Jan 5  President Rafael Reyes of Colombia has signed a treaty
that recognizes loss of the former province of Panama and that
recognizes Panama's independence. He presents the treaty to his
country's Congress but there the matter is dropped because it
lacks support.  Mar 3  The US Food and Drug Administration
approves the use of sodium benzoate as a preservative in foods
despite a recommendation that its use be banned.  Mar 4  In his
Inaugural Address President Taft promises to maintain Theodore
Roosevelt's reforms. "They were," he says, "directed to the
suppression of the lawlessness and abuses of power of the great
combinations of capital invested in railroads and in industrial
enterprises carrying on interstate commerce."  Mar 9  France's
Chamber of Deputies votes 386 to 129 to enact an income tax.
Mar 10  Britain and the Kingdom of Siam (Thailand) sign a treaty
that cedes the states of Kelantan, Trengganu, Perlis and Kedah,
on the Malay Peninsula, to the British Empire.  Mar 24 
President Taft and his Att