330 



GEEAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



tribes on the banks of the river Abo tendered 

 their allegiance early in 1891. Later they re- 

 newed hostilities, attacking Herr Leist. who was 

 sent to arrange the terms of peace. To punish 

 them it was necessary to fit out a strong expedi- 

 tion, which was placed under the command of 

 Capt. Baron von Gravenreuth. In October he 

 led a landing party from the "Habicht" and 

 "Hyaene," which captured Miang. Advancing 

 three days' march from the coast, the expedition 

 laid siege to the village of Buka, which was 

 stormed on the third day. In the assault ,Capt. 

 von Gravenreuth and three black soldiers were 

 killed. 



The New Guinea Company was wound up in 

 the autumn of 1891, the reason being that Herr 

 Kindt, the director, had chosen a bad situation 

 for the Kaiser Wilhehn plantation, and had pro- 

 voked the ill will of the natives by harsh treat- 

 ment. A new association called the Astrolabe 

 Bay Company was organized to carry on the 

 cultivation of tobacco. A colonial council to 

 consider how to promote cotton growing in East 

 Africa and New Guinea, what regulations to ap- 

 ply to the granting of concessions to new com- 

 Eanies, how best to employ 1,500,000 marks voted 

 y the Reichstag for the development of Cam- 

 eroons, and other questions connected with co- 

 lonial enterprise met in Berlin on June 1, under 

 the presidency of Dr. Kayser, chief of the Co- 

 lonial Department of the Foreign Office. The 

 council approved the Emperor's project of 

 organizing a lottery for the purpose of raising 

 2,500,000 or 3,000,000 marks to carry out Capt. 

 Wissmann's plans for establishing German in- 

 fluence on the African lakes, and thus combating 

 slavery. This scheme the Prussian Diet refused 

 to sanction. 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, a 

 monarchy in western Europe. The legislative 

 power is vested exclusively in Parliament, and, 

 according to constitutional precedent, matters 

 of political importance are decided by the vote 

 of the elective branch. The number of heredi- 

 tary peers in 1890 was 551, including 12 minors. 

 The House of Commons consists of 670 members, 

 who are elected by secret ballot. Unless dis- 

 solved by royal writ, a Parliament lasts seven 

 years. The average duration since the accession 

 of Victoria has been four and a half years. The 

 executive power is exercised to all practical 

 intents by the committee of ministers called the 

 Cabinet, and these are selected by the leader 

 of the party having the majority in the House 

 of Commons, who is summoned on the advice 

 of a retiring premier who is no longer able 

 to command the majority necessary to carry on 

 the Queen's government, and requested by the 

 sovereign to form a Cabinet, in which he usu- 

 ally takes the office of First Lord of the Treas- 

 ury, though the present Prime Minister is For- 

 eign Secretary. 



The reigning sovereign is Victoria, Queen of 

 Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, 

 daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, the fourth 

 son of George III. She was born on May 24, 

 1819, and succeeded her uncle, William IV, on 

 June 20, 1837. The heir-apparent is Albert- 

 Edward, Prince of Wales, born Nov. 9, 1840, 

 who married Alexandra, the eldest daughter of 

 King Christian IX of Denmark, who has borne 



him five children : Albert Victor,* Duke of 

 Clarence, born Jan. 8, 1864 ; George, born June 

 3, 1865 ; Louise, born Feb. 20, 1867, married to 

 the Duke of Fife in July, 1889 ; Alexandra, born 

 in 1868 ; and Maud, born in 1869. 



The Cabinet in the beginning of 1891 was 

 made up of the following members: Prime 

 Minister and Secretary of State for Foreign 

 Affairs, the Marquis of Salisbury, born in 1830, 

 who became Prime Minister on Aug. 3, 1886, 

 and on Jan. 14, 1887, exchanged the post of 

 First Lord of the Treasury for that of Foreign 

 Secretary ; Lord High Chancellor, Lord Hals- 

 bury, formerly Sir Hardinge S. Giffard ; Lord 

 President of the Council, Viscount Cranbrook, 

 formerly Gathorne Hardy; Chancellor of the 

 Exchequer, George Joachim Goschen, appointed 

 Jan. 14, 1887 ; Secretary of State for the Home 

 Department, Henry Matthews; Secretary of 

 State for War, Edward Stanhope, appointed 

 Jan. 14, 1887 ; First Lord of the Treasury, W 

 H. Smith, who was Secretary for War when the 

 Cabinet was first constituted, transferred when 

 the Cabinet was reconstructed on Jan. 14, 1887 ; 

 Secretary of State for the Colonies. Lord Knuts- 

 ford, who received his present appointment on 

 Jan. 14, 1887, having before the change been 

 Vice-President of the Council ; Secretary of State 

 for India, Viscount Cross, formerly Sir Richard 

 Cross ; First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord 

 George Hamilton ; Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 

 Lord Ashbourne, formerlv Edward Gibson ; 

 Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ire- 

 land, Arthur J. Balfour, who entered the Cabinet 

 when Secretary of State for Scotland on Nov. 19, 



1886, and succeeded Sir Michael Hicks-Beach in 

 the present post on March 5, 1887; Chancellor 

 of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Duke of Rutland, 

 formerly Lord John Manners ; President of the 

 Board of Trade, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, who 

 resigned the Irish Secretaryship on March 5, 



1887, retaining a seat in the" Cabinet without a 

 portfolio, and retired in January, 1888, and was 

 subsequently appointed to his present office as 

 successor to Lord Stanley of Preston ; Lord 

 Privy Seal, Earl Cadogan, admitted to the Cabi- 

 net on April 19, 1887; President of the Local 

 Government Board, Charles Thomas Ritchie, 

 admitted to a seat in the Cabinet on April 19, 

 1887; President of the Board of Agriculture, 

 Henry Chaplin, appointed on the creation of the 

 office," Sept. 5, 1889. 



Area and Population. The area of the 

 United Kingdom is 121,481 square miles, Eng- 

 land having 50.823 square miles, Wales 7,363, 

 Scotland 30,417, Ireland 32,583, the Isle of Man 

 220, and the Channel Islands 75. The popula- 

 tion of England and Wales, as determined by 

 the census taken on April 5, 1891, is 29,001,018. 

 showing an increase of 3,026,572, or 11-65 per 

 cent, since the last decennial census. The popu- 

 lation was 703,357 less than the estimate of the 

 Registrar-General, the rate of increase having 

 been less than in any previous decennial. The 

 number of males is 14,050,340 and of females 

 14,950,542, giving an excess of 900,202 females, or 

 106-4 to every 100 males, the proportion having 

 steadily increased since 1851. The inhabited 



* The death of Prince Albert Victor in January. 1892, 

 makes his younger brother, who holds a commission in the 

 navy, the next heir to the throne after his father. 



