International by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 17, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 20.

International

By Editor

International.—England has sent a first-class armored cruiser to Iceland to prevent further seizures of English fishing vessels on the Iceland coast and secure redress for those already seized..... A despatch from the vicinity of the Upper Nile states that a battle has been fought between the English and Chief Kabarega on the east bank of the Nile. The chief and 300 of his followers, together with King Mwanga, were captured by the English, whose loss was two killed and about twenty wounded .... The Chinese Government has entered a protest at Washington against the application of the American Chinese exclusion laws to Cuba...... Many thousands of the younger Finns are preparing to leave Finland on account of the intention of the Russian Government to Russianize that country. The Finns are planning to plant a large colony in Canada.

The Russian Government has protested to Germany against the appointment of Professor Von Stengel as a member of the peace congress to be held at The Hague, on account of Von Stengel's criticisms of the aims of the congress..... On account of the Dreyfus agitation in France the minister of war has resigned, and the minister of public works has been appointed to his place .... There is considerable agitation in England over the rapidity with which America is securing a large part of the trade of the world in various lines of manufactured articles, and crowding out articles of English make. In view of this agitation the English Government has several times been requested to make representations to the United States, with a view to securing a reduction of the American tariff..... The Italian cabinet has resigned on account of the conduct of matters in reference to San Mun Bay in China. It is reported that the bay is to be occupied at once..... Mataafa, the rebel Samoan chief, has accepted an armistice, and fighting there for a time will cease .... Spain has decided to devote 5,000,000 pesetas to improving the fortifications of the Canary Islands. She is also collecting evidence at Hongkong with a view to claiming a cession of land from China as indemnity from the Chinese Government for permitting a certain steamer to leave Canton with arms for the insurgents .... England is making further demands upon China on account of the recent attacks of Chinese rebels upon British troops in the Kowloon district, and France is demanding concessions from China valued at over one million dollars for the killing of a French missionary. Germany is also preparing to increase her demands on China, and will claim as her "sphere of influence" the valley of the Hoang-Ho River..... Japanese merchants are expecting that there will soon be a war between China and some foreign country, and are shipping large quantities of supplies to their representatives in China, to be held by them until the war prices enable them to realize a fortune. In some parts of China prices on foods are already 100 per cent higher than usual, and many are said to be living on roots and seaweed who formerly had plenty..... A bull-fight occurred in Durango, Mexico, on May 9, in which all the participants were Americans. The American missionaries protested against the exhibition, but without avail. ..... The American and English representatives at the czar's peace congress at The Hague have been instructed to labor for the principle of arbitration between nations...... In spite of precautionary measures, smallpox of a virulent type is rapidly spreading in Germany.

Trusts.—It is positively asserted that the window-glass manufacturers of the United States have formed a combination with a capital of $30,000,000. The new trust will be called the American Glass Company. ..... The manufacturers of paint have decided to advance the price of paint all over the country. At a meeting of paint manufacturers soon to be held in Chicago it is expected that a paint trust will be formed...... On May 8 a meeting was held in Chicago of the leading plow manufacturers of the country, which virtually resulted in the formation of a trust. The capitalization of this new combine is placed at $65,000,000...... The various cracker and biscuit companies of the Pacific Coast have formed a trust under the name of the Pacific Biscuit Company. The concern is capitalized at $4,000,000..... The steel trust, the greatest of them all, is now declared to be a certainty. The combine includes the following corporations: Carnegie Steel and Iron Company, National Steel Company, American Steel Hoop Company, American Tin Plate Company, Federal Steel Company, and American Steel and Wire Com-

pany. The combined capital will be between $525,000,000 and $800,000,000...... The capital of the great copper trust which was recently formed to control all the copper mines of the United States, has been subscribed to the amount of $412,000,000, which will be the amount of its capitalization. It was only intended to have a capital stock of $75,000,000..... The rubber trust, which has been for some time in process of formation, is now in operation, with a capital stock of $25,000,000.

A unanimous decision has been handed down by the Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis, Mo., to the effect that a trust can not cloak its object under the form of a corporation in the State of Missouri and evade the penalties of the Missouri anti-trust law of 1891. Under this decision accounts with trusts operating as corporations in Missouri are not collectable. ..... Two radical anti-trust laws have been passed by the Missouri Legislature, and were signed by the governor on May 5. In these bills trusts are declared illegal and the courts are given power to restrain them by injunction, and persons or corporations damaged by the trusts are allowed threefold damages, the cost of the suit, and attorney's fees..... The large flour-milling trust, including the corporations at the head of the lakes, New York City, Buffalo, and Syracuse, has begun business under its trust management, and is capitalized at $40,000,000..... The Kern Incandescent Light Company was incorporated under the laws of New Jersey on May 9, with a capital of $12,000,000..... The Senate of Texas has finally passed a stringent anti-trust law, patterned after the anti-trust law of Arkansas.

