side. The headquarters and stronghold of the
movement were finally taken in July, after an obstinate
defense, and in October Conselheiro was killed; after which
the rebellion came to an end.

BRAZIL: A. D. 1898.
Election of Dr. Campos Salles to the Presidency.

The nomination and election of Dr. M. F. de Campos Salles, who
was inaugurated President of the United States of Brazil on
the 15th of November, 1898, "marks the decided distinction of
parties in Brazil. Previously, there had been various
divergencies among the Republicans, but no distinct party
differences. But at that time there arose a party advocating
the selection of a candidate who would favor the national
against the foreign (naturalized) element; one who would have
influence with the few remaining advocates of the monarchical
government; who would give preference to a military over a
civil government; finally, one who would introduce into the
government the system called 'Jacobinism,' a designation which
the new party did not refuse to accept. Dr. Campos Salles was
the candidate of the moderate Republicans or Conservatives,
who were organized under the name of the Republican party,
with a platform demanding respect for the constitution and
declaring for the institution of such reforms as only reason
and time should dictate. The sympathies of the conservative
element and of foreigners who had interests in the country
were with the candidate of this party and gave him their
support. The election of Dr. Campos Salles inspired renewed
confidence in the stability of Brazil, a confidence which was
at once manifested by the higher quotation of the national
bonds, by an advance in the rate of exchange, and by greater
activity in business throughout the country. Brazil, in spite
of all hindrances, has prospered since 1889."

_Bulletin of the Bureau of American Republics,
December, 1898._

{55}

BRAZIL: A. D. 1900.
Arbitration of the French Guiana boundary dispute.
Award of the Swiss Government.

A dispute with France concerning the boundary of the French
possessions in Guiana, which Brazil inherited from Portugal,
and which dates back to the 17th century, was submitted at
last to the Swiss Federal Council, as a tribunal of
arbitration, and settled by the award of the Council on
December 1, 1900. The decision fixes the River Oyapok and the
watershed of the Tumuc Humac Mountains as the boundary. It is
practically in favor of Brazil, for France had claimed, a year
before, a territory of not less than 400,000 square
kilomètres, ten times the area of Switzerland itself. Even
after a large abatement had been made, the claim was still for
260,000 square kilometres, or 100,000 square miles, much more
than the area of Great Britain. The actual territory allotted
to France by the Federal Government of Switzerland is about
3,000 square miles. The arbitrators had no excuse for saying
that the case was not brought before them in all its length
and breadth. The documents presented by France formed four
large volumes, supplemented by an atlas of 35 maps, while
Brazil, not to be outdone, put in 13 volumes of documents and
three atlases, with about 200 maps.

BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA PROTECTORATE:
Administrative separation from British
South Africa Company's territory.
Conflicts with natives.
Resources and prospects of the country.

Until 1894, the territory north of the Zambezi over which the
British South Africa Company claimed a "sphere of influence,"
and the region covered by the British Protectorate that was
declared in 1889-1890 over Nyassaland and the Shiré Highlands,
were administered together by Sir Harry Johnston. But in that
year the South Africa Company undertook the administration of
its own portion of British Central Africa, and Commissioner
Johnston became the Administrator of the remaining "British
Central Africa Protectorate." In his report for 1895-1896
(April to April) the Commissioner estimated the native
population of the Protectorate at 844,420; British subjects,
259; other Europeans, 30; Indians, 263; half-castes, 23. Of
hostilities with the natives, Commissioner Johnston gave the
following report:

