Chapter LXII: Section 30: , Title 3, of the CONSTITUTION OF NORWAY (4)

_June 8._
"On Saturday morning, the 6th June, an apparent reconciliation
between the Shah and the popular party took place, but the
next morning it was reported to His Majesty that a telegram
had been sent to Zil-es-Sultan [one of the royal princes, and
an aspirant to the throne] at Shiraz by the Eujumens asking
him to come to Tehran and assume the Regency. The same evening
the Zil’s eldest son, also Serdar Mansur, Ala-ed-Dowleh, and
Azad-ul-Mulk, the Head of the Kajar tribe [the imperial tribe]
who took part in the agitation last week, were arrested by the
Shah."

_June 23._
"About 6 o’clock this morning twenty Cossacks were sent by the
Shah to arrest eight persons who were in the mosque adjoining
the Assembly House. The demand for the surrender of these
persons met with a refusal, and a shot was fired from the
mosque. Fighting then started, and is still continuing. The
number of people killed is said to be large. Guns are being
used by the Shah’s troops."

_June 23._
"The Assembly building and the mosque have been cleared by the
Shah’s forces, and the meeting-place of the Azerbaijan Enjumen
has been destroyed. The Shah has arrested the Chief Mujtehed,
Seyyid Abdullah, the Sheikh-ul-Reis, and some ten other
alleged leaders of popular party. The Cossack Brigade has lost
forty men. The loss on the other side is said to be very
small, but the exact number is unknown. A state of siege has
been proclaimed and the Enjumens have dispersed. Some shops
and houses, including that of the Zil-es-Sultan, and the
Assembly building, have been pillaged."

_June 25._
"The first shot was undoubtedly fired by the people in the
mosque and Assembly, among whom some Deputies were included. I
believe that every preparation had been made to clear the
mosque by force if this proved necessary. In any case, the
Shah had reasonable ground for taking strong measures, as the
attack was made by the popular party on the troops. …

"Efforts are being made to catch Deputies, and several,
including the President of the Assembly, have already been
arrested. The Enjumens seem to be cowed; their supporters are
falling away, and the Shah has complete mastery. Yesterday
morning two prisoners were strangled at the Shah’s camp, and
there are about thirty persons, other than Deputies, under
arrest. There are now in the Legation fifty refugees.

"There has been fighting in Tabreez between the popular party
and the Shah’s partisans. There is no sign from the other
provinces, and the Zil-es-Sultan is trying to dissociate
himself from the agitation."

_June 26._
"A Proclamation stating that the present Assembly is dissolved
has been issued by the Shah. Proclamation announces that new
elections will be held in three months, and a Senate will be
formed."

PERSIA: A. D. 1908-1909.
Final Hostilities between the Shah and the Supporters
of the Constitution.
Tabriz the Center of a Revolutionary Movement.
Entrance of the Bakhtiari into the Struggle.
Siege of Tabriz and its Relief by the Russians.
Capture of Teheran by the Nationalists and Bakhtiari.
Deposition of the Shah.
A child enthroned.

The occurrences of June, narrated above, were at the beginning
of the final outbreak of hostilities between the partisans of
the Shah and the supporters of the Constitution, which soon
ran into actual civil war.

When the Shah had established his authority at Teheran, Tabriz
became the center of popular opinion on the side of the
Constitutionalists, or Nationalists, and the main seat of
their strength. Fighting began there on the 23d of June,
simultaneously with the conflict at Teheran, and continued
intermittently and indecisively throughout July and August, at
the end of which time the Nationalists were said to be 10,000
strong. On the 24th of September the Royalists began a
bombardment of the town, with five guns, to which the
Nationalists responded vigorously with four. October 10th the
Nationalists assumed the offensive, attacking the camp of the
besiegers, routing their cavalry, and securing possession of a
desirable bridge.

On the 24th of September, under pressure from the
representatives of Great Britain and Russia, the Shah decreed
that a Mejlis (National Assembly) "composed of religious and
proper persons, will, by the help of God and the favor of the
12th Imam, be convoked by us for the 19th Shavval"—that is,
November 14—and that a law of elections should be made known
by October 27. The latter date passed without producing the
promised election law and no elections followed in November;
but on the 8th of the latter month the Shah’s partisans
organized a "demonstration" at Teheran against the
Constitution, on the strength of which the mendacious
sovereign replied to British and Russian remonstrances against
his faithlessness by saying that "a large section of the
population regarded a constitutional regime as contrary to
their religion." Presently, on the 22d of November, he issued
a rescript proclaiming that the Ulema had declared such an
institution as a Parliament to be contrary to Islam and
therefore he would not convoke it.

Early in 1909 the revolt first organized at Tabriz became rife
in many parts of the nominal Empire of the Shah, both north
and south. On the 25th of January _The Times of India_,
published at Bombay, where commercial and political interests
in Persian affairs are equally keen, described the situation
then existing as follows: The "news from Persia is extremely
grave, because it indicates the collapse of the Shah’s
authority from north to south. The Anjumans [Enjumens—a term
which seems to be applied to local assemblies and to all
political associations alike] of Astrabad and Lahidjan have
repudiated the present regime. This means that the Caspian
littoral is being lost to the Shah. What is of even greater
consequence is that the spread of the revolt to Lahidjan may
mean the cutting off of the trade with Teheran via Resht,
which is now the principal route open to traffic. Then in the
far south, almost on the Gulf littoral, the Nationalists of
Laristan have thrown off all semblance of the Shah’s
authority. Recently it was stated that the Bakhtiaris had
risen in revolt, and had looted Isfahan. It was not to be
expected that the Lars, of which the Bakhtiaris are an
offshoot and who enjoy a modified independence, would remain
quiescent under these conditions. Reuter is however in error
in stating that these tribal fights ‘are interrupting’
communications between Bushire and Shiraz.
{488}
These have been interrupted for many months, and as we stated
on Friday, the muleteers who usually ply between Bushire and
Shiraz some time ago removed their animals to the
Resht-Teheran road. The insecurity of this route is
illustrated by the fact that the Derya Begi, the fount of
Persian dignity at Bushire, was held up and robbed on his way
from Teheran to his charge on the coast. All these straws
point to the rapidity with which anarchy is spreading."

