1893-1897 Illinois was not only able to take care of itself, but stood ready to furnish the Federal government any assistance it might need elsewhere. He accused the President of discourtesy, asserted that his action was unnecessary and unjustifiable and asked for an immediate withdrawal of the Federal troops from the State. Mr. Cleveland made a spirited reply, saying that Federal troops were sent to Chicago in strict accordance with the Constitution and the laws, upon the demand of the Post Office Department that the obstruction of the mails should be removed and upon the representation of the judicial officers of the United States that the processes of the Federal Courts could not be executed through the ordinary means, and upon abundant proof that conspiracies existed against interstate commerce. The correspondence between the President and the irate governor continued, until finally the President, somewhat out of patience, told him that he thought discussion ought to give way to active efforts on the part of those in authority to restore obedience to law and to protect life and property. Public sentiment was clearly with President Cleveland, the Supreme Court subsequently sustained the constitutionality of his course, 16 and posterity will no doubt give him the full meed of praise for his wise and vigorous action. The year 1894 will long be remembered by the American people for the unfavorable industrial and financial conditions which prevailed. Besides the "Chicago strike," which in reality extended to half a dozen western States, there were other labor troubles. During the summer there was a protracted strike of 200,000 bituminous coal miners which paralyzed many industries of the country and caused widespread distress. Business was unusually dull, there was industrial depression everywhere, the prices of farm products fell so low that farmers were in despair; and added to this was the general failure of crops. Restlessness and discontent were widespread in the West. Armies of the unemployed under various names and banners were formed for the purpose of marching to Washington to demand relief of the government. Of these the one which attracted the most attention was the "Army of the Commonweal" formed by one "General Coxey at Massillon, Ohio. Numbering about 1,000 men, they set out in March for Washington to demand of the government the issue of a wagon-load of fiat 16 See the case of in re Debs, 158 U. S. Reports, p. 564; for President Cleveland's defense of his action, see his "Presidential Problems," pp. 79-121. 1893-1897 money to be paid to the unemployed for labor on the public highways. Supported largely by those who lived along the route, laughed at by idle crowds, recruited by tramps and loafers, they marched over the mountains and on April 28 they were in Washington three or four hundred strong, only to discover that they were a set of fools. Attempting to make a demonstration on the Capitol steps and grounds they were dispersed by the local police and their leaders arrested. This virtually ended the farce, and the remnant of the army returned to their homes sadder, and, it is to be hoped, wiser men. Similar but more serious movements took place in the far West. In some cases riots occurred in which both citizens and "commonwealers commonwealers " were killed; in other cases freight trains were seized and pressed into service. Such were some of the evidences of popular discontent-a sad commentary, said the Republicans, upon the prosperity promised during the campaign in the event of Democratic success at the polls. The government also had its share of troubles owing to the financial depression. The repeal of the Sherman Law had not brought relief. The price of silver went down to an unprecedented point, while the gold reserve disappeared to an extent which alarmed the President and frightened business men. At the time of the resumption of specie payments in 1879 the gold reserve exceeded $300,000,000. By July, 1893, it had fallen to $97,000,000, and on November 24, 1894, it stood at $57,000,000. Great distrust and apprehension prevailed in business and financial circles. Mr. Cleveland believed that the trouble was due to the practice of reissuing the United States notes ($346,681,000) after redeeming them in gold instead of canceling them and thus stopping the drain on the Treasury. In vain did he appeal to Congress to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to retire them as fast as they were redeemed, but no argument or pressure could bring Congress to adopt the President's recommendation. Besides the drain caused by the practice of reissuing the "greenbacks," the President charged that the falling off of exports in consequence of the McKinley Act, thus requiring the payment to some extent of our balances in gold, the " unnatural infusion" of silver into our currency, the hording of gold at home and the high rate of foreign exchange were some of the causes which contributed to the financial stringency and the shrinkage in the gold reserve.17 17 Richardson, "Messages and Papers," vol. ix. p. 643. 1893-1897 Failing to secure the coöperation of Congress in protecting the gold reserve, the President set about doing all that the existing law could possibly be interpreted to permit. Early in 1894, under cover of the authority of a provision of the Resumption Act, he sold fifty million dollars of bonds for $58,633,295 in gold. But this replenishment proved to be insufficient, and on November 24 the gold reserve had fallen below $57,000,000. Another issue of $50,000,000 in bonds followed, but still the gold fund declined until it stood at the unprecedentedly low amount of $41,340,000. At this juncture the President sent a long message to Congress describing the situation and requesting that authority be conferred upon the Secretary of the Treasury to issue bonds for the purpose of maintaining a "sufficient gold reserve" and for redeeming and canceling outstanding "greenbacks" greenbacks" and Sherman Treasury notes. But Congress took no action on the recommendation. In this emergency the President made an agreement with certain New York bankers and financiers by which the government borrowed $62,000,000 in gold, at least half of which was to be furnished from abroad, and those supplying the gold were to do all in their power to aid the government in protecting the gold reserve. However necessary the act, the President's conduct was open to criticism. for selling the bonds at what was perhaps less than their real value to a small group of Wall Street bankers instead of offering them to the public.18 This arrangement, however, like the rest, did not check the withdrawals, and on December 2, 1895, the President was obliged to say that after a bonded indebtedness of $162,000,000 had been incurred we were "nearly where we started." " 19 The government, he said, had redeemed nine-tenths of the greenbacks with gold, and still owed them all. Later a popular loan of $100,000,000 was made, but it was not until after the presidential election that confidence was restored and the financial stringency disappeared. 