PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA miles of telegraph line. Estimated revenue (1909-10), 5,291,444 milreis; expenditure 5, 112,758. Governor-General of the state territories (1910) E. A. Garcia Marques. 601 PORTUGUESE GUINEA. A Portuguese colony on the west coast of Africa. Area, about 13,940 sq. miles; population, about 820,000. The adjacent archipelago of Bijagoz, with the island of Bolama, is included with Portuguese Guinea. Capital, Bolama, on the island of Bolama. Rubber, wax, oil seeds, ivory, and hides are exported. Imports (1908), 857,155 milreis; exports, 492,238. Tonnage entered, 128, 176. Chief port, Bissau. Estimated revenue (190910) 272,860 milreis; expenditure, 332,349. Governor (1910), Lieutenant C. A. Pereira. PORT WINE. See LIQUORS, FERMENTED AND DISTILLED. POST-MASTERS vided that deposits may be exchanged for two and a half per cent. government bonds in denominations of $20, $40, $60, $80, $100 or multiples thereof and $500 or multiples thereof. Special issues of such bonds are authorized. One of the knottiest problems was what should be done with the deposits. The feeling was very strong that the deposits should in some way be available for business purposes in the vicinity where originally deposited. It was declared that they should not be placed in national banks on account of the probability that they would be transferred to commercial centres to be used in speculation; and that they could not be deposited in local State banks without passing from the jurisdiction of the national government. In opposition to this it was held that farmers and others not now using any bank which would then become available for loans In case of POSITIVE ELECTRICITY. See PHYSICS. would deposit savings with the post-offices, POSSART, ERNST VON. See DRAMA. POSTAL SAVINGS BANKS, ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST. The steady development during the past few years of a public opinion favorable to a national system of postal sav. ings banks finally secured the enactment of a desirable law in 1910. The arguments for and against this measure advanced during the early months of the year differ little from those of previous years. On the one hand the banking interests opposed the measure on the ground that the 24,000 banks of the country rendered adequate service; that postal banks would cut into their deposits; that mutual savings banks are already developed in the industrial States; and that the best method of cultivating thrift is to extend the present system of such banks. There was considerable opposition also on the ground that the measure is socialistic and would lead to an extension of the activities of the national government. Stress was laid also on the administrative difficulties, especially that of investing the deposits. The chief contentions in favor of the measure were that the millions of foreigners in the country are distrustful of established banking institutions and accustomed to government savings banks; that in times of money panic the millions of dollars withdrawn from existing banks would be brought back into circulation through the postal savings banks, whose deposits are guaranteed by the government; and that the postal savings banks would form an important agency in the development of thrift. In connection with this latter argument it was pointed out that even in States like Massachusetts, where the savings banks are very well developed, there is abundant need of the postal banks. Thus in that State there were only 188 savings banks, but 900 postoffices. There are many small manufacturing villages, miles from any bank, but none with out a post-office. In that State 91 per cent. of all the deposits of savings banks are credited to 25 per cent. of the depositors, showing apparently that the poorer depositors are reluctant to enter the elegant private institutions now existing. THE NEW LAW. The bill as passed created a board of trustees composed of the PostmasterGeneral, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney-General. The deposits of any one person are limited to $100 a month or $500 in all; an account may be opened with one dollar. Certificates of deposit are to be used in place of pass books; and stamps for small deposits. Two per cent. interest is to be paid. It is pro Congress appropriated only $100,000 to cover all the expenses for the first year, including equipment, engraving and printing of forms, certificates and bonds, as well as clerk hire. On this account it was possible to establish the banks in a limited number of post-offices only. On October 22, the board of trustees designated one post-office in each of the forty-eight States and Territories. In December the postmasters from these offices were in Washington receiving detailed instructions as to the starting of the new undertaking. The postal banks to be opened on January 3, 1911, were located as follows: Bessemer, Ala.; Globe, Ariz.; Stuttgart, Ark.; Oroville, Cal.; Leadville, Colo.; Ansonia, Conn.; Dover, Del.; Key West, Fla.; Brunswick, Ga.; Cœur d'Alene, Idaho; Pekin, Ill.; Princeton, Ind.; Decorah, La.; Pittsburg, Kans.; Middleboro, Ky.; New Iberia, La.; Rumford, Me.; Frostburg, Md.; Norwood, Mass.; Houghton, Mich.; Bemidji, Minn.; Gulfport, Miss.; Carthage, Mo.; Anaconda, Mont.; Nebraska