The Bakhtiari referred to in this account of affairs, and who
now began to bear an important part in the Persian
revolutionary conflict, are a semi-independent and nomadic
tribe, occupying the region of the mountains which bear the
same name, in western Persia, within the provinces of Luristan
and Khuzistan. They claim, it is said, by descent from the
Bactrians of remote antiquity, to represent the purest blood
of ancient Iran. In connection with recent disturbances, they
began to be mentioned in June, 1907. The head of one faction
among them, Semsam-es-Sultaneh, had then been removed by the
Persian provincial governor from the post of Ilkhani (a title
surviving from the Mongol conquest of the 13th century,—see
PERSIA: A. D. 1258-1393, in Volume IV. of this work), and his
supporters were reported to be "out in every direction
attacking caravans." The only mention of them in the following
months was as pestilent bandits in the Ispahan quarter,
holding the roads and breaking up commerce and travel; but
they came at last into Persian history as allies of the
Nationalists in the struggle for Constitutional Government.

Press reports from Tabriz in February were to the effect that
the Shah’s forces, estimated at 12,000 in number, had closely
invested the town; that the besieged Nationalists were
provisioned for two months, and were making sorties daily.
Also that Resht was full of armed Caucasian revolutionaries.
At the middle of March a correspondent of the London
_Times_ made his way from Teheran to Resht, and found
that the revolutionary movement there was entirely "exotic."
"If the Caucasian element was removed," he wrote, "nothing
would remain. One can estimate fairly accurately that there
are about 600 men under arms in the town and on the road. It
is said that 5 per cent. of these are Persians. This morning I
watched the departure of a contingent of men for the front.
Greeks, Kurds, Armenians, Tartars, Russians—all the Caucasian
peoples were represented, but not a single man of the race for
the advancement of whose cause these men have taken arms."

This correspondent was led to suspect, as others have done,
that the religious movement in Persia known as "Babism" (see,
in Volume I. of this work, under BAB) had much to do, in a
secret way, with the existing revolutionary undertaking.
"Those who are in a position to judge." he said, "estimate the
present proportion of Babis in the population of Persia at
from 10 to 30 per cent. I have, indeed, heard the Persians
estimate it as high as 50 per cent."

Before the end of March the Nationalists were in control of
the ports of Bender Abbas and Bushire on the Persian Gulf. On
the 30th of March the following went to the London
_Times_ from Teheran: "In spite of numerous defections to
the Nationalist side during the last fortnight, the situation
at Teheran remains practically unaltered. The Cossack Brigade
is still the premier factor, and there seems no reason to
doubt either its allegiance to the Shah or its ability to deal
with any element of disturbance likely to arise in the
capital. The bazaars remain partially closed, but the business
of the town proceeds without interruption.

"From outside there is nothing to apprehend for the present.
The Bakhtiari have made no sign, though their position has
been rendered materially more secure by the recent espousal of
Nationalism by the most notable family at Shiraz. From Resht
the revolutionaries continue to launch remonstrance, warning,
and anathema at the Shah, but they are too wise to march on
the capital without a lead from elsewhere.

"To-day’s news from Tabriz indicates that the situation of the
town is extremely grave. A section of the Nationalists
advocate negotiating with the besiegers, but Satar Khan has
decided to continue his resistance. The stores of food are to
be appropriated for the fighting men, and when the stock
remaining is exhausted the inhabitants will have no
alternative but to leave the town and run the gauntlet of the
Shah’s lambs."

The Cossack Brigade referred to in the despatch above was a
body of Persian Cossacks which had been for some time past in
the service of the Shah, under the command of a Russian
officer, Colonel Liakhoff. In the House of Commons, on the
24th of March, the British Secretary for Foreign Affairs was
sharply questioned as to this employment of a Russian officer,
and the alleged employment of others, in the Shah’s service,
and asked whether they were serving the Shah or the Tsar. In
reply he said: "It may be that in the events of the
summer—what is called the coup d’État—Colonel Liakhoff, the
Russian officer in command of the Persian Cossacks, who had
been lent to the Shah for the purpose, I understand, of
disciplining that body of Persian Cossacks, to provide a
bodyguard for the Shah, and in case of need to preserve order
in Teheran—it may be that he exceeded the limit of those
purposes. If he did so I am convinced that it was not by the
instructions, on the authority, or with the approval of the
Russian Government; and since the coup d’Etat there has been
no question, according to reports which we have received, that
the Russian officers who remained in the service of the Shah
have kept within the limits of the purposes for which they
were lent to the service of the Shah, and have not taken part
in anything that could be called political encounters in
Persia. If Colonel Liakhoff exceeded the limits in Teheran, he
acted directly under the Government of the Shah, and the
question whether the Russian Government approve or disapprove
his action is one between himself and them, and is not a
matter on which we are called upon to express an opinion."

