College of Agriculture and the Mechanical Arts, the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College have wisely introduced courses in textile industry with special reference to the manufacture of cotton goods. The number of students who are taking courses of study in agriculture has increased during the decade from 4,390 to 5,035; the number in engineering, from 6,730 to 8,341; in veterinary science from 646 to 1,167; in household economy from 1,573 to 1,868.

The total income of the educational institutions was reported in 1900 at $7,111,749, which is an increase of nearly $500,000 over the amount for the preceding year. This includes not only federal aid, but also the income derived from fees, invested funds and other sources.

SERVIA, a small kingdom of the Balkan Peninsula, formerly a part of the Ottoman Empire. It lies between Hungary on the north and Turkey on the south. It has as neighbors Rumania and Bulgaria on the east, and Bosnia on the west. In size it is a little larger than Vermont and New Hampshire, having an area of 19,050 square miles.

The population of Servia in 1895 was 2,314,153, distributed as follows: Servians (or Serbs), 2,083,482; Rumanians, 159,510; Gipsies, 46,212; Germans, 6,437; Jews, 5,048 Hungarians, 1,962. According to religion there were: Greek-orthodox, 2,281,018; Roman Catholics, 10,411; Protestants, 1,002; Jews, 5,102; Mohammedan Gipsies, 11,565; Mohammedan Turks, 2,849. Besides Belgrade, the capital, having 59,494 inhabitants, the chief towns are Nish, 21,524; Kragouyévatz, 13,870; Leskovatz, 13,165; Pozarévatz, 11,699, and Vranya, 11,553.

GOVERNMENT.-Servia is a constitutional monarchy and hereditary in the male line. of the house of Obrenovic. For nearly four hundred years the Servian people were in continuous revolt against their Turkish masters, and the Sultan was finally compelled to grant them virtual independence in 1829. Though the Servians from this time had automony in local affairs, the country was nominally in possession of the Turks. In 1878 the principality of Servia was declared independent by the Treaty of Berlin, and in 1882 it was proclaimed a Kingdom.

The constitution of 1889 vested the executive power in the King, assisted by eight ministers. In 1894 an older constitution,

that of 1869, was revived and was in force until April 19, 1901. The National Assembly consisted of 198 deputies elected by the voters and of 64 members nominated by the King, there being one deputy for every 4,500 tax-paying males. The Skupshtina, as the Servian Assembly is called, meets every year on Nov. 1. There is also a State Council or Senate, composed of 16 members, 8 nominated by the King and 8 chosen by the Assembly. For particulars relating to the new constitution of 1901, see closing paragraphs.

Alexander I. has been king since 1893, being the fifth of his dynasty. His civil list amounts to 1,200,000 dinars, or about $240,000. He was born in 1876 and married to a Russian lady, Madame Draga Maschin, on Aug. 5, 1900. His father, King Milan, abdicated in 1889. His mother, exQueen Nathalie, was divorced from Milan in 1888, but they were reconciled in 1893.

AGRICULTURE.-"Servia is essentially an agricultural country," says Herbert Vivian; "nine-tenths of her population are employed on the land, and more than nine-tenths of her wealth is derived directly from it. typical Servian is first and last a peasantproprietor.""

The

The soil is fertile and brings forth abundant crops-wheat, barley, oats and maize. Hemp and tobacco thrive. Primitive methods are in vogue, and a better system of farming would produce a much larger quantity of grain and grass. The land under cultivation in 1890 amounted to 6,691,635

acres.

The peasants are successful in raising live stock, and large numbers of cattle and pigs are exported. Travelers declare that the principal product of the country is swine, the porkers being seen feeding in the meadows and forests almost everywhere. The census of live stock in Servia, taken in December, 1900, gives the following figures: Horses, 180,871: cattle (all kinds), 949.113; sheep, 3,013,644; goats, 425,565; pigs, 940,609; poultry, 4,648,593; bee-hives, 172,400.

The grapes and plums of Servia are of fine quality, and other fruits are grown. The country has great forest wealth and valuable mines, which are as yet developed only to a slight extent. Industries are in a backward condition because of bad roads and the lack of railways.

MINERAL PRODUCTION.-Servia is said to 'H. Vivian, "Servia, the Poor Man's Paradise," p. 501.

ger, and homelessness are unknown. If industry and commerce are checked by the absence of capitalists, the greatest good of the greatest number is undoubtedly attained by the corresponding absence of the poor, whom we have always with us in more modern States."

