AFGHANISTAN. 



protocol Harar, Ogaden, and the peninsula of 

 Medjiirtin remain in the Italian sphere. The 

 French Government formally protested against 

 the arrangement, affirming that Abyssinia is an 

 independent power, and that Harar therefore 

 could not be assigned to Italy by Great Britain. 



AFGHANISTAN, a monarchy in central Asia. 

 The reigning Ameer is Abdurrahman Khan, 

 born in 1845, who was established on the throne 

 July 22, 1880, under the auspices of the British, 

 after the defeat and flight of Shere All and the 

 subsequent deposition of Yakub Khan. The 

 area is about 210,000 square miles. The popula- 

 tion exceeds 4,000,000. The Ameer maintains a 

 regular array of about 20,000 men, armed with 

 European rifles and 76 pieces of artillery, the 

 gift of the Indian Government, which pays an 

 annual subsidy of 180,000 rupees, the amount 

 having been increased from 120.000, in 1893, to 

 aid Abdurrahman in maintaining his rule and 

 the integrity of his dominions, so that they shall 

 serve as a buffer state between India and the 

 Russian possessions in central Asia. Besides the 

 regular army there is a militia of 30,000 men, 

 with 47 guns, consisting of the tribal forces of 

 Abdurrahman's vassals. 



The small commerce of Afghanistan is mostly 

 with Russia. Wool, silk, fruits, sheepskin gar- 

 ments, carpets, felt, and asafcetida are the chief 

 exports, and cotton goods, sugar, and tea are the 

 largest imports. Under the rule of Abdurrah- 

 man fanaticism and lawlessness have been dis- 

 couraged, and the people of Cabul, the capital 

 province, have made a beginning in modern in- 

 dustrial production, taught by Thomas Salter 

 Pyne. an English engineer, who was employed 

 by the Ameer to import machinery and set up 

 factories. He established first a saw and planing 

 mill, then a mint, next a cartridge factory, and, 

 when the people had become accustomed to these 

 strange arts, established a foundry, began the 

 manufacture of rifles, set up a forge and steam 

 hammer, by means of which 50 muzzle- and 

 breech-loading field guns were turned out in 

 1893, next proceeded to manufacture boots for 

 the army and for sale to the people, introduced 

 the distillation of brandy, imported an enormous 

 plant for rolling cartridge metal, and has built 

 mills at Jelalabad to prepare timber for export 

 to India. Abdurrahman has expended millions 

 of rupees in these works, not with a hope of pe- 

 cuniary profit, but simply to promote civiliza- 

 tion and well-being among his people. 



The Pamirs. The Russians in 1894 retained 

 their military positions in the Pamirs, and cul- 

 tivated friendly relations with the Khirghis in- 

 habitants, who have profited by the improvement 

 of commercial communications, and willingly 

 accept the rule of the Czar. The conquest of 

 Roshan and Shignan by the Afghans caused 

 many families to migrate to Russian territory, 

 where land was allotted to them. The forcible 

 occupation of a large part of the Pamir region 

 by Russian troops in 1892, despite the opposition 

 of the Chinese garrisons, was followed in the 

 summer of 1893 by skirmishes with the Afghan 

 outposts on the lower Murghab, where Capt. 

 Vannovsky compelled the Afghans to fall back. 

 The principal Russian post was established at 

 Ak Baitral, on the Murghab. The military 

 operations gave place to diplomatic negotiations 



ALABAMA. 



between the Russian Cabinet and a special Chi- 

 nese envoy, and also with the British Govern- 

 ment acting in behalf of Afghanistan. It was 

 suspected that a more direct and secret arrange- 

 ment, made by the Russian ambassador to Pekin, 

 Count Cassini, preceded the provisional modus 

 vivendi concluded by Ching-Chan, the Chinese 

 minister, at St. Petersburg in April, 1894. By 

 this the Russian Government engaged to make 

 no further encroachment on the territory claimed 

 by China pending the conclusion of a final 

 agreement. Meanwhile the Russians held the 

 largest part of the disputed district. The usual 

 commercial relations between the Chinese mer- 

 chants of Kashgar and the tribesmen of the pla- 

 teau were allowed to go on as formerly. In 

 April a party of military engineers went out 

 from Russia to explore and survey the Pamir 

 district. The Russian Government intends to 

 open up these regions to trade and settlement 

 by building a railroad from Samarcand to Mir- 

 ghilan, the capital of Ferghana, with a branch to 

 Tashkend. The British were debarred from es- 

 tablishing themselves on the Pamirs by the en- 

 mity of the Nagar and Hunza tribes. Their sub- 

 jugation has been completed, and in the summer 

 of 1894, in anticipation of the final acceptance of 

 a common frontier between Russia and British 

 India, they proceeded to fortify the Kilik and 

 Mintaka passes, which give access to Hunza from 

 the Little and the Taghdumbash Pamirs. 



ALABAMA, a Southern State, admitted to 

 the Union Dec. 14, 1819; area, 52,250 square 

 miles. The population, according to each decen- 

 nial census since admission, was 127,901 in 1820; 

 309,527 in 1830; 590,756 in 1840; 771,623 in 

 1850 ; 964,201 in 1860 ; 996.992 in 1870 ; 1,262,- 

 505 in 1880; and 1,513,017 in 1890. Capital, 

 Montgomery. 



The following were the State officers during 

 the year : Governor, Thomas G. Jones, Democrat ; 

 Secretary of State, Joseph D. Barren ; Treasurer, 

 J. Craig Smith ; Auditor, John JPurifoy; Attor- 

 ney-General, William L. Martin ; Superintendent 

 of Public Instruction, John G. Harris; Commis- 

 sioner of Agriculture, Hector D. Lane ; Railroad 

 Commissioners, Henry R. Shorter, Wiley C. Tun- 

 stall, J. T. Holtzclaw; Chief Justice of the Su- 

 preme Court, George W. Stone, who died on 

 March 11 and was succeeded on March 24 by 

 Robert C. Brickell, his immediate predecessor in 

 the same office : Associate Justices, Thomas N. 

 McClellan, Thomas W. Coleman, James B. Head, 

 and Jonathan Haralson. 



Finances. The statement of receipts and ex- 

 penditures of the treasury from Sept. 30, 1893, 

 to April 13, 1894, is as follows : Balance on Sept. 

 30, 1893, $77,023.30 ; total receipts, exclusive of 

 temporary loans, $1,291,515.08; total payments, 

 exclusive of temporary loans paid, $1,324,869.03; 

 balance on April 13. 1894, $43,669.35. The ex- 

 penditures embrace the following items : Educa- 

 tion, $566,916.23; maimed or disabled soldiers 

 and widows, $124,668.45 : convict department, 

 $101,546.70; agricultural department, $17,217.59 ; 

 interest on public debt, $208,457.85 : interest on 

 University fund, $12,000 ; interest on Agricultu- 

 ral and Mechanical College fund, $15,210 ; Col- 

 leges of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts, $16,- 

 289.60 : institutions for deaf and blind, $34.938.- 

 74 ; Bryce Insane Hospital, $53,690. 



