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Show I PAGE NO. 1908 IN TIME'S GREAT LEDGER: I E!S9S1 ITS MANY ENTRIES TO CREDIT AND DEBIT SSSlf , , Iwfofc With tho crowded happenings of 90S tabulated beforo him, a chronicler of the yoar's advances and retreats, sains ,ind losses, scarce knows from whnt point best to begin his story. Hero, at home, what "A Japaneso Schoolboy" calls the "cheery banznts" of a foot- ball season still echo in the air; given full-throated in spite or tho strain upon H; the national lungs made by a hotly con- tested presidential election. In China, possibly the oldest of this old world's countries a change of government has 1 taken .pl3c which cannot but portend great things for that too-little-appro-elated people. In Turkey seemingly the most hidobound of 'all autocracies liberty has been born in a night, and without bloodshed. Europe's map has in at least three points been made over, in direct consequence of that same peaceful revolution, whilo in flvo of fl itu capitals Lisbon and London, Bor- lin, Brussels and St. Petersburg events havo transpired of mora than usual significance. Tho assassination of a monarch, the uprising of a social class, tho move toward greater popular gov- Hj crnmcnt becauso of ill-considered im- 'pcrial action, tho changed rule over a territory ono-fourth as largo as these United States, tho suro progress to in- Hj fluenco made by a parliamont rcprescnt- ing 140,000,000 people such entries on the twelve-month's ledger aro of an im-porta im-porta uco which well may distract ouo l who would record them in somo fit or- Hjl Constitutionalism tho Keynote Hj The trao ceynoto of tho year's com- position, harmonious most of tho time, discordant often, is constitutionalism. January saw the much-made-fun-of third duma "finding itself;" and the . closing weclcs of tho fifty-two havo seen Persia's shah, changing his selfish mind as to dcu3ing a popular vote, Hi whilo in Germany (where in May the fl, Grand Duchy of Meehlonbourg-SchwcrT t in, the only one of tho federated states of the empire hcrctoforo without a eon-stitutional eon-stitutional form of government, had been granted a constitution), Kaiser Vilhelm has promised novcr again by , .Ills' royal free speech "to bring tho na-tion's na-tion's politico into difficult situations" slight!- to paraphrase the words of Chancellor von Buelow. That this means added power to the reichstag, uiid lakes a long step toward actual Hj ministerial responsibility, is tho con- census of European opinion. . East and west the voice of the world's peoples has been heard. If ' China must go to school a while bc-fore bc-fore she. votes, yet is she none the less ! stud3ing hard and making progress j along, th.c inevitable roadway of her future. If the Filipinos aro not yet ruling themselves quite as an optimist . might wish, yet are they showing sure and welcome signs of capacity in that ' direction. Cuba, for tho second timo, has. started around the course of an- roiiomy, and judging from the well-or- ' -.tared provincial elections of August ami the eminently proper presidential ' election in November, when Jose Mig-uol Mig-uol Gomez was named by a decisive Lib- ( oral majority for the island republic's 4 second chief executive, she is this time entering the race with a good prospect of success. fl . Unspeakable Turk Speaks Out. Turkey's part in all this, offered as dramatic an event as modern days have seen. Practically without warning, tho party of "The Young Turks," for a generation regarded as a negligible iuautity. assumed in the name of tbo Hj people absolute control of a govcrn- incut six centuries old. Abdul Hamid, absolute autocrat in spite of his well-played well-played role as "Tho Sick Mau of the j East," being a statesman of real as- tutoncBs ana not merely a sclfspeking politician, "got under cover" just an j instant ahead of the breaking 'of the j storm and, unwet, still rules, alboit tho regime at the Porto has undergone 1 a complete "volte face." Tho effect of this so long down-trodden down-trodden Mohammedan people taking tho j reins of affairs in their own hands -was 1 far-reaching. Ferdinand, Prince of Bul- 1 garia, proclaimed himself "Czar of the j Bulgars" and his land independent of the suzeraint.v which Constantinople for thirt.y years had exercised over it. Tho next day Anstro-Uungnrv an-nonnccd an-nonnccd that her occupation of the . Turkish proviuccs of Bosnia and tlerz- 1 . g'ovina would become permanent, the ' historic Berlin treaty (187S) to the con- 1 trar' notwithstanding. Crete fell into lfne the day after that, clamoring for union with Greece and release from tho 1 Turk. Not oven hero did the ball slop . rolling Egit io tho south and Tndia to the east saw their co religionists Belf-governing, Belf-governing, aud redoubled their demands . for something of tho same sort; Vis- j count Morle.v and Sir Elon Gorst aro , loda' finding their ministerial hands j fuller than ever ot the troubles which 1 usually follow the attempt of the occi- 1 dent to rule the orient. Blots on tho Escutcheon. Jf Turkey and Russia, Cuba and tho Philippines, havo shown tho promising side of thi3 constitutional pennv, the reverse of the coin has been far from f,rt3' The Hindoo protest against Hl British subjection has come, more or lesa; to tho fore every month of tho T twelve, with jiublic moetingn following secret agitation, with plots against the lives of Kitchener aud Minto them-selves, them-selves, aud actual attempts at tho as-dassination as-dassination of lesser officials nor hog tho last paragraph of this movement vet H no'Mi v.