SOUTH OMAHA 



5470 



SOWING MACHINE 



prose writings are a History of Brazil, a drama 

 Wat Tyler, the Letters from England by Don 

 Manuel Alvarez Espriella, The Doctor, and 

 biographies of Nelson, Wesley and Bunyan. In 

 The Doctor appeared an old folk tale the 

 story of The Three Bears. A.MC c. 



Consult Dowden's Soufhey, in English Men of 

 Letters Series. 



SOUTH O'MAHA, a former city in Douglas 

 County, Nebraska, since 1915 a part of the city 

 of Omaha (which see). Previous to its in- 

 corporation it had a population of 27,000. In 

 the South Omaha district are several large 

 meat-packing establishments. The place was 

 first settled in 1882. 



SOUTH PO'LAR EXPLORA'TION. See 

 POLAR EXPLORATION. 



SOUTH SEA COMPANY, an English trad- 

 ing company founded in 1711. For the ex- 

 clusive right to trade in the South Seas, the 

 wealth of which was considered boundless, and 

 on the agreement of the government to pay 

 600,000 a year (about $3,000,000), the company 

 took -over 10,000,000 ($50,000,000) of the na- 

 tional debt. The corporation received the right 

 to supply the Spanish-American colonies with 

 slaves, and in the spring of 1720 assumed the 

 entire national debt of 30,000,000 ($150,000,- 

 000). The stock soared to 1,000, and then sud- 

 denly the directors began selling it. Law's 

 Mississippi Scheme (which see) collapsed in 

 France simultaneously, and the English stock- 

 holders were plunged into a panic. Every one 

 sold, the company became bankrupt, and Eng- 

 land's financial stability was threatened. At 

 the suggestion of Sir Robert Walpole the com- 

 pany was investigated and found fraudulent; 

 the property of the directors was seized, and 

 about one-third of the original investment was 

 restored to the stockholders. 



SOVEREIGN, sov'erin, or suv'erin, a cur- 

 rent English gold coin, of the value of 1 and 

 weighing 123.274 grains troy. The sovereign is 

 the standard monetary unit of Great Britain, 

 its fineness being fixed at 916.66, or twenty-two 

 carats. It was first issued by Henry VII in 

 1489; on its surface was stamped the figure of 

 the king, crowned and in his royal mantle, 

 seated on the throne, holding the scepter and 

 orb. At that time the coin weighed 240 grains. 

 It was used in this form until the reign of 

 James I, when the name Unite was given to the 

 coin, to commemorate the union of England 

 and Scotland. Until 1816 the gold coinage of 

 the kingdom was a secondary part of the mone- 

 tary system, but in that year the silver stand- 



ard was discontinued and the gold standard 

 was adopted (see BIMETALLISM). 



George III chose the sovereign for the new 

 unit of currency, and it was first issued in its 

 present form in 1817. At the same time began 

 the issue of the half sovereign, of propor- 

 tionate weight. The weight of 934 1 / sovereigns 

 is equal to the weight of twenty troy pounds, 

 and this is used as a basis for the weight of 

 the sovereign. It is eleven-twelfths pure gold 

 and one-twelfth copper. 



The sovereign is equal to twenty English 

 shillings, and to about $4.86 in the coin of the 

 United States and Canada. 



SOVEREIGNTY, sov'erinti, the political 

 condition of a state by which it has power to 

 impose its will continuously and without excep- 

 tion upon all persons and matters within its 

 jurisdiction. In other words, such a country 

 knows no higher power than its own mandates. 



The modern use of "sovereign" as applied 

 to a state signifies that that particular state 

 possesses the right not only to form its own 

 laws and conduct its own internal and external 

 affairs, but also has the right to declare war 

 without reference to or consent of any other 

 state. The separate states of the American 

 Union cannot properly be regarded as sovereign 

 states, for while possessing many of the attri- 

 butes of sovereignty, they cannot be regarded 

 as absolutely independent concerning external 

 affairs affecting the whole of the United States. 

 On all matters internal, affecting only itself, 

 each state is sovereign. No separate state of 

 the Union can force its will upon any other 

 state. The sovereign power lies in the federa- 

 tion of states. 



The modern conception of sovereignty dif- 

 fers considerably from that of the French king 

 Louis XIV, who said, "I am the State." The 

 democratic tendencies in all countries are lead- 

 ing people clea^r to see that the sovereign 

 power lies in the hands of the people, and its 

 expression must be the will of the people. An 

 approach to the government of the people "for 

 the people and by the people" is being more 

 and more manifested. 



Consult Merriam's History of the Theory of 

 Sovereignty Since Rousseau. 



. SOWING MACHINE, SEEDER, or DRILL, 

 a machine for planting grain. Formerly all 

 grain was sown by hand, and in regions where 

 farms are small this practice is still continued. 

 Among the earliest forms of sowing machine 

 was one consisting of a cylindrical vessel with 

 small holes at regular intervals. The cylinder 



