THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA CERF LIBRARY PRESENTED BY REBECCA CERF *02 IN THE NAMES OF CHARLOTTE CERF '95 MARCEL E. CERF '97 BARRY CERF *02 THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE. ISSUES OF THE DAY BEING A TEXT-BOOK ON THE POLITICAL SITUATION PAST AND PRESENT Our Country Its People Its Government Its Greatness The Rise and Fall of Political Parties The Tariff, Silver, Financial and Other Issues Fully Explained A COMPLETE DICTIONARY OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT FIFTH EDITION REVISED AND ENLARGED PUBLISHED BY CONRAD H. OLIVER CHICAGO, ILL. SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION 1904 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1895, By J. L. NICHOLS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1896, By J. L. NICHOLS & Co., In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C. PREFACE. THE United States is the grandest nation of the globe and the nineteenth century the crowning era of all pro- gress in civilization made by the human race. To perpetu- ate the liberties we enjoy, to keep step with the age of progress in its onward march, to thwart the dangers threat- ening our peace, prosperity, and safety is the earnest endeavor of every true American citizen. Our safety lies in an intelligent comprehension of facts and in our ability to control the forces that shape our weal or woe. The average American has neither time nor disposition to plod through volumes that elaborately set forth the facts of history, science, and civil government. In our age of intense activity we need truths briefly stated in clear, dis- tinct, and definite terms, so as to be comprehended at once by the masses. Safe Citizenship is a book for the busy man, alike for the professional man, the liteiary man, and the practical man of the shop, the counter, and the plow. In it are grouped and clearly defined the essentials of ideal and practical citizenship. Here is found, that which concerns The Citizen, followed by Our Country and Its People. Inventors and Inventions show the progress of the century. Our Government, its system and departments, together with the principles and methods of Voting, The Ballot and Ballot Reform and a history of Political Parties and Nominating Conventions, are set forth in distinct and graphic terms. The principal events and important occur- rences of each of the Administrations are stated in well chosen language, A prominent feature of the work is the discussion of Current Topics and Problems followed by Issues of the Pay, embracing all the vital questions that agitate the public mind. Internatipnal ancj Foreign" Affairs are not overlooked, while The Campaign of 1896, its candidates, comparison of platforms of parties and political affairs in general are fully discussed. With the hope that thousands may be led to compre- hend the sway that the citizen has over the destinies of America, and that other thousands may be inspired to noble and heroic efforts in the perpetuation and further development of the ideally great and grand Republic of the earth, this volume is sent forth, PUBLISHERS. M5G6949 "Man is born a citizen." Aristotle. "Education is a better safeguard than a standing army. Edward Everett. '-'He serves his party best who serves his country best." Rutherford B. Hayes. "Our greatest danger in this country fs cooperative wealth." Wendell Phillips. "Liberty can be safe only when suffrage is illuminated by education." James A. Garfield. "My concern is not whether God is on our side; my great concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right." Abraham Lincoln. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE CITIZEN: PAGE. Advantages and Responsibilities of American Citi- zens 19 The Duties of an American Citizen 20 Political Training for the Citizen 22 The Young Statesman's Opportunities 27 The Young Man's First Vote 29 Citizenship 30 Naturalization Laws 31 The Rights of an American Citizen 33 Our Civil and Political Rights 37 How to Become a Public Speaker 40 Parliamentary Laws 44 CHAPTER II. OUR COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE: Origin and Development. The Story of American Independence 49 The Story of the Declaration of Independence. ... 57 Corner Stones of American History 62 Origin of Our National Flag 65 Origin of Thanksgiving Day , 70 Origin of Decoration Day 73 What the Americans Have Done 73 The Growth of Our Cities 82 One of Chicago's Greatest Industries 87 Our National Greatness 91 Our Territory , .... 92 Our Population 94 Our Magnificent Scenery 96 Our Agricultural and Mineral Resources 98 Our National WeaUh 98 vii Viii TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE",. Our Constitutional Liberties 985 Our Industry and Ingenuity , . . . 100' Our Philanthropic, Educational and Christian In- stitutions , 103 : Our Possibilities 10$ Threatening Dangers: Immigration 105- Intemperance 105' Centralization of Wealth 105 Government of Large Cities 106' A Corrupt and Ignorant Ballot 107' CHAPTER III. INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS. The Cotton Gin 109 Story of the First Sewing Machine 110 Prof. Morse's Trial 113 Story of the First Electric Telegraph 116 Laying of the Atlantic Cable 118 Different Submarine Lines 120 Printing Telegraphs 120 First Steamboat 121 Story of the First Railroad 124 Story of the First Street Car 128 A New Era in Traveling 132 Invention of the Electric Light 133 Type Setting Machines 136 Discovery of the Telephone 137 Invention of the Typewriter 137 The X Ray s 189 CHAPTER IV. OUR GOVERNMENT. State Papers. The Declaration of Independence 142 The Constitution U7 TABLE OF CONTENTS, f* PAGE; The Emancipation Proclamation 169* Departments of Our Government 16$ How Bills are Passed and Laws made in Congress. . 162? Our Congress Compared with European Parliaments 168> Changes in Congress 17$ CHAPTER V. VOTING, THE BALLOT, AND BALLOT REFORM. History of Voting 180 The Australian Ballot 184 Registration Laws 185 Qualifications for Voting 186 Educational and Property Qualifications for Voting.. 191 Ballot Reform 193 Cumulative Voting,, .' 193 Shall Women Vote ? , 197 Where W r omen Vote 204 CHAPTER VI. PARTIES, RISE AND FALL. NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. Rise and Rage of Political Issues 209 Origin of Political Parties in America 21T Party Government 224 Complete History of National Nominating Conven- tions 230 The Political Landslides of America 261 The Spoils System in American Politics 267 Filibustering, or Legislative Obstructions 273 Gerrymandering 275 CHAPTER VII. ADMINISTRATIONS. I. George Washington and John Adams 279 II. George Washington and John Adams 282 III. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson 287 X TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE. IV. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr 291 V. Thomas Jefferson and George Clinton 295 VI. James Madison and George Clinton 298 VII. James Madison and Elbridge Gerry 301 VIII. James Monroe and Daniel E. Tompkins... 303 IX. James Monroe and Daniel E. Tompkins. .. 308 X. John Quincy Adams and J. C. Calhoun .... 311 XI. Andrew Jackson and J. C. Calhoun 313 XII. Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.. 319 XIII. Martin Van Buren and R. M. Johnson 323 XIV. William H. Harrison and John Tyler. .... 327 XV. J. K. Polk and George M. Dallas 332 XVI. Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore 336 XVII. Franklin Pierce and William R. King .... 339 XVIII. James Buchanan and J. C. Breckenridge. . 344 XIX. Abraham Lincoln and H. Hamlin 350 XX. Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson . . . 356 XXI. Ulysses S. Grant and S. Colfax 361 XXII. Ulysses S. Grant and Henry Wilson 365 XXIII. R. B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler 370 XXIV. James A. Garfield and C. A. Arthur 374 XXV. Grover Cleveland and T. A. Hendricks.. . . 383 XXVI. Benjamin H. Harrison and L. P. Morton.. . 385 XXVII. Grover Cleveland and A. Stevenson 392 Rhymed History ofthe Administrations 398 CHAPTER VIII. CURRENT TOPICS AND PROBLEMS. Education and Crime 400 Prison Labor and Prison Reform 403 Different Methods of Capital Punishment 406 Mortgage Debt 415 Origin and History of Our Common School System. . 417 The Hope of Our Public Schools 422 School Savings Banks and How to Organize Them. . 426 Military Training in Public Schools 432 United States Naval School 435 United States Military Academy 438 TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI PAGE. United States Lands and Land Laws, Foreign Owner- ship 444 Civil Service Reform Principles and Rules .... 446-452 Government of Large Cities ,,,. 456 CHAPTER IX. ISSUES OF THE DAY Strikes. Complete History ... 459 Pullman Strike 463 Arbitration 468 Right and Wrong of Strikes 470 Labor, Laws and Legislation 474-483 Intemperance, Blighting Curse of Labor 484 The Tramp and Industrial Armies. 490-95 Trusts Cause and Effects 498 Government Control of Railroads 501 Right of Control 503 Protection and Free Trade 506-509 Tariff, History of United States 510 McKinley and Wilson Bills Compared 514 Reciprocity 516 Tariff Commission League. , 517 Tariff Tables 518 Panics, History of all Financial Panics 527 Money: First Issued in America , 543 Paper Money in the United States 547 Different Commodities Used as Money 549 Philosophy and Laws of Use of Money 550 Dimensions of All Gold and Silver 556 Chief Coins of the United States 558 Coinage Statistics , 559 History of Gold and Silver Legislation... 561 Legal Tender 563 Explanation of " 16 to 1" 564 Free Coinage 566 Bimetallism 567 Xii TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAOB. Silver Demonetization 567 The Volume of Money 568 " Sound Money" by Secretary Carlisle 570 " Free Silver," by Senator Teller 572 Arguments on Both Sides of the Money Question . 575 Hard Times 581 CHAPTER X. INTERNATIONAL AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS. The Monroe Doctrine , 586 International Arbitration 587 The Venezuela Dispute 588 Modern Martyrdom in Armenia 594 Cuba and Its Independence 599 The South African Republic 608 Eastern Crisis .609 Arbitration Treaty 612 CHAPTER XT. MISCELLANEOUS TABLES AND STATISTICS. Platforms of '96 Compared 616 The Safety of Our Government 628 Gold and Silver Glossary 624 CHAPTER XII. TABLES AND STATISTICS. Popular and Electoral Vote for 1388 626 How a Candidate Can Receive a Majority of the Popular Vote and Still be Defeated, Fully Explained 625 Electoral Vote for 1892 and 1896 626 How the Electoral Votes of a State May be Divided. 626 Immigration Into the United States 627 Population of Principal Cities 628 Wars of the United States 629 Cost of Wars of the United States 630 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE. Adams, John 287 Adams, John Quincy 311 After Election 270 Alger, Senator 177 American Enterprise 101 Amerigo Vespucci * 146 Apart From Busy Scenes 97 Armenian Murders 597 Armenians Tortured 594 Arthur, Chester A 376 Assignment, After the 538 Australian Ballot 184 Bank, The Run on 526 Bayard, Thomas F 505 Before Election 269 Beheading Block 35 Bimetallic Exercise 575 Blaine, James G 378 Boy in the Closet 578 Bryan, William 565 Buchanan, James v . 344 Butler, Benjamin F 381 Calhoun, John C 41 Cent, Massachusetts and Connecticut 550 Chair. Used by First Congress 55 Chicago in 1832 86 Choate, Hon. Joseph H 45 Clay. Henry 304 Cleveland, Grover 383 Cleveland, Mrs. Grover 197 Closing School 423 Coal Miner's Lot 483 Coins of the United States 544 Coins, First United States 558 Commercial Trip 494 Competition is Dead 499 xiii XIV ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE. Congress, Assembled in , 179 Continental Money 545 Cooper, Peter . 367 Coxey's Army 497 Crime and Suffering in Cities Crisp, Charles F 394 Currency Table 569 Dangerous Experiment 576 Darn My Stockings 206 Davis, Jefferson 350 Debs, Eugene V 467 Decorating Graves of Heroes 72 Depew, Chauncey M 396 Dimensions of Gold and Silver 557 Discovery of Printing ....117 Doing Business with Boys 427 Dow, General Neal 484 Edison, Thomas A 135 Effects of Monopoly 501 Election Results Election Returns.. 266 Electric Lights on Warships 134 Electrical Execution 416 Events of 19th Century 108 Execution in China 412 Execution in Italy 410 Execution of Kempher 416 Fakir . . .547 Faneuil Hall 64 Father of Our Country 281 Father, Son and Mother 199 Fillmore, Millard 336 First Bicycle 132 First Farm in New England 74 First Hotel in Boston 77 First Railroad Engine 125 First Railroad Train 126 First Steamboat 120 First Telegraph Instrument 115 First Warship 79 Flags of United States 65-69 Flower, Ex-Governor 513 Foraker, Joseph P 616 Foreigners 30 Foreign Ownership of Land 443 ILLUSTRATIONS* xv PAGE. Franklin, Benjamin i v 28 Franklin Before French Court 63 French Typewriter 138 Frontispiece Fuller, Chief Justice 154 Fulton's First Steamboat 121 Fulton, Robert 123 Garfield, James A 375 Garfield on Canal 377 Gerrymander District, First 277 Gerrymandering 276 Gomez, Maximo 600 Governor's House in New York 92 Grandfathers' Voting Place 190 Grant, Ulysses S 362 Great Tunnel 502 Greeley, Horace 372 Guillotine Execution 414 Hamilton, Alexander 147 Hayes, Rutherford B 371 Hanging for Mutiny 406 Hard Times 580 Harrison, W. H 328 Harrison, Benjamin -. . . 385 Henry, Patrick, Addressing Congress 52 Henry, Patrick 42 Hill, David B 620 Hobart, G. A Homeless, But Willing to Work 492 Home of the First Law-Maker in America 37 Home of Our Grandmother ... 75 Honest Industry 38 Honest Man's Dilemma 579 Howe, EJias Ill House of First Telegraph Instrument 116 House of Lords 172 Independence Hall 49 ackson, Andrew 314 ail Yard 417 ay, John, Chief Justice 150 efferson's Desk 51 efferson, Thomas 291 ohnson, Andrew 359 xvi ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGfi. Killing Cattle at Armour's 87 Kruger, President 608 La Fayette 3lO Lament, Daniel c 395 Land Owned by Foreigners 443 Last of Their Race 95 Lee, Robert E 354 Levering, Joshua Lincoln, Splitting Rails 349 Lincoln, Abraham 356 Lincoln, Robert 391 Listening to Horr and Harvey 574 Logan, John A 380 Luxury 513 Lynch Law 34 Madison, James 299 Man's Fears Realized 207 Man Who Never Reads the Papers 107 Market Wagon, Fifty Years Ago 93 Massa Says We're Free.. 161 McKinley, William 400a Military Training in Public Schools 433 Mills, Roger Q 386 Mission of Peace 615 Modern Dining Car 127 Modern Warship , 80 Monroe, James 303 Morse, Prof. Samuel F. B 114 Mortgage Grip. 584 Mt. Holyoke Seminary 102 Mt. Vernon 285 National Capitol 170 National Executive Committee 229 New York Harbor 83 New York in 1612 82 New York in 1846 83 No School in Reach 418 No Thanksgiving Here 264 Not Recognized 453 Oglesby, Richard.. 387 Old Style., 90 Olney, Richard 392 Our Rights, " Clear Comfort "...., 39 ILLUSTRATIONS. xvii PAGE. Palmer, Senator John M 195 Parkhurst, Rev. Dr 456 Parliament Building 174 Party Orator 226 Passing Stamp Act in Parliament 53 Pierce, Franklin , 339 Platt, Thomas C 178 Political Gathering 508 Political Map of 1892 263 Political Map of 1894 265 Politicians Fixing Ticket 272 Polk, James K 832 Prisoners at Work 404 Pueblo Smelting Works 104 Punishment in Olden Times 33 Queen of the Ocean 322 Reed, Thomas B 47 Reid, Whitelaw 390 Remington Typewriter 138 Removal for Cause 445 Revenue Collector's Office 506 Russell, William 217 Scene in Congress 165 School Savings Bank 430 Schurz, Carl 355 Sea Battle , 436 Sewall, Arthur J Sherman, John 393 Shilling, New England 543 Shilling, New Hampshire 548 Shilling, Maryland 549 Signing Declaration of Independence 143 Simpson, Jerry 444 Skeleton of a Frog 140 Sovereign, J. R 478 Stage Coach 131 Stevens, Alexander H 352 Stevenson, Adlai 163 Stevenson, John 128 Sticking Hogs at Armour's 88 St. John, John P 382 Strike of Coal Miners 460 Strikers Attacking Proprietor 462 Strike in Chicago 464 XVlil ILLUSTRATIONS. PACK. Strike in South Chicago 466 Strikes, Effects of 471 Studying the Silver Question Successful Candidate 448 Sumner, Charles 23 Surveying Land 439 Sutler's Mill 78 Talking Politics 208 Taylor, Zachary 334 Tariff not the Issue 578 Teaching School, Old Way 419 Teaching School, New Way 421 Temperance Education Map 487 Temperance Temple 489 Thanksgiving Sleighride 71 Tilden, Samuel J 369 Township With Section Lines 441 Tramp, The Professional 491 Tramp Who Earned His Meal 493 Tyler, John 330 Type-Setting Machine 136 United States Seal 546 Vail, Judge Steven 119 Valley Forge 61 Van Buren, Martin 323 Venezuela Map 588 Waltham Watch Works 76 Wall Street, New York 218 Ward Heeler 268 Washington, George 280 Washington's Fireplace 19 Washington's Official Carriage 62 Washington Resigning His Commission 26 Watterson, Henry 388 Watson, Thomas E Weaver, J. B 391 Webster, Daniel 40 Weyler, General 601 Whitney's Cotton Gin 110 Wilson, W. L 515 Woolley, John G 621 Woman's Rights 205 Woman Who Would Vote 203 Woman Who Would Not Vote 201 Young America's Idea of Liberty 99 CHAPTER I. THE CITIZEN. General Washington's Fire Place. Advantages and Responsibilities of an American Citizen. x. Advantages. Our age is indeed a golden age. We are favored as no other people. Our advantages greatly surpass those of the citizen of any other nation of the world. This is clearly seen in our natural facilities, our delight in scientific research, the increased intelligence and quicken- ing of the public mind, the diffusion and popularizing of knowledge through the press, as well as the demand for even a greater dissemination of knowledge among all classes. 