On the 5th of April it was reported that the sufferings of
Tabriz "are increasing daily, and it is undoubted that a great
tragedy is approaching. If Tabriz holds out, thousands must
die of starvation, while, if it falls, probably tens of
thousands will be massacred." A fortnight later, on the 20th.
the Shah yielded to the insistence of the British and Russian
Legations that he should allow an armistice at Tabriz of six
days and the importation into the town of sufficient food for
that period.
{489}
Meantime a detachment of Russian Cossacks, under General
Snarsky, had crossed the frontier into Persia, and was
marching to Tabriz with supplies. This Russian relief
expedition, approved by the British Government, reached the
beleaguered city without resistance on the 30th, and its
presence brought the conflict at that point to an end. A
correspondent of _The Times_, who had been in Tabriz
throughout the siege, taking some leadership in the defence
(in company with a teacher attached to the American Mission’s
high school, Mr. Baskerville, who met death in the fighting)
and who gave, two months later, a graphic narrative of the
experience, said in concluding it:

"Tabriz was ultimately saved by the coming of the Russians.
Their entry into the town was the direct cause of the opening
of the roads, the dispersal of the disappointed armies of the
Shah, the promulgation of the Constitution, and the
appointment of a Constitutionalist Ministry. It saved Tabriz
from a surrender which could not otherwise have been delayed
for three days longer, and thereby it averted the complete
collapse of the Constitutional movement."

With victory at Tabriz snatched from him, the Shah ostensibly
threw up his hands. On the 5th of May it was announced that he
had "signed an Imperial rescript acknowledging that the
disorderly condition of the country imposed the necessity of
taking measures to reorganize the administration. The rescript
recognizes that this can only be secured through the
constitutional principle, and his Majesty fixes July 19 for
the election of a representative Assembly, for the formation
of which electoral laws will soon be promulgated."

This revival of promises failed, however, to arrest the
revolutionary movement. On the 7th of May the Nationalists
expelled a royal force from Kazvin—less than a hundred miles
from Teheran—and declared their intention to march on Teheran.
"They are well-armed and well-mounted," said a correspondent
who came from Kazvin, "and possessed of plenty of money. Their
commander, a Sipahdar, and his second in command, an Afghan,
are now at Kazvin, and everything points to the possibility of
early action. The Bakhtiari, who have assembled at Ispahan and
number 3,000, also declare their intention of marching on
Teheran."

Of the Sipahdar, who now becomes the fighting leader of the
Nationalists, a writer in the New York _Evening Post_
relates that "when a merchant in Tabriz, he offered the
government his services in wiping out the brigands who scoured
the provinces, and, selecting a picked band, went out to fight
fire with fire, by the same methods of terrorizing that the
robbers had employed. As a result, he made the provinces safe,
at least."

Pressed by the Russian Legation to withdraw from Kazvin,
pending the fulfilment of the Shah’s promises, the Sipahdar,
commanding there, declared that he could not control his men.
The situation was complicated by the presence of the Russians
at Tabriz. As _The Times_ correspondent wrote: "The
perfectly unambiguous declaration by Russia that her troops
will be withdrawn from Tabriz the moment order is restored and
danger to Europeans is past is valueless in the eyes of
Persians while the troops are there."

The framing of a new electoral law, to the satisfaction of an
electoral committee of the Nationalists, was finished on the
6th of June, and the Shah’s signature to it was expected in a
few days. High hopes were placed on the coming of
Nasr-ul-Mulk, the exiled statesman at Paris, who had been
solicited to accept the Prime Ministry, and who seemed slow to
take the proffered honor. But the wrecked structure of
constitutional government could not so easily be set in
motion. The revolutionaries at Kazvin became threatening
again, and were in motion toward Teheran before the end of
June, while the Bakhtiari began a simultaneous advance. On the
29th of June the Russian Government issued orders "to assemble
a considerable force at Baku, to be held in readiness in case
of a _coup de main_ against the Persian capital."
Meantime the new electoral law had been signed, but not
promulgated, "owing to the prevailing excitement," it was
said.

On the 3d of July the Russian Government addressed a Circular
Note on the situation in Persia to the Governments of foreign
Powers, saying, in part:

"The Imperial Government, on consideration of the position of
affairs, has come to the conclusion that the principle of
absolute non-interference in the internal affairs of Persia
and in the conflict between the Shah and the Persian people
must remain, now as formerly, the basis of its policy in
Persia. In this connexion we could not leave out of sight the
fact that in the event of the Bakhtiari and revolutionaries
entering Teheran the Russian and other European Legations and
European institutions and subjects, as well as our road from
Enzeli (on the Caspian Sea) to Teheran, might find themselves
in an extremely dangerous position, and the more so because,
according to information which has reached us, the only
Regular troops at the Shah’s disposal consist of the Persian
Cossack Brigade, which is at present so weakened that it is
scarcely in a condition to maintain order in Teheran.

"This circumstance imposes upon the Imperial Government the
moral obligation to take all measures in order that, in case
of necessity, it may be possible to render effective aid to
the above-mentioned (European) establishments and subjects and
to ensure unrestricted traffic between Teheran and Enzeli in
all circumstances. It has, therefore, been decided to send a
force from Baku to Enzeli consisting of one regiment of
Cossacks, one battalion of Russian infantry, and one battery
of artillery. The force will not advance beyond Kazvin (86
miles from Teheran), and will ensure communication between
Kazvin and the Caspian Sea.

"The further advance of a portion of the force depends upon
the course of events. It can only ensue upon the demand of the
Imperial Legation in Teheran in the event of the dangerous
situation aforesaid arising."

{490}

The Russian and British Legations attempted mediation between
the Sipahdar and the Shah, to check the former’s advance, but
his demands made their intervention hopeless. The Shah’s
forces pushed out to intercept the on-coming revolutionaries,
encountered them on the 11th, 18 miles west of Teheran, and
fighting went on at a distance from the city for two days; but
forces which slipped between the defensive lines made their
way into the capital on the morning of July 13th, and there
was fighting in the streets until the 16th. The Shah then
sought refuge at the Russian Legation, and the Russian
officers of the Persian Cossacks, besieged in their barracks,
made terms with the Nationalist leaders.

