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ENCYCLOPEDIC INDEX

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Messages and Papers of the Presidents

NOTE. The pages of the MESSAGES AND PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS are con secutively numbered from Page 1 to the last page of the last message received before going to press, without regard to the division into volumes. The indexnumbers therefore refer to pages only. The page numbers in each volume are indicated on the back to assure quick and handy reference.

When a word or group of words is followed by the symbol (q. v.), (which see), an article under that word or group of words is listed in the Index, and should be consulted.

A. B. C. Arbitration. In the year 1914, the relations between the United States and Mexico became more and more seriously strained. (For details, consult Mexico.) On April 9, while the forces of Huerta, the provisional president of Mexico, whom the United States had refused to recognize, and the forces of Carranza and Villa, the rebel leaders, were fighting for the possession of the port of Tampico, a party of American sailors was landed at the port in order to obtain supplies, only to be arrested by the Huertistas.

The Americans were kept in custody only for one and one-half hours, and were then released. Huerta immediately offered apologies, in which he was joined by his commander at Tampico. However, Rear Admiral Mayo, the commander of the American fleet at Tampico, was not satisfied with the apologies tendered, declared that the American flag had been insulted, and insisted that the insult be avenged by a formal salute to the American flag by the Huerta government. (See page 7935.) When Huerta refused Admiral Mayo's demand, on the ground that the incident had been of a sufficiently trivial nature to be met by the official apologies already tendered, the situation obviously became serious.

It became more serious when, on April 21, 1914, American forces occupied Vera Cruz, after a pitched battle, in order to prevent a consignment of arms for the Huerta government from being landed at that city. But four days later the possibility of open war was lessened by the proffer of mediation from Argentine, Brazil and Chile, the "A. B. C." powers of South America, a proffer which was accepted by both Huerta and President Wilson, although not by the rebel forces operating against Huerta.

The Conference opened at Niagara Falls, Canada, on May 20, 1914. The United States was represented by Hon. Joseph Lamar and Hon. Frederick W. Lehmann, Huerta by six delegates, and the A. B. C. powers by the heads of their diplomatic

missions to the United States. But it was soon evident that a settlement could not be reached because of the state of civil war in Mexico and the absence from the conference of one of the two parties_engaged in that civil war. However, on June 12, General Carranza appointed delegates, and the conference proceeded on more substantial bases of adjudication. Nevertheless, an almost insuperable obstacle was presented by the demand of the Huertista forces that they be officially represented in the provisional and all-partisan government designed for Mexico by the Conference, and by the refusal of the United States to recognize the Huerta Government to that extent.

On June 31 and July 1, 1914, the delegates to the Conference finally signed a protocol providing for (1) A provisional government by agreement between the Huerta and Carranza-Villa factions; (2) The recognition of that government by the United States and by A. B. C. powers; (3) The withdrawal of the United States demand for further satisfaction because of the Tampico incident; (4) Amnesty for all foreigners in Mexico; and (5) The reference of all claims for damages against Mexico by other powers to international commissions.

However, when these terms were submitted to the Carranza-Villa faction, it refused to agree to them, so that the A. B. C. arbitration must be written down as a failure to achieve its ostensible results, although it undoubtedly helped to prevent the beginning of open hostilities between Mexico and the United States. Several weeks after the offcial signing of the protocol, the entire status of the Mexican situation was radically altered by victories of the rebel forces so marked as to cause the abdication of Huerta in July, 1914.

Dur

A. B. Plot-William H. Crawford, of Georgia, was a prominent Democratic-Republican candidate for the Presidency in 1824. ing the early part of that year a series of letters signed "A. B." appeared in a Washington newspaper charging him with mal

feasance in office as Secretary of the Treas-
ury. They were written by Ninian Ed-
wards, of Illinois, who had just been ap-
pointed minister to Mexico, and who
acknowledged their authorship. Apr. 19,
1824, Edwards presented a memorial to
the House of Representatives making specific
charges. These he failed to sustain, and
Crawford was exonerated.

Abaco Island (Bahamas), negotiations
for cession of lands on, for erection
of light-houses, 845.

