SALVADOR. 



689 



tern of extraordinary armaments, and the danger 

 lying in this accumulation of war material renders 

 the armed peace of to-day a crushing burden more 

 and more difficult for the nations to bear. Evi- 

 dently, therefore, if this situation be prolonged, it 

 will certainly lead to that very disaster which it is 

 desired to avoid and the horrors of which strike the 

 human mind with terror in anticipation. 



' It is the supreme duty, therefore, at the present 

 moment of all states to put some limit to these 

 unceasing armaments and to find means of averting 

 the calamities which threaten the whole world. Im- 

 pressed by this feeling, his Majesty the Emperor 

 has been pleased to command me to propose to all 

 governments accredited to the imperial court the 

 meeting of a conference to discuss this grave 

 problem. Such a conference, with God's help, 

 would be a happy augury for the opening century. 

 It would powerfully concentrate the efforts of all 

 states which sincerely wish to see the triumph of 

 the grand idea of universal peace over the elements 

 of trouble and discord. It would, at the same time, 

 bind their agreement by the principles of law and 

 equity which support the security of states and the 

 welfare of peoples." 



All the small states accepted the Czar's proposal 

 at once. Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Prance and 

 Austria also acquiesced, and the United States 

 accepted and promised to send a delegate. 



Revolt in Central Asia. After Gen. Kurnpat- 

 kin was recalled from Asia to assume the duties of 

 the Minister of War in the early part of 1898, he 

 was succeeded as governor general by Gen. Pooze- 

 refsky, whose administration was over the whole of 

 Russian Turkestan as well as the Transcaspian ter- 

 ritory. On May 18 the Russian military camp at 



Andijan, in the northeast of the province of Fer- 

 ghana, was attacked by a body of 1,000 fanatical 

 .Moslems, led by the mullah Ishan Mohammed Ali 

 Khalif, from Marghilan, who cut the telegraph wires 

 and proclaimed a holy war. There were 163 soldiers 

 encamped at Andijan, to which place the railroad 

 from .Samarkand had just been completed. Alter 

 22 had been killed and 16 wounded the rebels were 

 repelled, leaving 11 killed and 8 wounded. They 

 scattered, but the leader was followed and eventually 

 captured. 



The people of Ferghana, after the original con- 

 quest of Knokand, showed at first extreme aversion 

 to Russian rule, but finding it just and beneficial 

 they became reconciled to it. Later abuses crept 

 in and the people suffered under corrupt native ad- 

 ministrators, causing an increase of brigandage and 

 a revival of the first feelings of hatred. The native 

 mullahs became disaffected when their immunity 

 from taxation was canceled. Fanatics from India 

 worked on the religious feelings of the inhabitants, 

 preaching a holy war. In 1896 and 1897 organized 

 bands murdered officials and otherwise disturbed the 

 province. The rising at Andijan was part of a con- 

 certed movement embracing the whole of Ferghana, 

 but it was premature. Gen. Paul Schveikoffsky, 

 the military governor of Ferghana, was perempto- 

 rily dismissed for not being prepared for the out- 

 break. The minor state of siege was proclaimed 

 in Marghilan, Andijan, Khokand, Samarkand and 

 Osho. Native officials were deprived of adminis- 

 trative and police functions. Of 522 persons who 

 were arrested, 6 were promptly hanged, including 

 Mohammed Ali Khan, and 380 were condemned to 

 death by court-martial, but of these 362 were re- 

 prieved and sent to the Siberian penal settlements. 



S 



SALVADOR, a republic in Central America. 

 The National Assembly is a single Chamber of 42 

 members elected for each annual session by uni- 

 versal male suffrage. The President, who is elected 

 for four years by the vote of the nation, is Gen. 

 Rafael Antonio Gutierrez, inaugurated March 1, 

 1895. The Vice-President is Dr. Prudencio Alfaro. 

 The Cabinet in the beginning of 1898 was com- 

 posed as follows : Minister of the Interior, Dr. Pru- 

 dencio Alfaro: Minister of War and Marine, Dr.. 

 Juan F. Castro ; Minister of Charities and Public 

 Instruction, Dr. Carlos Bonilla; Minister of Fi- 

 nance, Public Works, Public Credit, and Justice, 

 Dr. Antonio Ruiz. The direction of foreign affairs 

 was delegated to the Diet of the Greater Republic of 

 Central America, constituted on Sept. 15, 1896, by a 

 treaty between Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, 

 which provided that the Diet of 9 delegates should 

 sit by turns at the respective capitals, first at San 

 Salvador in 1897, and should direct the foreign re- 

 lations and common affairs of the federated repub- 

 lics, each of which retained its internal autonomy 

 and independence. The president of the Diet for 

 1898 was Dr. Rafael Reyes, of Salvador. 



Area and Population. Salvador, with an area 

 of 7,225 square miles, had at the beginning of 

 1894, according to an official estimate, 803,534 in- 

 habitants. San Salvador, the capital, has about 

 50,000. Education is gratuitous and obligatory. 

 The army numbers about 4,000 men, and the militia 

 18.000. 



Rebellion. The constituent assembly for the or- 

 ganization of the United States of Central America 

 adopted a constitution which entered into force on 

 Nov. 1, 1898. A council of government, formed 

 VOL. xxxvin. 44 A 



of three delegates of the Diet, one from each re- 

 public, assembling at Amapala on that date, as- 

 sumed the government of the federation provision- 

 ally until the inauguration of a president on March 

 15, 1899. The President was to be elected directly 

 by the people of the three republics for four years. 

 Endowed with the supreme executive power, he was 

 to be commander-in-chief of the military and naval 

 forces. The candidate for the presidency was J. 

 Rosa Pacose, of Salvador. In the mean time the 

 presidents of the three republics were to assume the 

 grade of governor, and in Salvador a new governor 

 was to be elected in November to succeed President 

 Gutierrez. The principal aspirants to this office 

 were Gen. Tomas Regolado, Horacio Villevicencia, 

 and Carlos Melendez. The first named represented 

 the sentiment opposed to the union of the republics, 

 which was very strong among the Salvadorians be- 

 cause the chief part of the financial burden would 

 fall on them. While the delegates of the Diet were 

 perfecting the arrangements for the institution of 

 the Federal Government the anti-unionists of Salva- 

 dor took up arms to resist the change, and Gen. 

 Regaldo headed the insurrection. There was no 

 force in the country strong enough to master the 

 rebellion, and when the Honduranian troops marched 

 in they were compelled to retire. President Zelaya, 

 of Nicaragua, refused to meddle. Before the end 

 of November all the departments submitted to the 

 Provisional Government established by Tomas Re- 

 golado. After this check to the Federal movement 

 the organizers of the federation discontinued their 

 efforts for the present and declared that the respec- 

 tive republics had resumed all thoir sovereign 

 rights. (See HONDURAS.) 



