EFFECT OF THE MCKINLEY TARIFF BILL ON BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES
The Congressional elections of 1890 resulted in a crushing defeat for
the Republicans. This was due, no doubt, to the McKinley Tariff Bill
which became a law only about a month before the elections of that year.
Congress convened the first Monday in December, 1889, and that session
did not come to a close until the following October. The Democrats in
Congress made a bitter fight against the McKinley Tariff Bill, and,
since it was a very complete and comprehensive measure, a great deal of
time was necessarily consumed in its consideration and discussion. When
it finally became a law the time between its passage and the elections
was so short that the friends of the measure did not have time to
explain and defend it before the elections took place. This placed the
Republicans at a great disadvantage. They were on the defensive from the
beginning. The result was a sweeping Democratic victory.
But, strange to say, the same issues that produced Democratic success
and Republican defeat at that election brought about Republican success
and Democratic defeat at the Presidential and Congressional elections in
1896. The McKinley Tariff Bill of 1890 was so popular six years later,
that the author of that measure was deemed the strongest and most
available man to place at the head of the Republican ticket as the
candidate of that party for President. His election was a complete
vindication of the wisdom of the measure of which he was the author and
champion. In 1890 his bill was so unpopular that it resulted in his own
defeat for reëlection to Congress. But this did not cause him to lose
faith in the wisdom and the ultimate popularity of the bill which he was
proud to have bear his name.
"A little time," said McKinley, "will prove the wisdom of the measure."
In this he was not mistaken. His defeat for reëlection to Congress
ultimately made him President of the United States; for the following
year the Republicans of his State elected him Governor, which was a
stepping-stone to the Presidency. All that was needed was an opportunity
for the merits of his bill to be thoroughly tested. Shortly after its
passage, but before it could be enforced or even explained, the people
were led to believe that it was a harsh, cruel, and unjust measure,
imposing heavy, unreasonable, and unnecessary taxes upon them,
increasing the prices of the necessaries of life without a
corresponding increase in the price of labor. The people were in an
ugly mood in anticipation of what was never fully realized.
It is true that the tariff was not the sole issue that resulted in such
a sweeping Republican victory in the National elections of 1896. The
financial issue, which was prominent before the people at that time, was
one of the contributory causes of that result. Still it cannot be denied
that McKinley's connection with the Tariff Bill of 1890 was what gave
him the necessary national prominence to make him the most available man
to be placed at the head of his party ticket for the Presidency that
year.