City, Neb.; Carson City, Nev.; Berlin, N. H.; Rutherford, N. J.; Raton, N. M.; Cohoes, N. Y.; Salisbury, N. C.; Wahpeton, N D.; Ashtabula, Ohio; Guymon, Okla.; Klamath Falls, Ore.; Dubois, Pa.; Bristol, R. I.; Newberry, S. C.; Deadwood, S. D.; Johnson City, Tenn.; Port Arthur, Tex.; Provost, Utah; Montpelier, Vt.; Clifton Forge, Va.; Olympia, Wash.; Grafton, W. Va.; Manitowoc, Wis.; Laramie, Wyo. The table at top of next page, from the report of the Comptroller of the Currency, shows statistics for savings banks throughout the world; dates are 1908-9. SAVINGS BANKS. See also table under POST-OFFICES. See articles on countries and UNITED STATES. POST-MASTERS. See CIVIL SERVICE. Number of 2,297 Deposits Average 148,791,369 64.97 12,441,249 801,006,750 153,918 22.21 42,848,025 290.52 268,532 33.40 Country Austria Belgium Bulgaria. 2,290,114 Finland 58,826 296,964,867 58.23 Netherlands.. 1,462,615 Bahamas Canada 147,488 14,855.142 59,173,204 Philippine Islands New South Wales 278,490 61.39 545,000 in 1909 to $187,985,000 in 1910. The area devoted to the crop this year was 3,591,000 acres against 3,525,000 acres the year be fore. The potato crop suffered much through an extended midsummer drouth in the northwestern part of the Mississippi valley, but a 55.12 partial recovery occurred when the breaking of 27.48 the drouth was followed by a long favorable autumn. Short crops were produced in Iowa, Minnesota and North and South Dakota, while in the middle and eastern States good yields were secured. The New England States, chiefly Maine, produced a good crop, and Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, largely due to better cultivation, the rational use of fertilizers, and adequate rains during the later weeks the plants were growing, also obtained satisfactory yields, although the New York crop was 8,000,000 behind that of the year before. While the crop the country over was uneven in size it was generally sound and the tubers were smooth and presented a good appearance. In the drouth-stricken sections many small tubers 807,679 118.32 were harvested. The yields in the more im259,818 135.96 portant potato-growing States were as follows: 389,057 69.00 New York produced 44,676,000 bushels on 438,7,175,912 130.22 1,986,755 000 acres; 22.91 Michigan, 35,175,000 bushels on 1,222,230 217.19 335,000 acres; Pennsylvania, 28,160,000 bushels 208.46 on 320,000 acres; Maine 27,940,000 bushels on 172.98 64.00 127,000 acres; Wisconsin, 24,700,000 bushels on 190.25 260,000 acres, and Ohio, 14,924,000 bushels on 128.89 182,000 acres. The average yield per acre by 235.42 2,881,484 143.45 States varied from 41 bushels in North Dakota to 220 bushels in Maine. The acre-yield was low in all the States west of the Mississippi and east of the Rocky Mountains, while in the New England and Pacific Coast States the average acre-yield was over 100 bushels. 3,073,705 53,070,016 43.16 6.02 11.19 101.87 57.59 2,227,927,502 51.59 POTASH. See FERTILIZERS. POTASSIUM. See ATOMIC WEIGHTS. POTATOES. The potato crop of the world in 1910 was a little below normal on account of dry weather in parts of North America and of heavy rain-fall in parts of Europe. In Germany, the leading potato-growing country of the world, the crop was attacked by diseases of the growing plant and by rot of the tuber as a result of excessive moisture. The yield of Prussia was estimated at 1,115,000,000 bushels, which was insufficient to bring the yield for the entire country up to the average production of 1 billion bushels. The yield of potatoes in France was estimated at only 310,000,000 bushels as compared with a normal yield of 400,000,000 bushels. In consequence of the small crop the French government raised the embargo against American potatoes with the provision that only sound and clear-skinned tubers be admitted. In Belgium the potato crop was largely a failure and the yield did not meet the country's requirements. Great Britain produced approximately 130,000,000 bushels, which is generally exceeded. The potato crop of Ireland was reduced by a wet and cold season. A large proportion of the crop was small in size as a result of insufficiently high temperatures for the proper development of the tubers. In Hungary, which produced about 170,000,000 bushels, and in Russia with a yield of about 1,000,000,000 bushels the production was normal. In the United States the potato crop of 1910 was reasonably satisfactory, the total yield being 338,811.000 bushels, as compared with 376,537,000 bushels in 1909. The total value of the yield as based upon the farm value per bushel on December 1st of each year fell from $206, POULTRY. See AGRICULTURE; MEAT AND POWDER. See NAVAL PROGRESS. PRAGMATISM. See PHILOSOPHY. PRATT INSTITUTE. An institution of practical and technical knowledge in Brooklyn, N. Y., founded in 1887. The number of students in 1910 was 3773, while the instructors and teachers numbered 153. Among the changes in the faculty during the year were the resig nation of Miss Edith Greer, director of the school of domestic science, and Arthur L. Williston, director of the school of science and technology. Samuel S. Edmands was appointed to the directorship of the school of science and technology, and the schools of domestic science and school of domestic arts were reorganized and