=THE ADMINISTRATION OF BENJAMIN HARRISON, 1889–1893.=
DOMESTIC EVENTS AND MEASURES.
=629. Character of Harrison’s Administration.=—President Harrison was
an able lawyer and a good judge of men, as he proved by important
judicial appointments and by the choice of a strong Cabinet. His
Secretary of State was J. G. Blaine. Since the latter had favored a
rather aggressive foreign policy, it is not strange that Harrison’s
administration should be important on account of international
relations. Since Congress was Republican in both branches when the
administration began, it was possible to carry through important
domestic legislation, including a new tariff and a lavish pension bill.
One measure on which many Republicans had set their hearts,—a Federal
Election Bill, introduced by Congressman (later Senator) Henry Cabot
Lodge of Massachusetts, the object of which was to enable the general
government to prevent fraud at elections in the larger cities and in the
South,—was finally defeated in the Senate by a combination of Democrats
and Republicans favoring more liberal laws with regard to silver. The
defeat of this so-called “Force Bill” was probably good for the country
and not harmful to the Republicans; but the party was hurt by its tariff
legislation and was badly defeated in the congressional election of
1890. Thus the second half of Harrison’s administration was not so
productive of important legislation as the first. The Union was enlarged
during this period by the addition of six of the far Western states.
North and South Dakota, Montana, and Washington were admitted in 1889,
and Idaho and Wyoming in 1890. In the more than twenty years that had
elapsed since the admission of Nebraska in 1867, only one state had been
admitted—Colorado, in 1876. At the end of Harrison’s administration,
the question of securing for the Union territory outside its bounds—to
wit, the Hawaiian Islands—became important (§ 650).
[Illustration: BENJAMIN HARRISON.
[Copyright by Pach Brothers, 1896.]]
=630. The McKinley Tariff.=—The election of Harrison had turned chiefly
on the tariff issue raised by the special message of Cleveland; and as
the nation had decided against the Cleveland doctrine, the framing of a
new tariff bill was early undertaken. It was, as usual, intrusted to the
House Committee of Ways and Means, of which William McKinley of Ohio was
chairman. While it was generally felt that a large part of the surplus
in the Treasury ought to be put into circulation, the Republicans were
unwilling to reduce the duties on protected goods. Therefore they
adopted the policy of imposing a higher duty on all articles produced in
the United States, and reducing the duty on all other articles. It was
believed that in this way the excess of revenue could be checked without
endangering the protective system. As a matter of fact, the so-called
“McKinley Tariff” of 1890, although it admitted sugar free, and was
supplemented in the Senate by a “reciprocity clause,” which authorized
the President to modify the tariff rates upon goods from other nations
according to the liberality of those nations toward goods from the
United States, created great popular disturbance, and converted many
voters to Cleveland’s theories of freer trade. It was followed by a
marked rise of prices in certain articles, and this fact probably
contributed largely to the crushing defeat of the Republicans in the
election of 1890.
=631. Oklahoma Territory.=—The new tariff, although it attracted so
much attention, was but one of several important features of Harrison’s
administration. Not long after the inauguration, the territory of
Oklahoma was thrown open for settlement. It had formed a part of Indian
Territory, but the right of the Indians had been purchased by the United
States. In order to prevent speculation, Harrison made it known that no
entrance into the territory before noon of April 22, 1889, would entitle
any one to preëmpt land. As the soil and climate were considered
particularly desirable, a vast crowd, numbering, it was said, as many as
fifty thousand people, gathered on the border to be among the first
settlers. At the bugle blast announcing the hour, the waiting settlers
rushed over the border and the scramble of selecting lands began. Within
a few months Guthrie, the capital, had several thousand inhabitants,
with banks, schools, churches, and electric lights. The same year that
witnessed this notable evidence of national enterprise also saw the
great flood of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, which destroyed many lives and
much property.
=632. The Pan-American Congress.=—In October, 1889, as a result of the
work of a commission appointed in 1884, a congress of representatives of
eighteen of the leading governments of North, Central, and South
America, met at Washington, in what was known as the Pan-American
Congress. The meeting, which had been advocated by Blaine, was designed
to promote facilities for commercial intercourse. After visiting various
parts of the United States, the delegates, sixty-six in number, returned
to Washington and devoted several months to the discussion of better
methods of making the resources of their respective countries known, and
to other subjects of mutual interest. The conference was not wholly
harmonious, nor were the results very definite, although the fact was
brought out that Blaine and other Republicans were modifying their views
in the direction of more liberal opinions with regard to the value to
the country of less restricted foreign trade.
