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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 1905)
gg mwm of wsjjp" mar, ifli); .. ! x(Tr ' ret'JBbA ions; y m IMPORTANT EVENTS OF 1905 m Russo-Japanese War brought to a close by the Treaty of Portsmouth. Nihilists and Anarchists active in Russia and Spain. Great Strikes in Russia lead to what may be the wind up of the Empire. Industrial Strikes in several countries lead to loss of life and enormous money loss. J Reform Political movements in this country swamp the bosses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio and Maryland. Federal Reform includes trial and conviction of officials and J Senators. J Insurance Investigation discloses unsuspected graft in a year of graft exposures. . I I --------------- " --------- ....................... ,4 I INETEEN'-FIVB must be written large in all future histories. It has seen the ending of a war, which. during its 570 days of blood, had cost the world 600,000 lives and $2,000,000,000. It has seen the rebirth 'to distinctive integrity of a venerable northern people. More than either of these. It has witnessed the death throes of an autocracy, ruling 141,000.000 citizens of the 20th century as though the Middle Ages had not passed Into a dim yesterday. For any of these happenings the year would be remembered; for the three together it never can be forgotten. Nor has its course in the United States been less memorable. It has brought a change of greater import than could be fianythlng merely geographical. It has seen born to active good a revolution of public opinion against all those present day evils usually grouped under the word "graft." The Federal war against the "Beef Trust" has emphasized this. The popular outcry at the disclosures follow ing an investigation of life insurance even more pointedly showed the National tem per, while yot further evidonco came un mistakably in November, when "gang rule" went- down in defeat In four great states. From "War lo Peace. JANUARY arrived with warlike news: Port Arthur had surrendered. It brought, too, the Russian rout at Hun River, while February's closing days saw the opening moves in that gigantic battle game which culminated (March 6) in Japan's victory at Mukden in physical magnitude the greatest battle of history. Us appalling casualitlcs totaling at a fig ure surpassing 300 such disasters as that or Chicago's Iroquois Theater. To clinch Japanese success came the meeting of Admirals Rojestcvensky and Togo in the Sea of Japan (May 27). The North Sea Commission had by arbitration straightened out the threatening trouble which had marred the Jirst week of the Russian long trip, and the Czar's com mander had played dangerously fast and loose with French neutrality In the China Sea and then fell the crushing blow which practically ended the war. "The destiny of our empire depends upon this action. You are expected to do your ut most," read the Mikado's flags as the shot was fired that opened the action. Not many hours later "destiny" had been assured. This was tho last engagement of con sequence in the Russo-Japanese conflict. Oyama worked on towards Vladivostok, and a Japanese force captured Sukhalien. but these Items read small beside those which relate to the peace conference, re sulting (September 5) in the Treaty of Portsmouth. President Roosevelt had pro posed this meeting to the two powers at odds, in Juue. and, on August 10. at Ports mouth. N. H.. Baron Komtira and Min Itser Takahlra, on behalf of the Mikado, and Baron Rosen and Sergius Witte. for the Czar, opened their parley. For 20 days diplomacy thrust and parried. Certain points were promptly disposed of. but the question of Indemnity loomed larger as the hours passed, and only Japan's moderation and Mr. Roosevelt's earnest solicitations at St. Petersburg and Toklo eventually prevented the matter of dollars and cents bringing the conference to a 'rulMess close. The Mikado's representa tives, however, completed what his fight ing men had begun, and seal was set to one of the great transactions of history. Asia's future had been changed. Eu rope's "balance of power" had been re cast. One nation had been horn and in fluences set to work within another hav ing much to do with a rebirth there. 7Jccnse versus Liberty in Russia S C License Versus liberty in Russia. THE Toklo rioting, which greeted news of the treaty's terms, held but a dim suggestion of the year of Internal strug gle through which troubled Russia has passed. The war with Japan, bringing In creasing evidences of autocratic corrup tion and incompetence, was but one cause o' the outbreak. January came in wlUi ruinous industrial depression, yet taxes wero increased. Labor went on strike, and police oppressions were multiplied. Finland and Poland festered In feverish unrest. NihlMstic activity was Tenewed. students talked revolt, the selfish rule of the church was openly criticised. AH these elements contributed to the rapid march ot events, resulUng today in the end of Cwireu-a the worki has been accustomed to think of It. Since the outragsou massacre of "Red Sunday" (January 22), when the Cossacks fired upon the laboring folk trying to pe tition their "Little Father" to listen In person to their grievances. 