modify the "personal liberty laws," and concluded by a denunciation of the African slave trade. It was not adopted.

Cuba, Annexation of.-Ever since the purchase of Florida from Spain, the importance of Cuba to the United States has been recognized. Its position at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, and the value of its sugar, molasses and tobacco have made it seem a desirable island to possess. President John Quincy Adams and his Secretary of State, Clay, suggested the purchase of it from Spain, but that country declined to part with her possession. In 1848 Polk authorized the United States Minister at Madrid to offer $100,000,000 for Cuba, but the offer met with a curt refusal. The filibustering expeditions of Lopez from 1849 to 1851 (see Filibusters) drew fresh attention to the island. In declining to join in the Tripartite Treaty (which see) in 1852, the United States government denied having any intention of annexing Cuba, but refused to bind itself. In 1854 our Ministers at London, Paris and Madrid addressed to our government the Ostend Manifesto (which see), wherein they advocated that the United States gain possession of Cuba, by purchase if possible, by force if necessary. This advice found more favor with the Democratic party and the South than it did with the Republican party and the North. Nothing came of it, however, and since the Civil War no discussion of the subject has attracted wide attention.

Cumberland Road is a public road originally projected from Cumberland, in Maryland, to the Ohio River, but ultimately carried as far as Illinois. The first act in regard to it was passed by Congress March 29, 1806. It appropriated $30,000 for the expenses of three commissioners, to be appointed by the President, for the purpose of laying out the road. There was much opposition to every successive bill appropriating money for the road on the ground of the unconstitutionality of any act of Congress providing for internal improvements. On this ground President Monroe vetoed the bill of May 4, 1822, providing for its repair. Sixty

bills in all were passed appropriating money for the establishment, extension and repair of this road, the last being that of May 25, 1838. The rise of railroads put a stop to its further extension. The total amount appropriated was $6,821,246.

Currency.-Strictly speaking, any medium of exchange that is current, or everywhere received, is currency, whether it be coin or paper money. The term has, however, come to be applied exclusively to paper money. The paper money of this country is of four kinds: first, legal tender notes; second, national bank notes; third, gold certificates; fourth, silver certificates. The legal tender notes of the United States are bills issued merely on the credit of the government. (See Fiat Money.) The acts of 1875 and 1882, however, direct the Treasurer of the United States to hold $100,000,000 as a reserve for their redemption. There were outstanding on September 1, 1865 (when the national debt was at its maximum), $432,553,000 of legal tender notes. This was reduced to $346,681,016 by January 1, 1879, at which amount it has since remained. These notes are issued in denominations of one, two, five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, five hundred, one thousand, five thousand and ten thousand dollars. Previous to 1879 (when specie payments were resumed) bills for fractions of a dollar, fractional currency as it was called, were issued. There is at present pending a bill authorizing the issue of a limited amount of fractional currency, which it is maintained will be of great convenience to business men in enabling them to remit small amounts of money by mail. The legal tender notes were issued by the government during the war as a means of raising revenue, and the issue was generally regarded merely as a war measure, but the Supreme Court has declared their issue constitutional and legal, though issued in time of peace. The national bank notes are issued by the national banks and guaranteed by the government, the banks depositing United States bonds as security. (See National Banking System.) There were outstanding on October 5, 1887, $272,387, 176

of these notes, of which $102,719,440, though not yet redeemed, had been surrendered by the banks, and for the redemption of which these had deposited legal tender notes. Gold and silver certificates are issued by the government against deposits of gold and silver coin, and are exchangeable for the coin on demand. The treasury holds the coin so deposited as a trust fund. The certificates represent the coin and are used in preference to it merely because of greater convenience in handling. On November 1, 1891, the outstanding currency, both gold and silver certificates, amounted to $172,184,558.

Curtis, George William, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, February 24, 1824. He is a man of letters, and as such has won a wide reputation. He was at one time connected with the New York Tribune and with Putnam's Monthly. Since 1867 he has been editor of Harper's Weekly, and connected with Harper's Monthly. In 1871 he was one of the committee appointed by President Grant to draw up rules for the Civil Service, in the reform of which he takes a deep interest. In 1868 he was one of the members of the Constitutional Convention of his adopted State, New York. Since 1864 he has been one of the Regents of the University of that State. He was a Republican, but in 1884 became one of the leaders of the revolt in that party. (See Independents.)

