637. Internal Improvements.—Congress also made large appropriations for internal improvements; increased the appropriations for the navy; and voted to refund to the individual states the amount of taxes they had levied in support of the war for the Union. In these ways, the expenditures of the Fifty-first Congress exceeded those of the Fiftieth by about one hundred and seventy million dollars, and in consequence the former body came to be popularly known as the “Billion Dollar Congress.” This fact gave the Democrats a good opportunity to charge the Republicans with gross extravagance, and contributed to the defeat of the latter in the elections of 1890.

638. Labor Riots.—Harrison’s administration, like those of his immediate predecessors, was marked by industrial disturbances. In the summer of 1892, a great strike occurred at Homestead, near Pittsburg, among the employees of the Carnegie Steel Company. In order to protect the works and the non-union workmen, a considerable number of Pinkerton detectives were employed by the owners. A collision occurred between the detectives and the strikers, in which the former were forced to surrender, seven detectives and eleven strikers being killed. The district was placed under martial law, and the militia of the state had to be called out before order could be restored. About the same time, disturbances also occurred at Buffalo, New York, as well as in Tennessee, where the custom of hiring out convict laborers caused considerable rioting, which had to be put down by the troops.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

639. Difficulty with Italy.—During Harrison’s administration, the foreign relations of the government required, as has already been indicated, very careful treatment. In March, 1891, a serious riot occurred in New Orleans, in which several persons of Italian birth were forcibly taken from jail by a mob and shot or hanged. The disturbance was due to the murder of a popular chief of police and to the unexpected acquittal of six of the Italians accused of the crime and the failure of the jury to agree on a verdict in the case of three. Believing that the jury was bribed or intimidated by the criminal secret society known as the “Mafia,” to which the accused men belonged, the citizens became infuriated and broke into the jail, under the leadership of the district attorney. Most of the men lynched were naturalized citizens, but some of them still owed allegiance to Italy. While the United States government expressed its earnest regret at the incident, it disavowed all responsibility for it, since it was a matter entirely under the control of the State of Louisiana. The Italian government demanded a national apology, the payment of an indemnity, and the punishment of the perpetrators of the outrage. The United States government refused to comply; whereupon the Italian minister withdrew from Washington. The matter assumed a warlike aspect; but as an evidence of national good will the government finally agreed to pay the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars for the families of those who had been killed. Blaine managed the negotiations in a most creditable manner, in view of the difficulty of making the Italian government understand that even in affairs involving international relations the government of the United States sometimes has not full control of the actions of its own citizens.

640. Difficulty with Chile.—In October, 1891, a number of sailors in uniform, belonging to the United States cruiser Baltimore, were assaulted in the streets of Valparaiso, in consequence of bad feeling aroused by previous acts of the American Minister, who had not been neutral in a civil war going on in Chile. The Chilean populace was also incensed against the Americans on account of the illegal chase of a Chilean vessel, the Itata, by the United States cruiser Charleston. The requests of our government for an apology and for reparation were ignored, until, in January, 1892, a peremptory demand, accompanied by ships of war, was presented to the Chilean government. An indemnity of seventy-five thousand dollars was promptly offered and accepted. Blaine seems to have handled with his usual skill this not altogether creditable affair.

641. Seal Fisheries.—Blaine displayed equal vigor, but probably less discretion, in his efforts to secure the settlement of another serious question. For some years a dispute had existed between Great Britain and the United States, in regard to the rights of vessels engaged in the seal fisheries off Alaska.[[291]] The dispute involved the question as to whether Alaska seals, in going to and from the outer islands, passed out of the United States jurisdiction, so as to be subject to capture by foreign fishermen. This difficult question, which had never been clearly settled by international law, was finally submitted, in 1892, to arbitration, the seven arbitrators meeting at Paris, in the spring of 1893. The contention of the United States was not allowed, and it was declared that no exclusive property in seals could exist outside the three-mile limit. It was decided, however, that both nations might join in protecting the seals in the open waters.

POLITICAL AFFAIRS.

642. The People’s Party.—For many years before 1890 the farmers of the country had shown unmistakable signs of dissatisfaction (§ [596]). Many organizations, known as Farmers’ Leagues, Granges, Patrons of Industry, and Farmers’ Alliances, had been organized for various purposes, and for the spread of knowledge in regard to matters of mutual interest. In 1889 these organizations were united into what was known as the “Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial Union.” They met in St. Louis, and in the following year called a convention, which gave to the organization the title of the “People’s [or Populist] Party.” They demanded the unlimited coinage of silver, at a ratio of sixteen to one (§ [604]), a graduated income tax, government ownership of railroads and telegraphs, and a national currency to be loaned to the people, at two per cent, on the security of land or produce. On this platform, in 1890, two senators and five representatives in Congress were elected. In 1892 the new party was ready to put a Presidential ticket in the field.

643. Pending Political Questions.—In the election of 1892 several very important questions were involved. While there had been general prosperity in the country, there was a widespread feeling that the tariff was not accomplishing what had been claimed for it. The government was accused of great extravagance (§ [637]), and some of its creditable achievements, such as the passage of a long needed International Copyright Law and of an Anti-Lottery Bill which helped to put down the great Louisiana Lottery, were hardly remembered. The relations of capital and labor were not satisfactory, and it was widely felt that labor was not receiving its share in the profits of industry. The accumulations of silver in the Treasury now amounted to a vast sum, which many people desired to see put in circulation. In the midst of this prevailing discontent, Harrison, who had been a good executive, was renominated for the Presidency, with Whitelaw Reid of New York for Vice President, in a convention held at Minneapolis. The Democrats met at Chicago, and once more nominated Cleveland, who had spent the interim practicing law in New York City, with Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois for Vice President. The People’s Party nominated James B. Weaver of Iowa for President, and James G. Field of Virginia for Vice President. The result was an overwhelming victory for the Democrats. Cleveland and Stevenson received two hundred and seventy-seven electoral votes, while Harrison and Reid received only one hundred and forty-five, and the People’s Party candidates, twenty-two.