"In the autumn of 1895, … a campaign lasting four months was
commenced and carried to a successful conclusion against all
the independent Yao Chiefs who dwelt on the south-eastern
border of the Protectorate, and who continued to raid our
territories for slaves. This campaign culminated in the
complete defeat and death or expulsion of those Arabs who had
created an independent power in the North Nyasa district.
Action was also taken against the Angoni Chief, Mwasi Kazungu,
in the interior of the Marimba district, who had made common
cause with the Arabs, and was attempting to form against us a
league of the Angoni-Zulus. … The only people likely now to
give trouble in any way are the Angoni-Zulus, who are to the
west of the Protectorate what the Yaos and Arabs have been to
the north. For the past 40 years the western portions of the
Protectorate have been the happy hunting-ground of the
descendants of the Zulu bands who quitted Matabeleland at
various periods during the last 70 years, and who penetrated
into Central Africa as far as the eastern part of Tanganyika
and the south shores of the Victoria Nyanza. They established
themselves strongly as a ruling caste on the high plateaux to
the west and to the north-east of Lake Nyasa. From these
plateaux they raided perseveringly for slaves, chiefly in the
regions of the Great Luangwa valley, but also to some extent
the coast lands of Lake Nyasa.

"Not a few of the Angoni Chiefs are friendly and well disposed
towards the British, and seem likely to settle down quietly as
they appreciate the futility of continued defiance of our
power; but we may have yet a little trouble from the Western
Angoni, and also from an ill-conditioned young Chief
ordinarily known by his father's name, Chikusi, but whose
private appellation is Gomanikwenda. Chikusi lives on the
wedge of Portuguese territory which penetrates the
southwestern part of the Protectorate. Secure in the knowledge
that our forces cannot infringe the Portuguese border, he
occasionally makes raids for slaves into the Upper Shire and
Central Angoniland districts."

_Sir Harry Johnston,
Report
(Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications:
Papers by Command, Africa, Number 5, 1896),
pages 12-13._

In the autumn of 1896, Chikusi raided one of the mission
stations at Ntonda, killing many native Christians. An
expedition was then sent against him, which pursued him to his
chief kraal, and took him prisoner. He was tried for murder,
condemned and shot.

"Nyasaland, or British Central Africa as it is officially
called, is now [1898] in a fair way of becoming one of the
richest coffee and tobacco growing districts of the world. It
enjoys the immense advantage of direct water communication
with the coast and, with the exception of a stretch of one
hundred miles, the River Shiré, which runs out of Lake Nyasa,
is navigable along its whole course. Before long the Upper and
Lower Shiré will be connected by a railway line, and goods
will then be landed at the northern extremity of Lake Nyasa—a
distance of 700 miles from the mouth of the Zambezi—at a
trifling cost. At present the journey can already be
accomplished in a week. Ten steamers navigate Lake Nyasa, and
double that number run on the Zambezi and the Shiré Rivers.
This mighty task—accomplished, we must not forget it, without
the cost of a single penny to the British tax-payer—did not
benefit Great Britain alone. The Portuguese, who, for the last
three centuries were slumbering in their East African
possessions, were aroused by the extraordinary activity which
was displayed at their door. At first they raised objections,
but they soon understood what advantages they would derive
from the situation, and gave their hearty co-operation to
Great Britain. It brought more wealth than they had ever
dreamt of to their Zambezi provinces, now a busy centre of
trade, in telegraphic communication with the Cape in the South
and Lake Nyasa in the North. The Portuguese port of Beira, a
sandbank some years ago, has become the most important harbour
between Zanzibar and Delagoa Bay, and owes its present
position to the railway line which runs to Mashonaland."

_L. Decle,
The Fashoda Question
(Fortnightly Review, November, 1898)._

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

See (in this volume)
CANADA.

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1895.
Territory transferred to the British Government.

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

{56}

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1895-1897.
Its creation and extent.
Existence of slavery.
War in the Province of Seyyidieh.
Report of the commissioner.