-ritten. 1 Let the same he snid of the unsettled Plate of anairs in Persia. The conflict j between tho " ConGtitutionaJists," on H- the one hand, and the reactionary sup porters of Mohammed Ali, on tho other, has continued from New Tear's K day to' this writing, rising and falling , Imt ever present. In June tho war-Tare war-Tare (for it amounts to civil war) cen-' cen-' ferhd in the capital itself; by July it had' moved from Teheran to Tabriz. 'In November the shah announced that 1 ?uch an ill-tempered folk as his de- B served no political rights, -and, there- H fore, should have no constitution at all H what -was a little thing like a mere 1 roj-al promise in such a caso? Twelve H hours later, however, Russian and En- H glish influences had persuaded tho oc- B cupant of -the Peacock Throne to rc- ' consider his threat aud todav matters H nro practically iu ita tu quo. 'The pco- "IH"!"""'I"I!HnrM!''I!M4 SOME MEN WHO HAVE LOOMED URGE 5 JX THE WORLD'S NEWS DURING 1908 i i VILLIAM U. TAFT lias been chosen as the twenty-seventh president of tho r y United States; Jose Gomez na tho r.ecoTul chief executive of Cuba; 4- v Manuel II. has been eeatod In the blood -stalnod throno of Portugal; ! v thrfie-year-old Pu-YI liaa be?n acclaimed emperor of China; and Mulal y v llafld has bested his youncer brother In their struggle for rule In un- r easy Morocco. r -N BARON ICiVTSURA, in Japan, and Herbert Henry Asqulth. In England, have rlson to promlershlps; tho latter having won with his socialistic "Old -I- l Ago Pensions" acheme and lo3t with his attempt at reforming his coun- -V r try's liquor licenso laws. J- FFJRDINTAN"D OF BULGARIA has graduated from more prlncfthood, proclaim- r r ing himself "Czar of tho Bulgars," with his land independent of Turkey. r i" FRANZ JOSEPH of Austria, following the declaration of Bulgarian lndo- ! I- pendence, announced that the dual empire's occupation of Boznla and v Hcrzgovlna would bocomo permanent a step which has brought ahout !4 the most eritlcnl diplomatic situation of tho twelve-month. 4 r MOIIAJLMEI) AU SnRZA. having Ktruggled for twenty months against a Y genuinely patriotic movement for popular volco In Persian government, h seems etcndlly losing ground. i KAISER TVILHELM. having "rllod" all England in tho spring, by writing r a letter to Lord Tweedmouth of the admiralty, "suggesting things" as to England's naval program, authorized an Interview In tho fall, 4- 4 touching on a half-dozon points of international Interest, which not 4 I- only bred hard feeling In Japan, Franco, Russia, and "the tight little island." but stirred such Indignation in Germnny Itself as to lead ;- - toward ministerial responsibility. .J. CIPRIANO CASTRO, having robuffed tho United States so far that our charge j- was at I led home, expelled the minister of Tho Netherlands from Car- ! 4- acas. The relations between Venezuela and Holland, while dangerously 4 strained thereby, have not yot led to hostilities. i 4 POPE PIUS X, Just previous to tho celebration of the fiftieth annlvorsary of v his entrance Into the Roman Catholic priesthood, promulgated a bull . by which the work of the congregations Is materially altered, and tho ' 4 United States taken out of tho missionary Held of the church. 4 i- LUKE E. "WRIGHT of Tennessee and Truman Newberry of Michigan havo 4- 4- entered tho "official family" of President Roosevelt, the ono as socio- 4 4 tary of war and tho othor as secretary of the navy. David Jaync Hill ! 4 has been transferred from tho American legation at The Haguo to 4 4 succeed Charlemagne Tower as embassador at Berlin. 4 4 4- pie will win iu tho end, but they aro traveling n rough road and not walking patiently, cither. The Lisbon tragedy was a black blot on tho year's escutcheon, scarring dcop-ly dcop-ly the record of its socond month. The unnnls of political assassination hold no more terrible crime than the deliberate de-liberate murders of King Carlos and his heir, Prince Luiz Filipe. That such violence was tho ' lo-bo cxpected outgrowth out-growth of the Franco dictatorship, that Portugese parliamentary government had become an empty farce, that tho two main parties had, by turn, held of-fico of-fico for no reason other than partisan gain, thoso facts aro but explanatory, George Frederick Watts. 