years, and there is apparently no intention of doing away with it. As far as the nonRussian nationalities in the empire are concerned, Premier Stolypin has laid it down as a general principle that "nowhere will the Russians who happen to be a numerical minority of the local population be allowed to remain in political inferiority." This means that the local administrations in Finland, Poland, and the Baltic provinces must be acceptable to the Russian nationals residing there. The death of the Grand Duke Michael Nicholaievitch, grand-uncle of the Czar, and the serious illness of the Empress, were also subjects of concern to the Russian people during the past month.

Secretary

A clarifying of the economic and Knox's Man- political situation in the Far East churian Note has been effected by Secretary Knox's note on the Manchurian situation. Late in December Mr. Knox communicated to the governments of China, Japan, Russia, Great Britain, France, and Germany the proposal that the railroads of Manchuria be turned over to China and placed in the hands of an international syndicate which should develop them for commercial instead of political purposes, thus assuring the neutrality of this vast region, which for more than two decades has been the subject of international disagreement and dispute. In the note, which was made public from Washington on January 5, Mr. Knox explained that the American Government makes this proposal in accordance with the policy inaugurated by the late Secretary Hay for the maintenance of the "Open Door" in Manchuria. Early last spring, when the United States Government learned that two railroad concessions of great financial importance had been secured by British, French, and German financial groups, it was suggested that American cooperation would be desirable. In July last the Government at Washington took the rather unusual step of communicating directly in this matter with the Chinese Regent, Prince Chun. The result of this protest has been the agreement, now virtually completed, by which American bankers are to take onefourth of the loan (approximately, $30,000,000) for the construction of these two railroads, American engineers are to be employed (though not as "chiefs ") and American materials are to have the same rights for all present and prospective lines that were reserved to the British, French, and German materials by the original agreement.

Its

to the World

Such a "vesting in China of the Significance ownership of its railroads," said Mr. Knox in his note, "would have great international advantages." In concluding his proposal the Secretary noted the fact that an Anglo-American syndicate has obtained a concession for a railroad connecting Aigun, in North Manchuria, with Chinchow-fu, farther to the south, and that the British and American governments intend to support this concession diplomatically. The railroads referred to in the note are not all the lines in the province, but the two great lines constructed by the Eastern Chinese Railway Company, a Russian corporation organized by the Russo-Chinese Bank under agreements made between China and Russia in 1896 and 1898. One of them, known as the Chinese Eastern Railway Company, is really an extension of the Trans-Siberian extending across Manchuria to Vladivostok. The other, the South Manchurian line, extends southward from the first-mentioned line at Harbin and eventually terminates at Port Arthur.

Russia and China Unwilling

The treaty of Portsmouth, which

terminated the Russo-Japanese war, divided these roads between Russia and Japan, the former securing about two-thirds and the latter one-third of their mileage. It was also agreed in the treaty aforesaid that except in the leased territory the roads in question should be used exclusively for commercial and industrial purposes. Russia, however, contending that her agreements with China, already referred to, are still in force and permit her to have "the exclusive and absolute right of administration" over the territory within the railroad zone, has attempted to enforce this right during the past two years by means of certain administrative regulations in Harbin and other Siberian cities in a manner objectionable to the Chinese and other foreign residents. This phase of the subject, as we have noted more than once in these pages, has caused some considerable displomatic friction. It has been chiefly Russia's unwillingness to forego, or compromise in any way, the treaty privilege claimed under the agreements with China in 1896 and 1898 that has been responsible for the tangled condition of Manchurian economic and financial affairs during the past two years. The interview that had been arranged between the Russian Minister of Finance, Kokovtzov, and Marquis Ito, it is generally supposed, and which was

prevented by the assassination of Ito in October last, was for the purpose of disposing of Russia's railroad rights to Japan, for a consideration not mentioned.

China's

It should be remembered, in Right in the considering Mr. Knox's proposal, Matter that in the two agreements with China it was stipulated that the government at Peking might purchase these railroads at cost in the year 1938, or that it might claim. reversion of them without payment eighty years after the date of agreement, that is, in 1982. Secretary Knox's proposal is, therefore, nothing more than a suggestion that China do now what she will have the right to do at certain dates in the future, and that in return for " the privilege of anticipation" she shall place the roads under an international guarantee of neutrality. Late in January it was announced that the Chinese Foreign Board had refused to accept Secretary Knox's proposition. On January 21, the Japanese and Russian governments, in notes handed to our ambassadors at Tokio and St. Petersburg, politely declined to assent to Mr. Knox's proposal.

Copyright by Pach Bros.

THE LATE D. O. MILLS

THE LATE SPENCER TRASK, OF NEW YORK

Some Obituary

Notes

Mr.

