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ment to force either the English or the Italian language on the Maltese; the policy was to leave the matter entirely to their free choice. This despatch was published, and on August 11 a demonstration was made against it by a mass meeting of 12,000 to 15,000 persons in Valetta. There was disorder as the result of hostile and excited speeches, and two days afterwards some person unknown threw corrosive fluid over the statue of Queen Victoria. At the end of the year the agitation was smouldering ineffectually.

H. WHATES.

CHAPTER VIII.

AMERICA.

I. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES.

In

AT the beginning of the year 1901 the President of the
United States was William McKinley, of Ohio, who had been
elected to the presidency in 1896 for the term beginning
March 4, 1897. His term expired on March 4, 1901.
1900 he was re-elected for a second term by the Republicans,
Theodore Roosevelt, of New York, being the Vice-President.
The Members of the Cabinet at that time were :-Secretary of
State, John Hay, of Ohio; Secretary of the Treasury, Lyman
J. Gage, of Illinois; Secretary of War, Elihu Root, of New
York; Secretary of the Navy, John D. Long, of Massachusetts;
Postmaster-General, Charles Emory Smith, of Pennsylvania ;
Attorney-General, John W. Griggs, of New Jersey; Secretary
of the Interior, Ethan A. Hitchcock, of Missouri; Secretary of
Agriculture, James Wilson, of Iowa. On March 5 Attorney-
General Griggs resigned and was succeeded by Philander C.
Knox, of Pennsylvania. On December 17 Postmaster-General
Smith resigned and was succeeded by Henry C. Payne, of
Wisconsin. In December Secretary Gage notified the President
of his intention to resign and Governor Leslie M. Shaw, of
Iowa, was designated his successor, to take office early in the
New Year.

President McKinley was inaugurated for the second time on March 4. In his inaugural message he called attention to the prosperity of the country as compared with the anxiety when he was inaugurated four years before, and added:-

"Four years ago we stood on the brink of war without the people knowing it and without any preparation or effort of preparation for the impending peril. I did all that in honour could be done to avert the war, but without avail. It became inevitable, and the Congress at its first regular session, without party division, provided money in anticipation of the crisis and in preparation to meet it.

"It came. The result was signally favourable to American arms and in the highest degree honourable to the Government. It imposed upon us obligations from which we cannot escape and from which it would be dishonourable to seek to escape. We are now at peace with the world, and it is my fervent prayer that if differences arise between us and other Powers they may be settled by peaceful arbitration, and that hereafter we may be spared the horrors of war.

"Entrusted by the people for a second time with the office of President, I enter upon its administration appreciating the great responsibilities which attach to this renewed honour and commission, promising unreserved devotion on my part to their faithful discharge, and reverently invoking for my guidance the direction and favour of Almighty God.

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My fellow-citizens, the public events of the past four years have gone into history. They are too near to justify recital. Some of them were unforeseen; many of them momentous and far-reaching in their consequences to ourselves and our relations with the rest of the world. The part which the United States bore so honourably in the thrilling scenes in China, while new to American life, has been in harmony with its true spirit and best traditions, and in dealing with the results its policy will be that of moderation and fairness.

"Our countrymen should not be deceived. We are not waging war against the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands. A portion of them are making war against the United States. By far the greater part of the inhabitants recognise American sovereignty and welcome it as a guaranty of order and security for life, property, liberty, freedom of conscience and the pursuit of happiness. To them full protection will be given. They shall not be abandoned. We will not leave the destiny of the loyal millions in the islands to the disloyal thousands who are in rebellion against the United States. Order under civil institutions will come as soon as those who now break the peace shall keep it. Force will not be needed or used when those who make war against us shall make it no more. May it end without further bloodshed and there be ushered in the reign of peace, to be made permanent by a government of liberty under law!" Vice President Roosevelt, on taking the oath of office, said :

66

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Great privileges and great powers are ours, and heavy are the responsilities that go with these privileges and these powers. According as we do well or ill so shall mankind in the future be raised or cast down. We belong to a young nation, already of giant strength, yet whose present strength is but a forecast of the power that is to come. We stand supreme in the continent, in a hemisphere. East and west we look across the two great oceans toward the larger world-life in which, whether we will or not, we must take an ever-increasing share. And as, keen-eyed, we gaze into the coming years, duties new and

old rise thick and fast to confront us from within and from without.

"There is every reason why we should face these duties with a sober appreciation alike of their importance and of their difficulty. But there is also every reason for facing them with high-hearted resolution and eager and confident faith in our capacity to do them aright.

"A great work lies ready to the hand of this generation; it should count itself happy indeed that to it is given the privilege of doing such a work. A leading part must be taken by this, the august and powerful legislative body over which I have been called to preside. Most deeply I appreciate the privilege of my position; for high indeed is the honour of presiding over the American Senate at the outset of the twentieth century."

On September 6, while holding a reception in the Temple of Music of the Pan-American Exhibition at Buffalo, President McKinley was shot by Leon Czolgosz, an American anarchist of Polish extraction, and died early on the morning of September 14. The body of the late President was brought to Washington, and a State funeral held in the Rotunda of the Capitol, the interment taking place at Canton, Ohio, the President's former home. Under the provision of the Constitution, Theodore Roosevelt at once took the oath of office, and became the President of the United States. He announced that he would follow the policy of his predecessor, and he requested the members of the McKinley Cabinet to retain their portfolios, which they consented to do. The assassin was placed on trial on September 23 at Buffalo, found guilty and sentenced to death three days later. He was executed by electricity at the State prison at Auburn, New York, October 29.