1SKJ6 has told vnrougnout European Russia one continu ous tale of riot, pillage and massacre: of growing demands for genuine liberty on the one side; of promises made and brok en; vacillation and weakness, on the other. Not a month after St. Peters burg's snow had been becrlmsoned, Nicho las met a worklngmen's delegation, prom ised them voice In the law waking. Is sued "that rescript calling tho "Douma" and the next bulletin announced the Warsaw massacre of April 2. Again. Easter Sunday, religious liberty was pro claimedwith another Warsaw outrage following within 24 hours. Small wonder that strike followed strike till wholo districts lay idle; that Trans Caucasia rebelled; that Poland broke Into open war; that Odessa became the center of a fortnight's mutiny, led by the Knlaz sailors, wherein J30.OOa.O00 worth of prop erty was destroyed: that in the 'Baku re gion the loss of life should have risen to the thousands, with enormous prop erty loss: and that. -at last, with its rail-waj- system paralyzed, the entire land should have become a theater of rampant anarchy, beneath which violent demon strations of the movement, were ever to be heard the stern demands of the better classes for real liberty. Little by little, forced irom one out work after another, the one-time auto crat of all the Russias yielded to popular clamor. Political prisoners were got frre. press censorship abolished. Finland prac tically restored to her ancient autonomy, and. at last (October 23) WItte, the- pro gressive, was made Premier. Constantino Poblcdonotseff. Procurator of the Holy Synod, and the evil genius of Russian progress, has resigned, an-, in spite of such outbursts as those at Cronstadf. Se vastopol and Vladivostok, and ven such civil war as Poland's. Count Wltte seems (at this writing) to have ben slowly bringing some order from chaos. leading from the Egypt of autocracy Into ' the promised land of constitutional monarchy. Anarchists .and Strikers. SPAIN, Belgium. Italy. France. Tur key. China and the United States, as well fis Russia, have seen oviJencv of this anarchistic activity which. In the land of the Czar. has. for once, contributed to a Rood end. Statistics show 1S0S to have been marked by 11C attempts upon Russian officials, including that of January IS. when x "carelessly trained" cannon nearly bought death to Nicholas himself; of which intended murders. 42 have suc ceeded. Royalty and officialdom, how ever, have not been exempt elsowhere. In June a bomb was thrown at Al fonso N1II and President Loubct: July brought sudden death to several of tin.- .suite of Turkey's Sultan, though the ruler himself escaped; two Queens were threatened' in August Marghcrlta. of Italy, and that capable DowagT of Chlnn; while another Chi nes "Red" (September) threw a bomb which narrowly misled killing Wh Ting-Fang, leaving him deaf. NiTillistic explosions In Spain have snuffed out 70 lives, while great strikes at Limoges ;lnd through Italy and Aus trl. taking on violence with extent, turned to rJots what might else have seemed mere industrial movements. The same may be said or the strike of Chicago's toHinsters. which ended July 20. after 155 turbulent days, encom passing 16 deaths and a total money los3 of $13,500,000. Itcforms Here at Home THE reform entries in ISOC's lodger here In America have been a marked feature 'of the year. With only six states clean of grnft-rannla Georgia." Iowa. Maine, Massachusetts. Michigan a-nd North Carolina the en tire country manifested an honest pur pose to bring to book all officials de viating from the path of rectitude. Election day saw "bosslsm." in vary ing degrees of corruption, swopt from power in Pennsylvania. New Jersey. Ohio and Maryland: Kansas has waged war against the Standard Oil and Mil waukee's grand jury has indicted 17 of that city's "leading citizens" for various public offenses. Of the municipal battles for civic virtue, that In Philadelphia attracted wide attention, .since the inheritors of the old "Quay nchinc' had so en trenched themselves in power as to feel free to act In ope 4 fiance of common rlghL In April they opened a campaign to acquire Hie city gas works 'under gu!;ee wf a lung-icrtu THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN. PORTtAIO). DECEMBER $1K 1905. By WARWICK JAMES PRICE lease, but the attempted steal was so 1 obvious and Immense that It was met 1 by tho swiftest and most tnorough revolution in American