scholarly journals Letter from Lieut. Gillies, U. S. N., to Lieut.-Col. Sabine, R. A., For. Sec. R. S

1851 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 990-994
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
The North ◽  
Magnetic Elements ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Days Open ◽  
The Government ◽  
To Receive ◽  
The City ◽  
North Latitude

Dear Sir,—I had the pleasure to receive your letter of Aug. 3rd by the last monthly steamer from the north, and greatly lamented I could not answer it by the mail, which left Dec. 30th. Leaving the United States on the 16th of August, want of a proper amount of fire surface in the boilers of the steam-ship, caused my arrival at Chagres only on the day (27th) when the mail for Chile left. A month was thus unavoidably lost; for in anticipation of a passage through without delay, all instruments, except an aneroid barometer and thermometer, had been despatched round Cape Horn. With these such observations were made, until arrival here, as their construction permitted. From the indications of the aneroid there is a region extending from 200 miles to the S. S. W. of San Domingo to about 1° of north latitude on this side of the continent, where the pressure rarely exceeds 29·850 in., nor was the barometer but once in that whole distance as high as 29·900 in. At Panama the mean is 29·795 in. from observations at 9 a.m., 3 p.m., and 9 p.m., with a mean diurnal fall from the first to the second hours of ·08 in. The temperature for the same hours was 81°·0 with a range of 2°·9, and almost constantly saturated with moisture, though rain fell no more frequently than often occurs during the same period in the United States. As evidence of the hygrometric condition of the atmosphere, it was found impossible to dry clothing in my room after several days’ open exposure, and they were finally exposed to the direct rays of the sun. Leather moulds in forty-eight hours. The light wind experienced was almost constantly from the northward and westward during the day, and variable at night. I think Lieut.-Col. Emery made observations for declination and dip en route for California, but nothing is known to me of the results, and I must await our return to give you data on these points. Should nothing intervene to change present intentions, I contemplate making observations at each of the fifteen ports where the steamer touches between Valparaiso and Panama. Nothing of note occurred during our passage to Chile. There was time to glance at Buonaventura, Guyaquil, Payta, Huanchaco (part of Truxillo), Casma, five days at Lima, Pisco, Islay, Arica, Iquique, Coleiga, Copiapo and Coquimbo,—a multitude of little towns unimportant in themselves, and mentioned only to indicate the points where I hope to obtain observations of the magnetic elements. Reaching Santiago on the 27th of October, I was convinced in a brief time that no other part of Chile would so well answer the purposes of the expedition, and the Government here having acted promptly and with most commendable liberality on all points, there was no hesitation in selecting this city as my station. You know it is situated on a plain varying in width from twelve to forty miles, which, commencing just north of 33°, with a slight interruption in 34½°, extends to the Gulf of Onend in 41½°. The sea range of the Cordilleras, from which Santiago is distant from four to five leagues, has an elevation of 3000 to 4000 feet above the ocean, whilst the main chain to the eastward varies from 10,000 to 17,000 or 18,000 feet, and is distant about six leagues at the base. Interrupting the eastern horizon as they do, the interference with observations on the planet Venus in the morning twilight rendered so near an approach objectionable; but there was no locality in the vicinity of a proper residence free from this obstacle, and no place in the interior offering the facilities possessed by Santiago. If I mistake not, in one of my former letters I stated that the coast was impracticable, on account of very frequent fog and mist; and this was the opinion of the most observant residents here. There were two positions offered for our use by the Government,—a hill (Santa Lucia) in the eastern part of the city, with such rooms in the Castle, about halfway up, as might be needed, and the plain in the southern suburbs. The former has an elevation of some 200 feet, whilst the latter is half submerged during the rainy season, and almost inaccessible to pedestrians. Many reasons inclined me to prefer Santa Lucia, could its rocky crest be leveled, and this the Government at once undertook.