Abandoned Farms.-The reasons given for
farm abandonment are the impoverishment
of the soil, through lack of fertilizer and
rotation of crops, the meager financial re-
wards of ordinary farm labor, and the
disinclination of country-bred men and
women to remain on farms when the con-
veniences and luxuries of life are to be
found in the cities, and enjoyed with great-
er comfort.

Many men with city experience and mod-
ern industrial and business ideas have made
farming profitable where the country-bred
farmer with only the conventional methods
has failed. The back-to-the-farm movement
was given considerable impetus by the de-
velopment of intensive farming in the West,
by irrigation, by the railroads, the Depart-
ment of Agriculture and the high price of
foodstuffs in the cities.

President Roosevelt appointed a commis-
sion to investigate the conditions of farm
life in America, and he discusses the ques-
tion fully in a special message (page 7253).
(See also Country Life Commission.)
Abelman vs. Booth.-An important Su-
preme Court case maintaining the constitu-
tionality of the fugitive-slave law of 1850.
Booth was tried before a commissioner ap-
pointed by the United States district court
of Wisconsin for violation of the fugitive-
slave law, and ordered to appear before the
district court. Failing to do so, he was
Imprisoned by Abelman, the United States
marshal for the district, but was releas d
by the supreme court of the State on a writ
of habeas corpus. Later he was indicted
before the United States district court, but
was again released by the State supreme
court. In 1858 the case came before the
United States Supreme Court. Booth had
pleaded the unconstitutionality of the law.
The court upheld the law and reversed the
decision of the State supreme court.
Abolition Party.-An anti-slavery party
organized in 1839, which iater absorbed the
Liberty Party (q. v.), and the National
Its mission
Anti-Slavery Society (q. v.).

having been fulfilled by the emancipation of
the slaves, the party did not continue in ex-
istence after the Civil War. (See Abolition-
ists.)

Abolitionists.-A term applied during and
preceding the Civil War to the members
of the New England Anti-Slavery Society
and those who held with them that "im-
mediate unconditional emancipation without
expatriation was the right of every slave
and that he could not be withheld by his
master an hour without sin." The first
society for the abolition of slavery was
formed in Pennsylvania in 1774; New York
followed in 1785, Rhode Island in 1786,
Maryland in 1789, and Connecticut, Vir-
ginia and New Jersey before 1792. Among
the presidents of the New York society were
John Jay and Alexander Hamilton.

Jan. 1, 1831, William Lloyd Garrison
began the publication in Boston of a paper

called The Liberator, which advocated the
immediate liberation of slaves, regardless
of all laws or constitutional provisions to
the contrary. At the beginning of the fol-
lowing year be organized the above-named
society, with the foregoing as its chief doc-
trine. Near the close of 1833 a similar
society was formed in Philadelphia.

From this time forward the question be-
came one of national importance. In con-
sequence of his uncompromising utterances
Garrison was indicted by grand juries in
several Southern States and rewards were
offered for his conviction. The New York
Weekly Emancipator was another organ
of the Abolitionists. Some strong pam
phlets on the subject were: "Justice and
Expediency; or, Slavery Considered with a
View to Its Rightful and Effectual Rem-
edy"; "Abolition," by John G. Whittier,
Haverhill, Mass.; "Appeal in Behalf of that
Class of Americans Called Africans," by
Lydia Maria Child; and "The Sin of Slav-
ery and Its Remedy," by Elizur Wright, a
professor in the Western Reserve College.
Abolition sentiments were not confined
solely to the Northern States. The feeling
against the abolitionists ran high and riots
were frequent. At Alton, Illinois, in 1837.
Elijah P. Lovejoy, an abolition editor, was
mobbed and killed, and in 1838, Pennsyl
vania Hall, in Philadelphia, was burned.
In 1838 many of the party desiring to
nominate candidates for office, a proceed-
ing to which the "Garrisonians" objected,
withdrew. (See Abolition Party and illus-
trations opposite pages 1401 and 1841.)
Aborigines.-A word used to designate the
earliest inhabitants of a country.
America the term is applied generally to the
Indians found by the early settlers.
Abrogation. In international law, the act
of breaking or discontinuing, as the abroga-
tion of a treaty.

In

Absentee Shawnee Indians. (See Indian
Tribes.)

