 |
[Transcriber's Notes]
Text has been moved to avoid fragmentation of sentences.
Here are the definitions of some uncommon words.
ad valorem In proportion to the value:
akouphone Table model hearing aid sold around 1900.
auriferous Containing gold.
balustrades Rail and the row of posts that support it.
between Scylla and Charybdis Between two perilous alternatives, which cannot be passed without falling victim to one or the other.
biograph Moving-picture machine.
brevet Promoting a military officer to a higher rank without an increase of pay and with limited exercise of the higher rank, often granted as an honor immediately before retirement.
Caryatids Sculptured female figure used as a column.
catafalque Raised structure on which a deceased person lies or is carried in state. A hearse.
Charybdis Daughter of Gaea and Poseidon, a monster mentioned in Homer and later identified with the whirlpool Charybdis, in the Strait of Messina off the NE coast of Sicily. See: between Scylla and Charybdis.
climacteric Period of decrease of reproductive capacity; any critical period; a year of important changes in health and fortune.
cloture Closing a debate and causing an immediate vote to be taken on the question.
Cobden Club A gentlemen's club in West London founded in the 1870s and named after Richard Cobden. The club offers "art and entertainment for the working man".
derogation Detract, as from authority, estimation, etc.; stray in character or conduct; degenerate; disparage or belittle.
enginery Machinery consisting of engines collectively.
Ethnology Branch of anthropology that analyzes cultures, (formerly) a branch of anthropology dealing with the origin, distribution, and distinguishing characteristics of the races of humankind.
excogitated Think out; devise; invent; study intently to comprehend fully.
execrable Utterly detestable; abominable; abhorrent; very bad:
ex proprio vigore By its own strength; of its own force.
fyke net Long bag net distended by hoops; fish can pass easily in, without being able to exit.
gonfalons Banner suspended from a crosspiece, especially for an ecclesiastical procession or as the ensign of a medieval Italian republic.
graphophone Phonograph for recording and reproducing sounds on wax records.
hegira Journey to a more desirable or congenial place.
hustings Temporary platform where candidates for the British Parliament stood when nominated and from which they addressed the electors; any place where political campaign speeches are made; political campaign trail.
imbroglios Complicated or bitter misunderstanding; confused heap.
mare clausum Body of navigable water under the sole jurisdiction of a nation.
memoriter By heart; by memory.
modus vivendi Manner of living; way of life; lifestyle. Temporary arrangement pending a settlement of matters in debate.
mugwumpery Republican who refused to support the party nominee, James G. Blaine, in the presidential campaign of 1884. Uncommitted person; a person who is neutral on a controversial issue.
muniment Title deed or a charter, defending rights.
mutoscope Simple form of moving-picture machine; a series of views are printed on paper and mounted around the periphery of a wheel. The rotation of the wheel brings them sequentially into view and the blended effect renders apparent motion.
Nestor Oldest and wisest of the Greeks in the Trojan War and a king of Pylos.
obloquy Censure, blame, or abusive language; discredit, disgrace, denunciation.
outre-mer French: Overseas.
pergolas Arbor or a passageway of columns supporting a roof or trelliswork of climbing plants.
Plaisance Place laid out as a pleasure garden or promenade.
pelagic Pertaining to the oceans; living near the surface of the ocean, far from land.
pendency Pending, undecided, as a lawsuit awaiting settlement.
peristyle Colonnade surrounding a building or an open space.
porphyry Purplish-red rock containing small crystals of feldspar.
quadrennium Four years.
quadriga Two-wheeled chariot drawn by four horses abreast.
rapprochement Establishment of harmonious relations.
recreant Coward, craven, unfaithful, disloyal, apostate, traitor, renegade.
recrudescence Recurrence of symptoms after a period of improvement.
redoubtable To be feared; formidable; commanding respect, reverence.
reprobated, reprobation Depraved, unprincipled, wicked; beyond hope of salvation.
Scylla Female sea monster who lived in a cave opposite Charybdis and devoured sailors. See: between Scylla and Charybdis.
truckling Submit tamely; grovel, bow, concede, kowtow.
unwonted Usual; rare.
[End Transcriber's Notes]
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
From a photograph copyright, 1899, by Pach Bros., N. Y. President William McKinley.
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
FROM THE EARLIEST DISCOVERY OF AMERICA TO THE PRESENT TIME
BY
E. BENJAMIN ANDREWS
CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
With 650 Illustrations and Maps
VOLUME V.
NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1912
COPYRIGHT, 1903 AND 1905, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
CONTENTS
PERIOD VI
EXPANSION
1888—1902
CHAPTER I. DRIFT AND DYE IN LAW—MAKING
General Revision and Extension of State Constitutions. Introduction of Australian Ballot in Various States. Woman Suffrage in the West. Negro Suffrage in the South. Educational Qualification. "The Mississippi Plan." South Carolina Registration Act. The "Grandfather" Clause in Louisiana Constitution. Alabama Suffrage.
CHAPTER II. THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1888
Tariff Reform Democratic Creed. Republican Banner, High Protection. Republican Convention at Chicago. Nomination of Benjamin Harrison for President. Biographical Sketch of Benjamin Harrison. Political Strength in the West. National Association of Democratic Clubs and Republican League. Civil Service as an Issue in Campaign. Democratic Blunders. The "Murchison" Letter. Lord Sackville-West Given His Passports. Use of Money in Campaign by Both Political Parties. Tariff the Main Issue. Trusts. "British Free Trade." Popular Vote at the Election.
CHAPTER III. MR. HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
Steamship Subsidies Advocated. Chinese Immigration and the Geary Law. Immigration Restriction. Thomas B. Reed Institutes Parliamentary Innovations in the House of Representatives. Counting a Quorum. The "Force Bill" in Congress. Resentment of the South. Defeated in Senate. The "Billion Dollar Congress" and the Dependent Pensions Act. Pension Payments. The McKinley Tariff Act and "Blaine" Reciprocity. International Copyright Act Becomes a Law. Mr. Blaine as Secretary of State. Murder by "Mafia" Italians Causes Riot in New Orleans. The Itata at San Diego, California. The "Barrundia" Incident. U. S. Assumes Sovereignty Over Tutuila, Samoa. Congressional Campaign, 1890.
CHAPTER IV. NON-POLITICAL EVENTS OF PRESIDENT HARRISON'S TERM
Commemorative Exercises of the Centennial Anniversary of Washington's Inauguration as President. Verse Added to Song "America." Whittier Composes an Ode. Unveiling of Lee Monument. Sectional Feeling Allayed. The Louisiana Lottery Put Down. The Opening of Oklahoma. Sum Paid Seminole Indians. The Messiah Craze of the Indians. The Johnstown Flood. The Steel Strike at Homestead, Pa. Congressional Investigation. Riot in Tennessee Over Convict Labor in the Mines. Mormonism. America Aids Russia in Famine.
CHAPTER V. THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION
Preparation for the World's Fair. Columbus Day in Chicago. In New York. Presidential Election of 1892. The Campaign. Cleveland and Harrison Nominated by the Respective Parties. Populism. Gen. Weaver Populistic Candidate. Reciprocity in the Campaign of 1892. Result of the Election. Opening Exercises of the World's Fair. The Buildings and Grounds. The Spanish Caravals. The Court of Honor. Burning of the Cold Storage Building. Government Exhibits. Midway Plaisance. The Ferris Wheel. Buildings Burned. Fair Not a Financial Success. The Attendance.
CHAPTER VI. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL MOVEMENT
Growth of Population in Cities and States. Centre of Population. The Railroads. Industrial Progress. Development of Use of Electricity in Telegraph, Telephone, Lighting, and Manufacturing. Niagara Falls Harnessed. Thomas A. Edison. Nikola Tesla. The Use of the Bicycle. Growth of Agriculture and Improvement of Implements. Position of Women. The Salvation Army Established in America. Its Growth and Work.
CHAPTER VII. MR. CLEVELAND AGAIN PRESIDENT
Democratic Congress. President Extends Merit System. Anti-Lottery Bill. President Calls a Special Session of Congress. Sale of Bonds to Maintain Reserve of Gold. The Wilson Tariff Law Passed. Income Tax Unconstitutional. Bond Issues. Foreign Affairs. Coup d'etat of Provisional Government of Hawaii. Special Commissioner. Queen Liliuokalani. Queen Renounces Throne. President Cleveland's Venezuelan Message. Measures to Preserve National Credit. Venezuelan Boundary Commission. Lexow Committee Investigation in New York City. Reform Ticket Elected. Greater New York. American Protective Association.
CHAPTER VIII. LABOR AND THE RAILWAYS
The March of the Coxey Army. Arrest of Leaders. The American Railway Union Strike. Refusal of Pullman Company to Arbitrate. Association of General Managers. Federal Injunction. Federal Riot Proclamation and Troops Detailed. Governor Altgeld's Protest. Debs. "Government by Injunction." Commission of Investigation. General Allotment of Indian Lands Under the Dawes Act.
CHAPTER IX. NEWEST DIXIE
Harmony Between North and South. Consecration of Chickamauga-Chattanooga Military Park. Agricultural Development in the South. Manufactures. Natural Products. Southern Characteristics. The "Black Belt." Montgomery Conference on the Negro Question. Lynching. Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee Institute. Negro Population.
CHAPTER X. THE MEN AND THE ISSUE IN 1896
Free Silver Coinage Issue in the Campaign. Republican Convention in St. Louis. The Money Plank in the Platform. Withdrawal of Senator Teller and Free Silver Delegates. William McKinley and Garret A. Hobart Nominated for President and Vice-President. Sketch of Life of William McKinley. Democratic Convention Held in Chicago. Demand for Free and Unlimited Coinage of Silver. William J. Bryan Makes "Cross of Gold" Speech. Delegates Refuse to Vote. W. J. Bryan and Arthur Sewall Nominated. Sketch of William J. Bryan. Thomas Watson Nominated for Vice-President by Populist Convention. National or Gold Democratic Ticket. Speeches Made by Candidates. Result of the Election.
CHAPTER XI. MR. MCKINLEY'S ADMINISTRATION
John Sherman, William R. Day, and John Hay as Secretary of State. Other Members of Cabinet. Revival of Business in 1897. Gold Discovery in Yukon, Klondike, and Cape Nome. Alaskan Boundary Controversy Between United States and Great Britain. Joint High Commission Canvasses Boundary and Sealing Question. Estimate of Loss to Seal Herd. Sealskins Ordered Confiscated and Destroyed at United States Ports. Hawaiian Islands Annexed. Special Envoys to the Powers Appointed to Consider International Bi-Metallism. President Withdraws Positions from the Classified Service. Extra Session of Congress. Passes Dingley Tariff Act. Reciprocity Clauses. Grant Mausoleum Completed. Presentation Ceremonies at New York.
