CLEVELAND'S SECOND TERM.
"Cleveland's (second) election created the disturbances that followed
it. The fear of radical changes in the Tariff Law was the basis of them.
That law caused the falling of prices, the stagnation of some
industries, and the suspension of others. No doubt the fall in the value
of silver and the increased demand for gold largely precipitated and
added to the other evils."
_John Sherman's Recollections._
The delegates for the Tenth Republican National Convention assembled at
Minneapolis, Minn., in the opening days of June, 1892. The friends of
Mr. Blaine were booming his candidacy, although no direct expression had
come from him as to whether or not he actively desired the nomination.
His sudden and unexpected resignation from President Harrison's Cabinet
had created a situation difficult to analyze, but the general opinion
was that he had hurt his prospects by his action. The anti-Harrison
sentiment was strong, however, and there was much talk of the possible
nomination of a "dark horse," and the name of William McKinley, of Ohio,
"the Napoleon of Tariff," was most spoken of in this respect. As the day
of the Convention drew near both the Blaine and Harrison men expressed
the utmost confidence in their certain success, and the first occasion
in the Convention that would call for a test of strength was looked for
with great interest.
About 12:24 p. m., Tuesday, June 7, 1892, Chairman James S. Clarkson, of
the Republican National Committee, called the Tenth Convention to order,
and announced the selection, by the National Committee, of J. Sloat
Fassett, of New York, as temporary Chairman. At the close of Mr.
Fassett's speech of acceptance the Convention called for Thomas B. Reed,
who reluctantly came forward and addressed the Convention briefly. The
roll-call of States for the selection of members of the various
committees consumed the time until almost two o'clock, when the
convention adjourned to meet the next morning. On reassembling the
Committee on Credentials was granted further time; the Committee on
Permanent Organization reported the name of William McKinley, of Ohio,
for Permanent President of the Convention, who took the gavel amid great
applause and enthusiasm, and delivered a short, pithy speech. The
Committee on Rules reported, and further time was granted the Committee
on Resolutions. After calling the roll of States for names of the new
National Committeemen, the Convention adjourned for the day. On Thursday
morning, June 9th, the Committee on Credentials was still not ready to
report, and as nothing could be done until they did report, the
Convention took a recess at 11:45 a. m. to 8 p. m. At the opening of the
evening session Mr. Depew, of New York, congratulated Col. Dick
Thompson, of Indiana, who had voted for every President of the United
States for the past sixty years, on reaching on that day his
eighty-third birthday, and the Convention listened to a short speech of
thanks from Col. Thompson. The Committee on Credentials now reported,
and the majority were in favor of the seating of enough administration
delegates to make a net gain of 12 votes for Harrison, and the first
contest of strength between the Blaine and the Harrison forces came on a
motion to substitute the minority report in favor of seating the Blaine
delegates. The vote on this motion was taken amid intense excitement,
and resulted in a victory for the Harrison forces by a close vote of
462-1/2 to 423. Joseph B. Foraker, of Ohio, Chairman of the Committee on
Resolutions, now reported the platform, which was in the following
words:
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 1892.
The representatives of the Republicans of the United States, assembled
in general convention on the shores of the Mississippi River, the
everlasting bond of an indestructible republic, whose most glorious
chapter of history is the record of the Republican Party, congratulate
their countrymen on the majestic march of the nation under the banners
inscribed with the principles of our platform of 1888, vindicated by
victory at the polls and prosperity in our fields, workshops and mines,
and make the following declaration of principles:
THE PRINCIPLE OF PROTECTION.
We reaffirm the American doctrine of protection. We call attention to
its growth abroad. We maintain that the prosperous condition of our
country is largely due to the wise revenue legislation of the last
Republican Congress. We believe that all articles which cannot be
produced in the United States, except luxuries, should be admitted free
of duty, and that on all imports coming into competition with the
products of American labor there should be levied duties equal to the
difference between wages abroad and at home.
We assert that the prices of manufactured articles of general
consumption have been reduced under the operations of the Tariff Act
of 1890.
We denounce the efforts of the Democratic majority of the House of
Representatives to destroy our tariff laws piecemeal, as manifested by
their attacks upon wool, lead, and lead ores, the chief products of a
number of states, and we ask the people for their judgment thereon.
TRIUMPH OF RECIPROCITY.
We point to the success of the Republican policy of reciprocity, under
which our export trade has vastly increased and new and enlarged markets
have been opened for the products of our farms and workshops. We remind
the people of the bitter opposition of the Democratic Party to this
practical business measure, and claim that, executed by a Republican
administration, our present laws will eventually give us control of the
trade of the world.
FREE AND SAFE COINAGE OF GOLD AND SILVER.
