DELEGATE 



1749 



DELHI 



War of the Nations began in 1914. In 1894 

 he was appointed Minister of Colonies and in 

 1898 received the portfolio of Minister of For- 

 eign Affairs. He arranged the alliance with 

 Russia, conducted delicate negotiations with 

 England concerning African affairs and acted 

 as mediator between Spain and the United 

 States. By seeking European alliances he 

 roused the suspicions of Germany and his res- 

 ignation was called for. He was soon rein- 

 stated, and in 1911 became Minister of Marine, 

 in this position effecting great improvements 

 in the French navy. In 1912 he again became 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, but during the 

 next year was appointed ambassador to Russia. 



In 1914 Delcasse returned to France, and was 

 for a few months Minister of Foreign Affairs 

 and then Minister of War. On the outbreak 

 of the War of the Nations he again assumed 

 charge of the foreign office, where he remained 

 until October 13, 1915. He then resigned, 

 ostensibly because of ill health; it is generally 

 understood, however, that his resignation, like 

 the withdrawal of Sir Edward Carson from the 

 British Cabinet, was a protest against the hesi- 

 tating policy which had allowed the conquest 

 of Serbia by the Austro-German and Bul- 

 garian armies. 



DEL'EGATE, a person appointed by an- 

 other or by a group, to act as his or its rep- 

 resentative. The word is derived from the 

 Latin delegatus, the past participle of the verb 

 which means to send, or appoint. In the 

 United States Congress the term is applied to 

 a person elected to represent a territory, as 

 distinguished from a state, in the House of 

 Representatives. Each territory is entitled to 

 send one delegate, who serves two years, re- 

 ceives a yearly salary of $7,500, is allowed to 

 speak and offer motions only on affairs con- 

 cerning his territory, but may be appointed to 

 certain committees. No delegate, however, 

 may vote on any question. In Congress at 

 the present time there are delegates only from 

 Alaska and Hawaii. The Philippine Islands 

 and Porto Rico send "resident commissioners 

 to Congress." These men, though popularly 

 called delegates, do not possess the rights of 

 the territorial delegates, but are merely entitled 

 to the privileges of the floor. 



DELFT, or DELF, a picturesque town in the 

 Netherlands, near Rotterdam, founded in the 

 eleventh century. It is intersected by numer- 

 ous tree-bordered canals crossed by sixty-nine 

 bridges. Among its buildings of historic inter- 

 est are the Prinsen-hof (meaning court of a 



prince), now a fine museum, where William I 

 of Orange was assassinated in 1584; the town 

 hall; the old Reformed church; and the new 

 church containing the family vault of the 

 House of Nassau, the tomb of William I, the 

 remains of Hugo Grotius, a Dutch statesman, 

 and the burial vaults of the present royal 

 house. The town was at one time famous for 

 the manufacture of a beautiful pottery, the 

 appearance of which, in about 1600, marked 

 an epoch in the art of ceramics. This earth- 

 enware in its highly developed form success- 

 fully imitated Chinese blue and white porce- 

 lain. The industry, which suffered a severe 

 decline in the latter part of the eighteenth 

 century, has been revived, its product receiving 

 the name of "New Delft." 



DELHI, del' e, capital of the Indian province 

 of the same name, since 1911 the seat of gov- 

 ernment, of British India. It is situated on the 

 west bank of the River Jumna, about midway 

 between Calcutta, on the east, and Karachi, 

 on the west coast. The city was founded by 

 Shah Jehan, builder of the beautiful Taj 

 Mahal (which see) at Agra and of the imperial 

 palace at Delhi, the latter a reminder of the 

 days when the city was the splendid capital 

 of the great Mogul empire, with a population 

 of 2,000,000 (see MOGUL). This palace has 

 given place to British barracks, and few evi- 

 dences of its former glory are visible. Here, 

 in the audience chamber, once stood the fa- 

 mous Mogul throne, surmounted by a fully- 

 spread peacock's tail made of precious stones 

 and valued at $30,000,000. Near the finest 

 street in Delhi, called the Chandni Chauk, 

 stands the Great Mosque, a beautiful building 

 with three pure-white marble domes. This is 

 also a monument to the pride of Shah Jehan, 

 who on his coronation treated the populace of 

 Delhi to a pageant that cost him more than 

 $6,000,000. 



In 1911 the city witnessed another pageant, 

 known as the Delhi Durbar, when King George 

 V and Queen Mary of England were enter- 

 tained with great splendor (see DURBAR). For 

 political reasons at that time it was thought 

 wise to remove the capital from Calcutta to 

 Delhi, and this was done in the following 

 year. Modern Delhi is far from being the 

 glorious city of old. It is, however, in a fairly 

 flourishing condition. The palaces of the 

 nobles and princes have in many parts given 

 place to the dwellings of European business 

 men. Although the city is still famous for its 

 jewelry and gold and silver work, Western 