combined, making the school of household science and arts, and Miss Isabel Ely Lord was appointed to the directorship of this school. Edward F. Stevens was appointed librarian in place of Miss Lord, who had been the Institute librarian for a number of years. The productive funds of the institute amount to $4,748.337 and the total income for the year was $359,404, of which $254,467 was from endowment and $104,937 was from tuitions. The President is C. N. Pratt. PRECIOUS STONES. See MINERALOGY. PREFERENCE. See CANADA, History PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES, often called the SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. A religious denomination organized as a separate body in 1861 as a result of the withdrawal of 47 presbyteries from the jurisdiction of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, because of political action taken by the latter denomination which these presbyteries held that it was incompetent for a spiritual court to take. The denomination in 1910 numbered 281,920 communicants with 3217 churches and 1625 ministers. In the Sunday schools were 226,645 officers and teachers. It has 14 synods and 83 presbyteries. It sustains home and foreign missions and contributes liberally to educational purposes and to evangelical work among the negroes. The total annual contributions to all causes is $3,500,000. The stated clerk is Rev. Thomas H. Law, and the next General Assembly of the denomination meets at Louisville, Ky., May 18, 1911. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A religious denomination which had its beginning as an organization in 1706, when the first presbytery was formed. Presbyterian congregations existed for many years previously, however, among them the congregation at Hempstead, N. Y., which was founded in 1644. The General Synod was established in 1716 and the first General Assembly met at Philadelphia in 1789. According to the religious census made by the United States Census Bureau in 1906 and published in 1910, the total number of communicants in the denomination in 1906 was 1,179,566. There were 8185 church edifices and 7603 ministers. As compared with the census report for 1890 these figures show an increase of 391, 823 communicants and 1223 organizations. Statistics gathered by officials of the denomination show the total number of communicants in 1910 as 1,339,000, with 10,011 churches and 9073 ministers. There were 37 synods and 293 presbyteries. The total contributions for all purposes throughout the year amounted to $22,936,068, divided as follows: Home missions, $1,479,271; foreign missions, $1,311,413; education, $149,437; Sunday school work, $205,177; church erection, $211,786; relief fund, $172,988; freedmen, $238,352; colleges, $460,203; temperance, $135,181; American Bible Society, $22,900; General Assembly, etc., $151,726; congregational, $16,648,360; miscellaneous, $1,777,074. Foreign missions are carried on in nearly all the heathen lands. In 1910 there were 28 missions, 149 stations, 979 missionaries, 585 fully organized churches, 102,141 communicants, 1588 schools and 147 hospitals and dispensaries in which were 519,697 patients. Home missions are carried on in the whole of the United States, including Alaska and Porto Rico and also in Cuba. Mission schools are maintained among the Indians, Alaskans, Mormons, mountaineers and people of Porto Rico and Cuba. Among the institutions maintained whose titles sufficiently indicate their purpose are the Board of Home Missions, Board of Foreign Missions, Board of Education, Board of Publication and Sabbath School Work, Board of Church Erection and a Committee on Temperance. Under the auspices of the denomination are many universities and. colleges, among them Princeton University and New York University. Theological seminaries are maintained at Princeton, N. J., Auburn, N. Y., Pittsburg, Pa., Walnut Hills and Cincinnati, O., Danville, Ky., Han 603 PRICES over, Indiana, and San Francisco, Cal. There are theological departments also in several of the colleges under denominational control. The real governing board of the denomination is the General Assembly. The 122nd General Assembly of the denomination was held at Atlantic City, N. J., beginning May 19, 1910. Among the important acts of the Assembly are the following: The consolidation of Home Missions, Church Erection and Board for Freedmen was recommended; it was declared that candidates shall not be admitted to the ministry unless their views are in harmony with the essential and necessary articles of the Confession. The action of the Presbytery of New York in ordaining two candidates against the strong op. position of a considerable minority was declared unwise. A historical statement of the relations of the Presbyterian Church and the Reformed Church in the United States was approved. The denomination was asked to raise, during five years, $3,000,000 annually for the support of the colleges. The work of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America was approved as was also the Laymen's Missionary Movement. A memorial service was held for the late John Stewart Kennedy. The consolidation of the smaller theological seminaries was considered. A plan of coöperation with the United Presbyterian Church was approved. The terms of