3'et oven so somber a cloud has yielded up its lining, for there has been a political po-litical hoiiHcclcauiug and the mouarch-ists, mouarch-ists, returned in the April elections (disorderly (dis-orderly though they wcrc; with death itself shrouded in tho riotings) nro handling affairs with somo capacity aud seeming honesty. New Men at Holm. Xinolecu-ycar-old Manuel, tho second of Portugal's kings of the name,, is far from tho only ono who has put a uew hand to the helm of slato as 'OS has run its course. Nor, yonug as he is, ia ho the youngest of this sort, for tho titular emperor of China's 433,000,-000 433,000,-000 people is not yet three Pii-Wei. proclaimed by tho vuliiSiclory edict of tho clever old downgor, on Ihc 13th of November, with hi? father, the late emperor's em-peror's 2S-yeiir-old brother, Prince Chun, playing regent for hjm. Not yot troubled with rule, vofc some day to be, is .Spain's newcpt princelot, Princo William, Sweden, aud Princess. "Jaime Leopoldo Alejandro," etc., etc., etc., who arrived on tho scene in Mav. , (5f power practically equal to the bc-crowned bc-crowned and betitled ones of ihflu-' enco, indeed, far broader arc William Howard Taft, in November elected president of the United Stales of America, Amer-ica, and Herbert XI. Asquith, named premier of Great Britain, in April, on tho resignation of his slatesman-liko predecessor. Sir II-nry Campbell-Ban-nerman. Pilling the place in our federal fed-eral cabinet lett vacant bv the resignation resig-nation of Mr. Taft, Luke" E. Wright, of Tennessee, has become secretary of war. whilo Truman H. Newberry," of Michigan, has come to the head of tho uav department (December), on tho resignation of Secretary Metcalf. Some of the other "near pilots" of tho twelve months are: Jose Miguel Gomez, pretident of Cuba; Augusto B. Legula, president of Peru; Fernando Guachalia, president of Bolivia; Miguel A. Davila, president of Honduras; Jose do Obal-dia, Obal-dia, president of Panama; Ramon C'a-ceres, C'a-ceres, president of San Domingo; Lord Dudley, governor-general of Australia. t i1iwiiufT"t'"'f.""' ' "" ....- i In tho world of diplomacy tho great- er changes, glancing over the field from the point of view of purely Amoriean interests, aro tho retirement of Charlo- I magno Tower from our Berlin embassy (Juno), followed (nftcr a characteristic "kick" and. equally ungracoful "back down" on the part of the German "war lord), by David Javuo Hill; the coming com-ing to Washington (December) of Count von Vcrnstortr to roprosent that same knisor, Embassador von Sternberg having hav-ing died; the rcappoaranco (February) of the genial "Mr. Wu," of China, at our federal capital, aud the sending to Tokio (July) of tho first embassador ever to roprosent Czar Nicholas at the chief- city of his late euotuics. Hero at Homo. Mr. Taft's victory in tho coulest for the exalted chair to be left vacant next March, when Theodore Roosevelt starts for tho African hunting grounds, has ended a campaign which, iu one way or another, has colored all the year here at home. Whilo W. J. Bryan, a third timo leading tho Democratic party, was his onry opponent seriously worth considering, the "field" of noni-incss noni-incss showed no less than nine entries. E. V. Debs had been put forward bv tho Socialists, E. W. Chafin bv tho Prohibitionists, T. E. Watson by tho Populists, T. L. Jlisgen hy tho "'lude-pondenco "'lude-pondenco loaguc" (usually regarded as W. R. Hearst's privato property); whilo that oxtromo wing of socialism which calls itsolf the "Party of Social Labor" struck a unique note in the political gamut by naming as their standard bearer one M. It. Preston, too voting to assume office even had ho 'been elcctad. and. moreover, "temporarily "tempo-rarily incapacitated" from taking the stump in his own behalf, as he hap pened to be serving time for a second-degree second-degree murder conviction in the Gold-lield Gold-lield jail. Tho appearance, just as tho campaign was drawing to a close, of two braud new parties, the "New Liberals" Lib-erals" and the "Christiaus, " was picturesque pic-turesque rather than important. J ii IH0S aliother star has been added to "'Old Glory," Oklahoma entering the union as its forty-sixth child; in JD0S our financial system has been under deservedly heavy fire, with nn investigating committee resulting. Senator Sen-ator .AJdrich, of ' ithodo Island, its I'hairnian; a "congress o experts" has debated the steps necessary to prevent the further waste 6( tlio nation's na-tion's natural resources, and a "country "coun-try life commission" is hard at work devising ways and means for the general gen-eral uplifting of that mighty factor in our industrial and nocial body which forms, after all, both tho background and the backbouc of the country. This last-named body was begotten toe late to aid Kentucky in particular, and the tobacco bell, of tho south iu general, for there has Jain tho darkest slain which the year has seen fall on the United States. Beginning twenty-five twenty-five months ago. tho feud" between tobacco to-bacco grower and purchaser has grown to such leugthb of outrage that men; barn-burning is a thing of yoslerday. with assaults and murders pla3-ing their parts in a drama which has becouio a tragedv. Nor has only the south cast a bliadow over the twelve-month's progress, pro-gress, for August witnessed, at Springfield, Spring-field, Til., a disgraceful race war between be-tween blacks and whites