civic annals., Ellhu Root, previous to his acceptance of the State portfolio, helped Mayor Weaver lead the invostigators. and theft after theft came to light, cul- minuting In the disastrous failure of, the Enterprise .Bank systcmatlcally debauched by the machine. When the smoke of the ballot-battle cleared away "the corrupt organization mas querading under the name of Repub licanism" was utterly routed. "Boss Iz" Durham announced his retire in (Wit. , George B. Cox. Cincinnati's boss, has also "retired from politics" through the combined attacks of Secretary Taft and the city's honest citizens, led by Fuslonist Dempsey. Again Everett Colby, running for State Senator In New Jersey, demonstrated that the strongest political machine can be mastered by the right man. Ills tri umph and that of W. T. Jerome, re elected District Attorney Ip New York City, more than made up for the de feat it Partridge, reform candidate for San Francisco" mayorallty. at the hands of Eugene Srhmltz a man In dicted under six counts, any one form ing ground for his Impeachment for mslaffmlnlatmlinn T"li Hons which brought these develop- J menu. aw in .Maryland the defeat of the "Po Amendment," looking tu the disfranchisement of the colored vote, and tiie Kentucky fuslonist victory over the "Bloody Harglses," autocrats of Breathitt County. Government Takes a Hand. REFORM has been noticeably active, too, in Federal circles. The Im peachment charges presented by the House against Judge Swain, of Florida, and heard before the Senate early In the year, may be taken in evidence of this even while resulting in his full acquittal. The "house-cleaning" In the Cotton and Public Printing Bu reaus are more pointed proofs, the "leak" In the one case leading to four dismissals and the supported charges of "oxEravagance and lax manage ment" in the other resulting in the enforced withdrawal of Printer Palm er in favor of Charles SUllings. of Boston. An even mo.-c noteworthy instance of the Government's intention to real ize Roosevelt demand for the "square deal" came with the Bowen-Loomls ease. Its direct caus was a legal bt- ,lle between an American asphalt com pany and the Caracas authorities, in which the State Depaitment had tak en part; the direct cause was a charge preferred (April) by Minister Bowen against Assistant Secretary of State Loomis. This concerned Mr. Loom Is' personal integrity in several financial transactions while Minister to Venezu ela preceedlng Mr. Bowen, and seems to havo been based upon Caracas re ports. Mr. Loomis complete denial wnt upnej.l by Mr. Taft and the Presi dent. Bowen was recalled and (at his own request) dismissed. Finally. In this record of Govern mental reforms, comes the activity of the present Congress upon the broad questions of railway rates and Federal supervision over life insurance. ' ItiMirancc on the Hack. NINETEEN five -has proved "strenu ous" for life insurance. When (Feb-' ruary) the "Alexander petition" was presented by 40 officials of the Equitable Company to their directors, asking that James Hazen Hyde be not re-elected vice president, and that the society be mil tuallzed, no one foresaw the consequences. But the airing of that "family linen" showed up such soiled pieces that the whole question of the business of writing insurance was drawn under public Inspec tion. President Alexander . was replaced by Paul Morton, who left the Cabinet to take up that work. Mr. Hyde's Inter ests were taken over by Thomas F. Ryan, who placed the stock with three voUng trustees, including cx-Pre'sldent Cleve land. Such directors resigned as A- J. Cassatt, Jacob Schiff. CornHlus Blbs. E. II. UarrlmaB. and H. C. Prick, and "pub lic property was made of a committee report exposing details of extravagance and favoritism hitherto undreamed of even by those reasonably intimate with "high finance." At the end pf this expose New York State acted. Before a Legislative Investi gating committee, wHth Charles E. Hughes as counsel, four great llfcjnsurance com panies in turn, through their officers, con tributed to the growing sum of public knowledge of what had been presumed a 'business purely fiduciary and largely phi lanthropic, with the result that even worse things than the weakness of the Equitable were found to exist every where. Contributions to political funds, excessive salaries and biased nepotism, the sharing by "insiders" of immense profits made through thlnly-velled sub sidiary companies, "yellow dog" funds for the control of Legislatures these and similar abuses were proved to the fulL convincing to a public that has passed from astonishment to resentment. Presi dent McCurdy. cf the Mutual, has re signed, giving up the fight. The Brlgbtcr Sldc- THERE is. however, a distinctly bfighter side tc the commercial and lnduetriaT retrospect. American farmers have h4 a record yar. The wheat crop surpassed all others la the bod's history excepting tlMt 1M. Mre than 29. f,0W (Htefcek! of com Mtafcttafced. a new Mich-water murk in that cereal. Other grams contributed similarly their 0 news, till a total of J.