The American people, from tradition and interest, favor bimetalism, and
the Republican party demands the use of both gold and silver as standard
money, with such restrictions and under such provisions, to be
determined by legislation, as will secure the maintenance of the parity
of values of the two metals, so that the purchasing and debt-paying
power of the dollar, whether of silver, gold, or paper, shall be at all
times equal. The interests of the producers of the country, its farmers
and its workingmen, demand that every dollar, paper, or coin, issued by
the government shall be as good as any other. We commend the wise and
patriotic steps already taken by our government to secure an
international conference to adopt such measures as will insure a parity
of value between gold and silver for use as money throughout the world.
FREEDOM OF THE BALLOT.
We demand that every citizen of the United States shall be allowed to
cast one free and unrestricted ballot in all public elections, and that
such ballot shall be counted and returned as cast; that such laws shall
be enacted and enforced as will secure to every citizen, be he rich or
poor, native or foreign born, white or black, this sovereign right,
guaranteed by the Constitution. The free and honest popular ballot, the
just and equal representation of all the people, as well as their just
and equal protection under the laws, are the foundation of our
republican institutions, and the party will never relax its efforts
until the integrity of the ballot and the purity of elections shall be
fully guaranteed and protected in every state.
OUTRAGES IN THE SOUTH.
We denounce the continued inhuman outrages perpetrated upon American
citizens for political reasons in certain Southern States of the Union.
EXTENSION OF FOREIGN COMMERCE.
We favor the extension of our foreign commerce, the restoration of our
mercantile marine by home-built ships, and the creation of a navy for
the protection of our national interests and the honor of our flag; the
maintenance of the most friendly relations with all foreign powers,
entangling alliance with none, and the protection of the rights of our
fishermen.
MONROE DOCTRINE.
We reaffirm our approval of the Monroe doctrine, and believe in the
achievement of the manifest destiny of the Republic in its broadest
sense.
RESTRICTION OF IMMIGRATION.
We favor the enactment of more stringent laws and regulations for the
restriction of criminal, pauper, and contract immigration.
EMPLOYEES OF RAILROADS.
We favor the efficient legislation by Congress to protect the life and
limbs of employees of transportation companies engaged in carrying on
interstate commerce, and recommend legislation by the respective states
that will protect employees engaged in state commerce, in mining and
manufacturing.
CHAMPIONING THE OPPRESSED.
The Republican Party has always been the champion of the oppressed and
recognizes the dignity of manhood, irrespective of faith, color or
nationality. It sympathizes with the cause of home rule in Ireland, and
protests against the persecution of the Jews in Russia.
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND SPEECH.
The ultimate reliance of free popular government is the intelligence of
the people and the maintenance of freedom among all men. We therefore
declare anew our devotion to liberty of thought and conscience, of
speech and press, and approve all agencies and instrumentalities which
contribute to the education of the children of the land; but while
insisting upon the fullest measure of religious liberty, we are opposed
to any union of church and state.
TRUSTS CONDEMNED.
We reaffirm our opposition, declared in the Republican platform of 1888,
to all combinations of capital, organized in trusts or otherwise to
control arbitrarily the condition of trade among our citizens. We
heartily indorse the action already taken upon this subject, and ask for
such further legislation as may be required to remedy any defects in
existing laws and to render their enforcement more complete and
effective.
FREE DELIVERY SERVICE.
We approve the policy of extending to town, villages, and rural
communities the advantages of the free-delivery service now enjoyed by
the larger cities of the country, and reaffirm the declaration contained
in the Republican platform of 1888, pledging the reduction of letter
postage to one cent at the earliest possible moment consistent with the
maintenance of the Postoffice Department and the highest class of postal
service.
SPIRIT OF CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM.
We commend the spirit and evidence of reform in the civil service, and
the wise and consistent enforcement by the Republican Party of the laws
regulating the same.
THE NICARAGUA CANAL.
The construction of the Nicaragua Canal is of the highest importance to
the American people, both as a measure of defense and to build up and
maintain American commerce, and it should be controlled by the United
States Government.
TERRITORIES.
We favor the admission of the remaining territories at the earliest
practicable day, having due regard to the interests of the people of
the territories and of the United States.
FEDERAL TERRITORIAL OFFICERS.
All the federal officers appointed for the territories should be
selected from bona fide residents thereof, and the right of self
government should be accorded as far as practicable.
ARID LANDS.
We favor cession, subject to the homestead laws, of the arid public
lands to the states and territories in which they lie, under such
congressional restrictions as to disposition, reclamation, and
occupancy by settlers as will secure the maximum benefits to the
people.
THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.
The World's Columbian Exposition is a great national undertaking, and
Congress should promptly enact such reasonable legislation in aid
thereof as will insure a discharging of the expense and obligations
incident thereto and the attainment of results commensurate with the
dignity and progress of the nation.
SYMPATHY FOR TEMPERANCE.
We sympathize with all wise and legitimate efforts to lessen and prevent
the evils of intemperance and promote morality.
