THE NEW INTERNATIONAL YEAR BOOK A COMPENDIUM OF THE WORLD'S PROGRESS FOR THE YEAR 1908 EDITOR FRANK MOORE COLBY, M.A. ASSOCIATE EDITOR ALLEN LEON CHURCHILL NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1909 PREFACE The YEAR BOOK FOR 1908 is the second in the new series of annual volumes beginning with 1907. The old series ceased with the publication of the INTERNATIONAL YEAR BOOK for 1902, and as the series of Appleton's Annuals terminated at the same time, there remained no summaries of the year's history in this country save such as were afforded by newspaper almanacs or annuals on special subjects, necessarily of very limited scope. In response to constant demands for a comprehensive treatment of the year's events, the publication was resumed and the NEW INTERNATIONAL YEAR BOOK for 1907 was issued last year, comprising in addition to the record of the year, brief summaries of the events which had occurred in the interval. The present volume differs materially in scope and plan from other annual summaries published in English. In the first place, it is designed as a cyclopædia of the year, including such subjects as have in the course of the year been marked by change or progress. It is a record not only of events and statistics but of current discussion. Its political articles recapitulate important debates as in the account of the PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN; its articles on the sciences and arts present the pros and cons on disputed points. Over forty special contributors supply accounts of the year's changes in their respective fields; for example, Dr. A. C. True and Dr. E. W. Allen, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, in AGRICULTURE and HORTICULTURE; Dr. Clark Wissler, of the American Museum of Natural History, in ANTHROPOLOGY; Professor O. S. Tonks, of Princeton University, in ARCHEOLOGY; Professor T. W. Edmondson, of the New York University, in ASTRONOMY and METEOROLOGY; Professor M. A. Rosanoff, of Clark University, in CHEMISTRY; Dr. A. W. Ferris, President of the New York Commission in Lunacy, in MEDICINE; Professor Alfred Remy, in MUSIC; Professor A. D. F. Hamlin, of Columbia University, in ARCHITECTURE; Mr. M. N. Baker, of the Engineering News, in SANITARY ENGINEERING and MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT; Professor A. L. Treadwell, of Vassar College, in ZoÖLOGY; Professor Charles Knapp of Barnard College, and Dr. Louis H. Gray in PHILOLOGY; Mr. C. C. Adams in EXPLORATION and POLAR RESEARCH. In these and other departments assigned to members of the staff the subjects are arranged alphabetically under such titles as would naturally occur to the reader. Thus, ASTRONOMY, METEOROLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY, ARCHEOLOGY, PHILOLOGY, MUSIC, DRAMA, PAINTINGS, SCULPTURE, LITERATURE (ENGLISH AND AMERICAN), FRENCH LITERATURE, GERMAN LITERATURE, PSYCHOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, GEOLOGY are discussed under these titles and not distributed among subordinate and less familiar headings. On the other hand, Medicine, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufactures, Economics, Social Science, Sports are treated under individual titles such as PLAGUE, INSANITY, CANCER, TUBERCULOSIS, BRIDGES, CANALS, DAMS, TUNNELS, CONCRETE, ELECTRIC LIGHTING, ELECTRIC RAILWAYS, IRON AND STEEL, BANKS AND BANKING, FINANCIAL REVIEW, CHILD LABOR, FOOTBALL, BASEBALL, etc. In the second place the YEAR BOOK reduces to a minimum the class of information that can be found in any general work of reference, retaining only so much as is necessary for a brief explanation of the subject and thus gaining space for a more ample discussion of matters appropriate to the year. It is not a revision of a preceding volume, but a newly written work. The use of "standing matter" from year to year, including detailed descriptions of forms of government, long tables of retrospective statistics, and identical narratives of well known events, has seemed to the editors an unwarrantable waste of space and a serious detriment to an annual volume. That policy was not followed in the old series of Year Books and will not be followed in the new. The need of a reference book framed on the present plan is perhaps too obvious to require explanation. It is a need supplied in other countries by annual volumes of similar character but narrower scope. In England, for example, the British Annual Register records political events and the Statesman's Year Book supplies statistics. Without such means of reference it is more difficult to secure information concerning recent events than concerning matters comparatively remote, for the immediate antecedents of current happenings are buried in the files of the periodicals. Readers of newspapers and writers on current topics need a reference book to the immediate past, a single and convenient source for a class of information that is widely scattered and difficult of access. Such a volume, if rightly prepared, will dovetail closely with current events. But though confident in the merits of the plan, the editors will, as was said in the preface to the 1907 volume, welcome any suggestion as to improvement in its execution. The eventful year 1908 presented some difficult problems of selection. As the year of the Presidential elections it required unusually extended discussions under the UNITED STATES and PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. As the year following the panic the FINANCIAL REVIEW, and the articles on BANKS, CURRENCY, LOAN AND TRUST COMPANIES, RAILWAYS, and the various industries assumed especial importance. The prominence of Labor questions demanded the discussion at length of such topics as BOYCOTT, INJUNCTIONS, STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS, ARBITRATION, TRADE UNIONS. State politics and legislation were of unusual interest and