Abyssinia (Ethiopia).—The total area of
the Ethiopian Empire is estimated at 350,-
000 to 400,000 English square miles, with
a total population of from 7,000,000 to
8.000,000, of whom about half are Abys-
sinians, the remainder being Gallas, negro
tribes on the west and south frontiers,
and Danakils and Somalls on the east.
About one-third of the whole area is cov-
ered by Abyssinian Somaliland.
The
boundaries of the empire are defined on the
west, north, and northeast, where they
touch, in order, the Sudan; the Italian
colony of Massowah (Eritrea); the French
colony of Djibuti; and the British So-
maliland Protectorate. Northwards the
boundary is about 15° 30′ N. lat., falling
just south of Kassala.

Physical Features.-Western Abyssinia
is a plateau, with peaks rising to 13,-
000-15.000 feet; Eastern Abyssinia con-
sists of the Danakil and Somali lowlands.

Natural Resources.-Western Abyssinia
contains some mineral wealth; iron and
coal are not uncommon, and gold is
washed in various streams, while salt, salt-
petre, and sulphur are also procurable.
The lower country and deep valley gorges
are very hot; the higher plateaus are well
watered, with a genial climate. In the
hotter regions, sugar cane, cotton, coffee,
rubber, etc., flourish; in the middle zone
maize, wheat, barley, wild oranges and
other fruit trees, tobacco, potatoes, etc.,
are cultivated; and above 4,000 feet are
excellent pastures with some corn cultiva-
tion. There are two seasons in the year,

a dry winter and a rainy summer from
June to September. The chief river is the
Blue Nile. Horses, mules, donkeys, oxen,
goats and sheep, and camels in the low-
lands, form a large portion of the wealth
of the people.

History. It was visited by the Portu-
guese in 1492. The various small monarch-
les were united into one kingdom in 1855.
In 1872 Kassal, of Tigre, who had assumed
the title Negus Negust (King of Kings),
was crowned as Johannes II, Emperor of
Ethiopia. At his death in 1889, Menelik
II (born 1842) became supreme ruler. Oct.
13, 1889, the Italian Government assumed
a protectorate over Abyssinia, and by a
subsequent treaty with King Menelik, the
country came wholly under Italian influ-
ence. By an agreement signed Dec. 13,
1906, Italy, France and Great Britain un-
dertook to preserve the integrity of Abys-
sinia.

Government.-Negus Negust or King of
Kings Menelik II (King of Shoa). The
Empire is a federation of the Kingdoms
of Shoa, Godjam, Jimma, Kaffa and Wol-
lo, and of the territories conquered by the
dominant Kingdom of Shoa; the outward
and visible sign of their allegiance to the
Emperor being a contribution to the Im-
perial revenue. In 1908 a Council of Minis-
ters was constituted by the Emperor with
Lij Eyassu, grandson of Menelik, President
of the Council. It was announced on May
18, 1911, that Lij Eyassu had been pro-
claimed Emperor after an effort by his cousin
to wrest the government from him.
October 1, 1916, the Emperor was deposed
by Uizero-Zeoditu, a daughter of Menelik.

On

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Education and Religion.-The Abyssini-
ans are Christian and the Emperor claims
descent from Menelek, the son of Solomon
and the Queen of Sheba. The Metropoli-
tan (Abuna Mattheos) and the priests and
monks are in some degree subject to the
Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria, and have
combined religious, judicial and educa-
tional offices.

Production and Industry.-The principal
pursuits are agriculture, cattle breeding
and hunting. The chief exports are cof-
fee, civet, wax, hides, rubber, ivory and
gold; the chief imports being cottons,
hardware, provisions, arms and ammuni-
tion, petroleum and glass. External trade
is increasing.

Abyssinia is the home of the coffee plant,
which furnishes one of the chief exports.
Cotton, sugar cane and vines flourish. Iron
is abundant. Cattle, sheep and horses are
raised. American gray shirting, hardware,
ammunition. petroleum are imported. The
chief exports are coffee, gum, wax, gold,
ivory and civet. Large herds of cat-
tle, sheep and goats are raised; excellent
horses and long-wooled sheep in higher ele-
vations. Manufactures primitive; some
cloth, and working of leather and metals,
etc. Caravan trade important; hides, skins,
ivory, wax, gum, coffee, gold. ostrich feath-
ers, etc., exchanged for manufactured arti-
cles.