PLEDGES TO THE VETERANS.
Ever mindful of the services and sacrifices of the men who saved the
life of the nation, we pledge anew to the veteran soldiers of the
Republic a watchful care and a just recognition of their claims upon a
grateful people.
HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION COMMENDED.
We commend the able, patriotic, and thoroughly American administration
of President Harrison. Under it the country has enjoyed remarkable
prosperity, and the dignity and honor of the nation, at home and abroad,
have been faithfully maintained, and we offer the record of pledges kept
as a guarantee of faithful performance in the future.
After the adoption of the platform the Convention adjourned for the day.
At the opening of the session on June 10th, Mrs. J. Ellen Foster,
Chairman of the Woman's Republican Association of the United States, was
heard, and next in order was the nomination of candidates for President.
Senator Wolcott nominated James G. Blaine in an eloquent speech; W. H.
Eustis seconded this nomination, and at the conclusion of his splendid
speech there was twenty-seven minutes of the wildest enthusiasm for
Blaine; W. E. Mollison and G. B. Boyd also seconded Mr. Blaine's
nomination. Richard W. Thompson, ex-Secretary of the Navy, nominated
Benjamin Harrison, and was seconded by Chauncey M. Depew, Warner Miller,
Senator Spooner and B. E. Finck. The total number of votes was 905,
making 453 necessary to a choice. Only one ballot was taken as follows:
Benjamin Harrison ........ 535 1-6 Thomas B. Reed ........... 4
James G. Blaine .......... 182 5-6 Robert T. Lincoln ........ 1
William McKinley ......... 182
Mr. Harrison was thus nominated on the first ballot, and on motion of
Mr. McKinley the nomination was made unanimous. Whitelaw Reid of New
York was nominated for Vice-President by acclamation, and the Convention
adjourned.
The Democratic National Convention assembled at Chicago, Ill., June 21,
1892. Grover Cleveland, of New York, was nominated for the third time by
a vote of 617 1-3 to 114 for David B. Hill, his nearest opponent. Adlai
E. Stevenson, of Illinois, was named for Vice-President. The Democratic
platform of 1892 denounced Republican protection as a fraud and a
robbery of the great majority of the American people for the benefit of
the few, and said that the McKinley Tariff Law was the "culminating
atrocity" of class legislation, and promised its repeal; the platform
declared for a tariff for purposes of revenue only, and advocated the
speedy repeal of the Sherman Act of 1890.
The Prohibition Convention met at Cincinnati, Ohio, June 24, and
nominated John Bidwell, of California, and J. B. Cranfill, of Texas. A
new party had been organizing quietly for some time, and was destined to
exercise a momentous effect upon the campaign of this year and also of
1896. A Farmers' Alliance Convention had met at St. Louis in December,
1889, and formed a confederation with the Knights of Labor, Greenback
and Single Tax Parties. In December, 1890, they met at Ocala, Florida,
and adopted what is known as the "Ocala Platform," practically all of
the ideas of which were embodied in the platform of the first National
Convention of the People's Party, which met at Omaha, Neb., July 2,
1892. At this Convention James B. Weaver, of Iowa, was nominated for
President, and James G. Field, of Virginia, for Vice-President. The
platform of the People's Party in 1892 stated that corruption dominated
everything, and that the country generally was on the verge of "moral,
political and material ruin," and stated that in the last twenty-five
years' struggle of the two great parties "grievous wrongs have been
inflicted upon the suffering people;" and declared that the union of the
labor forces shall be permanent, and demanded the free and unlimited
coinage of silver and gold at 16 to 1; for an income tax; for Postal
Savings Bank; for Government ownership of railroads, telegraphs and
telephones. The Socialist-Labor Convention met at New York August 28,
1892, and nominated Simon Wing, of Massachusetts, and Charles H.
Matchett, of New York, and adopted a series of social and political
demands.
The campaign of 1892 was somewhat uninteresting as compared to those of
previous years; the political land slide of 1890 was still felt by the
Republicans, but notwithstanding it, the situation seemed hopeful. The
main encouragement for the Republicans was that the disturbances in the
Democratic party in New York might result so seriously as to lose that
State for the Democrats, but the hope was futile, and at the election on
November 8, 1892, Cleveland and Stevenson received 277 electoral votes,
to 145 for Harrison and Morton, and 22 for the People's candidates,
Weaver and Field. The popular vote was: Cleveland, 5,556,928; Harrison,
5,176,106; Weaver, 1,041,021; Bidwell, 262,034; Wing, 21,164.
The great surprise of this election, to the members of both of the old
parties, was the unexpected strength shown by the candidates of the
People's Party. By fusing with the Democrats they received the electoral
votes of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Kansas, and split the vote in North
Dakota and Oregon. This fusion of the People's Party and the Democrats
in the West portended serious effects on the destiny of the Democratic
Party in subsequent campaigns.