=633. New Rules in the House of Representatives.=—In December, 1889,
important action was taken in the House of Representatives to prevent
the obstruction of business. Before that time, the question as to
whether a quorum was present was determined by the number of members who
responded to their names at roll call, and any member felt at liberty to
remain silent when his name was called. This custom afforded many
opportunities for the minority to prevent legislation by simply
remaining silent, and thus reducing the number apparently present to
less than a quorum. It was also possible to obstruct legislation
indefinitely by a succession of motions requiring a call of the roll.
The Republican majority, under the leadership of Speaker Thomas B. Reed
of Maine, now changed the rules so that a quorum would be determined by
the number of those actually present. The new rules also empowered the
Speaker to ignore motions which he regarded as purely dilatory. Mr.
Reed’s innovations were denounced at the time as tyrannical, and he
became popularly known as “Czar Reed”; but the general wisdom of his
course of action was acknowledged later, especially when the Democrats,
on obtaining control of the House in 1891, did not revert to the old
rules.
=634. Silver Legislation.=—The continued decline in the price of silver
had led to an active agitation in favor of a law to require the
government to coin all the silver that might be brought to its mints at
the rate of 371¼ grains of pure silver to the dollar (§ 604). Such a
law, it was argued, would not only provide a market for the product of
all the silver mines, but would also raise the price of silver as
compared with gold to its old standard. A majority of the economists and
financiers of the country argued, however, that such an extension of the
currency would be sure to bring on a financial crisis.
=635. The Sherman Law.=—In order to prevent the passage of the
suggested law, Congress agreed, in 1890, upon a compromise measure,
proposed by Senator Sherman of Ohio. This “Sherman Bill” provided that
the government should buy each month four and a half million ounces of
silver, and that, for the silver so purchased, the United States should
issue Treasury notes. These notes, known as silver certificates, were to
be legal tender in payment of debt. This compromise increased the amount
of currency in circulation by about fifty-four million dollars a year,
and proved to be a severe drain upon the Treasury and a cause of
financial uneasiness. It did not, however, raise the price of silver, as
many had anticipated (§ 647).
=636. New Pensions.=—The vast sum accumulated in the Treasury and the
rapid increase of the currency stimulated large expenditures on the part
of the government. The President recommended greater liberality in the
granting of pensions, and the “Dependent Pension Bill” was finally
passed in 1890 (§ 626). Under this law the amount annually expended for
pensions rapidly rose until, in the course of a few years, it reached
more than one hundred and fifty million dollars a year.
=637. Internal Improvements.=—Congress also made large appropriations
for internal improvements; increased the appropriations for the navy;
and voted to refund to the individual states the amount of taxes they
had levied in support of the war for the Union. In these ways, the
expenditures of the Fifty-first Congress exceeded those of the Fiftieth
by about one hundred and seventy million dollars, and in consequence the
former body came to be popularly known as the “Billion Dollar Congress.”
This fact gave the Democrats a good opportunity to charge the
Republicans with gross extravagance, and contributed to the defeat of
the latter in the elections of 1890.
=638. Labor Riots.=—Harrison’s administration, like those of his
immediate predecessors, was marked by industrial disturbances. In the
summer of 1892, a great strike occurred at Homestead, near Pittsburg,
among the employees of the Carnegie Steel Company. In order to protect
the works and the non-union workmen, a considerable number of Pinkerton
detectives were employed by the owners. A collision occurred between the
detectives and the strikers, in which the former were forced to
surrender, seven detectives and eleven strikers being killed. The
district was placed under martial law, and the militia of the state had
to be called out before order could be restored. About the same time,
disturbances also occurred at Buffalo, New York, as well as in
Tennessee, where the custom of hiring out convict laborers caused
considerable rioting, which had to be put down by the troops.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
=639. Difficulty with Italy.=—During Harrison’s administration, the
foreign relations of the government required, as has already been
indicated, very careful treatment. In March, 1891, a serious riot
occurred in New Orleans, in which several persons of Italian birth were
forcibly taken from jail by a mob and shot or hanged. The disturbance
was due to the murder of a popular chief of police and to the unexpected
acquittal of six of the Italians accused of the crime and the failure of
the jury to agree on a verdict in the case of three. Believing that the
jury was bribed or intimidated by the criminal secret society known as
the “Mafia,” to which the accused men belonged, the citizens became
infuriated and broke into the jail, under the leadership of the district
attorney. Most of the men lynched were naturalized citizens, but some of
them still owed allegiance to Italy. While the United States government
expressed its earnest regret at the incident, it disavowed all
responsibility for it, since it was a matter entirely under the control
of the State of Louisiana. The Italian government demanded a national
apology, the payment of an indemnity, and the punishment of the
perpetrators of the outrage. The United States government refused to
comply; whereupon the Italian minister withdrew from Washington. The
matter assumed a warlike aspect; but as an evidence of national good
will the government finally agreed to pay the sum of twenty-five
thousand dollars for the families of those who had been killed. Blaine
managed the negotiations in a most creditable manner, in view of the
difficulty of making the Italian government understand that even in
affairs involving international relations the government of the United
States sometimes has not full control of the actions of its own
citizens.
