Praise was showered upon the President’s highly popular wife, who never made a mistake. Without a word, she settled problems that had stirred tempests of discussion. The matter of wines was settled by her for herself. She merely turned down her glass, declining thus to use them, and the quiet dignity placed her action above argument. She made the unsightly bustle unfashionable and set also an example of simple and becoming hairdressing.
It fell to the President to announce to the nation the loss of another ex-President—his immediate predecessor—Chester A. Arthur, who, after his retirement, never recovered his health which had been undermined and shattered by the anxieties of office. He died in his home within two years after he left the White House.
This was the period when many noted authors, writers, and artists made Washington their abiding place at least for a time. Among them, Frances Hodgson Burnett, at the high tide of her popularity, had established herself on Farragut Square. Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, from the sheltered seclusion of the porch of Prospect Cottage, was wielding her prolific pen and producing a novel a year. Joaquin Miller had built his unique cabin in the trees, a mecca for all kindred spirits and for throngs of the curious. The learned Spofford and the gifted Bancroft rode horseback in literary companionship. The spell of Mark Twain and Walt Whitman was upon the city; and Grace Greenwood, Gail Hamilton, Mary Clemmer Ames were listed among the shining lights of the press so valiantly served by Townsend and Poore and dozens of others. Mary S. Logan was already filling bookshelf space. Olivia Edson Briggs, trenchant and satirical, had stamped upon the public mind the quality of her Olivia letters, compendiums of news—gossip, politics, and fashion. Mary S. Lockwood won favour reminiscing over the city’s quaint, half-forgotten old homes, so replete with romances and tragedies of national history. The literary élite, too numerous to mention, left their stamp upon the life of the flourishing, shifting population of the most unique city in the world, where no rank, power, or residence is permanent.
President Cleveland’s first administration was distinguished by his firm stand for Civil Service Reform. The first movement toward reform had begun in 1853, though nothing was done. Presidents Grant and Hayes also had taken up the matter, but it remained for President Cleveland to take a stand that proved its value. A new Cabinet portfolio was created—the Department of Agriculture. Norman J. Colman, then serving as Commissioner of the Bureau of Agriculture, being made its Secretary.
Congress created the first of the governmental commissions through the Interstate Commerce measure. This was the first step toward standardizing rates on railroads and became the basis for a long struggle before railroads became regarded and treated as monopolies needing regulation for the best interest of the public. The creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission was a radical step that was not understood, and drew to itself and its promoters great criticism.
In fact, criticism of President Cleveland’s policies was general. He was blamed more or less for the conditions that led to the riot in Chicago in Haymarket Square, which was instigated and engineered by disgruntled foreigners. Bombs were thrown. Seven policemen were killed and sixty wounded, and, while the leading rioters were executed, the people of the country were deeply disturbed.
The year 1886 has often been called the year of strikes. Beginning with the opening of the year in New York, among the street-car conductors, they spread their disruption pretty well over the country.
This administration witnessed also the greatest advance in development and power of the great companies or corporations, as well as that of the labour organizations. A number of important laws were enacted. Among them, one provided definite rules for counting the electoral vote, so as to avoid all doubts and disputes over the election of the President. Another had for its object a uniform railroad rate for passengers and also for freight. Another prohibited the importation of Chinese labour.
President Cleveland, in placing his interpretation of principle above partisanship, had made a remarkable record for achievement, but he also had aroused great antagonism, and the Republican party capitalized upon the opposition to his methods by wresting the power away from the Democrats and electing a Republican as his successor.