Four days later the Persian situation was stated to the
British House of Commons by the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, Sir Edward Grey, as follows:

"The Shah, after taking refuge in the Russian legation,
abdicated, and his son, Sultan Ahmed Mirza [a young child] has
been proclaimed Shah by the Nationalist Committee under the
regency of Azad-ul-Mulk, head of the Kajar tribe, pending the
convocation of Parliament. The commanders of the Fedai and
Bakhtiari, as temporary chiefs of the Persian Government, have
accepted the services of the Persian Cossack brigade under
their Russian officers, on condition that the latter are
completely under the orders of the Minister of War. This
arrangement was ratified at a meeting between the commanders
and Colonel Liakhoff. Teheran is quiet, and the Persian
Cossacks are already fraternizing with the Fedai. The Sipahdar
has been appointed Minister of War, and the Sirdar Assad
Minister of the Interior." Being asked if he would represent
to the Russian Government the undesirability of advancing
Russian troops to Teheran, Sir Edward added: "In view of the
declarations already made by the Russian Government as to the
circumstances under which alone Russian troops would be sent
to Teheran and in view of the fact that no troops have been
sent to Teheran during the recent troubles, in spite of the
fact that at one time some apprehension, which happily proved
to be unfounded, was expressed for the safety of Russian
subjects, such representations would be most uncalled for."

On the 17th the Provisional Government gave notice to the
Anglo-Russian legations of the selection of the new Shah, and
asked that he should be delivered to their keeping; whereupon,
wrote the _Times_ correspondent, "M. Sablin announced the
request to the Shah, who replied that he thought his mother
would not consent. The Shah then took M. Sablin to his mother
and an affecting scene ensued. Both the mother and father
broke down at the thought of parting with their favourite son
and offered their second son in his place. M. Sablin replied
that the selection had been made by the people and that he had
no voice in the matter. The boy wept bitterly in sympathy with
his parents and declined to leave his mother. Finally their
Majesties were persuaded to agree. On receiving the Shah’s
assent, the necessary proclamation was immediately promulgated
and it was arranged that the Regent and a Nationalist
deputation would receive the little Shah.

"An interested crowd witnessed his departure this morning from
the custody of his natural guardians. During the morning
Sultan Ahmed wept bitterly at the prospect of becoming a King,
and it required a stern message to the effect that crying was
not allowed in the Russian Legation before he dried his eyes.
Then the little man came out bravely, entered a large
carriage, and drove off alone, escorted by Cossacks, Sowars,
and Persian Cossacks and followed by a long string of
carriages. At Sultanatabad he was met by the Regent and the
deputation and ceremoniously notified of his high position and
of the hope entertained by the nation that he would prove to
be a good ruler.

‘Inshallah, I will,’ replied the lad. Arrangements for the
Coronation will be made hereafter. In the meanwhile the little
Shah, who is guarded by a Bakhtiari, remains with his tutors
at Sultanatabad, where his mother is free to visit him."

At Teheran, affairs settled quickly into quiet, but disorders
were prolonged in various parts of the provinces, being
especially serious at Shiraz. The deposed Shah remained for
weeks at the Russian Legation, while negotiations with him for
a pension or allowance in return for his surrender of jewels
and money to the State went on, and the unhappy child who
occupied his palace had more sorrow than he.

Early in August Colonel Liakhoff returned to Russia and was
appointed to a regimental command. On the 1st of September a
general amnesty, with a few exceptions, was proclaimed by the
new government at Teheran. On the 9th of September the deposed
Shah left the shelter of the Russian Legation and journeyed,
with his queen, four younger children and several friends,
under Russian escort, to a residence in Russia, at Odessa,
which was his choice. Persia was still waiting for the able
and much trusted constitutionalist statesman, Nasr-ul-Mulk, to
return from his exile at Paris and accept the offered
premiership in the government; but on the 21st of September
the report went out that he had definitely declined the post.
He returned to Persia, however, in October. On the 11th of
October the Russian Government made known that it had decided
to withdraw the greater part of the troops it had been keeping
at Tabriz. A new Mejliss, for which the Regent had ordered
elections, was assembled on the 15th of November. On the 7th
of December the Mejliss unanimously approved the proposals of
the Government with regard to borrowing abroad and the
employment of Europeans in executive capacities for the
reorganization of the Finance Department. This, no doubt, will
improve the situation very greatly.

PERSIA: A. D. 1909 (January).
Destructive Earthquake in Luristan.

See (in this Volume)
EARTHQUAKES: PERSIA.

----------PERSIA: End--------

----------PERU: Start--------

PERU: A. D. 1899-1908.
Outline of History.