"The British East Africa Protectorate is bounded on the east
by the Indian Ocean, on the west by the Uganda Protectorate,
and on the south-west by the Anglo-German frontier, which,
starting from the mouth of the River Umba, runs in a generally
north-west direction till it strikes the eastern shore of Lake
Victoria Nyanza at the point at which it is intersected by the
1st parallel of south latitude. To the north and north-east it
is bounded by the Italian sphere of influence from which it is
divided by the River Juba up to parallel 6° of north latitude,
and thence by a line running along that parallel until it
reaches the Blue Nile. The frontier between the East Africa
and Uganda Protectorates is only partially defined: starting
from the German frontier, it follows the Guaso Masai River as
far as Sosian, thence strikes north-cast to the Kedong River,
which it follows to its source, and thence runs in a northerly
direction along the Likipia escarpment or eastern lip of the
great 'meridional rift.' It is, however, still undecided
whether or not it should be deflected, for greater convenience
in dealing with the Uganda Masai, so as to leave to Uganda the
region between the southern portion of the Likipia escarpment
and the so-called Aberdare range. In view of the uncertainty
existing as to the inland boundaries, it is impossible to give
the exact area of the territory, though it may be estimated
roughly at 280,000 square miles. It will be sufficient here to
state that its coast-line, including in the term the Islands
of Lamu, Manda, and Patta, which are separated from the
mainland by narrow channels, is 405 miles long, whilst its
greatest breadth, measured from the centre of the district of
Gosha on the Juba, to the Likipia escarpment, is 460 miles.

"The Protectorate in its present form was constituted on the
1st July, 1895. Previous to that date a Protectorate had been
declared on the 4th November, 1890, over those portions of the
territory which formed part of the Zanzibar Sultanate, and on
the 19th November of the same year over Witu and the whole of
the coast between the Tana and Juba Rivers. The administration
of this second Protectorate was confided in 1893, with the
exception of those portions of the coast between the Tana and
Juba which belonged to the Zanzibar Sultanate and were rented
by the Imperial British East Africa Company from him, to the
Sultan of Zanzibar, but without being fused in or united to
the Sultanate. In September, 1894, a Protectorate was
established under an independent Commissioner over Uganda, and
was subsequently defined as extending over the whole of the
intervening territory from which the Imperial British East
Africa Company had withdrawn its effective control, that is,
as far as the western limits of its district of Kikuyu, which
still constitutes the frontier between the East Africa and
Uganda Protectorates. The remainder of the British sphere
between the Zanzibar and Uganda boundaries and the Tana River
and German frontier was placed under Her Majesty's protection
on the 1st July, 1895, and the whole of the above-described
territories to the east of the Uganda Protectorate were at the
same time fused into one administrative whole under the title
of the' East Africa Protectorate.'

"British East Africa includes three district sovereignties, i.
e.: 1. The mainland territories of the Sultan of Zanzibar. 2.
The Sultanate of Witu. 3. The remainder of the Protectorate
consisting of the old 'chartered territory' of the Imperial
British East Africa Company and of the region between the Tana
and the Juba not included either in Zanzibar or Witu. This
division, which I propose for the sake of convenience to style
British East Africa proper, is not, of course, technically
under Her Majesty's sovereignty, and is divided among a number
of tribes and races under our Protectorate, but it differs from
Zanzibar and Witu in that the status of the Chiefs exercising
authority there is not recognized by international law or at
least by any international engagement.

"The mainland dominions of the Sultan of Zanzibar included in
the Protectorate (for he possesses certain coast ports to the
north of it now leased to Italy) consist—(1.) Of a strip of
coast 10 miles deep from high-water mark, extending from the
mouth of the River Umba on the south to Kipini on the Ozi on
the north; and (2.) Of a series of islands off the coast
between the Ozi and the Juba and of the mainland town of
Kismayu with a radius of 10 miles around it. … The State of
Witu extends along the coast from Kipini to Kwyhoo, its
northern boundary being a straight line drawn in 1887 by
Commissioners representing the German and Zanzibar Governments
due west from Kwyhoo to a point a few miles east of the Ozi
River. It was founded, or rather gradually grew up, in the
years from 1860 to 1885, round a colony of outlaws. … When the
German Government first interested itself, about a decade ago,
in East African affairs, it recognized the little colony of
outlaws and refugees from the coast towns which had grown up
in Witu, as an independent State. … Accordingly, on
transferring this Protectorate by the Treaty of 1890 to Great
Britain, it stipulated by Article II of that Agreement, that
the sovereignty of the Sultan of Witu over the territory
formally defined as his in 1887 should be recognized by the
new Protecting Power. …