2. Responsibilities. These advantages bring with them corresponding responsibilities. Bound to allegiance on the one hand and entitled to protection on the other.the American citizen is of necessity compelled to inform himself on the principles of government, the progress and development of 19 20 DUTIES OF AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. the nation, including the living issues of the day. Our nation is what we as citizens make it. The citizen can make its future as the full blown flower of which ihe pres- ent is but the opening bud, or by a selfish neglect of duties he may permit imminent and threatening dangers to thwart the growthj if not to overthrow the nation whose possibili- ties were never equaled. Safe citizenship demands a care- ful study of our country and its people, our governmen and all the questions of vital interest constantly pressing to the front. He who will not inform himself upon the living issues of the day and interest himself in these subjects so essential to national life, does not deserve the name of citi- zen, and by his very ignorance and selfishness becomes in fact, if not in intention, an enemy of his own nation. We rightfully boast of the grandeur of our nation, of the achieve- ments of the past, of a promising future, but we cannot make too emphatic the fact that great as are the advan- tages and possibilities, the dangers are correspondingly great, and awful will be the calamity if the citizen fails to realize his responsibility as a member of the body politic. "England expects every man to do his duty," said Nel- son on the eve of a great battle. Our nation can expect nothing less of every individual citizen in the coming con- flict with ignorance and vice. Given these conditions in which the citizen realizes his responsibilities and our future is no longer in the scale of doubt. Duties of an American Citizen. 1. Political Rights. Every American or foreign-born citizen of the United States has certain political privileges and inalienable rights. In order to sustain a good govern- ment every man should exercise his political rights to the best of his knowledge. As every citizen is protected by the government he should not shrink from his duty in giving to the state certain protection whenever he may be called upon to do so. We need better citizenship, more educa- tion, and a better knowledge of our system of government. Every man should be able to vote intelligently. 2. Your Duty. It is your duty as an American citizen to obey the laws, even if they are, in your belief, unjust or unwise. General Grant once shrewdly said that the best way to procure the repeal of an unjust or unwise law was to rigorously enforce it. It is your right to expose the folly or injustice of a law, to demand its repeal, and to try to get a majority to repeal it. But while it remains a law, you are to obey it. DUTIES OF AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 3. Voting at the Polls. It is the duty of every Ameri- can citizen to exercise his right to vote at all the primaries and all the elections to which he is eligible. The American people are too indifferent in nominating and supporting men for office. To put up a ticket is too frequently left to a lot of "bummer" politicians, and the masses vote the ticket because it is gotten up by the " bummers " of their party. When selfish and unprincipled politicians control the election, incompetent and unworthy men are put up and elected to office, indifference on the part of the people is the curse of American politics. Every citizen should go to the caucuses or primaries and insist upon the nomination of good men, and if incompetent or unworthy men are nominated refuse to support them. Every good citizen should support the best man for the office, regardless of politics, when it becomes a question of fitness, and refuse to vote for a man whom he knows to be unworthy and unqualified to fill the office for which he has been nomi- Hated. It is a dangerous thing to vote for a man simply because he has been nominated by a certain party. Let merit and ability be the claim for office. 4. Prompt Execution of the Laws. It is your duty to insist upon the prompt execution of the laws; to be ready, even at much personal inconvenience, to aid in their enforce- ment, if you are called upon by proper officers; and to resent with indignation every sign of lawlessness and vio- lence, and require its vigorous suppression. For instance, if a riot should breakout in a city where you are living, you are not to go out of town until it subsides, but you are to hasten to offer your support to the authorities, and to require their prompt and decisive action to restore order. 5. Grand or Petit. It is your duty if you are a voter to serve, when called on, as a grand or petit juror ; and this at even great inconvenience. 6. Act Generally with Some Political Party. It is your duty to act generally with some political party and to exert your influence upon its leaders to induce the nomina- tion of capable and honest men for office. And it is your duty, if your party nominates a bad man, to vote against him and thus keep the public and general good before your eyes, and set an example of true public spirit before your fellows. 7. Watch the Conduct of Public Officers. It is your duty to watch the conduct of public officers, to see that they perform their duties and observe their constitutional limita- tions ; and if they do not, then it is your duty to help to 22 POLITICAL TRAINING FOR THE CITIZEN. expose them and at the election to punish them. For it is only by such vigilance that a nation can preserve its liber- ties unimpaired. These are your political duties, which you cannot neglect or abjure without disgrace to yourself and harm to the country. 8. Party Government. As party government is inevi- table and necessary in a free country, it is the duty of every citizen to attend the primary meetings of the party with which he acts. If honest and intelligent men neglect the primaries, they thereby hand the control of their party ovar to bad men. It is important to the welfare of the country that all the political parties shall be controlled by wise and honest men; for a corrupt or debased minority can offer but a feeble opposition to the majority, and in reality helps to strengthen and to animate the majority; whereas a powerful, honest and intelligent minority com* pels the majority to govern carefully and honestly. The demoralization of the party which is in the minority may thus, as you see, bring calamities on a country. Political Training for the Citizen. 1. Duty of Citizens. Since any male citizen of suitable age may become a legislator or an officeholder, while every citizen has an appreciable influence upon the politi- cal life of his neighborhood, it is evident that every citizen of the United States ought to have some intelligent com- prehension not only of the essential features of our own government, national, state and local or municipal, but also of the fundamental principles of political rights, political economy and political science. 2. Citizens from Two Sources. We get our supply of new citizens from two sources immigration and the grow- ing up of American children. We are all keenly alive to the dangers that threaten our government when ignorant and immoral foreigners are made citizens by hundreds and thousands. Our United States laws are explicit in requir- ing evidence of fitness for citizenship before naturalization papers are granted. " It shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the court admitting such alien, (a) that he has resided in the United States at least five years, (b) and that during that time he has behaved as a man of good moral character, (c) attached to the principles of the con- stitution of the United States, (d) and well disposed to the peace and good order of the same." That is the law. POLITICAL TRAINING FOR THE CITIZEN. 23 3. Making Citizens of Foreigners. How safe we should be from the pernicious effect of much ignorance and vicious anarchism which now trouble us if committees of good citi- zens had attended at our courts of naturalization and had forced home upon the consciousness of all officers of the CHARLES SUMNER, America's Ablest Statesman. law who have power to grant naturalization papers, the will of the people, that this wise law be obeyed! But in practice these provisions of the law are a dead letter, as any one knows who has sat for a few hours in any of our large cities and has -seen the purely mechanical method of making American citizens out of foreigners ignorant, reckless, too 24 POLITICAL TRAINING FOR THE CITIZEN. often manifestly immoral and besotted. The process is " mechanical," because it is usually conducted in the interest of one or the other of the party " machines." By its agents the machine brings these undeserving candidates to the court and pays their way through, that it may " vote them " afterward. The shame and the danger to our government are manifest. 4. Obligations of State and School. But the great majority of our citizens come to us not from the immigrant steamships, but from the public schools! What are our schools doing to provide the United States with citizens in- telligent enough upon matters political and patriotic enough to secure the permanent success of our form of government "by the people, for the people?" 5. Obligation of the State. The obligation of the state to maintain the school we hear often enough emphasized. Is the obligation of the school to support the state by using all right means to train good citizens as frankly recognized and as fairly met ? In our school system, is there a large enough place made for those studies which promote intelli- gent patriotism, voluntary obedience to law, and public- spirited interest in public affairs? 6. Germany's Admirable Plan. In Germany it became a fundamental maxim of state policy a century ago "what you would have come out in the life of a nation you must put into the schools and the universities." The wonderful vigor of the national life of Germany in these last decades is directly traceable to her observance of this law of self- preservation applied by the state to Germany's educational system, in which patriotism is steadily and systematically inculcated, and in the fitting of young men for the proper discharge of public duties has an important place. 7. Patriotism the Strength of a Nation. Of our forms of government, as of everything else that is precious in life, it is true that "if we would preserve it we must love it." And intelligent study of the underlying principles of gov- ernment will stimulate a just pride in our own form of gov- ernment and will furnish a rational basis and a sure sup- port for that loyal spirit of true patriotism which is the strength of a nation. 8. The Principles of Good Citizenship. All colleges which deserve the name now furnish full instruction in such themes. But important as is the influence of liberally edu- cated men upon the life of America, it is but a small per- centage of our voters who in their school studies reach the college course, or even the high school. It is most im- portant that all citizens, girls and boys alike, in all our POLITICAL TRAINING FOR THE CITIZEN. 25 schools should have elementary instruction in the principles of good citizenship. It is the mothers of our boys and the early school life of our boys that largely determine the life- bias toward good citizenship or bad citizenship for the great mass of our voters. 9. Value of Good Mothers. An intelligent, public-spir- ited mother is almost by necessity the mother of patriotic sons and daughters. Given good mothers in this respect and good sons follow. To the ambitious mother who asked the witty English divine "how she could make sure that her son should one day become a bishop," he replied, " first get him born right." This goes to the root of the matter. And the next step, that we may have as many boys as possible early trained in the principles and the spirit of good citi- zenship, is to see that mothers, sisters and teachers are intelligently awake to the reponsibility of residence among a self-governing people. The girls and the women of our country should be (as we believe many of them are) intel- ligent patriots, with clear knowledge and sound convictions upon matters of public interest in the state. 10. School Life of the Boy. In his school life the con- ditions are so essentially different from those of his home life that the boy virtually begins his social Irfe when he enters school. At home in the family love self-denial was the law. In the school, as in the state, consideration of justice, of equity, of impartiality, must have the first place. " What relations with others, my equals, are possible for me?" is the question the schoolboy is practically answering, day by day, whether or not he puts it into words. . The way he carries himself among his schoolmates, the standards of honor and of behavior which he accepts and helps to form, will go with him through life. The school by its tone and spirit, as well as by its studies, determines in no slight degree the nature of those relations with his fellows relations just and harmonious, or selfish and discordant which are to make or mar his life as man and citizen. 11. Responsibility of the Teacher. Teachers with whom rests the responsibility of fixing these standards in school life, will not train their pupils intelligently for the duties and responsibilities of citizenship unless they have themselves given time and attention and loving thought to the principles of sound government and to the demands which popular government, if it succeeds, must constantly make upon the citizen for moral thoughtfulness, self-con- trol and public spirit. The study of the history of pur country, with emphasis upon shining examples of patriotism and disinterested goodness; patriotic songs in the school- 26 POLITICAL TRAINING FOR THE CITIZEN. room; patriotic selections for reading and declamation, these help to form the true spirit and tone in the school. But more than this is needed. 12. Begin to Teach the Citizen Early. There should be in all our schools (and in a " grade " not so far advanced that most children leave school before they reach it) simple, clear, convincing teaching of the elementary principles of government; of the purpose and design of law and govern- ment; of the ultimate foundation of all government upon Washington Resigning His Commission. justice, equity, righteousness, upon the moral law, and of the supreme authority of that law over majorities as well as minorities, however " free " the form of government may be. Every young citizen should early be taught that a majority has a right to do what it pleases only when it pleases to do what is right. Even in his early school diys every future citizen should learn to feel the solemn responsibility which rests upon every citizen of a free state to govern himself thoughtfully, voluntarily and strictly. THE YOUNG STATESMAN'S OPPORTUNITIES. 2T 13. Duty of Americans. But whatever may be done or /eft undone by our schools, let Americans see to it that in the great system of public schools which is so closely con- nected with our national life there be early introduced, steadily pursued and strongly emphasized, such studies as tend directly to make moral, intelligent, loyal citizens, who understand and love not only their rights but also their duties as citizens of the United States. Our highest interests depend upon this. Then only can government by the peo- ple be carried on with safety to the people. If as is uni- versally conceded, "Salus populi lex suprema," "The welfare of the people is the highest law" then it is wisdom to direct the peaceful policy of national education so as to hold sacred this maxim in moments of crises and manifest danger to the state. The Young Statesman's Opportuni- ties. 1. Political Advantages. What our country at the present time most needs is more thoroughly honest, com- petent and educated young men. Our legislatures are made up of men entirely unfit to make laws for the state. Our congressmen seem to lose sight of the principles of patriot- ism and statesmanship, in their partisan struggle for supremacy and power. In every department of government, both legislative and executive, there is not only room, but a serious need for a higher ideal of statesmanship. Every young man should fit himself not only to become a good citizen who can vote intelligently, but he should prepare himself to assume the responsibilities of office. It is uncer- tain when he may be called upon to serve the people in some higher capacity than private citizenship. This coun- try is rich in both political and financial opportunities. Every young man should become familiar with its past history as well as with the political questions of the day. 2. America is Another Name for Opportunity. Its whole history appears like a last effort of the Divine Provi- dence on behalf of the human race. To have the age, in which so much has been done, brought to the intellectual conception of mankind as " new and exceptional," was a fine literary effort. But, above all these things to have it once and forever realized, not only by the people here BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, SCIENTIST, STATES- MAN, AND PHILOSOPHER. 28 THE YOUNG MAN'S FIRST VOTE. 29 themselves, but by the world, that "America was another name for Opportunity," imparted a comprehensive sweep and scope to the idea of how mankind might be benefited by this gift, in this age. It was a message specially designed, not only to stimulate the people of the continent itself, but to notify and guide the rest or the world to an appreciation of the chances of success that awaited them here. The Young Man's First Vote. 1. More than One Million Young Men will have their first opportunity next presidential election to cast a vote for a president of the United States. For all those of this vast army of our citizens of the future who participate in the coming election it will be their first entrance into national politics. And that first vote weighs many times as much as any one that will follow it. Of itself it counts no more in the ballot-box than any other vote, but it determines largely the character of those that will come after it. 2. Man's Conduct. Man's conduct is regulated by a great variety of circumstances. In politics, once his choice of a party has been made, his associations, his pride of opinion, his sentiment of lo\ alty, all combine and are helped by other considerations to deter him from changing his party relations. 