Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/207

 UNITED 177 UNITED

STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia. . ..

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Alaska

Canal Zone

Guam

Hawaii

Pliilippine Islands

Area, Sq. Miles Population, 1910

97.890

577,390

400

200

6.740

127.853

12.240

191.909

8.276,802

Dioceses

Richmond (part)

Wheeling (part)

Wilmington (part)

Seattle

Wheeling (part)

Richmond (part)

Milwaukee

Green Bay

La Crosse

Superior

Cheyenne

AIa.>ska. Pref. Apost

Panama (part)

Mariana Island.';. Prcf. Apost. (part)

Hawaiian Islands, Vic. Apost

Manila

Calbayog

Cebu

.laro

Lipa

Nueva Cacereg

Nueva Segovia

Palawan. Pref. Apost

Tuguegarao

Zamboanga

Porto Rico

Samoa and Tokelau, Vic. Apost. ..

Cathoucs in 1912

38.600

3.000

500

90.000

45.500

2.400

250,000

139.660

116.000

51.043

12.000

14.500

37,000

1.327.000

800.000

1.146.26R

1.200.000

640.000

670.000

900.000

16,529

250.000

298.145

1,000,000

swept over the country a financial and industrial panic which wrecked banks and commercial estab- lishments. Manufactories shut down everywhere, and over 300 banks suspended or failed. This was the beginning of a period of great distress. Believing that the compulsory purchase of silver by the Secre- tary of the Treasury was responsible, to some extent, for the alarming conditions, the president convoked Congress in special session, and asked for the repeal of (hat clause of the Sherman Act which required a monthly purcha,se of silver. On 1 November, after a considerable struggle, the compulsory clause was repealed. Industry, however, did not revive. In December. 1893, the Democratic Congress met and passed the Wilson Bill, a tariff measure in harmony with Democratic principles. As it was foreseen that the revenue from such a tariff would not produce a revenue sufficient to pay the expenses of the Govern- ment, one section of the act provided for a t,ax of two per cent on all incomes above S4000. This part of the law was afterward declared by the United States Supreme Court to be unconstitutional.

In the matter of foreign relations there occurred during the second administration of President Cleve- land a grave controversy between the United Slates and Great Britain over the boundary between Vene- zuela and British Guiana. England claimed terri- tory which had hitherto been regarded as belong- ing to Venezuela, and in this claim the president believed that he perceived a purpose on the part of England to ignore the principles of the Monroe Doc- trine. The excitement both in England and the United States was extreme, and some people looked for a war as the outcome. On 2 Feb., 1897, however, a treaty of arbitration was signed at Wa.shington between Venezuela and Great Britain. While the controversy was pending a commission appointed by the president had examined the botmdary question and made a report on the subject. President Cleve- land inherited from his predeces.sor the results of a revolution in the H.awaiian Islands, a revolution in which the United States w.is involved. In Janu.ary, 1893. (Jueen Liliuokalani was depo.sed by her subjects, who then set tip a provisional government, and sent commi.ssioners to W.ashington to prepare a treaty of annexation to the ITnited .Sl.ates. On 1.5 Feb. this was sent to the Senate for approval. During the progress of these negotiations the president had heard that a force of men from a United States vessel had XV.— 12

landed and given assistance to the revolutionists. This consideration led him to recall the treaty from the Senate and also to .send to the islands an agent to investigate the entire affair. The report of this com- missioner set forth that the queen had been practically deposed by United States officials. The president then sent another representative to the islands. He was instructed to seek for the restoration of the de[)osed queen on certain conditions, namely that she would grant full amnesty to all persons concerned in the events by which she had been deposed. To this she demurred, and expressed a purpose to behead the leaders and to confiscate their property. Upon receipt of this reply the president instructed his repre- sentative to cease all communication with her until she would agree to grant an amnesty. To this she consented in December, 1893. President Dole was then requested to surrender the government to the queen, but he refused to do so, denying the right of the President of the United States to interfere in the domestic affairs of the islands. Mr. Cleveland, doubting his authority to employ force, referred the entire matter to Congress, where it was investigated by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Construing this action as a purpo.se to leave the islands to take care of themselves, the revolutionists framed a constitution and organized a republic, 4 ,Iuly, 1894. The new government was promptly recognized by President Cleveland, and the deposed queen, to whom he had promised a restoration, abandoned the contest for her throne. Though the United States was chiefly responsible for her deposition, succeeding Congresses have ignored her repeated applications for indemnity. In the presidential election of 1896 the Kepublican party nominated William McKinley .and Ciarret A. Hobart, and in its platform declared its opposition to "the free coinage of silver except by international agreement ". Upon this announcement there took place a secession of twenty-one delegates from the convention. These represented the states which were then the chief producers of silver, namely Colo- rado, Idaho, Montana. Nevada, South Dakota, .and Utah. The Democratic convention was held in Julv, and after a very exciting session chose William J. Bryan and Arthur Sewall. an<l declared for "the free and unlimited coinage of both silver and gold at the present legal riitio of 10 to 1, without waiting for the aid or con.sent of any other nation". Following this declaration of the convention, many leaders of