(.W was named as the whole value of the "seven great crops" com. hay. wheat, cotton, oats, barley and rye with the total farm yield at .4l5.o.o&X The Lewis and Clark Exposition (Port kind. Or.) bore yet further evidence to the general prosperity of the country Not only did It. In Its 16 weeks, entertain Z5ia&!0 visitors, but it surpassed its fel lows of recent years by closing its books with a balance permitting a stockholders dividend of 23 per cent. Internationally, the happening of the year from which this country most ben efited, was the termination of the tariff war with Russia, through the removal of "penal" duties upon American exports of Iron and steel products. Changes Diplomatic and Political. ' WHEN, in the Spring. Count Cassinl. Russia's veteran Ambassador at Washington, was moved to Madrid, Bar on Rosen succeeding him. the first step was taken in a considerable number of diplomatic changes made during the year. Our legation in Toklo has become an Embassy, with Lloyd Griscom as first Ambassador, and both Brazil and Japan have done the same thing here, the form er sending Dr. De Aranjo to our capital. In our service abroad the retirement of Joseph H. Choate from St. James Is tho fact of leading importance. He was suc ceeded by Whltelaw Reid. who was re placed ln -Vance by Robert S. McCor mick. jG. V. I Meyer going from Italy to Russia, and Henry White being promoted from first .secretary Jn London to Rome: Edwin H. Conger, after a brief service' in Mexico following his longer term in China, has permanently retired from the corps. In Mr. Roosevelt "official family" the change in personnel has been slight. The death (July) of John Hay struck a tell ing blow at the cabinet, but Elihu Root's acceptance of his seat at the President's right went far toward counterbalancing the loss. Secretary Morton's resignation was met by the appointment of Charles J. Bonaparte, of Baltimore,, to the Navy portfolio. Earlier. General B. Cortelyou succeeded "Pcstmaster General Wynne, the latter golrg to London as Consul GeneraL Lesser changes among the Fed eral servants have Involved the resigna tion of Mr. Loomis as Assistant Secre tary of State. Robert Bacon, of New York, following him In office: the retire ment of Carroll D. Wright as Commis sioner of Labor. Dr. Charles P. Nell suc ceeding him; and the appointment of Vespasian Warner as Pension Commis sioner, and cx-Senator Cockrell to the Interstate Commerce Commission. ' The new Senators of the twelvcmonlh arc: F. B. Brandcgee (R.). of Connecticut: J. B. Frazler (D.l. of Tennessee: William Warner (R-. of Missouri. J. M. Gearin ID.), of Oregon. February brought a new Governor to Arizona, In Joseph H. KIbbey; November one for New Mexico in H. J. Hager man. while in March Colorado went through the unique experience of having three chief executives in one day; Adams (retired under the General Assembly's decision against him): Peabody (retired according to agreement with the Assembly), and Jesse F. MacDonald. elected Lieutenant Gov ernor, but now serving as Governor. Oth er alterations In the gubernatorial cast of cliaracters. by November's elections, are Included In Curtis Guild. Jr.. who led Massachusetts Republican victory: John W. Paulson. Democrat, who defeated Myron Hcrrick In Ohio; George H. Utter. Republican, re-elected in Rhode Island, and Claude A. Swanson. chosen by the Virginia Democrats. In addition to these, mention Is due the election-day successes of Tom John son, remade Mayor of Cleveland: Ezra Thompson, put In official control of Salt Lake City by the ami-Mormons, and George B. McClcllan. who retains New York's Mayoralty by the narrowest of f margins over William R. Hearst, who. heading a municipal ownership ticket, contested the count. In Chicago's 5j.pril election a political tornado overwhelmed the Republicans. Edward F. Dunne. Dem ocrat, being swopt Into the Mayor's chair on a slngle-plank-platforra-municlpal ownership of the car lines. Swingin Hound the Circles. SO far as the heads of governments are concerned. 