3. Your Political Future. Men do break away from their early political associations, but they are exceptions. Consequently, the first vote will probably determine your political future. See that you make the right choice and ally yourself with the party whose history, achievements, and aims attract you to it. 4. Party Changes. Most young men vote as their fathers do. They are Republicans, Democrats, Populists, or Prohibitionists because their fathers are, and the chances are that they will always vote that ticket. It is unfortunate that so little independent thinking is done. The few furnish the brains and the argument for the masses, and, conse- quently, the country is cursed with bad politics and badly enforced laws. * 5. The Right Principles. Young man, think for your- self and vote your convictions. Look over the field and vote for the best men. When you see an incompetent or unworthy man on your ticket, don't vote for him. Remem- ber that no party can rise above the moral character of the men that represent its principles. Vote for good men re- gardless of party, and you will do your duty as a good citi- zen. Bad men must be kept out of office. If your party puts up an unprincipled man, rebuke the party by refusing to vote for him. 3 30 CITIZENSHIP. fivi OUR FOREIGN FRIEND FURNISHING MUSIC FOR THE PUBLIC. Citizenship. A citizen is a person born or naturalized in the United States. Men, women and children are citizens. A citizen of the United States residing in any state of the Union is a citizen of that state. Naturalization conferring citizenship is a federal right, and is a gift of the Union, not of any one state. Citizenship does not carry with it the right to vote. All male citizens twenty-one years of age are voters, but all NATURALIZATION LAWS. 31 voters are not citizens. (See table of qualifications for voters on another page.) Naturalization Laws of the United States. The conditions under and the manner in which an alien may be admitted to become a citizen of the United States are prescribed by the Revised Statutes of the United States. DECLARATION OF INTENTIONS. The alien must declare upon oath before a circuit or district court of the United States or a district or supreme court of the territories, or a court of record of any of the states having common law jurisdiction and a seal and clerk, two years at least prior to his admission, that it is, bonafide, his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince or state, and particularly to the one of which he may be at the time a citizen or subject. OATH ON APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION. He must at the time of his application to be admitted de- clare on oath, before some one of the courts above specified, "that he will support the Constitution of the United States, and that he absolutely and entirely renounces and abjures all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and particularly, by name, to the prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of which he was be- fore a citizen or subject," which proceedings must be re- corded by the clerk of the court. CONDITIONS FOR CITIZENSHIP. If it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court to which the alien has applied that he has made a declaration to be- come a citizen two years before applying for final papers, and has resided continuously within the United States for at least five years, and within the state or territory where such court is at the time held one year at least; and that during that time "he has behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same," he will be admitted to citizenship. TITLES OF NOBILITY. If the applicant has borne any hereditary title or order of nobility, he must make an express renunciation of the same at the time of his application. 35> NATURALIZATION LAW* SOLDIERS. Any alien of the age of twenty-one years and upward who has been in the armies of the United States, and has been honorably discharged therefrom, may become a citizen on his petition, without any previous declaration of intention, provided that he has resided in the United States at least < ne year previous to his application, and is of good moral character. (It is judicially decided that residence of one year in a particular state is not requisite.) MINORS". Any alien under the age of twenty-one years who has resided in the United States three years next preceding his arriving at that age, and who has continued to reside therein to the time he may make apt. lication to be admitted a citizen thereof, may, 'after he arrives at the age of twenty-one years, and after he has resided five years within the United States, including the three years of his minority, be admitted a citizen; but he must make a declaration on oath and prove to the satisfaction of the court that for two years next pre- ceding it has been his bona fide intention to become a citizen. CHILDREN OF NATURALIZED CITIZENS. The children of persons who have been duly naturalized, being under the age of twenty-one years at the time of naturalization of their parents, shall, if dwelling in the United States, be considered as citizens thereof. CITIZENS' CHILDREN WHO ARE BORN ABROAD. The children of persons who now are or have been citi- zens of the United States are, though born out of the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, considered as citizens thereof. CHINESE. The naturalization of Chinamen is expressly prohibited by Section 14, Chapter 126, Laws of 1882. (See note on a succeeding page). PROTECTION ABROAD TO NATURALIZED CITIZENS. Section 2,000 of the Revised Statues of the United States declares that " all naturalized citizens of the United States while in foreign countries are entitled to and shall receive from this government the same protection of persons and property v/hich is accorded to native-born citizens." THE RIGHTS OF AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 33 Public Punishment in Olden Times. The Rights of an American Citizen. 1. Republican Principles. Under this head the Bill of Rights declares: That all power is inherent in the people: That governments exist for their good, and by their consent; That all freemen are equal; That no title or nobility shall be conferred; That exclusive privileges shall not be granted except in consideration of public services; That all elections shall be free and equal. 2. Personal Security. In the interest of the personal security of the citizen, it is provided; That the people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions, from unreasonable seizures and searches. That warrants to seize and to search persons and things must describe them by oath or affirmation; That there shall be no imprisonment for debts, except in case of fraud. 3. Private Property. To secure the rights of private property, the bill declares: That private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation; And in some states that long leases of agricultural lands shall not be made. 4. Freedom of Conscience. To induce the entire free- dom of conscience of the citizen, it is declared: 34 THE RIGHTS OF AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. LYNCH LAW. Breaking: Open the Jail and Publicly Executing Two Criminals. That there shall be perfect religious freedom, but not cov- ering immoral practices; That there shall be no state church; That no religious test shall be required for performing any public function; That the rights of conscience are free from human control. 5. Freedom of Speech and of the Press. To maintain the rightful freedom of the press, the bill guarantees: That printing presses may be used by all; That every citizen may freely speak, write, and print upon any subject,being responsible for the abuse of the right. 6. Freedom of Assembly. The right of assembly is secured by the provision: That the people may peaceably assemble for the public good, to discuss questions of public interest; and That they may petition the government for redress of grievances. 7. Rights of the Accused. Among the worst abuses of tyranny in all ages have been the corruption of the courts and the denial of the rights of common justice. To guard against these it is expressly provided: THE RIGHTS OF AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. 36 That the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it; That, except in capital cases, persons charged with crime may give bail; That no excessive bail shall be required; That all courts shall be open; That the accused shall have a speedy trial in the district in which the offense was committed; That the ancient mode of trial by jury shall be main- tained; but civil suits, by consent of the parties may be tried without a jury; That all persons injured in lands, goods, person or repu- tation shall have remedy by course of law; That the accused shall be informed of the nature of the charges against him; That he shall be confronted by the witnesses against him; That he shall be heard in his own defense, and may have the benefit of counsel; That he shall not be required to testify against himself; That he shall not be deprived of life, liberty or prop- erty except by due process of law; That no cruel or unusual punishment shall be inflicted; That no one shall be twice placed in jeopardy for the same offense. 8. Rights. All citizens, says Peterman in his civil government, have a right to the full and equal protection of the laws. Each has a right to be secure in his person and property; to demand that the peace be pre- served; to do all things according to his own will, pro- vided he does not trespass upon the rights of others. No one in the fam- ily, in the school, in the civil district, in the country, in the state, or in the nation has the THE BEHEADING BLOCK. ri g h t to do Or Say anything which interferes with the life, liberty, property or happiness of another. Any act which interferes with the rights of others 36 THE RIGHTS OF AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. is an offense against the common good and against the law. It is chiefly for the prevention and punishment of these unlawful acts that the civil district exists, with its court and its officers. 9. Legal Voters. All legal voters of the district have the right to participate in its government by exercising a free choice in the selection of its officers, except in states where these officers are appointed. They have the right to cast their votes without fear or favor. This is one of the most important and sacred rights that freemen possess. Free government cannot exist without it. The law guarantees it, and all the power of the state may be employed to main- tain it. Therefore- whoever prevents a voter from exercis- ing the rights of suffrage does it at his own peril. 10. Duties. A c the citizens of the civil district have rights, they also have corresponding duties. As they may demand protection and the preservation of the peace, so it is their duty to obey the law and assist the officers in its enforcement, in order chat the same protection may be extended to the whole people. Each should abstain from ac-S that injure others, and render cheerful aid to all in secur.ng their rights through the law. 11. Qualified Voters. All qualified voters have the right, and it is also their duty, to vote. The voters elect the officers of the district, and are therefore its rulers. When they fail to vote, they fail to rule, fail to do their duty to the people and to themselves. The duty to vote implies the duty to vote right, to vote for good men and for good measures. There- fore, men should study their duty as voters that they may elect honest, capable, faithful officers, and support the par- ties and principles that will best promote the good of the country. Every man should study his political duty with the best light that he can obtain, decide what is right, and then vote his sentiments honestly and fearlessly. If the district has good government, the voters deserve the credit; if it has bad government, the voters deserve the blame, Mi OUR CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS. The Home of the First Law Maker in America. Our Civil and Political Rights. I. Inalienable Rights. Our civil and political rights are sometimes called inalienable rights because they can- not be taken away, except as a punishment for some crime. They are our natural rights and are not conferred by any earthly power, but are given to every human being at his birth. They are: (1) The Right to Personal Security; that is, the right to be free from attack and annoyance; (2) The Right of Personal Liberty; that is, to go when and where he pleases, providing he does not trespass upon the rights of others; and (3) The Right of Private Property; that is, the right to use, enjoy, and dispose of what he has acquired by labor, purchase, gift, or inheritance. OUR CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, 2. Industrial Rights. It is the right and duty of each person to provide in his own way, providing it is legal and honest, for himself and those depend- ent upon him. All business transactions, the search for homes, com- forts, and wealth; agri- culture, manu- facturing, min- ing and com- merce; the conduct of all professions.oc- cupations and industries; the interests of farm laborers, operatives in factories, min- ers, clerks, and all persons engaged in mental or physical labor are based upon industrial rights and duties. 3. Social Rights. Each member of society has rights as such, and these are called social rights' They include the rights of personal security and protection. They under- lie all efforts for the ^improvement of the social condition of the people. Society is interested in better schools, in public health, in the reformation of criminals, in good highways and streets, in safe buildings, in well-lighted cities and vil- lages in the maintenance of charitable institutions, in the establishment of sources of harmless amusement, and in the preservation of peace and order. 4. Right of Eminent Domain. This right of society, existing above the right of any of its members, is called the right of eminent domain. By it individual rights must yield to the rights of society, of the government, or of a corpora- tion. A corporation is an association of individuals author- ized by law to do business as a single natural person. Rail- ,way companies, banks, chartered cities and villages, and the counties of some states are corporations. 5. Moral Rights. Man is a moral being; that is, he is conscious of good arid evil. Therefore he has moral rights HONEST INDUSTRY. OUR CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS. 39 and duties. He has rights of conscience, with which it is not the province of government to interfere. He naturally worships a being superior to himself, and feels the obliga- tion to deal justly with his fellowmen. He has a right tc do so and say all things which are not unlawful or wrong within themselves. It is right to worship, when he pleases, whom he pleases, and as he pleases. OUR RIGHTS " CLAR COMFORT.' 40 HOW TO BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER, DANIEL WEBSTER, Born in N. H. ; 1782, Died 1852. How to Become a Public Speaker, 1. Great Orators. It must be remembered that great orators who have astonished the world with their cutting wit and power of words were once obscure, timid and bashful boys. It must be remembered, too, that the most of the great orators of the past came from the humble walks of life, They were not born in palaces nor inherited wealth nor were educated in luxury. They invariably were of poor parentage, but self made, and by hard struggle and untiring labor they worked their way to the front. 2. Every Young Man's Duty. Every young man snould be able, with calmness and self-possession, to ei press himself in public. This can be done by a little extra prep aration and study. If a man has anything to say. HOW TO BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER. 41 JOHN C. CALHOUN. Born in S. C., 1782; Died, 1852. and knows what to say, he may experience some embar- rassment in making his first effort, yet he can always ?ay it with credit to himself and to his friends. The great trouble is ignorance, and people are often called upon to say some- thing in public when they have nothing to say. It takes a reading and thinking man to speak in public.. 3. How to Prepare for Public Speaking. In the first place get ove-r the idea that you will never be called upon to say something in public. Overcome this thought, and it is one of the first steps toward oratory. It will, no doubt, happen many times in the course of your lifetime that you will be called upon to speak in a public gathering, or to preside over some public meeting. Study the parliament- 42 HOW TO BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER. PATRICK HENRY, Born 1736, Died 1799. ary laws as given in this book, and it will be a great acqui sition. Read the papers, the magazines, and pick out parts and portions that impress you and study them so that you can remember them. Study the papers as well ks read them, and discuss the prominent subjects or topics of the day with your friends. It is wonderful what an amount of knowledge you can gain by simply improving your spare moments. 4. What Books to Read. Read books of history, read the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Matthews' "Getting On in the World;" Smiles' two bookn on "Duty and Character;" Ridpath's History of the United States; Macaulay's His- tory of England; Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of Rome," and there are various other books that you will find interesting, impressive, and highly instructive. Good public speakers ought to be extensive readers. HOW TO BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER. 43 5. Writing. You should sit down and write an address or essay upon some subject of public interest, either polit- ical, social, or otherwise. Afterwriting it study it over care- fully and re-write and re-write it several times; after each time be sure to study it over carefully and find parts or por- tions that can be profitably improved. This address or essay is not supposed to be delivered or read, though it is a good thing to keep and lay away for future reference. After writing a few of these addresses and committing them to memory you will find to your surprise that you can think better, speak better and write better. It is a practice that excels all other methods of preparation. 