The leading events of Peruvian history are recorded in Volume
VI. of this work down to the election of President Eduardo de
Romaña, in 1899. "Romaña was a member of a prominent family of
Arequipa, and had been educated in England, at Stonyhurst. He
further had studied for, and taken a degree as, an engineer at
King’s College, London; and whilst he had not acquired much
experience in politics, he nevertheless successfully filled
the Presidential Chair throughout his term. He was alive to
the necessity for the development of the resources of the
country, and, fortunately, his administration was not
embarrassed by disturbances other than some small political
intrigues such as inevitably take place in a country which, as
Peru, was evolving a _régime_ of civil government.
{491}
During this term there was some influx of North American
capitalists, who acquired important interests, in the copper
mines of Cerro de Pasco, and who commenced the construction of
a railway line thereto. … The presidency of Señor Romaña
uneventfully expired at its natural time; elections were held,
and Señor Manuel Candamo, who had already provisionally been
head of the State, was chosen as president in May, 1903.
Candamo had been successful in quieting political animosities
after the revolt against Caceres and in consolidating the
political situation. Peru now showed real evidences of
advancement. The old turbulent element was passing away; those
leaders who had placed purely personal ambition before the
true interests of their country had given place to the natural
talent and ability of the best citizens, whom the times were
calling to the front. Candamo’s rule promised well for the
country. He was surrounded by able men, among whom, as chief
cabinet minister, was Dr. Domingo Almenard, an upright lawyer.
The fiscal revenue was increased by taxes, against which there
were murmurings, but which the country was able to bear, and
the tax on tobacco was set apart for the construction of new
railways. Unfortunately, this able administrator, Señor
Candamo, continued but a short time in office, for he was
overtaken by illness, and died at Arequipa in May, 1904. This
event left the country under the temporary leadership of the
second vice-president, Señor Calderon, for the first
vice-president had died also. An election was at once called
according to law, the two candidates which were put forward
being Dr. Jose Pardo, son of the former president of the same
name, and Señor Nicolas Piérola, who had already been at the
head of the Government on two occasions. Rivalry between the
partisans of these two candidates became acute, and although
it was feared for a moment that some disturbance might occur,
good sense prevailed, and the elections proceeded without
interruption. Both contestants were good men—Piérola
representing the party known as the _Democratas_, whilst
Pardo headed the _Civilistas_. There were not very
radical differences of principle underlying these distinctions
of name; both were for civil government and for national
progress. Piérola had done good work during his former term,
whilst Pardo had the prestige of the good name and
administration of his father, the former president of
1872-1876, and was also held in esteem personally among the
best element of the country. The result of the election—held,
probably, more fairly than ever in Peru before—fell to Dr.
Pardo, who took the presidential scarf and office in
September, 1904, and who still guides the affairs of his
country in a manner which has won the esteem of the nation, in
a general sense.

Dr. Pardo’s Cabinet was formed of some of the most capable men
in the country, prominent among whom was the minister of
Finance, Señor Leguia, to whose work is largely due the
improved financial situation. At the present time—1908—the
best elements of Peru are in the ascendant."

_G. Reginald Enock,
Peru: Its Former, and Present Civilization,
History and Existing Conditions,
chapter 9 (Scribner’s Sons, New York)._

PERU: A. D. 1901.
Broad Treaty of Arbitration with Bolivia.

See (in this Volume)
ARBITRATION, INTERNATIONAL: A. D. 1901 (NOVEMBER).

PERU: A. D. 1901-1906.
Participation in Second and Third International Conferences
of American Republics.

See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS.

PERU: A. D. 1903-1909.
Boundary disputes in the Acre region with Bolivia and Brazil.

See (in this Volume)
ACRE DISPUTES.

PERU: A. D. 1905.
Arbitration Treaties with Colombia and Ecuador.

In a message to the Peruvian Congress, July 28, 1906,
President Pardo communicated treaties of arbitration with
Colombia, one general in its nature, the other special for the
settlement of existing boundary questions. Of the latter the
message said:

"As in former treaties of the same character which have been
heretofore concluded with that Republic, the controversy is
submitted to the decision, to be based upon considerations of
equity, of His Holiness Pope Pius X. But as our question with
Colombia is connected with the one with Ecuador, it has been
agreed that the arbitration with Colombia shall only take
place after the termination of the one in which we are now
proceeding with Ecuador, upon the adjudication by the royal
Spanish arbitrator to Peru of territories which are likewise
claimed by Colombia."

PERU: A. D. 1906.
Decree for the Encouragement of Immigration.

See (in this Volume)
IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION: PERU.

PERU: A. D. 1907.
Diplomatic Relations with Chile reëstablished.
The Tacna and Arica questions remaining open.

See (in this Volume)
CHILE: A. D. 1907.

PERU: A. D. 1908-1909.
Seating of President Leguia.
Attempted Revolutions defeated.

On the 27th of May, 1908, Augusto B. Leguia became President,
succeeding Dr. Pardo. Señor Leguia had previously been Premier
and Minister of Finance and Commerce; prior to which he had
been managing director of a great English sugar company in
Peru. A revolutionary movement had been attempted a few weeks
before, in which Dr. Augusto Durand and Isaias Piérola were
engaged, and which suffered defeat.

A year later, on May 29, a similar attempt was announced from
Lima, and ascribed to the same "agitators," who, said the
despatch, "made an assault upon the palace and seized
President Leguia. The army, however, remained loyal and came
to his support. The revolutionists were obliged to liberate
the President, who immediately took measures to put down the
movement. Within an hour, although firing was still heard in
the streets, President Leguia seemed to be master of the
situation. Many shots were exchanged between the troops and
the revolutionists and it is believed that the casualties will
be heavy."

This was contradicted a week later, so far as concerned Dr.
Durand. "It has been proved," said the later statement, "that
the revolutionary outbreak of last week was engineered
entirely by the followers of the Piérola brothers. A committee
of the Liberal party to-day visited President Leguia, and,
declaring that neither Dr. Durand nor José Oliva had taken
part in the movement, requested that these men be set at
liberty. The country is quiet."

----------PERU: End--------

PETER I., King of Servia: His Election.

See (in this Volume)
BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: SERVIA.

{492}

PETIT, Archbishop Fulbert.

See (in this Volume)
FRANCE: A. D. 1905-1906.

PETROLEUM:
The Supply and the Waste in the United States.