union with the Welsh Presbyterian Church were reaffirmed. The of ficers of the General Assembly in 1910 were as follows: Moderator, Rev. Charles Little; ViceModerator, Charles L. Thompson; Stated Clerk, Rev. William Henry Roberts; Permanent Clerk, Rev. William Brown Noble; Assistant Clerk, Rev. James M. Hubert. PRESBYTERIANS, REFORMED. See REFORMED PRESBYTERIANS. PRESERVATIVES. See FOOD AND NUTRI TION. PRESSURE TUNNELS. See AQUEDUCTS. TURE. PRICES. The average level of commodity prices remained high during the year though there was some tendency toward decline. This high level was, in the view of many, the chief factor in producing a feeling of doubt and uncertainty in what were otherwise promising trade conditions. It was an important cause of the political upheaval of the year and a topic of general and scientific discussion. Bradstreet's price index, based on the wholesale prices of ninety-six articles, stood at 9.2310 on January 1; February 1, at 9.0730; March 1, at 9.1113; April 1, 9.1996; May 1, at 9.0385; June 1, 8.9105; July 1, 8.9246; August 1, 8.8222; September 1, 8.9519; October 1, 8.9267; November 1, 8.8666; December 1, 8.7844; January 1, 1911, 8.8361. The index for January 1, 1910, was the highest recorded in recent years; there was a decline of 4.2 per cent. for the year. That for January 1, 1911 was 6.9 per cent. above that for January 1, 1909; 6.5 per cent. above January 1, 1908; .9 per cent. less than January 1, 1907; 6 per cent above January 1, 1906; 9.3 per cent. above January 1, 1905; 10.6 per cent. above January 1, 1904; 10.2 per cent. above January 1, 1900; and 56.7 per cent. above the minimum of July 1, 1896. Among the articles which showed increased prices for the year were the following: barley, rye, beef in carcasses, mackerel, codfish, coffee, trusts, the tariff, nor trade unions "can be rePRINCE EDWARD ISLAND garded as a direct and active cause of the recent increase in prices." Both of the public reports were regarded by the public as influenced more or less by the political bias and interests of those preparing them. peas, apples, cranberries, raisins, standard and CAUSES. As in the discussions of the pre- 'no ma MASSACHUSETTS COMMISSION. sion was appointed in February and reported This commisMay 1, in a volume of 752 pages. It found that the primary cause of the world-wide advance of prices since 1897 is the increase of the gold supply." "The advance of prices in the United States has been accelerated greatly by the enormous waste of income" through military expenditures, extravagance, and wastage. Considerable influence was attributed to the effect of the shifting of the population to the cities and the exhaustion of natural resources. Neither causes of increased prices may be classed under the two general heads of supply and demand. From the standpoint of economic theory the Since prices are merely the ratios of the value of gold to the values of other commodities, prices will be affected by any conditions affecting the mand of other commodities. Under this classification the most obvious cause is the enormous supply or demand of gold or the supply or deduction rose from $118,000,000 in 1890 to $202,increase in the supply of gold. The world's pro000,000 in 1896; to $396,000,000 in 1899; to $401,000,000 in 1906; and to $454,000,000 in 1909 and in 1910. lation to other things; as its value fell prices rose. standard metal could not but cheapen it in reThis great supply of the the discovery of the cyanide process and the development of dredging in California, both This increase in gold production, due to methods greatly lessening the cost of extracting gold from what were previously unavailable sources, is the most reasonable explanation of and the concentration of people in cities. This the world-wide rise in price levels. Of almost equal generality is the increase in population has increased the numbers demanding to be clothed and fed, at the same time that the number of persons engaged in raising food products and raw materials has been relatively diminishing. Then in the United States the great expanse of virgin territory so long available has been taken up, and we have begun to pay the cost of the exploitative methods of farming which prevailed until recent years. 1897 has been about one-half more than in England; this can only be explained by factors The rise of prices in the United States since peculiar to this country. Of such factors the tariff and the combinations fostered largely by the tariff are the most conspicuous. The first object of the tariff is to raise prices of the protected articles high enough to make possible their production in this country; consequently, higher on all articles to which it applies than they would be without it. Then by keeping out so long as the tariff is retained, prices must be foreign competition the tariff favors the formation of combinations, which seek to maintain a profitable price level. It was these relations of the tariff to the increased cost of living that Republican party in the November elections. were largely responsible for the defeat of the See TARIFF. creased demand for goods due to higher stand- some REFORM. AND ETHNOLOGY. MAN. See PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. An insulat province of Canada (since July 1, 1873). Cap |