The so-called "Lily Whites" sent out an address, July 9, in which was said in part: "The National Republican Convention, assembled at Philadelphia, recognized this State committee as the regular Republican organization of the State of Louisiana. This happy event awakens the liveliest enthusiasm throughout the whole State and among all classes of people. In it they see the great advantage of a strong and vigorous opposition party to the ruling dynasty in this State, which has usurped all the functions of government and appropriated the whole power of the people. The excuse for padding the registration, stuffing the ballot boxes, and forging the election returns heretofore given by the Democratic leaders has now disappeared, and even the instruments of their conspicuous and admitted frauds will not dare to perpetrate them again.

"The State of Louisiana is as much interested in Republican success at the coming election as New York or Illinois. All of the important industries of Louisiana are dependent on Republican policies. The sugar, rice, lumber, salt, cotton, iron, tobacco, and other industries are directly dependent on the protection accorded them by the Dingley bill. The business of our people, the volume of business and their prosperity are dependent on a sound and stable currency which the Republican party maintains and which the Democratic party threatens to destroy.

"Louisiana is a Republican State on a free vote and a fair count. With all of the machinery of the State government, the most complete and drastie campaign which the Democratic party could prosecute, with every State, parish, and local office in dispute, with all of its padding of returns, the Democratic party was able to poll in April but 46 per cent. of the registered vote of the State."

The Central State Committee of the People's party sent out an address calling upon their party to vote for the presidential and congressional candidates of the Republican party.

The vote for presidential electors stood: Bryan, 53,671; McKinley, 14,233. The members of Congress elected were all Democrats. The amendment to increase the amount available for pensions for Confederate soldiers to $75,000 was carried by 31,320 against 1,440; the limit heretofore was $50,000. W. L. Foster was elected Railroad Commissioner for the Third District.

Legislative Session.-The_Legislature assembled May 14 and adjourned July 12. Jared Y. Sanders was Speaker of the House. Gov. Heard and Lieut.-Gov. Estopinal were inaugurated May 21.

Two United Senators were elected May 22Senator Samuel D. McEnery to succeed himself at the expiration of his present term (1903), and ex-Gov. Murphy J. Foster to succeed Senator Caffery in 1901.

A new law for primary elections was enacted, regulating the manner of calling and conducting them, the appointment of officers, the taking of votes and counting them, and providing penalties for illegal voting, acceptance of illegal votes, bribery, and intimidation. The penalties are a fine of $25 to $300, or imprisonment for terms from ten days to three months, or both. The general election law was amended in details regarding nominations.

An amendment to the bank reserve act provides that every bank, banking association, corporation, or company organized under the laws of the State shall at all times have on hand in lawful money of the United States and cash due from other banks an amount equal to 25 per cent., 8 per cent. of which shall be kept at all times on their respective

premises in cash, of the aggregate amount of its demand deposits. The amount to be thus kept on hand shall be called its lawful money reserve. For the remainder of said liabilities to depositors an amount equal thereto in lawful money of the United States on hand or due from other banks, bills of exchange or discounted paper maturing within twelve months, bonds of the United States, bonds of the State of Louisiana, bonds of the city of New Orleans, or bonds of the several levee districts of the State of Louisiana.

A measure that met with much opposition, but passed and became a law without the consent of the Governor, modified the civil service law of New Orleans, exempting certain offices from the operation of the law requiring academic examination, and making other changes.

An important law provides for the care and control of the State convicts. When the present lease for their labor expires, March 3, 1901, they are not to be leased to private contractors again. A board of control is created, to be composed of three citizens appointed by the Governor. The first appointees are to serve two, four, and six years respectively, and after appointments will be for six years. This board has authority to appoint and discharge at its discretion all officers and employees, designate their duties and fix their salaries. It must prohibit harsh and cruel punishments, establish a system of work and discipline conducive to the reformation of the prisoners, and give them the right to communicate directly with the board without the interference of an officer. It is authorized to purchase or lease such lands as may be necessary for occupation by the convicts, who are to be employed in agriculture or manufacturing and in the construction and repair of public works. It is further stipulated that the board shall, as soon as possible, establish a reformatory branch of the Penitentiary, in which all convicts who are between the ages of seven and seventeen years shall be separated from the other convicts.

A Bureau of Labor Statistics was created.

A special license tax was imposed on the sale of pistols and cartridges $125 on wholesale dealers in pistols and $50 retail; on cartridges, $50 and $25.

A revenue act provides for increased income to the State. The tax on oil corporations was reduced one half. Secret or fraternal societies not exclusively benevolent must pay a license tax.

