YERKES TELESCOPE.-The largest refracting telescope in the world, having an aperture 40 inches in diameter. It is mounted in the Yerkes Observatory at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and belongs to the University of Chicago. The tube of the telescope with its attachments is nearly 70 feet long, and the dome in which it is located is 90 feet in diameter. The observatory was completed in 1897. ADMINISTRATION OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY 1897-1901 [Authorities: The material for this chapter is gathered from official documents and records, Current History, contemporaneous magazines and other publications.] ILLIAM MCKINLEY was inaugurated March 4, 1897, as the twenty-fifth president of the United States. He selected the following cabinet: secretary of state, John Sherman; secretary of the treasury, Lyman J. Gage; secretary of war, Russell A. Alger; secretary of the navy, John D. Long; attorney-general, Joseph McKenna; postmaster-general, James A. Gary; secretary of the interior, Cornelius Bliss; secretary of agriculture, James Wilson. The financial depression existing throughout the country and a deficiency in the revenue amounting to more than two hundred million dollars demanded the immediate attention of the new administration. President McKinley called an extra session of Congress to meet March 15, for the purpose of considering a of measure for increasing the revenues. The result of the special Congress session was the Dingley Tariff Law which was passed July 24, 1897. The bill had the twofold effect of increasing the revenues of the government and affording protection to industry. Extra Session Seal Conference In the hope of putting a stop to the wanton destruction of the seal herds in Bering Sea, this government decided to invite not only Great Britain, but also Japan and Russia, to a conference to deal with the seal question. The invitations were issued, but Great Britain refused to participate in the conference if Japan and Russia were parties to it. It was then decided to hold a second conference at which only the United States, Canada, and Great Britain should be represented. The first conference resulted in a treaty signed November 6, 1897, by the terms of which Japan, UNITED Russia, and the United States agreed to a suspension of pelagic DIVISION VI sealing for such a length of time as, in the opinion of the experts, the condition of the seals will require in order to insure their continued existence. The second conference came to nothing. Canada demanded a counter-concession in return for her assent to the proposition of 1897-190.1 the United States for the suspension of sealing. The Canadians held that the fish in Canadian waters were as much the property of Canada as are the seals of the Pribilof Islands the property of the United States. The experts set forth the fact that the Pribilof herd had decreased so much that the numerical strength was not to exceed one-third of what it was in 1884. It was also shown that the rate of decrease was greater during the last few years than pre Expert Reports DIVISION VI viously. UNITED 1897-1901 Hawaiian tion Census The conference came to an end November 16, 1897, with the request that Canada submit her demands in writing to the Washington government. Nothing has yet been done. Congress in December passed a law prohibiting pelagic sealing by citizens of the United States, and also the importation of sealskins into this country. With the return of the Republicans to power the people of Hawaii at once looked to the United States for annexation. A treaty was drawn up and submitted to the Senate in June, 1897. Nothing was done during the special session of Congress, but in his first annual message President McKinley strongly urged the ratification of the treaty. In January, 1898, President Sanford B. Dole of the Republic of Hawaii visited Washington in the interest of annexation. As treaties require a two-thirds majority for ratification, it seemed as if annexation was again to fail; but a joint resolution of Congress, which would require but a majority vote, was proposed and passed, and signed by the President July 7, 1898. In accordance with one of the provisions of the resolution, a commission was appointed to visit the islands, and to draw up a plan of government. The United States took formal possession August 12, 1898. By an act of Congress approved April 30, 1900, provision was made for a territorial government similar to the government of New Mexico or Arizona, and Sanford B. Dole was appointed the first governor of Hawaii.* Affairs in Cuba began to assume a serious aspect, and President McKinley, in his message to Congress, said that it was By the terms of the act which created Hawaii a territory of the United States, Honolulu was made the capital; all persons who were citizens of the Republic of Hawaii on the 12th of August, 1898, were declared to be citizens of the United States and of the territory. The Constitution and laws of the United States have the same force and effect as elsewhere in the United States except where inapplicable or specifically excepted. An educational qualification was specified for voters, and all Asiatics who have entered the islands under contract since annexation were given one year to depart. Chinese were excluded from the United States even though they had obtained admission to Hawaii. A delegate to the House of Representatives of the United States, to serve during each Congress, is elected by the voters. According to the census of 1900, the population of the Hawaiian Islands was 154,001. Honolulu, the only city in the islands, had a population of 39,306, an increase since 1890 of 16,399, or 71.5 per cent. In 1899 there were 169 schools in the islands with 544 teachers and 15,490 pupils. UNITED 1897-1901 the most important problem with which this government was called DIVISION VI He reasserted the traditional policy of the United upon to deal. States respecting Cuba; namely, that the United States would permit no disturbance of Cuba's connection with Spain unless in the direction either of independence or of acquisition by us. This was followed by a recital of the evils of the existing war for Cuban independence, and he also stated that there was no desire on the Cuban part of this government to profit by the misfortunes of Spain. Question The offers of friendly mediation had been rejected at Madrid. The several courses which the United States might take were reviewed. He opposed the recognition of belligerency as unwise and inadmissible. Intervention on the grounds of humanity would be unfair to Spain, whose new plan of autonomy might solve the difficulty if given a fair chance. The other courses possible to our government; namely, recognition of Cuban independence, neutral intervention to compel a compromise, direct intervention in behalf of one party or another, and forcible annexation to the United States, were mentioned. The preferred plan was that this government should wait, in order to give Spain's new plan of autonomy a fair trial. In case this failed, the United States could no longer tolerate the existence of such a condition of affairs upon our very coast. Letter In the middle of January, 1898, Congress took up the Cuban question. Early in February the Senate discussed intervention in De Lome Cuba. A few days later, resolutions calling for information as to the status of the diplomatic progress with Spain over the Cuban difficulty were introduced in both houses. The situation was somewhat aggravated by the accidental discovery of a letter written by Señor Dupuy de Lome, Spanish minister to the United States, in which he spoke disparagingly of President McKinley. The affair led to the minister's resignation of his post. On the 15th of February the United States battleship Maine was blown up in the harbor of Havana. This would have precipitated a crisis but for the fact that the question was immediately raised as to whether the ship had been destroyed by a torpedo or mine, or by an internal explosion. * *The Maine was in the harbor on a friendly visit, and had been given a place by the harbor master of Havana. In the explosion two officers and 264 of the crew perished. The disaster caused intense excitement, but the calmer processes of reason prevailed, and Destruc tion of the "Maine " |