Events of the Month

EVENTS OF THE MONTH. BY THOMAS HULL, SECRETARY OF THE GENERAL BOARD OF Y. M. M. I. A. December 20th, 1898: Samuel Gompers is re-elected president of the American Federation of Labor at the annual convention of that organization at Kansas City. 21st: Secretary of the Interior Bliss having resigned, Ethan A. Hitchcock is appointed to succeed him. 22nd: Governor Wells receives a petition signed by all the officers of the Utah Batteries in Manila asking him to use his influence to secure the muster-out of the troops. 23rd: The first troop of Utah Volunteer Cavalry is mustered out of the service of the United States. 24th : The American peace commission delivers to President McKinley the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain. 28th: Dispatches received at the State department in Washington, D. C. state that Iloilo, Philippine Islands was captured December 24th, by the insurgents. 29th: On account of the refusal of General Brooke to permit the Cuban troops to participate in the exercises of evacuation day in Havana, intense feeling is manifested there and the United States flag is torn down from many houses. * * * President McKinley approves an executive order regulating the financial system of Cuba and providing that all customs, taxes, public and postal dues in the island shall be paid in the United States money or in foreign gold coin and fixing the value at which such foreign coin shall be received. It also provides that certain Spanish silver coins shall be received for customs, taxes and public and postal dues at rates fixed in the order. 30th: Senor Don Maties Romero, the Mexican Ambassador to the United States dies in Washington after having been operated upon for appendicitis. January 1st, 1899: The government of the island of Cuba is formally surrendered by the Spanish to the United States and the American flag is raised on all public buildings, etc., in Havana. 2nd: President and Mrs. McKinley hold their first New Year reception at the White House.

3rd: George W. Bartch is sworn in as Chief Justice and R. N. Baskin as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Utah: 4th: Hon. George E. Roberts, director of the mint, issues his estimate of the production of gold in the United States, showing a total of $65,782,677. Utah is credited with $2,170,543. * * * The president transmits to the senate the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain. The following is his message: To the Senate of the United States:—I transmit, herewith, with a view to its ratification, a treaty of peace between the United States and Spain, signed at the city of Paris, on December 10, 1898, together with the protocols and papers indicated in the list accompanying the report of the Secretary of State. William McKinley. Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, January 4, 1899. 7th: The Salt Lake ministers, Dr. Iliff, of the M. E. Church; W. M. Paden, of the First Presbyterian, and Clarence T. Brown, of the First Congregational church, forward to Washington a formal protest against the seating of B. H. Roberts in Congress. 9th: The third Utah Legislature convenes in Salt Lake City. Aquila Nebeker is chosen as president of the Senate and Wm. M. Roylance as speaker of the House. 10th: Governor Wells presents his message to the Legislature. It is a voluminous document, and refers to: the evidence of prosperity, congratulating the State upon the improved business conditions; the call for volunteers and the ready response of the State; the codification of the laws of the State and recommending new legislation; the election of a United States Senator; date of convening the Legislature, recommending that an amendment to the constitution be proposed providing that the Legislature be convened on the third instead of the second Tuesday in January; refunding the State bonds; the finances of the State, showing that after all revenues are collected and current indebtedness paid, there will remain in the general fund a balance of more than $175,000; the State lands, submitting a statement of the amounts received from the sale of lands and the investment thereof; educational matters, showing that great progress has been made. Under the head of "State Institutions'' the message refers to and reports the condition of the University, Agricultural College, School for Deaf, Dumb and Blind, Industrial School, Insane Asylum, Board of Pardons and Paroles, recommending legislation conferring the power on the State Board of Pardons to exercise parole clemency and recommending the appropriation of $500 for the care of Hawaiian lepers in Tooele County. Consideration is then given to the

National Guard, irrigation, forest preservation, Board of Health, horticulture, fish and game, the Semi-Centennial Commission; recommends suitable appropriation for a first-class State fair in October, 1899; fostering legislation for home industries and the creation of a bureau of statistics and immigration are advised. Reference is made to outlawry in the eastern and south-eastern portions of the State, to the charges made against the judge of the Fourth Judicial district, to the opening of the Uncompahgre reservation and the failure to open the Uintah reservation; for the constitutional provision requiring the Legislature to enact laws fixing reasonable maximum charges for railway transportation and expressing the earnest hope that action will be taken upon the subject; to the Paris Exposition, recommending an appropriation for a State exhibit there. The governor recommends an increase in the salaries of State officials, and the memorializing of Congress for public buildings in Salt Lake City and Ogden, and on other subjects, and concludes his message in the following words: "In a manner much less brief than could have been desired, I have sought to place before you a comprehensive account of the affairs of the State. My hearty co-operation and support are extended in every effort you may make to advance the interests of Utah and the welfare of her citizens. In all our deliberations may reason prevail over passion and prejudice, and in the discharge of our duties may we be truly representative of the best thought and the highest aspiration of an intelligent, patriotic and progressive people, to the end that our efforts may perpetuate the honor and fame of our grand young commonwealth." * * * A great sensation is created in the Montana legislature when $40,000 is sent to the presiding officer's desk with the statement of a member that it had been paid to him for bribe money in the interest of the election of one of the senatorial candidates. 11th: Charles M. Cannon, son of President Angus M. Cannon, of Salt Lake City, dies of valvular disease of the heart. * * * President McKinley nominates Joseph H. Choate to be embassador to Great Britain. 12th: Elder George Goddard, well and widely known throughout the State, dies this morning. 13th: Hon. Nelson Dingley, of Maine, dies of pneumonia, in Washington, D. C. 14th: The United States cruiser Albany is successfully launched at Newcastle, England. 17th: The Utah Legislature begins balloting for United States Senator. Hon. W. H. King, A. W. McCune, Judge O. W. Powers and Hon. Frank J. Cannon are candidates for the office.