1881-1885 promptly appointed the commissioners and otherwise put the act into effect.10 At first applying to a comparatively small portion of the civil service, some 10,000 places, the rules have been extended until they now include about 128,000 positions. Each succeeding President has shown a hearty sympathy with the purpose of the law, and its merits are now fully recognized and appreciated by the American people. Next to the Civil Service Act the most important legislative measure of Arthur's administration was the tariff act of 1883. Not since 1864 had there been a general revision of the tariff, although at different times there had been minor acts making particular changes in existing schedules. As we have already noted, the duties on pig iron, coffee, sugar, tea, and a few other articles not produced in this country had been largely reduced by an act of 1870, while by an act of 1872 most of these articles were placed on the free list. On many articles, however, the high duties levied under the war tariff of 1864 were still retained. An increasing dissatisfaction among the Republicans of the West was growing up against the continuance of high duties, and Congress was forced to consider their demands for a revision of the tariff schedule. But it went about the subject gingerly and with timidity. It first created a tariff commission of eight members, consisting mainly of manufacturers and experts, to investigate the subject and report to Congress at the next session what changes, if any, were desirable. The commission made an elaborate investigation, examining many witnesses and taking volumes of testimony. It recommended an average reduction of not less than 20 per cent., and in some cases a reduction of 50 per cent. The Senate prepared a bill embodying most of the recommendations of the commission, and substituted it for the House bill. It was at the close of the session, and the House under pressure accepted the Senate bill as it stood. The bill as finally passed was distinctly a protectionist measure, being less than 4 per cent. lower than the existing schedules. In the case of woolen cloths, cotton goods, iron ore, and steel the rates were even increased; on cheap grades of cotton, pig iron, steel rails, nickel, and copper the duties were reduced; while on agricultural products they were retained unchanged.11 10 The Commissioners were: Dorman B. Eaton, Leroy D. Thoman, and John M. Gregory. 11 See Taussig, "Tariff History," p. 234. 1881-1885 The four years of Garfield and Arthur's administration were an era of good feeling and of industrial progress. The census of 1880 showed that the population had increased during the last decade from 38,000,000 to 50,000,000, or 221⁄2 per cent. In 1881 the whole country joined with pride in the centennial celebration of Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, Virginia. The exercises began on October 18, the anniversary of the surrender of the British general, and lasted throughout the week. A number of war vessels of the United States were present in the James River; an oration was delivered by Hon. Robert C. Winthrop of Boston; speeches were made by President Arthur, the Marquis Rochambeau, Baron Steuben, and others; the corner-stone of a centennial monument was laid with impressive ceremonies; while splendid military and naval reviews added to the brilliancy of the fête. In the same year the International Cotton Exposition was held at Atlanta, at which was exhibited a large variety of agricultural products, live stock, farm machinery, textile manufactures, etc. Most of the Southern States were represented and the legislatures of several of them visited the exposition in a body. Financially it was a success and did much to call attention to the immense and varied undeveloped resources of the South and to create an interchange of ideas and opinions with the people of the North. In 1883 another was held at Louisville, at which there were nearly a million admissions. For the purpose of housing the exposition a building covering thirteen acres was constructed at a cost of $300,000. In 1884 the Cotton Centennial Exposition was held at New Orleans, in commemoration of the shipping of the first bale of cotton to England in 1784. Unlike those which preceded, it was a general exhibition of the natural resources and arts in the southern part of the United States. It was planned and carried out on a scale more vast than had ever been undertaken in the United States or Europe. Congress gave its support to the enterprise by appropriating $1,000,000 to be used as a loan, and another $1,000,000 was raised by private subscription or through State aid. By authority of Congress the President appointed commissioners for the several States, and in most of them appropriations were made to provide creditable displays of their products. Several foreign countries likewise made exhibits. The exposition was held in the picturesque Audubon Park, with its great mosscovered live oaks, orange and banana groves, and beds of tropical 1881-1885 flowers sights in themselves to the Northern visitor. It was opened on December 16 in the presence of several Cabinet members and high officials from various States of the Union. The President of the United States, surrounded by a distinguished company at the White House, telegraphed a suitable sentiment and at the proper time pressed a button which set the machinery in motion and formally opened the exposition.12 The exposition was a great success, and it revealed as nothing had done the marvelous industrial progress of the South since the close of the Civil War. The friendly hospitality which was accorded to the Northern visitors was a subject of general comment, and afforded convincing evidence of the rapid disappearance of the old animosity which had so recently marked the relations of the people of the two sections. 