The board of examining dentists is replaced by a State Board of Dentistry-5 members, appointed by the Governor for seven years.

Acts relating to insurance companies are: To prevent combinations among fire companies to fix rates; to provide that the value of immovables by nature shall be fixed by the insurer when the policy is issued, and that he is to pay the total loss or restore property damaged; and companies taking marine and river risks on the stock plan must have capital of $100,000 instead of $200,000, as formerly.

The game laws were amended.
Other acts were:

To encourage high schools by appropriations from the general fund.

Requiring examination of homestead and loan associations.

Requiring employers to provide seats for woman employees.

Prohibiting marriage between first cousins. Appropriating $300 to the fund for placing in Memorial Hall, Washington, a bronze bust of George Peabody.

Making appropriation for a permanent home for

lepers.

convention as the official visitor of the General Council.

The work of the convention consisted chiefly in considering and acting on the reports of the various boards. The Board of Missions and Church Extension has charge of the work of home and foreign missions, and employs a general secretary, with headquarters at Atlanta, Ga. The board supports 21 missions, of which 6 are in Virginia, 1 in West Virginia, 4 each in North Carolina and Tennessee, and 3 each in Georgia and Mississippi, for the support of which $7,531.23 was expended in the past two years. In these missions there are 1,500 communicants and 1,300 Sunday school pupils. The church property belonging to these missions is valued at $82,900. At present 15 missionaries are employed and 2 mission points are without pastors. The board say: "The work continues to increase on our hands-more missionaries are needed, more churches are to be built, more territory is to be occupied than ever before. As a consequence, more money is needed to carry on the work successfully. We fully appreciate the faithfulness and liberality of many pastors and congregations and societies as manifested by the continued contributions to our home missionary treasury. If, however, this work is to be in the future what it ought to become, we feel that some means must be devised to secure from the synods a larger part-the entire amount, if possible of the apportionment asked from them by the United Synod.

The report of the board concerning its work in Japan shows encouraging progress. The mission, begun only a few years ago, is in a flourishing condition. A congregation has been established at Saga, and in 1898 work was begun in Kumamoto, one of the largest cities in the Kyushu district, with a population of 80,000, and in 1899 work was begun in the city of Kurume, midway between Saga and Kumamoto. Since the last report of the board 2 natives have been ordained to the office of the ministry. The board now employs 3 ordained missionaries, 2 native pastors, and 4 unordained helpers in 4 stations and 3 out stations. The mission force in Japan has organized 4 Sunday schools, in which 150 pupils are taught. The mission has 82 baptized members.

MADAGASCAR, an island colony of France near the southeast coast of Africa, formerly a kingdom, proclaimed a French protectorate in 1885, when a French force occupied Diego Suarez. The protectorate was denied by the Hova Queen until, after a French expedition, a treaty of peace was signed on Oct. 1, 1895, and as the result of another expedition to suppress an insurrection which occupied the capital the island was declared a French colony on Aug. 6, 1896. Queen Ranavalona III was deposed on Feb. 27, 1897, in consequence of fresh disturbances. Great Britain recognized the French protectorate in 1890 in return for the renunciation by France of consular jurisdiction in Zanzibar. A dispute subsequently arose about the application of the special French tariff to British goods, Great Britain claiming most favored-nation treatment under a treaty made with the Hova Queen in 1865 by virtue of an assurance, asked for and received from France in connection with the British recognition of the protectorate, that none of the rights and immunities enjoyed by British subjects in Madagascar would be affected. The French Government took the view that the assurances applied only to the protectorate, and that when it exercised the right of changing the status of the island to a French colony all treaties made by the Hova Government became void. The French claims to Madagascar date from the earliest period of French transmarine colonization, and were first asserted in 1642 by a company that obtained a charter from the King of France. Trading settlements were planted on the coast, and viceroys were appointed at different periods, but the factories were abandoned and French authority was ephemeral and disappeared entirely after the King of the Hovas, the part Malay tribe in the center of the island, reduced the greater part of Madagascar to his sway about 1810. In the semicivilized kingdom that

On the territory of this general body there are 7 educational institutions and 1 orphanage, supported either by the general body or by the district synods. Among these is Roanoke College, Salem, Va.

