The World Almanac and Book of Facts

The Pan-American Conference of 1901.

PRESIDENT MCKINLEY, in his message to Congress in 1899, said that it seemed expedient that the various American Republics, constituting the International Union, should be invited, at an early date, to hold another conference. He suggested that it should be in the capital of one of the countries that had not already enjoyed that honor.

The Mexican Government took up this suggestion at once, and it officially invited the States comprising the Union to attend a conference to convene in the capital city of Mexico, beginning October 22, 1901.

President Roosevelt in his message to Congress, December 2, 1901, said: "We view with lively interest and keen hopes of beneficial results the proceedings of the Pan-American Congress, convoked at the invitation of Mexico, and now sitting at the Mexican capital. The delegates of the United States are under the most liberal instructions to cooperate with their colleagues in all matters promising advantage to the great family of American commonwealths, as well in their relations among themselves as in their domestic advancement and in their intercourse with the world at large. "

The conference was in session when the year closed, under the presidency of Señor Genaro Raigosa, of Mexico, The results will not be known until put in practicable form in the early months of the new year. The following is a list of the delegates in attendance:

ington.

United States of America-Ex-Senator Henry Joaquin Walker Martinez, Minister at Wash-
G. Davis, of West Virginia; William I. Buchanan,
of Iowa; Volney W. Foster, of Illinois; John
Barrett, of Oregon; Charles M. Pepper, of the
District of Columbia.

United States of Brazil-Espitacio Pessoa, Clovis Bevilqua, Assis-Brasil, Minister of Brazil in Washington.

United States of Mexico-Alfonso Lancaster Jones, Genaro Raigosa, Joaquin Cassasus, Jose Lopez Portillo y Rojas, Pablo Macedo, Emilio Pardo, Francisco L. De la Barra, Alfredo Chavero, Manuel Sanchez Marmol.

United States of Venezuela-Jose Gil Fortoul, Manuel Maria Galvez.

Argentine Republic-Martin Garcia Merou, Minister in Washington and Mexico; Antonio Bermejo, Lorenzo Amador.

Republic of Bolivia-Fernando E. Gauchalla, Minister in Washington and Mexico.

Republic of Chile-Augusto Matte, Alberto Blest Gana, Emelio Bello, Minister in Mexico;

Republic of Colombia-Carlos Martinez Silva, Minister in Washington.

Republic of Costa Rica-Joaquin Bernardo Calvo, Minister in Washington and Mexico. Republic of Ecuador-Luis Felipe Carbo, Minister in Washington and Mexico.

Republic of Guatemala-Antonio Lazo Arriaga, Minister in Washington.

Republic of Hayti-J. N. Legar, Minister in Washington.

Republic of Nicaragua-L. F. Corea, Minister in Washington and Mexico.

Republic of Paraguay-N. Baiz.

Republic of Peru-Izacal Alzamora, Alberto Elmore, Manuel Alverez Calderon, Minister in Washington.

Republic of Salvador-Baltasar Estupinian, Rafael A. Reyes.

Republic of Uruguay-Juan Cuestas, Minister in Washington and Mexico.

THE BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS.

The Bureau of the American Republics was established under the recommendation of the International American Conference in 1890 for the prompt collection and distribution of commercial information concerning the American Republics. It publishes translations of the tariffs of the countries of Latin America reduced to the United States equivalents; also handbooks of these countries, a monthly bulletin containing the latest information respecting their resources, commerce, and general features, and The Commercial Directory, an international publication. Replies are also furnished to inquiries in relation to the commercial and other affairs of the countries, and items of news giving recent laws of general interest, development of railways, agriculture, mines, manufactures, shipping, etc., are given to the press. The Bureau is sustained by contributions from the several American Republics in proportion to their population.

Territorial Expansion of the United States.

THERE have been twelve additions to the original territory of the Union, including Alaska, the Hawaiian, Philippine, and Samoan Islands and Guam, in the Pacific, and Porto Rico and Pine Islands, in the West Indies; and the total area of the United States, including the noncontiguous territory, is now fully five times that of the original thirteen colonies.

The additions to the territory of the United States subsequent to the peace treaty with Great Britain of 1783 are shown by the following table, prepared by the General Land Office of the Interior Department:

ADDITIONS TO THE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES FROM 1800 TO 1900.

* Includes interest payments.

2,937,613 87,039, 768

+ Of which $3,250,000 was in payment of claims of American citizens against Mexico. Area purchased from Texas amounting to 123, 784 square miles is not included in the column of area added, because it became a part of the area of the United States with the admission of Texas.