leading to sonic nine violent deaths, with casualties running run-ning into the hundreds, and 3500 troops on the seiMie. Socialism aud tho Courts. The "Ueds" of the Socialist fratcm-ity fratcm-ity . too, havo dono their sharo in this same sort. February's disgrace, with a Lisbon street us the stage, was to some extent paralleled a month later in New York, when :i bomb-thrower, attempting at-tempting an attack on tho police, who wfro dispersing an unlicensed meeting of anarchistic sort, blew to pieces a bystander mid hurt himself ecriotiEly. Following this tho postoffice took a forward step in barrinr ultra-socialistic publications from the mails. I On tho other hand. Socialism, regarded re-garded frpm its , saner standpoint), .has this voar gained markedly in at least one iinportnnt particular. Tho supremo court having pronounced unconstitutional unconstitu-tional the law making railroads liable for injuries received by their cmplo3'ecs, April saw a new law passed covering the matter in a legal way. If 1000 could but see this action complemented by come rational scheme of industrial insurance, tho position of tho Americau laborer would be splendidly bettered. A not dissimilar bit of judiciary news came with tho September term 'of the appellate court, sitting in Pennsylvania, when the "commodities clause" of tho Hepburn law, which hold illegal the carrying b3' railways of freights produced pro-duced by themselves, was set aside: though, from the popular point of view the senter of tho year's interest in such matters has been tho annulling (July) of the $20,-100.000 fine imposed in 1907 upon the Standard Oil company, and ihe legal nctions which havo fol lowed therefrom. Merely to itemizo the more important of tho other happenings happen-ings in tho realm of bench and bar since January last camo in, is to suggest what would fill a column and more of itself: January Maximilian Harden, a Berlin Ber-lin journalist, senteuced to imprisou went fpr a libel affecting the highest roynl circles In Mav he was granted a new trial, acquitted, and Prince Zu Euleuborg, whom ho had attacked, haled into court, February General Stoessol condemned con-demned to death (St. Petersburg) for tho surrender of Port Arthur; the sentence sen-tence was later commuted to ten years' imprisonment. February Harry Thaw, isaved from tho electric chair for tho murder of White by tho plea of emotional insanity, in-sanity, incarcerated in Matteawan hospital. hos-pital. March Ex-Attornoy-Gencral Snyder of Pcunsj-lvanin, ex-Stato Treasurer Malhucs. Contractor SUunderson and Jainos M. Schumakor convicted (Harris- "The New Pilot" at tho helm of tho American ship of state. burg) of defrauding the Keystone State in the capital building. June Caleb Powers, four times tried for the murder (1900) of Governor Goe-bcl Goe-bcl of Kentucky, pardoned b3' Governor Govern-or Wilson. June Hearst's charges of fraudulent count in tho Now York City mayoralty election of 1005 thrown out of court after a recount, taking months. September The Danish minister of finance, Alberti, arrested for defalcations defalca-tions reaching $7,000,000. November Tragcd3 fnters San Fran- Cipriano Castro, Ferdinand of Bulgaria. Cisco's fight for clean government, tho ox-convict, Haas, shooting Prosecutor 1-Ioncy in the ver3r court room (not fatally), and later committing suicide. November C. W. Morso sentenced to fifteen 3'enrs for violation of the federal banking laws. "Tight Llttlo Isle." "Merrio Englaud" has figured constantly con-stantly in "pagc-l displays"; tho change in her premiers and tho consequent conse-quent recasting of the cabinet, merely began tho matter. Secrotar3 Birrcll has Peter of Sorvia. passed his Irish Universities bill, granting grant-ing broader educational rights to the Emerald Isle. Chancellor Llo-d-Goorge has pushed through hio old ago pensions pen-sions fccheme auother triumph for Socialism, So-cialism, though of uncertain portent for British finances. Mr. Asquith has seen his much-debated licensing act (England's (Eng-land's proposed contribution to tho world-wide prohibition movement) co down to defeat in the Lords. And John Redmond has forced the Commons offi-ciallv offi-ciallv to declare that tho solution, of tho llome Bulc problem "con only bo attained by giving the Irish poople legislative and exccutivo control of all purely Irish affairs, " yet another item Pope Pioux X. Abdul Hamid of Turkoy. t EVENTS WHICH HAVE MADE HISTORY t riATToll ? t AS THE YEAR HAS RUN ITS COURSE THE MOST ENTERPRISING POLITICAL CHANGE OF ODERN" TIMES f came at tho close of July, whon "Tho Young Turks yrested the 4 of autocracy from Abdul Hamid. in a practically bloodless roiuuon . 1 4 The now regime. In Hh sanity and conservatism, promises to lam, in n 1 4. Bplle of the serious problems confronting It. innAmtpncIps INDIAN AND EGYPTIAN UNREST, at work in thoso British depenacnews ever sinco the victory ot Japan over RuHPla. took on a mora Hcaie ii . 4- ing and active form with the news of tho freshly-won freedom oi i -r their coreligionists at the Porte. , . . Hl. ,..,,., . i SERIOUS DISORDERS IN THE UNITED STATES havo nmrkcel the J oar - 4" progress in Illinois, where tranapircd a disgraceful and tiaglo race v. nr. . 