pine war. As a result many of the leaders surrendered, and the conflict soon came to an end. On July 1, 1902, civil government in the Philippines was established, William H. Taft being made Governor, and most of the official positions filled by natives of the islands. Schools were opened, trade developed, and satisfaction with American rule grew general. A Pacific telegraph cable from San Francisco to Manila was laid, the first message being sent July 4, 1903.

Affairs in Porto Rico.-The treaty of peace with Spain had made Porto Rico a dependency of the United States. Shortly afterwards a hurricane swept the island, doing immense damage and causing great suffering among the people. They suffered also from tariff discrimination. A bill was therefore passed reducing the tariff, under which business was resumed. Subsequently free trade with the United States was instituted, and business became prosperous and the people contented.

The Samoan Treaty.-By a treaty concluded in December, 1899, the Samoan islands were divided between Germany and the United States, the latter country gaining the island of Tutuila and some smaller islands. The value of the acquisition lay in the harbor of Pago Pago, probably the finest in the Pacific Ocean.

Assassination of President McKinley.-The second term of President McKinley was brought to a sudden and disastrous termination. On the 6th of September, 1901, during a visit to the Pan-American Exposition, he was shot by an anarchist while receiving the people. The assassin, Leon Czolgosz by name, held a pistol in his hand concealed by a handkerchief, and, as the President was about to shake hands with him, discharged the weapon twice. The exalted victim survived for more than a week, and strong hopes of his recovery were entertained, but his hurt proved fatal, and

he died in the early morning of September 14. He was the third President of the United States to die by the hand of an assassin.

The McKinley Obsequies.-The murder of President McKinley excited universal grief and called forth the sympathy of the crowned heads of the nations. The days that followed his death were days of mourning throughout the country. His funeral train passed from Buffalo to Washington, and thence to Canton, Ohio, the President's place of residence, the whole route being lined with throngs of sorrowing citizens. The final ceremonies took place on Thursday, September 19, when the honored remains were committed to the tomb at the close of solemn and impressive services. On October 29 the assassin paid the legal penalty of his crime, being executed in the electric chair.

9. Roosevelt's Administration.

Accession of President Roosevelt.-On the day of the President's death Theodore Roosevelt, the Vice-President, took the oath of office at Buffalo, and was installed as the twenty-sixth President of the United States. Born in New York City in 1858, he was in his forty-third year, being the youngest man to be made Chief Executive of the nation. His upward progress had been remarkably rapid. In 1897, after a period of membership in the New York legislature and of official service in New York City, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

in 1898 became a popular favorite for his gallantry as leader of the "Rough Riders" in the Santiago campaign.

Late in the same year he was elected Governor of New York, and in 1900 reluctantly accepted the nomination for Vice-President of the United States. Within less than a year after his election the crime of an assassin made him President of the great republic of the West.

Roosevelt's Policy.-Roosevelt entered office free from obligations to politicians or party leaders. On taking the oath of office he stated that he would maintain the policy of President McKinley, and this he soon showed his purpose of doing. He had been a member of the Civil Service Commission and began his career with a rigid adherence to its principles, refusing to appoint any man to office on any standard but that of merit. His first message to Congress, in December, 1901, was a very able state paper, and showed that the new President thoroughly grasped the situation, and would administer with moderation but firmness the duties of his great office.

The Cuban Republic.-In 1900 a convention assembled to form a Constitution for the island of Cuba, and adopted one similar to that of the United States. Naval stations in the island were granted to this country, and the powers of the Cuban government were limited in some other particulars. On May 20, 1902, the flag of the United States was lowered and the troops were withdrawn, the Republic of Cuba coming into legal existence on that day. A treaty of commerce was subsequently made, and finally ratified in December, 1903, by which the United States tariff rates were reduced twenty per cent. on Cuban products, and Cuban rates from twenty to forty per cent. on all American products except tobacco.

The Isthmian Canal.-The project of making an American ship-canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific was taken up by the United States in 1901, after a French company

had long sought in vain to construct such a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The route selected by the United States was that across Nicaragua, utilizing the channels of San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua, but early in 1902 the French canal company offered their partly completed work to the United States for $40,000,000. Congress decided to accept this offer, provided satisfactory control of the canal route could be obtained from the republic of Colombia, and a treaty was negotiated with that country. This was ratified by the United States Senate on March 17, 1903, but when brought before the Senate of Colombia was rejected by that body.

The Treaty with Panama.-On November 3, 1903, the people of Panama, angry at the rejection of the treaty, seceded from Colombia and proclaimed their independence. On the 6th the new republic was recognized by the United States, and soon afterward a canal treaty, of very favorable character, was made with Panama. So, in the beginning of 1904, the way was at length open to begin work on the canal.

The Anthracite Coal Strike.-An industrial conflict of the highest importance took place in 1902, in a strike of the entire body of anthracite coal miners of Pennsylvania. The strike continued for five months, from May to October, by which time millions of people were destitute of coal, winter was at hand, and the dread of suffering from cold had grown intense. No other strike in modern history had affected so many people. A settlement was finally effected through the influence of President Roosevelt, a committee of arbitration being appointed to adjust the questions in dispute. On October 23 the miners returned to work and the trouble came to an end.

Department of Commerce and Labor.-A new department was added to the Executive branch of the government

by Act of Congress in February, 1903, to be entitled the Department of Commerce and Labor, and to have under its supervision the commercial and industrial interests of the United States. George B. Cortelyou, who had been private secretary to Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt, was appointed the first Secretary of the new department and became the ninth member of the Cabinet.

Alaska Boundary Arbitration.-The opening of the Klondike gold-mines in 1897 made it important to settle the long-pending boundary question between Canada and Alaska. The question was submitted to arbitration in 1903, three commissioners being appointed on each side. The decision, rendered October 20, 1903, favored the American claim, the line fixed on following the mountain crests ten leagues back from the water, instead of crossing the head of the inlets, as the Canadians desired, that they might reach the sea without crossing United States territory.

St. Louis Exposition.-A great World's Fair, in commemoration of the centennial anniversary of the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, was opened at St. Louis in the spring of 1904, the buildings having been dedicated, with appropriate ceremonies, on April 30, 1903. It was proposed to make this officially named the Louisiana Purchase Exposition-the greatest the world had ever seen, an area of 1180 acres being provided and twelve immense exhibition buildings constructed, while many others of striking architecture were erected by the American States and by foreign countries. The grouping of the buildings and the arrangement of the grounds were all in the highest style of landscape art, and the displays within the buildings were of the most varied, artistic, and striking character. The electrical display surpassed anything of the kind ever before seen, this being made the great feature of the exposition.