600 shares of 500 livres each. They obtained the exclusive privilege of trading to the Mississippi, farming the taxes and coining money. The prospectus was so inviting that shares were eagerly bought, and when, in 1719, the company obtained the monopoly of trading to the East Indies, China and the South Seas, and all the possessions of the French East India Company, the brilliant vision opened up to the public gaze was irresistible. The "Company of the Indies," as it was now called, created 50,000 additional shares; but a rage for speculation had seized all classes, and there were at least 300,000 applicants for the new shares, which consequently rose to an enormous premium. Law, as director-general, promised an annual dividend of 200 livres per share, which, as the shares were paid for in the depreciated billets d'état, amounted to an annual return of 120 per cent. The public enthusiasm now rose to an absolute frenzy, and Law's house and the street in front of it were daily crowded by applicants of both sexes and of all ranks, who were content to wait for hours-nay, for days together-in order to obtain an interview with the modern Plutus. While confidence lasted a factitious impulse was given to trade in Paris, the value of manufactures was increased four-fold, and the demand far exceeded the supply. The population is said to have been increased by hundreds of thousands, many of whom were glad to take shelter in garrets, kitchens and stables. But the Regent had meanwhile caused the paper circulation of the National Bank to be increased as the Mississippi scheme stock rose in value, and many wary speculators, foreseeing a crisis, had secretly converted their paper and shares into gold, which they transmitted to England or Belgium for safety. The increasing scarcity of gold and silver becoming felt, a general run was made on the bank. The Mississippi stock now fell considerably, and despite all efforts continued to fall steadily and rapidly. In 1720 the National Bank and the Company of the Indies were amalgamated, but, though this gave an upward turn to the share market, it failed to put the public credit on a sound basis. The crisis came at last. In July, 1720, the bank stopped payment, and Law was compelled to flee the country. The French government was very nearly overturned, and great and widespread financial distress and bankruptcy was occasioned. Mississippi Territory. (See Territories.) Missouri. Was originally a part of the Louisiana Purchase. (See Annexations I.) In 1805, Louisiana Territory was formed, of which Missouri was a part, and to which it gave its name in 1812, when the State of Louisiana was admitted to the Union. The question of the admission of Missouri gave rise to much commotion in Congress (see Missouri Compromise), but finally on August 10, 1821, President Monroe, pursuing the acts of Congress, proclaimed it to be a State. The capital is Jefferson City. The population in 1880 was 2,168,380, and in the last census (1890) 2,679,184. Missouri sends fourteen Representatives to Congress and has sixteen electoral votes. It is a certain Democratic State. The name of the State and river is of Indian origin and means "muddy water"; popularly Missouri is sometimes called the Pennsylvania of the West. Missouri Compromise. On the admission of Louisiana as a State, the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase was organized as the Territory of Missouri. In 1818 the portion now comprising the State of Missouri applied for admission to the Union. In 1819 a bill for this purpose, containing a clause prohibiting slavery, was passed by the House, but it was defeated by the Senate. In 1820 a bill was sent by the Senate to the House providing for the admission of Maine, and containing a rider authorizing Missouri to organize. There was no objection to the admission of Maine, the House having already passed a bill for that purpose, but it refused to allow the Senate to force its views on the Missouri question upon it. The Senate bill was accordingly disagreed to. A compromise was now patched up on the basis of a resolution of Senator Thomas, of Illinois. The Missouri and Maine bills were to be separated. Missouri was to be admitted as a slave State, but slavery was to be prohibited in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude. There was also a clause providing for the return of fugitive slaves. A provision in the Constitution adopted by Missouri, forbidding its Legislature to eman cipate slaves and ordering it to prevent the immigration of free negroes, led to further opposition, and at the next session of Congress, in February, 1821, Missouri was required to bind herself that the citizens of other States should enjoy all privileges "to which they are entitled under the Constitution of the United States." Henry Clay was largely instrumental in bringing about this compromise; he was chairman of the last committee. Yet so little did he foresee its consequences, that he is reported to have said to a Missouri delegate after its passage: "Now, go home and prepare your State for gradual emancipation." Maine was admitted in 1820, Missouri in 1821. Missouri, Territory of. (See Territories.) Molly Maguires. The first organization of this name was formed in Ireland, with the object, it is believed, of generally misusing process-servers and others engaged in the prosecution and eviction of tenants, and was composed of young men who, in some localities, assumed women's clothing, blackened their faces, and otherwise disguised themselves. It remained, however, for the American Mollies to terrorize whole counties and leave a blood-red trail behind them in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. To give even a record of the murders and outrages they committed would require an entire volume; but they were numbered by the hundreds, and the unfortunate victims were, in most cases, well known and respectable men. The American organization was composed of the restless and reckless element drawn to the coal regions through the opening of the coal fields. There is no recorded instance where the disguise of women's clothing was assumed in the United States. Through the efforts of James McParlan, a detective, the secrets of the order were finally revealed and many of its members were brought to justice. Monetary Conference. (See Paris Monetary Conference.) Mono-Metallism. (See Bi-Metallism.) Monroe Doctrine. President Monroe's annual message to Congress in 1823 contained the following sentences: "We owe it to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and the allied powers, to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfere, and shall not interfere; but with the governments which have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and just principles, acknowledged, we could not view an interposition for oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power, in any other light than as a manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." Also, "the American continents should no longer be subjects for any new European colonial settlement." These expressions embody what is known as the Monroe Doctrine. President Monroe's mention of these subjects was occasioned by the formation in Europe, a few years previously, of what was called the "holy alliance"-an alliance between Russia, France, Austria and Prussia to maintain the monarchical system of government in Europe. It was supposed that they desired to extend their operations to the New World also, especially with reference to the colonies of Spain, some of which had asserted, and obtained from the United States the recognition of, their independence. England sided with our country on this question, and the result was that the allies did not carry out their project. As popularly understood, the Monroe doctrine meant a political protection and a guaranty of freedom from European interference to all states of North and South America. It was not, however, intended to, and by its words it did not, declare that the United States would take up arms against European interference on these continents, nor was its intention to limit or embarrass the policy of our nation in the future. It merely declared that the United States would regard as unfriendly any such acts of European intermeddling with the political affairs of the two Americas, and it left to be determined by the circumstances of each particular case how far the United States would find it wise to go in opposing it. Monroe, James, was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, April 29, 1758. He died July 4, 1831. He graduated at William and Mary College, served in the Conti |