4 in tho tobacco belt of th south, where the feud botween erovver .ami -r k- buyer has left a bloody trail: and along the Texas border, wi.r. hhl 4 ing has occurred with Mexican "rebcl3." . (.w,.j JL. 4 AMERICAN STEPS "TO THE GOOD" havo been markedly mails Jaro 4 financial reform, the conservation of tho nation's natural icsourcc. 4- and the bettering of tho condition of the farmer class. ..,. J. 4- CONSTITUTIONALISM has strode forward notably the world over. Bussia s - third duma ban "found Itself"; the Philippines have satlsfactorilj niauo . -V a beginning at learning self-rule; Iceland has been given autonomy. -i- South Africa lias beon planning confederation; Ireland has won ino !' , 4 first step toward "Home Rule," and even China Is studying hard in preparation for some form of representative government. I BROADER RIGHTS FOR WOMANHOOD paralleling this last movement-- y r have come in Denmark and Australia, while tho "Suffragette agitation y 4- In England, humorous thoughjt is In some phases, has forced tho Quca- y 4- tion so prominently to tho fofo that another year may bo expected. to r 4 ace real gain for them. , , , f 14- OUR FLEET'S PROGRESS 'round the .world has been everywhere marked ?v 4 by gain, not to It3 men and officers only, but In closer and better un- v, 4 derstandlngs between this country and South America, the South Pa- y 4 clflc lands, and (especially) tho far east. , T THE CONGO HAS CHANGED HANDS, Belgium assuming national owner- y uhlp. The prc3s of two hemispheres regards this as a distinct galn,( both y 4- for Industrial development in "the richest backyard In the world, and y -r in the moral nnd social .Improvement of Its millions of. blacks. y -f. THE CAUSE OF PEACE has been advanced both. by thirty-seven arbitration y ; treaties closed this year, and by three pacts settling all moot questions y' I In north Europe. , , , , ,t I on tho credit sido of tho world's "Pro-i "Pro-i Constitutionalism" ledger. Possibly feeling ignored through all this, English womanhood, as represented represent-ed by the "suffragette," iuniped into tho news in the early spring, and has insisted on staying there Cvor since. She wants wider political and legal , rights, and to get them Bho ringo ministerial doorbells at all hours of the night, chains herself to tho railings at the home offico entrance, docs her best to beplacard all Loudon with tho "Votes for Women " slogan, holds moet-ings moet-ings of her own and interrupts those of others, and, finally, "storms" parliament parlia-ment itself, upsetting traffic for hours and keeping the courteous and capable army of "Bobbies" steadily at work for two .solid days and more. After this a Franco-British exposition, and a Pan-Anglican Pan-Anglican religious congress, or even that "indiscreet" (onco morol) letter of the kaiser's tcllino- Lord Twocd-mouth Twocd-mouth how not to build a navy, palls in tho reading. On tho Continent. Across the channel Germany has stood well to the fore of interest, with marching march-ing thousands in the Berlin streets (January), protesting against tho Prussian Prus-sian government's refusal of direct universal suffrage, and' (October) with her unsuccessful diplomatic attack upon Franco over the latter 's seizure of certain cer-tain deserters from her Moroccoau forces who happened to havo been born in the pugilistic Fatherland. Austria, though head over ears involved in-volved in her seizure of Boznia and Herzgovina, has found timo to celebrate cele-brate tho sixtieth anniversary of "Father Franz's" accession to her throne, as Italy in like manner has honored Pope Pius. France, aside from having very full lands as regards disturbed dis-turbed Morocco, has enjoyed her annual an-nual excitement, which this timo took tho form of a murderous attack upon Major Dreyfus, during tho canonization canoniza-tion (June) of Emil Zola. As to tho north of tho continent, and saying for Russia merely that, her year has seen slow but suro advance toward the complete com-plete ultimate victor3' of a reasonably : constitutional form of government threo highly importuut international agreements havo been concluded and all iu the same (April) week: (1) Russia, Rus-sia, Germany, Sweden nnd Denmark have guaranteed the status quo in the Baltic; (2) Germany, lOngland, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Holland havo agreed not to alter the present political status on the North Sea coasts for, at least, ten years, and (.1) Great Britain, France and Sweden have agreed to the annulling of tho promise forced from Russia at the close of the Crimean war, that under no circumstances would she fortify tho Aland Isles, off tho Finland Fin-land coast. Be it added, finally, and once again in evidence of the steady, sturdy growth of constitutional forms, that tho Danish Dan-ish and Icelandic parliaments have constituted con-stituted the latter remarkablo little land "u free, autonomous, and independent country, united to Denmark by a common com-mon king and common