The committee on the common service and cooperation with other English-speaking Lutheran bodies reported progress in the work of securing a common book of worship and ministerial acts. The translation of Luther's Small Catechism, prepared by the joint committee with a view of making it the standard English translation for the entire Church, was adopted in the form in which it had been adopted previously by the General Council and the General Synod.

was developed English Protestant missionaries acquired great influence, and American and British traders controlled the commerce of the island until at the beginning of the new era of colonial expansion the French revived their ancient claims and established their authority by means of a series of armed expeditions. The deposed queen was deported to Réunion in March, 1897, in consequence of continued intrigues against the French Government, and in March, 1899, for a like cause, she was taken to Algiers. The Governor General rules the island with the assistance of an Administrative Council sitting in Antananarivo, and of residents in the coast towns and the principal military stations. He is commander in chief of the troops. Gen. Gallieni is Governor General, and during his absence Gen. Pennequin has acted in his place.

The

The area of the island is estimated at 228,500 square miles and the population at 3,500,000 or upward. The females are considerably more numerous than the males. Creoles from Mauritius and Réunion, Chinese, and East Indian Banyans are settled as traders in the coast towns. Hovas formerly kept garrisons among the other tribes, and appointed governors over them. Their language is generally understood throughout the island. They number between a quarter and a third of the total population. The Sakalavas are more numerous. The Betsileos are the third largest tribe, and after them the Betsimisarakas and Baras. Many African blacks interspersed among the people were originally brought over and sold as slaves by the Arab traders, who are still numerous along the coast. The slave trade was declared illegal by an edict of the Hova Queen in 1877, but was not suppressed. Since the French introduced a colonial administration they have abolished slavery wherever their authority is exercised; in the central province of Imerina, the

Hovas' country, they have freed all slaves. The emancipation proclamation was issued on Sept. 27, 1896. The Hova Government compelled the common people to work without pay at all times when the Queen desired their services. This system of forced labor the French have retained in a modified form, requiring the natives to labor on the roads or other public works for thirty days in the year. Besides duties on foreign goods exceeding 50 per cent. ad valorem, many money taxes are imposed. Duties on French imports are 4 per cent. The Hovas and the tribes in the central districts who were under their immediate dominion were nominally converted to Christianity before the French occupation. English Congregationalism was adopted as the state religion, and was professed by the aristocracy generally. The Anglicans, the Friends, and the American and Norwegian Lutherans also established missions, and French Catholics secured 50,000 converts, the number of Protestants being about 450,000. Since the establishment of French rule the English Protestant missionaries, who encouraged the Hovas to resistance, have been discountenanced, and many of the natives have embraced the Roman Catholic faith. Through this wholesale conversion of former Protestants by the French priests the property of many of the Protestant missions was forfeited in 1897, but some of their churches have since been restored to the Protestant societies. The missionaries used to teach 170,000 Malagasy children in 1,800 schools. The French have established secular schools, and in 1897 they opened a technical school in which natives are taught to be blacksmiths, tinsmiths, painters, carpenters, tailors, potters, etc. The natives can work skillfully in their own way in metal and wood and weave cloth from cotton, silk, and rafia fiber. Their principal occupations are agriculture and the breeding of cattle. Rice, sugar, cotton, coffee, cacao, cloves, vanilla, and yams are cultivated. The forests are of vast extent and rich in valuable woods. The most important commercial product at present is rubber, which is shipped to London and Hamburg. French enterprise and colonization are encouraged by free grants of land, and land is offered for sale to foreigners. Mining companies must be under French management, and some have lost their concessions and American and other claimants to lands conceded by native chiefs have been ousted because their rights were not recognized by French law. Many mining concessions have been granted, but only a few are worked, mainly gold mines. Besides gold, copper, iron, galena, sulphur, graphite, and lignite have been found. The chief ports are Tamatave, on the east coast, and Majunga, on the west coast, each with about 6,000 inhabitants. Antananarivo, the capital, has 70,000 or more. The local revenue of Madagascar is about 10,000,000 francs. The expenditure of France in 1900 was 25,181,048 franes. The debt was converted in 1897 into 21-per-cent. bonds amounting to 20,000,000 francs, requiring an annual expenditure for interest and amortization of 960,000 francs. By the operation 3,854,478 francs were saved, and the savings were applied to building roads and other improvements. For the construction of railroads, telegraphs, lighthouses, and harbor works a new loan of 60,000,000 francs is authorized. Telegraphs connect Antananarivo with Tamatave and with Majunga, whence a cable has been laid to Mozambique. Other telegraph lines run to Mananzary, on the east coast, from the capital and from Fianarantsoa. A railroad from Antananarivo to Tamatave is projected, to be built by a French company which will receive concessions of lands, mining rights, etc. The lagoons running along