In the obituary list of the month occur some names of men well known in public affairs. Spencer Trask and Mr. D. O. Mills were not only eminent as financiers but also as generous and philanthropic, with a broad outlook upon the progress of the country. Mr. Mills had attained great age, while Mr. Trask, who was much younger, lost his life in a railway accident. In the death of Mr. Nabuco, the Brazilian Ambassador, the Western Hemisphere loses one of its ablest diplomatists and statesmen. Elsewhere in this number of the REVIEW will be found a recognition of the work of the late Frederic Remington, the artist whose pictures of Indian and frontier life are so well known. Cardinal Satolli felt himself as much at home in the United States as in Italy. Gen. Daniel H. Rucker was the oldest retired officer of the United States Army. He died at the age of ninety-eight and was a prominent figure in Indian campaigns previous to his gallant service in the Mexican War. He served through the Civil War and was not retired until the age of seventy-one. Gen. N. M. Curtis also died early in JanHe was famous as having led the charge on Fort Fisher in 1865.

uary.

PROCEEDINGS IN CONGRESS

December 21.-The Senate adopts a resolution calling on the President for all papers relating to the Ballinger-Pinchot_controversy.. In the House, the District of Columbia Appropriation bill is passed.

January 4-Both branches reassemble after the holiday recess.

January 5.-Resolutions providing for a joint investigation of the Ballinger-Pinchot controversy are introduced in both Houses....In the Senate, two resolutions are introduced providing for an inquiry into the increased cost of living. ....The House passes the bill abolishing the Isthmian Canal Commission and creating in its stead the office of Director-General.

January 6-In the Senate, a letter from Gifford Pinchot to Senator Dolliver is read, in which the former indorses the charges against Secretary Ballinger and criticises the President for removing Glavis.

January 7.-A special message from the President, recommending certain amendments to the interstate commerce and anti-trust laws, is received and read in the House; the resolution calling for a joint investigation of the BallingerPinchot controversy is adopted by a vote of 149 to 146, with an amendment providing that the members from the House shall be designated by the House itself instead of by Speaker Cannon. January 10.—The President's special message on the interstate commerce and anti-trust laws is received and read in the Senate; the resolution to investigate the Ballinger-Pinchot affair is adopted....In the House, the Administration's interstate commerce bill is introduced.

January 11-In the Senate, the Administration's interstate commerce measure is introduced....The House passes the Army Appropriation bill.

January 13.-The House passes the Fortifications Appropriation bill.

January 14.-The House receives the President's special message on conservation of nat

ural resources.

January 17.-The special message from the President on conservation is read in the Senate. The House passes the bill providing state

hood for New Mexico and Arizona.

January 18-In the Senate, bills are introduced embodying the President's recommendations on Alaskan and conservation matters.. The House considers the Urgent Deficiency bill. January 19.-The Senate passes the District of Columbia Appropriation bill....The House passes a bill abolishing the Lighthouse Board and considers the Mann white slave bill. January 20.-In the Senate, the Vice-President appoints as members of the Ballinger

66

Pinchot investigation committee Messrs. Nelson, of Minnesota; Root, of New York; Flint, of California, and Sutherland, of Utah; Republicans; and Paynter, of Kentucky, and Fletcher, of Florida, Democrats....The House elects as its representatives on the Ballinger-Pinchot committee Messrs. McCall, of Massachusetts; Olmsted, of Pennsylvania; Denby, of Michigan, and Madison, of Kansas, Republicans; and James, of Kentucky, and Lloyd of Missouri, Democrats.

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT-AMERICAN December 21.- -The Interstate Commerce Commission, in its annual report to Congress, asks for more power to regulate railroad rates.

December 24-Federal Judge Pollock, in a decision handed down at Topeka, declares the Kansas bank-guarantee law void.

December 27-Governor Noel, of Mississippi, appoints Col. James Gordon as United States Senator until such time as the Legislature may elect a successor to fill the unexpired term of the late A. J. McLaurin.

December 28.-The committee appointed by Mayor McClellan, of New York, reports to him against complete equalization of the pay of women and men teachers in the public schools.

December 30-Attorney-General Wickersham asks the United States Supreme Court to appoint a receiver for the American Tobacco Company, alleging conspiracy in restraint of trade. ...At a special election the city of San Francisco votes in favor of municipal operation of a street-railway line owned by the city.

January 1.--The law prohibiting the manufacture of liquors in the State of Tennessee goes into effect....William J. Gaynor (Dem.) begins his term as Mayor of New York City.

January 3.-Governor Harmon, of Ohio, in his annual message to the Legislature, recommends the ratification of the income tax amendment to the Constitution.

January 4.-Secretary Wilson orders that the Department of Agriculture conduct a thorough inquiry into the cost of living.

York Legislature, Governor Hughes states that January 5-In a special message to the New he is in favor of an income tax, but asks that the Legislature reject the amendment as passed by Congress on the ground that it confers power to tax the income derived from State and municipal bonds.... President Taft names Alfred C. Coxe as presiding judge of the new Court of Customs Appeals, the other members being William H. Hunt, James F. Smith, O. H. Barber, and Marion De Vries.

January 6.—President Taft sends to the Senate the nominations of Cuno H. Rudolph and Gen. John S. Johnston to be Commissioners of the District of Columbia.

international syndicate....It is announced in London that the tariff on live cattle from Argentina will be removed, lowering the price of meat. January 8.-Japanese statesmen and press oppose Secretary Knox's plan for neutralizing the railroads in Manchuria....There is considerable alarm in France over affairs in French IndoChina.... The Sultan of Turkey protests to the powers against Cretan officials, taking the oath of allegiance to the King of Greece.

