A History of the United States

by Charles Kendall Adams; William P. Trent

629. Character of Harrison’s Administration.—President Harrison was an able lawyer and a good judge of men, as he proved by important judicial appointments and by the choice of a strong Cabinet. His Secretary of State was J. G. Blaine. Since the latter had favored a rather aggressive foreign policy, it is not strange that Harrison’s administration should be important on account of international relations. Since Congress was Republican in both branches when the administration began, it was possible to carry through important domestic legislation, including a new tariff and a lavish pension bill. One measure on which many Republicans had set their hearts,—a Federal Election Bill, introduced by Congressman (later Senator) Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, the object of which was to enable the general government to prevent fraud at elections in the larger cities and in the South,—was finally defeated in the Senate by a combination of Democrats and Republicans favoring more liberal laws with regard to silver. The defeat of this so-called “Force Bill” was probably good for the country and not harmful to the Republicans; but the party was hurt by its tariff legislation and was badly defeated in the congressional election of 1890. Thus the second half of Harrison’s administration was not so productive of important legislation as the first. The Union was enlarged during this period by the addition of six of the far Western states. North and South Dakota, Montana, and Washington were admitted in 1889, and Idaho and Wyoming in 1890. In the more than twenty years that had elapsed since the admission of Nebraska in 1867, only one state had been admitted—Colorado, in 1876. At the end of Harrison’s administration, the question of securing for the Union territory outside its bounds—to wit, the Hawaiian Islands—became important (§ [650]).

Benjamin Harrison.
[Copyright by Pach Brothers, 1896.]

630. The McKinley Tariff.—The election of Harrison had turned chiefly on the tariff issue raised by the special message of Cleveland; and as the nation had decided against the Cleveland doctrine, the framing of a new tariff bill was early undertaken. It was, as usual, intrusted to the House Committee of Ways and Means, of which William McKinley of Ohio was chairman. While it was generally felt that a large part of the surplus in the Treasury ought to be put into circulation, the Republicans were unwilling to reduce the duties on protected goods. Therefore they adopted the policy of imposing a higher duty on all articles produced in the United States, and reducing the duty on all other articles. It was believed that in this way the excess of revenue could be checked without endangering the protective system. As a matter of fact, the so-called “McKinley Tariff” of 1890, although it admitted sugar free, and was supplemented in the Senate by a “reciprocity clause,” which authorized the President to modify the tariff rates upon goods from other nations according to the liberality of those nations toward goods from the United States, created great popular disturbance, and converted many voters to Cleveland’s theories of freer trade. It was followed by a marked rise of prices in certain articles, and this fact probably contributed largely to the crushing defeat of the Republicans in the election of 1890.

631. Oklahoma Territory.—The new tariff, although it attracted so much attention, was but one of several important features of Harrison’s administration. Not long after the inauguration, the territory of Oklahoma was thrown open for settlement. It had formed a part of Indian Territory, but the right of the Indians had been purchased by the United States. In order to prevent speculation, Harrison made it known that no entrance into the territory before noon of April 22, 1889, would entitle any one to preëmpt land. As the soil and climate were considered particularly desirable, a vast crowd, numbering, it was said, as many as fifty thousand people, gathered on the border to be among the first settlers. At the bugle blast announcing the hour, the waiting settlers rushed over the border and the scramble of selecting lands began. Within a few months Guthrie, the capital, had several thousand inhabitants, with banks, schools, churches, and electric lights. The same year that witnessed this notable evidence of national enterprise also saw the great flood of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, which destroyed many lives and much property.

632. The Pan-American Congress.—In October, 1889, as a result of the work of a commission appointed in 1884, a congress of representatives of eighteen of the leading governments of North, Central, and South America, met at Washington, in what was known as the Pan-American Congress. The meeting, which had been advocated by Blaine, was designed to promote facilities for commercial intercourse. After visiting various parts of the United States, the delegates, sixty-six in number, returned to Washington and devoted several months to the discussion of better methods of making the resources of their respective countries known, and to other subjects of mutual interest. The conference was not wholly harmonious, nor were the results very definite, although the fact was brought out that Blaine and other Republicans were modifying their views in the direction of more liberal opinions with regard to the value to the country of less restricted foreign trade.

633. New Rules in the House of Representatives.—In December, 1889, important action was taken in the House of Representatives to prevent the obstruction of business. Before that time, the question as to whether a quorum was present was determined by the number of members who responded to their names at roll call, and any member felt at liberty to remain silent when his name was called. This custom afforded many opportunities for the minority to prevent legislation by simply remaining silent, and thus reducing the number apparently present to less than a quorum. It was also possible to obstruct legislation indefinitely by a succession of motions requiring a call of the roll. The Republican majority, under the leadership of Speaker Thomas B. Reed of Maine, now changed the rules so that a quorum would be determined by the number of those actually present. The new rules also empowered the Speaker to ignore motions which he regarded as purely dilatory. Mr. Reed’s innovations were denounced at the time as tyrannical, and he became popularly known as “Czar Reed”; but the general wisdom of his course of action was acknowledged later, especially when the Democrats, on obtaining control of the House in 1891, did not revert to the old rules.

634. Silver Legislation.—The continued decline in the price of silver had led to an active agitation in favor of a law to require the government to coin all the silver that might be brought to its mints at the rate of 371¼ grains of pure silver to the dollar (§ [604]). Such a law, it was argued, would not only provide a market for the product of all the silver mines, but would also raise the price of silver as compared with gold to its old standard. A majority of the economists and financiers of the country argued, however, that such an extension of the currency would be sure to bring on a financial crisis.

635. The Sherman Law.—In order to prevent the passage of the suggested law, Congress agreed, in 1890, upon a compromise measure, proposed by Senator Sherman of Ohio. This “Sherman Bill” provided that the government should buy each month four and a half million ounces of silver, and that, for the silver so purchased, the United States should issue Treasury notes. These notes, known as silver certificates, were to be legal tender in payment of debt. This compromise increased the amount of currency in circulation by about fifty-four million dollars a year, and proved to be a severe drain upon the Treasury and a cause of financial uneasiness. It did not, however, raise the price of silver, as many had anticipated (§ [647]).

636. New Pensions.—The vast sum accumulated in the Treasury and the rapid increase of the currency stimulated large expenditures on the part of the government. The President recommended greater liberality in the granting of pensions, and the “Dependent Pension Bill” was finally passed in 1890 (§ [626]). Under this law the amount annually expended for pensions rapidly rose until, in the course of a few years, it reached more than one hundred and fifty million dollars a year.