attracted almost no attention whatever in this country. From time to time we have commented upon the leisurely but effective advance of the Anglo-Egyptian expedition that is moving up. the Nile toward Khartoum, under the leadership of the Sirdar of the Egyptian army, Gen. Sir Herbert Kitchener. Many a previous expedition up the Nile, in ancient as well as modern history, has proved disastrous.

The present movement now bids fair at every stage to be a brilliant success. What has made the difference? Certainly not the numerical magnitude of the invading army, nor yet, on the other hand, failure of the fanatical men of the desert, the "dervishes," to fight with fierce courage, in great numbers, and with no small degree of skill. Where others have failed Sir Herbert Kitchener is succeeding, because he is using machinery. The new forces of that sort must henceforth turn the scale in all serious warfare. Sir Herbert is proceeding on the plan of moving a stage at a time and pausing until his corps of railroad builders have brought their construction clear up to his camp.

The railroad brings plenty of supplies and obviates all necessity of haste. On the Nile itself, moreover, he has an abundance of gunboats of very light draught, all armed with Maxim and other rapid-fire machine guns. Great care has been taken to protect the rear and keep the railroad open-although at one time a few weeks ago, with his encampment at Berber, some distance in advance of the rail, it had been feared that the dervishes might cut in behind.

Decisive

This, however, has not happened. What Battle of the dervishes did was to cross the Nile at April 8. Shendy and advance up the river as if to meet the British and Egyptian troops at Berber. They selected their ground at Dakhila, where the Atbara River joins the Nile. Meanwhile the British gunboats had pressed forward and captured Shendy, and the dervishes, who were 20,000 strong, were cut off from their supplies. The British advanced promptly to meet them in their intrenched position. Sir Herbert Kitchener commanded some 12,000 Egyptian troops, besides several battalions of British regulars. fighting lasted several hours and was no mere skirmish. The dervishes, who were totally routed, left about 2,000 men dead upon the field. The British troops sustained very slight loss, while the Egyptian army seems to have sacrificed 50 or 60 men killed, with 300 or 400 wounded. The great slaughter of dervishes was evidently due in large part to the effective use of the terrible Maxim guns, which discharged bullets like a hail-storm. The railroad will now be pushed forward as fast as possible, and it is to be sup

The

posed that the headquarters will be advanced to Shendy. The gunboats will have to wait for high water in order to get past the sixth cataract; and after that the advance to Khartoum ought to be quick work. The dervishes were composed of two main bodies of troops, one of them led by Osman Digna, who has somewhat recently composed his differences with the Khalifa, in order that the whole Soudanese world might make a united stand against the British. The Khalifa keeps his headquarters at Omdurman, opposite Khartoum. His troops were led in the fight of April 8 by the Emir Mahmoud, who was captured with all his belongings, while Osman Digna had the luck to escape.

India and English Parties.

The English are indeed giving a good account of themselves in this Nile campaign, and are plainly doing a necessary work for progress and civilization. It is a pity that they cannot show an equal claim upon the world's approval in their struggle with the tribesmen on the northwest frontiers of India. The British Liberals gain steadily whenever a by-election gives them a chance to show that the party pendulum is beginning to swing back ; but they would gain more rapidly if they should concentrate vigorously in opposition to the series of blunders that has characterized the Indian policy of the Salisbury administration. The worst of these blunders, of course, is the needless, costly, and destructive war on the frontier. But there are other mistakes only less serious, among which are the enforcement of a press-gag law that is almost as arbitary in its censorship as anything in Russia, while arrest and detention on suspicion without trial has also become a feature of the present government of India, and other serious grounds of criticism could readily be mentioned. It would seem that the Liberals must first decide among themselves who is to be their permanent leader before they can present as strong a front as the facts in the political situation would readily afford them. Mr. Gladstone is steadily growing feebler, and the sad news of his death may be expected at any time in the early future. reported that his literary executor and biographer is to be Mr. John Morley. His political heir, however, is not as yet distinctly visible. At one time it was supposed without doubt that Lord Rosebery would hold his own as the fully accepted head of the Liberal party; and there are signs that he is about to emerge from his retirement and throw himself actively again into political life. Leadership is the crying need of the Liberals, and until the party is reorganized it will have to look to the London newspapers for its opinions and guidance.

