21. The antitrust act. (This was drawn by Senators Sherman and Edmunds, and introduced by the former. In the House its passage was secured by William McKinley against an attempt to have it sidetracked in behalf of a bill for the free coinage of silver, which received the vote of every Democratic member with one exception. So it may be said that the law was placed upon the statute books over the united opposition of the Democratic party as represented in the House.)

22. The national bankruptcy acts of 1867 and 1898, which relieved many thousands of unfortunate men from their burdens of debt and restored them to commercial or industrial activity.

23. The establishment of the gold standard, which placed our monetary system on a stable basis and in harmony with the great nations of the world.

24. Every schedule of duties on imports adopted within the past fifty years in which the policy of protection to American labor has been distinctly recognized and efficiently applied has been the product of a Republican Congress.

25. On logical lines with the policy of protection, the acquisition of the Philippines. That is to say, having built up our industries to a point where their output was in excess of our consumption, we secured a grand depot and distributing point to command in great part the markets of the 600,000,000 inhabitants of Asia.

LABOR LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Who Enacted Them?

The great revolution, by which labor was exalted and the country freed from the curse of slavery, was accomplished by the Republican party against the fiercest opposition possible by the combined forces of the Democrats and their allies.

The Coolie Trade Prohibited.

This law was passed February 19, 1862; amended February 9, 1869; and further amended March 3, 1875. President Grant, in his message of December 7, 1874, laid before Congress a recommendation for the enforcement of the law. The legislation on these several acts was accomplished by the Republicans in 1862, in the Thirty-seventh Congress, and in 1869, in the Fortieth Congress. Peonage Abolished.

This act was passed in the Thirty-ninth Congress, when both houses were Republican by a large majority, March 2, 1867.

Inspection of Steam Vessels.

Passed during the Fortieth Congress, when the Republicans were in power in both houses.

Protection of Seamen.

Passed during the Forty-second Congress, when both houses were under control of the Republicans. It was amended during the Forty-third Congress, when the Republicans were in control of both houses.

Involuntary Servitude of Foreigners Abrogated. Passed during the Forty-third Congress, when both houses were under the control of the Republicans.

Incorporation of National Trades Unions. Passed the Senate June 9, 1886, without division. Passed the House June 11, 1886, without division.

Payment of Per Diem Employees for Holidays. Passed without division in the Forty-ninth Congress, second session.

Labor of United States Convicts-Contract System Prohibited. Passed the House March 9, 1886. Passed the Senate February 28, 1887. All the votes against the bill were Democratic.

Boards of Arbitration.

Passed the House on April 3, 1886, with thirty votes against the bill, all being Democratic.

Hours of Labor, Letter Carriers. Law limiting hours of labor of letter carriers to eight a day. Passed in the Senate without division.

Department of Labor.

Passed the House April 19, 1888. Passed the Senate May 23, 1888. All votes cast against the bill were Democratic.

Trusts and Monopolies.

The act to protect trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and monopolies (Sherman anti-trust law) was passed July 2, 1890, by the Fifty-first Congress, of which both the Senate and House were Republican,

WORK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 1897-1904.

The work of the Department of State has increased perhaps fivefold within the last six years, for the reason that our comInercial and political interests have steadily grown in magnitude and importance. We have many new and significant points of contact with the world to-day that were unknown and unimportant a few years ago. World events are moving rapidly and our responsibilities abroad keep pace with them.

Consideration of the series of important happenings in the Orient, beginning with the Boxer trouble, and the settlement of the Panama Canal question, the growth in the authority and recognition of the Monroe Doctrine since Mr. Hay became Secretary of State, the expansion of foreign markets for American goods, the increase of over-sea commercial opportunities, the efficient support and emphatic insistence upon the application of the principle of international arbitration in a practical way to real disputes, will show in what directions have been our greatest activities and achievements in the world of diplomacy, and what they are likely to be in the immediate future.

It may be said without boasting that no period of our history has been richer in diplomatic triumphs of a high and wide-sweeping character than the few years now under discussion. Much that has been accomplished has been done so quietly and unobtrusively that the world at large knows little about it.

Settlement of Large Claims of American Citizens Against Foreign Governments.

During the administrations of Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt there was collected and settled through the Department of State and its representatives abroad claims of American citizens against foreign governments amounting in the aggregate to the enormous sum of $26,690,850.08. This record illustrates and marks one of the greatest practical achievements of our diplomacy.

Equal in importance with the practical pecuniary triumph and of the vast sum of money gained through the medium of pacific adjustment for American claimants was the rich gain in international good feeling due to the settlement of the many disputes of long standing growing out of these claims.

The Consular Service.

The achievements of the consular service have been no less striking. Owing to the high state of efficiency to which it has been brought during the last few years, and in spite of the unfortunate system under which our consular officers work, it is now saving to the Government upward of six millions of dollars annually through the successful efforts of its officers in detecting and preventing undervaluations.

Many Important Treaties Made.