CHAPTER XII. THE WAR WITH SPAIN
Cuban Discontent with Spanish Rule. United States' Neutral Attitude Toward Spain and Cuba. Red Cross Society Aids Reconcentrados. Spanish Minister Writes Letter that Leads to Resignation. United States Battleship Maine Sunk in Havana Harbor. Congress Declares the People of Cuba Free and Independent. Minister Woodford Receives his Passports at Madrid. Increase of the Regular Army. Spain Prepares for War. Army Equipment Insufficient. Strength of Navy. The Oregon Makes Unprecedented Run. Admiral Cervera's Fleet in Santiago Harbor. Navy at Santiago Harbor Entrance. Army Lands near Santiago. The Darkest Day of the War. Sinking of the Collier Merrimac to Block Harbor Entrance. Spanish Ships Leave. General Toral Surrenders. Expedition of General Miles to Porto Rico. Commodore George Dewey Enters Manila Bay. Destroys Spanish Fleet. Manila Capitulates. Treaty of Paris Signed.
CHAPTER XIII. "CUBA LIBRE"
Admiral Sampson and Admiral Schley in Santiago Naval Battle. Court of Inquiry Appointed. Paris Treaty of Peace Ratified. Foreign Criticism. The Samoan Islands. Civil Government Established in Porto Rico. Foreign Commerce of Porto Rico. Congressional Pledge about Cuba. Census of Cuba. General Leonard Wood, Governor of Cuba. Cuban Constitutional Convention. "Platt Amendment." Cuban Constitution Adopted. First President of Cuba. Reciprocity with Cuba.
CHAPTER XIV. THE UNITED STATES IN THE ORIENT—PHILIPPINES AND FILIPINOS.
Area of the Philippines. The Native Tribes. Population. Education Under Spanish Rule. Filipinos. Iocoros. Igorrotes. Ilocoans. Moros. Spain as a Colonist. Religious Orders. Secret Leagues. Spain and the Filipinos. Emilio Aguinaldo. The Philippines in the Treaty of Paris. Senate Resolution.
CHAPTER XV. THE UNITED STATES IN THE ORIENT.— WAR.—CONTROVERSY.—PEACE.
Filipinos' Foothold in Philippines. Attitude Toward Filipinos. President Orders Government Extended Over Archipelago. American Rule Awakens Hostility. First Philippine Commission. Philippine Congress Votes for Peace. Revolution. Treachery of Filipinos. General Frederick Funston Captures Aguinaldo. Aguinaldo Swears Allegiance to the United States. The Constitution and the Philippines. United States Supreme Court Decisions. Tariff. Anti-Imperialism. Second Commission. Civil Government Inaugurated. Educational Reforms.
CHAPTER XVI. POLITICS AT THE TURNING OF THE CENTURY.
Candidates for President in 1900. McKinley Renominated. Bryan Nominated. Gold Democrats. Fusion. Populists. Silver Republicans. Anti-Imperialism. Tariff for Colonies. Porto Rico Tariff. President McKinley's Opposition to Bill. Campaign Issues. Boer War. Trusts. Democratic Defeat. Coal Strike. Reasons for Democratic Defeat. Mr. Bryan Insists on Silver Issue. Monetary System on a Gold Basis. Result of Election.
CHAPTER XVII. THE TWELFTH CENSUS
Permanent Census Bureau. Alaska Census. Method of Taking Census. Two Thousand Employees. Population of United States. Nevada Loses in Population. Urban Increase. Greater New York. Cities of More than a Million Inhabitants. Loss in Rural Population. Centre of Population. Proportion of Males to Females. Foreign Born Population. Character of Immigration. Chinese. Congressional Apportionment. Farms. Crops. Manufacturing Capital Invested. Foreign Commerce. Revenues. War Taxes Repealed. National Debt.
CHAPTER XVIII. THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION, 1901
The Opening. Triumphal Bridge. Electric Tower. Temple of Music. Architecture. Coloring of the "Rainbow City." Symbolism of Coloring. Sculpture. Electrical Illumination. The Chaining of Niagara. The Midway. The Athletic Congress. Conservatory. The Spanish-American Countries Represented. United States Government Building.
CHAPTER XIX. MR. McKINLEY'S END
President McKinley's Address at the Pan-American Exposition. The President Shot. His Illness and Death. The Funeral Ceremony. In Washington. At Canton. Commemorative Services. Mr. McKinley's Career. Political Insight. Americanism. His Administration as President. Leon Czolgosz, the Murderer of President McKinley. Anarchists. Anti-Anarchist Law. Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt Succeeds to the Presidency.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PRESIDENT WILLIAM MCKINLEY. (From a copyright photograph, 1899, by Pach Bros., New York).
A NEW YORK POLLING PLACE, SHOWING BOOTHS ON THE LEFT.
BENJAMIN R. TILLMAN.
GROVER CLEVELAND. (Photograph copyrighted by C. M. Bell).
W. Q. GRESHAM.
LEVI P. MORTON.
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
LORD L. S. SACKVILLE-WEST.
JOSEPH B. FORAKER.
"THE CHINESE MUST GO!" DENIS KEARNEY ADDRESSING THE WORKINGMEN ON THE NIGHT OF OCTOBER 29, ON NOB HILL, SAN FRANCISCO.
THOMAS B. REED.
DAVID C. HENNESSY.
AN EPISODE OF THE LYNCHING OF THE ITALIANS IN NEW ORLEANS.
THE CITIZENS BREAKING DOWN THE DOOR OF THE PARISH PRISON WITH THE BEAM BROUGHT THERE THE NIGHT BEFORE FOR THAT PURPOSE.
OLD PARISH JAIL, NEW ORLEANS, LA.
CANAL STREET, NEW ORLEANS, LA.
A. G. THURMAN.
CHILIAN STEAMER ITATA IN SAN DIEGO HARBOR.
PRESIDENT HARRISON BEING ROWED ASHORE AT FOOT OF WALL STEEET, NEW YORK, APRIL 29, 1889.
WASHINGTON INAUGURAL CELEBRATION, 1889, NEW YORK.
PARADE PASSING UNION SQUARE ON BROADWAY.
UNVEILING OF THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF ROBERT E. LEE, MAY 29, 1890.
HENRY W. GRADY.
FRANCIS T. NICHOLLS.
THE BUILDING OF A WESTERN TOWN, GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA: A GENERAL VIEW OF THE TOWN ON APRIL 24, 1889, THE SECOND DAY AFTER THE OPENING. A VIEW ALONG OKLAHOMA A VENUE ON MAY 10, 1889. OKLAHOMA AVENUE AS IT APPEARED ON MAY 10, 1893, DURING GOVERNOR NOBLE'S VISIT.
MAIN STREET, JOHNSTOWN, AFTER THE FLOOD.
BURNING OF BARGES DURING HOMESTEAD STRIKE.
THE CARNEGIE STEEL WORKS. SHOWING THE SHIELD USED BY THE STRIKERS WHEN FIRING THE CANNON AND WATCHING THE PINKERTON MEN—HOMESTEAD STRIKE.
INCITING MINERS TO ATTACK FORT ANDERSON.
THE GROVE BETWEEN BRICEVILLE AND COAL CREEK.
STATE TROOPS AND MINERS AT BRICEVILLE, TENN.
THE MORMON TEMPLE AT SALT LAKE CITY.
COLUMBIAN CELEBRATION, NEW YORK, APRIL 28, 1893. PARADE PASSING FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL.
PINTA, SANTA MARIA, NINA—LYING IN THE NORTH RIVER, NEW YORK—THE CARAVELS WHICH CROSSED FROM SPAIN TO BE PRESENT AT THE WORLD'S FAIR AT CHICAGO.
THE MANUFACTURES AND LIBERAL ARTS BUILDING, SEEN FROM THE SOUTHWEST.
HORTICULTURAL BUILDING, WITH ILLINOIS BUILDING IN THE BACKGROUND.
A VIEW TOWARD THE PERISTYLE FROM MACHINERY HALL.
THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, SEEN FROM THE AGRICULTURAL BUILDING.
MIDWAY PLAISANCE, WORLD'S FAIR, CHICAGO.
THE BURNING OF THE WHITE CITY: ELECTRICITY BUILDING—MINES AND MINING BUILDING.
THE NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE BUILDING IN CHICAGO. (Showing the construction of outer walls).
INTERIOR OF THE POWER HOUSE AT NIAGARA FALLS.
THOMAS ALVA EDISON. (Copyright-photograph by W. A. Dickson).
NIKOLA TESLA.
BICYCLE PARADE, NEW YORK, FANCY COSTUME DIVISION.
HATCHERY ROOM OF THE FISH COMMISSION BUILDING AT WASHINGTON, D. C., SHOWING THE HATCHERY JARS IN OPERATION.
WILLIAM BOOTH. (From a photograph by Rockwood, New York).
GROVER CLEVELAND. (From a photograph by Alexander Black).
WILLIAM L. WILSON.
PRINCESS (AFTERWARDS QUEEN) LILIUOKALANI.
JAMES H. BLOUNT.
ALBERT S. WILLIS.
RICHARD OLNEY.
THE LEXOW INVESTIGATION. THE SCENE IN THE COURT ROOM AFTER CREEDEN'S CONFESSION, DECEMBER 15, 1894.
CHARLES H. PARKHURST. (Copyright photograph by C. C. Langill).
WILLIAM L. STRONG.
COXEY'S ARMY ON THE MARCH TO THE CAPITOL STEPS AT WASHINGTON.
THE TOWN OF PULLMAN.
GEORGE M. PULLMAN.
CAMP OF THE U. S. TROOPS ON THE LAKE FRONT, CHICAGO.
BURNED CARS IN THE C., B. & Q. YARDS AT HAWTHORNE, CHICAGO.
OVERTURNED BOX CARS AT CROSSING OF RAILROAD TRACKS AT 39TH STREET, CHICAGO.
HAZEN S. PINGREE.
GOV. JOHN P. ALTGELD.
EUGENE V. DEBS.
THE CHICKAMAUGA NATIONAL MILITARY PARK. GROUP OF MONUMENTS ON KNOLL SOUTHWEST OF SNODGRASS HILL.
A GROVE OF ORANGES AND PALMETTOES NEAR ORMOND, FLORIDA.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.
THE ATLANTA EXPOSITION. ENTRANCE TO THE ART BUILDING.
SENATOR TELLER, OF COLORADO.
SENATOR CANNON.
GARRET A. HOBART. VICE-PRESIDENT. (Copyright photograph, 1899, by Pach Bros., New York).
THE McKINLEY-HOBART PARADE PASSING THE REVIEWING STAND, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 31, 1896.