It is

Leadership and Cabinet

There has been very much more discussion, however, of the question Government. upon whose shoulders Lord Salisbury's mantle should descend than about the future leadership of the Liberals. It seemed quite probable a few weeks ago that Lord Salisbury's health might compel him to retire altogether from official life. This event would have vacated at once the premiership and the Foreign Office. The friends of the Rt. Hon Joseph Chamberlain-with whom the London Times seems now also to be identified-would doubtless do everything in their power to press that gentleman's claims at least to the Foreign Office, if not to the premiership, in case of Lord Salisbury's retreat to private life. It is more probable, however, that the Duke of Devonshire would become prime minister. The old-fashioned Tories are opposed to the rapid advance of Mr. Chamberlain, whom they still look upon as Liberal Unionist rather than as Conservative. They would probably rally around Mr. Arthur Balfour for the Foreign Office.

The tendency to govern the country by the executive rather than by the legislative will is now being much commented upon in England. The cabinet decides upon its own policies, and it pushes them through the House of Commons with much less regard for debating than a few years ago. And the cabinet as a whole is ruled by its inner circle, which in turn reflects the will of the prime minister. There is much complaint that the House of Commons is losing its initiative and that the cabinet is growing autocratic. The past two or three administrations have witnessed precisely the same tendency in the United States, where the immense pressure upon Congress to subordinate its views to the policy preferred by the executive constitutes a wide departure from the spirit and intention of the Constitution, and also a decided change from the practice that formerly prevailed.

66

Mr. Gerald Balfour-who is Irish SecSuccess of the Irish retary in the present ministry and, like Bill. his brother, the Rt. Hon. Arthur Balfour, a nephew of Lord Salisbury and a member of the family ring" that is supposed to run the cabinet-has made himself a great man at a stroke by his remarkable success in securing the acceptance of his Irish Local Government bill. He had in a very frank and conciliatory way submitted the advance draft of his bill to the leaders of all parties, and particularly to the Irish members of Parliament themselves. The bill has been making its way rapidly and prosperously through the successive stages of Parliamentary consideration, and may be regarded as already safely upon the statute-books. Some of the

Orangemen have protested vehemently that this Tory measure is worse than Mr. Gladstone's proposed home rule, but nobody has given much attention to their complaints.

The march of events has been strengthCecil Rhodes "on Top" ening the British position in South Again. Africa that was so rudely shaken by the criminal blunder of the Jameson raid. Mr. Cecil Rhodes has been in England the past month, and has found himself solid once more in the directorate of the British South Africa Company, with everybody relying upon him for the further development of Charterland. The success of his railroad projects has not only strengthened his personal hold upon the situation in the new regions north of the Transvaal, but has also put the touch of final certainty upon the supremacy of Great Britain in that part of the world. Furthermore, the partisans of Mr. Rhodes have secured an important victory in the Cape Colony elections, and it is considered altogether likely that he will soon be back in his old place as prime minister of Cape Colony, while directing the immense affairs of the South African Company and controlling the administration of the vast region known as Charterland.

The Federation of Australia.

The month of March witnessed the completion of the work of the convention which had been sitting for two months in Melbourne elaborating the so-called Commonwealth bill for the creation of a united Australia. The month of April has in its turn witnessed a great agitation and discussion in the various colonies over the question of ratifying the constitution adopted by the Melbourne convention. All the colonies were represented in the convention except Queensland. If any three colonies ratify the scheme it will go into effect as respects such colonies, with the hope and expectation that the other colonies will in due time seek and gain admission to the union. It is not, however, certain that even three of the colonies will at once ratify the convention's scheme. Great opposition exists, and the fight will be a doubtful Nevertheless, the new activity of the European powers in the Pacific will doubtless have some effect to make the people of Australia realize the importance of the maxim that there is strength in unity. The matured project now under consideration has really been in the making for a number of years. In its present shape the bill not only provides for the direct popular election of the members of the lower house of the federal Parliament, but it abandons the original plan of electing the upper house by the colonial Parliaments.

one.