Kampungs and Conflict in Colonial Semarang

1988 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Cobban
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
City Council ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
North Coast ◽  
The North ◽  
Central Java ◽  
The Government ◽  
The City

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Semarang was a major port city and administrative centre on Java. Attainment of this position was due partly to the expansion of its hinterland during the nineteenth century. This expansion was closely related to developments in the means of transportation and the consequent ability of plantation owners to bring the products of their plantations to the port for shipment to foreign markets. By the end of the century virtually the whole economic life of central Java focused upon Semarang. The city also exercised administrative functions in the Dutch colonial administration and generally had been responsible for Dutch interests in the middle and eastern parts of the island. The importance of Semarang as an administrative centre increased after 1906. In that year the government incorporated the city as an urban municipality (stadsgemeente). In 1914 it had consular representation from the United States, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Italy, Norway, Germany, and Thailand. Subsequently, in 1926 it became the capital of the Province of Central Java under the terms of an administrative reform fostered by the colonial government at Batavia. Status as an urban municipality meant that local officials sitting on a city council would govern the domestic affairs of the city. The members of the city council at first were appointed from Batavia, subsequently some of them were elected by residents of the city. By the beginning of the twentieth century Semarang had enhanced its position as a major port on the north coast of the island of Java. It was one of the foremost cities of the Dutch East Indies, along with Batavia and Surabaya, a leading port and a centre of administration and trade. This article outlines the growth of the port of Semarang during the nineteenth century and discusses some of the conflict related to this growth over living conditions in parts of the city during the twentieth century, a conflict which smouldered for several decades among the government, members of the city council, and the non-European residents of the city, one which remained unresolved at the end of the colonial era.

The Political Economy of John Taylor of Caroline

1980 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Macleod
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Thomas Jefferson ◽  
The Political ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
John Adams ◽  
John Taylor ◽  
The Government ◽  
Style Of Writing ◽  
To Receive

After years of comparative neglect John Taylor of Caroline has recently begun to receive again a degree of attention more in keeping with his true importance. That his impact upon both his own generation and upon subsequent generations of historians has always been less than it might have been is due largely to his tortured style of writing and the tortuous thought processes it reflected. John Randolph of Roanoke once commented that Taylor needed only a translator to make an impact, and Thomas Jefferson, replying to a communication from John Adams in 1814, wrote that a book received by Adams must have been Taylor's An Inquiry into the Principles and Policy of the Government of the United States: “neither the style nor the stuff of the author of Arator can ever be mistaken. [I]n the latter work, as you observe, there are some good things, but so involved in quaint, in far-fetched, affected, mystical conceipts [sic], and flimsy theories, that who can take the trouble of getting at them?” Taylor himself appeared to hold a fluent style in contempt, commenting that “A talent for fine writing is often a great misfortune to politicians.”Although Taylor's style renders study of his writings far from congenial, the consistency of his purpose and thought make it relatively easy to extract the main thrusts of his arguments. Far from a rigorous theorist he provides a running commentary upon the politics of his times. In that capacity, however, he never felt compelled to define clearly, even to himself perhaps, some of the central premises from which his arguments derived.

scholarly journals Rethinking the Security Architecture of North East Asia

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 273
Author(s):  
Michael J Kelly ◽  
Sean Watts
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
East Asia ◽  
North Korea ◽  
The United States ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Collective Security ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Cold War

In the aftermath of the Cold War, many began to question the continuing efficacy, or at least call for reform, of collective security structures such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United Nations Security Council. Yet, North East Asia never enjoyed a formal, institutionalised collective security structure. As Russia and the United States recede and China emerges in North East Asia, this article questions whether now is the time to consider such an arrangement. Financially, Japan and South Korea are locked into a symbiotic relationship with China (as is the United States), while the government in Beijing continues to militarise and lay territorial and maritime claims to large areas of the region. Moreover, the regime in North Korea, with its new nuclear capabilities, remains unpredictable. Consequently, central components to the question of collective security in North East Asia are the equally vexing questions of what to do about North Korea and whether a new formalised security arrangement would include or exclude the People's Republic of China.

