A brief history of the united states

jurisdiction, or control over said island, except for the pacification

thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to

leave the government and control of the island to its people."
[2] When the _Maine_ was destroyed, the battleship _Oregon_, then on the

Pacific coast, was ordered to the Atlantic seaboard. Making her way

southward through the Pacific, she passed the Strait of Magellan, steamed

up the east coast of South America, and after the swiftest long voyage

ever made by a battleship, took her place in the blockading fleet.
[3] The storm of shot and shell from the forts carried away some of the

_Merrimac's_ steering gear, so that Hobson was unable to sink the vessel

at the spot intended. The channel was still navigable. Read the article by

Lieutenant Hobson in the _Century Magazine_ for December, 1898 to March,

1899.
[4] Among those who distinguished themselves in this campaign were General

Joseph Wheeler, an ex-Confederate cavalry leader; and Lieutenant-Colonel

Theodore Roosevelt, with his regiment of volunteers called "Rough Riders."
[5] The city of Manila was captured through a combined attack by Dewey's

fleet and Merritt's army, August 13, before news of the protocol had been

received.
[6] Our flag was raised over Wake Island early in 1899. Part of the Samoa

group, including Tutuila (too-too-e'la) and small adjacent islands, was

acquired in 1900 by a joint treaty with Great Britain and Germany; these

islands are 77 square miles in area and have 6000 population. Many tiny

islands in the Pacific, most of them rocks or coral reefs, belong to us;

but they are of little importance, except the Midway Islands, which are

occupied by a party of telegraphers in charge of a relay in the cable

joining our continent with the Philippines.

of about one million, of whom a third are colored. The civil government

consists of a governor, an executive council of 11 members, and a House of

Delegates of 35 members elected by the people. The island is represented

at Washington by a resident commissioner.
[8] The Philippine group numbers about two thousand islands. The land area

is about equal to that of New England and New York; that is, 115,000

square miles. Luzon, the largest, is about the size of Kentucky. A census

taken in 1903 gave a population of 7,600,000, of whom 600,000 were

savages. For several years the Philippines were governed by the President,

first through the army, and then through an appointed commission. This

commission, with Judge William H. Taft as president, began its duties in

June of 1900; but by act of Congress (July 1, 1902) a new plan of

government has been provided for. This includes a governor and a

legislature of two branches, one the Philippine commission of eight

members, and the other an assembly chosen by the Filipinos.
[9] In 1898 the emperor of Russia invited many of the nations of the world

to meet and discuss the reduction of their armies and navies. Delegates

from twenty-six nations accordingly met at the Hague (in Holland) in May,

1899, and there discussed (1) disarmament, (2) revision of the laws of

land and naval war, (3) mediation and arbitration. Three covenants or

agreements were made and left open for signature by the nations till 1900.

One forbade the use in war of deadly gases, of projectiles dropped from

balloons, and of bullets made to expand in the human body. The second

revised the laws of war, and the third provided for a permanent court of

arbitration at the Hague, before which cases may be brought with the

consent of the nations concerned.
[10] Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York in 1858, graduated from

Harvard University in 1880, and from 1882 to 1884 was a member of the

legislature of New York. In 1886 he was the candidate of the Republican

party for mayor of New York city and was defeated. In 1889 he was

appointed a member of the United States Civil Service Commission, but

resigned in 1895 to become president of the New York city police board. In

1897 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy, but when the war

with Spain opened, resigned and organized the First United States Cavalry

Volunteers, popularly known as Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Of this regiment

he was lieutenant colonel and then colonel, and after it was mustered out

of service, was elected governor of New York in the autumn of 1898. He is

the author of many books on history, biography, and hunting, besides

essays and magazine articles.
[11] Before this time many small areas had been irrigated by means of

works constructed by individuals, by companies, and by local governments.

Nicaragua, and from that time forth the question was often before

Congress. In Jackson's time a commissioner was sent to examine the

Nicaragua route and that across the isthmus of Panama. After Texas was

annexed we made a treaty with New Granada (now Colombia), and secured "the

right of way or transit across the isthmus of Panama upon any modes of

communication that now exist, or that may be hereafter constructed." After

the Mexican war, the discovery of gold in California, and the expansion of

our territory on the Pacific coast, the importance of a canal was greatly

increased. But Great Britain stepped in and practically seized control of

the Nicaragua route. A crisis followed, and in 1850 we made with Great

Britain the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, by which each party was pledged never

to obtain "exclusive control over the said ship canal." When (in 1900) we

practically decided to build by the Nicaragua route, and felt we must have

exclusive control, it became necessary to abrogate this part of the

Clayton-Bulwer treaty. The Hay-Pauncefote treaty was therefore made, by

which Great Britain gave up all claim to a share in the control of such a

canal, and the United States guaranteed that any isthmian canal built by

us should be open to all nations on equal terms.
[13] In accordance with our rights under the treaty, Congress (April,

1904) authorized the President, as soon as he had acquired the property of

the canal company and paid Panama $10,000,000, to take possession of the

"Canal Zone," a strip ten miles wide (five miles on each side of the

canal) stretching across the isthmus and extending three marine miles from

low water out into the ocean at each end. On April 22, 1904, the property

of the canal company was transferred at Paris, and on May 9 the company

was paid $40,000,000; Panama had already been paid her $10,000,000, and on

May 19 General Davis, president of the Canal Commission, issued a

proclamation announcing the beginning of his administration as governor of

the Canal Zone.
[14] Another event of 1903 was the addition of a ninth member to the

Cabinet,--the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The Secretary of

Agriculture (1889) was the eighth member.
[15] By 336 electoral votes against 140 for Parker and Davis. The popular

vote was: Republican, 7,623,486; Democratic, 5,077,971; Socialist,

402,283; Prohibition, 258,536; Populist, 117,183; Socialist Labor, 31,249:

all others combined, less than 10,000.

April 22, 1889, when a great rush was made for the new lands. Other areas

were soon added, and in 1890 Oklahoma territory was organized. It included

the western half of the Indian Territory shown on p. 394.

(April 18). Many buildings in many places were shaken down, and most of

San Francisco was destroyed by fires which could not be put out because

the water mains were broken by the earthquake. Hundreds of persons lost

their lives, and the property loss in San Francisco alone was estimated at

$400,000,000.

from Yale, studied law, became judge of the Superior Court of Ohio, and

United States Circuit Judge (6th Circuit). After the war with Spain, Judge

Taft was made president of the Philippine Commission, and in 1901 first

civil governor of the Philippine Islands. In 1904 he was appointed

Secretary of War, an office which he resigned after his nomination for the