PROCEEDINGS IN CONGRESS. March 21.-The House passes the Maine relief bill. March 22.-The Senate debates the national quarantine bill.... The naval appropriation bill is reported to the House from committee.

March 23.-The Senate passes the Maine relief bill.... The House decides the contested election case of Thorp against Epes, of the Fourth Virginia District, in favor of Thorp.

March 24.-Mr. Thurston (Rep., Neb.) addresses the Senate on the Cuban question, advocating armed intervention.... The House debates the naval appropriation bill.

March 25-26.-The House debates the naval appropriation bill.

March 28.-President McKinley sends to both houses the report of the Maine Court of Inquiry, accompanied by a message. In the Senate the documents are referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, and in the House to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

March 29.-Resolutions on the Cuban question are Introduced in both houses.

March 30.-The Senate passes the Alaska civil government bill.... The House resumes consideration of the naval appropriation bill.

March 31.-The Cuban question is discussed in both houses.

April 1.-The House passes the naval appropriation bill, so amended as to provide for increasing the number of torpedo-boats and torpedo-boat destroyers from six to twelve each, and carrying a total of more than $39,000,000 in direct appropriations.

April 4.-Speeches favoring intervention in Cuba are made in both houses.

April 5.-In the Senate five members speak in favor of an immediate declaration of war against Spain.

April 6.-The Senate debates the sundry civil appropriation bill....The House considers the army reorganization bill.

April 7.-The House recommits the army reorganization bill, after striking out everything except the first two sections, providing for the three-battalion formation.

April 11.-President McKinley, in a message to Congress, asks authority to intervene in Cuba by force to reëstablish peace and order in the island.

April 12.-The Cuban question is debated in both houses.

April 13.-The House passes, by a vote of 322 to 19, the resolutions reported by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, directing President McKinley to intervene in Cuba; there is much excitement and disorder.

April 14-15.-The Senate debates the Cuban intervention resolutions reported by the Committee on Foreign Affairs.... The House passes a bill settling title to lands in Indian Territory.

April 16.-The Senate passes the Cuban resolutions reported by the Committee on Foreign Relations by a vote of 67 to 21, and an amendment recognizing the independence of the republic of Cuba is adopted by a vote

houses finally lead to the Senate's acceptance of the resolutions in this form, and they go to President McKinley for approval.

April 21.-The Senate passes the bill providing for the enlistment of State militia under the national Government in time of war, amending it so as to make the term one year instead of three.

April 22.-After conference, the national volunteer bill is passed by both houses of Congress in amended form, with two years as the term of enlistment.

THE UNITED STATES AND SPAIN-PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.

March 21.-Secretary Long names the two Brazilian cruisers recently purchased the New Orleans and the Albany.

March 23.-The monitors Terror and Puritan are ordered to join the fleet at Key West....The government auxiliary naval board purchases a steel tug at New York City.

March 24.-The dispatch boat Dolphin and the yacht Mayflower are placed in commission at the New York Navy Yard.... Restrictions regarding enlistments in

the navy are removed....Admiral Sicard is relieved from command of the fleet at Key West on account of ill health, and Captain Sampson is ordered to succeed him.

March 25.-The Spanish report of the cause of the Maine disaster is received at Madrid....The United States purchases a first-class torpedo- boat built in Germany....Commodore Schley is ordered to command the flying squadron at Hampton Roads.... Three large steam yachts and a tug are added to the auxiliary fleet for service as dispatch and patrol boats.

March 26.-The verdict of the Maine Court of Inquiry is communicated to the Spanish Government....The New York national guard and naval reserves are ordered to hold themselves in readiness for action.

March 27.-The United States cruisers San Francisco and New Orleans sail from England for this country.

March 28.-The testimony taken by the Maine Court of Inquiry is made public....The Spanish Government announces that it will make no objection to the sending of relief to the Cuban reconcentrados.... Commodore Schley takes command of the flying squadron.