the east coast are to be dredged out so as to form a continuous canal. During 1898 the ports of Madagascar were visited by 6,061 vessels, of 879,362 tons, and of this tonnage 734,068 tons were French, 78,053 British, and 39,305 German. Of the imports, amounting to 21,641,000 francs, 17,030,000 francs were French, 1,048,000 francs British, and 435,000 francs German. Of the exports, amounting to 4,960,000 francs, 1,867,000 francs went to France, 823,000 francs to Great Britain, and 1,052,000 francs to Germany. The legal coin is the French 5-franc piece, which the people formerly cut into pieces to be used for fractional currency. The Government has forbidden this practice and redeemed the cut coins, allowing 5 francs for 30 grammes of the silver, the weight of the 5-franc piece being 25 grammes, and now fractional French coins, silver and copper, are coming into use. The military force maintained by France in Madagascar in 1900 consisted of 9,187 infantry and 2,118 artillery and engineers. There were 375 French officers, 764 French and 285 native noncommissioned officers, and 2,700 French and 7,215 native privates; total, 11,305 of all ranks. The French budget appropriated 22,375,482 francs for military expenses in Madagascar.

About the beginning of 1900 the plague broke out in Tamatave, and in spite of the enforced isolation of the town, entailing much hardship, it spread to other places. The gold mines in 1900 yielded three times as much as in the preceding year. The Transvaal war interfered with trade to some extent. Fortifications were erected at Diego Suarez, and two artillery batteries were sent out. A total force of 4,100 men was dispatched to Madagascar, comprising besides these 100 French gunners, 2 battalions of the foreign legion of Algiers, 1 battalion of Soudanese and 1 of Senegalese sharpshooters, and a battalion of marine infantry.

MAINE, a New England State, admitted to the Union March 15, 1820; area, 33,040 square miles. The population, according to each decennial census since admission, was 298,269 in 1820; 399,455 in 1830; 501,793 in 1840; 583,169 in 1850; 628,278 in 1860; 626,915 in 1870; 648,936 in 1880; 661,086 in 1890; and 694,647 in 1900.

Government.-The following were the State officers during the year: Governor, Llewellyn Powers; Secretary of State, Byron Boyd; Treasurer, F. M. Simpson; Attorney-General, William T. Haines; Adjutant General, John T. Richards; Superintendent of Schools, W. W. Stetson; Bank Examiner, F. E. Timberlake; Insurance Commissioner, S. W. Carr; Liquor Commissioner, James W. Wakefield; State Librarian, Leonard D. Carver; Land Agent, Charles E. Oak; Commissioner of Fish and Game, H. O. Stanley; Railroad Commissioners, Joseph B. Peaks, Benjamin F. Chadbourne, Frederic Danforth; State Topographical Survey, Leslie A. Lee, William Engel, Charles S. Hichborn; State Board of Health, C. D. Smith, President; Inland Fish and Game, Leroy T. Carleton; Commissioner of Labor and Industrial Statistics, Samuel W. Matthews; Pension Agent, E. C. Milliken; Chief Justice, John A. Peters; Supreme Court Judges, L. A. Emery, Thomas H. Haskell, Andrew P. Wiswell, S. C. Strout, A. R. Savage, William A. Fogler; State Detective, Fred A. Porter; Clerk, W. S. Choate; Census Superintendents, Elmer P. Spofford, James A. Placeall Republicans except Justice Strout.

Population. The population in 1900, by counties, was as follows: Androscoggin, 54,242; Aroostook, 60,744; Cumberland, 100,689; Franklin, 18,444; Hancock, 37,241; Kennebec, 59,117; Knox,

30,406; Lincoln, 19,669; Oxford, 32,238; Penobscot, 76,246; Piscataquis, 16,949; Sagadahoc, 20,330; Somerset, 33,849; Waldo, 24,185; Washington, 45,232; York, 64,885; total, 694,467. Finances. The total receipts of the State Treasurer for the two years ending Dec. 31, 1900, were $3,798,923.03; amount of cash on hand, Jan. 1, 1900, $154,726.73; amount disbursed during 1899 and 1900, $3,754,767.75; balance on hand, Jan. 1, 1901, $198,879.01. The State tax from cities, towns, and organized plantations for 1899 and 1900 was $1,815, 901.96. Of this, $450,168.50 was paid by the 20 cities, $224,923.79 by towns and organized plantations, and $91,650.34 by wild lands. The 20 cities paid into the treasury $450,168.50 more than they received from the school fund, and 239 towns and plantations received more from the school fund than they paid into the treasury. The average net rate of State tax on the 20 cities was $1.563 on each $1,000 valuation; for towns and organized plantations the average rate was 661 cents. The tax on savings banks for the two years was $851,566.06; on railroads, was $323,052.32; on telegraph and telephone companies, $32,888.48; on express companies, $10,032.67; on insurance companies, $131,405.62; on collateral inheritances, $54,226.64; on new corporations, $71,565; other taxes and miscellaneous items, $308,284.28; a total of $1,783,021.07. One hundred thousand dollars was paid on the public debt in 1899 and 1900, and the State's bonded indebtedness is now $2,103,000, a reduction of $516,300 since 1890. The State's outstanding temporary loans amount to $350,000.