Security Council

1965 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-96
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Security Council ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Government ◽  
Self Defense ◽  
The Government ◽  
North Vietnam ◽  
To Receive ◽  
The Postponement

The Security Council held two meetings (1140th and 1141st) on August 5 and 7, 1964, to discuss a complaint of the United States government against the government of North Vietnam, which was expressed in a letter dated August 4, 1964, from the permanent representative of the United States addressed to the President of the Security Council. At the outset of the 1140th meeting on August 5, 1964, Mr. Morozov (Soviet Union) explained that he had requested the postponement of the meeting until August 6 to permit his delegation to receive necessary instructions from its government. With regard to this request, Mr. Stevenson (United States) pointed out that the UN Charter explicitly called for immediate reporting to the Council of measures taken by Members in the exercise of their right of self-defense. If the Council wished to adjourn after hearing the statement of the United States delegation, Mr. Stevenson had no objection. Mr. Hajek (Czechoslovakia) also opposed convening the meeting on August 5 on the grounds that Council members did not possess all the facts and views of the parties. To deliberate on the question on the basis of one version would not, he felt, serve the interests of the Council. Moreover, he did not feel that the circumstances constituted an emergency: The United States did not appear to be immediately threatened.

An Early Diplomatic Controversy between the United States and Brazil

1918 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-311
Author(s):  
William R. Manning
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Spanish American ◽  
The North ◽  
Constituent Assembly ◽  
American States ◽  
The Government ◽  
Separatist Movement

It was two years after the United States formally declared for the recognition of the new Latin-American states and after several Spanish-American states had been recognized before the question of recognizing Brazil arose. When, in April, 1824, Rebello presented himself in Washington as the Brazilian chargé, a difference of opinion arose in Monroe’s cabinet, because Brazil was a monarchy, while all of the other American governments were republics, and some hoped that monarchy might have no foothold on the continent. Others, however, advocated the recognition of Brazil the more strongly because it was a monarchy in order to show the world that it was the fact of independence which actuated the United States rather than the form of government.The opposition to recognition was strengthened by recent news of a formidable separatist movement in the north, with Pernambuco as a center, the purpose of which was to establish an independent republic under the name of the Federation of the Equator. This; raised a serious doubt whether the government at Rio de Janeiro were really in effective control. It was reported, too, that the assistance of French naval vessels had been accepted in order to repress the Pernambuco revolt. This conjured up the specter of the so-called Holy Alliance, for the exclusion of which from America Monroe’s famous message of the preceding December had declared. There was also a strong suspicion, supported by persistent rumors, that Dom Pedro (who had allowed himself to be made Emperor when in 1822 Brazilian independence from Portugal was declared, who had summoned a constituent assembly and then quarreled with it and finally forcibly dismissed it because it proved too liberal to suit his ideas of prerogative, and who had appointed a council that had drawn up a fairly liberal constitution in harmony with his wishes which he had not yet taken the oath to observe) really wished to restore Portuguese sovereignty and rule Brazil as a vassal of his father, the King of Portugal. About the middle of May, however, word came that in the preceding March the Emperor had taken the oath to the constitution of the independent Brazilian Empire. After Rebello had given assurances concerning the suppression of the slave trade and the observance of treaties that had been negotiated with Portugal, he was formally received by President Monroe as Brazilian chargé on May 26, 1824. He expressed his gratitude that “the Government of the United States has been the first to acknowledge the independence of Brazil.”

The President's Cabinet

1913 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Fairlie
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Institution ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Complete History

The recent publication, within a few months of each other, of two independent works on the President's cabinet serves to call attention to an important political institution in this country, which has hitherto failed to receive adequate recognition. Mr. Bryce has stated that, in the government of the United States, there is “no such thing as a cabinet in the English sense of the term;” and the larger part of his short chapter discusses what the President's cabinet is not rather than what it is. But if the cabinet in the United States is not the same thing as the British cabinet, it is a significant factor in the operation of the government deserving more consideration than it has received.Mr. Learned disclaims any attempt at a complete history of the cabinet; and, as indicated in the sub-title, presents a series of studies on the origin and formation of the cabinet—its anatomy rather than its functions. But in tracing the development of the composition of the cabinet, approximately half of the text is devoted to chapters on the origin and formation of the executive departments, whose heads have been added to the cabinet as first organized. A second series of studies on cabinet practices and personnel is expected to follow.