6. Reading and Re-reading. Next in value to the fre- quent use of the pen is the practice of carefully reading and re-reading the best prose writers and poets, and committing their finest passages to memory, so as to be able to repeat them at any moment without effort. The advantages of this practice are that it not only strengthens the memory, but fills and fertilizes the mind with pregnant and suggest- ive thoughts, expressed in the happiest language, stores it with graceful images, and, above all, forms the ear to the rhythm and number of the period which add so much to its impressiveness and force. 7. Melody. It is the melody of a sentence which, so to speak, makes it cut, which gives it speedy entrance into the mind, causes it to penetrate deeply, and to exercise a magic power over the heart. It is not enough that the speaker's utterances impress the mind of the hearer, they should ring in his ears; they should appeal to the senses, as well as to the feelings, the imagination, and the intellect; then, when they seize at once on the whole man, on body, soul, and spirit, will they "swell in the heart and kindle in the eyes,"' and constrain him, he knows not why, to believe and to obey. 8. Oratorical Moulds. Let the student of oratory, __ then, brood over the finest passages of English composi- " tion, both prose and poetry, in his leisure hours, till his mind is surcharged with them; let him read and re-read the ever-varied verse of Shakespeare, the majestic and pregnant lines of Milton, the harmonious and cadenced compositions of Bolingbroke, Gratton, Erskine, Curran, and Robert Hall. Let him dwell upon these passages and recite them till they almost seem his own, and insensibly, without effort, he will "form to theirs the relish of his soul," and will find himself adopting their language and imitating them instinctively through a natural love for the beautiful, and the strong desire which every one feels 44 PARLIAMENTARY LAWS. to reproduce what is pleasing to him. By this process he will have prepared in his mind, so to speak, a variety of oratorical moulds, of the most exquisite shape and pattern, into which the stream of thought, flowing red-hot and mol- ten from a mfnd glowing with fire of declamation, will be- come fixed, as metal in a foundry takes the form of a noble or beautiful statue. PARLIAMENTARY LAWS. How to Conduct a Public Meeting; How to Organize a Debating Society or Other Literary Organizations. 1. The Ignorance of Parliamentary Laws. It is sur- prising to see Low f<.w people understand the simple prin- ciples of parliamentary laws. How often is a person called t;. pres de in public meetings or is called up to take the hair in a social gathering when 1 e is emirely ignorant of the first principles of a presiding officer. He is embarrassed, stammers, and his conduct becomes painful to his friends. A little study on the part t f the person will sufficiently qualify him to carry out the duties of a presiding officer with dignity and satisfaction to all. 2. How to Organize a Public Meeting, Occasional or Mass Meeting. The first thing to be done in a common meeting is to organize. The time appointed having ar- rived, some one calls the meeting to order, and moves that A., B. or C. act as chairman of this meeting. If this motion fails another is nominated till a chairman is obtained and takes the chair. The next business is the election of a sec- retary. The chairman calls for nomination, which being made and seconded the vote is taken. The secretary being elected, no other officers are usually necessary in a meeting of this kind. The chairman asks what is the further pleasure of the meeting, when some one of those at whose instance the meeting has been called rises and states the object of the meeting, or better still, introduces a resolution previously prepared to express the sense of the meeting on i be subject which has called them together. 3. Main Question. All business should be introduced by a motion or resolution. This is called the " Main Ques- tion," or " Principal Motion." When a motion of this kind is pending.no other principal motion can be introduced. But there are certain other motions which would be in order, and in reference to some of these-still other motions would be in order, while the main question is still pending. Some of these must be seconded, others need not be: some can be amended, PARLIAMENTARY LAWS. 45 Hon. Joseph H. Choate, of N. Y., Chairman of the State Convention of 1 895. others can not; some can be debated, others can not; to some the previous question applies, to others it does not; some can be laid on the table, committed, postponed defi- nitely or indefinitely, others can not; some can be reconsid- ered, others can not; some require a two-thirds vote, others are decided by simply a majority. 4. A Meeting of Delegates. When the members of an assembly have already been appointed, the first business after a temporary organization, effected as above, is to appoint a committee on credentials to ascertain who are properly members of the meeting. Then proceed to a permanent organization, and the business of the meeting. 5. Privileged Motions. So called because on account of their importance, they take precedence of all other questions. 4t> PARLIAMENTARY LAWS. 6. Incidental Motions. Incidental motions such as are incident to, or grow out of other questions, and must there- fore be decided before the questions which give rise te them. 7. Subsidiary Motions. Subsidiary motions, or such as are applied to other motions for the sake of disposing of them in some other way than by direct adoption or rejection. 8. The Main Question. The main question which has already been spoken of. 9. Miscellaneous Motions. Miscellaneous motions, under which head come the motions, "To Reconsider," "T Fill Blanks," and " To Renew a Motion." By this is meant that any motion in the 2d, 3d, and 4th classes yield to any motion in the 1st class; the 3d and 4th yield to the 1st and 2d; and the 4th to the 1st, 2d and 3d. This is the general rule; but it is subject to some modifier tions, as will hereafter appear. 10. The Privileged Motions. The privileged motions in the order of their precedence are: 1. To fix the time to adjourn.3. Questions of privilege. 2. To adjourn *-4. Orders of the dav. n. The Motion to Fix the Time to Which to Ad- journ. The motion to fix the time to which to adjourn is not a motion to adjourn, but, as its name signifies, is simply a motion to fix the time to which the adjournment will stand, when the motion to adjourn is carried. Its form is "I move that when we adjourn we adjourn to" such a date or "to meet again at" such a date, naming the date. It takes precedence of all other motions, and is in order even after the vote to adjourn is taken, if the result has not been stated by the chair. 12. The Motion to Adjourn. The motion to adjourn takes precedence of all motions except the foregoing, to which it yields ; tha t is to say, it may be made when any other motion is pending except the motion to fix the lime of adjourn- ment, but cannot be made when this latter motion is pending. 13. Questions of Privilege. These must not be con- founded with "Privileged Questions." The latter embrace the whole list of motions in this class; the former is only one species in the class. As examples of questions of privilege the following may be mentioned: Whether disorder shall be restrained; whether an open window en- dangering the health of any one may not be closed; whether charges against the official character of any member shall be allowed, etc., etc. The form of raising this question is (addressing the chair and obtaining the floor), " I rise to a question of privilege." The chair requests the member to state his question; then he decides whether it is a question of privilege or not. THOMAS BRACKETT REED, of Maine, Speaker of House of Representatives 54th Congress, and Republican Orator. 14. Orders of the Day. This expression is used to designate those subjects the consideration of which has been assigned to a particular time. When it is desirable io consider a subject at some future time the motion is made that such a subject be made "the order of the day" for such a time, fixing the precise time; or, if a regular business has been made the general order for such time, that the subject be made the "special order." It requires a two-thirds vote to make a subject a special order; but when so made it takes precedence of the general order. 15. Incidental Motions. The incidental motions in the order of precedence are as follows: 1. Appeal (Questions of order). 2. Objections to considering a question. 3. Reading of papers. 4. Withdrawing a motion. 5. Suspension of the rules. 47 48 PARLIAMENTARY LAWS. 16. Appeal (Questions of Order). A member detecting any disorder in the proceedings of the assembly, or the deportment or decorum of members which he wishes to correct, he obtains the floor and says, "I rise to a point of order." The chairman responds, "Please state your point of order." _ After it is stated, the chairman decides whether the point is well taken or not. From this decision any member may appeal by saying, "I appeal from the decision of the chair." If any one seconds this appeal, the chairman at once stateS ( the question "Shall the decision of the chair be sustained," and immediately puts it to vote. It cannot be debated when it relates simply to decorum, transgression of rules, priority of business, or while a previous question is pending. 17. Objections to Considering a Question. When a member announces that he objects to the consideration of any question, the chairman immediately puts to vote the propositions, "Shall the question be discussed?" If decided in the affirmative, the decision goes on; but if decided in the negative, the whole matter is dismissed for that session. 18. Reading of Papers. Every member has the right to have a paper read before voting upon it. When any one calls for the reading of a paper, the chairman immediately orders it read if no one objects. If objection is made, the question whether it shall be read or not must be put to vote without debate or amendment. 19. Withdrawal of a Motion. The person who makes a motion can withdraw it if no objection is made. If objec- tion is made to the withdrawal of a motion, the question whether it shall be withdrawn or not must be decided by vote. It cannot be debated or amended. 20. Suspension of the Rules. When it is desired for any purpose to suspend the rules, the form of the motion is, "to suspend the rules which interfere with," etc., specify- ing the object of the suspension. It cannot be debated, cannot be reconsidered, nor have any subsidiary motion applied to it; and it requires a two-thirds vote. A motion to suspend for the same purpose cannot be regarded. 21. Subsidiary Motion. This is as important a class of motions as any in the whole list, and a class more fre- quently used than any others. The subsidiary motions are the following: 1. To lay on the table. 4. To commit. 2. The previous question. 5. To amend. 3. To postpone to a certain day .6. To postpone indefinitely. These motions stand, with respect to each other, in the order of precedence here given. CHAPTER II. Our Country and Its PeopleOrigin and Development. Independence Hall, Philadelphia, the Place where the American Republic was Born, July 4, 1776. The Story of American Independence and the Origin of the First Congress. 1. Continental Congress. This was on the 10th of May, 1775, with Lexington a few weeks earlier, Burikcr Hill a few weeks later, and the "Declaration of Indepen 1- ence" fourteen months in the future. But there was a "Con- tinental Congress." It had existed since the 5th of Septem- ber, 1774. 2. Independence. How came Congress to assemble on that 5th day of September, 1774? Independence was not thought of by the people. The idea would have been pain- ful if entertained, Qr tf entertained, it woui4 kave been re- 49 50 STORY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. jected as undesirable. To be sure, the struggle was already a fierce one, but it was for the rights of the people as Eng- lish subjects. Why did a Congress assemble? 3. The Declaration of Independence. Results appear with suddenness. We must look far back for the prepara- tives which slowly, tediously evolve and mature them. The Declaration or Independence burst on the world per- fected, like Minerva from the brain of Jupiter, but it took a century and a half of pregnant events to bring this about. The general reader indeed, often the interested student is apt to commence the investigation of the occurrences which precipitated the great war for liberty, if not with the event of July 4, 1776, certainly no farther back than the passage of the Stamp Act, or of its repeal, or the story of the "tea party" in Boston Harbor. Yet, if any part cf our history is to be omitted or lightly passed over by young or old in comparison, one portion with the other, let every soul in this country in preference master the account in all its details of the colonizing of the thirteen original states, and understand what the people had to contend with in a hundred different shapes, and how famine, pestilence, con- tests with Indians, dreadful as they were, came to be less feared, because of less importance, than the attempts of the rulers of the land from whence they came to subject them to the tryanny of arbitrary power. 4. The Thirteen Original States. The thirteen origi- nal states were colonized by people of various origin, of every form of religious faith and belief, and of different nationalities. There were Swedes in Delaware, there were Germans in Pennsylvania, the Dutch were in New York. There were the Catholics in Maryland and Delaware, the Quakers in Pennsylvania, the Church of England men in Virginia and the South, the Huguenots in New York, the Pilgrims in Massachusetts, the Liberals in Rhode Island, the Non-conformists everywhere. You can hardly imagine a greater mixture of origin, habits, caste, religious belief, and religious dissent than was to be found among the first settlers of the United States. Yet it turned out that some marvelous power of cohesion, when the hour of trouble came to one extremity of the land, bound all together in ties so strong that they could not even be disturbed by the ordinary differences and discussions which separate and keep apart communities of different customs and associa- tions. 5. Came Not For Gold. The colonies did not come to these shores in search for mines of gold and silver, nor to fish, nor to proselyte the Indians. They came mainly STORY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. 51 for a home. This applies equally to the cavaliers in Virginia and the hardy pioneers at Plymouth. They all loved the land they left behind them. It was the home of their fathers, and had been their home until they quitted it. Besides, their friends and their kindred were still there. But when they embarked they took with theni no crown with which to establish and perpetuate a divine right. Obligation to the King was acknowledged cheerfully, especially where the territory was taken under a loyal grant; out the colonists did not occupy themselves with any rights >f kings. One and all claimed political freedom of origi- nal organization. The Desk on which Jefferson Wrote the Declara- tion of Independence. 6. The First Bond. Here was the first bond of union. Each colony was established under circumstances essen- tially differing the one from the other. But in everyone, sooner or later, difficulties arose touching the royal authority over them. In many, especially New England, the colonies were left to themselves to frame their own government, which for many years was that of the people assembled in town meeting, till the population became too large, and then representatives were chosen. In fact, civil govern- ment was established by common consent on shipboard by 52 STORY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. the Pilgrims and a governor chosen. It was not till the success of the colonies attracted the cupidity of the rulers at home that charters were created, many liberal in their terms, and governors appointed. 7. First Encroachments. At the very first certain resolutions were adopted which controlled every one of the colonies. First was that of representation and trial by jury; second, that which provided that no taxes or impositions Patrick Henry Addressing the Continental Congress in 1 774. should be levied upon the colonists, their land or commodi- ties, without the consent of the people through the action of the General Assembly, the taxes to be levied and employed as the assembly should appoint. The form of these resolu- tions varied in the different colonies, but in all the sub- stance was identical. The reader will at once perceive that when Parliament undertook as against any one colony tg 54 STORY OP AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. trench upon these essential rights rights which the people insisted on as English subjects under the English Constitu- tion all the colonies naturally took the alarm, sympathiz- ing practically with the aggrieved member. At first and for many years the encroachments were moderated. They were resisted vigorously from the start, and generally with suc- cess. From north to south, mean while, the people' were from time to time harassed by inroads of hostile Indians, so that every community on these occasions became an armed camp, and the men, warriors. Their dreadful perils from a common enemy formed another bond of fraternal sympathy between the different sections. During the hundred years succeeding the year 1664 (when the whole territory forming the original United States came under the control of Eng- land) Great Britain was engaged in wars with different con- tinental nations a large proportion of the time, and when not so engaged the condition was that of suppressed war, often worse than war itself. 