The record of the Department of State in the matter of treaty making during the last eight years is a noteworthy one. The administration of President Roosevelt alone has upward of thirty treaties and international agreements to its credit, and since the first inauguration of President McKinley more than ninety treaties and agreements with foreign powers have been negotiated and proclaimed. They range in subject from the settlement of claims of private citizens to the control and construction of the Panama Canal.

Among the more important of these compacts are those providing for the extradition of fugitives from justice, the list including conventions with Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Great Britain (a supplemental treaty extending the catalogue of extraditable crimes), Guatemala, Mexico (with which power also a supplemental agreement was concluded adding

bibery to the list of extradictable crimes), Peru, Servia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands (the last mentioned not yet proclaimed). This series of treaties, together with the extradition conventions preceding it, and with pending negotiations, closes the doors of almost all the civilized nations of the world against fugitives from justice of the United States.

Other treaties of marked importance are the peace protocol and peace treaty with Spain, of August and December, 1898, respectively; the cession of outlying islands of the Philippines; the real and personal property convention with Great Britain, providing for the holding and disposition of real and personal property of aliens by will and deed on a liberal basis; a treaty with Guatemala to the same effect; trade-mark conventions with Japan and Guatemala, securing equal protection with that afforded native subjects and citizens; a temporary arrangement of the disputed Alaskan boundary question in October, 1899; the appointment of a joint commission to consider for settlement questions at issue between the United States and Great Britain respecting Canada; the adhesion of the United States to the additional articles to the Red Cross convention; the articles concerning naval warfare-a great humanitarian gain; the adhesion of this Government to the International Convention of Brussels of 1899, for the regulation of the importation of spirituous liquors into Africa; the canal protocols of December 1, 1900, with Costa Rica and Nicaragua, providing a means of agreement for the construction and control of an interoceanic canal by the Nicaragua route. From 1898 to 1900 reciprocal commercial arrangementɛ were entered into with France, Germany, Italy, and Portugal, under section 3 of the tariff act of Congress of 1897, and in 1899 the United States participated in and became a party to the Hague Conventions, for arbitration of international disputes, for regulating war on land, for regulating maritime warfare, and the declaration to prohibit for five years the launching of projectiles and explosives from balloons, and other new methods of a similar nature.

During the past seven years numerous claims of private citizens have been settled by special negotiations between our own Government and those against which the claim was preferred, the foreign governments concerned being Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Salvador, Santo Domingo, and Venezuela, while by the treaty of March 24, 1897, the Chilean Claims Convention of August 7, 1892, was revived and additional claims adjusted. It is hardly necessary to add that this Government bore a most material share in the settlement of the international difficulties in China after the Boxer revolutionary movements, culminating in the final protocol of September 7, 1901.

Treaties Negotiated During the Administration of President Roosevelt.

Among the proclaimed treaties the more important are the Hay-Pauncefote treaty (second) of November, 1901, to facilitate the building of the Panama Canal; the canal treaty with the Republic of Panama; the Alaskan boundary treaty; the Pious Fund arbitration treaty; the treaty of friendship with Spain; the commercial treaty with China, and extradition treaties with Belgium, Denmark, Guatemala, Mexico (supplementary), and Servia. The supplementary extradition treaty with Mexico is specially noteworthy as providing for the extradition of bribe givers and bribe takers, the crime of bribery being thus added to the existing list of extraditable offenses.

The Hay-Pauncefote treaty (of November 18, 1901) by repealing, or rather by superseding, the Clayton-Bulwer treaty (of April 19, 1850) cleared the way for direct negotiations for the construction of an interoceanic canal. Immediate advantage was taken of this fact and the Hay-Herran canal treaty was concluded January 22, 1903, but subsequently rejected by Colombia. The Panama treaty (November 18, 1903) followed, and was proclaimed February 26, 1904, assuring the construction of a canal.

The Alaskan boundary convention (January 24, 1903) provided a tribunal by which the last important question at issue between Great Britain and the United States was satisfactorily

adjusted, almost entirely in accordance with the points claimed by our Government, one of the British members of the tribunal participating in the decision so largely in accordance with our contention.

The treaty with Mexico for the arbitration of the Pious Fund claim is distinguished not only as providing for the settlement of an important question long open, but also as submitting the first international case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. By a later international agreement this Government participated in a convention for the submission to the same tribunal of the question of preferential treatment of recent claims against Venezuela.

In addition to the commercial treaty with Cuba by which preferential benefits are secured to both contracting governments, an agreement providing naval and coaling stations for ships of the United States has been concluded and proclaimed, and two others-one respecting the status of the Isle of Pines, and the other defining our relations with Cuba-are pending.

The commercial treaty with China contains several very important provisions, besides a satisfactory tariff schedule. The Likin tax (the collection of a tax on goods in transit within the Empire) is abolished; revision of Chinese mining regulations is secured; protection in the use of trade-marks and ownership of patents is stipulated; a uniform national Chinese coinage is projected; but more important than all, two new ports are opened to foreign trade in China, namely, Mukden and Antung, in Manchuria, with the result not only of strengthening the American policy of the open door, but also that of maintaining Chinese jurisdiction in the territory, and tending to the integrity of China.