Custer Massacre. (See Indian Wars.)

Customs Duties are indirect taxes levied on goods imported into, or exported from, a country. Duties on exports are forbidden by the Constitution of the United States, Article 1, section 9, clause 5. Customs duties are of five kinds, namely, discriminating, minimum, compound, ad valorem, and specific. Discriminating duties are additions to the usual rate, levied on goods imported from certain countries or portions of the world, or imported in vessels of certain nations. In the case of socalled minimum duties, goods that have cost less than a certain sum are taxed as if they had cost that sum. Such duties were first levied in 1816, and the principle is still retained, though no wide application is made of

it in the present tariff. Compound duties are a mixture of specific and ad valorem duties and are applied to manufactured articles, the raw materials of which are dutiable. The specific part of the duty is intended to equal the rate that would have been imposed on the raw materials if they had been imported before manufacture, and thus to put the domestic manufacturer on as equal a footing with the foreign maker as if the raw material had been imported free of duty, while, at the same time, the domestic producer of the raw material has his industry protected. The ad valorem part of the duty is levied for the purpose of protecting the manufacturer. Such duties have been common since 1860, and appear prominently in the law of 1883. Ad valorem duties are a tax of a certain percentage of the value of the merchandise. Specific duties are a tax of a certain specified sum for each pound, or yard, or other unit of measure of the merchandise, usually irrespective of its quality or value, though sometimes it is provided that they shall vary with variations between specified limits of the quality or value of the goods. Both specific and ad valorem rates have been imposed by all the general tariff acts of the United States, with the exception, it is believed, of the law of 1846, which levied ad valorem rates only. Whether specific or ad valorem duties are the best, all things considered, is a disputed point. The latter are evidently the fairer, but they give a much wider field for defrauding the government by undervaluation. They also occasion much more trouble to the merchant, and by levying duty on the market value of goods prevent him from fully enjoying the possible benefits of his shrewdness in buying under the market price. They also necessitate a higher and better-paid class of government officials, and there is danger that a competitive leniency will be exercised in the various ports to attract trade. The objection to specific duties is chiefly that as they impose a relatively higher duty on poorer qualities of merchandise they encourage the home production of inferior goods. Their advantages are ease in levying duties, less chance of fraud, that they do not necessitate such high

salaried officials, and that the revenue can, therefore, be collected at a less cost. Foreign nations have been tending in the direction of specific duties and such is the present tendency of opinion in the United States. The first ninety years of our government show that over fiftyseven per cent. of all its revenues have been derived from customs duties. In the earlier years of this period the proportion was much larger than this. (See Tariffs of the United States; Exports and Imports.)

Dade's Massacre. See Indian Wars.)

Dakota was formerly a territory, but on November 3, 1889 it was divided into North and South Dakota, and under these names admitted to the Union as States. It was part of the Louisiana purchase (see Annexation) as a territory it was organized by Act of March 2, 1861, and at that time was made to include the larger part of what are now Wyoming and Montana. Bismarck is the capital of North Dakota, and Pierre of South Dakota. The population of North Dakota by the census of 1890 is 182,719, and that of South Dakota is 328,808. (See Governors; Legislatures.)

Dallas, George Mifflin, was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 10, 1792, and died December 31, 1864. He was a lawyer and had graduated at Princeton. He was a United States Senator from 1831 to 1833; Minister to Russia, 1837 to 1839; Vice-President of the United States, 1844 to 1848, and Minister to Great Britain from February 4 to May 16, 1861. He was a Democrat.

Dark Horse is a political phrase. When nominating conventions name an individual that was not prominently considered as a candidate before the meeting of the convention, or during its earlier ballots, he is called a dark horse. An instance is the case of James A. Garfield in the Republican National Convention of 1880.

Dartmoor Massacre.-During the war of 1812 many of the American prisoners captured by the British were confined in a prison at Dartmoor, Devonshire. At the close of the war there were several thousands of these, besides twenty-five hundred impressed sailors who