required proportionate treatment in the paragraphs on Politics and Government in the articles on States. Noteworthy progress was made in many movements for reform, including such divergent 200495 fields as CHILD LABOR, the DIRECT PRIMARY, INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION, PROHIBITION, WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE, CONSERVATION OF NATIONAL RESOURCES, JUVENILE COURTS, JUVENILE DELINQUENTS, and PENOLOGY. The foreign record was equally crowded. Early in the year occurred the assassination of King CARLOS and the Crown Prince of PORTUGAL, and at its close ITALY was visited by the most disastrous of EARTHQUAKES; TURKEY after the successful struggle of the Young Turk party began her experiment with a constitution; PERSIA experienced a coup d'état and an insurrection and failed to restore her short-lived parliament; CHINA, by the Emperor's decree, secured the promise of a constitution; AUSTRIA-HUNGARY'S annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, followed by BULGARIA'S Declaration of Independence, brought the BALKAN QUESTION to a crisis, of which war seemed for a time the probable outcome; FRANCE had a war on her hands in Morocco and became involved with Germany in diplomatic disputes; RUSSIA at last found a Duma that it was not necessary to disperse and presented an interesting simulacrum of parliamentary government; GERMANY saw the defeat of the electoral reform movement in Prussia, the passage of the Polish Expropriation law and the Association law and the extraordinary discussion arising from the publication of the Kaiser's interview in an English newspaper; the Baltic and North Sea agreements guaranteed the status of the Scandinavian countries on those seas; GREAT BRITAIN had an interesting but unfruitful parliamentary history, remarkable for the heated discussion of measures that did not pass; CANADA had her general elections; BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA took the first formal step toward union in a convention of representatives from the component states at Durban; INDIA passed a turbulent year of bomb throwing, anarchistic plots and sedition in the press. In pure and applied science the advances made during the year have been no less striking than in politics. In AERONAUTICS the successful tests of the Wright Brothers' aeroplanes in the United States and France indicated the solution of the problem of aerial navigation with machines heavier than air. In preventive medicine, study of the PLAGUE, especially as it has affected certain parts of the United States where it has threatened to gain a foothold, is a work of importance. FIRE PROTECTION for great cities was being secured by the provision of high pressure water supply systems, while in SHIPBUILDING the combination of the STEAM TURBINE and the reciprocating engine was making for increased economy. In PHYSICS progress was made with the elaboration of modern theories of matter and electricity, aided by recent researches with radio-active substances. The scientific study of EARTHQUAKES was made doubly interesting by the disaster in Italy and Sicily, while in ASTRONOMY, Professor Hale's striking researches on the nature of the sun spots made at the Mount Wilson Observatory of the Carnegie Institution have widely increased this field of knowledge for the astronomer and physicist. In the EMMANUEL MOVEMENT, religion, medicine and psychology have united for the relief of human ills and this interesting form of psychotherapy is worthy of discussion in all its In MINERALOGY much was accomplished during the year and the discovery of an American DIAMOND field in Arkansas was matched in interest by the cutting of the Cullinan diamond, the world's most valuable stone. In NAVAL PROGRESS the attention of the world has been directed to BATTLESHIPS and the Dreadnought became during the year a measure of value in estimating the strength of the existing and proposed navies for the great powers. MILITARY PROGRESS involved partial re-armaments and the development of new forms of manœuvres. In ARCHITECTURE progress in design was accompanied by such forms of practical construction as the skyscraper, rising to new heights, and this in turn was only made possible by the improved and more efficient forms of ELEVATORS. Activity in scientific AGRICULTURE SO benefited the condition of the farmer that, despite a year of general depression, agricultural industries were maintained in fairly good condition, while the scientific campaign in HORTICULTURE, STOCK RAISING, VETERINARY SCIENCE was pushed forward unceasingly. The year in ZoÖLOGY was marked by the Darwin Centenary and by much scientific progress. Economic ENTOMOLOGY and the part played by INSECTS IN THE PROPAGATION OF DISEASE came in for no less attention in 1908 than in previous years. branches. The statistical articles are derived from official sources. In the preparation of these and other articles dealing with public affairs, especially in the United States and Canada, invaluable aid has been given by government officials. Especial recognition is due Major Frank McIntyre, Acting Chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, for information in regard to the Philippines and other possessions of the United States; to Mr. O. P. Austin, Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, Department of Commerce and Labor, and Mr. Victor Olmstead, Statistician of the Department of Agriculture; various officials in the Departments of War, Navy, and the Interior; the Superintendents of Education, Commissioners of Charities and Corrections, Treasurers, and Commissioners of Labor and Statistics in the several States; the officers of colleges, societies and religious bodies; and to the editors of leading newspapers in the States who have coöperated in the preparation of the paragraphs on State politics and history. FRANK MOORE COLBY. |