18 In defense of the charge of "issuing bonds in time of peace" Mr. Cleveland says: "Without shame and without repentance, I confess my share of the guilt; and I refuse to shield my accomplices in this crime, who, with me, held high places in that administration. And though Mr. Morgan, Mr. Belmont, and scores of other bankers and financiers, who were accessories in these transactions, may be steeped in destructive propensities, and may be constantly busy in sinful schemes, I shall always recall with satisfaction and self-congratulation my association with them at a time when our country sorely needed their aid."- Grover Cleveland, "Presidential Problems," p. 170. 19 Richardson, "Messages and Papers," vol. ix. p. 694. 1893-1897 As the fateful year 1894 drew to a close the people went to the polls to choose members for the Fifty-third Congress. In view of the well-established practice of the voters to hold the party in power responsible for all their ills, economic, social, political, and otherwise, only one verdict was to be expected, especially when there were so many real grounds of dissatisfaction. The "landslide" of 1890 was reversed. The Democratic majority of 165 in the House of Representatives was transformed into a Republican majority of 140. Scarcely more than a dozen Democratic members were elected from the Northern States. The election of Republican legislatures in the North also insured a Republican plurality in the Senate. For the last two years of Mr. Cleveland's term, therefore, he was checked by a hostile Congress, making it impossible for him to carry out any party measures. Opposed also by many of his own party, his administration drifted along until the end came, on March 4, 1897, and there is little doubt that he turned the government over to his successor with a profound sense of relief, in which the feeling of gratitude that the candidate of his own party had been defeated was not inconspicuous. V CIVIL SERVICE REFORM; THE NEW NAVY; THE WORLD'S FAIR For his course in the matter of Civil Service reform President Cleveland won the applause of many citizens of both parties who longed to see the merit system established as the basis of appointments to the government service. It will be remembered that the Civil Service law permitted the President to extend the rules to cover many classes of appointees not covered in the original act. Few or no extensions had been made during the preceding administration, and when Cleveland became President only about 40,000, or about one-half of the positions contemplated by the Pendleton Act, were in the classified service. By successive orders large extensions, which might have looked better if the positions had not previously been filled by the appointment of Democrats, were made by Mr. Cleveland, so that when he retired from the Presidency 85,000 places, or practically all positions under the government (excepting fourth-class postmasterships) contemplated by the Civil Service Law had been classified and brought under the 1893-1897 rules.20 Various orders were also issued looking to the improvement of the service by a better system of transfers, promotions and examinations. The action of Cleveland in placing under the rules the employees of the President's office but a few weeks before his term expired called forth strong criticism from the Republicans, and it certainly was contrary to the Jeffersonian idea that the retiring President should make no appointments after the election of his successor. The development of the navy during Cleveland's term deserves a word of notice. It was in 1883, during Arthur's administration, that Congress first authorized the construction of new ships, and, what was even more important, prohibited the repair of the old wooden vessels. This policy was continued during Cleveland's first term and under General Harrison's. At the beginning of Mr. Cleveland's second term about twenty vessels, battleships, cruisers, rams, gunboats, and monitors were in process of construction, and before he retired four first-class and two second-class battleships, two armored cruisers, one harbor defense, and five double-turreted monitors, including the Terror and the Puritan, were completed and placed in commission.21 The time was near at hand when these vessels were to render good service to the Republic, and to aid in teaching the Old World to respect the naval power of the New. Except the tariff bill, already described, there were no important legislative measures passed during Cleveland's second administration. In his relations with Congress he showed the same firmness in the exercise of his veto power as during the first term, although the example of his previous term deferred Congress from sending him many objectionable bills. A considerable number of bills, however, were disapproved, among them, unfortunately, an immigration bill which sought to exclude all immigrants over sixteen years of age who could not read or write the English or some other language. The President said in his veto message that he could not believe that we would be protected against the evils of immigration by excluding those who could not read or write. It was infinitely safer, he said, to admit 100,000 illiterates who were 20 Fish, "The Civil Service and the Patronage," p. 225. See also Richardson, "Messages and Papers of the Presidents," vol. ix. pp. 513-523, for Presi dent Cleveland's orders relating to changes in the Civil Service rules. 21 Richardson, "Messages and Papers of the Presidents," vol. ix. p. 457. |