Transportation is generally carried on
by mules, donkeys and pack-horses in the
west and by camels in the lowlands. A
railway has just been built under French
auspices. The posts and telegraphs are
under French management, and Abyssinia

has been admitted to the Postal Union.
Telegraphs and telephones have been con-
structed, and admission to the Interna-
tional Telegraph Convention has been
sought.

Army. The active army consists of the
Imperial Troops. numbering about 200,-
000 men, armed with rifles, with some ar-
tillery and troops of Galla horsemen. The
Feudatory States maintain local armies,
available for Imperial purposes in time of

war.

Towns.-The Capital, Adis Ababa, in
Shoa, has a population of about 50,000;
Harrar contains about 40,000; and Dire
Dawa from 6.000 to 7,000. There are an-
cient architectural remains at Aksum,
Gondar, and Ankober; modern architecture
is very poor, while drainage and sanita-
tion are unknown.

Foreign Relations.-Great Britain, France
and Italy possess territory bordering the
Abyssinian Empire and have entered into
an agreement to respect the integrity of
the Empire. The United States, Austria-
Hungary and Germany have signed commer-
cial treaties with the Empire. There are
representatives of France, Germany, Great
Britain, Italy, Russia and the U. S. A.
at the capital. (See also Africa.)
Academy, Military. (See Military Acad-
emy.)

Academy, Naval. (See Naval Acad-
emy.)

Academy of Sciences, National. (See
National Academy of Sciences.)
Acapulco, Mexico:

Controversies between American con-
sul at, and Mexican authorities,
2695.

Imprisonment of American citizens
in, 2720, 2834, 2837.

Acapulco, The, seizure and killing of
Gen. Barrundia on, and action of
American minister to Guatemala,
discussed, 5544.

Conduct of commander Reiter regard-
ing, referred to, 5569.

Papers regarding, transmitted, 5565.
Accessory. In law one who is guilty of a
felony, not by committing the offense in
person or as a principal, nor by being
present at its commission, but by being in
some other way concerned therein, as by
advising or inciting another to commit the
crime or by concealing the offender or in
any way helping him to escape punishment.
An accessory before the fact is one who
counsels or incites another to commit a
felony and who is not present when the
act is done; after the fact, one who receives
and conceals or in any way assists the of-
fender, knowing him to have committed
a felony. The laws of different States vary
as to the punishment of accessories.
Accident Compensation for Workmen,
discussed by President Roosevelt, 7087.
(See also Employers' Liability.)
Acclamation. -In legislative bodies, the act
of voting by ayes and nays; also called
voting viva voce.

Accounts and Disbursements, Division
of, Agriculture Department.-An impor-
tant division of the Bureau of Agriculture.
It has complete charge and supervision over
the fiscal affairs of the Department. It

audits and pays all accounts and adjusts
claims against the Department; decides
questions involving the expenditure of pub-
lic funds; prepares advertisements, sched-
ules and contracts for annual supplies,
leases, agreements, letters of authority, and
all letters to the Treasury Department and
Department of Justice; issues requisitions
for the purchase of supplies and requests
for transportation; prepares the annual esti-
mates for appropriations, etc.

An idea of the work of the division may
be had from the statement of its chief
that in a recent year there were received,
audited and paid 118,921 accounts, amount-
ing to $15,736,198.02. More than 4,200 of
these accounts, moreover, were so-called
combined accounts. There were also audited
and sent to the Treasury for payment 4,368
accounts. In the payment of the 118,921 ac-
counts mentioned above it was necessary to
draw 244 requisitions on the Treasury and
issue 225,019 checks. To carry on the work
of the Department of Agriculture for this
year Congress appropriated $13,487,636 for
ordinary expenses, in addition to permanent
annual appropriations amounting to $6.329,-
000, and special appropriations of $1,874.-
614, making a total of $21,691,250. The
cost of maintaining the Department of
Agriculture has grown from $7,643,688 in
1906 to more than $65,000,000 at present.
Accounts, Public:

Settlement of, between United States
and the several states, 133.
System of, improvement needed in,
1120.

Acheen, native Kingdom of North
Sumatra, war with Netherlands, neu-
trality preserved by United States in,
4192.