Three agreements with Spain have been perfected, that of July 3, 1902, reestablishing friendly relations and containing the provisions general in treaties of friendship-trade, residence, property and testamentary rights, diplomatic and consular privileges, etc. Another (January to November, 1902), by exchange of diplomatic notes, restores the international copyright agreement; while another, earlier (August to November, 1901), by exchange of notes and a joint declaration, facilitates the exchange of letters rogatory between Porto Rico, the Philippine Islands, and Spain.

Other treaties are, a consular convention with Greece (November, 1902); a trade-mark agreement with Germany for Morocco; the reciprocal commercial agreement with France (August 20, 1902) under section 3 of the existing tariff act; treaties for the settlement of claims with Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Salvador, and Brazil; naturalization with Haiti; import duties and light and harbor dues in Zanzibar.

The five great achievements of the treaty making of the administration are the Hay-Pauncefote treaty, superseding the Clayton-Bulwer treaty; the Panama Canal treaty; the Alaskan boundary treaty; the commercial treaty with China, and the treaty with Menelik providing for commercial relations with Abyssinia, thus opening to our producers new trade relations with ten million people. This latter is one of the most important of our recent commercial treaties. The commercial treaty with Cuba is of hardly less importance as an act of good faith, pledged by this Government as one of the principal results of the war with Spain.

International Arbitration.

The administrations of McKinley and Roosevelt have been distinguished by the efforts put forth to promote peace among the nations and alleviate the evils of war.

President McKinley was active in seeking to have incorporated into international law the principle so long advocated by our country of the exemption of private property on the sea from seizure during war, a measure so greatly desired in the interest of maritime commerce. He instructed our delegates to The Hague Peace Conference in 1899 to urge this principle, and when the conference decided that it had no jurisdiction over the subject he asked Congress to authorize him to bring about an international conference for the consideration of this subject, and President Roosevelt has renewed the recommendation to Congress.

The United States was among the first of the powers to respond favorably to the request of the Emperor of Russia in 1898 for a peace conference. One of the few practical results of that conference was the arbitration convention, which was brought about mainly through the efforts of the American delegates. President McKinley had the honor of sending to the Permanent Arbitration Court established by that convention the first case ever submitted to it.

A notable opportunity was presented to President Roosevelt in 1903 to show his faith in international arbitration and in the efficacy of The Hague court. He was called upon by Great Britain, France, and Italy to arbitrate their differences with Venezuela, a distinguished mark of confidence in his ability and impartiality. But he declined the honor and referred the warring powers to the Permanent Arbitration Tribunal as the proper place to adjust their controversy.

The delegates of the United States to the Pan-American Conference of the American Republics, which met in the City of Mexico in 1901-2, were prominent in the adoption of a number of conventions and agreements for the better regulation of the commerce and intercourse of the American states, and among these was a convention for the settlement by arbitration of claims not susceptible of diplomatic arrangement.

But while President Roosevelt has committed himself so heartily to international arbitration, he recognizes that there are some political questions which may not be proper to submit to such an adjustment. The Alaskan boundary had in recent years become a matter of serious controversy, and stood as an obstacle to the maintenance of peaceful relations with Canada. In view of our long and undisputed occupation of the territory in question the President declined to allow the reference of the controversy to The Hague court, but instead he proposed the creation of a judicial tribunal of an equal number of members from each country, feeling confident that our claim would be established by such a body. Against much opposition and prediction of failure such a tribunal was created, and its decision has happily confirmed the wisdom of the President's action, peacefully settled this irritating controversy, and restored good relations with our northern neighbors. It has proved one of the most notable diplomatic triumphs of our Government.

The Consular Service.

The consular officers of no other government have such varied and important duties to perform as have the consular officers of the United States. Of these duties perhaps none are so important as those relating to the protection of American citizens and their interests abroad. Our consuls have displayed unusual ability in discharging these duties. American citizens arrested or subjected to annoyance in foreign countries have, with rare exceptions, found the American Consuls energetic and successful in their behalf. In China, Central and South America the consular officers have been called upon to perform delicate and trying duties of a diplomatic character and have discharged those duties with rare tact and ability. They have cared for and sent home the bodies of Americans who have died abroad and have collected and forwarded to legal representatives in this country the property of deceased American citizens in foreign countries.

But perhaps the most significant and valuable work, in a money sense, that has been achieved by the consuls has been in the way of detecting and preventing attempts to defraud the customs. In their investigations of values of merchandise exported to the United States our consuls have shown wonderful skill and industry, and their work in the direction of preventing exporters to the United States from undervaluing their merchandise has resulted in vast increases in the customs dues collected. An approximate idea of the value of this work of our consuls may be formed when it is recalled that the work of one consular officer alone has increased receipts from customs about one million dollars a year since 1898, a total of six million dollars in six years. There are 330 consular officers who are carrying on the same kind of work. They are for the most part equally energetic and efficient, and it is estimated that fully ten million dollars have been saved to the

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