See (in this Volume)
Conservation of Natural Resources.

PETROPALOVSK, SINKING OF THE.

See (in this Volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (February-August).

PHAGOCYTES: THEIR DEPENDENCE ON OPSONINS.

See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: OPSONINS.

PHILADELPHIA: A. D. 1905.
A Spasm of Municipal Reform.

See (in this Volume)
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.

PHILADELPHIA: A. D. 1909.
Defeat of Reform.

See (in this Volume)
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.

----------PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: Start--------

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS:
Gains to Spain from their Loss.

See (in this Volume)
SPAIN: A. D. 1898-1908.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900-1902.
The Stamping Out of the Bubonic Plague.

See (in this Volume)
PUBLIC HEALTH.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1901.
Second Report of the Second Philippine Commission.
Collapse of the Insurrection.
Peace in all but five Provinces.
Organization of Provincial Governments.
Native Appointments.
Central Civil Government.
Appointment of Governor Taft.
Filipino Members added to Commission.

Down to the capture of Aguinaldo, leader of the Filipino
insurgents, on the 23d of March, 1901, and his submission to
"the sovereignty of the United States throughout the
Philippine Archipelago," as announced in an address to his
countrymen on the 19th of April, the history of American rule
in those islands is recorded in Volume VI. of this work. The
Second Philippine Commission, with the Honorable William H.
Taft at its head, had entered on the performance of its
extensive legislative duties on the 1st of the previous
September, while the Military Governor continued to exercise
administrative powers. The Commission had begun the
organization of provincial and municipal governments, and the
establishing of a system of public schools, as related in the
Volume referred to. From its second report, covering ten
months and a half, ending on the 15th of October, 1901, the
following statements are drawn, to continue the outline of
principal events and most important affairs down to that date:

"The collapse of the insurrection came in May, after many
important surrenders and captures, including that of
Aguinaldo. Cailles, in Laguna, surrendered in June, and
Belarmino, in Albay, on July 4.

"There are four important provinces in which the insurrection
still continues, Batangas, Samar, Cebu, and Bohol. Parts of
Laguna and Tayabas adjoining Batangas in the mountain region
are affected by the disturbances in Batangas. In Mindoro also,
a thinly settled and almost unexplored island, there are
insurrectos. … Outside of the five provinces named there is
peace in the remainder of the archipelago. …

"The work of the commission since it began to legislate in
September, 1900, has been constant. … We have passed since our
last report, in addition to numerous appropriation bills, a
municipal code, a provincial law, a school law, a law
prescribing an accounting system, acts organizing the various
bureaus of the central government, acts organizing the courts,
an act to incorporate the city of Manila, a code of civil
procedure for the islands, and a new tariff act. …

"The general provincial law provides for a provincial
government of five officers—the governor, the treasurer, the
supervisor, the secretary, and the fiscal, or prosecuting
attorney. The governing board is called the provincial board,
and includes as members the governor, the treasurer, and the
supervisor. The prosecuting attorney is the legal adviser of
the board and the secretary of the province is its secretary.
The first function of the provincial government is to collect,
through the provincial treasurer, all the taxes, with few
exceptions, belonging to the towns or the province. Its second
and most important function is the construction of highways
and bridges and public buildings. Its third function is the
supervision, through the governor and the provincial
treasurer, of the municipal officers in the discharge of their
duties. Within certain limitations, the provincial board fixes
the rate of levy for provincial taxation.

"The governor has the power to suspend any municipal officer
found failing in his duty, and is obliged to visit the towns
of the province twice in a year, and hear complaints against
the municipal officers. … Under the act the offices are all to
be filled at first by appointment of the commission. The
governor holds his office until February, 1902, when his
successor is to be elected in a mass convention of the
municipal councilors of the towns of the province. The
secretary, treasurer, and supervisor after February next are
brought under the civil-service act, and all vacancies
thereafter arising are to be filled in accordance with the
terms of that act. The fiscal is appointed for an
indeterminate period, and is not subject to the civil-service
law. …

"The commission reached the conclusion that it would aid in
the pacification of the country; would make the members of
that body very much better acquainted with the country, with
the people, and with the local conditions, and would help to
educate the people in American methods, if the commission went
to the capital of each province and there passed the special
act necessary to create the provincial government and made the
appointments at that time. Accordingly, the commission visited
thirty-three provinces. …

{493}

"The policy of the commission in its provincial appointments
has been, where possible, to appoint Filipinos as governors
and Americans as treasurers and supervisors. The provincial
secretary and the provincial fiscal appointed have uniformly
been Filipinos. It will be observed that this makes a majority
of the provincial board American. The commission has, in
several instances, appointed to provincial offices former
insurgent generals who have been of especial aid in bringing
about peace, and in so doing it has generally acted on the
earnest recommendation of the commanding officer of the
district or province. We believe the appointments made have
had a good effect and the appointees have been anxious to do
their duty. …

"The central government of the islands established in
September, 1900, under the instructions of the President, with
a military governor as chief executive and the commission as
the legislative body with certain executive functions in
addition, continued until the 4th of July, 1901. At that time
Major General Adna R. Chaffee relieved Major-General MacArthur
as commanding general of this division and military governor.
By the order of June 21, previous, in all organized provinces
the civil executive authority theretofore reposed in the
military governor and in the commission was transferred on
July 4 to a civil governor. The president of the commission
was designated as civil governor. …