The Pending Territorial Sovereignty of the Batanes Islands: A Taiwan Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (03) ◽  
Author(s):  
HURNG-YU CHEN
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Japanese Government ◽  
Peace Treaty ◽  
The South ◽  
The North ◽  
Territorial Sovereignty ◽  
North Latitude

After Japan occupied Taiwan from the Quin Dynasty in 1895, the Japanese government immediately held talks with Spain to delimit the sea boundary between Spain and Japanese Taiwan. According to the Convention between Japan and Spain in 1895, the sea boundary of both countries was in the middle of the navigable channel of Bashi. For it did not refer to the longitude and latitude, thus it resulted in confusion when the United States negotiated a peace treaty with Spain. What is the meaning of “in the middle of the navigable channel of Bashi?” In the Treaty of Paris between the United States and Spain in 1898, Spain ceded the Philippines archipelagoes to the south of 20∘ North latitude to the United States. In fact, the Batanes Islands are located at 20–21∘ North latitudes. Geographically, the Batanes Islands were not included in the Treaty of Paris. This paper will focus on the reasons why did not Spain cede the territory to the north of 20∘ North latitude to the United States? And, it also discussed the problems of the legal status of the Batanes Islands and the rights of claim by Taiwan.

Religion by Permission of the Government

Worldview ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 31-35
Author(s):  
Frank Patton
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Church And State ◽  
United States Supreme Court ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
United States Supreme ◽  
Estate Taxes ◽  
The Government ◽  
The City

In a 1970 decision the United States Supreme Court approved the exemption of church property from city real estate taxes, noting that “separation of church and state” was thereby well served (Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York). The Court stated:The exemption creates only a minimal and remote involvement between church and state and far less than taxation of churches. It restricts the fiscal relationship between church and state, and tends to complement and reinforce the desired separation, insulating each from the other.

scholarly journals "Leave the Fads to the Yankees"

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-84
Author(s):  
Patricia Petersen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Main Idea ◽  
The United States ◽  
City Government ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
City Manager ◽  
Legislative Authority ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Government ◽  
The City

Does the border between the United States and Canada make a difference? To a political scientist it does for the obvious reason: the border defines two different political entities with different forms of government, different political customs and conventions. Two attempts in the first thirty years of the twentieth century to change the structure of the government of the City of Toronto illustrate the difference the border can make. The two proposals, commission government and city manager government, had originated with municipal reformers in the United States during the Progressive Era. The main idea behind both plans was to concentrate the executive and legislative authority in one governing unit. Commission and city manager government, however, attracted only a few supporters in the City despite their extreme popularity in the United States. City government in Toronto was not considered as bad as the government in those cities in the United States that had changed to new forms. Moreover, the proposals were American innovations and Toronto politicians were wary of American fads, especially ones like these which were drawn "from the uncertain spheres of political theory."

6. Civil war and suspension

2021 ◽  
pp. 52-61
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Tyler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Congress ◽  
The North ◽  
Critical Areas ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Government

This chapter details the American Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln’s role in acting quickly—and controversially—to protect critical areas in the North by claiming the unilateral power to suspend habeas. As is explored in the chapter, Lincoln proclaimed suspensions on his own and without congressional approval for some two years until the US Congress finally enacted suspension legislation. Along the way, Lincoln’s actions provoked a rebuke from the Chief Justice of the United States in Ex parte Merryman and raised important separation of powers questions. The chapter also explores how after the war, the Supreme Court held in Ex parte Milligan that the laws of war could not be applied to “citizens in states which have upheld the authority of the government, and where the courts are open and their process unobstructed.” Finally, the chapter discusses the precedent established by Lincoln’s actions.

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