BRYAN SPEAKING FROM THE REAR END OF A TRAIN.
ARTHUR SEWALL.
EX-SENATOR PALMER.
SIMON E. BUCKNER.
JOHN SHERMAN.
LYMAN J. GAGE, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.
JOHN D. LONG, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.
CORNELIUS N. BLISS, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.
RUSSELL A. ALGER, SECRETARY OF WAR.
JAMES WILSON, SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.
POSTMASTER-GENERAL GARY. (Copyright photograph by Clinedinst).
RUSH OF MINERS TO THE YUKON. THE CITY OF CACHES AT THE SUMMIT OF CHILCOOT PASS.
NELSON DINGLEY.
WARSHIPS IN THE HUDSON RIVER CELEBRATING THE DEDICATION OF GRANT'S TOMB, APRIL 27, 1897.
GRANT'S TOMB, RIVERSIDE DRIVE, NEW YORK. (Copyright photograph, 1901, by Detroit Photographic Co.).
GOVERNOR-GENERAL WEYLER.
U. S. BATTLESHIP MAINE ENTERING THE HARBOR OF HAVANA, JANUARY, 1898. (Copyright photograph, 1898, by J. C. Hemment).
WRECK OF U. S. BATTLESHIP MAINE. (Photograph by J. C. Hernment).
BOW OF THE SPANISH CRUISER ALMIRANTE OQUENDO. (Photograph by J. C. Hemment—copyright, 1898, by W. R. Hearst).
THE LANDING AT DAIQUIRI. TRANSPORTS IN THE OFFING.
CAPTAIN CHARLES E. CLARK.
AFTERDECK ON THE OREGON, SHOWING TWO 13-INCH, FOUR 8-INCH, AND Two 6-INCH GUNS. (Copyright photograph, 1899, by Strohmeyer & Wyman).
BLOCKHOUSE ON SAN JUAN HILL.
ADMIRAL CERVERA, COMMANDER OF THE SPANISH SQUADRON.
MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM R. SHAFTER.
TROOPS IN THE TRENCHES, FACING SANTIAGO.
GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER.
VIEW OF SAN JUAN HILL AND BLOCKHOUSE, SHOWING THE CAMP OF THE UNITED STATES FORCES.
THE COLLIER MERRIMAC SUNK BY HOBSON AT THE MOUTH OF SANTIAGO HARBOR.
THE SPANISH CRUISER CRISTOBAL COLON. (From a photograph by J. C. Hemment-copyright, 1898, by W. R. Hearst).
THE U. S. S. BROOKLYN. (Copyright photograph, 1898, by C, C. Langill, New York).
GENERAL NELSON A. MILES.
ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY.
PROTECTED CRUISER OLYMPIA.
GENERAL A. R. CHAFFEE.
GENERAL MERRITT AND GENERAL GREENE TAKING A LOOK AT A SPANISH FIELD-GUN ON THE MALATE FORT.
ADMIRAL WILLIAM T. SAMPSON.
ADMIRAL W. S. SCHLEY.
THE NEW CUBAN POLICE AS ORGANIZED BY EX-CHIEF OF NEW YORK POLICE McCULLAGH.
SHOWING CONDITION OF STREETS IN SANTIAGO BEFORE STREET CLEANING DEPARTMENT WAS ORGANIZED.
SANTIAGO STREET CLEANING DEPARTMENT.
GOVERNOR-GENERAL LEONARD A. WOOD IN THE UNIFORM OF COLONEL OF ROUGH RIDERS.
GOVERNOR-GENERAL LEONARD A. WOOD TRANSFERRING THE ISLAND OF CUBA TO PRESIDENT TOMASO ESTRADA PALMA, AS A CUBAN REPUBLIC, MAY, 1902. (Copyright stereoscopic photograph, by Underwood & Underwood, New York).
THE JOLO TREATY COMMISSION.
THREE HUNDRED BOYS IN THE PARADE OF JULY 4, 1902, YIGAN, ILOCOS.
GIRL'S NORMAL INSTITUTE, YIGAN, ILOCOS, APRIL, 1902.
IGORROTE RELIGIOUS DANCE, LEPONTO.
IGORROTE HEAD HUNTERS, WITH HEAD AXES AND SPEARS.
NATIVE MOROS—INTERIOR OF JOLO.
EMILIO AGUINALDO.
GENERAL FREDERICK FUNSTON—GENERAL A. McARTHUR.
A COMPANY OF INSURRECTOS, NEAR BONGUED, ABIA PROVINCE, JUST PREVIOUS TO SURRENDERING EARLY IN 1901.
ELEVENTH CAVALRY LANDING AT VIGAN, ILOCOS, APRIL, 1902.
JULES CAMBON, THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR, ACTING FOR SPAIN, RECEIVING FROM THE HONORABLE JOHN HAY, THE U. S. SECRETARY OF STATE, DRAFTS TO THE AMOUNT OF $20,000,000, IN PAYMENT FOR THE PHILIPPINES. (Copyright photograph, 1899, by Frances B. Johnston).
NATIVE TAGALS AT ANGELES, FIFTY-ONE MILES FROM MANILA.
BRINGING AMMUNITION TO THE FRONT FOR GENERAL OTIS'S BRIGADE, NORTH OF MANILA.
FORT MALATE, CAVlTE.
THE PASIG RIVER, MANILA.
THE INAUGURATION OF GOVERNOR TAFT, MANILA, JULY 4, 1901.
GROUP OF AMERICAN TEACHERS ON THE STEPS OF THE ESCUELA MUNICIPAL, MANILA.
W. J. BRYAN ACCEPTING THE NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT AT A JUBILEE MEETING HELD AT INDIANAPOLlS, AUGUST 8, 1900.
THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION, HELD IN PHILADELPHIA, JUNE, 1900.
PARADE OF THE SOUND MONEY LEAGUE, NEW YORK, 1900 PASSING THE REVIEWING STAND.
MR. MERRIAM, DIRECTOR OF THE CENSUS.
CENSUS EXAMINATION.
THE CENSUS OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C.
A CENSUS-TAKER AT WORK.
ELECTRIC TOWER AND FOUNTAINS [BUFFALO].
ETHNOLOGY BUILDING AND UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BUILDING.
TEMPLE OF MUSIC BY ELECTRIC LIGHT.
GROUP OF BUFFALOS—PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION.
ELECTRIC TOWER AT NIGHT.
TRIUMPHAL BRIDGE AND ENTRANCE TO THE EXPOSITION, SHOWING ELECTRIC DISPLAY AT NIGHT.
THE ELECTRICITY BUILDING.
PRESIDENT McKINLEY AT NIAGARA—ASCENDING THE STAIRS FROM LUNA ISLAND TO GOAT ISLAND. (Copyright photograph, 1901, by C. E. Dunlap).
THE LAST PHOTOGRAPH OF THE LATE PRESIDENT McKINLEY—TAKEN AS HE WAS ASCENDING THE STEPS OF THE TEMPLE OF MUSIC, SEPTEMBER 6, 1901.
THE MILBURN RESIDENCE, WHERE PRESIDENT McKINLEY DIED—BUFFALO, N. Y. (Copyright photograph, 1902, by Underwood & Underwood).
ASCENDING THE CAPITOL STEPS AT WASHINGTON, D. C., WHERE THE CASKET LAY IN STATE IN THE ROTUNDA.
PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S REMAINS PASSING THE UNITED STATES TREASURY, WASHINGTON, D. C. (Copyright photograph, 1901, by Underwood & Underwood).
THE HOME OF WILLIAM McKINLEY AT CANTON, OHIO. (Copyright photograph, 1901, by Underwood & Underwood).
INTERIOR OF ROOM IN WILCOX HOUSE WHERE THEODORE ROOSEVELT TOOK THE OATH OF PRESIDENCY.
PERIOD VI.
EXPANSION
1888-1902
CHAPTER I.
DRIFT AND DYE IN LAW-MAKING
[1890]
Race war at the South following the abolition of slavery, new social conditions everywhere, and the archaic nature of many provisions in the old laws, induced, as the century drew to a close, a pretty general revision of State constitutions. New England clung to instruments adopted before the civil war, though in most cases considerably amended. New Jersey was equally conservative, as were also Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. New York adopted in 1894 a new constitution which became operative January 1, 1895. Of the old States beyond the Mississippi only Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, and Oregon remained content with ante-bellum instruments. Between 1864 and 1866 ten of the southern States inaugurated governments which were not recognized by Congress and had to be reconstructed. Ten of the eleven reconstruction constitutions were in turn overthrown by 1896. In a little over a generation, beginning with Minnesota, 1858, fourteen new States entered the Union, of which all but West Virginia and Nebraska retained at the end of the century their first bases of government. In some of these cases, however, copious amendments had rendered the constitutions in effect new.
As a rule the new constitutions reserved to the people large powers formerly granted to one or more among the three departments of government. Most of them placed legislatures under more minute restrictions than formerly prevailed. The modern documents were much longer than earlier ones, dealing with many subjects previously left to statutes. Distrust of legislatures was further shown by shortening the length of sessions, making sessions biennial, forbidding the pledging of the public credit, inhibiting all private or special legislation, and fixing a maximum for the rate of taxation, for State debts, and for State expenditures.
South Dakota, the first State to do so, applied the initiative and referendum, each to be set in motion by five per cent. of the voters, to general statutory legislation. Wisconsin provided for registering the names of legislative lobbyists, with various particulars touching their employment. The names of their employers had also to be put down. Many new points were ordered observed in the passing of laws, such as printing all bills, reading each one thrice, taking the yeas and nays on each, requiring an absolute majority to vote yea, the inhibition of "log-rolling" or the joining of two or more subjects under one title, and enactments against legislative bribery, lobbying, and "riders."
While the legislature was snubbed there appeared a quite positive tendency to concentrate responsibility in the executive, causing the powers of governors considerably to increase. The governor now enjoyed a longer term, was oftener re-eligible, and could veto items or sections of bills. By the later constitutions most of the important executive officers were elected directly by the people, and made directly responsible neither to governors nor to legislatures.
The newer constitutions and amendments paid great attention to the regulation of corporations, providing for commissions to deal with railroads, insurance, agriculture, dairy and food products, lands, prisons, and charities. They restricted trusts, monopolies, and lotteries. Modifications of the old jury system were introduced. Juries were made optional in civil cases, and not always obligatory in criminal cases. Juries of less than twelve were sometimes allowed, and a unanimous vote by a jury was not always required. Growing wealth and the consequent multiplication of litigants necessitated an increase in the number of judges in most courts. Efforts were made, with some success, by combining common law with equity procedure, and in other ways, to render lawsuits more simple, expeditious, and inexpensive.