January 11.-The Peruvian Congress sanctions the boundary treaty with Brazil....Marquis Cusani-Confalioneri is appointed Italian Ambassador to the United States.

January 12.-The German Government announces its approval of the plan to neutralize the railroads of Manchuria.

January 17.-The American Consul-General at Paris explains before the American Chamber of Commerce in that city that the Payne Tariff will not injure France....The Supreme Court of the Philippines decides that the island government has power to regulate foreign commerce with the islands.

January 18.-President Taft issues proclamations under the new Tariff law, declaring that Great Britain, Russia, Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Switzerland are entitled to minimum rates. January 19.-Ambassador Rockhill confers with the Russian Foreign Minister on the neutralization of Manchurian railroads.

AERONAUTICS

December 30.-Leon Delagrange, in a Bleriot monoplane, establishes a new speed record at Juvisy, France, covering 124 miles at the rate of 49 miles an hour.

December 31.-The Michelin Cup and cash prize of $4000 for the longest aeroplane flight during 1909 is awarded to Henry Farman; on November 3 he established a record of 144 miles in 4: 17:35.

January 4-Leon Delagrange is killed and Santos Dumont severely injured in accidents to their aeroplanes on aviation fields near Paris.

January 6.-An Englishman named Meal is seriously injured, falling with his machine from a height of 30 feet, at Cannes, France.

January 7-Hubert Latham attains a height of about 3600 feet at Mourmelon, France.

January 9-The Aero Club, of France, decides to issue challenges for the international balloon and aeroplane trophies (James Gordon Bennett), held by the Aero Club of America.

January 10.-The Aero Club, of California, opens its first aeronautic carnival at Los Angeles....The Wright Brothers, in an interview at New York City, deny that their suits against Curtiss and Paulhan for infringement of patents will tend to retard the progress of aviation, and state that no one who confined himself to the development of the art has been molested.

January 11-Glenn H. Curtiss, in a short flight in his biplane at Los Angeles, establishes a new world's record for aeroplanes carrying a passenger, developing a speed estimated at 55 miles an hour....The International Aeronautical Federation, in session at Paris, announces the dates of aviation carnivals during 1910; those in the United States are to be held from

October 18 to November 2, when $200,000 will be offered in prizes.

January 12.-Circling over the aviation field at Los Angeles in a Farman biplane, Louis Paul han reaches a height estimated at 4200 feet.

January 13.-Louis Paulhan carries two passengers with him twice around the course at Los Angeles.

January_14.-Louis Paulhan flies across country from Los Angeles to San Pedro and back, a distance of 20 miles, in 35 minutes.

January 18-A 'cross-country flight of 47 miles, in 1 hour and 3 minutes, is made by Paulhan at Los Angeles in a Farman biplane.

OTHER OCCURRENCES OF THE MONTH

December 20.-Henry Phipps gives $500,000 for the establishment of a hospital in connection with the University of Pennsylvania.

December 21.-The University of Copenhagen declares that the data submitted to it by Dr. Frederick A. Cook are insufficient to prove his claim that he reached the North Pole.

December 22.-Assassinations of high officials are reported from various parts of the world, all of them by natives; the premier of Korea is stabbed at Seoul, the chief of police of St. Petersburg is killed by a bomb in the Russian capital, and a British chief magistrate in the Indian Service is assassinated at Bombay.... Charles L. Warriner, formerly local treasurer of the Big Four Railroad at Cincinnati, pleads guilty to the charge of embezzling $643,000 and is sentenced to five years at hard labor....King Leopold is buried after elaborate ceremonies in Brussels.

December 23.-The Utah, which when completed will be the largest battleship afloat, is launched at Camden, N. J.

December 24.-All southwestern Europe suffers from storms and floods; in Spain and Portugal the material damage is enormous....Two thousand lives and hundreds of vessels are reported lost in a severe gale off Japan and Korea.

December 25.-Ten persons are killed and a score or more seriously injured in a collision between an express and a freight train in Bohemia.

December 26.-New England and New York are in the grasp of a snow and wind storm which causes great damage; in Boston transportation is interrupted, electric wires are down, and several lives are lost.... The International Zionist Congress opens at Hamburg.

December 27.-A sensational flurry in Rock Island common on the New York Stock Ex

change leads to an investigation by the governors....The Indian National Congress opens at Lahore.

December 29.-The centenary of William E. Gladstone's birth is celebrated.. It is estimated that there are over 4000 cases of typhoid fever in Montreal, due to polluted drinking water.... Eleven Newfoundland schooners and sixty men are reported lost in the Christmas storm.

December 31.-According to figures made public at Washington, the imports into the United States during 1909 were the greatest in its history.... Mayor McClellan formally opens for traffic the Manhattan Bridge, connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn Boroughs, New York City....In a collision between a fast freight