Some Leading Events in the Current Story of the World: Our New Territory; Lord’s Prayer; Vast Contributions to Education; Long Distance Wireless Telegraphy; Cuba’s Woes; South Africa; The Isthmian Canal; Grievances of the Poles

SOME LEADING EVENTS IN THE CURRENT STORY OF THE WORLD. BY DR. J. M. TANNER, SUPERINTENDENT OF CHURCH SCHOOLS. Out New Teffitofy. Much has been said by the great political parties,in our country, about the relations that exist between us and the new territory which we have recently acquired as a result of our war with Spain. A recent decision of the United States Supreme Court has now fixed the status between us and them; and, from a legal point of view, the decision is, of course, conclusive; unless, however, it should subse- quently be overruled. The decision was brought about by one of our soldiers who brought with him from the Philippines some fourteen diamond rings. The soldier's name is Pepke, and the case is popu- larly called the Ring Case. The rings were brought to the United States after the treaty between this country and Spain had been signed, and were4;aken at the port of San Francisco by the United States officers because of Pepke's refusal to pay the tariff on them. The Supreme Court said that these rings were not imported from a "foreign country," and, therefore, not under the provisions of the tariff which relates to the importation of goods from a "for- eign country." It is curious to know that, in connection with this decision, a resolution passed by the United States Senate was discussed by the Supreme Court. The Senate resolution reads as follows: "By the ratification of the treaty of peace with Spain, it is not intended to incorporate the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands into citizen- ship of the United States, nor is it intended permanently to annex

CURRENT STORY OF THE WORLD. 301 said islands as an integral part of the territory of the United States." Such clause the Supreme Court said had no legal, binding ef- fect whatever, and that the Senate had no right to inject into the treaty any clause of that character. According to the decision, it may, then, be said that territory acquired by the United States, as by wars and treaties, but not incorporated into the United States by an act of Congress, would claim for its inhabitants the status of citizens, as its inhabitants are treated as subjects. It will readily be seen that imperialism is as easy under the constitution of the United States as it is under that of Great Britain. The in- habitants of the territories, it is said, are entitled to all those uni- versal rights of man contained chiefly in the amendments to the Constitution, but not to the special rights which that instrument confers upon the people of the United States. To sum up the results of the decision, and of the decision in the case of Porto Rico, it may be said that territory acquired by conquest or treaty ceases to be a foreign country, so that the tariff which relates to foreign countries does not apply. Secondly, such territory is not a part of the United States, and, therefore, that clause of the Constitution which provides that all duties shall be uniform throughout the United States does not apply. From these conclusions, it will be seen that Congress has full power to frame special tariffs on all goods passing either to the United States, from such domestic territory, or to such territory, from the United States. Lord's Prayer, The Attorney-General of Minnesota has recently handed down an opinion to the effect that it is unlawful to utter the Lord's prayer in any of the public schools of the state. This decision has been rendered under a provision of the Minnesota constitution, which says: "Nor shall any man be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship." The constitutional provision is quite universal throughout this country, and its principles are generally accepted by the common law of the land. The Lord's prayer, then, according to the attorney-general's logic,is a form of worship; and, if rendered in the school room, the school room becomes a place