"Beyond the Zanzibar and Witu limits, the territories
comprised in the Protectorate are ruled directly under Her
Majesty by the British officers in charge of them. All the
various tribes, Mahommedan and heathen, retain, however, their
respective native Rulers and institutions. … For a period of ten
months from the transfer from the Imperial British East Africa
Company to Her Majesty's Government, the country now forming
the Province of Seyyidieh, was the theatre of disturbances,
which for a time retarded the development of the territory,
and diverted the attention of the Administration from useful
schemes of improvement that might otherwise have been
immediately set on foot. These disturbances began under the
Administration of the Imperial British East Africa Company,
their immediate cause being a dispute over the succession to
the Chieftainship of Takaungu between Rashid-bin-Salim, the
son, and Mubarak-bin-Rashid, the nephew of the former Chief. …
The Company supported Rashid, who, though younger in years
than Mubarak, was friendly to the English. … Though the
rebellion of the Mazrui Chiefs retarded to some extent the
development of the province, and entailed in its suppression
considerable expense, its occurrence, under the special
circumstances which attended it, has not been an unmixed evil.
We have broken once for all the power of several influential
Arab potentates, who were never thoroughly subjugated either
by the Sultans or the Company, and whose ambitions and
semi-independent position would sooner or later have involved
us in trouble with them had we attempted to make the authority
of our Administration effective, and to interfere with the
slavery, and even Slave Trade, which flourished under their
protection."

_Sir A. Hardinge,
Report
(Great Britain, Parliamentary Publications:
Papers by Command, Africa, Number 7, 1897),
page 1-3, and 65._

{57}

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1900-1901.
Rising of Ogaden Somalis.

In the later part of November, 1900, news reached Zanzibar of
a rising of the Somali tribe called Ogadens in the Jubaland
province of the British East Africa Protectorate, and that the
British Sub-Commissioner, Mr. Jenner, had probably been killed.
The Somalis are a very war-like race, supposed to be Gallas by
descent, with an admixture of Arab blood. In the following
February it was announced that Aff-Madu, the headquarters of
the Ogaden Somalis, had been occupied without opposition by
the British punitive expedition sent to exact reparation for
the murder of Mr. Jenner, and that the Ogaden Sultan was a
prisoner.

BRITISH EMPIRE, Penny postage in.

See (in this volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1898 (DECEMBER).

BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY: A. D. 1889.
The founding of the Company.

See (in volume 4)
SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1885-1893.

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1894-1895.
Extended charter and enlarged powers.
Its master spirit, Mr. Rhodes.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY):
A. D. 1894-1895.

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1895.
Arrangements in Bechuanaland.

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

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1896.
Revocation of the Company's charter called for
by President Kruger.

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

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1896.
Resignation of Mr. Rhodes.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY):
A. D. 1896 (JUNE).

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1896.
Parliamentary investigation of its administration.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY):
A. D. 1896 (JULY).

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1896.
Complicity of officials in the Jameson Raid.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (CAPE COLONY): A. D. 1896 (JULY).

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1896-1897.
Demands from President Kruger for proceedings
against the Directors.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1896-1897 (MAY-APRIL).

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1897.
Convicted of subjecting natives to forced labor.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY):
A. D. 1897 (JANUARY).

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1898.
Reorganization.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA
(RHODESIA AND THE BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY):
A. D. 1898 (FEBRUARY).

BRITISH EAST AFRICA PROTECTORATE, The: A. D. 1900.
Administration extended over Barotsiland.

See (in this volume)
SOUTH AFRICA (RHODESIA): A. D. 1900 (SEPTEMBER).

BRONX, The Borough of the.
See (in this volume)
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1896-1897.

BROOKE, General John R.: Military Governor of Cuba.
Report.

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

Commanding in Porto Rico.

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

BROOKLYN:
Absorption in Greater New York.

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

Tunnel from New York.

See (in this volume)
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1900 (JANUARY-SEPTEMBER).

BRUGES: A. D. 1900.
The new canal from the city to the sea.