Restrictions were enacted on the hours of labor, the management of factories, the alien ownership of land. The old latitude of giving and receiving by inheritance was trenched upon by inheritance taxes. The curbing of legislatures, the popular election of executives, civil service reform, and the creation of a body of administrative functionaries with clearly defined duties, betrayed movement toward an administrative system.
A stronghold of political corruption was assaulted from 1888 to 1894 by a hopeful measure known as the "Australian" ballot. It took various forms in different States yet its essence everywhere was the provision enabling every voter to prepare and fold his ballot in a stall by himself, with no one to dictate, molest, or observe. Massachusetts, also the city of Louisville, Ky., employed this system of voting so early as 1888. Next year ten States enacted similar laws. In 1890 four more followed, and in 1891 fourteen more. By 1898 thirty-nine States, all the members of the Union but six, had taken up "kangaroo voting," as its foes dubbed it. Of these six States five were southern.
A New York Polling Place, showing booths on the left.
An official ballot replaced the privately—often dishonestly—prepared party ballots formerly hawked about each polling place by political workers. The new ballot was a "blanket," bearing a list of all the candidates for each office to be filled. The arrangement of candidates' names varied in different States. By one style of ticket it was easy for the illiterate or the straight-out party man to mark party candidates. Another made voting difficult for the ignorant, but a delight to the discriminating.
The new ballot, though certainly an improvement, failed to produce the full results expected of it. The connivance of election officials and corrupt voters often annulled its virtue by devices growing in variety and ingenuity as politicians became acquainted with the reform. Statutes and sometimes constitutions therefore went further, making the count of ballots public, ordering it carried out near the polling place, and allowing municipalities to insure a still more secret vote and an instantaneous, unerring tally by the use of voting machines.
In the North and West the tendency of the new fundamental laws was to widen the suffrage, rendering it, for males over twenty-one years of age, practically universal. Woman suffrage, especially on local and educational matters, spread more and more, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah women voted upon exactly the same terms as men, In Idaho women sat in the legislature. There was much agitation for minority representation. Illinois set an example by the experiment of cumulative voting in the election of lower house members of the legislature.
Nearly everywhere at the South constitutional reform involved negro disfranchisement. The blacks were numerous, but their rule meant ruin. It was easy for the whites to keep them in check, as had been done for years, by bribery and threats, supplemented, when necessary, by flogging and the shotgun, But this gave to the rising generation of white men the worst possible sort of a political education. The system was too barbarous to continue. What meaning could free institutions have for young voters who had never in all their lives seen an election carried save by these vicious means! New constitutions which should legally eliminate most of the negro vote were the alternative.
In Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, North and South Carolina, proof of having paid taxes or poll-taxes was (as in some northern and western States) made an indispensable prerequisite to voting, either alone or as an alternative for an educational qualification. Virginia used this policy until 1882 and resumed it again in 1902, cutting off such as had not paid or had failed to preserve or bring to the polls their receipts. Many States surrounded registration and voting with complex enactments. An educational qualification, often very elastic, sometimes the voter's alternative for a tax-receipt, was resorted to by Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Georgia in 1898 rejected such a device. Alabama hesitated, jealous lest illiterate whites should lose their votes. But, after the failure of one resolution for a convention, this State, too, upon the stipulation that the new constitution should disfranchise no white voter and that it should be submitted to the people for ratification, not promulgated directly by its authors as was done in South Carolina, Louisiana, and later in Virginia and Delaware, consented to a revision, which was ratified at the polls November, 1901, not escaping censure for its drastic thoroughness. Its distinctive feature was the "good character clause," whereby an appointment board in each county registers "all voters under the present [previous] law" who are veterans or the lawful descendants of such, and "all who are of good character and understand the duties and obligations of citizenship."
In the above line of constitution-framing, whose problem was to steer between the Scylla of the Fifteenth Amendment and the Charybdis of negro domination, viz., legally abridge the negro vote so as to insure Caucasian supremacy at the polls, Mississippi led. The "Mississippi plan," originating, it is believed, in the brain of Senator James Z. George, had for its main features a registry tax and an educational qualification, all adjustable to practical exigencies. Each voter must pay a poll-tax of at least $2.00 and never to exceed $3.00, producing to the election overseers satisfactory evidence of having paid such poll and all other legal taxes. He must be registered "as provided by law" and "be able to read any section of the constitution of the State, to understand the same when read to him, or to give a reasonable interpretation thereof." In municipal elections electors were required to have "such additional qualifications as might be prescribed by law."
This constitution was attacked as not having been submitted to the people for ratification and as violating the Act of Congress readmitting Mississippi; but the State Supreme Court sustained it, and was confirmed in this by the United States Supreme Court in dealing with the similar Louisiana constitution.
As a spur to negro education the Mississippi constitution worked well. The Mississippi negroes who got their names on the voting list rose from 9,036 in 1892 to 16,965 in 1895. This result of the "plan" did not deter South Carolina from adopting it. Dread of negro domination haunted the Palmetto State the more in proportion as her white population, led by the enterprising Benjamin R. Tillman, who became governor and then senator, got control and set aside the "Bourbons."
Benjamin R. Tillman.
So early as 1882 South Carolina passed a registration act which, amended in 1893 and 1894, compelled registration some four months before ordinary elections and required registry certificates to be produced at the polls. Other laws made the road to the ballot-box a labyrinth wherein not only most negroes but some whites were lost. The multiple ballot-boxes alone were a Chinese puzzle. This act was attacked as repugnant to the State and to the federal constitution. On May 8, 1895, Judge Goff of the United States Circuit Court declared it unconstitutional and enjoined the State from taking further action under it. But in June the Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Judge Goff and dissolved the injunction, leaving the way open for a convention.
The convention met on September 10th and adjourned on December 4, 1895. By the new constitution the Mississippi plan was to be followed until January 1, 1898. Any male citizen could be registered who was able to read a section of the constitution or to satisfy the election officers that he understood it when read to him. Those thus registered were to remain voters for life. After the date named applicants for registry must be able both to read and to write any section of the constitution or to show tax-receipts for poll-tax and for taxes on at least $300 worth of property. The property and the intelligence qualification each met with strenuous opposition, but it was thought that neither alone would serve the purpose.
The Louisiana constitution of 1898, in place of the Mississippi "understanding" clause or the Alabama "good character" clause, enacted the celebrated "grandfather" clause. The would-be voter must be able to read and write English or his native tongue, or own property assessed at $300 or more; but any citizen who was a voter on January I, 1867, or his son or his grandson, or any person naturalized prior to January 1, 1898, if applying for registration before September 1, 1898, might vote, notwithstanding both illiteracy and poverty. Separate registration lists were provided for whites and blacks, and a longer term of residence required in State, county, parish, and precinct before voting than by the constitution of 1879.
North Carolina adopted her suffrage amendment in 1900. It lengthened the term of residence before registration and enacted both educational qualification and prepayment of poll-tax, only exempting from this tax those entitled to vote January 1, 1867. In 1902 Virginia adopted an instrument with the "understanding" cause for use until 1904, hedging the suffrage after that date by a poll-tax. Application for registration must be in the applicant's handwriting, written in the presence of the registrar.
White solidarity yielding with time, there were heard in the Carolinas, Alabama, and Louisiana, loud allegations, not always unfounded, that this side or that had availed itself of negro votes to make up a deficit or turned the enginery of vote suppression against its opponents' white supporters.
Most States which overthrew negro suffrage seemed glad to think of the new regime as involving no perjury, fraud, violence, or lese-constitution. Some of Alabama's spokesmen were of a different temper, paying scant heed to the federal questions involved. "The constitution of '75," they said, "recognized the Fifteenth Amendment, which Alabama never adopted, and guaranteed the negro all the rights of suffrage the white man enjoys. The new constitution omits that section. Under its suffrage provisions the white man will rule for all time in Alabama."
The North, once ablaze with zeal for the civil and political rights of the southern negro, heard the march of this exultant southern crusade with equanimity, with indifference, almost with sympathy. Perfunctory efforts were made in Congress to secure investigation of negro disfranchisement, but they evoked feeble response.
CHAPTER II.
THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1888
Grover Cleveland. Photograph copyrighted by C. M. Bell.
[1888]
It looking forward to the presidential campaign of 1888 the Democracy had no difficulty in selecting its leader or its slogan. The custom, almost like law, of renominating a presidential incumbent at the end of his first term, pointed to Mr. Cleveland's candidacy, as did the considerable success of his administration in quelling factions and in silencing enemies. At the same time reform for a lower tariff, with which cause he had boldly identified himself, was marked anew as a main article of the Democratic creed. The nomination of Allen G. Thurman for Vice-President brought to the ticket what its head seemed to lack—popularity among the people of the West—and did much to hearten all such Democrats as insisted upon voting a ticket free from all taint of mugwumpery.
W. Q. Gresham.
The attitude of the Democratic party being favorable to tariff reduction, the Republicans must perforce raise the banner of high protection; but public opinion did not forestall the convention in naming the Republican standard-bearer. The convention met in Chicago. At first John Sherman of Ohio received 229 votes; Walter Q. Gresham of Indiana, 111; Chauncey M. Depew of New York, 99; and Russell A. Alger of Michigan, 84. Harrison began with 80; Blaine had but 35. After the third ballot Depew withdrew his name. On the fourth, New York and Wisconsin joined the Harrison forces. A stampede of the convention for Blaine was expected, but did not come, being hindered in part by the halting tenor of despatches received from the Plumed Knight, then beyond sea. After the fifth ballot two cablegrams were received from Blaine, requesting his friends to discontinue voting for him. Two ballots more having been taken, Allison, who had been receiving a considerable vote, withdrew. The eighth ballot nominated Harrison, and the name of Levi P. Morton, of New York, was at once placed beneath his on the ticket.
Levi P. Morton.
Benjamin Harrison.
Mr. Harrison was the grandson of President William Henry Harrison, great grandson, therefore, of Governor Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, the ardent revolutionary patriot, signer of the Declaration of Independence. An older scion of the family had served as major-general in Cromwell's army and been executed for signing the death-warrant of King Charles I. The Republican candidate was born on a farm at North Bend, Ohio, August 20, 1883. The boy's earliest education was acquired in a log schoolhouse. He afterward attended Miami University, in Ohio, where he graduated at the age of nineteen. The next year he was admitted to the bar. In 1854 he married, and opened a law office in Indianapolis. In 1860 he became Reporter of Decisions to the Indiana Supreme Court. When the civil war broke out, obeying the spirit that in his grandfather had won at Tippecanoe and the Thames, young Harrison recruited a regiment, of which he was soon commissioned colonel. Gallant services under Sherman at Resaca and Peach Tree Creek brought him the brevet of brigadier. After his return from war, owing to his high character, his lineage, his fine war record, his power as a speaker and his popularity in a pivotal State, he was a prominent figure in politics, not only in Indiana, but more and more nationally. In 1876 he ran for the Indiana Governership, but was defeated by a small margin. In 1880 he was chairman of the Indiana delegation to the Republican National Convention. In 1881 he was elected United States Senator, declining an offer of a seat in Garfield's Cabinet. From 1880, when Indiana presented his name to the Republican National Convention, General Harrison was, in the West, constantly thought of as a presidential possibility. Eclipsed by Blaine in 1884, he came forward again in 1888, this time to win.