March 29.-United States Minister Woodford holds a conference at Madrid with Premier Sagasta.

March 30.-The United States buys the steam yacht Aegusa in Sicily for $300,000.

March 31.-Captain-General Blanco issues a decree abrogating the reconcentration edict of General Weyler in the western provinces of Cuba....Captain Sigsbee makes a statement regarding the Maine disaster to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee....New York Legislature votes $1,000,000 as an emergency war fund. April 1.-The Spanish cruisers Vizcaya and Oquendo sail from Havana.... The Iowa Legislature appropriates $500,000 for a war fund.

HON. CHARLES EMORY SMITH. (Nominated April 21 as Postmaster-General to succeed Mr. Gary, who retires because of ill health.)

THE PRINCE OF WALES FIRING A MAXIM GUN. (Mr. Maxim stands at his side.)

April 2.-It is announced that the Spanish torpedoboat flotilla has reached the Cape Verde Islands....An 1,800-ton cruiser is purchased in England for the United States....It is ordered that salvage operations on the wreck of the Maine in Havana harbor be discontinued ...Secretary Gage and Chairman Dingley, of the House Ways and Means Committee, hold a council with President McKinley on war-revenue measures.

April 4.-Pope Leo XIII. offers to mediate between Spain and Cuban insurgents, and urges Spain to suspend hostilities....Steamers are sent from Key West to Havana to bring home Americans.... The flag is removed from the wreck of the Maine....Many Spaniards enlist in the volunteers at Havana.... The Navy Department orders the immediate purchase of ten auxiliary cruisers.

April 5.-Consul-General Lee is ordered to return from Havana.

April 7.-In reply to a joint note from the European powers in the interest of peace, Señor Gullon, the Span ish foreign minister, states as the opinion of the cabinet that Spain has reached the "limit of international policy in the direction of conceding the demands and allowing the pretensions of the United States".... The diplomatic representatives in Washington of the six great European powers present a joint note to President McKinley expressing the hope that peace with Spain may be preserved; the President, in reply, declares that the war in Cuba must cease.

April 8.-The ram Katahdin joins the flying squadron in Hampton Roads.

April 9.-The Spanish cabinet decides to suspend hostilities in Cuba.... The Spanish armored cruisers Cristobal Colon and Infanta Maria Teresa sail from Cadiz to join the torpedo flotilla at the Cape Verde Islands.... The United States cruiser Topeka and the United States torpedo-boat Somers sail from England to the United

States....The Massachusetts joins the flying squadron....Consul-General Lee and the other American consuls in Cuba sail for the United States.

April 12.-Consul-General Lee declares before the Senate Committe on Foreign Relations that Spanish officials in Havana knew of a plot to blow up the Maine. April 13.-The Spanish cabinet votes an extraordinary war credit.... The Navy Department at Washington orders the purchase of the American line steamers St. Paul and St. Louis....The flying squadron sails from Hampton Roads on a practice cruise....The Michigan Legislature appropriates $500,000 for emergency military purposes.

April 14.-A council of the Spanish cabinet decides to convoke the Cortes on April 20, five days earlier than the date set for its assembly....Negotiations for the sale of the cruiser Garibaldi by Italy to Spain are suspended....The cruiser New Orleans, lately purchased from the Brazilian Government, arrives at New York with the cruiser San Francisco.

April 15.-The British Government instructs the Jamaica authorities that coal will be contraband of war.... Orders are issued to concentrate nearly all of the regular army of the United States at the Gulf ports of New Orleans, Mobile, and Tampa, and at Chickamauga Park....The Government charters the steamships St. Louis, St. Paul, Paris, and New York, of the American line.... The Twenty-fifth Infantry, U. S. A., goes into camp at Chickamauga Park....The Massachusetts Legislature appropriates $500,000 to increase the efficiency of the national guard.

April 16.-The Navy Department orders the purchase of the steamships Yorktown and Juniata....The army officials call for bids for the transportation of troops to Southern points.