190S has" been dis tinctly a year of visits. Alfonso of Spain has In turn played guest to France, England. Germany and Aus tria, and Lou bet has been to Madrid to "return his call." The Kaiser first "looked -In" upon Morocco, and then dazed diplomacy by that mysterious conference with his "Dear Cousin of Russia." George of Greece has been to London, as has Carlos of Portugal Louis of Battenberg brought a fleet across to exchange courtesies with America, and all India has turned out in honor of the Prince of Wales, f But of these twelvemonth "swing in'a. round the circle" America Is most concerned In the two trips of her Pres ident and that tour to the Philippines and the East made by Secretary Taft and his party. In April Mr. Roosevelt indulged in a hunting trip through Texas and Colorado; in October he vis ited New Orleans, traversing 10 states and being everywhere welcomed with so genuine an enthusiasm as to make the trip significant in the country's in creasing unity. The Philippiae -Jaunt" of the Con gressieaal party w the popular eye rather through the preaeace of Xls Alice Rooaerett, ecftectaJly in view of her spIendM entertainment in Cre. and Japan, but the rI, valve f the, expedition my in tb accurate appre ciation of Phil ippia-conditions gained by the lawmakers. In the round of festivities Secretary Taft pledged his word that, in the absence of insurrec tion, there would be a popular assem bly In 1907. The Secretary of War has also been playing a considerable role In Panama Canal history. Through his act. for mer Chief Englnoer Wallace resigned that post, John F". Stevens, of Chicago, being placed In control, while, largely through his representations, the. Canal Commission was completely reorgan ized by the appointment of a new body to make thorough preparations for the ! digging. The personnel of the body now acting is: T. F- Shonts (chair man). C E. Magoon (Governor of the Zone). J. F. Stevens. Admiral M. T. Emiicott. General P. C I la Ins. Colonel O. M- Ernst and Benjamin M. Harrod. The year has also brought together the committee of "advisory engineers." representing the best In the profes sion to be found In five nations, who. by a vote of S to 5. have reported in favor of a sen-levet waterway. The Canal Com mission, however, has urged going ahead with the lock pla.n. The President has so decided. To the South or Us. IN the lands to the immediate south of us. the two happenings of 1903 of largest importance are the reform of the Mexican currency, placing that country upon a gold basis, and the practical recognition by this' govern ment of active duties in maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine. This latter move, constituting -Uncle Snm "the po liceman of the Western Hemisphere.". appears In the background of a proto col (January 20) between the United States and Dominica. This provides for a temporary fiscal protectorate of the Caribbean republic by the United States in other words, placing San Domingo for an Indefinite period In just the relation to this country which i Egypt boars toward England. Con ! sidered as an historical precedent, tho incident marks the most important I stage in the development of the doc ; trine since Grover Cleveland Insisted t that England submit the Venezuelan ' boundary dispute to arbitration. There has been a "political uprising against Reyes in Colombia, and" elec i tion disorders throughout Cuba, when J (September) the Liberals under Gomez I met defeat at the hands of the Con servatives under Palma. and there has becv talk of union between Panama and Costa Rica. The latter country has elected Dr. P. J. Valverde its Pres ident;' Ecuador has chosen Llzardo Garcia to- like office;' and re-elections have been announced from Guatemala and Venezuela for Cabrera. and Castro. This last picturesque cnaracter has been much in the twelve-month's news. He has dealt distinctly arbitrarily with the French Cable Company, the Ger man railwav Interests nnct tho mrf- I can asphalt properties, though. In this final case, according to recent evidence given by General F. V. Greene, the Caracas authorities would seem to have right on their side. In that the Americans had financially aided the Matos revolt. Castro's principal con tributions to the annual gaiety of na tions, however, was his proclamation threatening immediate Invasion of this country. Kvcnts in Africa. WHAT with the Herrero rebellion In the south, and Moroccan dis orders in the north, the world in gen eral, sq far as it regards things Af rican, has mainly overlooked the com pletion there (April) of the giant bridge over the gorge of the Zambesi at Victoria Falls. This latest link in the chain binding Cairo to the far Cape is more than the highest bridge In the world, for it practically opens free traffic through the long diameter of the continent. Electrir-lighted salon coaches now run at 20 miles an hour through districts which, but lately, were the unattaincd goals of heroic explorers. The Moroccan and Herreran situa tions, however, have unquestionably been more picturesque than this. In one case, believing that Germany would stand by her In any attempt to annoy France (a belief not unnaturally following the Kaiser's visit and his re mark. The sovereign Integrity of Mo rocco will be maintained"). Sultan Aziz arrested a French merchant, and for some time refused both his release and reparation. As France prepared to withdraw her Minister at Fez. how