interests." International Social Functions. The "social sidn" (so-called) of international in-ternational politics has m been quite as prominent in 'OS as iu :07, which says I much. "vVilholm may not have goue to i Paris, but he did drop in on his im-i im-i nerinl "cousin" of Vienna, whero King ! Edward also has played guest, having r called on tho kaiser at C'ronberg first. England's monarch, the French president presi-dent and Gufftaf. of Sweden, all havo "been to sec "Czar Nicholas (though the British laborites spoke right out in meeting against their ruler, hobnobbing "with so wicked a ninii as the autocrat of all the Bussias!). and if this is far from tho whole, storv it yet is enough to show tho weight which now is placed on such personal exchanges of international interna-tional amenities. Nineteen eight has also celebrated somu half-dozen weddings oE the sort which are said to bring nations closer together and this even though the ioo-niuch-.itlvcrtised d 'Abruzzi-Elkius HlTfi i r still seems to remain in the vague roalms a "perhaps," nnd leaving the Sagan-Gould nuptials (July) properly out of the questiou. The six marriages rel erred to were: Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria and Princess Louise of Reuss (Feb.). Prince .Teakeda and Princess Masako, both of Japau (April). Prince Wilhelm of Sweden and the Grand Duchess Marie of Russia (May). Hon. Hubert Wurd of England and Mihs Jean Reid (June). Prince August of Prussia and Duchfsc "Victoria of Schleswig-Holsteiu (Oct.). Prince Louis of Braganza and Princess Prin-cess Maria-Pia of Bourbon-Sicily (No- ember.L 'Clift round-the-world cruise of the American sixteen-battleship tleet, too, may well bo considered in this same connection, "pink teas being cheaper than oven a carefullv financed war," as ii new philosopher has put it. and no. one vent of nil that crowd tho chronicle chron-icle has been more fruitful. ot good result. re-sult. With Evans in command at- the start, with Thomas succeeding him and theu Sperry taking the leadership, our vessels have bound closer to us tho states of tho great continent to the south, the island commonwealths of trio lower Pacific and last (but first in value) the far eastern peoplo who dwell opposite to us on the greatest of Uio oceans. Increased efficiency in handling our mammoth fighting machines, added knowledge to men and officers, growth in such esprit do corps as makes the difference between good nnd bad organization, organ-ization, these are things to bo genuinely desired, but the furthering of good-will botween nations is a yet more important impor-tant item in the big sum which this world is slowly but certainly working out. "Cradle of the Races." In that .greatest of continents, where the races all were cradled, have como happenings of real note as lOOS's du3-s iii ii i i mm i in i in nun iiiiii inni I km "H ' :-'-mmi&- If.'-'-.-.-H IpF Emperor of Germany. have followed ono on I ho heels of another. an-other. In January. Japan took stops toward curtailing the emigration of her coolie class to our shores, practically removing all ground for difference in a matter of really dangerous sort; in April she met and bested a serious Te-volt Te-volt in Korea, and in July the Saionji i cabinet fell before popular disapproval of its "extravagant methods." .Baron Kalsura forming a new government. As events have transpired, this chance ia of primary importance, for the trilling little row of tho spring, when China and "Dai Nippon" said things across the Yellow sea, all ovfr a shipload of rifles and cartridges, is ns nothing to H. H. Asquith. Manuel II.' 1 .the trouble which might readily arise between those two nations, now that change has brought uncertainty to tho one on the mainland. Tho Saibnii pinti had beon nil directed toward the ultimate ulti-mate leadership of China, therefore con stuntly interfering in her affairs; the Katsura plan is to solve Japan's own home problems first (-"tself a business, of considerable difficulty) and M tin ' rest of the world alone. Thi? grath simplifies the somewhat ticklish idtua- -tion in that far-off corner of tbo gloK, as it exists today. That which faf more simplifies ' enme "with the 3-car's closing- davs. when tluj Yankees of the cast and west exchanged diplomatic and official notes reaffirm in; ' tho "open door" principle, guarantee' ing each other's holdings iu the P3 cific and; to all intents and purposes i agreeing to consult with one another a . to a joint courso of action should n-' thing threaten the status quo in that quarter. " As to other matters of -Asiatic 'interest 'inter-est (having said a word of the Persian aud Indian trouble-spots) it is enough to chronicle that wo have made China a present of some $13,000,000 an overcharge, so to speaK, in tno inaoScc nity awarded us after tho "Boacrifmandt outrages and she has sent over Jlinins. Tang Shao Yi to say "Thank youMtfiiila and thnt tho uneasy, frontier botwAWv Afghanistan and British India has bwb1ante tho sceno of eleven woeks of ,)ust miif;,"n, border fighting as seemc most to eUiif' den tho henrts fo the tall followers flj"" the amir