History of the United States

by John Clark Ridpath

2. The last months of Arthur's and the first of Cleveland's administration were noted for the International Cotton Exposition at New Orleans. This, after the Centennial Exposition of 1876, was the greatest display of the kind ever held in the United States. The Exposition extended from December of 1884 to June of 1885, and was daily attended by thousands of visitors from all parts of the United States and from many foreign countries. The display was varied and full of interest. Intended, in the first place, to exhibit the wonderful resources of the South in her peculiar products, the exhibition was enlarged to include all branches of production and every species of mechanism and art. Among the incidental benefits of the Exposition may be mentioned the increased intercourse and consequent friendliness of the people of the Northern and Southern States.

3. The first year of Cleveland's administration was uneventful. The great question before the President was that of the Reform of the Civil Service. In attempting to substitute a new series of rules for appointment to office, by which the persons appointed should be selected rather for their fitness than for their party services, the President was greatly embarrassed. He found that the old forces in American politics were as active as ever, and that a reform was almost impossible under existing conditions.

Labor Agitations.

4. The first great national event of the Cleveland administration was that of the Labor Agitations, which broke out in the spring of 1886. It was not until after the Civil War that the first symptoms appeared of a renewal, in the New World, of the struggle which has been long going on in Europe between Capital and Labor. The first difficulties of this sort in our country appeared in the mining regions, and in the factories of the Eastern States. The agitation soon spread to the West. As early as 1867 the peculiar method of action, called "striking," began among the laborers of the country. An account of the great railroad strike of 1877 has already been presented. (Pages 337 and 338.)

The Southwestern Strike.

5. At the same time monopolies sprang up and flourished; and, coincident with this, American labor discovered the salutary but dangerous power of combination. When the trade season of 1886 opened, a series of strikes and labor troubles broke out in several parts of the country. The cities and towns were most involved in these agitations. The first serious conflict was on what is known as the Gould System of Railways, in the Southwest. A single workman, belonging to the Knights of Labor, and employed on a branch of the Texas and Pacific Railway, was discharged from his place. This action was resented by the Knights, and the laborers on a great part of the Gould System were ordered to strike. The movement was, for a season, successful, and the transportation of freights from St. Louis to the Southwest ceased. Gradually, however, other workmen were substituted for the striking Knights; but the end was not reached until a severe riot in East St. Louis had occasioned the sacrifice of much property and several innocent lives.

The Chicago Anarchists.

6. Far more alarming was the outbreak in Chicago. In that city the socialistic and anarchic elements were sufficiently powerful to present a bold front to the authorities. Processions bearing red flags and banners, with communistic devices and mottoes, frequently paraded the streets, and were addressed by demagogues who avowed themselves the open enemies of society and the existing order. On the 4th of May, 1886, a vast crowd of this reckless material collected in a place called the Haymarket, and were about to begin the usual inflammatory proceedings, when a band of policemen, mostly officers, drew near, with the evident purpose of controlling or dispersing the meeting.

7. A terrible scene ensued. Dynamite bombs were thrown from the crowd and exploded among the officers, several of whom were blown to pieces, and others shockingly mangled. The mob was, in turn, attacked by the police, and many of the insurgents were shot down. Order was presently restored in the city; several of the leading anarchists were arrested on the charge of inciting to murder, were tried, condemned, and four of them executed. On the day following the Chicago riot, a similar, though less dangerous, outbreak, which was suppressed without serious loss of life, occurred in Milwaukee.