=640. Difficulty with Chile.=—In October, 1891, a number of sailors in
uniform, belonging to the United States cruiser _Baltimore_, were
assaulted in the streets of Valparaiso, in consequence of bad feeling
aroused by previous acts of the American Minister, who had not been
neutral in a civil war going on in Chile. The Chilean populace was also
incensed against the Americans on account of the illegal chase of a
Chilean vessel, the _Itata_, by the United States cruiser _Charleston_.
The requests of our government for an apology and for reparation were
ignored, until, in January, 1892, a peremptory demand, accompanied by
ships of war, was presented to the Chilean government. An indemnity of
seventy-five thousand dollars was promptly offered and accepted. Blaine
seems to have handled with his usual skill this not altogether
creditable affair.
=641. Seal Fisheries.=—Blaine displayed equal vigor, but probably less
discretion, in his efforts to secure the settlement of another serious
question. For some years a dispute had existed between Great Britain and
the United States, in regard to the rights of vessels engaged in the
seal fisheries off Alaska.[291] The dispute involved the question as to
whether Alaska seals, in going to and from the outer islands, passed out
of the United States jurisdiction, so as to be subject to capture by
foreign fishermen. This difficult question, which had never been clearly
settled by international law, was finally submitted, in 1892, to
arbitration, the seven arbitrators meeting at Paris, in the spring of
1893. The contention of the United States was not allowed, and it was
declared that no exclusive property in seals could exist outside the
three-mile limit. It was decided, however, that both nations might join
in protecting the seals in the open waters.
POLITICAL AFFAIRS.
=642. The People’s Party.=—For many years before 1890 the farmers of
the country had shown unmistakable signs of dissatisfaction (§ 596).
Many organizations, known as Farmers’ Leagues, Granges, Patrons of
Industry, and Farmers’ Alliances, had been organized for various
purposes, and for the spread of knowledge in regard to matters of mutual
interest. In 1889 these organizations were united into what was known as
the “Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial Union.” They met in St. Louis, and
in the following year called a convention, which gave to the
organization the title of the “People’s [or Populist] Party.” They
demanded the unlimited coinage of silver, at a ratio of sixteen to one
(§ 604), a graduated income tax, government ownership of railroads and
telegraphs, and a national currency to be loaned to the people, at two
per cent, on the security of land or produce. On this platform, in 1890,
two senators and five representatives in Congress were elected. In 1892
the new party was ready to put a Presidential ticket in the field.
=643. Pending Political Questions.=—In the election of 1892 several
very important questions were involved. While there had been general
prosperity in the country, there was a widespread feeling that the
tariff was not accomplishing what had been claimed for it. The
government was accused of great extravagance (§ 637), and some of its
creditable achievements, such as the passage of a long needed
International Copyright Law and of an Anti-Lottery Bill which helped to
put down the great Louisiana Lottery, were hardly remembered. The
relations of capital and labor were not satisfactory, and it was widely
felt that labor was not receiving its share in the profits of industry.
The accumulations of silver in the Treasury now amounted to a vast sum,
which many people desired to see put in circulation. In the midst of
this prevailing discontent, Harrison, who had been a good executive, was
renominated for the Presidency, with Whitelaw Reid of New York for Vice
President, in a convention held at Minneapolis. The Democrats met at
Chicago, and once more nominated Cleveland, who had spent the interim
practicing law in New York City, with Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois for
Vice President. The People’s Party nominated James B. Weaver of Iowa for
President, and James G. Field of Virginia for Vice President. The result
was an overwhelming victory for the Democrats. Cleveland and Stevenson
received two hundred and seventy-seven electoral votes, while Harrison
and Reid received only one hundred and forty-five, and the People’s
Party candidates, twenty-two.
* * * * *
REFERENCES.—See bibliographical notes to Chapters XXXIV. and
XXXV.
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[291] In 1867 Secretary Seward concluded a treaty with Russia, by which
the United States secured for $7,200,000 the sparsely populated
northwestern territory of Alaska, containing over 530,000 square miles.