and the stocky, bulldog Gurkfltrfglm1 troops invariably sent against them, jtepta1 In tho Dark Continent. ; Covar Of the three pieces of news of moi First than mere momentary interest whic First have come out of "The Dark Cont (Uentei nent" in the past fifty weeks, tha tjbhn which tells of tho warfare waged aloo the south Mediterranean shoro iB b nm least importance. That the youthfu bicvcle-nding, kodak-snapping Bulla 'g?.?, Abdul Aziz should have .lost the throu ;jfrnr in tho armed game which he and hi . The elder brother, Mulai llafld, havo playo ira a: for the prize of nil Morocco, is not wit , corr out value, and might readily bo mad 15c, t the text for 11 picturesque story, Bo '.Bell, in tho very heart of Atrica somethhi J.ort) of wider import has taken place, am .i!?' to the farthest south yet another evea .' wi is even now shaping itself towards coa pletion which will make present-da; (on bistor'. . ' . Con Whon, on November 15, Belgium tool Brldg over the Congoland "estates" of h9 'Prf$ splendidly capable, but not-wholly-ad 7 mirablo monarch, King Leopold, sh oponed a new chapter m African da - con velopinent. The Congo state is not onl' jjjt 1 the homo of more than 30,000,000 blaoki tachei it is not onlv "tho richest backyan 1 of tho world'" .(as Cecil Rhodes one l!?0 called it), it has been tho 900,000.sqnttri S milo topic uround which has waged lb most acrimonious debate of modernrr form and tho change iu tho form' 0; i Corr its control now promises exploitation fctad without scandal. j'tr".1 A "United South Africa" is tho erisn.d aimed at by the representatives of thljSi15 Capo and Orange River colonies, Natal. n and Becunnaland, Basutoland and tbltac) Transvaal, today gathered in congreil Ohio; at Durban. Here would be directly aB.tomni fectod a tcn-itory almost as large sJ Cf$rs the states cast of tho Mississippi r'f!fyin ((SG0.000 square miles iu Africa al'IT: against 925,600 hero at home), with population topping 4.000.000 ?ouls!fount Map-making at such a rato is of an inMi Con portauco well beyond mere talk of Jr., ' "Curronfc Events." I 3a; ' To the South of Us. IggJ Below the equator in this, westeraiiCoii hemisphere the dispatches of tho twelve ' month have told of nothing of perma'S(p: nent sort. The Guatamalinn and PraijjJJj; vian revolts of May and tho HonduralftJndV uprising in July we're no inoro than thajTcon Ecronuial gurglings of tho political sorfejUarn ottle, which best typ'ifies that offorjwato: vescent side-street of interaational-fTKf?'8 lory. Paraguay (July) did offer some-jV??11 thing of a novelty, for her revolutions Jij. ista won nnd set up a government otl their own, but, after all, tho result is- MIo pretty much the same as if they had" t.'Di lost nnd fled to Paris whero all prop-' iWlli erly-cpnstituted South and Central; Jll! Americans arc suro to go sooner orln r later. j !J Castro's self, Irresponsibility Perj. 3 sonified, has now gone ovor. leaving a 4.' presumably , distressed ministry to: f straighten out as I)est they may tha' lr tangled web of his alleged diplomacy? J Niutecn.-eight has .heard not n Ititlftffi?; that was serious or amusing (accordE!, ing to whether one's point of. yiew is. fc ei , Dutch or not) from Veneznela, whickj-is whickj-is much the same thing as saying CU jin priano Castro, but the "spanking'J Wu which seemed so surely coming his long-needed way at last, when in July, t ho expelled from Caracas M. da Reus; 1 tho minister of tho Netherlands, has! f'w beon delayed on tho road somewhere & Holland has another warship in thai in harbor of Willemstadfc, aud aho haf Wve revoked her treaty with tho Castro-riil; jxji den republic, but that seems the whola 'a' of the story. Diplomatic circles in thi i,S Venezuelan capital must bo selectlj S.'61 small, by tho way, for tho United StatOfl 5., recalled -her charge in June; threMte months beforo that tho superior courlj"?10 of tho land had upheld the $5.000,Q0(fSfV fine earlier assessed against the Newtg , York and Bcrmudez Asphalt companjjKt' December's sensation from Haiti wa j?,t both spectacular and characteristic 0 TJ1 that uneasy negro republic. Nor 7?? Alexis, himself a revolutionist onci W upon a time, has been driven from tbi 2 island, Simon holding tho power til p-: somo other " rebel" shall appear ti I become, in turn, dictator. Juno's troublo nlong tho Texas-Mew, 1 can lino amounted to no more than pq ' lice disorders, "scare-heads-'-' aboir j "rebellion'' to the contrary notwitrt' ' standing. The hold which tho venerabli ".-and ".-and largely" competent Diaa has upoi ' j liis land is as firm and snlutary as overf 1 if real trouble lies ahead down there il will como when I hat presidential die f tator has gono to his last long rest, anal the Central American tj-pe starts outi ' unchecked, on tho rampage, with . 5,1? 000,000 of invested capital from ,hsl States" as its prize. J I And to tho North. Peary heading north onco more fl pufh his "Roosevelt" to tho very polB-; if mau can do it: Quebec throwing ope her hospitable old gate to tho worl while celebrating her three-hundredlB t birthday party; Laurier again leadinB, thr Liberal hosts to victory at thll poll?; Bond and Morris running a tuB race for Newfoundland's premiership-;-. 