President Cleveland was inaugurated March 4, 1893, and begun his second
term of four years, which was marked by the worst financial and
industrial disasters, affecting thousands upon thousands of the American
people, ever known in the history of the country. Before he was
inaugurated, a Treaty of Annexation of Hawaii had been signed (February
14, 1893), and was being considered by the Senate, but almost his first
act of importance was to withdraw the Treaty from the consideration of
the Senate on March 9, 1893.
Fear of Democratic tinkering with the tariff began almost immediately
with Cleveland's inauguration, and manifested itself in a lack of
confidence and general business uncertainty; in addition, the currency
was in bad shape, and the business interests feared strongly that the
Silver Act of 1890 might result in the adoption of the silver standard
for the United States. The evils of the Greenback system were now felt
with full force; they could be redeemed in specie, but were not
cancelled, and were put in circulation again, thus causing a continuous
drain on the gold reserve of the country. The amount of greenbacks in
circulation was about $350,000,000, and the Treasury notes issued under
the Silver Act of 1890, exchangeable in gold, made a total gold
obligation close to $500,000,000. The threatening state of affairs now
resulted in a general withdrawal and hoarding of gold, and foreign
capital, beginning to lose its confidence in the stability of American
affairs, withdrew investments, resulting in a heavy drain on the gold
reserve, which now, for the first time, fell below $100,000,000 in
April, 1893. The general climax of all of these conditions reached its
height in the Summer and Fall of 1893, and a panic of fearful
proportions set in, resulting in the collapse of hundreds of banks and
involving and ruining business enterprises all over the country. Never
before had a panic reached so far or affected so many people as that of
this year.
With the hope of benefiting the situation by the repeal of the Silver
Act of 1890, President Cleveland called an extraordinary session of the
Fifty-third Congress, which met August 7, 1893. In the Senate were 44
Democrats and 38 Republicans, one Independent and two Farmers' Alliance;
the House was composed of 220 Democrats and 128 Republicans and eight
Populists, and organized by electing Chas. F. Crisp, of Georgia,
Speaker. On November 1, 1893, a Bill was passed repealing the Silver
purchase law of 1890, but in both branches of Congress there was a
majority in favor of free coinage, and this fact, notwithstanding that
nothing was or could be done in the way of legislation, on this subject,
although it was attempted several times, continued to disturb the
nation's financial and commercial interests. Business conditions
gradually continued to grow worse, and this situation confronted the
second session of the Fifty-third Congress, which met on December 3,
1893. The Democratic Party in the House immediately took up the
proposition of repealing the McKinley tariff law, and on December 19th,
Mr. Wm. L. Wilson, Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means,
presented the Wilson Tariff Bill to the House, and it was passed by that
body February 1, 1894. In the Senate it met with Democratic opposition,
which joined with the Republicans in amending the bill so as to protect
certain industries. A compromise was effected with the House, and the
mutilated and unsatisfactory bill became a law on August 27, 1894,
without President Cleveland's signature.
One alarming feature of the panic of 1893 was that, as the industrial
conditions continued to grow worse, a lawless and frenzied element made
itself felt in alarming strikes in many parts of the country, in some
instances making necessary the calling out of the Regular Army. Another
manifestation of alarming and revolutionary tendency was the marching on
Washington of two armies of men to demand action from the Government,
relieving their distress; their number and character, however, did not
represent the best spirit of the American people, but that conditions
were so alarming as to cause such a movement is indeed a matter for
serious reflection.
Two years of Democratic failure in the management of the affairs of the
country had its effect on the Congressional elections in 1894, and the
Democrats experienced an overwhelming and crushing defeat, and the
Fifty-fourth Congress to meet in December, 1895, would be composed of 39
Democrats, 44 Republicans and six Alliance Senators; and 104 Democrats,
245 Republicans, one Silverite and seven Populists in the House. The
continued drain on the gold reserve made necessary the issuance of bonds
to obtain gold, and the bonded debt of the country was increased during
Cleveland's term $262,000,000. The Wilson tariff bill, it was felt,
would be insufficient to produce enough revenue to meet the expenditures
of the Government, and an attempt was made to meet the deficit by
imposing a tax of two percent on all incomes over $4,000, but this was
subsequently declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Only one
bright spot seems to appear in all this disastrous period, and it was
the vigorous policy of interference by the President in the dispute
between Great Britain and Venezuela. A bold and decided stand was taken
for the Monroe Doctrine, but even this had its evil effect, for the
business interests were agitated by the fear of war with Great Britain.
Such was the disastrous story of four years of Democratic control of the
Government, and the Republicans, in the early months of 1896, looked
forward with the utmost confidence to the elections of their candidates,
who would be named in a convention to be held at St. Louis, Mo., in
June.