"On the 25th day of February, the inauguration of the new
canal was celebrated at Bruges. … The canal runs from
Zeebrugge, a port on the North Sea 14.29 miles north of
Ostend, to the city of Bruges, a total distance of 7.46 miles.
The work is now so far completed that vessels of a draft of 25
feet can enter and pass to the port of Bruges. The locks are
fully completed, as well as three-fifths of the wharf wall at
Bruges; when finished, the wharf wall will have a total length
of 1,575 feet. The canal has a width of 72 feet 6 inches at
the bottom and 229 feet 4 inches at the water level and will
have, when completed, a depth of 26 feet 3 inches; this will
also be the depth of the interior port and of the great basin
of Bruges. Bruges is an old, inland deep-water port, having
connection with the sea by canal from Ostend, but this only
for vessels of very light draft."

_United States Consular Reports,
July, 1900, page 346._

BRUSSELS: A. D. 1898.
Sugar Conference.

See (in this volume)
SUGAR BOUNTIES.

BRUSSELS:
The General Act of.

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

BRYAN, William J.:
Candidacy for the American Presidency.
His speech of acceptance, 1900.

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

BUBONIC PLAGUE, The.

See (in this volume)
PLAGUE.

BUDA-PESTH: A. D. 1896.
Celebration of the Hungarian Millennium.

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

BUDDHA, Gautama:
Discovery of his birthplace and his tomb, with personal relics.

"Mr. Vincent Smith, of the Bengal Civil Service, a learned
antiquary, has published in the Allahabad 'Pioneer' a
statement as to the nature and significance of recent
discoveries of Buddhist antiquities in India. The first of
these is the home of Gautama Buddha, who lived about 500 B.
C., and who is known to have been the son of the Raja of
Kapilavastu, a small state in the Nepal Terai, bordering on
the modern Oudh. The site of Kapilavastu has long been eagerly
sought for, and it is only within the past three years that
the accidental discovery of an inscribed pillar erected by the
Emperor Asoka, in the third century B. C., fixed with
certainty the site of the city. The ruins, which were lately
visited by Mr. Smith, are, so far as is yet known, all of
brick; they are for the most part buried in jungle, and are so
extensive that many years would be required for their
exploration. The city was destroyed during the lifetime of
Gautama, and when the first of the famous Chinese pilgrims
visited the place, in 410 A. D., it was a mass of desolate
ruins, and there is no indication that it has since been
occupied. This fact gives exceptional interest to the
excavations now in progress, for they are bringing to light
buildings more ancient than any previously known in India.
{58}
More interesting even than Kapilavastu is the discovery of the
Lumbini Garden, the traditional birthplace of Gautama. The
sacred spot has been found marked by another of Asoka's
pillars, on which the inscription is perfect. This is also in
Nepalese territory, five miles from the British frontier. The
pillar stands on the western edge of a mound of ruins, about a
hundred yards in diameter, and on the south side of the mound
is the tank in which the child's mother bathed after his
birth. Another discovery which was made in a stupa, or brick
tumulus, close to the British frontier, is that of relics of
Buddha himself. These consist only of fragments of bone, which
were deposited in a wooden vessel that stood on the bottom of
a massive coffer, more than four feet long and two feet deep,
cut out of a solid block of fine sandstone. This coffer was
buried under eighteen feet of masonry, composed of huge
bricks, each sixteen inches long. The wooden vessel was
decayed, and with it was an exquisitely finished bowl of rock
crystal, the largest yet discovered in India, and also five
small vases of soapstone. All these vessels were partially
filled, in honor of the relics, with a marvellous collection
of gold stars, pearls, topazes, beryls, and other jewels, and
of various objects delicately wrought in crystal, agate, and
other substances. An inscription on the lid of one of the
soapstone vases declares the relics to be those of Buddha
himself, and the characters in which the inscription is
written are substantially the same as those of the Asoka
inscriptions, and indicate that the tumulus was constructed
between 300 and 250 B. C."

_London Times,
May, 1898._