ever, and to send down a fleet, and as Germany was evidently to take no step to thwart a French victory. Mo rocco rapidly backed down, leaving French prestige stronger than before. Germany has again played a losing game In hr colony to the southwest. Her troubles with the Herreros. which began last year, have to date cost her quite JO.C00.009 and 1000 lives with the ena or tne "utue war-jioryet m sight. In spite of the 1 J.0CO troops now endeavor ing to put down one not numerous tribe of blacks. The scene of tliat other African war of recent memory may chronicle for 198& the granting of home rule to the Trans vaaL and the appointment of the Earl -of Selborne a? British High Commlssioaer ln the stead ot Lord Winer. Asia Chmoh ana a Treaty. ANOTHER proconsular change of actual International inHortance came to Asia In August, when Cmen rtatgfU as India Viceroy, the act mjarMng tne end ot a- atruggto between two Iwnm rutty masterful and aplemHdfy capaJit men Curxon and Kitchener. Both worked lor EVENTS THAT MAKE 1905 MEMORABLE Enormous Crops come to the country, thus insuring general prosperity. President Roosevelt's Remarkable Southern Tour and Secre tary Taft's Philippine Visit. Germany's War Lord has a disastrous little war in Africa Curzon gets out of Asia, leaving the field in British India to Norway secedes from Sweden and chooses a new King for Kitchener. and slips into the Moroccan Question, herself. The body of Paul Jones found in Paris and brought to America. Great New Ships; Progress in the fight with disease; storms and earthquakes and death of many eminent men round out a Remarkable Record. one end safeguarding India against ag gression from without yet along such diametrically opposed llneo as the suprem acy of the civil government on the one hand and the military autocracy on the other. An able Indian Secretary in Lon don would have reconciled these differ ences and kept two good men at work where all the good men possible are needed: a weak government merely made 111 matters worse. later sending out as new Viceroy the amiable Earl of Minto. The entire continent in which the world was cradled Is also deeply concerned In the renewal upon broadened terms of the Anglo-Japanese treaty. It Is no longer confined to mere commercial intents, for the signatory powers are oo bound by It in mutual aims and assistance as to In sure Asiatic peace for at least the docu ment's ten years of life. Alongside this, India's attempted boycott of English goods and China's similarly nborUve measure against America: England's ac quirement of a new naval base at Singa pore, and even the Celestial Empire's pur chase for JS.7iO.000 of the Canton-Hankow railroad, presided over by J. P. Morgan, pale Into an Interest purely temporary-' A word is apt. however, as to China's internal condition. One side of the ledger shows the Dowager Empres?. still su preme, abolishing torture, pitting for her portrait to an American artist, buying au. tomobilcs. and generally encouraging her subjects progress toward Western ideas. On the debit side Is written the mission ary murders of November, when six Americans lives were taken by a Lien chow mob: the attack upon Rear Admiral Train in October, when a hostile anti foreign feeling voiced lt?elf in outrage: and the unvouched-for but Insistent re ports that a dangerous revolutionary movement is smouldering through the land. Its object being the overthrow of the now-progressive Dowager and the re instatement of the weak young Emperor at the head of a wholly reactionary gov ernment. The Hebirth of Xorway. MOMENTARILY greater events have tended to overshadow one of the year's most vital happenings, when, by methodical, business-like revolution, a new- naUon entered the world's family. On June 7 the Norwegian press an nounced: "Norway from today Is a fully Independent, sovereign state," and two days later a flag new to European eyes flew above the Akershus fortifications. Did it bring war or peace, this seces sion? Hot-heads everywhere in the dual kingdom talked violently, but the ven erable King Oscar stood firmly against armed arbitrament of the question, and when a practically unanimous vote In fa vor of separate national existence was cast by a Norse referendum, he himself furthered the meeting of a joint commis sion to decide the debate. September 23 this body reached the conclusion now known as "The Karlstadt Agreement" and all that remained to complete Nor way's Independence was formal concur rence by the legislative assemblies of tha two countries. Thls - came- In due time, and with Prlnca Charles of Denmark, chosen constitutional monarch, bearing the ancient title of Haakon VII. Norway seated herself at the table of the Euro pean concert. "Unsteady Cabinets Unrestful People IT has been a year of Cabinet upheavals. France. Denmark. Italy, Holland. Spain, Greece, Roumanla, all