April 18.-Commodore Howell is placed in command of the North Atlantic patrol fleet, consisting of the Yosemite, the Prairie, the Yankee, and the Dixie.

April 19.-United States troops from many garrisons move to the points of mobilization on the Gulf and at Chickamauga Park.

April 20.-President McKinley signs the resolutions of Congress and sends an ultimatum to Spain demanding that her land and naval forces withdraw from Cuba and requiring an answer before noon of April 23 ...The Spanish minister at Washington requests and receives his passports....The Spanish Cortes meets in Madrid; the Queen Regent reads a warlike speech from the throne.

April 21.-Before Minister Woodford can deliver the ultimatum of the United States to Spain he is notified by the Spanish Government that diplomatic relations with the United States are at an end; he then leaves Madrid for Paris, under guard, after intrusting legation affairs to the British embassy.... After notifying representatives of foreign powers of its intention to blockade Havana, the Government at Washington orders the fleet at Key West under Admiral Sampson to sail....A blockade of the Philippine Islands by the Asiatic squadron under Commodore Dewey is decided on at Washington.... The Navy Department buys the Brazilian warship Nictheroy and the yachts Corsair and Penelope....Rhode Island appropriates $150,000 to equip militia....Enlistments of volunteers are reported throughout the Union....The Spanish Government orders out 80,000 reserves....Great Britain notifies Spain

..Spain

that coal will be considered contraband of war..... lands 5,000 troops on the Canary Islands....Captain Sampson is raised to the rank of rear admiral. April 22.—It is decided to issue a call for 100,000 volunteers....' ...The Spanish merchantman Buenaventura is captured by the United States gunboat Nashville off Key West.

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT-AMERICAN. March 23.-The New York Legislature passes the bill for the reform of the primaries (see page 587).

March 24.-The battleships Kearsarge and Kentucky are launched at Newport News.

March 25.-Democrats, Populists, and Free Silver Republicans in Oregon adopt a common platform. March 29.-Governor Black, of New York, signs the primary reform bill.

March 31.-The New York Legislature adjourns.

April 5.—Municipal elections are held in many interior and Western cities. In Chicago a majority of the aldermen elected are pledged to oppose the granting of fifty-year franchises to street railroads; in Milwaukee David S. Rose, Silver Democrat and Populist, is chosen to the mayorship; in Kansas City, Mo., Lincoln, Neb., and Tacoma, Wash., the Republicans were generally successful.

April 6.-Governor Dyer (Rep.), of Rhode Island, is reëlected by a large majority.

April 12.-A committee of the Nebraska Legislature reports that the amount of money lost to the State through negligent and dishonest officials is more than $1,300,000.

April 14.-The Michigan Legislature concludes its extra session, having increased from 1 to 5 per cent. the tax on the business of express companies....Governor Wolcott, of Massachusetts, signs the bill providing for electrical executions.

April 21.-Postmaster-General Gary resigns office; President McKinley nominates Charles Emory Smith as his successor.

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT-FOREIGN. March 21.-The Austrian Reichsrath reassembles. March 22.-The annual conference of the British Liberal Federation opens at Leicester.

March 23.-By a vote of 207 to 7, the Italian Chamber of Deputies adopts the report recommending "political censure" against ex-Premier Crispi on account of his pecuniary relation to the Bologna branch of the Bank of Naples.

March 24.-The Chinese Government agrees to all of Russia's demands in the matter of leasing Port Arthur and Talien-Wan.

March 25.-Elections in Cape Colony result in a small majority for the Progressives....Signor Crispi resigns his seat in the Italian Chamber of Deputies....One hundred officers of the Russian Black Sea fleet and dock-yard officials are arrested, charged with bribery and corruption; Admiral Kopyloff is dismissed.

March 26.-Orders are issued for the mobilization of the British fleet at Hong Kong.

March 27.-Elections in Spain for the lower house of the Cortes are favorable to the Sagasta ministry. March 28.-The German Reichstag adopts the naval bill without division.

March 29.-The British House of Commons appoints