In the East General Harrison was much underrated. Papers opposing his election fondly cartooned him wearing "Grandfather's hat," as if family connection alone recommended him. It was a great mistake. The grandson had all the grandsire's strong qualities and many besides. He was a student and a thinker. His character was absolutely irreproachable. His information was exact, large, and always ready for use. His speeches had ease, order, correctness, and point. With the West he was particularly strong, an element of availability which Cleveland lacked. In the Senate he had won renown both as a debater and as a sane adviser. As a consistent protectionist he favored restriction upon Chinese immigration and prohibition against the importation of contract labor. He upheld all efforts for reform in the civil service and for strengthening the navy.
In the presidential campaign of 1888 personalities had little place. Instead, there was active discussion of party principles and policies. The tariff issue was of course prominent. A characteristic piece of enginery in the contest was the political club, which now, for the first time in our history, became a recognized force. The National Association of Democratic Clubs comprised some 3,000 units, numerous auxiliary reform and tariff reform clubs being active on the same side. The Republican League, corresponding to the Democratic Association, boasted, by August, 1887, 6,500 clubs, with a million voters on their rolls. Before election day Indiana alone had 1,100 Republican clubs and New York 1,400.
During most of the campaign Democratic success was freely predicted and seemed assured. Yet from the first forces were in exercise which threatened a contrary result. Federal patronage helped the administration less than was expected, while it nerved the opposition. The Republicans had a force of earnest and harmonious workers. Of the multitude, on the other hand, who in 1884 had aided to achieve victory for the Democracy, few, of course, had received the rewards which they deemed due them. In vain did officeholders contribute toil and money while that disappointed majority were so slow and spiritless in rallying to the party's summons, and so many of them even hostile. The zeal of honest Democrats was stricken by what Gail Hamilton wittily called "the upas bloom" of civil service reform, which the President still displayed upon his lapel. To a large number of ardent civil service reformers who had originally voted for Cleveland this decoration now seemed so wilted that, more in indignation than in hope, they went over to Harrison. The public at large resented the loss which the service had suffered through changes in the civil list. Harrison without much of a record either to belie or to confirm his words, at least commended and espoused the reform.
Democratic blunders thrust the sectional issue needlessly to the fore. Mr. Cleveland's willingness to return to their respective States the Confederate flags captured by Union regiments in the civil war; his fishing trip on Memorial Day; the choice of Mr. Mills, a Texan, to lead the tariff fight in Congress; and the prominence of southerners among the Democratic campaign orators at the North, were themes of countless diatribes.
A clever Republican device, known as "the Murchison letter," did a great deal to impress thoughtless voters that Mr. Cleveland was "un-American." The incident was dramatic and farcical to a degree. The Murchison letter, which interested the entire country for two or three weeks, purported to come from a perplexed Englishman, addressing the British Minister at Washington, Lord Sackville-West. It sought counsel of Her Majesty's representative, as the "fountainhead of knowledge," upon "the mysterious subject" how best to serve England in voting at the approaching American election. The seeker after light recounted President Cleveland's kindness to England in not enforcing the retaliatory act then recently passed by Congress as its ultimatum in the fisheries dispute, his soundness on the free trade question, and his hostility to the "dynamite schools of Ireland." The writer set Mr. Harrison down as a painful contrast to the President. He was "a high-tariff man, a believer on the American side of all questions, and undoubtedly, an enemy to British interests generally." But the inquirer professes alarm at Cleveland's message on the fishery question which had just been sent to Congress, and wound up with the query "whether Mr. Cleveland's policy is temporary only, and whether he will, as soon as he secures another term of four years in the presidency, suspend it for one of friendship and free trade."
Lord L. S. Sackville-West.
The Minister replied:
"Sir:—I am in receipt of your letter of the 4th inst., and beg to say that I fully appreciate the difficulty in which you find yourself in casting your vote. You are probably aware that any political party which openly favored the mother country at the present moment would lose popularity, and that the party in power is fully aware of the fact. The party, however, is, I believe, still desirous of maintaining friendly relations with Great Britain and still desirous of settling questions with Canada which have been, unfortunately, reopened since the retraction of the treaty by the Republican majority in the Senate and by the President's message to which you allude. All allowances must therefore be made for the political situation as regards the Presidential election thus created. It is, however, impossible to predict the course which President Cleveland may pursue in the matter of retaliation should he be elected; but there is every reason to believe that, while upholding the position he has taken, he will manifest a spirit of conciliation in dealing with the question involved in his message. I enclose an article from the New York 'Times' of August 22d, and remain, yours faithfully, "L. S. SACKVILLE-WEST."
This correspondence, published on October 24th, took instant and universal effect. The President at first inclined to ignore the incident, but soon yielded to the urgency of his managers, and, to keep "the Irish vote" from slipping away, asked for the minister's recall. Great Britain refusing this, the minister's passports were delivered him. The act was vain and worse. Without availing to parry the enemy's thrust, it incurred not only the resentment of the English Government, but the disapproval of the Administration's soberest friends at home.
Influences with which practical politicians were familiar had their bearing upon the outcome. In New York State, where occurred the worst tug of war, Governor Hill and his friends, while boasting their democracy, were widely believed to connive at the trading of Democratic votes for Harrison in return for Republican votes for Hill. At any rate, New York State was carried for both.
It is unfortunately necessary to add that the 1888 election was most corrupt. The campaign was estimated to have cost the two parties $6,000,000. Assessments on office-holders, as well as other subsidies, replenished the Democrats' campaign treasury; while the manufacturers of the country, who had been pretty close four years before, now regarding their interest and even their honor as assailed, generously contributed often as the Republican hat went around.
In Indiana, Mr. Harrison's home State, no resource was left untried. The National Republican Committee wrote the party managers in that State: "Divide the floaters into blocks of five, and put a trusted man with necessary funds in charge of these five, and make him responsible that none get away, and that all vote our ticket." This mandate the workers faithfully obeyed.
So far as argument had weight the election turned mainly upon the tariff issue. The Republicans held that protection was on trial for its life. Many Democrats cherished the very same view, only they denounced the prisoner at the bar as a culprit, not a martyr. They inveighed against protection as pure robbery. They accused the tariff of causing Trusts, against which several bills had recently been introduced in Congress. Democratic extremists proclaimed that Republicans slavishly served the rich and fiendishly ground the faces of the poor. Even moderate Democrats, who simply urged that protective rates should be reduced, more often than otherwise supported their proposals with out and out free trade arguments. As to President Cleveland himself no one could tell whether or not he was a free trader, but his discussions of the tariff read like Cobden Club tracts. The Mills bill, which passed the House in the Fiftieth Congress, would have been more a tariff for revenue than in any sense protective. Republican orators and organs therefore pictured "British free trade" as the dire, certain sequel of the Cleveland policy if carried out, and, whether convinced by the argument or startled by the ado of Harrison's supporters, people, to be on the safe side, voted to uphold the "American System."
Joseph B. Foraker.
More than eleven million ballots were cast at the election, yet so closely balanced were the parties that a change of 10,000 votes in Indiana and New York, both of which went for Harrison would have reelected Cleveland. As it was, his popular vote of 5,540,000 exceeded by 140,000 that of Harrison, which numbered 5,400,000. Besides bolding the Senate the Republicans won a face majority of ten in the House, subsequently increased by unseating and seating. They were thus in control of all branches of the general government.
CHAPTER III.
MR. HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION.
[1888]
The new President, of course, renounced his predecessor's policy upon the tariff, but continued it touching the navy. He advocated steamship subsidies, reform in electoral laws, and such amendment to the immigration laws as would effectively exclude undesirable foreigners.
A chief effect of the Kearney movement in California, culminating in the California constitution of 1879, was intense opposition throughout the Pacific States to any further admission of the Chinese. The constitution named forbade the employment of Chinese by the State or by any corporation doing business therein. This hostility spread eastward, and, in spite of interested capitalists and disinterested philanthropists, shaped all Subsequent Chinese legislation in Congress. The pacific spirit of the Burlingame treaty in 1868, shown also by President Hayes in vetoing the Anti-Chinese bill of 1878, died out more and more.
"The Chinese must go!" Denis Kearney addressing the working-men on the night of October 29, on Nob Hill, San Francisco.
A law passed in 1881 provided that Chinese immigration might be regulated, limited, or suspended by the United States. A bill prohibiting such immigration for twenty years was vetoed by President Arthur, but another reducing the period to ten years became law in 1882. In 1888 this was amended to prohibit the return of Chinese laborers who had been in the United States but had left. In 1892 was passed the Geary law re-enacting for ten years more the prohibitions then in force, only making them more rigid. Substantially the same enactments were renewed in 1902.
Mr. Harrison wished this policy of a closed state put in force against Europe as well as against Asia. An act of Congress passed August 2, 1882, prohibited the landing from any country of any would-be immigrant who was a convict, lunatic, idiot, or unable to take care of himself. This law, like the supplementary one of March 3, 1887, proved inadequate. In 1888 American consuls represented that transatlantic steamship companies were employing unscrupulous brokers to procure emigrants for America, the brokerage being from three to five dollars per head, and that most emigrants were of a class utterly unfitted for citizenship.
Thomas B. Reed.
The President's urgency in this matter had little effect, the attention of Congress being early diverted to other subjects. Three great measures mainly embodied the Republican policy—the Federal Elections Bill, the McKinley Tariff Bill, and the Dependent Pensions Bill.
As Speaker of the House, Hon. Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, put through certain parliamentary innovations necessary to enact the party's will. He declined to entertain dilatory motions. More important, he ordered the clerk to register as "present and not voting," those whom he saw endeavoring by stubborn silence to break a quorum. A majority being the constitutional quorum, theretofore, unless a majority answered to their names upon roll-call, no majority appeared of record, although the sergeant-at-arms was empowered to compel the presence of every member. As the traditional safeguard of minorities and as a compressed airbrake on majority action, silence became more powerful than words. Under the Reed theory, since adopted, that the House may, through its Speaker, determine in its own way the presence of a quorum, the Speaker's or the clerk's eye was substituted for the voice of any member in demonstrating such member's presence.
