THE SEAL FISHERIES.--Great Britain and our country were long at variance over the question of ownership of seals in Bering Sea. Our purpose was to protect them from extermination by certain restrictions on seal fishing. To settle our rights in the matter, a court of arbitration was appointed and met in Paris in 1893. The decision was against us, but steps were taken to protect the seals from extermination. [30] [Illustration: HAWAIIAN BOATS WITH OUTRIGGERS.] HAWAII.--Just before Harrison retired from office a revolution in the Hawaiian Islands drove the queen from the throne. A provisional government was then established, commissioners were dispatched to Washington, and a treaty for the annexation of Hawaii to the United States was drawn up and sent to the Senate. President Cleveland recalled the treaty and sought to have the queen restored. But the Hawaiians in control resisted and in 1894 established a republic. VENEZUELA.--For many years there was a dispute over the boundary line between British Guiana and Venezuela, and in 1895 it seemed likely to involve Venezuela in a war with Great Britain. Our government had tried to bring about a settlement by arbitration. Great Britain refused to arbitrate, and denied our right to interfere. President Cleveland insisted that under the Monroe Doctrine we had a right, and in December, 1895, asked Congress to authorize a commission to investigate the claims of Great Britain. This was done, and great excitement at once arose at home and in Great Britain. But Great Britain and Venezuela soon submitted the question to arbitration. SUMMARY 1. The wonderful industrial growth of our country between 1860 and 1880 brought up for settlement grave industrial and financial questions. 2. The failure of the two great parties to take up these questions at once, caused the formation of many new parties, such as the National Labor, the Prohibition, the Liberal Republican, and the People's party. 3. Some of their demands were enacted into laws, as the silver coinage act, the exclusion of the Chinese, the anti-contract-labor and interstate commerce acts, the establishment of a national labor bureau, and the antitrust act. 4. In 1890-97 the tariff was three times revised by the McKinley, Wilson, and Dingley acts. 5. In the political world the most notable events were the contested election of 1876-77; the recall of United States troops from the South, and the fall of carpetbag governments; the assassination of Garfield; and the two defeats of the national Republican ticket (1884 and 1892). 6. In the financial world the chief events were the panics of 1873 and 1893, the resumption of specie payment (1879), and the free-silver issue. 7. In the world at large we had trouble with Chile, Hawaii, and Great Britain. FOOTNOTES