I'.I,\I\K. JAMES GILLKSPIE. 



BOLIVIA. 



American has been able to awaken tin- expression 

 >f personal popularity to the extent to which it 

 died forth I iy .Mr. Blaine. 



The hemiMTatir party nominated Grover Cleve- 

 land. Tin- ramtiaijjn was one of great bitterness, 

 full of personalities and strong recriminations. 

 Mr. Blaiiu 1 made a remarkable series of addresses, 

 speaking continuously for forty-three days. He 

 diseiis-ed only the industrial question, and in an 

 array of arguments favoring protection produced 

 a profound impression as to his intellectual power. 

 The result turned upon the vote in New York 

 which gave Mr. Cleveland 1,047 more votes 

 than Mr. lUaine. When the news of his defeat 

 readied Mr. Blaine he made a speech to his 

 fellow-citizens that rang through the country, 

 though it was but a repetition of his utterances 

 in ( 'ongress in previous years. The gist of it lay 

 in tlic declaration that in the solid South there 

 had been no real election. 



Mr. Blaine spent the next winter in Washing- 

 ton. He was not in public life, but devoted his 

 leisure to his historical work, " Twenty Years of 

 Congress," the first volume of which* was pub- 

 lished at that time. 



In 1886 Mr. Blaine took an active interest in 

 the political canvass in his own State of Maine, 

 giving especial attention to the fisheries contro- 

 versy, which had been renewed by the seizure of 

 American fishing vessels on the coast of Canada. 

 Meantime his health had become somewhat im- 

 paired, and he went abroad. 



When the National Republican Convention met, 

 in 1888, at Chicago, Mr. Blaine's name was so 

 prominently used, and he was personally so 

 strongly urged to allow it to be used, that only 

 an authoritative message from Italy caused his 

 supporters to desist. Benjamin Harrison was 

 nominated and elected, and on his inauguration 

 he called Mr. Blaine to the Cabinet as Secretary 

 of State. 



The first matters that occupied the State De- 

 partment were connected with a conference held 

 in Washington by representatives of all the in- 

 dependent governments of North and South 

 America, and a conference of 26 nations con- 

 cerning rules and regulations governing vessels 

 at sea, and the adoption of a uniform system of 

 marine signals. (See " Annual Cyclopaedia " for 

 1889, page 440.) As a result largely of Mr. Blaine's 

 suggestions, the McKinley tariff measure, passed 

 by ( 'ongress, was supplemented by treaties of reci- 

 procity in trade with the following nations: Costa 

 Kica, Brazil, Spain for Cuba, Germany, Austro- 

 Hungary, France, Santo Domingo, the 5 coffee 

 republics of Central America, British Guiana, 

 and all the British West Indies except the Baha- 

 mas. In regard to these measures Mr. Harrison 

 said in his message, Dec. 1, 1890 : 



K \perience has shown that some treaties looking to 

 rcci|i|-oe:d trade have failed to secure a two-thirds vote 

 in the Senate for ratification, and others, liaving passed 

 that stajre, have tor years awaited the concurrence of 

 the House and Senate, in such moditientions of our 

 revenue laws a* were necessary to give effect to their 

 i>n>\ isions. We now have the concurrence of both 

 Bonsea in advance, in a distinct and definite offer of 

 free entry to our ports of specific articles. The Ex- 

 ecutive is not required to deal in conjecture as to what 

 < '"iiirress will accept. Indeed, this reciprocity i>r<>vi- 

 MOII is more than un offer. Our part of the bargain is 

 complete; delivery has been made; and when the 



countries from which we receive sugar, coffee, tea, and 

 hides have placed on their free lit* such of our pp..) 

 ucts aw shall be agreed upon an an equivalent tor our 

 MIII a proclamation of that fact complete! the 



transaction. 



The other important matters in which Mr. 

 Blaine was prominent were concerning the seal- 

 fisheries dispute ; the recognition of a republic 

 in Bra/.il ; the lynching of Italians, American 

 citizens, in New Orleans, for which the Italian 

 Government demanded reparation ; the civil war 

 with Chili ; and a question raised by Spain con- 

 cerning the rights of American citizens in the 

 Caroline Islands. 



In March, 1891, Mr. Blaine proposed, as a mo- 

 dus vivendi that would prevent the destruction 

 of the fur seals of the Pribylov Islands by Ca- 

 nadian poachers before an agreement could be 

 reached regarding the United States' claims, 

 that a closed season should be declared for the 

 summer of 1891. In April he put into form the 

 demand of the United States before the arbitra- 

 tion committee agreed upon between the na- 

 tions. A summary of the correspondence will 

 be found in the "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1891, 

 page 834. In his annual message, Dec. 9, 1892, 

 the President said : ' The work of the State De- 

 partment during the last year has been charac- 

 terized by an unusual number of important ne- 

 gotiations and by diplomatic results of a notable 

 and highly beneficial character." 



On June 4, 1892, Mr. Blaine suddenly resigned 

 his portfolio of Secretary of State. Three days 

 later the National Republican Convention met 

 at Minneapolis, and once again Mr. Blaine's 

 name was prominent among the candidates. 

 There was much speculation as to the cause of 

 his sudden withdrawal from the Cabinet, the 

 reason assigned by himself being that there was 

 no important pending legislation and he desired 

 to rest. 



Mr. Blaine's health failed rapidly. Most bit- 

 ter domestic sorrows had come upon him, in- 

 cluding the death of two sons. Though he was 

 but a private citizen at the time of his death. 

 President Harrison called upon Congress and 

 all in official life at Washington to do him 

 special honor. For months the columns of the 

 newspapers and magazines were filled with trib- 

 utes, anecdotes, personal notices, pictures, and 

 other evidences of the greatness of the man and 

 the patriot who had passed away. See " Life of 

 James G. Blaine," by H. J. Ramsdell. 



BOLIVIA, a republic in South America. The 

 legislative authority is vested in a Congress 

 composed of the Senate and the Chamber of 

 Deputies, the former consisting of 16 and the 

 latter of 64 members. The executive power 

 rests in the hands of a President, elected for 

 four years by universal suffrage. The present 

 incumbent of the chair is Mariano Baptista, 

 elected for the term ending Aug. 6, 1896. 



Area and Population. The area of Bolivia 

 is 567.360 square miles. The population in 

 1889 was estimated at 1,189,800. 



Finances. The revenue for 1892-'93 was es- 

 timated at 5,737,200 bolivianos or silver dollars, 

 and the expenditure at 5,937,200 bolivianos. 

 The internal debt in 1891 amounted to 4,484.916 

 bolivianos, and the external debt to 3,763,273 

 bolivianos. 