Many, not all Democrats, opposed the Reed policy as arbitrary. Mr. Evarts is said to have remarked, "Reed, you seem to think a deliberative body like a woman; if it deliberates, it is lost." On the "yeas and nays" or at any roll-call some would dodge out of sight, others break for the doors only to find them closed. A Texas member kicked down a door to make good his escape. Yet, having calculated the scope of his authority, Mr. Reed coolly continued to count and declare quorums whenever such were present. The Democratic majority of 1893 transferred this newly discovered prerogative of the Speaker, where possible, to tellers. Now and then they employed it as artillery to fire at Mr. Reed himself, but he each time received the shot with smiles.
The cause for which the counting of quorums was invoked made it doubly odious to Democratic members. To restore the suffrage to southern negroes the Republicans proposed federal supervision of federal elections. This suggestion of a "Force Bill" rekindled sectional bitterness. One State refused to be represented at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, a United States marshal was murdered in Florida, a Grand Army Post was mobbed at Whitesville, Ky. Parts of the South proposed a boycott on northern goods. Many at the North favored white domination in the South rather than a return of the carpet-bag regime, regarding the situation a just retribution for Republicans' highhanded procedure in enfranchising black ignorance. Sober Republicans foresaw that a force law would not break up the solid South, but perpetuate it. The House, however, passed the bill. In the Senate it was killed only by "filibuster" tactics, free silver Republican members joining members from the South to prevent the adoption of cloture.
A Treasury surplus of about $97,000,000 (in October, 1888) tempted the Fifty-first Congress to expenditures then deemed vast, though often surpassed since. The Fifty-first became known as the "Billion Dollar Congress." What drew most heavily upon the national strong-box was the Dependent Pensions Act. In this culminated a course of legislation repeating with similar results that which began early in the history of our country, occasioning the adage that "The Revolutionary claimant never dies." By 1820 the experiment entailed an expenditure of a little over twenty-five cents per capita of our population.
In 1880 Congress was induced to endow each pensioner with a back pension equal to what his pension would have been had he applied on the date of receiving his injury. Under the old law pension outlay had been at high tide in 1871, standing then at $34,443,894. Seven years later it shrank to $27,137,019. In 1883 it exceeded $66,000,000; in 1889 it approached $88,000,000. But the act of 1890, similar to one vetoed by President Cleveland three years before, carried the pension figure to $106,493,000 in 1890, to $118,584,000 in 1891, and to about $159,000,000 in 1893. It offered pensions to all soldiers and sailors incapacitated for manual labor who had served the Union ninety days, or, if they were dead, to their widows, children, or dependent parents. 311,567 pension certificates were issued during the fiscal year 1891-1892.
While thus increasing outgo, the Fifty-first Congress planned to diminish income, not by lowering tariff rates, as the last Administration had recommended, but by pushing them up to or toward the prohibitive point. The McKinley Act, passed October 1, 1890, made sugar, a lucrative revenue article, free, and gave a bounty to sugar producers in this country, together with a discriminating duty of one-tenth of a cent per pound on sugar imported hither from countries which paid an export bounty thereon.
The "Blaine" reciprocity feature of this act proved its most popular grace. In 1891 we entered into reciprocity agreements with Brazil, with the Dominican Republic, and with Spain for Cuba and Porto Rico. In 1892 we covenanted similarly with the United Kingdom on behalf of the British West Indies and British Guiana, and with Nicaragua, Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Austria-Hungary. How far our trade was thus benefited is matter of controversy. Imports from these countries were certainly much enlarged. Our exportation of flour to these lands increased a result commonly ascribed to reciprocity, though the simultaneous increase in the amounts of flour we sent to other countries was a third more rapid.
The international copyright law, meeting favor with the literary, was among the most conspicuous enactments of the Fifty-first Congress. An international copyright treaty had been entered into in 1886, but it did not include the United States. Two years later a bill to the same end failed in Congress. At last, on March 3, 1891, President Harrison signed an act which provided for United States copyright for any foreign author, designer, artist, or dramatist, albeit the two copies of a book, photograph, chromo, or lithograph required to be deposited with the Librarian of Congress must be printed from type set within the limits of the United States or from plates made therefrom, or from negatives or drawings on stone made within the limits of the United States or from transfers therefrom. Foreign authors, like native or naturalized, could renew their United States copyrights, and penalties were prescribed to protect these rights from infringement.
[1891]
Mr. Blaine, the most eminent Republican statesman surviving, was now less conspicuous than McKinley, Lodge, and Reed, with whom, by his opposition to extreme protection and to the Force Bill, he stood at sharp variance. As Secretary of State, however, to which post President Harrison had perforce assigned him, he still drew public attention, having to deal with several awkward international complications.
David C. Hennessy.
The city of New Orleans, often tempted to appeal from bad law to anarchy, was in the spring of 1891 swept off its feet by such a temptation. Chief of Police David C. Hennessy was one night ambushed and shot to death near his home by members of the Sicilian "Mafia," a secret, oath-bound body of murderous blackmailers whom he was hunting to earth. When at the trial of the culprits the jury, in face of cogent evidence, acquitted six and disagreed as to the rest, red fury succeeded white amazement. A huge mob encircled the jail, crushed in its barricaded doors, and shot or hung the trembling Italians within.
An episode of the lynching of the Italians in New Orleans. The citizens breaking down the door of the parish prison with the beam brought there the night before for that purpose.
Old Parish Jail, New Orleans, La.
Canal Street. New Orleans La.
Italy forthwith sent her protest to Mr. Blaine, who expressed his horror at the deed, and urged Governor Nicholls to see the guilty brought to justice. The Italian consul at New Orleans averred that, while the victims included bad men, many of the charges against them were without foundation; that the violence was foreseen and avoidable; that he had in vain besought military protection for the prisoners, and had himself, with his secretary, been assaulted and mobbed.
The Marquis di Rudini insisted on indemnity for the murdered men's families and on the instant punishment of the assassins. Secretary Blaine, not refusing indemnity in this instance, denied the right to demand the same, still more the propriety of insisting upon the instant punishment of the offenders, since the utmost that could be done at once was to institute judicial proceedings, which was the exclusive function of the State of Louisiana. The Italian public thought this equivocation, mean truckling to the American prejudice against Italians. Baron Fava, Italian Minister at Washington, was ordered to "affirm the inutility of his presence near a government that had no power to guarantee such justice as in Italy is administered equally in favor of citizens of all nationalities." "I do not," replied Mr. Blaine, "recognize the right of any government to tell the United States what it shall do; we have never received orders from any foreign power and shall not begin now. It is to me," he said, "a matter of indifference what persons in Italy think of our institutions. I cannot change them, still less violate them."
A. G. Thurman.
Such judicial proceedings as could be had against the lynchers broke down completely. The Italian Minister withdrew, but his government finally accepted $25,000 indemnity for the murdered men's families.
Friction with Chile arose from the "Itata incident." Chile was torn by civil war between adherents of President Balmaceda and the "congressional party." Mr. Egan, American Minister at Santiago, rendered himself widely unpopular among Chilians by his espousal of the President's cause. The Itata, a cruiser in the congressionalist service, was on May 6, 1891, at Egan's request, seized at San Diego, Cal., by the federal authorities, on the ground that she was about to carry a cargo of arms to the revolutionists. Escaping, she surrendered at her will to the United States squadron at Iquique. The congressionalists resented our interference; the Balmaceda party were angry that we interfered to so little effect. A Valparaiso mob killed two American sailors and hurt eighteen more. Chile, however, tendered a satisfactory indemnity.
Chilian steamer Itata in San Diego Harbor.
[1890]
In the so-called "Barrundia incident" occurring in 1890 Americanism overshot itself. The Gautemalan refugee, General Barrundia, boarded the Pacific Mail steamer Acapulco for Salvador upon assurance that he would not be delivered to the authorities of his native land. At San Jose de Gautemala the Gautemala authorities sought to arrest him, and United States Minister Mizner, Consul-General Hosmer, and Commander Reiter of the United States Ship of War Ranger, concurred in advising Captain Pitts of the Acapulco that Gautemala had a right to do this. Barrundia resisted arrest and was killed. Both Mizner and Reiter were reprimanded and removed, Reiter being, however, placed in another command.
Our government's attitude in this matter was untenable. The two officials were in fact punished for having acted with admirable judgment and done each his exact duty.
One of President Harrison's earliest diplomatic acts was the treaty of 1889 with Great Britain and Germany, by which, in conjunction with those nations, the United States established a joint protectorate over the Samoan Islands. On December 2, 1899, the three powers named agreed to a new treaty, by which the United States assumed full sovereignty over Tutuila and all the other Samoan islands east of longitude 171 degrees west from Greenwich, renouncing in favor of the other signatories all rights and claims over the remainder of the group.
In the congressional campaign of 1890 issue was squarely joined upon the neo-Republican policy. The billion dollars gone, the Force Bill, and, to a less extent, the McKinley tariff, especially its sugar bounty, had aroused popular resentment. The election, an unprecedented "landslide," precipitated a huge Democratic majority into the House of Representatives. Every community east of the Pacific slope felt the movement. Pennsylvania elected a Democratic governor.
President Harrison being rowed ashore at foot of Wall Street, New York, April 29, 1889.
CHAPTER IV.
NON-POLITICAL EVENTS OF PRESIDENT HARRISON'S TERM
[1889]
President Harrison's quadrennium was a milestone between two generations. Memorials on every hand to the heroes of the Civil War shocked one with the sense that they and the events they molded were already of the past. Logan, Arthur, Sheridan, and Hancock had died. In 1891 General Sherman and Admiral Porter fell within a day of each other. General Joseph E. Johnston, who had been a pall-bearer at the funeral of each, rejoined them in a month.
This presidential term was pivotal in another way. The centennial anniversary of Washington's inauguration as President fell on April 30, 1889. In observance of the occasion President Harrison followed the itinerary of one hundred years before, from the Governor's mansion in New Jersey to the foot of Wall Street, in New York City, to old St. Paul's Church, on Broadway, and to the site where the first Chief Magistrate first took the oath of office. Three days devoted to the commemorative exercises were a round of naval, military, and industrial parades, with music, oratory, pageantry, and festivities. For this Centennial Whittier composed an ode. The venerable Rev. S. F. Smith, who had written "America" fifty-seven years before, was also inspired by the occasion to pen a Century Hymn, and to add to "America" the stanza:
"Our joyful hearts to-day, Their grateful tribute pay, Happy and free, After our toils and fears, After our blood and tears, Strong with our hundred years, O God, to Thee."
Washington Inaugural Celebration, 1889, New York. Parade passing Union Square on Broadway.