"By an order taking effect September 1, the purport of which
was announced the 4th day of July, there were added to the
commission, as a legislative body, three Filipinos, Dr. T. H.
Pardo de Tavera, Señor Benito Legarda, and Senor José
Luzuriaga. These gentlemen, the first two of them residents of
Manila and the last a resident of the island of Negros, had
been most earnest and efficient in bringing about peace in the
islands. Dr. Tavera was the first president of the Federal
party, had accompanied the commission in its trips to the
southern provinces, and was most useful in the effective
speeches which he delivered in favor of peace and good order
at every provincial meeting. Señor Legarda had been valuable
in the extreme to General Otis and to all the American
authorities by the wisdom of his suggestions, and the courage
and earnestness with which he upheld the American cause as the
cause most beneficial to his country. Señor José Luzuriaga was
a member of the first government of the island of Negros,
organized while there was insurrection rife throughout the
islands, as an independent government under the supervision of
a military governor, and was most active in preventing the
insurrection from gaining any foothold in that important
island. …

"The theory upon which the commission is proceeding is that
the only possible method of instructing the Filipino people in
methods of free institutions and self-government is to make a
government partly of Americans and partly of Filipinos, giving
the Americans the ultimate control for some time to come. In
our last report we pointed out that the great body of the
people were ignorant, superstitious, and at present incapable
of understanding any government but that of absolutism. The
intelligence and education of the people may be largely
measured by knowledge of the Spanish language. Less than 10
per cent of the people speak Spanish. With Spaniards in
control of these islands for four hundred years and with
Spanish spoken in all official avenues, nothing could be more
significant of the lack of real intelligence among the people
than this statement. The common people are not a warlike
people, but are submissive and easily—indeed much too
easily—controlled by the educated among them, and the power of
an educated Filipino politically ambitious, willing to plot
and use all the arts of a demagogue in rousing the people, is
quite dangerous. The educated people themselves, though full
of phrases concerning liberty, have but a faint conception of
what real civil liberty is and the mutual self-restraint which
is involved in its maintenance. They find it hard to
understand the division of powers in a government, and the
limitations that are operative upon all officers, no matter
how high. In the municipalities, in the Spanish days, what the
friar did not control the presidente did, and the people knew
and expected no limit to his exercise of authority. This is
the difficulty we now encounter in the organization of the
municipality. The presidente fails to observe the limitations
upon his power, and the people are too submissive to press
them. In this condition of affairs we have thought that we
ought first to reduce the electorate to those who could be
considered intelligent, and so the qualifications for voting
fixed in the municipal code are that the voter shall either
speak, read, and write English or Spanish, or that he shall
have been formerly a municipal officer, or that he should pay
a tax equal to $15 a year or own property of the value of
$250."

_Report of the U. S. Philippine Commission,
from December 1, 1900, to October 15, 1901,
part 1, pages 7-20._

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1901-1902.
Report of Governor Taft.
Civil Government established in
all Christian Filipino Territory.
The Moros.
Destruction of the Carabao.
Cholera.
Ladrones.
The Native Constabulary.

"When our last report was submitted there was insurrection in
the province of Batangas, where the insurgent forces were
commanded by General Malvar, and in the adjacent provinces of
Tayabas and Laguna; in the province of Samar, where the
insurgent forces were commanded by General Lukban; in Cebu,
where the insurgent forces were under the insurgent leaders
Climaco and Maxilom; in Bohol, where the insurgent forces were
commanded by the insurgent leader Samson; and in the island of
Mindoro. Vigorous campaigns were begun in November and
December by General Bell, in Batangas, Laguna, Tayabas, and
Mindoro, by General Smith in Samar, and by General Hughes in
Cebu and Bohol. In November and December the insurgents in
Cebu and Bohol surrendered, and conditions of peace were so
completely established that the Commission soon after received
the province of Cebu from the military authorities, and by act
numbered 322, passed December 20, 1901, restored the civil
government in that province to take effect January 1, 1902; in
Bohol the province was delivered over to the Commission early
in 1902, and the commission, by act of March 3, 1902, restored
civil government there to take effect April 1, 1902. General
Lukban, in Samar, was captured in February, 1902, and the
entire force of insurgents in that island under General
Guevara surrendered in April following.

{494}

"By an act passed June 17, 1902, Number 419, the Commission
organized the province of Samar, and established civil
government there. In April of 1902, General Malvar surrendered
with all his forces in Batangas, and by act passed June 23,
1902, the Commission restored civil government to that
province to take effect July 4, 1902. By act Number 424,
enacted July 1, 1902, the province of Laguna was organized
into a civil government. This completed the organization of
all the provinces in which insurrection had been rife during
the latter part of 1901, except Mindoro. There were, in
addition, certain tracts of territory occupied by Christian
Filipinos that had not received civil government, either
because of the remoteness of the territory or the scarcity of
population." The report then details the measures by which
civil government was given to these tracts of territory, and
proceeds:

"The question what shall be done with respect to Mindanao is
one which has not been definitely decided, first, because so
much has had to be done with respect to the northern and
Filipino provinces, and, second, because at present there is
an unsettled condition in the Lake Lanao country. The
hostility to the Americans does not reach beyond the Lake
Lanao Moros. The Moros of the Jolo group, of Zamboanga, and of
the Rio Grande de Mindanao Valley are all quiet, and all
entirely willing to submit to American supervision. It is very
possible that an arrangement can be brought about by which the
Sultan of Jolo can be induced to part with such rights as he
claims to have in the Jolo Archipelago, and in this way
questions which now present very perplexing difficulties with
respect to ownership of privileges, rights, and lands may be
obviated. … I think it wiser on the part of the Commission to
postpone the consideration of the Moro question until we have
passed legislation to meet needs that are more pressing
throughout the northern part of these possessions of the
United States. For a great many years to come there will be no
question of popular government in the Moro country; the Moros
do not understand popular government, do not desire it, and
are entirely content with the control by their dattos.
Possibly far in the future the control by dattos will cease.
There is room for material and industrial development among
the Moros, and with their material improvement may come a
change in their political views. For the present, however, it
is necessary only to provide a paternal, strong, but
sympathetic government for these followers of Mohammed.