8. Increasing Prosperity. The American colonies had increased in population; they were already very consider- ably engaged in trade and commerce*. The tobacco of Vir- ginia, the cotton and rice of the South, were sources of increasing prosperity. Then began to be agitated the ques- tion of taxation, of restriction on the commerce of the colo- nies, of duties to be levied on imports. The story is familiar to us. The passage of the infamous Stamp Act, opposed by the best and noblest of the British Parliament, aroused the intense indignation of the colonies through their entire extent. 9. The Stamp Act. The passage of the Stamp Act stirred the people as they had never been stirred before. It was on the memorable 8th of March, 1765, that the act was passed, and it was to take effect on the 1st day of Novem- ber following. . By the terms of this act no legal instrument in writing of any sort, no matter how insignificant, should be valid without a government stamp, and an elaborate scale of prices for the different stamps was ^iven in detail. The first of November (when the Stamp Act was to go into oper- ation as a law) was ushered -in at Boston by the tolling of bells and other mournful tokens. Similar demonstrations took place in New York and Philadelphia, and in other towns. 10. A Large Funeral Procession. The town of Ports- mouth, in New Hampshire, has unquestioned precedence in these exhibitions, both by the originality of their conception and by the genuine earnestness with which the proceedings were conducted. A large funeral procession assembled, as STORY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. 55 if to follow a dear departed friend to the grave. A coffin handsomely constructed, inscribed with the word Liberty, was carried to the spot. Minute guns were fired. An ora- tion, eulogistic of the virtues of the deceased, was pro- nounced. Here we must record a marvelous event. The oration was scarcely ended and just as the coffin was about to be lifted some tokens of life were perceived. Instantly the entire scene was transformed; hearty congratulations were exchanged, then the bells pealed forth a joyful sound, and demonstrations of satisfaction were everywhere exhib- ited. It is stated by an old historian that decorum and reg- ularity marked all these proceedings. The Old Chair Used by the First Congress. ii. The Provisions of the Stamp Act. The provisions of the Stamp Act were evaded throughout the entire land by common consent. Documents and agreements passed be- 56 STORY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. tween the people without the stamp. In fact, it would havft deserved opprobrium to have used one, and on the 18th of March, 1766, the act was repealed. It was not repealed in acknowledgment of the American principle, but rather as a measure which proved absolutely impracticable. 12. Act to Levy a Tax. The triumph of the colo- nies was short-lived. In 1767 the British Parliament passed an act to levy a tax or duty on glass, tea, paper, painters' colors, etc., besides an oppressive revenue law touching importations. This revived the agitation with a tenfold vehemence. Committees of correspondence again set to work. Non -importation and non-consumption societies were formed. In short, every method was set on foot to resist the operation of the act except that of open rebellion to it. 13. Anti-Tea-Drinking. The colonies would not ac- cept the situation. Anti-tea-drinking societies were formed. The great East India Company took part in the contest, and petitioned the King for a repeal of the tax. The petition was unheeded. On the contrary, the King declared "there should always be one tax to keep up the right of taxing/' The rest of the story is well known. Ships loaded with teas were sent to Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Charles- ton. In New York and Philadelphia the ships weie not per- mitted to enter their cargoes, but were compelled to return with them to England. In Charleston the tea was landed and stored on an assurance that it would not be offered for sale, and the agreement was kept. In Boston there was a military force strong enough to compel compliance with the law. This led to the destruction of the cargoes of both ves- sels by citizens disguised as Indians. 14. King and Parliament. King and Parliament re^ ceived tidings of the event with amazement. Such auda- cious acts merited swift and ample punishment. The inhabitants of Boston must be taught by the severest meth- ods not to set the law at defiance. The measure adopted by Parliament was indeed a cruel and complete one. On the 7th of March, 1774, the "Boston Port Bill" was passed, which closed the town as a port of entry, and transferred all the maritime business to Salem. 15. Financial Ruin. It is difficult to figure the financial ruin which the act brought upon the business men, and the want and distress which it entailed on the inhabitants. It is still more difficult to figure the flame which was kindled in the breast of every person throughout the widely ex- tended provinces. It is not difficult to record and transmit the events which took place, but the agitation of the public. mind can, never be adequately de^cribed* or, in tact, com DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 57 prehended. All the inhabitants of the land, from New Hampshire to Georgia, were carried away in this tremen- dous upheaving; not the young and impetuous only in fact, net the fiery and impetuous so much as the aged and temperate were aroused by this revengeful and merciless blow inflicted on the town of Boston. This answers our question, "How came a Congress to assemble on the 5th of September, 1774?" The Story of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. The first suggestion of American independence was made in England. In the London Chronicle, October 25, 1774, an elaborate article appeared entitled "American Independ- ence the Interest and Glory of Great Britain." It was reprinted in the Pennsylvania Journal, but there was 'no response. Attachment to the mother country suiyived the tea riots of that year, and in March, 1775, Franklin informed Lord Chatham that he had never heard an opinion looking toward independence from any American, " drunk or sober. ' But the " massacre at Lexington,' 1 as the first collision (April 19, 1775) was called, moved the country to indignation. m It was an illustration of how great a matter a little fire kin- dleth A few villagers under Captain Parker (grandfather of Theodore Parker, who kept the captain's musket on his wall) met the English troops. Parker had warned them not to fire unless fired on, but one could not restrain himself; his gun missed fire but the flash brought a volley from the Englishmen, and independence was potentially written in the blood of the seven men who ware left dead in Lexing- ton. A few days after the tidings reached Philadelphia appeared the April number of the Pennsylvania Magazine, edited by Thomas Paine. It contained a summary of Chat- ham's speech, in which he said the Crown would lose its luster if "robbed of so principal a jewel as America." Paine adds this footnote: " The principal jewel of the Crown actually dropped out at the coronation," This little foot- note was probably the nearest approach to a suggestion of independence made by any American even then. And among all the fiery meetings held throughout the colonies only one ventured to utter the word independence. From the county of Mecklenburg, North Carolina, came resolu- tions passed May 31 and June 10^ 1775, demanding th'* 58 DECLARATION OP INDEPENDENCE. organization of an independent government. Congress would not allow such treasonable resolutions to be read before it, and the written records were lost. Jefferson pro- nounced the Mecklenburg resolutions mythical. But lately a copy of the South Carolina Gazette of June 13, 1776, has been discovered containing the resolutions; it is in Charles- ton and I have seen a photographed copy. The first argument for independence, from the American point of view, was from the pen of Thomas Paine. It was printed in the Pennsylvania Journal, October 18, 1775, under the title, "A Serious Thought," and over the signature, " Humanus." It presents a series of charges against Great Britain, somewhat resembling those of the " Declaration," and concludes: " When I reflect on these, I hesitate not for a moment to believe that the Almighty will finally separate America from Britain call it Independency or what you will if it is the cause of God and humanity it will go on." The king is especially arraigned for establishing African slavery in America, which independence will abolish. Paine's phraseology leaves little doubt that he wrote the anti- slavery passage in the Declaration which was struck out. While writing "Common Sense," which really determined the matter, Paine was suspected of being a British spy. Nor was it so absurd, for up to the " massacre of Lexington " he had been active in conciliation. He was discussed at the prospective outbreak, and wrote to Franklin: " I thought it very hard to have the country set on fire about my ears almost the moment I got into it." "Common Sense" ap- peared January 10, 1776. Washington pronounced it " un- answerable" (to Joseph Reed, January 31), and indeed there was not a leading patriot in the country who did not applaud. New York had instructed its congressmen not to vote for independence; but one of its delegates, Henry Wisner, sent its leading assemblymen this pamphlet, asking their answer. As they could not give any, Wisner disregarded their instruc- tions, and the state had to come round to him. At that time many ascribed the pamphlet to Franklin, who was one day reproached by a lady for the expression, "Royal brute of Great Britain." Franklin assured her that he was not the author, and would never have so dishonored the brute creation. "A little thing sometimes produces a great effect," wrote Cobbett from America to Lord Grenville. " It appears to me very clear that some beastly insults offered to Mr. Paine while he was in the excise in England was the real cause of the revolution in America." This is more epigrammatic than exact. Paine was turned out of the excise for absenting DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 59 himself from his post (Lewes) without leave. It was not fair, for he had been engaged by the excisemen of England to try and get a bill through Parliament raising their salaries, and had to be much in London ; and no other fault was charged. There were no insults, but he was left penniless, and Fanklin advised his coming to America. Here he at once secured a good position, and was editing the only important magazine of the country, without any animosity to England. However, Cobbett is right when he further says that whoever may have written the " Declaration " Paine was its author. At that time Philadelphia was full of so called "tories." Their chief nest was the university, presided over by Rev. William Smith, D. D., who, as " Cato," attacked " Common Sense." Paine replied under the name "Forrester," and President Smith was so worsted that he lost his position, and left Philadelphia for a small curacy in Maryland. Paine resided in a room opposite the chief meeting-house of the Quakers, who, under pretext of peace-principles, aided the enemy. "Common Sense" insisted that they should address their testimony against war to the invaders equally with the invaded, and as they were not ready to do this their influence was destroyed. The danger to independence now lay in the approach of peace commissioners from Eng- land. Paine issued a little pamphlet entitled " Dialogue Between the Ghost of General Montgomery, Just Arrived from the Elysian Fields, and an American Delegate." The gallant ghost warns the delegate that union with England is impossible, and, were it otherwise, would be a wrong to the English as well as the American people. This pamphlet was effective in strengthening wave ers. On June 7, 1775, Hon. Richard Henry Lee submitted to Congress a resolution that the colonies are and ought to be independent. A committee was appointed to propose appropriate action and reported June 28 through Benja- min Harrison, greatgrandfather of the late President. It was found that six states hesitated New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and South Caro- lina. Congress postponed the matter until July 1, meantime appointing a committee to draft a Declaration, another to organize a Confederation and a third to obtain foreign aid. The committee on a Declaration (Jefferson, John Adams, Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston), re- ported on July 2. A bare majority in Congress passed the Declaration on July 4. Congress then adjourned to July 15, in order that efforts might be made to induce New York and Maryland to withdraw their restrictions on their delegates, who were personally favorable to independ- DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. ence. On July 15 all were free and unanimous. On the 19th Congress ordered the Declaration to be engrossed and signed by every member. The paper had been signed on July 4 only by John Hancock, president of Congress, and the secretary, Charles Thompson. The engrossed copy was produced August 2 and signed by the members, some signatures being added later. The first to sign was Josiah Bartlett, of New Hampshire, and the last Matthew Thorn- ton, of the same colony, when he took his seat November 4. In Trumbull's picture of the "signing," in the capital, more pomp is given to the affair than accompanied it. The sec- retary was so little impressed that his entry that the mem- bers signed is written on the margin of the journal of Congress. Thomas Stone, of Maryland, who signed, is not in Trumbull's picture, and Robert Livingston, who did not sign, being absent, is put in. The earliest draft of the Declaration, before the anti- slavery paragraphs were stricken out, is in the library of the state department; the draft agreed to by the committee and passed by Congress is lost; the engrossed Declaration is in Independence Hall, Philadelphia. A complete collection of autographs of the "signers" is a fortune. There are only three in existence. One of these belongs to Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, of New York. The costliness of the autographs is in the ratio of the obscurity of the signers. One of the least distinguished signers was Thomas Lynch, Jr., of South Carolina. Only three examples of his writing are known, uninteresting business notes, and for one of them Dr. Emmet paid over $5,000. The signers of the Declaration were rich men, and all of the "gentry." The British government were probably de- ceived by their adopting as their spokesman, and making secretary of foreign affairs, the humble exciseman Paine. The first president of Congress, Peyton Randolph, and George Washington, would pretty certainly have been knighted but for the Revolution. The espousal of American independence by such men, and by the Adams family, the Livingstons, the Stones of Maryland, meant that the mosl loyal and conservative class haa gone against the king, and that America was irrecoverably lost to him. A well-in- formed English ministry would have spared themselves and us the seven years' war. Paine did not use only his pen in the Revolution. When the cause had been consecrated to independence he shoul- dered his musket, marched to the front, did such service (at Fort Lee) that Gen. Greene took him on his staff, shared the hardships of Washington's retreat to Ihe Delaware, and DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 61 wrote by campfires his " Crisis," which Washington ordered to be read to his depressed soldiers. The first sentence of that " Crisis," " These are the times that try men's souls," was the watchword at Trenton, where Paine helped to cap- ture the Hessians. He afterward went in an open boat, under fire of the English ships, to convey an order to those besieged in Fort Mifflin, and on other occasions proved his courage. He visited France, and brought back six million livres. Thus through extreme hardships and great dangers did our forefathers declare their independence. The youth of to-day, surrounded by the countless blessings, resulting from the self-denial and bravery of the early settlers, can have but a faint conception of the cost of our liberties. VALLEY FORGE, Where the American army of four thousand men were un- able to move out of their huts for want of clothing, during the winter of 1777-78. AMERICAN HISTORY. Gen. Washington's Official Carriage. Corner Stones of American History. 1. Rights of Man. No part of cur history is more necessary to be understood than these first official steps taken to form a nation out of the material at hand in the New World, for by these the foundation of our government was laid on those principles which grew into being through a just view of the rights of man. 2. The First Continental Congress. The First Conti- nental Congress met at Philadelphia, September 5, 1774. Though composed of representatives of each colony, its dele- gates were not elected by the people, but were sent there by the advice and counsel of the ablest men in each colony. 3. The Second Continental Congress.