[1890]
At the opening of this its second century of existence the nation was confronted by entirely new issues. Bitterness between North and South, spite of its brief recrudescence during the pendency of the Force Bill, was fast dying out. At the unveiling of the noble monument to Robert E. Lee at Richmond, in May, 1890, while, of course, Confederate leaders were warmly cheered and the Confederate flag was displayed, various circumstances made it clear that this zeal was not in derogation of the restored Union.
The last outbreaks of sectional animosity related to Jefferson Davis, in whom, both to the North and to the South, the ghost of the Lost Cause had become curiously personified. The question whether or not he was a traitor was for years zealously debated in Congress and outside. The general amnesty after the war had excepted Davis. When a bill was before Congress giving suitable pensions to Mexican War soldiers and sailors, an amendment was carried, amid much bitterness, excluding the ex-president of the Confederacy from the benefits thereof. Northerners naturally glorified their triumph in the war as a victory for the Constitution, nor could they wholly withstand the inclination to question the motives of the secession leaders. Southerners, however loyal now to the Union, were equally bold in asserting that, since in 1861 the question of the nature of the Union had not been settled, Mr. Davis and the rest might attempt secession, not as foes of the Constitution, but as, in their own thought, its most loyal friends and defenders.
Unveiling of the Equestrian Statue of Robert E. Lee, May 29. 1890.
Henry W. Grady.
By 1890 the days were passed when denunciation of Davis or of the South electrified the North, nor did the South on its part longer waste time in impotent resentments or regrets. The brilliant and fervid utterances on "The New South" by editor Henry W. Grady, of the Atlanta Constitution, went home to the hearts of Northerners, doing much to allay sectional feeling. Grady died, untimely, in 1889, lamented nowhere more sincerely than at the North.
When Federal intervention occurred to put down the notorious Louisiana Lottery, the South in its gratitude almost forgot that there had been a war. This lottery had been incorporated in 1868 for twenty-five years. In 1890 it was estimated to receive a full third of the mail matter coming to New Orleans, with a business of $30,000 a day in postal notes and money orders. As the monster in 1890, approaching its charter-term, bestirred itself for a new lease of life, it found itself barred from the mails by Congress.
And this was, in effect, its banishment from the State and country. It could still ply its business through the express companies, provided Louisiana would abrogate the constitutional prohibition of lotteries it had enacted to take effect in 1893. For a twenty-five year re-enfranchisement the impoverished State was offered the princely sum of a million and a quarter dollars a year. This tempting bait was supplemented by influences brought to bear upon the venal section of the press and of the legislature. A proposal for the necessary constitutional change was vetoed by Governor Nicholls. Having pushed their bill once more through the House, the lottery lobby contended that a proposal for a constitutional amendment did not require the governor's signature, but only to be submitted to the people, a position which was affirmed by the State Supreme Court. A fierce battle followed in the State, the "anti" Democrats of the country parishes, in fusion with Farmers' Alliance men, fighting the "pro" Democrats of New Orleans. The "Antis" and the Alliance triumphed. Effort for a constitutional amendment was given up, and Governor Foster was permitted to sign an act prohibiting, after December 31, 1893, all sale of lottery tickets and all lottery drawings or schemes throughout the State of Louisiana. In January, 1894, the Lottery Company betook itself to exile on the island of Cuanaja, in the Bay of Honduras, a seat which the Honduras Government had granted it, together with a monopoly of the lottery business for fifty years.
Francis T. Nicholls.
Matters in the West drew attention. The pressure of white population, rude and resistless as a glacier, everywhere forcing the barriers of Indian reservations, now concentrated upon the part of Indian territory known as Oklahoma. This large tract the Seminole Indians had sold to the Government, to be exclusively colonized by Indians and freedmen. In 1888-89, as it had become clearly impossible to shut out white settlers, Congress appropriated $4,000,000 to extinguish the trust upon which the land was held. By December the newly opened territory boasted 60,000 denizens, eleven schools, nine churches, and three daily and five weekly newspapers. In a few years it was vying for statehood with Arizona and New Mexico.
A general view of the town on April 24, 1889, the second day after the opening.
A view along Oklahoma Avenue on May 10, 1889.
Oklahoma Avenue as it appeared on May 10, 1893, during Governor Noble's visit. THE BUILDING OF A WESTERN TOWN, GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA.
In addition to the prospect of thus losing all their lands, the Indians were, in the winter of 1890, famine-stricken through failure of Government rations. With little hope of justice or revenge in their own strength, the aggrieved savages sought supernatural solace. The so-called "Messiah Craze" seized upon Sioux, Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Osages, Missouris, and Seminoles. Ordinarily at feud with one another, these tribes all now united in ghost dances, looking for the Great Spirit or his Representative to appear with a high hand and an outstretched arm to bury the white and their works deep underground, when the prairie should once more thunder with the gallop of buffalo and wild horses. Southern negroes caught the infection. Even the scattered Aztecs of Mexico gathered around the ruins of their ancient temple at Cholula and waited a Messiah who should pour floods of lava from Popocatapetl, inundating all mortals not of Aztec race.
[1892]
While frontiersmen trembled lest massacres should follow these Indian orgies, people in the East were shuddering over the particulars of a real catastrophe indescribably awful in nature. On a level some two hundred and seventy-five feet lower than a certain massive reservoir, lay the city of Johnstown, Pa. The last of May, 1889, heavy rains having fallen, the reservoir dam burst, letting a veritable mountain of water rush down upon the town, destroying houses, factories, bridges, and thousands of lives. Relief work, begun at once and liberally supplied with money from nearly every city in the Union and from many foreign contributors, repaired as far as might be the immediate consequences of the disaster.
Along with the Johnstown Flood will be remembered in the annals of Pennsylvania the Homestead strike, in 1892, against the Carnegie Steel Company, occasioned by a cut in wages. The Amalgamated Steel and Iron Workers sought to intercede against the reduction, but were refused recognition. Preparing to supplant the disaffected workmen with non-union men, a force of Pinkerton detectives was brought up the river in armored barges. Fierce fighting ensued. Bullets and cannon-balls rained upon the barges, and receptacles full of burning oil were floated down stream. The assailants wished to withdraw, repeatedly raising the white flag, but it was each time shot down. Eleven strikers were killed; of the attacking party from thirty to forty fell, seven dead. When at last the Pinkertons were forced to give up their arms and ammunition and retire, a bodyguard of strikers sought to shield them, but so violent was the rage which they had provoked that, spite of their escort, the mob brutally attacked them. Order was restored only when the militia appeared.
Main Street, Johnstown, after the flood.
Burning of Barges during Homestead Strike.
The Carnegie Steel Works. Showing the shield used by the strikers when firing the cannon and watching the Pinkerton men. Homestead strike.
This bloodshed was not wholly in vain. Congress made the private militia system, the evil consequences of which were so manifest in these tragedies, a subject of investigation, while public sentiment more strongly than ever reprobated, on the one hand, violence by strikers or strike sympathizers, and, on the other, the employment of armed men, not officers of the law, to defend property.
That, however, other causes than these might endanger the peace was shown about the same time at certain Tennessee mines where prevailed the bad system of farming out convicts to compete with citizen-miners. Business being slack, deserving workmen were put on short time. Resenting this, miners at Tracy City, Inman, and Oliver Springs summarily removed convicts from the mines, several of these escaping. At Coal Creek the rioters were resisted by Colonel Anderson and a small force. They raised a flag of truce, answering which in person, Colonel Anderson was commanded, on threat of death, to order a surrender. He refused. A larger force soon arrived, routed the rioters, and rescued the colonel.
Inciting miners to attack Fort Anderson. The grove between Briceville and Coal Creek.
State troops and miners at Briceville, Tenn.
[1891]
The year 1891 formed a crisis in the history of Mormonism in America. For a long time after their settlement in the "Great American Desert," as it was then called, Mormons repudiated United States authority. Gentile pioneers and recreant saints they dealt with summarily, witness the Mountain Meadow massacre of 1857, where 120 victims were murdered in cold blood after surrendering their arms.
The Mormon Temple at Salt Lake City.
Anti-polygamy bills were introduced in Congress in 1855 and 1859. In 1862 such a bill was made law. Seven years later the enforcement of it became possible by the building of a trans-continental railroad and the influx of gentiles drawn by the discovery of precious metals in Utah. In 1874 the Poland Act, and in 1882 the Edmunds Act, introduced reforms. Criminal law was now much more efficiently executed against Mormons. In 1891 the Mormon officials pledged their church's obedience to the laws against plural marriages and unlawful cohabitation.
America was quick and generous in her response to the famine cry that in 1891 rose from 30,000,000 people in Russia. Over a domain of nearly a half million square miles in that land there was no cow or goat for milk, nor a horse left strong enough to draw a hearse. Old grain stores were exhausted, crops a failure, and land a waste. Typhus, scurvy, and smallpox were awfully prevalent. To relieve this misery, our people, besides individual gifts, despatched four ship-loads of supplies gathered from twenty-five States. In values given New York led, Minnesota was a close second, and Nebraska third. America became a household word among the Russians even to the remotest interior.
CHAPTER V.
THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION
Columbian Celebration, New York, April 28, 1893. Parade passing Fifth Avenue Hotel.
[1892-1893]
The thought of celebrating by a world's fair the third centennial of Columbus's immortal deed anticipated the anniversary by several years. Congress organized the exposition so early as 1890, fixing Chicago as its seat. That city was commodious, central, typically American. A National Commission was appointed; also an Executive Committee, a Board of Reference and Control, a Chicago Local Board, and a Board of Lady Managers.
The task of preparation was herculean. Jackson Park had to be changed from a dreary lakeside swamp into a lovely city, with roads, lawns, groves and flowers, canals, lagoons and bridges, a dozen palaces, and ten score other edifices. An army of workmen, also fire, police, ambulance, hospital, and miscellaneous service was organized.
Wednesday, October 21 (Old Style, October 12), 1892, was observed as Columbus Day, marking the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus's discovery. A reception was held in the Chicago Auditorium, followed by dedication of the buildings and grounds at Jackson Park and an award of medals to artists and architects. Many cities held corresponding observances. New York chose October 12th for the anniversary. On April 26-28, 1893, again, the eastern metropolis was enlivened by grand parades honoring Columbus. In the naval display, April 22d, thirty-five war ships and more than 10,000 men of divers flags, took part.
Pinta, Santa Maria, Nina, Lying in the North River, New York. The caravels which crossed from Spain to be present at the World's Fair at Chicago.