The area of the United States, not including foreign possessions, is (census of 1900) 3,616,484 square miles, with a population of 76,303,387 as compared with 63,069,756 in the previous decade. There were 9,312,585 "coloured" persons, under that head being enumerated negroes, persons of negro descent, Chinese, Japanese and Indians. The dependencies have a population of 8,083,683 as follows: Philippine Islands, 6,961,339 (estimated); Porto Rico, 953,243; Hawaii, 154,001; Guam, 9,000; American Samoa, 6,100.

For the fiscal year 1901 487,918 immigrants arrived in the United States as compared with 448,572 in 1900. The principal countries sending immigrants to the United States were Italy, 135,996; Austria-Hungary, 113,390; Russia, 85,257; Ireland, 30,561; Sweden, 23,331; Germany, 21,651; Great Britain (excluding Ireland), 14,985.

The regular Army of the United States, including coloured troops, is limited to a maximum strength of 100,000 enlisted men, but at the present time 3,820 officers, line and staff, and 77,287 enlisted men, exclusive of coloured troops, constitute the military establishment. The Army Act of February 2, 1901,

"It came. The result was signally favourable to Ai arms and in the highest degree honourable to the Gover. It imposed upon us obligations from which we cannot and from which it would be dishonourable to seek to We are now at peace with the world, and it is my fervent that if differences arise between us and other Powers the be settled by peaceful arbitration, and that hereafter we n spared the horrors of war.

"Entrusted by the people for a second time with the off President, I enter upon its administration appreciating the responsibilities which attach to this renewed honour and. mission, promising unreserved devotion on my part to t faithful discharge, and reverently invoking for my guidance direction and favour of Almighty God.

"My fellow-citizens, the public events of the past four y have gone into history. They are too near to justify reci Some of them were unforeseen; many of them momentous far-reaching in their consequences to ourselves and our relatio with the rest of the world. The part which the United Sta bore so honourably in the thrilling scenes in China, while ne to American life, has been in harmony with its true spirit a best traditions, and in dealing with the results its policy will that of moderation and fairness.

"Our countrymen should not be deceived. We are no waging war against the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands. A portion of them are making war against the United States. By far the greater part of the inhabitants recognise American sovereignty and welcome it as a guaranty of order and security for life, property, liberty, freedom of conscience and the pursuit of happiness. To them full protection will be given. They shall not be abandoned. We will not leave the destiny of the loyal millions in the islands to the disloyal thousands who are in rebellion against the United States. Order under civil institutions will come as soon as those who now break the peace shall keep it. Force will not be needed or used when those who make war against us shall make it no more. May it end without further bloodshed and there be ushered in the reign of peace, to be made permanent by a government of liberty under law!" Vice-President Roosevelt, on taking the oath of office,

said:

66

Great privileges and great powers are ours, and heavy are the responsilities that go with these privileges and these powers. According as we do well or ill so shall mankind in the future be raised or cast down. We belong to a young nation, already of giant strength, yet whose present strength is but a forecast of the power that is to come. We stand supreme in the continent, in a hemisphere. East and west we look across the two great oceans toward the larger world-life in which, whether we will or not, we must take an ever-increasing share. An as, keen-eyed, we gaze into the coming years, duties new al

old rise thick and fast to confront us from within and from without.

"There is every reason why we should face these duties with a sober appreciation alike of their importance and of their difficulty. But there is also every reason for facing them with high-hearted resolution and eager and confident faith in our capacity to do them aright.

"A great work lies ready to the hand of this generation; it should count itself happy indeed that to it is given the privilege of doing such a work. A leading part must be taken by this, the august and powerful legislative body over which I have been called to preside. Most deeply I appreciate the privilege of my position; for high indeed is the honour of presiding over the American Senate at the outset of the twentieth century."

On September 6, while holding a reception in the Temple of Music of the Pan-American Exhibition at Buffalo, President McKinley was shot by Leon Czolgosz, an American anarchist of Polish extraction, and died early on the morning of September 14. The body of the late President was brought to Washington, and a State funeral held in the Rotunda of the Capitol, the interment taking place at Canton, Ohio, the President's former home. Under the provision of the Constitution, Theodore Roosevelt at once took the oath of office, and became the President of the United States. He announced that he would follow the policy of his predecessor, and he requested the members of the McKinley Cabinet to retain their portfolios, which they consented to do. The assassin was placed on trial on September 23 at Buffalo, found guilty and sentenced to death three days later. He was executed by electricity at the State prison at Auburn, New York, October 29.

The area of the United States, not including foreign possessions, is (census of 1900) 3,616,484 square miles, with a population of 76,303,387 as compared with 63,069,756 in the previous decade. There were 9,312,585 "coloured" persons, under that head being enumerated negroes, persons of negro descent, Chinese, Japanese and Indians. The dependencies have a population of 8,083,683 as follows: Philippine Islands, 6,961,339 (estimated); Porto Rico, 953,243; Hawaii, 154,001; Guam, 9,000; American Samoa, 6,100.

For the fiscal year 1901 487,918 immigrants arrived in the United States as compared with 448,572 in 1900. The principal countries sending immigrants to the United States were Italy, 135,996; Austria-Hungary, 113,390; Russia, 85,257; Ireland, 30,561; Sweden, 23,331; Germany, 21,651; Great Britain (excluding Ireland), 14,985.

The regular Army of the United States, including coloured troops, is limited to a maximum strength of 100,000 enlisted men, but at the present time 3,820 officers, line and staff, and 77,287 enlisted men, exclusive of coloured troops, constitute the military establishment. The Army Act of February 2, 1901,

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