Acknowledgment.-An acknowledgment is
the act of declaring the execution of an
instrument before an officer authorized to
certify to such declaration. The officer
certifies to the fact of such declaration,
and to his knowledge of the person
declaring. Conveyances or deeds of land to
be entitled to be recorded must first be
acknowledged before a proper officer. Most
of the States have forms of acknowledg-
ments, which should be followed,

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Acknowledgments may be taken in gen-
eral by notaries public, justices of the peace,
Judges or Clerks of Courts of the higher
grades, Registers, Masters in Chancery,
Court Commissioners, town clerks, Mayor
and Clerks of incorporated cities, within
their respective jurisdictions.

Seals or their equivalent (or whatever is
intended as such) are necessary in Alaska,
Connecticut, Delaware, District of Co-
lumbia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minne-
sota, Missouri, New Hampshire New Jer-
sey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont,
Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyo-
ming. In almost all the States deeds by
corporations must be under seal. Forms
are prescribed or indicated by the statutes
of most of the States except Connecticut,
Florida, Louisiana. Separate acknowledg
ment by wife is required in Alaska,
Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia,
Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisi-
ana, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North
Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas. One witness
to the execution of deeds is required in
District of Columbia, Maine (customary),
Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey (usual),

Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming. Two witnesses
to the execution of deeds are required in
Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia,
Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hamp-
shire, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas,
Vermont, Wisconsin.

Acre Right.-The share of a citizen of a
New England town in the common lands.
The value of the acre right was a fixed
quantity in each town, but varied in differ-
ent towns. A ten-acre lot or right in a
certain town was equivalent to 113 acres
of upland and twelve acres of meadow, and
a certain exact proportion was maintained
between the acre right and salable lands.
Act of Hostility.-An unfriendly represen-
tation calculated to provoke war; or conduct
of a war-like nature on the part of one
country toward another. When the un-
friendly, or war-like act is of such a nature
as to preclude or make undesirable any
attempt at adjustment by arbitration or
diplomatic protest and representations, it
becomes an overt act (q. v.), and is tanta-
mount to a declaration of war on the part
of the offender.

Acts of Congress. (See Bills and Acts.)
Acts, Public.-Public acts are the laws of
a State and of the United States. State
records are the registered deeds of property,
journals of legislatures, etc. Judicial pro-
ceedings are the records of courts. Under
the Constitution each State must give full
falth and credit to the public acts, records,
and judicial proceedings of every other
State (twenty-four). The chief value of
this provision is that it prevents endless
lawsuits. When a case has been decided
in one State, it cannot be opened in the
courts of another State.
Adams, John.-1797-1801.

Third Administration-Federal.

Vice-President-Thomas Jefferson.
Secretary of State-

Timothy Pickering (continued).
John Marshall, from May 13, 1800.
Secretary of the Treasury-

Oliver Wolcott (continued).
Samuel Dexter, from Jan. 1, 1801.
Secretary of War-

James McHenry (continued).
Samuel Dexter, from May 13, 1800.
Roger Griswold, .acting from Feb. 3,
1801.

Secretary of the Navy-

George Cabot appointed.
3. 1798.

Declined May

Benjamin Stoddert, from May 3, 1798.
Attorney-General—
Charles Lee
Postmaster-General-

(continued).

Joseph Habersham (continued).

Party Affiliation.-Adams was essentially
a Federalist and in common with his party,
distrusted the self-governing power of the
masses. He believed in strong central gov
ernment by a class, not hereditary, but
fitted by merit. He was democratic to the
extent of believing that equality meant that
all men should have equal rights in the eyes
of the law; but that in hereditary rights,
capacity, advantages, and position, all men
While vice-presi-
are by no means equal.
dent and presiding officer in the Senate he
was frequently called upon to decide by
his casting vote questions of vital impor-
tance in the maintenance of the polley of
Washington. This occurred no fewer than
twenty times in one session of Congress.

The Fifth Congress first met in extra ses-
sion at Philadelphia, May 15, 1797, to con-

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EXTENT OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT J. ADAMS, 1797-1801.

INOT INCLUDING TERRITORIES)

COPYRIGHT, BY BUREAU OF NATIONAL LITERATURE (INC)

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