The exports, chiefly of cereals, live stock, and plums, exceed the imports of manufactured goods. The external trade is for the most part with Austria-Hungary, valued at $15,000,000 or more annually. The export trade with Germany has been growing of late years, and amounts to more than a million dollars annually. The yearly exports to Turkey, Bulgaria, and Rumania amount to several hundred thousand dollars. Servian produce to the value of ten or eleven million dollars goes to Austria-Hungary every year.

Of imports, Austria-Hungary furnishes $5,000,000 or more annually; Great Britain, $1,000,000; and Germany about a million. American imports are small, $200,000 or less.

The following figures show the value of the foreign trade of Servia in 1899 and 1900 (in pounds sterling):

EDUCATION.-Elementary instruction in Servia is compulsory and free. Rapid progress has been made since 1883, when there were 618 schools with 821 teachers and 36,314 pupils. There are now 920 schools, with 750,000 pupils. The gymnasiums, technical schools, and girls' schools are well attended. The percentage of illiterates was high in 1895, but their number has since been greatly diminished. Belgrade has a university of three faculties and nearly 500 students the cost of maintaining it in the year 1898-99 was $63,690.

RECENT HISTORY.-The Skupshtina was opened (Jan. 12, 1901) by a speech from the throne. The King, after speaking of his marriage, said his father, ex-King Milan, had left the country forever. Milan died Feb. 11, 1901.

On Jan. 26 the Skupshtina voted in favor of a measure making over to King Alexander a part of the State copper mines of Majdanpek, as a token of the devotion of his people.

In February the Ministry was reconstructed. The Premier relinquished the portfolio of Foreign Affairs to Dr. Michael Vuitch, a member of the Radical party, and took that of Minister of Justice. M. Mika Papović was transferred from the department of Finance to that of Commerce ad interim. The other ministers retained their portfolios.

In April a new cabinet was formed, with M. Vuitch as Premier; M. Peter Velimirović, Minister of Public Works; and M. Dragoutin Stamenković, Minister of Justice.

The new Constitution was promulgated April 19, 1901, as the result of an understanding between the sovereign and the leaders of the three political parties. In an interview the King explained the salient features of the new Servian Constitution, in contrast with the constitutions of 1869 and 1888. That of 1869 practically amounted to absolutism, while the constitution of 1888 had contrary defects, in that it subordinated the executive to the legislature. "It had another great fault. It was excessively doctrinaire and theoretical, affecting to foresee everything and to regulate everything, so that the legislative power was bound hand and foot and could not legislate freely.

"The constitution which will be promulgated on April 19, the anniversary of the day when the fortress of Belgrade was finally evacuated by the Turks in 1867, is a charter similar to those which organize the public powers in several countries of Europe, as, for instance, in England and France. What more particularly distinguishes the constitution of 1901 from that of 1869 is that it prevents the use and abuse of ordinances by the executive, which will be obliged to frame special laws in every case-that is to say, laws accepted and approved of by the King, the Senate, and the Chamber of Deputies. Thus legality will henceforth be the regulating wheel in the machinery of government. The

Chamber of Deputies will be much better organized, as the enlightened classes will be much more numerously represented. The constitution of 1901 will also present great advantages over that of 1888. The legislature will control the acts of the government as far as can possibly be desired. At the same time the constitutional regime as established in the new constitution will give the King all the power that he ought to retain in a country that is still new, like Servia, without diminishing any of the inviolable liberties of the nation.

"I attach very great importance to the new political institution with which I am going to endow Servia-namely, an Upper Chamber. Considering that it already exists, not only in monarchical countries, but also in most republics, as, for instance, in France and the United States, I cannot admit that it should be regarded as involving the slightest aristocratic tendency or idea. I know my country well enough to be sure that I shall find a sufficient number of highclass politicians to recruit the Senate, and that enough will remain for the Chamber of Deputies. I am likewise fully persuaded that the legislative task of the Parliament will be much better performed when the Chamber of Deputies is conscious that above it there exists a Senate whose business it is to revise and improve the laws which it has elaborated, of course, for the greater benefit of the nation. Then, again, the Senate will form a moderating element which was much wanting in our legislature. What Servia is suffering from is not any lack of legislation, but from the circumstances that the existing laws were hastily framed or were the outcome of party rancor."