302 IMPROVEMENT ERA. of worship, which the tax-payer must support, contrary to the provisions of the constitution. If the ruling is sound, and is ever generally received through- out this country, the practice of appointing chaplains in our legis- latures and in Congress will have to cease. All evidences, there- fore, that we are a Christian people must be removed from every function of the state. Those who are opposed, and practically all were opposed, to the recognition of any 'form of worship in the state, can hardly have intended that the distinction between church and state should go so far as to remove all evidence of the Chris- tian civilization upon which the state has been founded. We be- lieve that such an interpretation disregards the true intent of those most instrumental in founding the institutions of our country, and preserving therein a distinction between church and state. Vast Contributions to Education. Mrs. Stanford recently contributed to the Leland Stanford University in California, a university founded by her late husband, the magnificent sum of thirty million dollars. This is certainly the largest single gift that has ever been made in this country to any institution of learning, and that great institution is today, no doubt, the most liberally endowed of any in the land. At about the same time that Mrs. Stanford was bestowing her wealth, in bulk, to Leland Stanford, Andrew Carnegie was making arrangements to give ten millions to university education in Wash- ington. The purpose, however, of the Washington University, as the leading educators of our country view it, is not the establish- ment of a regular school of learning, similar to those already in existence, but a school of investigation and research work, where the students may avail themselves of the vast accumulation of in- formation which the national government every year is piling up, and in which class of institutions this country is sadly deficient compared with the nations of much less prominence in the old world. Long Distance Wireless Telegftaphy. The world of late has been greatly entertained and instructed .-by the invention and discovery of wireless telegraphy. The prin-

CURRENT STORY OF THE WORLD. 303 ciple upon which this system of telegraphy operates is that the atmosphere surrounding the earth contains well defined electric currents along which telegraphic communications may be conveyed as they have been for so many years along telegraph wire. The most conspicuous figure in the work, along the line of wireless telegraphy, has been a celebrated Italian by the name of Guglielmo Marconi. This great inventor was not satisfied by the use to which he put his wireless telegraphy over short distances, but determined to give it a test across the ocean. He, therefore, erected a station in Poldhu, of Cornwall, England. On this side of the Atlantic, a receiving instrument was put up in Newfound- land, seventeen hundred miles distant. The message transmitted across the ocean was the letter S, in the language of the telegra- pher, three dots. From the fact that the electric current is so far above the surface of the earth, it was necessary to carry the wire up in its elevated position by means of a balloon. Should this discovery have a subsequent practical value, it will eventually do much to cheapen the means of communicating to transatlantic countries. At present governments and private corporations do not seem to be alarmed by reason of Marconi's inventions, and are, therefore, busily at work laying submarine cables across the oceans. Marconi, who is receiving such world-wide attention, is an Italian, thirty- three years of age. For seven years, he has been engaged in per- fecting the inventions that have made him famous. Cubans Woes. Cuba was freed through the intercession of the United States, and, though the United States disavowed all intention of annexing the island or placing any restrictions upon its govern- ment, it nevertheless required certain constitutional assurances from Cuba that makes the island something of a ward to this country. Cuba is, therefore, anxious to receive from this country some concessions in our tariff upon Cuban sugar. The United States is Cuba's most important customer, and its principal buyer of sugar. In 1900, the total amount of sugar sold by Cuba to the world outside of the United States amounted to only $19,000.

304 IMPROVEMENT ERA. This year, it is estimated at $12,000. It is sugar that gives the island its greatest revenue. We charge upon sugar imported from Cuba, $1,685 per hundred weight. If to this is added $2.00, the expense of manufacturing the sugar there, twenty-five cents per one hundred for expenses inciden- tal to shipping, and ten cents per hundered weight, the amount of freight from the island to New York, it will be seen that it costs Cuba $4,035 to place her sugar in the United States market. But sugar is sold in New York at $3.75 per one hundred. This is a loss of 28J cents on every hundred weight. That means a loss of four millions on this year's crop of Cuban sugar. The people of that island are clamoring for a reduction in our tariff, and the President, in his message to Congress, made recommendations in response to Cuba's wishes. South Africa. The prolonged war in South Africa has demonstrated that calculations hitherto made in the conduct of war can no longer be relied upon. The new explosives, with smokeless powder and long distance guns, have greatly changed the theories of battle, and the weak nations now are encouraged by the example of the Boers' power of resistance in the South African war. The English have upon their hands, including those in the concentration camps, some forty-two thousand people. Eleven thousand Boers have been killed, wounded, or have left the country. Notwithstanding the few soldiers, perhaps not more than ten thousand, that remain in the Boer camps, they continue to hold out with marvelous tenacity. The conduct of this war has evidently been a surprise to the Boers themselves; for, had they realized at the outset their ability to resist as that ability has recently developed, they would have undoubtedly changed the early plans in their mode of con- ducting the war, and large divisions of the army would not have been lost in an effort to prevent the English from reaching Johannesburg and Pretoria. By a striking figure of speech, Mr. Broderick, Great Britain's secretary of war, has aptly illustrated the attitude and determination of the Boers by saying: "The country has set its teeth, and intends to go through the process of wearing down."