12 "Appleton's Annual Cyclopædia," 1884, p. 578. Chapter XL THE ADMINISTRATION OF GROVER CLEVELAND F 1884-1888 CONTEST BETWEEN BLAINE AND CLEVELAND. 1884 NOR twenty years that is to say, since the outbreak of the Civil War - the Republicans had practically controlled the government, and until the period of the Democratic Congress under President Hayes had administered it without restraint or interruption, with the exception of the brief period when the Democrats had a majority of Congress. During this long lease of power it had committed blunders and the taint of the scandals clung to some of the Republican leaders. To many good Republicans the party itself seemed to be declining in virtue and needed the chastening effect of a popular reprimand. In 1874, 1878, and again in 1882 the Democrats had succeeded in electing a majority of the members of the lower House of Congress; now they were to elect the President, and continue also their supremacy in the lower House. The preliminary work of selecting the candidates of both parties took place at Chicago in June and July, 1884. The Republican convention met on July 2. There was the usual number of candidates, but the overwhelming sentiment of the convention was in favor of Mr. Blaine. President Arthur had a respectable following, second only to Blaine, but it was not customary to nominate Vice Presidents who had succeeded to the Presidency. Besides, he had incurred the displeasure of some of the Republican leaders. by reconstructing the Cabinet with Republicans of the Grant faction and by vetoing a river and harbor bill carrying $18,000,000, which had been passed by large majorities. Nevertheless, it was the opinion of the late Senator Hoar that if Arthur had not made an offensive appointment to the collectorship of the Port of Boston the Massachusetts delegation would have supported him and 1884 he would have received the nomination.1 Strongly opposed to Blaine was an able group of Republicans who favored Senator George F. Edmunds, and who worked hard to bring about his nomination, but to no avail. Blaine was nominated on the fourth ballot, and General John A. Logan, the candidate of Illinois for the Presidency, was nominated for Vice President. Logan was a picturesque man, greatly admired by the old soldiers, and bore the sobriquet of "The Black Eagle." At the outbreak of the war he was a Democrat of southern Illinois, and it is said hesitated for some time as to whether he should join the Confederate service or that of the United States. His decision, however, was on the side of the Union, and he rose to be one of the ablest volunteer commanders on the Federal side. After the war he served in both houses of Congress and was known as a forceful, earnest speaker. The announcement of Blaine's nomination was followed by one of the most extraordinary demonstrations ever witnessed in a convention hall. At last, it was said, the leader of the Republican party had received the nomination which, it was believed, scheming politicians had denied him in 1876 and again in 1880. A small, though respectable, minority of the party, however, were filled with disgust, and they promptly announced that they would not support the ticket. The leader of this group was George William Curtis, the noted orator, champion of civil service reform and man of letters, who remarked, “I was at the birth of the Republican party and I fear I am to witness its death." There was no question as to Blaine's ability. With only brief interruptions he had been in public life since 1862. He had served in both houses of Congress with distinguished credit, and for six years he had presided over the House of Representatives as Speaker, and it was commonly asserted that he filled the office with greater ability than any of his predecessors since the establishment of the government. His mastery of parliamentary law, his rapid dispatch of business, his thorough understanding of the legislative history of the country, his imposing personal appearance and charming manner, his physical endurance, which was an important qualification when turbulent all-night sessions were frequent, as they were during the reconstruction period and the years that immediately followed, equipped him in a rare degree for the duties of this difficult position. 1 Hoar, "Autobiography of Seventy Years," vol. i. p. 406. |