^-The next year (1775) the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, May 10. Under its authority the war began with the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, and the invasion of Canada; not for the avowed purpose of independence, but for the redress of grievances. , 4. The Declaration of Independence. The next year, July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was published to the world. It was the result of deliberate counsels, and fully expressed the demands of the colonists. AMERICAN HISTORY Franklin pleading the cause of America before the French Court. 5. Articles of Confederation. Even at this time the resolution or conviction that all the thirteen colonies were to unite under one government was not universal; and it was not until July 9, 1778, that the delegates to Congress from each colony under instructions from their constituents, signed articles of confederation and perpetual union. This was another important step in the great chain of events which made the American Nation. 6. What the Continental Congress Did. Under the direction of this old Continental Congress, the first ma- chinery of our government was set in motion. Armies were raised, taxes levied, debts contracted and money issued; and by its authority, after victory had crowned its armies in the field, and the respect of European nations had been won by the wisdom of its acts, peace was made with England at Paris, September 3, 1783. 7. American Commissioners. Benjamin Franklin,John Adams and John Jay were the American Commissioners who signed the definite treaty. 8. General Washington Resigned His Commissions to Congress. On the 23d of December, 1783, Gea. 64 AMERICAN HISTORY, FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON. "The Cradle of American Liberty." Washington resigned his commission to Congress and re. tired to private life at Mount Vernon. But the labors of the Continental Congress were not yet completed. It had become evident that the loose confederacy, at whose head it stood, had served its purpose, and must soon fall to pieces. 9. The New Constitution Formed. On February 21, 1787, a resolution was moved and carried in Congress recommending a convention to meet in Philadelphia, to revise the articles of confederation. The convention met in Philadelphia, and on May 25, 1787. unanimously elected George Washington its President. The convention sat with closed doors, and remained in session till the I7th of September following, when they reported the draft of the present Constitution. After very full and excited discussion, the Constitution was adopted, and on the 30th of April, 1789, was put into complete operation by the inauguration, at New York, of George Washington, as the first President under it. ORIGIN OF OUR NATIONAL FLAG. 65 The House in Philadelphia where the first "Stars and Stripes" was made. Origin of Our National Flag. Up to June of 1777 the troops of the various American colonies which had declared their independence of the mother country had fought under any ensign which chanced to please their fancy. Most of the New York forces had fought under a flag in which the stripes and the orange* 66 ORIGIN OF OUR NATIONAL FLAG. white and red of the old Dutch republic were prominf nt; the Connecticut soldiers had displayed a red flag with v he inscription, "An Appeal to Heaven," on one side, and the Latin motto of the colony, " Qui transulit sustinet,"* on the The First South Carolina Flag, (blue with white crescent, 1775). The Gadsden Flag, 1776. ,ther; the South Carolina men at one period used a pal- metto banner, and other 'colonial forces had flown flags which had special and local significance. * "He who has transplanted us will sustain us.** 68 ORIGIN OF OUR NATIONAL FLAG. Commodore Hopkins had put to sea in February, 1776^ with the first revolutionary fleet, displaying a flag of thirteen alternate red and white stripes, with the red and white crosses of St. George and St. Andrew charged on a blue " canton " or square in the upper corner. This flag was used more than any other one at the time, June, 1777, when the Continental Congress, in session at Philadelphia, ap- pointed a committee to construct a common flag for the colonies. A Liberty Flag. On June 14 this committee made its report. It advised that " the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white ; that the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constella- tion." The report was thereupon put into the form of a resolution, and the resolution was unanimously adopted without discussion. The Colors. Red, white and blue are a modification of orange, white and blue, the colors of the Dutch republic, and the ones used by New York's forces. They were chosen by the flag committee for the same reason that stripes were de- cided upon. Red was later explained to be typical of the blood patriots were ready to shed; white, of the purity of their cause, and blue of the favor of Heaven. ORIGIN OF OUR NATIONAL FLAG. d9 Contrasting colors, white and either blue or red, were necessary to be utilized for the color of the stripes. Red Kas preferred to blue, because it was more distinct at a dis- Flag of the Royal Savage, 1 776. tance. For this same reason, red, instead of white, was chosen as the color of the topmost stripe, and consequently of the lowermost, also. Red and white having thus been already used, the color assigned the Union was necessarily blue, and the stars in the Union were appropriately made white. The Union was made square and was brought down to the eighth stripe, that its blue might be showed against white (a contrasting color), the color of that stripe. Nailing the Colors to the Mast Head, The "Stars and Stripes." 70 ORIGIN OF THANKSGIVING DAY. Origin of Thanksgiving Day. 1. Hebrew Feast of Harvest. The Thanksgiving day of the Hebrews was called "The Feast of Harvest," and was a grand annual festival. Probably the world has never witnessed the parallel of Hebrew anniversaries. A day of thanksgiving was occasionally observed by the Dutch and other European nations. 2. New England's Day. The origin of this annual thanksgiving festival on the American continent is credited to the New England colonies. The early settlers endured many privations and difficulties, and had frequent days of fasting and prayer. An old colonist once suggested that they had brooded long enough over their misfortunes, and that the next be made a day of thanksgivings. It was done and the custom was continued from year to year, but was confined to New England for many years. Different days were appointed by different governors. 3. National Day. The first governmental recommenda- tion made by Congress was July 20, 1775, and was continued annually until the close of the war in 1783. Then there was no observance of a national day until the adoption of the Constitution. In 1789 Congress appointed a committee to wait on the President and request that he would recommend to the people a day of public thanksgiving. Washington, in accordance therewith, named November 26. This was the first under the Constitution and the last Thanksgiving proc- lamation emanating from Congress. The next nationa' Thanksgiving was observed February 19, 1795. After that there was none observed until after the close of the war of 1812 ; Madison, in a proclamation, recommended the second Thursday of April, 1814. Then there was no national day ob- served until April 10, 1862, which Lincoln recommended as a day of thanksgivings for "signal victories to the land and naval forces engaged in suppressing an internal rebellion." 4. Last Thursday of November. This was the begin- ning of the annual custom, and in 1864 the proclamation recommended the last Thursday of November. 5. At Home. Thanksgiving Day is the great " at home " day of the American people. It is the day of returns to the "old place," the day of dinners and reunions. "Corns home, children, on Thanksgiving; Day," slowly writes the trembling finger of a venerable sire. The palsy and rheu- matism have not yet touched his heart, as one sees when, with glistening eyes, he reads the prompt answer, "We are all coining." 71 DECORATING THE GRAVES OF THE FALLEN HEROES WITH FLOWERS. WHAT THE AMERICANS HAVE DONE. 73 Origin of Decoration Day. On the 30th of May, thirty-three years ago, four women bearing flowers entered Arlington cemetery and decorated the graves of the dead soldiers. To-day countless thousands actuated by the same loving spirit will lay a nation's tribute at the feet of the nation's martyred sons. Among all America's treasured anniversaries there is no other which holds the gentleness and sweetness of Decora- tion Day. One year after the fall of Fort Sumter, the day had its origin. May 30, 1862, Mrs. Sarah Nichols, of Dubuque, la., accompanied by the wife and two daughters of Chaplain May, of the 2d Michigan volunteers, laid flow- ers on the graves of dead soldiers in the national cemetery at Arlington. On the same day of the following year the same women observed the same beautiful service. The women of Fredericksburg took up the mission in 1863, and until the year 1874 May 30 was continuously observed in this manner, the custom in the meantime spreading. In 1874 Congress took cognizance of the day and set it apart as a national holiday. The beautiful and impressive flower service to-day will perfume the atmosphere of every cemetery which holds the country's dead heroes in commemoration of one of the greatest struggles in the history of nations.' But after more than a quarter of a century there is no bitterness in the ob- servance. Even grief has become softened in the lapse of years. Humanity's best sentiments become active on such an occasion as this, and the nation is the better for its influence. What the Americans Have Done. i. A Hundred Years Ago. A hundred years ago the agricultural interests of our country were mostly in the hands of uneducated men. Science was not applied to husbandry. A spirit of improvement was scarcely known. The son copied the ways of his father. He worked with no other implements and pursued no other methods of culti- vation ; and he who attempted a change was regarded as a visionary or an innovator. Very little associated effort for improvement in the business of farming was then seen. The first association for such a purpose was formed in the south, and was known as the ' 'South Carolina Agricultural Society," organized in 1784. A similar society was formed in Pennsylvania the following year. Now there are state, county, and even town agricultural societies in almost every part of the Union. 74 * WHAT THE AMERICANS HAVE DONE. Clearing the First Farm in New England. 2. Agricultural Implements. Agricultural implements were rude and simple. They consisted chiefly of the plow, harrow, spade, hoe, hand- rake, scythe, sickle, and wooden fork. The plow had a clumsy, wrought-iron share with wooden mould-board, which was sometimes plated with tin or sheet-iron. The rest of the structure was equally clumsy; and the implement required in its use, twice the amount of strength of man ar * beast that the present plow does. Im- provements in the construction or plows during the past fifty years save to the country annually, in work and teams, at least $12,000,000. The first "patent for a cast-iron plow was issued in 1797. To the beginning of 1875, about four hun- dred patents have been granted. 75 76 WHAT AMERICANS HAVE DONE. WATCH WORKS AT WALTHAM, MASS. 3. Seed was Sown by Hand. A hundred years ago the seed was sown by hand, and the entire crop was har- vested by hard, manual labor. The grass was cut with a scythe, and "cured," and gathered with a fork and handrake. The grain was cut with a sickle, threshed with a flail or the treading of horses, and was cleared of the chaff by a large clamshell shaped fan of wickerwork, used in a gentle breeze. The drills, seedsowers, cultivators, mowers, reapers, thresh- ing machines, and fanning mills of our days were all un- known. 4. Iron Manufacture. Now iron is manufactured in our country m every form from a nail to a locomotive. A vast number of machines have been invented for carrying on these manufactures; and the products in cutlery, firearms, railway materials, and machinery of every kind, employ vast numbers of men and a great amount of capital. Our locomotive builders are regarded as the best in the world; and no nation on the globe can compete with us in the con- struction of steamboats of every kind, from the ironclad war Steamer to the harbor tug. 5.. Copper, Silver and Gold. In the manufacture of copper, silver and gold, there has been great progress. At the close of the Revolution no manufactures of the kind existed in our country. ^ Now, the manufacture of copper- ware yearly, of every kind, and jewelry and watches, baft become a large item in our commercial tables. 78 WHAT THE AMERICANS HAVE DONE. 6. A Lusl for Gold. A last for gold, and the knowl- edge of its existence in America, was the chief incentive to emigration to these shores. But within the domain of our republic very little of it was found, until that domain was extended far toward the Pacific ocean. It was unsuspected until long after the Revolution. Finally, gold was discov- ered among the mountains of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and in Georgia. North Carolina was the first state in the Union to send gold to the mint in Philadelphia. Its first small contribution was in 1804. From that time until 1823 the average amount produced from North Caro- lina mines did not exceed $2,500 annually. Virginia's first Sutler's Mill, California, where Gold was Discovered in 1848. contribution was in 1829, when that of North Carolina for that year was $128,000. Georgia sent its first contribution in 1830. It amounted to $212,000. The product so increased that branch mints were established in North Carolina and Georgia in 1837 and 1838, and another in New Orleans. In 1848 gold was discovered in the American fork of the Sac- ramento river in California and soon afterward elsewhere in that region. A gold fever seized the people of the United States, and thousands rushed to California in search of the precious metals. Within a year from the discovery nearly 50,000 people were there. Less than five ^ears afterward, WHAT THE AMERICANS HAVE DONE. 79 California, in one year, sent to the United States mint fully $40,000,000 in gold. Its entire gold product in this time is estimated at more than $800,000,000. Over all the far west- ern states and territories the precious metals, gold and sil- ver, seem to be scattered in profusion, and the amount of mineral wealth yet to be discovered there seems to be incal- culable. Our coal fields seem to be inexhaustible; and out of the bosom of the earth, in portions of our country, flow millions of barrels annually of petroleum, or rock oil, afford- ing the cheapest illuminating material in the world. The First Warship. 7. Mineral Coal. Mineral coal was first discovered and u ;ed in Pennsylvania at the period of the Revolution. A boat load was sent down the Susquehanna from Wilkesbarre for the use of the Continental works at Carlisle. But it was not much used before the war of 1812, and the regular busi- ness of mining this fuel did not become a part of the com- merce of the country before the year 1820, when 365 tons were sent to Philadelphia. At the present time the amount of coal sent to market from the American mines, of all kinds, is equal to full 30,000,000 tons annually. 80 WHAT THE AMERICANS HAVE DONE. 8. The First Canals. The first canals made in this country were two short ones, for a water passage around the South Hadley and Montague Falls, in Massachusetts. These were constructed in 1792. At about the same time the Inland Rock Navigation Companies, in the state of New York, began their work. The Middlesex canal, con- necting Lowell with Boston harbor, was completed in 1808, and the great Erie canal, 363 miles in length, was finished in 1825, at a cost of almost $8,000,000. The aggregate length of canals built in the United States is 3,200 miles. The Modern Warship. The first railway built in the United States was one three miles in length, that connected the granite quarries at Quincy, Mass., with the Neponset river. It was com- pleted in 1827; horse power was used. The first use of a locomotive in this country was in 1829, when one was put upon a railway that connected the coal mines of the Dela- ware- & Hudson Canal Company with Honesdale. This was for freight only. The first passenger railway was opened in 1830. Now railways form a thick network all over the United States east of the Mississippi, and are rapidly spreading over the states and territories beyond, to the Pacific ocean. To these facilities for commer- cial operations must be added the electro-magnetic telegraph, an American invention, as a method of transmitting intelligence, and giving warning signals to the shipping and agricultural interests concerning the actual and probable state of the weather each day. The first line, forty miles in length, was constructed between WHAT THE AMERICANS HAVE DONE. 81 Baltimore and Washington in 1844. Now the lines are extended to every part of our Union, and all over our civil- ized world, traversing oceans and rivers, and bringing Paris and New York within one hour's space of intercommuni- cation. 9. Improvement of the Schools. As the nation ad- vanced in wealth and intelligence, the necessity for correct popular education became more and more manifest, and as- sociated efforts were made for the improvement of the schools by providing for the training of teachers under the respective phase of teachers' associations, ^educational periodicals, normal schools and teachers' institutes. The first of these societies in this country was the Middlesex County Association for the Improvement of Common Schools, established at Middletown, Conn., in 1799. But little of importance was done in that direction until within the last forty-five years. Now provision is made in all sec- tions of the Union, not only for the support of common schools, but for training-schools for teachers. Since the civil war, great efforts have been made to establish common- school systems in the late slave-labor states that should in- clude among the beneficiaries the colored population. Much has been done in that regard. 