Total

† New

§ Or

New Jersey Constitution was adopted June 29, 1844, amended September 28, 1875. York Constitution was adopted November 6, 1894, and became operative January 1, 1895. + Pennsylvania Constitution was adopted November 3, 1873, and became operative January 1, 1874. ganic act. A convention to revise the Constitution of Connecticut meets January 1, 1902. (a) Amended 1875 and 1900.

NORTH CAROLINA CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

The North Carolina Legislature in 1899 adopted the following amendment to the suffrage section of the State Constitution: "Every person presenting himself for registration shall be able to read and write any section of the Constitution in the English language; and before he shall be entitled to vote he shall have paid, on or before the first day of May of the year in which he proposes to vote, his poll tax for the previous year, as prescribed by Article 5, Section 1, of the Constitution. But no male person who was, on January 1, 1867, or at any time prior thereto, entitled to vote under the laws of any State in the United States wherein he then resided, and no lineal descendant of such person shall be denied the right to register and vote at any election in this State by reason of his failure to possess the educational qualifications herein prescribed; provided, he shall have registered in accordance with the terms of this section prior to December 1, 1908. "

This amendment was ratified by the people at an election held in August, 1900. It becomes effective July 1, 1902.

The effect of the North Carolina amendment is to exclude from the suffrage illiterate negroes, while admitting as voters persons who were entitled to vote on January 1, 1867, and prior thereto, and their lineal male descendants, thus enfranchising a large majority of the illiterate whites.

Similar constitutional amendments have been adopted within a few years by the States of Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Alabama, and such an amendment is proposed in Virginia. The same purpose was effected by the passage of a restrictive suffrage law in Maryland and by polltax laws in Georgia and Arkansas.

THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF ALABAMA.

The people of Alabama at an election held in November, 1901, ratified the new Constitution adopted by the Constitutional Convention held during the year. The Constitution makes a number of radical changes. Under i State elections will be held but once in four years. The terms of the Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor-au office newly created-and members of the Legislature are for four years. The executive officers are made ineligible to succeed themselves, and the Governor may not take any other office during his term or for a year thereafter. The Legislature meets in regular session once in four years, instead of biennially, as before, and its session is limited to fifty days. It is deprived of practically all local legislative powers, except over the liquor traffic, and must pass general laws providing for the exercise of local legislative powers. Municipal indebtedness of cities under six thousand population is limited to 8 per cent of tax values and in large cities to 7 per cent. Extra indebtedness may, however, be incurred for school houses, waterworks, and sewers. Property is henceforth to be assessed at 65 per cent of its actual value, instead of 75 per cent. The present minimum school appropriation is $100,000. The new Constitution levies a special tax of three mills, which will yield about $800,000, which, with the poll tax and other income, will furnish fully $1,100,000 a year for schools. Counties may levy an additional school tax of one mill. Members of the Legislature and Judges are forbidden to accept free railroad passes: the Legislature may consolidate the chancery and common law courts, and penalties are provided for Sheriffs who permit prisoners to be taken from them and lynched. The following are the suffrage sections, which are a part of Article VII.:

180. The following male citizens of this State, who are citizens of the United States, and every male resident of foreign birth who, before the ratification of this Constitution, shall have legally declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and who shall not have had an opportunity to perfect his citizenship prior to the 20th day of December, 1902, twenty-one years old or upward, who, if their place of residence shall remain unchanged, will have at the date of the next general election the qualifications as to residence prescribed in Section 178 of this Constitution, and who are not disqualified under Section 182 of this Constitution, shall upon application be entitled to register as electors prior to the 20th day of December, 1902, namely:

First-All who have honorably served in the land or naval forces of the United States in the war of 1812, or in the war with Mexico, or in any war with the Indians, or in the war between the States, or in the war with Spain, or who honorably served in the land and naval forces of the Confederate States, or of the State of Alabama in the war between the States; or,

Second-The lawful descendants of persons who honorably served in the land or naval forces of the United States in the war of the American Revolution, or in the war of 1812, or in the war with Mexico, or in any war with the Indians, or in the war between the States, rin the land or naval forces of the Confederate States or of the State of Alabama in the war between the States; or,

Third-All persons who are of good character and who understand the duties and obligations of citizenship under a republican form of government."

The Nicaragua Canal Treaty.

TERMS OF THE CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CREAT BRITAIN.

