: Harper's Round Table February 4 1896 by Various - Children's periodicals

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s. Its inhabitants number 550, of whom 40 are whites and 510 natives. It was once a colony of France, but in 1879 it was declared independent, and its people at once adopted a republican constitution. It is governed by a President and a council of eight elected by the people--black and white, men and women. Only white males hold office. The President elected recently is R. D. Polk, a native of Tennessee, and a relative of James K. Polk, one of the Presidents of our own republic.

In the western part of North Carolina is a perfectly organized republic independent of both State and national governments. It is known as the Qualla Reserve, and is the home of about 1000 of the Cherokee Indians belonging to the Eastern branch. The Reserve has an area of 50,000 acres, or 82 square miles, of the richest valley land of the State, lying along the Ocona, Lufta, and Soco creeks. The President of the little republic is elected every four years. He receives a salary of 0 a year, but when at Washington on business for the republic he gets a day extra. He is called Chief, and none but a Cherokee of more than thirty-five years is eligible to the chieftainship. When he is absent his duties are performed by an Assistant Chief, whose salary is 0 a year. The Chief has a cabinet of three secretaries, and the Congress comprises two delegates from every 100 members of the tribe. All Cherokee males of sixteen and all white men who have Indian wives have the right to vote. The constitution provides for the maintenance of a public school, in which both English and Cherokee are taught. The inhabitants of the Reserve are intelligent, fairly well educated, law-abiding, and industrious.

The queer little Italian republic of San Marino, with its 33 square miles of territory and its population of 6000, lies up in the eastern spurs of the Apennine Mountains. It is governed by a Grand Council of 60, who are elected for life, and two Presidents, one of whom is appointed by the Council, the other elected by the people. The little republic has an army of 950 men, who are employed only as policemen. San Marino is the only country in the world that prohibits the introduction of the printing-press. The city of San Marino, with a population of 1700, is one of the queerest old towns in the world. It has undergone no change in 500 years. The republic of San Marino began in 1631.

A little bit larger than San Marino in population, but six times as large in area, is the republic of Andorra. It lies in a valley of the eastern Pyrenees between France and Spain. It became a free state in 819. It is governed by a Sovereign Council of 24 members, elected by the people, and a Syndic, or president, chosen for life by the Council. It has an army of 1100 men, and one big gun planted in the centre of the republic. This gun carries a ball twenty miles, and Europe trembles at the thought of its being fired. In Andorra, the capital, is the palace--a stone building several hundred years old. Here the Councilmen meet. The ground-door is the stable where their horses are kept and fed by their masters themselves. The floor above contains the dining-room, the Senate-chamber and the public school, and the dormitory is on the third floor. Here are kept the archives of the republic, which no one but a native can read. They are kept in a vault to which there are seven great keys, which are held by seven deputies. The schoolmaster of Andorra is the barber, and also the secretary of the Senate; the Mayor is a farmer; the barber shaves customers only on Sunday; and every citizen is a soldier of the republic at his own expense.

Another little republic, of which little can be said because so little is known of it, is Mansuet. It covers four square miles, and is tucked away between Aix-la-Chapelle and Vermus. There are 3000 people in Mansuet, but they are proud; they inhabit a lovely country, and they have enjoyed the rights of republican citizens since the year 1688. Mansuet is free and independent under the protection of Germany, and has an army of three soldiers. A President and a Council of five govern it.

The latest addition to the galaxy of little republics is Hawaii. It is very young yet, as it was born on our birthday--the Fourth of July. We'll hear more about it later on.

NURSERY BALLADS.

A BALLAD OF THE ARK.

The elephant is painted blue, the lambs are painted red, The zebra has rich carmine stripes upon his back and head. The rooster's larger than the cow, the pigs are works of art, And as for goats and lions, why, you can't tell them apart.

Shem, Ham, and Japhet look just like a row of wooden pegs, With great long ulsters hanging down to cover up their legs. In which they all resemble both their father and his wife, And which is which I couldn't say--no, not to save my life.

The horses are both green and brown, and made, 'tis really true, From just the same queer pattern as the bear and kangaroo; And every dove and stork and chick in that strange wooden ark Is modelled like the ostrich that they've got in Central Park.

And if you broke the horns and legs from off the yellow moose You'd take him for a baby seal, or possibly a goose; But spite of all I love that ark as well as any toy That ever brought a bit of fun to any girl or boy.

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