D STATES OP AMi:i;ic\. 



of track of 178,540 miles of railroads wan 235.4*3 

 miles, including 5i -ide tracks and 



,-s. Of t: 



steel and 27,864 miles of iron rails. The total lia- 

 bilities of the railroads, im-1 

 bonded debt, unfunded debt amount in- 

 609,802, and $881888.440 of current a.-< 



J.eWXm nn<l the total a 

 oomprisfof '''' '.::" I rajfe ad and 



'i:..rji of 



1 fU6l.&"'> accounts. 



: 



aMetii o\er liabilities. 



Telecrap Western I"; -aph 



me 30. 181)7. had 1 '.">.(! 14 mi: 

 including 



f line and 00.000 miles of wire b ! 



iph Companv. 



miles of line m of wire of the Balti- 



more and Ohio Railroad < ! niiles 



of wire of the American 



Rapid Telegraph Company, 8,000 miles of wire 

 of the Northwestern Telegraph Company and other 

 lines, making over 210.(nn miles of line ..p. n to 

 traffic, nearly all operated !_. n lUion 



Company, the number of messages sent in l-'.'T 

 was 58.151.684. The receipts were f . 

 expenses, $10.006.656; profits, $V Hie 



\rl.i lr.it ion Treaty uitii (in-at Britain. -<n 

 Jan. 11, 1897, a treaty providing for the settlement 

 of future disputes arising between MM- t'nitcd States 

 and (treat Britain by arbitration was signed at Wash- 

 ington by Secretary Olney and Sir. Julian Paunce- 

 fote. The establish In rstem of international 



arbitration for the adjust ment of disputes between 

 the two governments was the subject of communi- 

 _:ed between Secretary (in-sham and 

 efote in the spring of !*:.". When 

 Mr. Olney, on 1 "'>. proposed a joint com- 



mission and ultimate binding arbitration for the 

 settlement of 'the : boundary dispute 



Lord Salisbury took the view that he was not pre- 

 pared in matters of high political import to admit 

 unrestricted arbitration. <M 4 March ", l s !i>. in a 

 dispatch to the British amba-s.i,l,,r at Washing- 

 he proposed a general arbitration treaty, ex- 

 cluding issues upon which neither governmci 

 willing to accept arbitration, such as involve the 

 nati" 1 .. In the wide region that 



lies within this boundary 'the I tcsdesired 



to go further than ain. A system of 



arbitration would be an entirely novel arrange- 

 ment, and therefore the conditions under which it 

 should be adopted were not likely to be ascertained 

 antecedently, and the limits ultimately adopted 

 DOSt be determined by ex|--rim<-nt. In 'the inter- 

 est* of the idea and of" the pacific n-sults tha 1 

 expected from it, the British Mini-t. r of I'oreign 

 Affairs thought it wise to make a 

 ning. II- in.-:-.^l in the dispatch a draft : 



' whieh would give an opportunity 

 inning mor- closely the working of the ma- 



:itinply OJH 



partfc i to extend il tioti and to bring under. 



<* to whieh for the present it 

 can only be applied in a tentative manner and to a 

 limited extent. 



In the draft treaty Lord Salisbury proposed that 

 the British and Ameri -nmnnt* should 



each appoint tl 



the appearance of any difference between the two 

 powers which in th- t of either of them 



can not be settled by negotiation. f. ;i eh of them 

 should de ne of the sflid officers s arbi- 



trator, and the two should hear and determine any 



i to them in ac,-,.rdanec with the 

 I-.| an umpire, by 



whom an . upon \\liidi they di-;, 



whether inter!' final, should b- decided. 



No i|tie-lioii which ui the jud^iiifiit of either pow- 



ity of its tcrri- 

 ; I by- 

 iit. Any .InTi-n-iici- \\hale\n- miu'lit 

 ; by a^rei , .-eu the t \v 



with the Stipulation that the :ioidd H"t 



be valid u: \ both p,.\\ 



ill. 1896, 



:hat the i'roident recip; In-half of 



the (o.vernmeiit and pe-.ple ( ,f the I'nit.d > 

 the desire manifested in tin- pp.- l.'-nl 



Salisbury that the tw.> Lrreat EBnglish-tpeaking 

 peoj.h-s 'of the world should remain in perpetual 

 peace. In regard to the sc,.pe of arbitration, he 

 |.n.poxed that all di-putes should be , 



I'.iblr Ulili-s the ('..imress <.f the t'llite.l 

 - or the Parliameii' I'.ritain I 



or n-si>liitioii declare that the matter in coiitn.- 

 the national hon<>r >r integrity, 

 and "withdraw it from the operation of the t: 

 In regard l-> the appellate arbitration machinery 

 he proposed that a majority of the six American 

 and Kni:li>li Supreme Court judtro should decide, 

 and if the court be equally divided upon the sub- 

 ject of the award, that "three learned and im- 

 partial juri-is upon whom the six judges have 

 1 beforehand, should be added, and the 

 i of the court so constituted, whether Ren- 

 dered unanimously or by a majority vote, should 



.:il. If the award of the Original arbii: 

 be unanimous there should be no appeal. The 

 British Secretary of State insisted on retaining 

 the riu r lit t< reject the award on territorial 

 tions unless the vote of tin- court "f appeal was 

 live to one. and Mr. <Mm-y finally -rave \va\. 



In the treaty which was negotiated ainl siu'neil, 

 but which the I'nr ate refused to 



ratify in its original form, introducing amend- 

 jiienfs that were not pressed by the I'niied B 



iiinent. the contractint: governm< : 

 to submit to arbitration all (juestioiis j n did- 

 between them which they fail to adjust by diplo- 

 matic negotiation. Pecuniary claims <,r groups of 

 claims arising out of the same transactions or in- 

 volving the same i iie* of law and of fa-t. and 

 which do not in the "0 in 



amount nor involve the determination of territorial 

 claims, we]-, to I..- dealt with and decided by an 



arbitral tribunal oon one arbitrator, who 



should le a jurist ..f n-pute. nomin, ,eh of 



the high fontra<*ting parlies and a third member 

 to act as umpire and president of the tribunal, who 



should lie selected by the two arbitra' 



their faili: JOB within two 



months. I ! nitcd 



Court and the .Judicial Committee 

 of the Privy Council in Creat Britain: <T. failing 

 su<-)i an agreement, by the King "f Sweden and 

 1 of the majority of the inem- 

 of this tribunal would be final. Pecuniary 

 clain, pi of clai 1 ( "i ( > in 



amount and all matter-: in difference in n-| 

 which either of the hiu'li contract in- parties s|,oiil<l 

 have rights against the other under treaty or other- 

 wise, provided they do not involve the determina- 

 tion of territorial claims, were to be dealt with and 

 decided by an arbitral tribunal consisting of live 

 jurists of "repute, two i,, b<- nominated by each of 

 the contracting governments, and the umpire to be 

 select* :u or by the Cnitcd State* Supreme. 



Court and" Judicial Committee of the Privy Coun- 

 cil, or by the K and Norway. The 

 award of a majority of the members of this tri- 