"The civil government has assumed responsibility for the
preservation of order and the maintenance of law throughout
the Christian Filipino territory of this archipelago at a time
when the material conditions are most discouraging and present
every conceivable obstacle to the successful administration of
the affairs of 6,000,000 or 7,000,000 people. The war of six
years since 1896 has greatly interfered with the regular
pursuit of agriculture, which is almost the only source of
wealth in the islands. Many years ago there was sufficient
rice raised in the islands not only to feed the people but to
export it to other countries. For a number of years before the
American occupancy rice had been imported. The area of
cultivation of the rice has been much lessened during the war
and many fields which were formerly tilled are grown now with
the cogon grass because of neglect.

"The greatest blow to agriculture has been the loss of the
carabao or water buffalo, upon which the cultivation of rice,
according to the mode pursued in these islands, is wholly
dependent. The war in some degree, and the rinderpest in a
much larger degree, have destroyed about 90 per cent of the
carabaos; and the natives—never very active in helping
themselves—have simply neglected the rice culture, so that
now the islands are compelled to spend about $15,000,000 gold
to buy food upon which to live. The carabao is not so
necessary in the cultivation of the sugar crop or in the
cultivation of hemp. …

"The cholera has swept over these islands with fatal effect,
so that the total loss will probably reach 100,000 deaths.
Whole villages have been depopulated and the necessary
sanitary restrictions to avoid its spread have interfered with
agriculture, with intercommunication, and with all business.
The ravages of war have left many destitute, and a guerrilla
life has taken away from many all habits of industry. With no
means of carrying on agriculture, which is the only occupation
of these islands, the temptation to the less responsible of
the former insurgents after surrender to prey upon their
neighbors and live by robbery and rapine has been very great.
The bane of Philippine civilization in the past was ladronism,
and the present conditions are most favorable for its growth
and maintenance. … Many who were proscribed for political
offences in the Spanish times had no refuge but the mountains,
and being in the mountains conducted a free robber life, and
about them gathered legions not unlike those of the Robin Hood
days of England, so that they attracted frequently the
sympathy of the common people. In the Spanish days it was
common for the large estate owners, including the friars, to
pay tribute to neighboring ladrones. Every Tagalog province
had its band of ladrones, and frequently each town had its
recognized ladrone whom it protected and through whom it
negotiated for immunity. …

"The insurrection is over. It is true that the ladrones,
though they live on nothing but cattle and rice stealing, and
never attack American soldiers, and prey only upon their own
people, do masquerade as insurrectos; but they recognize no
authority and have no characteristics other than those of
banditti. They have stirred up in some of the provinces the
organization of so-called secret societies for the purpose of
securing agencies with which successfully to conduct their
robbery and to sell the fruits of it. … The picture that I
have given of the depressed condition of agriculture, and the
tendency to ladronize in the Tagalog provinces and in some of
the Visayan provinces, does not apply to those provinces in
which hemp is the chief product. They are wealthy and
prosperous."

_Report of Governor W. H. Taft
(Report of the Philippine Commission, 1902, part 1)._

{495}

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1902.
Padre Aglipay’s Secession from the Roman Catholic Church.
Organization of the Independent Filipino Catholic Church.

"Gregorio Aglipay is an Ilocano, and was an ordained priest of
the Roman Catholic Church in these islands before the
insurrection. During the insurrection he continued his
priestly functions at Mabolos and took such action as to bring
him into conflict with the hierarchy of the Church. What the
merits of this controversy were I do not know. Subsequently he
assumed the leadership of the insurrecto forces in Ilocos
Norte and carried on a very active campaign in the mountains
of that province. He was one of the last of the leaders to
surrender with his forces in North Luzon. Since his surrender
he has been quite active in spreading propaganda among the
native priests against the so-called Friar domination of the
church in these islands. The definite refusal of the Vatican
to withdraw the Spanish friars from the islands was made the
occasion for the formation of the Independent Filipino
Catholic Church. Actively engaged with Aglipay in this
movement was Isabelo de los Reyes, the former editor of an
insurrecto paper, published in Madrid, called Filipinas ante
Europa, and an agitator of irresponsible and irrepressible
character. … Padre Aglipay has secured the active and open
cooperation of a number of native priests, 15 of whom he has
appointed bishops, himself having the title of archbishop. He
has held mass in many different places in and about Manila;
his services have attracted large gatherings of people. …

"In order to prevent constant recurrence of disturbances of
the peace I have had to take a firm stand with the leaders of
the movement by impressing upon them that forcible
dispossession of a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, for
years in peaceable possession of the church and the rector’s
house, is contrary to law, and would be prevented by the whole
police power. The leaders of the movement assure me that they
have no desire to violate the law and wish to keep within it,
but that their followers at times are hard to control. I have
said to them that if they claim title to the churches they may
assert it through the courts, and if successful will secure
not only the confirmation of their title but actual
possession. …

"I have taken occasion to say, whenever an opportunity
occurred, that the insular government desired to take no part
whatever in the religious controversies thus arising; that it
would protect Father Aglipay and his followers in worshiping
God as they chose just as it would protect the Roman Catholic
Church and its ministers and followers in the same rights. But
that, if the law was violated by either party, it would become
the duty of the government to step in and restrain such
lawlessness."

_Governor Wm. H. Taft,
Report, 1902, pages 39-40._

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1902-1903.
Governmental Purchase of the Friars’ Lands.