ON December 4, 1901, the President of the United States transmitted the Hay-Pauncefote canal treaty to the Senate with the following letter:

"I transmit for the advice and consent of the Senate to its ratification a convention signed November 18, 1901, by the respective plenipotentiaries of the United States and Great Britain to facilitate the construction of a ship canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by whatever route may be considered expedient, and to that end, to remove any objection which may arise out of the convention of April 19, 1850, commonly called the Clayton- Bulwer treaty, to the construction of such canal under the auspices of the Government of the United States, without impairing the general principle of neutralization established in Article VIII. of that convention. I also inclose a report from the Secretary of State submitting the convention for my consideration THEODORE ROOSEVELT."

TERMS OF THE TREATY.

The United States of America and His Majesty Edward VII., of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, and Emperor of India, being desirous to facilitate the construction of a canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, by whatever route that may be considered expedient, and to that end to remove any objection which may arise out of the convention of the 19th of April, 1850, commonly called the Clayton- Bulwer treaty, to the construction of such canal under the auspices of the Government of the United States without impairing the general principle" of neutralization established in Article VIII. of that convention, have for that purpose appointed as their plenipotentiaries:

The President of the United States: John Hay, Secretary of State of the United States of America; and His Majesty Edward VII., of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, and Emperor of India: the Rt. Hon. Lord Pauncefote, G. C. B., G. C. M. G., His Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States;

Who, having communicated to each other their full powers, which were found to be in due and proper form, have agreed upon the following articles:

ARTICLE I.

The high contracting parties agree that the present treaty shall supercede the aforementioned convention of the 19th of April, 1850.

ARTICLE II.

It is agreed that the canal may be constructed under the auspices of the Government of the United States, either directly at its own cost, or by gift or loan of money to individuals or corporations, or through subscription to or purchase of stock, or shares, and that, subject to the provisions of the present treaty, the said Government shall have and enjoy all the rights incident to such construction, as well as the exclusive right of providing for the regulation and management of the canal.

ARTICLE III.

The United States adopts as the basis of the neutralization of such ship canal the following rules, substantially as embodied in the convention of Constantinople, signed the 28th of October, 1888, for the free navigation of the Suez Canal-that is to say:

1. The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce and of war of all nations observing these rules on terms of entire equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in respect of the conditions or charges of traffic, or otherwise. Such conditions and charges of traffic shall be just and equitable.

2. The canal shall never be blockaded, nor shall any right of war be exercised, nor any act of hostility be committed within it. The United States, however, shall be at liberty to maintain such military police along the canal as may be necessary to protect it against lawlessness and disorder.

3. Vessels of war of belligerents shall not revictual nor take any stores in the canal except so far as may be strictly necessary; and the transit of such vessels through the canal shall be effected with the least possible delay in accordance with the regulations in force, and with only such intermission as may result from the necessities of the service. Prizes shall be in all respects subject to the same rules as vessels of war of the belligerents.

4. No belligerent shall embark or disembark troops, munitions of war, or warlike materials in the canal, except in the case of accidental hindrance of the transit, and in such case the transit shall be resumed with all possible despatch.

5. The provisions of this article shall apply to waters adjacent to the canal, within three marine miles of either end. Vessels of war of a belligerent shall not remain in such waters longer than twenty-four hours at any one time, except in case of distress, and in such cases shall depart as soon as possible; but a vessel of war of one belligerent shall not depart within twenty-four hours from the departure of a vessel of war of the other belligerent.

ARTICLE IV.

6. The plant, establishments, buildings, and all works necessary to the construction, maintenance, and operation of the canal shall be deemed to be parts thereof for the purpose of this treaty, and in time of war, as in time of peace, shall enjoy complete immunity from attack or injury by belligerents, and from acts calculated to impair their usefulness as part of the canal.

It is agreed that no change of territorial sovereignty, or of international relations of the country or countries traversed by the beforementioned canal shall affect the general principle of the neutralization or the obligation of the high contracting parties under the present treaty.

ARTICLE V.

The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and His Britannic Majesty, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London, or at Washington, at the earliest possible time, within six months from the date hereof.

In faith whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed this treaty and hereunto affixed their seals. Done in duplicate at Washington, on the 18th day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and one.

JOHN HAY,
PAUNCEFOTE.

The Senate, on December 16, 1901, ratified the treaty by a vote of: Ayes, 72; noes, 6. There were 10 Senators absent.

Foreign Trade of the United States.

(Prepared for THE WORLD ALMANAC by the Bureau of Statistics of the Treasury Department.)

EXPORTS.

MERCHANDISE AND SPECIE EXPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES DURING THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1901.