havo had crises to meet and master, while in Eng land and Austria-Hungary such situations are still ornlnou. At London Mr. Bal four has been forced to resign with his entire Cabinet. Sir Henry Campbcll-Ban-nerman succeeding him and a very un easy situation it now Is. Austria-Hungary shows tho world the disorder ly side of that same question, which, in the case of Norway, offered the face of "sweet reasonableness." Franz Josef, presiding over tho destinies ot two peoples opposed ia Ideas and modes, has held them together rather through their affection fr htra. thatr taresga wise statecraft. Ntaetea five haMseea rioting in Vienna, and Sudapesth. and outbreaks in the Parliament suggestive of Denny broofc. Thm. Appenyi and Fejervery, all have tried reconciling the differences be tween throne and peepie, on the one band, and between widely differing c la sees of do Dotation, on the other, and not one has 39 accomplished anything permanent. It is here that political trouble may confident ly be expected In Europe. This is not, however, the only uneasy point in the Continental situation. The allied powers have forced the Sultan to cede them financial control in Macedonia; armed mountaineers have kept alive the perennial warfare In the Balkans; and long-continued periods of Industrial de pression In Spain. Ireland, and England have brought a scourge of famine to he one. fearful distress of poverty to the second, and. to the third, a menace from "the unemployed' which yet may become a governmental issue. In France the divorce of church and state hitches Its way along with rather better promises; in Italy, on the other hand, ecclesiastical and civil powers have drawn together through the agreement of Victor's court to recognize Papal titles. The Kaiser In the Llifielight. THE German war-lord has taken the center of the stage with character istic regularity as month has followed month. The marriage or his heir in (June) gave him one opportunity, but the affair In which he played most promi nently his part was that Franco-Moroccan matter already referred to. It Is be lieved he took the stand he did. insisting upon recognition in all arrangements. be tween Loubet and Abdul Aziz, thinkin -that Russia's isolation through her war In the East, would allow him to control the balance of power on the continent; certainly, too, he hoped to wound th-j-Anglo-French entente. At one time complete success seemed in his grasp, and at least his diplomacy accomplished the downfall (June) of For eign Minister Delcasse. the ablest of modern French statesmen. But England's friendship for her new ally strengthened under pressure of danger, while Ports mouth brought Russia again into Euro pean calculations and the Kaiser found himself little better off than before hU gambit, though Germany is this mucr "to the good." that she Is to be recog nized in the forthcoming Internationa, Moroccan conference. Peace anil Broadening. Itcligion. THE movement toward the spread ot a world-peace and the harmonizins or religious differences, indeed, have been general during 1303. The Czar has sum moned another Hague conference, and the International Peace Congress, held at Brussels in August, accomplished much. Scotland's long-quarreling "two kirks" have reconciled their1 differences, each now to share In the immense properties Involved in their dispute: a papal con sistory has seen the creation of four new cardinals: while the year practicall closed with that vast New York confer ence for religious co-operation, at whicr 1S.WO.O0O churchmen were represented ir an effort to reach a working unity. Mention Is also due the revivals led by Evan Roberts in Wales, and Drs. Torroy and Alexander in London. Ijavt- and Crime. LAWS part In the year's occurrences Ia considerable. Perliaps the final chap ter In the story of the Northern Securities Company was written in January, when a Court of Appeals reversed the decision of a lower court restraining that corporation from distributing the Northern Pacific stock in its possession. Again, a Supreme Court unanimous decision sustained the Government In its fight with the "Beef Trust." while a Chicago grand jury has Indicted IS men prominently connected with the packing business. Senator Bur ton was three Umes iridicted for official fraud and finally convicted: a score of indictments and three convic tions have accompanied the public land Investigations., and, in July, fraud lost yet another battle -when Senator Mitchell was sentenced to a fine ot and six months imprisonment, for fur thering through public office the private practice of hfe law arm. Close; upon this came the news of his death. The courts have freed Nan PattersoH if rs. Chadwiclc lias gone to the penUen-i tiary for years, and present day justice U busy with the death, of a Boston ehorue. (CoaclB!e& on Page io.J n