Domestic.—Rear Admiral Watson has been ordered to Manila "to report to Admiral Dewey," which means that he will be in command at that station, and that Admiral Dewey will return to the United States.... Three hundred thousand Finns in this country have appointed a national committee to organize and conduct a campaign for the purpose of ameliorating the condition of the Finns in Finland. The Finns are mostly Protestants, and they fear the aims of the Russian State church as well as conscription in the Russian army..... The American cruiser Chicago has arrived at Tangier, Morocco, to enforce certain American demands made upon the sultan of that country.... A ship-load of snakes recently arrived at New Orleans, from Brazil, on the way to Paris, where they will be exhibited at the exposition in 1900, and then sold .... The commanding-general at San Juan, Porto Rico, has begun the work of enlisting 400 natives in the army there..... Over 12,000 Japanese laborers have arrived in the Hawaiian Islands since the annexation, nearly 11,000 of whom are contract laborers..... The report of the factory inspector of Chicago gives a dark picture of the condition of the factory—especially the clothing factory employees of that city. Most of the so-called merchant tailor work is done in "sweat-shops," whose surroundings are the most unsanitary, and thousands of children under fourteen are employed, in direct violation of the law..... A United States military post is to be established at Pyramid Harbor, Alaska, on the Chilkat Inlet, and a company of soldiers will be stationed there. This action seems to have been taken in view of the boundary troubles which have recently occurred there..... Martial law has been declared at Wardner, Idaho, and the troops have arrested about one thousand miners who took part in the riot and the destruction of the Bunker Hill mill. The mine-owners of that section have been forbidden to employ members of the Miners' Union, and all applicants for work must secure a military permit. ..... The strike of street-railway employees at Duluth, Minn., is still in progress, and the strikers have done considerable damage to the rolling stock of the company..... It is reported that a wonderfully rich mining district has been discovered on the Bering Sea coast of Alaska. The claims are being located on small tributaries of the Snake River, which empties into the sea near Norton Sound.

Casualties and Calamities.—It is persistently rumored in Paris that the famous Marchand expedition, which was returning from Fashoda, on the Nile, en route to France, was overpowered by marauders between the Abyssinian capital and the French port on the coast, and that Marchand himself was among the slain..... Russell & Co.'s thresher and engine plant at Massillon, Ohio, was destroyed by fire on May 5. The loss is placed at $500,000..... In the anti-Jewish riots which occurred at Nicolaieff, Russia, on May 2, a number of Jews were beaten to death, and one Russian officer and seven soldiers were killed while attempting to defend the Hebrews..... Through the instigation of a Catholic priest at Mohosa, Bolivia, about one hundred Bolivian soldiers were recently massacred by Indians. The Indians, who had been summoned by the priest, surrounded the soldiers, disarmed them, and deliberately murdered

the whole company, two by two, each pair by different tortures...... A company of 150 men whom General Lord Kitchener had sent on a mission to the sultan of Darfur were attacked by the sultan during the latter part of April, and all but one of Kitchener's envoy were killed. ..... A European caravan was attacked by tribesmen recently near Lake Nyassa, in East Africa, and fifty members of the caravan were killed, and all the goods captured. The two leaders of the expedition reached a fort after three days' wandering in the bush...... It is reported that a Chilean war vessel has been wrecked in the Straits of Magellan...... The British ship Loch Sloy, which left Clyde on January 5 for Melbourne, was wrecked on Kangaroo Island, Australia, on April 24, and thirty of her passengers and crew were drowned.

Cuba.—There has been little said lately in regard to the condition of the poor in Cuba, but it is known that there is still much suffering, and actual starvation in many of the cities of the island. It is estimated by those on the ground that there are 150,000 orphans in Cuba, most of them gaunt with hunger and ragged to indecency..... It is held by some of the Cubans that American rule will be needed for some time, as the "great Cubans" are dead, with the exception of Gomez, who is too old for political leadership.

The Philippines.—The war in the islands is still on. The principal forces of the Filipinos are now in the vicinity of Bacolor, and are under the command of General Luna and General Mascardo. General MacArthur captured the village of San Tomas on May 4, and engaged in a running fight with the Filipinos. On May 5 the city of San Fernando was taken, and the Filipinos driven a considerable distance to the north. General Lawton reports the capture of $1,500,000 worth of supplies. It is believed in official circles that the end of the war is near at hand. General Otis reports many signs of weakness on the part of the Filipinos. As they retreat before the Americans, they are throwing away their arms, a thing that they have not done before. ..... Aguinaldo's representatives are still treating with the members of the American commission at Manila, and are said to have recognized the sovereignty of the United States in the islands. Aguinaldo, they say, is not now fighting for independence, but for the honor of the army, and objects to laying down his arms before knowing what the United States proposes to do for his countrymen in the way of government..... Reports from Iloilo state that all is quiet there and that commerce is improving, but that in Samar and Leyte there is considerable military activity since the arrival of Aguinaldo's delegates...... The inhabitants of Negros state that they have more liberty than they asked for, and that they are so loyal to the United States as are the citizens of New York.