CURRENT STORY OF THE WORLD. 305 The Boers, however, are now confronted by the difficulty of providing themselves with munitions of war, and food. For nearly a year^ railroad transportation has been comparatively safe, and raids made upon trains carrying English supplies have been fruit- less. To guard these roads, a series of block-houses have been established. These block-houses are made in hexagon-like shape, of corrugated iron. There are two tiers of iron about four inches apart, and between them the space is filled with gravel. These guard-houses are located about a thousand yards apart. They serve as signal stations, and as defelnses in case of attack, and as a means of defeating Boer efforts to capture trainloads of supplies. The block-houses, to guard against attack, are surrounded by a spider-web of wire work through which it is extremely difficult for an attacking party to make its way. The cost of this railroad defense has been immense to Great Britain. It is believed by competent judges that the war must end before long, as the resources of the Boers are almost wholly exhausted. The Isthmian Canal. For a number of years, both in this country and Europe, the necessity of a canal across the Isthmus connecting North and South America, has been very strongly felt. Ships, en route from Europe and from the eastern part of the United States, have been compelled to cover the long stretch of ocean around South America. As the commerce on the Pacific and our western coast has enormously increased within the last few years, the necessity of this canal has been all the more felt. The French became so intoxicated by DeLesseps' success in the construction of the Suez Canal, that a private company was organized in France to construct a canal across Panama from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Great scandals grew out of the organiza- tion of I his company, and its inability to continue the work became manifest after something like forty million dollars had been expended. The canal is to this country not only a commercial, but a military necessity — and, in 1899, a commission was appointed to make investigations, give careful computations, and determine which would be the most suitable route to cross, by way of Panama or Nicaragua. In Nicaragua there is a large lake, so that

306 ' IMPROVEMENT ERA. really two canals would have to be made, one connecting this lake with the Pacific, the other with the Atlantic. The country is quite unanimous, irrespective of pohtical parties, upon the desir- abihty of the government constructing, owning, and controlling the canal. After careful investigation of an eminently competent body of men, a report has been finally submitted. The report furnished advantages and disadvantages of the two routes, the one by Nicaragua, the other by Panama. To construct a canal by way of Nicaragua, the estimated cost is one hundred and eighty-nine millions. By Panama, the cost, including the amount the French company asks for what has already been done, is one hundred and eighty-four millions. On the 20th ult., the President transmitted to Congress the supplemental report of the Committee unanimously recommending that the offer of the Canal company to sell all its rights, property and unfinished work to the United States for forty millions, be accepted. The report, signed by the entire commisson, concludes: After considering the changed conditions that now exist, and that all facts and circumstances upon which its present judgment must be based, the commission is of the opinion that "the most practicable and feasible route" for an isthmian canal, to be "under the control, management and ownership of the United States," is that known as the Panama route. The Grievances of the Poles. When. Poland was divided, the country fell to Russia, Austria and Germany. Three million Poles went to Germany, four million to Austria and eight million to Russia. The Polish division going to Germany is known as Posen. It is in Posen that the agita- tion of the poles against Germany is at present growing very intense, because the Germans desire to abolish the Polish language, and substitute in its place the German. Parents and priests are urging their children to refuse to be instructed in the German language, and the people of the country are boycotting German merchants and German goods. In years past, it was the policy of the Germans to encourage their merchants and business men to gain a footing in Posen by the purchase of lands, and the establish- ment of industries. At present, the Poles are doing all they can to buy the Germans out, when the latter have been made so uncom- fortable that they do not care to remain any longer in the country.