GOVERNMENT AND LAW. 



Including Hawaii, there are now six Terri- 

 tories, and when the status of Porto Rico is 

 established there will probably be seven Terri- 

 tories. Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma 

 have local Legislatures, the form of which has 

 been prescribed by the Federal Government ; 

 they have powers similar to those of the States. 

 but any of their acts may be modified or an- 

 nulled by Federal statutes/ 



The Governor of each of the Territories, 

 except the Indian Territory, is appointed for 

 four years by the President, to whom annual 

 reports are submitted. These Governors have 

 the power of veto over the acts of Territorial 

 Legislatures. The President appoints the Ter- 

 ritorial Secretaries and other officials, together 

 with Territorial judges. 



Alaska and the Indian Territory have no 

 power of self-government, the former being 

 governed like a British crown colony, by a 

 Governor who is not assisted by a Legislature. 

 In the Indian Territory the native tribes are 

 under the direct control of the Department of 

 the Interior, but the civilized tribes, with the 

 support of the National Government, maintain 

 local governments of their own, with elective 

 Legislatures and executive officers, whose 

 functions are strictly limited to the persons 

 and personal property of their own citizens ; 

 that is, the Indians. 



The District of Columbia presents an anom- 

 alous status. It is the seat of the Federal 

 Government. It is coextensive with and is 

 practically the City of AVashington, and em- 

 braces an area of 69 square miles. The Dis- 

 trict has no municipal legislative body, and its 

 citizens have no right to vote, either in national 

 or municipal affairs. Under an act of 1878 

 its municipal government is administered by 

 three commissioners, appointed by the Presi- 

 dent. They. constitute a non-partisan board, 

 one being selected from each of the leading 

 political parties, and the third being assigned 

 to duty as a commissioner from the Engineer 

 Corps of the army. Ail legislation relative 

 to the District of Columbia is by the Congress. 



All the legislatures, State and Territorial, 

 have biennial sessions, except Georgia, Mas- 

 sachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode 

 Island, and South Carolina, which have an- 

 nual sessions, beginning in January of each 

 year, with the exception of Georgia, whose 

 Legislature meets in October. Nearly all the 

 present biennial sessions began in January, 

 1899. The States whose Legislatures meet in 

 January, 1900, are Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, 

 Mississippi, and Ohio. Alabama's next bien- 

 nial session begins in November, 1900, Lou- 

 isiana's in May, 1900, and Vermont's in 

 October, 1900. 



HAWAII. 



Constitution and Government. The 



Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands, discovered by 

 Captain Cook in 1778, formed during the 

 greater part of the nineteenth century an in- 

 dependent kingdom, whose integrity was recog- 

 nized by Great Britain, France, the United 

 States, and other governments. Jn 1893, how- 

 ever, the reigning Queen, Liliuokalani, was 

 deposed, and a provisional government formed ; 

 in 1894 a Republic was proclaimed, with a 

 Legislature of two Houses and a President ; 

 and in accordance with a resolution of Congress 

 of July 7, 1898, the islands were on August 

 12, 1898, formally annexed to the United 

 States. Five commissioners were appointed to 

 recommend such legislation concerning the is- 

 lands as they should deem necessary and proper, 

 and in the beginning of December the report 

 of the Commission with its legislative pro- 

 posals was transmitted to Congress. The 

 principal Bill, providing for the erection of the 

 islands into a Territory, to be styled the Ter- 

 ritory of Hawaii, was enacted by the first 

 session of the Fifty-sixth Congress, and was 

 approved by the President, April 30, 1900. All 

 whites, including Portuguese, all persons of 

 African descent, and all descendants of 

 Hawaiian race, either on the paternal or the 

 maternal side, who were citizens of Hawaii 

 immediately prior to the transfer of the 

 sovereignty to the United States, are declared 

 citizens of the United States. Prior to the trans- 

 fer all Hawaiians of full age who could speak, 

 read, and write either Hawaiian or English, had 

 the right to vote. The number of registered 

 electors on September 3, 1897, was 2,687. 



Area an (^Population. The total area 

 of the islands is 0,640 square miles : namely, 

 Hawaii, 4,210 ; Maui, 760 ; Oahu, 600 ; Kauai, 

 590 ; Molokai, 270 ; Lanai, 150 ; Niihau, 97 ; 

 Kahoolawe, 63 square miles. In 1896 the pop- 

 ulation numbered 109,020 (72,517 males and 

 36,503 females). Of the total, 31,019 were na- 

 tives, 8,485 half-castes, 21,616 Chinese, 24,407 

 Japanese, 15,191 Portuguese, 3,086 Americans, 

 2, 250 British, 1,432 Germans, 378 Norwegians, 

 101 French, 455 Polynesians, and 600 other 

 foreigners. The population comprised 7,570 

 persons engaged in agriculture, 2,100 in fishing 

 and navigation, 2,265 in the industries, 2,031 

 in trade and transport, 2,580 in liberal pro- 

 fessions, 34,498 laborers, 4,310 of various occu- 

 pations, and 53,726 without regular occupa- 

 tion. The native population (closely allied to 

 the Maories of New Zealand) is rapidly de- 

 creasing, while the foreign element is increasing. 



Commerce, Shipping, and Com- 

 munications. The islands are to a great 

 extent mountainous and volcanic, but the soil 