JOHN F. HILL, GOVERNOR OF MAINE.

Education. The total amount of the school fund and mill tax for 1900 was $520,019; the amount of school money raised in towns was $818,001, an increase of nearly 47 per cent. since 1880. The normal schools are flourishing, and about 30 per cent. of the public school teachers are normal school graduates. School improvement leagues have been formed throughout the State, and work in co-operation with the superintendents. There are nearly 10,000 of these leagues, and they have secured for the schoolhouses a large quantity of material, from a library to a scrap basket, from an attractive playground with swings and trapeze to wash basins and clean windows. School savings banks have been established in some of the rural districts, and have met with marked success. In 8 schools, where the attendance was 245, the number of depositors was 130; 35 pupils deposited more than $1, and they have bank books. Deposits are rapidly increasing.

In 33 unorganized townships schools have been maintained at a cost, the past year, of $2,382.13. Many married persons avail themselves of the privilege thus afforded. The public schools have been maintained at a high standard, and much time and labor have been expended in enlarging and beautifying school grounds and rooms and providing libraries and works of art. The teach

ers' institutes and summer schools have not only improved the standing of the schools, but have stimulated the teachers to attend the colleges.

There are 360 students in the State University. This institution offers special facilities in engineering and agriculture, and has courses in preparation for medicine, chemistry, and pharmacy, as well as thorough classical courses. In the past two years the trustees have built a drill hall, a gymnasium, and an astronomical observatory. The law school is at Bangor, and is proving successful. Agriculture. More than half the population is supported by farming, the market for their products being constantly enlarged by the popularity of the State's seaside and inland summer

resorts.

The Prohibitory Law.-By comparing present conditions with those previous to the enactment of the "Maine law" fifty years ago, it is seen, says the Governor in his address, that in a large majority of country towns there is practical prohibition, and in the cities as uniform enforcement as of other legislation.

The

Banks. On Oct. 27, 1900, the total assets of the 51 savings banks was $71,076,211.67. resources of the 17 trust companies were $13,295,402.92. There were 180,914 depositors whose balance was less than $2,000, and the total amount of their deposits was $53,558,289.84; while the number of depositors having a balance of $2,000 or more was 5,413, and the total amount of their deposits was $13,681,809.23. The amount of tax paid on savings bank deposits in 1900 was $448,827.93, an increase of $128,434.21 over the sum paid in 1890.

The whole number of depositors in savings banks and trust companies, and shareholders in building and loan associations, was 213,980, a gain of 11,428 during the year. The Governor says: "If we take from this total the 6,019 demand depositors in the trust companies, it will be seen that nearly one third of the entire population of the State are directly interested in our various savings institutions. The aggregate amount of their capital, if apportioned among the people of the State, would give about $125 to each person, or nearly $600 to each family."

State Institutions.-At the Bath Military and Naval Orphan Asylum 24 orphans were admitted in 1900, the largest number for many years.

There has been a gradual increase in the number of patients in the Maine Insane Hospital, and it is overcrowded. Nov. 30, 1900, it had 771 patients, an increase of 38 in two years. A new hospital at Bangor is nearly completed.

The State Prison report shows that there has been a decrease of 37 in the number of convicts. The total gain from goods manufactured last year was $5,937.74. As it cost an average of 9 cents a day to support a prisoner, the State paid $106.66 more than it received as profit from the work. Other expenses amounted to $10,092.19.

There are 60 boys in the Reform School housed in cottages under the best modern conditions, and 90 in the main building. The cottage system has proved its value, and more will be built.

The Industrial School for Girls has 165 girls under its care. Of these, 61 are in the school, 14 boarding out, 44 working for their board, and 46 receiving wages. They are taught the common English branches, and to sew and knit, do housework, and care for health and morals. Two buildings were destroyed by fire within a year, and one has been rebuilt and equipped.

Fish and Game.-The season of 1900 was the most successful in the history of these industries.