On the occasion of the promulgation, April 19, of the new Constitution, the members of the Cabinet and other officials tendered their resignations. They were all reappointed. M. Georg Simić was appointed President of the new State Council. The King appointed 30 Senators, of whom II are Radicals. 10 Progressists, and 4 Liberals. The Skupshtina is composed of 230 members, one-fourth chosen by the King and the rest by the people. The Council of State numbers 16 or 18 members.

In May the newspapers contained dispatches regarding an argument between Servia and Russia, "involving the obligation for Russia of maintaining the Obrenović dynasty on the one hand, while Servia, on

the other, will undertake to place her whole military strength at the service of Russia in case of an Austro-Russian war."

Politically, Servia is in close union with Russia. It was through Russia's influence that the Servian government recently obtained a loan in Paris. The people of the three Balkan States-Servia, Bulgaria, and Montenegro-are by ties of race, language, ideas, and policy grouped with Russia.

At the opening of the Skupshtina (Oct. 20), the King took the oath to uphold the new Constitution. In his speech from the throne he spoke of the friendly relations between Servia and neighboring States, and especially of the close interests binding Ser

via and Russia.

The illness of Queen Draga in the spring of 1901 led to hopes of her approaching confinement. The disappointment of the King's hopes was shared by the whole Servian people. A dispatch from Vienna (Nov. 27) says: "The Hungarian papers allege that King Alexander of Servia desires to divorce Queen Draga in order that he may marry his sister-in-law, Helene Benyavitch, and that accounts for Queen Draga's recent hysterical outbreaks."

BIBLIOGRAPHY.-W. Miller, "The Balkans" (1896), Part III., Servia; W. Miller, "Travels and Politics in the Near East" (1900); Herbert Vivian, "Servia, the Poor Man's Paradise" (1897).

EUGENE PARSONS, A. M.

SEWELL, WILLIAM JOYCE, one of the two Republican senators from New Jersey, died December 27, 1901, at his home in Camden.

General Sewell was born in Ireland in 1835, coming to this country at an early age. At the time of the outbreak of the civil war he was engaged in mercantile business, but he enlisted and was commissioned as captain in the Fifth New Jersey Volunteers; he served during the war and was brevetted brigadier-general for distinguished services at Chancellorsville and major-general for gallant services during the war. After peace was declared he became connected with the, railroads in New Jersey, branches of the Pennsylvania system. In 1872 he was elected State senator from Camden County, re-elected in 1875 and again in 1878. He was president of the Senate in the years 1876, 1879 and 1880. While yet a member of the legislature he was elected to the United States Senate in

1881 as the successor of Senator Theodore F. Randolph, and served until the close of his term in 1887. He was elected as delegate to the Republican national conventions of 1876, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, 1896 and 1900, and on each occasion was made chairman of his delegation.

He was in command of the National Guard of New Jersey and also connected with the management of various banks, trust companies and philanthropic societies. He was appointed major-general upon the declaration of war against Spain, but at the unanimous request of the Republican members of the Senate did not take the field. In 1895 he was again elected to the United States Senate to succeed Hon. John R. McPherson, Democrat, and re-elected in 1901. His term of service would have expired March 3, 1907.

SHAW, LESLIE MORTIMER, former governor of Iowa, is the Secretary of the Treasury, having accepted the portfolio December 25, 1901.

Governor Shaw comes of the old New England stock, which played so important a part in the shaping of the American nation, but he also belongs to the great West, being one of the best known Republicans beyond the Mississippi River. College bred, he has been a student all his life. Trained to the law, disciplined in finance, experienced in politics and political economy, he is also a man of the people.

The Cabinet now contains two members from Iowa, but this situation is not without precedent, as during the first Cleveland administration New York was represented by both Whitney and Manning, while in the McKinley cabinet, Smith and Knox were from Pennsylvania.

Leslie Mortimer Shaw was born in a log house at Morristown, Vt., November 2, 1848. His boyhood was spent on the rocky farm where life itself was a struggle, but the world's great men come mostly from humble homes which are lighted by love and consecrated by prayer. The boy early learned the lessons of thrift and integrityof self-denial and honesty. At twenty-one years of age he started out for himself, and going to Iowa he entered Cornell College at Mount Vernon. With true Yankee grit and perseverance he worked his way through, sometimes selling fruit trees and sometimes doing valiant service as a farm hand. He afterward went through the Iowa College of Law in the same manly independent way, and at the age of twenty-eight began the practice of his profession at Denison, which has since been his home until he moved to Des Moines as governor of the State. He was made president of the Bank of Denison,