tion of neutrality urging Americans to be neutral in thought, word and deed. The German invasion of Belgium and the atrocities committed by the German armies caused most of the people of America to sympathize with the cause of the powers allied against Germany;-and this in spite of an active German propaganda. The Germans violated American neutrality by attempting to coal their fleet from our ports, they issued forged passports for German reservists, and they were responsible for fires and explosions in munition plants. The allied powers enforced a rigid blockade on German ports and issued stringent orders regarding contraband, against some of which the American authorities protested. Germany, unable to obtain supplies from abroad, attempted, by means of submarines, to prevent her enemies from securing them. Not only were freighters sunk, but passenger liners also. The United States protested vigorously against the use of submarines and received a promise to protect the safety of passengers. On February 1, 1917, Germany instituted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, promising to allow one vessel a week to sail from America to Falmouth, England. President Wilson then recalled Ambassador Gerard from Germany and handed the German ambassador his passports. He adopted the policy of arming American ships; but on March 18 three of them were torpedoed and sunk. On April 2, President Wilson delivered a "war message" to Congress and four days later war was declared. The United States government entered into close cooperation with the allied powers, lending them funds and promising to send additional supplies and to transport an army to Europe as soon as troops could be raised. Practically the whole resources of the country were engaged in the war. The First Division embarked for France June 13, 1917, and on the following January 18, they took a position in the trenches. On May 28, American troops took the village of Cantigny, and on July 14 they helped to turn the tide of the war at Château-Thierry. In September they independently began a movement which forced the Germans out of the St. Mihiel salient. Later in the same month they began an offensive movement in the Argonne forest which did not stop until Sedan was reached, far to the north, on November 6. On November 11, 1918, the armistice was signed which put an end to the fighting. The navy rendered excellent service, forming part of the Allied Grand Fleet for possible service against the German navy, and keeping the sea open for transports and supply ships. The Ameri

can merchant fleet created during the war made possible the supplying of our armies abroad and of the Allied Powers.

Wyoming. The greater part of Wyoming was included in the Louisiana Purchase, 1803; but smaller portions were obtained with Oregon Territory, 1846, with the Mexican cession by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 1848, and by the cession of Texas lands, 1850. The Territory of Wyoming was separately organized, 1868, and the state was admitted to the Union, July 11, 1890. Area:-97,914 square miles; population, 1920-194,402; capital, Cheyenne. The governor and members of the state Senate are elected for terms of four years, and members of the lower house for terms of two years. Regular sessions of the legislature, limited to 40 days, are held biennially. In national politics, Wyoming has been Republican in five elections and Democratic in three.

X. Y. Z. Affair. Following the ratification of Jay's treaty with Great Britain, France showed a resentful attitude because certain privileges which had before been granted to her had been taken away. The United States recalled Monroe, the Minister to France, who was extremely popular with the French people, and appointed Charles Cotesworth Pinckney as Minister. The French government refused to receive Pinckney, and after a short stay informed him officially that he was liable to arrest if he remained in the country. The rude reception caused wide-spread indignation in the United States, and many people demanded war; but President Adams determined to make one more effort looking toward a solution by means of diplomacy. He therefore appointed Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry as commissioners to negotiate with France. For some time after they arrived at Paris, October, 1797, they found that it was impossible to make any progress; then they were visited by three agents of Talleyrand who were designated as "X.," "Y.," and "Z." in the report of the commissioners. These agents suggested that the business of the United States would be considered if $250,000 were given to the French minister. The American commissioners repeatedly informed the agents that they would not pay, and finally sent a statement of their case to Talleyrand himself. He made an insulting reply, whereupon Pinckney and Marshall left France; but Gerry remained for a short time on the invitation of Talleyrand. As a result of the affair, the United States prepared for war.

Yankees, a nickname for the inhabitants of New England,

bestowed upon them during the French and Indian War from a corrupt pronunciation by the Indians of anglais, the French word for English. During the Revolutionary War, the New England colonists generally applied the word to themselves; and during and after the Civil War the Southerners extended the term indiscriminately to all the people of the North.

Yap, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, formerly owned by Germany, which nation developed it as an important cable crossing. At the close of the World War, the United States asserted an interest in it, and it seemed for a while that it would become a territorial acquisition of this country as a result of the war. At the Washington Conference (which see) the United States agreed to cede it to Japan in return for ownership of one of the principal cables.

Yazoo Lands, The. After the Revolution, Georgia claimed the lands as far west as the Mississippi. The tract which lay south of the parallel running through the mouth of the Yazoo was also claimed by the National government. A corrupt legislature of Georgia in 1795 sold a great part of the lands' now embraced in the states of Alabama and Mississippi to various Yazoo companies. The next year a new legislature led by James Jackson, former United States senator, rescinded the grants. The companies, however, claimed that the grant was a contract which could not be revoked by the legislature; and this claim was afterwards upheld by the Supreme Court in the case of Fletcher vs. Peck. In 1802 Georgia granted the western lands to the National government, which agreed to pay damages to Georgia and to the claimants. Jefferson was willing to carry the agreement into effect; but John Randolph opposed the proposal to reimburse the claimants, on the ground that Jefferson had been actuated by improper motives to favor it. He was able to defeat the measure in 1803 and 1805; but in 1814, when Randolph was no longer in Congress, a bill was passed to settle the claims for $8,000,000.

Yeas and Nays, the method of voting in legislative bodies by which the members answer to their names as the roll is called alphabetically. At the end of the calling of the roll, the names of those who have not answered are again called and their votes are recorded Members who have already voted are allowed to change their votes at this time. In Congress the yea and nay vote is required in passing measures over the President's veto and when one-fifth of the members demand it. Yellow Peril, The, a popular term for the danger that is

supposed to exist from the military ambitions of the Japanese or from the undue immigration of Chinese and other Asiatics. You May Fire When Ready, Gridley, the order issued by Commodore Dewey at the beginning of the battle of Manila Bay, 1898.

Young Hickory, a nickname given to both Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk who were regarded as the political heirs of Andrew Jackson (Old Hickory).

Young Men's National Republican Convention, a convention of young men held in Washington, D. C., May 1832, on the call of the National Convention of the previous December. It adopted ten resolutions which were supposed to embody the principles of the party. The importance of the convention lies in the fact that it issued the first formal platform of any national political party in the United States.

APPENDIX

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, July 4, 1776.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having, in direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world:

He has refused to assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature; a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.

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