10. Free Schools. Very great improvements have been made in the organization and discipline of the public schools in cities within the last thirty years. Free schools are rapidly spreading their beneficent influence over the whole Union, and in some states laws have been made that compel all children of a certain age to go to school. Insti- tutions for the special culture of young women in all that pertains to college education have been established within a few years. The pioneer in this work is Vassar College, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. t which was first opened in the year 1865. Besides the ordinary means for education, others have been established for special purposes. These are law, scientific, medical, theological, military, commercial and agricultural schools, and seminaries for the deaf, dumb and blind. In many states school district libraries have been established. There are continually enlarging means pro- vided for the education of the whole people. Edmund Burke said, " Education is the cheap defense of nations." n. Newspapers. Ihe newspapers printed in the United States at the beginning of the Revolution were few in number, small in size, and very meager in information of any kind. They were issued weekly, semi-weekly and tri- weekly. The first daily newspaper issued in this country was the American Daily Advertiser established in Phil- 82 THE GROWTH OF CITIES. adelphia in 1784. In 1775 there were thirty-seven news- papers and periodicals in the United States, with an ag- gregate issue that year of 1,200,000 C9pies. In 1870 the number of daily newspapers in the United States was 542, and of weeklies, 4,425. Of the dailies, 800,000,000 were issued that year; of the weeklies, COO .000,000; and of other serial publications, 100,000,000; making an aggregate of fully 1,500,000,000 copies. To these figures should be made a large addition at the close of 1895. There are now about forty newspapers in the United States which have existed over fifty years. The Growth of Cities. New York. Nature never prepared a more pictur- esque or a more advantageous site for a great commercial capital than Manhattan Island, nor a harbor more secure New York in 1612. or better adapted for commerce of the world than New York bay. In primeval solitude, 3,000 miles from civilization, the discovery and settlement of the island by Europeans may be traced to causes beginning about three centuries ago. Two great Dutch commercial corporations seriously agi- tated the world during the half century between 1580 and 1630, and in the convulsive moments through which they took their rise, New York has its origin. THE GROWTH OF CITIES. 83 New York in 1846. New York Harbor. 84 GROWTH OF CITIES. In 1609, Henry Hudson, an Englishman iu the service of the Dutch East India Company, sailed to America to find a northwest passage to India. Failing in this, he explored the eastern coast of North America from Chesapeake Bay to Long Island, entered New York harbor, and ascended the Hudson beyond the present site of Albany. This voy- age laid the foundation of the greatest city of the New World. m New York City in 1890 had a population of 1,515,- 301, an increase of over 25 per cent, from the census of 1880. The population at the present writing is over two millions. Chicago. The second city in size is advantageously situated on the southwest shore of Lake Michigan. The name is of Indian origin, signifying "wild onion." It was first settled in 1831 and in 1832 contained about a dozen families, besides the officers of Ft. Dearborn located there. Its first charter was granted in 1837. At its settlement it seemed an unpromising site for a great city. The river mouth was a sluggish bayou f its banks marshy, muddy flats, not at all favorable to the growth of a large city. Harbors on the great lakes are not turned out ready made by nature, but must be constructed by human enterprise and skill. Western ingenuity and venturesomeness was equal to the occasion, and although the work was begun on a small scale, it was rapidly extended to meet the growing wants of com- merce, until Chicago now has a harbor adequate to the de- mands of a great city. Its rapid increase is shown in the following census reports of its population: 1840, 4,470; 1850, 28,260; 1860, 150,000; 1870, 298,000; 1880, 596,665; 1890, 1,099,850* In October, 1871, a terrible fire occurred which burned 18,000 houses, extending over 2100 acres ;200 persons perished and nearly 100,000 were rendered homeless. The total loss was $190,000,000 of which about $40,000,000 was recovered on insurance. Many insurance companies were utterly ruined. The recovery of the city from this calamity was so rapid that in three years its only evidence was in the grandeur and magnificence of its buildings over all the raged district. In extent of district burned the Chicago fire stands first in the great conflagrations of the world. Chicago, the pride of the central part of our nation, stands unequaled in many respects. The city is 26 miles long, greatest width 15 miles, total area 190 square miles. Lake frontage 22 miles, 2,210 miles ot streets, of which 658 are improved. Fifty-nine miles are boulevards. The longest street isHalsted street, 21 y 2 miles in extent. * A school census of Chicago in 1892 showed a population of more than 1,400,000, and the same census for 1896 is 1,619,226. THE GROWTH OF CITIES. 85 There are about 400 miles of street-railway tracks grid- ironing the city and furnishing transportation for upward of three-quarters of a million people. The floating population of Chicago averages 75,000 daily; the hotel and other accommodations for transients being great enough to care for 150,000. It is interesting to note the statistics bearing upon the shipping of Chicago. In 1891 there entered and cleared at New York 16,000 vessels, while at Chicago 20,000 vessels entered and cleared. Practically Chicago is the terminal point of all the trunk lines of railway, north, south, east, and west, in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Over 90,000 miles of railroads center in Chicago at the present time. It is admitted to be the greatest railroad center in the world. Estimates have been made showing that more passen- gers arrive and depart, more merchandise is received and shipped daily, than at any other point on earth. The commerce of the city for 1891 was $1,459,000,000, against $20,000,000 for 1850. In the same year the amount ot money paid to employes in manufacturing establish- ments was $104,904,000, while the capital employed in man- ufacturing was $240,302,000. Chicago is destined to be the first city in America. Is the largest cattle market in the world. Is the largest lumber market in the world. Is the largest grain market in the world. Is the greatest stove market in the world. Is the greatest packing center in the world. Is the greatest railway center in the world. Chicago has the largest stock yards in the world. Has the finest hotel buildings in the world. Has the largest office buildings in the world. Has a greater area than any city in America. Has the greatest elevator capacity in the world. Has the largest agricultural implement manufactory in the world. Has the largest mining machine factory in the world. Has the largest commercial building in the world. Has the greatest retail dry goods house in the world. Has the largest cold storage building in the world. Has the largest library circulation in the United States. Has the largest percentage of bank reserves in America. Has the most complete cable system in the world. Has the most complete water system in the wor!4. 86 CATTLE KILLED AND DRESSED. 87 One of Chicago's Greatest Industries, The Stock Yards. Chicago has the largest stock yards in the world. This center of the live stock trade was opened in 1858. The yards cover nearly 400 acres, affording a capacity for 55,000 cattle, 150,000 hogs, 12,000 sheep, and 2,000 horses. To those unacquainted with these sights, a visit to the stock yards is exceedingly interesting and valuable. Killing Cattle at Armour's How 5,000 Cattle are Killed and Dressed in a Day. The killing and dressing of beef will prove of much in- terest to all. Usually the cattle are left in the pens adjoin- ing the beef house twenty-four hours after having been driven from the yards. This insures an even, cool tempera- 88 CATTLE KILLED AND DRESSED. ture. They are then driven into narrow passageways beside the pens, each compartment being only large enough to hold one animal. Over head is a plank whereon walks the grim executioner. The cattle are killed either by shooting or by the stroke of a large hammer; sometimes by means of a heavy spear the spinal column is severed at its junction with the skull. In whatever way administered, death is immediate. Directly opposite the steer, as it falls, is a slid- ing door which is lifted and the animal is drawn onto the dressing floor by a chain attached to the horns. He is then raised automatically, by his hind quarters and suspended from a rail, and busy hands attack him. The head is cut off and the tongue removed by one man, the feet stripped by the next, the entrails are removed by another, the hide stripped off by one, and a general finishing touch given by another. The killing and dressing process is over. The steer still hangs suspended from the rails, on which it is now moved past the weighmaster, who records its weight and nature, and then it is slid along on the rail to the chill room. Here the air, by means of cold air machinery, is kept constantly near the freezing point. Here the beef is allowed to hang from forty to eighty hours, and then, still suspended from the rails, is run out to the loading platform, divided into fore and hind quarters, carefully inspected and trans- ferred to the refrigerator cars standing ready to receive it, and in them distributed to all parts of the country. tipking Hogs at Armour's, HOW HOGS ARE KILLED AND DRESSED. 89 How Hogs are Killed and Dressed at the Rate of 16 a Minute, Hog-killing and the subsequent treatment of pork prod- ucts offer a most interesting and, indeed, unique field of observation. It would seem as if this department had been brought to a state of absolute perfection. The hogs are driven from the yards up elevated road- ways into pens adjoining the slaughter house, and after a sufficient delay to permit them to cool off, they are driven into the building 100 or 200 at a time. Running directly over the slaughter basin,where stands the blood-bespattered butcher, are rails with wheel and pivot attachments. Nim- ble boys deftly pass a chain over one hind leg of each animal. The chain is quickly wound up and the hog lifted completely from the floor. The rail on which the pivot wheel rests is on an inclined plane, and in a moment the hog is brought right in front of the executioner, who with a quick and dextrous stroke administers the death thrust. The blood drains off into a reservoir below, to be afterward dried, pulverized and used for fertilizing. , The hog is then brought over an immense vat of boiling water, into which it is plunged, left there a few moments and then by means of a huge gate, connected by revolving pivots at the sides, swung onto a table. Passing through the center of the table is an endless chain with hooks attached, one of which is fastened into the nose of the hog, and by this means the animal is carried along through the scraping machine. This machine is made of huge steel b'ades, mounted on inverted cylinders, and so constructed that contact is easily made with every portion of the body as it passes through. In less than ten seconds the hog, which previously presented an unclean and disheveled appearance, comes forth sleek and clean. The bristles are saved and sold to brush mak- ers; the hair falls into a receptacle on the floor beneath, and is dried, cleaned, and readily sold to curled hair manufac- turers. Emerging from the machine the hog is thoroughly washed by a strong stream of water from a hose. The gam- bels are then cut, and by them the hog is once more sus- pended from the rail. A sharp knife in a dextrous hand disembowels him. The head is severed almost entirely from the body, the intestines are carefully separated, the leaf lard is removed at the next table, and the head is entirely taken off at the next. The tongue is removed, the cheeks are singed, and 90 HOW HOGS ARE KILLED AND DRESSED. The Old Style. Mr. hog, minus his head, glides gracefully down the inclined plane to the hanging floor. The sanguinary nature of the operation is lost sight of in the mechanical and speedy way in which it is performed. Sixteen hogs a minute are oper- ated upon, so that little time is left for reflection. To the hanging floor, where the hogs are suspended in rows to cool and become firm, the descent is easy and rapid. Here the sides are severed, each still suspended from the rail, and are pushed down parallel alleyways and there left to cool. Here they are generally allowed to remain twenty- four hours. An even temperature is maintained in the cool- ing room all the year round. In summer vast stores of ice overhead contribute to that end. From the cooling room the sides are run on the rails to the cutting table. OUR NATIONAL GREATNESS. 91 Our National Greatness. 1. The Youngest but Greatest Nation of the Earth. Of all the nations of the earth which have grown into political eminence and influence none have shown such unprecedented growth and development. Rome, in the days of her martial greatness, though the growth of cen- turies, never possessed the resources, the military strength, nor the national prosperity characteristic of the United States. Of all the nations or the past none have ever risen with such immense strides of industrial growth with which our country has marched to the front. 2. The Marvel of Nations. The organization of our re- public was a new dep?-rture from the old forms of govern- ment; it was an untritd experiment; a government unlike any other government. Its success has surprised the world and made every European ruler tremble upon his throne. Owing to the tact that people of all nations love re- ligious and civil liberty, our country was rapidly populated. The American people have set the example of independent seJf-gcvernment , and millions of .the oppressed have rushed to our shores for liberty and protection, and they have not been disappointed. No other country has ever grown like it, and no other country has ever given to its people such a wide range or industrial and political opportunity. America is truly what a certain statesman has said, " a country in which every voter is a sovereign and every woman a queen." 3. The Seven Wonders of American Government: 1. No nation ever acquired so vast a territory in so quiet a manner. 2. No nation ever rose to such greatness by means so peaceable. 3. No nation ever advanced so rapidly in all that con- stitutes national strength and capital. 4. No nation ever rose to such a pinnacle of power in a space of time so incredibly short. 5. No nation in so limited a time has developed such unlimited resources. 6. No nation has ever existed the foundations of whose government were laid so broad and deep in the principles of justice, righteousness and truth. 7. No nation has ever existed in which men have been left so free to work out their own fortune, and to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. 92 OUR NATIONAL GREATNESS. 4. Our Territory. Our nation began with a very small settlement of earnest men, who, fleeing from the religious intolerance of the Old World, occupied a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast. They overcame famine and survived the tomahawk and scalping knife of the lurking savage; they built homes, developed farms and built cities. Now, a mighty nation with all its vast expanse of territory, stretch- ing from ocean to ocean and from regions almost arctic on the north, to regions almost as torrid on the south, embrac- ing more habitable land than Rome ever ruled over in her palmiest days after more than seven centuries of growth, the United States holds a position of independence and glory that is second to none among the nations of the earth. In 1787 the Constitution was framed and subsequently ratified by the thirteen original states New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The First Governor's House in New York. 94 OUft NATIONAL GREATNESS. On the first day of March, 1789, the American ship of state was fairly launched with less than one million square miles of territory (827,844). Since then we have acquired from France, April 30, 1803, for $15,000,000, 1,171,931 square miles; from Spain, July 17, 1821, for $6,500,000 59,268 square miles; from annexation of Texas, March 2, 1845, 376,133 square miles; from purchase from Mexico, July 4, 1848, for 115,000,000, 545,783 square miles; from second Mexican pur- chase for $10,000,000, 45,535 square miles; from Russia, March 30, 1867 for $7,200,000, the territory of Alaska con- taining 577,390 square miles. This gives a grand total of three million, six hundred three thousand, eight hundred eighty-four (3,603,884) square miles of territory, four-ninths of all North America, and more than one-fifteenth of the whole land surface of the globe. Of all nations on the globe whose laws are framed by legislative bodies elected by the people, our nation has the largest territory. The greatness of our country is graphically pictured by Dr Strong when he says, "Lay Texas on the face of Europe, and this giant with his head resting on the mountains of Norway (directly east of the Orkney Islands), with one palm covering London, the other Warsaw, would stretch himself down across the kingdom of Denmark, across the empires of Germany and Austria, across Northern Italy, and lave his feet in the Mediterranean. Dakota might be carved into a half dozen kingdoms of Greece; or, if it were divided into twenty-six equal countries we might lay down the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah in each." 5. Our Population. One hundred and twenty years ago the United States became an independent govern- ment with about three millions of people. To-day we have more than sixty-five millions. And yet this large and very rapidly increasing population is exceedingly small com- pared with the number our country is able to sustain. It is estimated that the 'United States can easily sustain and enrich 1,000,000,000. If our 65,000,000 were all placed in the state of Texas the population would not be as dense as many of the countries of Europe. Here under one flag are gathering in ever increasing numbers multitudes from the nations of the Old World who, suffering under the yoke of taxation, non-proprietorship of the soil, and poverty; and attracted by the brightening blazes of freedom, ownership of land, equal rights, free schools, plenty, and riches, find this indeed to be the land of promise to the present and succeeding generations. The sound of this new nation has pone into all tne worfd. It has reached the toiling millions of Europe; and they arc 95 96 OUR NATIONAL GREATNESS. swarming to our shores to share its blessings. It has gone to the islands of the sea; they have sent their living con- tributions to swell its busy population. It has reached th? Orient, and opened, as with a password, the gates of nations long barred against intercourse with other powers; and China and Japan, turning from their beaten track of forty centuries are looking with wonder at the prodigy arising across the Pacific to the east of them, and catching some of the impulse which this growing power is imparting to the nations of the earth. 