628 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



praise to Secretary Elaine for his course in the 

 disputes with Italy and Chili, and the threat- 

 ened complications with Great Britain; reaf- 

 firmed the principle of protection, and com- 

 mended the McKinley act ; favored liberal but 

 well-guarded appropriations for internal im- 

 provements, and especially the construction of a 

 ship canal to unite the waters of Lake Erie with 

 the Mississippi system ; favored liberal pension 

 legislation ; called for more stringent immigra- 

 tion laws ; approved the general policy of the 

 last Republican Congress in dealing with the 

 silver question, and said further : 



We are opposed to the free coinage of silver, but 

 favor the purchase of American silver at its market 

 value, and the issue by the Government of treasury 

 notes in payment thereof. 



We believe in a free ballot and a fair count, and 

 affirm that, unless intelligent and patriotic sentiment 

 accord these rights to the humblest citizen in every 

 section of the country, it becomes the duty of the 

 Federal Government to secure them by congressional 

 enactment, under the authority conferred by the Con- 

 stitution. 



We heartily commend the action of the Legislature 

 of 1891 for the decided .progress made by it in the 

 direction of the relief of local taxation by the appro- 

 priation of $5,000,000 annually for the support of our 

 public schools, the surrender to the local treasuries of 

 the entire revenues derived from retail liquor licenses, 

 and the return to the several counties of three fourths 

 of the revenues derived from the taxation of personal 

 property. 



The Democratic State Convention met at 

 Harrisburg, April 13, with 463 delegates. The 

 party in the State was divided between the 

 friends and opponents of the Administration. 

 In the matter of disputed delegations, the cre- 

 dentials of the Governor's faction were accepted ; 

 his party also carried its point in the rejection 

 of a resolution instructing the delegates to the 

 National Convention to vote for the nomination 

 of Mr. Cleveland. The delegates were instructed 

 to vote as a unit. A resolution was introduced 

 commending the Governor's action during his 

 former administration, by which a combination 

 of competing railroads was defeated in the 

 courts, and approving of his course in institut- 

 ing proceedings to suppress and overthrow the 

 present railroad combination and coal monopoly ; 

 it approved his expressed confidence in the trial 

 by jury for that purpose, and suggested that the 

 same measures be applied as before. The reso- 

 lution was referred to the committee and not by 

 them reported. The platform declared " for 

 honest and economical administration ; for local 

 self-government ; for honest money, the gold and 

 silver coinage of the Constitution, and for a cur- 

 rency convertible into such coinage without loss ; 

 for that genuine civil-service reform which rec- 

 ognizes public office as a public trust ; for liberal 

 but not reckless pensions ; and for the speedy 

 abatement of all forms of needless and oppres- 

 sive taxation," called for tariff reform, the re- 

 peal of the McKinley act, and the placing of 

 essential raw materials of American manufac- 

 tures on the free list ; favored the nomination 

 of Mr. Cleveland ; approved the administration 

 of Gov. Pattison ; and pronounced the action of 

 the Republican State Senate in evading the duty 

 of pronouncing judgment upon faithless State 

 officials a cowardly subterfuge and a disgraceful 



PERSIA. 



violation of public duty. The nominees of the 

 convention were: For Judge of the Supreme 

 Court, Christopher Heydrick : for Congressmen- 

 at-large, George A. Allen, Thomas P. Merritt. 

 The official returns of the election gave the 

 Harrison electors 516,011; Cleveland, 452,264; 

 Bidwell, 25,123; Weaver, 8,714; Wing, 898. 

 For Judge of the Supreme Court, John Dean 

 received 510,292 ; Christopher Heydrick, 446,001 ; 

 Amos Briggs (Prohibition), 22,302 ; R. B. Mc- 

 Combs (People's), 7,031 ; N. L. Criest (Socialistic 

 Labor), 540. For Congressman-at-large, Wil- 

 liam Lilly received the highest number of votes 

 cast, 512,557; Alexander McDowell, 511,433: 

 George A. Allen, 448,714 ; T. P. Merritt, 447,- 

 456; Simeon B. Chase (Prohibition), 23,667: 

 James T. McCrory (Prohibition), 22,930 ; G. P. 

 Chase (People's), 7,466 ; G. W. Dawson (People's), 

 7,313 ; J. Mahlon Barnes (Labor), 674 ; Thomas 

 Grundy (Labor), 635. 



The Legislature stands: Senate, 33 Republi- 

 cans and 17 Democrats; House, 134 Republicans 

 and 70 Democrats ; Republican majority on 

 joint ballot, 80. 



The congressional delegation will consist of 

 22 Republicans and 8 Democrats. 



PERSIA, an empire in central Asia. The 

 Shah is absolute ruler of the country, but he has 

 to conform to the doctrines of the Mohammedan 

 religion as laid down in the sacred book of the 

 Prophet and the interpretation of his oral com- 

 ments and sayings as adopted by his successors 

 and the high priesthood. The Shah is regarded 

 as vicegerent of the Prophet, and as such claims 

 obedience, although a great many of the priest- 

 hood and of the syeas deny this power. The 

 present Shah is Nasreddin, born July 18, 1831, 

 who succeeded his father, Mohammed, on Sept. 

 10, 1848. The Shah has the power to leave the 

 crown at his death to any member of his family. 

 The executive Government is carried on by the 

 aid of a body of ministers, consisting at the 

 end of 1892 of the following: The Grand 

 Vizier, who unites the functions of Minister 

 of the Interior, of the Court, and of the 

 Treasury and Customs, Mirza.Ali Asghar Khan; 

 Minister of Posts and President of the Council 

 of State, Emin ed-Dapuleh ; Minister of War, 

 Kamran Mirza; Minister of Foreign Affairs, 

 Kavam ed-DaouIeh ; Minister of Finance, Emin 

 el Moulk ; Minister of Justice and Commerce, 

 Mohsin Khan ; Minister of Instruction, Mines, 

 and Telegraphs, AH Kouli Khan ; Minister of 

 the Press, Mohammed Hassan Khan. 



Area and Population. The area of Persia 

 is about 628,000 square miles, with a population 

 in 1881 of 7,653,000. The population in 1891 

 was estimated at 9,000,000. The whole country 

 is divided into 22 large and 10 small provinces. 

 Each province has a governor-general or hakim, 

 who is responsible to the Central Government, 

 and who can appoint his own lieutenant-govern- 

 or or naib el hukumah. Every town has a 

 mayor or chief magistrate, called kalantar, and 

 every parish and every village has a chief or 

 Icedkoda. The officers are usually appointed 

 by the naib el hukumah, and their duty is to 

 collect the revenues. The chiefs of nomad tribes 

 go under the name of ilkhani or sheik, and are 

 responsible for the collection of the revenues to 

 the hakim of the province in which their tribe 