Between Columbus Day and the opening of the Exposition came the presidential election of 1892. Ex-President Cleveland had been nominated on the first ballot, in spite of the Hill delegation sent from his home State to oppose. Harrison, too, had overcome Platt, Hill's Republican counterpart in New York, and in Pennsylvania had preferred John Wanamaker to Quay. But Harrison was not "magnetic" like Blaine. With what politicians call the "boy" element of a party, he was especially weak. Stalwarts complained that he was ready to profit by their services, but abandoned them under fire. The circumstances connected with the civil service that so told against Cleveland four years before, now hurt Harrison equally. Though no doubt sincerely favoring reform, he had, like his predecessor, succumbed to the machine in more than one instance.
The campaign was conducted in good humor and without personalities. Owing to Australian voting and to a more sensitive public opinion, the election was much purer than that of 1888. The Republicans defended McKinley protection, boasting of it as sure, among other things, to transfer the tin industry from Wales to America. Free sugar was also made prominent. Some cleavage was now manifest between East and West upon the tariff issue. In the West "reciprocity" was the Republican slogan; in the East, "protection." Near the Atlantic, Democrats contented themselves with advocacy of "freer raw materials "; those by the Mississippi denounced "Republican protection" as fraud and robbery. If the platform gave color to the charge that Democrats wished "British free trade," Mr. Cleveland's letter of acceptance was certainly conservative.
Populism, emphasizing State aid to industry, particularly in behalf of the agricultural class, made great gains in the election. General Weaver was its presidential nominee. In Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, and Wyoming most Democrats voted for him. Partial fusion of the sort prevailed also in North Dakota, Nevada, Minnesota, and Oregon. Weaver carried all these States save the two last named. In Louisiana and Alabama Republicans fused with Populists. The Tillman movement in South Carolina, nominally Democratic, was akin to Populism, but was complicated with the color question, and later with novel liquor legislation. It was a revolt of the ordinary whites from the traditional dominance of the aristocracy. In Alabama a similar movement, led by Reuben F. Kolb, was defeated, as he thought, by vicious manipulation of votes in the Black Belt.
Of the total four hundred and forty-four electoral votes Cleveland received two hundred and seventy-seven, a plurality of one hundred and thirty-two. The Senate now held forty-four Democrats, thirty-seven Republicans, and four Populists; the House two hundred and sixteen Democrats, one hundred and twenty-five Republicans, and eleven Populists.
The Manufactures and liberal Arts Building, seen from the southwest.
Early on the opening day of the Exposition, May 1, 1893, the Chief Magistrate of the nation sat beside Columbus's descendant, the Duke of Veragua. Patient multitudes were waiting for the gates of Jackson Park to swing. "It only remains for you, Mr. President," said the Director-General, concluding his address, "if in your opinion the Exposition here presented is commensurate in dignity with what the world should expect of our great country, to direct that it shall be opened to the public. When you touch this magic key the ponderous machinery will start in its revolutions and the activity of the Exposition will begin." After a brief response Mr. Cleveland laid his finger on the key. A tumult of applause mingled with the jubilant melody of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." Myriad wheels revolved, waters gushed and sparkled, bells pealed and artillery thundered, while flags and gonfalons fluttered forth.
The Exposition formed a huge quadrilateral upon the westerly shore of Lake Michigan, from whose waters one passed by the North Inlet into the North Pond, or by the South Inlet into the South Pond. These united with the central Grand Basin in the peerless Court of Honor. The grounds and buildings were of surpassing magnitude and splendor. Interesting but simple features were the village of States, the Nations' tabernacles, lying almost under the guns of the facsimile battleship Illinois, and the pigmy caravels, Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, named and modelled after those that bore Columbus to the New World. These, like their originals, had fared from Spain across the Atlantic, and then had come by the St, Lawrence and the Lakes, without portage, to their moorings at Chicago.
Horticultural Building, with Illinois Building in the background.
Near the centre of the ground stood the Government Building, with a ready-made look out of keeping with the other architecture. Critics declared it the only discordant note in the symphony, Looking from the Illinois Building across the North pond, one saw the Art Palace, of pure Ionic style, perfectly proportioned, restful to view, contesting with the Administration Building for the architectural laurels of the Fair. South of the Illinois Building rose the Woman's Building, and next Horticultural Hall, with dome high enough to shelter the tallest palms. The Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, of magnificent proportions, did not tyrannize over its neighbors, though thrice the size of St. Peter's at Rome, and able easily to have sheltered the Vendome Column. It was severely classical, with a long perspective of arches, broken only at the corners and in the centre by portals fit to immortalize Alexander's triumphs.
The artistic jewel of the Exposition was the "Court of Honor." Down the Grand Basin you saw the noble statue of the Republic, in dazzling gold, with the peristyle beyond, a forest of columns surmounted by the Columbus quadriga. On the right hand stood the Agricultural Building, upon whose summit the "Diana" of Augustus St. Gaudens had alighted. To the left stood the enormous Hall of Manufactures. Looking from the peristyle the eye met the Administration Building, a rare exemplification of the French school, the dome resembling that of the Hotel des lnvalides in Paris.
A view toward the Peristyle from Machinery Hall.
A most unique conception was the Cold Storage Building, where a hundred tons at ice were made daily. Save for the entrance, flanked by windows, and the fifth floor, designed for an ice skating rink, its walls were blank. Four corner towers set off the fifth, which rose from the centre sheer to a height of 225 feet.
The cheering coolness of this building was destined not to last. Early in the afternoon of July 10th flames burst out from the top of the central tower. Delaying his departure until he had provided against explosion, the brave engineer barely saved his life. Firemen were soon on hand. Sixteen of them forthwith made their way to the balcony near the blazing summit. Suddenly their retreat was cut off by a burst of fire from the base of the tower. The rope and hose parted and precipitated a number who were sliding back to the roof. Others leaped from the colossal torch. In an instant, it seemed, the whole pyre was swathed in flames. As it toppled, the last wretched form was seen to poise and plunge with it into the glowing abyss.
The Fisheries Building received much attention. Its pillars were twined with processions of aquatic creatures and surmounted by capitals quaintly resembling lobster-pots. Its balustrades were supported by small fishy caryatids.
If wonder fatigued the visitor, he reached sequestered shade and quiet upon the Wooded Island, where nearly every variety of American tree and shrub might be seen.
The Government's displays were of extreme interest. The War Department exhibits showed our superiority in heavy ordnance, likewise that of Europe in small arms. A first-class post-office was operated on the grounds. A combination postal car, manned by the most expert sorters and operators, interested vast crowds. Close by was an ancient mail coach once actually captured by the Indians, with effigies of the pony express formerly so familiar on the Western plains, of a mail sledge drawn by dogs, and of a mail carrier mounted on a bicycle. Models of a quaint little Mississippi mail steamer and of the ocean steamer Paris stood side by side.
The Administration Building, seen from the Agricultural Building.
Swarms visited the Midway Plaisance, a long avenue out from the fair grounds proper, lined with shows. Here were villages transported from the ends of the earth, animal shows, theatres, and bazaars. Cairo Street boasted 2,250,000 visitors, and the Hagenbeck Circus over 2,000,000. The chief feature was the Ferris Wheel, described in engineering terms as a cantilever bridge wrought around two enormous bicycle wheels. The axle, supported upon steel pyramids, alone weighed more than a locomotive. In cars strung upon its periphery passengers were swung from the ground far above the highest buildings.
Midway Plaisance, World's Fair, Chicago.
Facilitating passenger transportation to and from the Fair remarkable railway achievements were made. One train from New York to Chicago covered over 48 miles an hour, including stops. In preparation for the event the Illinois Central raised its tracks for two and a half miles over thirteen city streets, built 300 special cars, and erected many new stations. These improvements cost over $2,000,000. The Fair increased Illinois Central traffic over 200 per cent.
Save the Art Building, the structures at the Fair were designed to be temporary, and they were superfluous when the occasion which called them into being had passed. The question of disposing of them was summarily solved. One day some boys playing near the Terminal Station saw a sinister leer of flame inside. A high wind soon blew a conflagration, which enveloped the structures, leaving next day naught but ashes, tortured iron work, and here and there an arch, to tell of the regal White City that had been.
Electricity Building. Mines and Mining Building. The Burning of the White City.
The financial backers of the Fair showed no mercenary temper. The architects, too, worked with public spirit and zeal which money never could have elicited. Notwithstanding the World's Fair was not financially a "success," this was rather to the credit of its unstinted magnificence than to the want of public appreciation. The paid admissions were over 21,000,000, a daily average of 120,000. The gross attendance exceeded by nearly a million the number at the Paris Exposition of 1889 for the corresponding period, though rather more than half a million below the total at the French capital. The monthly average at Chicago increased from 1,000,000 at first to 7,000,000 in October. The crowd was typical of the best side of American life; orderly, good-natured, intelligent, sober. The grounds were clean, and there was no ruffianism. Of the $32,988 worth of property reported stolen, $31,875 was recovered and restored.
CHAPTER VI.
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL MOVEMENT
[1890-1893]
The century from 1790 to 1890 saw our people multiplied sixteen times, from 3,929,214 at its beginning, to 62,622,250 at its end. The low percentage of increase for the last decade, about 20 per cent., disappointed even conservative estimates. The cities not only absorbed this increase, but, except in the West, made heavy draughts upon the country population. Of each 1,000 people in 1880, 225 were urban; in 1890, 290. Chicago's million and a tenth was second only to New York's million and a half. Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and St. Louis appeared respectively as the third, fourth, and fifth in the list of great cities. St. Paul, Omaha, and Denver domiciled three or four times as many as ten years before. Among Western States only Nevada lagged. The State of Washington had quintupled its numbers. The centre of population had travelled fifty miles west and nine miles north, being caught by the census about twenty miles east of Columbus, Indiana.
The New York Life Insurance Building in Chicago. (Showing the construction of outer walls.)
The railroads of the country spanned an aggregate of 163,000 miles, twice the mileage of 1880. The national wealth was appraised at $65,037,091,197, an increase for the decade of $21,395,091,197 in the gross. Our per capita wealth was now $1,039, a per capita increase of $169. Production in the mining industry had gone up more than half. The improved acreage, on the other hand, had increased less than a third, the number of farms a little over an eighth.
School enrollment had advanced from 12 per cent. in 1840 to 23 per cent. in 1890. Not far from a third of the people were communicants of the various religious bodies. About a tenth were Roman Catholics.
Improvement in iron and steel manufacture revolutionized the construction of bridges, vessels, and buildings. The suspension bridge, instanced by the stupendous East River bridge between New York and Brooklyn, was supplanted by the cantilever type, consisting of trusswork beams poised upon piers and meeting each other mid-stream. Iron and steel construction also made elevated railways possible. In 1890 the elevated roads of New York City alone carried over 500,000 passengers daily. Steel lent to the framework of buildings lightness, strength, and fire-proof quality, at the same time permitting swift construction. Walls came to serve merely as covering, not sustaining the floors, the weight of which lay upon iron posts and girders. |
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