1 these news notes from the broad-stretchB;." ing land "above" us have been praflt1 Ucallv the-sum total of a peaceful yeaffl". for the big Dominion. u, " , Canada's loss by forest fires (Aujfc': gutt) was as spectacular as dreadfull,"-I Aot less than 150 square miles werJi l tswopt bv tho flames, four towns beinaj,'. -.11 Tiped from tho map, with more thaw fij Uri'.IO folk left homeless and fullv fonrl; fjlj dead: a property loss of .JS.OOO.OOlpJ'; yii.s the loas.t part of the story. Jc I. I Entries to Debit. 'Wf t he path blazod for itself by the eamjT : iJn element here in the United Stately 1 wider and longer, and tho financial ' I throe times as grear. but life wV' k so sacrificed. Our black entries off'' j at fad sort came in March and April' Robley D. Evans. 0 Continued on Page Sixty-nine, I fi PAGE NO. 1908 IN jy$ TIME'S GREAT LEDGER ndlf ' Continued from Pago Sixty-dent. whsn the burning of a school near s'ot'f' ' " evelani bronchi sudden endings to astwj iiearty two hundred little lives, and hej when Chelsea; Boston's suburb, was eom-es'BK eom-es'BK pletely destroyed to the tuno of $5,000.-i-ttlml 000, The conflagration in the Parisian edEi clisttict where stand tho offices of the s; .-wt ninnicipal telephono company (Septein-lor:etJ (Septein-lor:etJ berJ-accountGd for a like sum. $5,W4j Tabulating an oven dozen of the tho r yar'8 disasters by flood and famine, J)p!rJ!ti?'ih?nahc and hurricane, where the loss Hjf of life as well as of mere property haa terif been heavy, ono reads: lic,-1 MarchEarthquake destroj'S four list:;'?, Mexican cities: .126 killed. March One thousand nine hundred and fiftj'-two reported dad of famine in Britisli India. April Tidal wave sweeps up tho Yank-tse-kiung. China; 10.000 drowned. April Floods along Hie Chouco river j basin, Texas; 119 drowned. I April Tornado in our southern 'states: 321 killed and 1211 injured. May Famine through the Uganda state. Africa; 20.000 starved to death. May Tornadoes in Louisiana. Arkansas. Arkan-sas. Texas and Nebraska; forty -seven killed, 10-1 injured Maj- Floods along the Trinity river basin, Texas: thirty-one drowned. September Hurricans in the West Indies; In-dies; sixty-one killed, IIS injured. October River floods near Hyderabad. Hydera-bad. India; 10,000 drowned. October Typhoon in the Philippines and along the China coast; 1890 drowned. On tho debit page of the year's ledger, too. must be inscribed the names of many of world-wide fame, whoso lives of far-reaching value have closed within with-in its course. Of such aro England's! premier. Cainpbell-Baiineniian. ex-Pros- j ident Cleveland. Morris K. .Jcssup. tho ! duke of Devonshire, General Sir lied- vers Buller, Sarasal.e. the violinist, and MacDowell, the composer; the dram- I atists Sardou and Coppee. the journal- ists Murat llalslmd and Charles i-Iniory j Smith, tho scientists BceouereJ and Sol-fridge, Sol-fridge, "Uncle Remus' Harris. Ira D. Saukey, Senator Allison, the poets Stod-nmn Stod-nmn and -Touas Lio, Daniel Coit Oilman and Estrada Palma. And Credit. Loss is not. however, the characteristic character-istic index lo the dying year; rather and assuredly is it gain. Its fair-minded fair-minded historian notes those sure ad- vances toward truer government of the people bv tho people, for the people. ! brightening the backward vistas from ; Iceland to South Africa, reaching from ('hina westward across tho continents J lo I ho Pacific once more, in the Phil- 1 ippine archipelago. He sees such "up- , jilV movements at work as look to j the saving 01 tho forcsls, the better-1 iug of the farmer class, tho improving j of the laborer's hard lot, whether in j Russia or Lngland or here at. homo. He j recognizes that tho cause of peace is forwarded by tho summer trips of kings j and emperors, by such treaties as have I now answered the moot questions in ! north liurnpe. to ay not a word of tho 1 tluTly-seven arbitration pacts entered j into this vear of grace (and truly that!) I between the United States and as manv I of her bister nations, lie reads 1 he entries en-tries which tell of the steady spread of nrohibiliou. of the field surely open-1 inc more and more to equitablo rights ! for womanhood, and of such victories over unrighteousness as was Governor Hughes's when he forced the bettor3 from the New York race tracks. "Whatever the seeming trond of any vcar's external events, of this qno wo in ay be sure: we discuss personalities and politics, and. meantime, with the slowly onward movement of a glacier, changes nrc occurring which reallv influence the happiness of all mankind. Such alterations altera-tions are not to be achieved in a moment; mo-ment; stops to be secure must be both short and single. If only they aro in the right direction ono need ask no more. Each move toward justice tand kindness and eciual opportunity brings nearer the ultimate hour when the spirit I of human existence will no longer bo I that of war, but of love and peace and good-will through all tho earth. WARWICK JAMES PRICE. |