6. Our Scenery. Our flag floats ovor a land that is more beautiful than any other. Behold our rivers, placid and tifrbulent, winding through the valleys of the east and threading the prairies of the west. Look upon our moun- tains, presenting views of grandeur and sublimity on every hand with occasional peaks where eternal snows crown their slopes and ice jewels their brows; visit our remarkable Yosemite and Yellowstone Park, where are found some of the greatest natural wonders of the world; glance upon Niagara with its torrent of water falling over the precipice and hastening away in the distance to the mighty ocean; then turn the eye toward the magnificent prairies of the west and look on thousands of acres in rolling splendor, voiced with vegetation that blooms and blossoms like the rose, here presenting vast acres of waving grain, gleaming at setting sun in tints of gold, awaiting to-morrow's reaper, and there bringing to view immense herds of cattle that will soon be hastened eastward to supply the markets of our cities and of the world; once again, glance over mighty lakes, burdened with a commerce almost unsurpassed, pass the granite hills and mountains of the east scattered by an Omnipotent hand to beautify the landscape and pause long enough to take a bird's-eye view of the immense manufac- turing interests of the Atlantic coast, where toiling multi- tudes are earning their daily bread and there has been exhibited to you a greater and grander variety of scenery than is found in a voyage around the globe. 7 Our Agricultural Products. With the vast area of arable land much of which is exceedingly fertile there seems to be but a small percentage of food crops produced in comparison to what may be produced. We supply our people and send large quantities of cereals to European markets. The variety of climate gives the advantage of producing food plants of cold temperate to almost tropical regions. The variety of cereals, vegetables, and fruits is unsurpassed, while the quantity leads the world. * 8. Our Mineral Resources. Nor are our products O w tn 87 98 OUR NATIONAL GREATNESS. limited to our soil, for underneath the soil are found im- mense beds of minerals that need but be opened to be turned to wealth. Our coal fields are inexhaustible. Iron, copper, lead, zinc, and the precious metals are found in great abundance in different parts so that it is not an idle boast to say that in variety and richness of mineral re- sources our country is unsurpassed, yea, unequaled. 9. Our National Wealth. The wealth of the United States is phenomenal. The total true valuation of all tangible property, not including bonds, notes, mortgages, stocks, securities, and corporate property, in the United States, exclusive of Alaska in the census of 1890 amounted to $65,037,091,197 of which amount $39,544,544,333 represents the value of real estate and improvements thereon and the remainder that of personal property, including railroads, mines and quarries. In this respect we eclipse every other nation of the world so that comparisons are maae with difficulty. Our increase in wealth is without a parallel in the world's history and yet we have but begun to develop our resources. 10. Our Constitutional Liberties. Our creed declares that "all men are created free and equal," that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- ness." It has passed into adage that ours is a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people." Hence, in the United States, every man is a Caesar, a sovereign, a king, not by decrees of men, but by letters patent from the court of Heaven, and by the authority of Almighty God. How glorious our her; .ge! How enviable our lot! Once enrolled as itizens of this country, we may go forth hoping to win any position in the gift of the nation with ten thousand agencies awaiting our coming, which offer their unsought counsel and energy to urge us on our way. With us success is privileged. The humblest child from the most obscure home under the flag of our Union has an equal right to that patronage which should make him great among men. Of us Lord Bacon spoke when he said: "It remaineth for God and angels to be lookers on." For in an American race every man has a right to lead and a chance to rule. Birth and age are ruled out. Votes bring in The modern idea that the government exists for the in- dividual has abolished slavery and elevated womanhood, so that at present it is difficult for us to believe that even in- the early years of this century it was not an uncommon oc- currence for an Englishman to sell his wife into servitude.. 100 OUR NATIONAL GREATNESS, r Incredulous to our age is the following taken from The New Monthly Magazine lor September, 1814: "Shropshire. A well-looking woman, wife of John Hall, to whom she had been married only one month, was brought by him in a halter, and sold by auction, in the market, for two and six- pence, with the addition of sixpence for the rope with which she was led. In this sale the customary market fees were charged toll, one penny; pitching, three pence." n. Our Industry. This is emphatically a land of in- dustry. Without work we cannot succeed. It matters not so much what a man does, so long as it be legitimate em- ployment, and is well done. Here this lesson is taught as under no other form of government. 12. Our Ingenuity is the marvel of the world. We talk by lightning and walk by steam We delve the mountains, bridge the oceans, and lasso the stars. Our patent office reports of inventions are as difficult of apprehension to for- eigners as the report of John's apocalyptic visions. Tour- ists from the old world stand or ride a-gape and a-stare, from ocean to ocean. Inventiveness is a national trait. At the International Electrical Exposition in Paris some years ago, Jive gold medals were given for the greatest inventions or discov- eries. Only five of these came to the United States Europe acknowledges that we have the best machinery and tools in the world. This also implies that we have the best mechanics. Even Herbert Spencer says, "Beyond ques- tion, in respect of mechanical appliances, the Americans are ahead of all nations." The superior ingenuity and in- telligence of our mechanics command the respect of the world and place our manufacturing products foremost among its nations. Our progress in science is remarkable Our Franklins and Morses, Sillimans and Pierces, Proctors and Edisons, are tall enough to be seen around the world. Even provincial Britain and Germany do us homage here. . 13. Our Philanthropy. Here again we challenge, not pimply the intentions, not simply the admiration, but the astonishment of the oldest governments of the earth Where is official charity so boundless, private philanthropy so open handed, and real beneficence so constant and abundant as in the land of the victorious free ? What asylums for the blind, deaf, dumb, and the mind-benighted 1 What refuges for the aged! What orphanages, and homes, and retreats for abandoned or unfortunate youth or aged! What hospitals for the receptions of the sick and maimed.! What associations for the recovery and uplifting of fallen men and women! We do not say that other nations arg MONUMENTS OF AMERICAN ENTERPRISE, 102 OUR NATIONAL GREATNESS. 103 unphUanthropic ; but we do claim that, in open-handed and munificent philanthropy, the land of light and liberty, and tne cultured heart, leads the world. 14. Our Educational and Religious Institutions. Edu- cation and liberty go hand in hand. The benigned influ- ences of the Christian faith, for which our fathers stood, have made us what we are. Without their influences west- ern civilization would never have reached the pinnacle it holds to-day. Our educational and Christian institutions are the bulwarks of our nation. Whoever strikes at these strikes at our government. He who proposes to Romanize our common schools, proposes to revolutionize our institu- tions to revolve them backward Rome-ward, slaveward and deathward. He who says, " Divide the public funds that we may educate our children as a foreign, un-American, anti-republican pontiff dictates," is guilty of treason; and he who says : "Away with your American educational insti- tutions," is an assassin in intent, and levels his sword at Columbia's heart. God preserve our educational and Christian institutions ! 15. America Holds the Future. The United States has occasion for profound gratitude. Our heritage is rich beyond measure. Where will you find under one flag so many truly great men ? Where so many whose native air sweeps down from the summits of moral and intellectual Matterhorns ? Where more unique, compact, full-orbed, yet disciplined, sanctified, and consecrated individualities than in "the land ot the free and the home of the brave" ? Let the magnifi- cent procession pass in grand review, while the nations of the earth uncover. Well may the earth tremble and rever- berate with loudest acclamations, and heaven even send down her choicest congratulation. As goesAmerica so goes the world in all that is vital to its moral welfare. Our inheritance in our men, our Consti- tution, and our institutions, how great! Only the tongue of an angel could tell it ; only the pen of an archangel could record it. And yet we are only in our babyhood. What prophet can arise and tell us what the possibilities of the future are, when we shall have attained to national, educa- tional, moral, and spiritual maturity ? Let us hallow the memory of our ancestors, from whom we have inherited so much. Let us cherish, with loving fidelity, and with un- wavering patriotism our inheritance. 1 i 104 ThREATENING DANGERS. 105 Threatening Dangers. 2. Immigration. At the beginning of 1896 more than seventeen millions (17,101,425) of foreigners had come to our shores seeking a home in the land of the free. Many of these have become citizens of moral worth, and are in perfect harmony with our free and Christian institutions. They are doing their utmost in the pulpit, in the learned professions, in the trades, in our legislative halls, and in our homes to advance and to perpetuate American interests, put even the casual observer knows that this does not include the great mass of foreigners who come to our shores not to be Americanized or Christianized. With the idea that license to do wrong is American liberty, these hordes of the criminal and baser classes of Europe are crowding our shores. America's hope lies in our power to elevate these masses in the scale of civilization and to Americanize this foreign element. An exceedingly large per cent of our criminals are foreigners. True Americans must rise and bestir themselves if we are not to be overwhelmed by these undesirable and dangerous classes. 2. Intemperance. This is not only an evil that degrades, demoralizes, and ruins the individual, but not content with its work of death upon the individual it seeks to p'erpetuate its work by controlling our politics. The New York Times says : " The great underlying evil which paralyzes every effort to get good laws and to secure the enforcement of these we have, is the system of local politics which gives the saloon-keeper more power over government than is possessed by all the religious and educational institutions combined." Let the moral and religious element combine and be as interested in the question as those carrying on the work and the danger in this respect will be averted. 3. Centralization of Wealth. The great disturbances in labor circles result largely from an unequal distribution of wealth. In Europe the aristocracy is one of birth ; with us it is one of wealth. In Europe the wealth of the nation may be in the hands of the few, but in our nation where equality is the watchword, popular discontent threatens the peace and safety of the nation, whenever the conditions of society are such that the many are controlled and governed by the influences of the few of unlimited means. The centralization of wealth in our country is strikingly shown by Mr. Thomas G. Shearman, in an article in the Forum. It is clear that the people do not own this country, but the millionaires do. Mr. Shearman gives a list of persons and estates that are worth $20,000,000 or more. Here is his 106 THREATENING DANGERS. list, which, though its accuracy may be in doubt, certainly comes near enough to the actual figures to be interesting, to say the least : $150,000,000; J. J. Astor, Trinity Church. $100,000,000; C. Vanderbilt, W. K. Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Leland Stanford, J. D. Rockefeller. $70.000,000; Estate of A. Packer. $60,000,000; John I. Blair, Estate of Charles Crocker. $50,000,000; Wm. Astor. W. W. Astor, Russell Sage, E. A. Stevens. Estate of Moses Taylor, Estate of Brown & Ives. $40,000,000; P. D. Armour, F. A. Ames, Wm. Rockefeller. H. M. Flagler, Power & Weightman, Estate of P Goelet. $35,000,000; C. P. Huntington, D. O. Mills, Estates of T. A. Scott J. W. Garrett. $30,000,000; G. B. Roberts, Charles Pratt, RossWinans, E. B. Coxe, Claus Spreckels, A. Belmont, R. J. Livingston, Fred Weyerhauser, Mrs. Mark Hopkins, Mrs. Hetty Green, Estates of S. V Harkness R. W. Coleman, I. M. Singer. $25,000,000; A. J. Dre'xel, J. S. Morgan, J. P. Morgan, Marshall Field, David Dows, J. G. Fair, E. T. Gerry, Estates of Gov. Fairbanks A. T. Stewart, A. Schermerhorn. $22,500,000; O/H. Payne, Estates of F. A. Drexel, I. V. Williamson, W. F. Weld. $20,000,000; F. W. Vanderbilt, Theo. Havemeyer. W. G. Warden, W. P. Thompson, Mrs. Schenley, J. B. Haggin.H. A. Hutchins, Estates of W. Sloan, E. S. Higgins, C. Tower, Wm. Thaw, Dr. Hostetter, Wm. Sharon, Peter Donohuei H. O. Havemeyer. Mr. Shearman, in the course of his article, reaches the conclusion that 25,000 persons own one-half of the United States, and that the whole wealth of the country is practi- cally owned by 250,000 persons, or one in sixty of the adult male population ; and he predicts, from the rapid recent concentration of wealth, that, under present conditions, 50,000 persons will practically own all the wealth of the country in thirty years. We have no titled aristocracy in this country, but we arc getting an aristocracy of wealth more dangerous. The conflict between Labor and Capital is not yet near its end. 4. Government of Large Cities. Our large cities are increasing at an enormous rate. At the present rate the large cities of a state will soon control the politics of a state. This is already true in some states. The dangerous classes are found in our larger cities. Here the govern- ment is the worst. In all the great American cities there is to-day as clearly defined a ruling class as in the most aristo- cratic countries in the world. Its members carry wards in THREATENING DANGERS. their pockets, make up the slates for nominating conven- tions, distribute offices as they bargain together, and though they toil not, neither do they spin, wear the best of raiment and spend money lavishly. They are men of power, whose favor the ambitious must court, and whose vengeance he must avoid. These men are not the wise, the learned, the good, who have earned the confidence of their fellow citizens by their pure lives, their brilliant talents, their faithfulness in public trusts, or their ability to solve the problems of government. They are rather the gambler, the saloon keeper, the men who control votes by buying and selling offices and official acts. De Tocqueville wrote more than fifty years ago, "I look upon the size of certain American cities, and especially upon the nature of their population, as a real danger which threatens the security of the Democratic republics of the New World." That danger has grown immensely during the last fifty years and is to-day more real and imminent than ever. 5. A Corrupt and Ignorant Ballot. There is no greater or more surely destructive danger than that of the ballot in the hands of ignorant or wicked men. Here where the bal- lot counts for our liberties, nothing should be held more sacred. The importance of the subject demands its fur- ther consideration on a succeeding page. THE MAN WHO NEVER READS THE PAPERS, But Votes His Party Ticket Straight, CHAPTER III. INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS. Great Events of the ipth Century The chief glory of America is, that it is the country in which genius and industry find their speediest and surest reward. Fame and fortune are here open to all who are willing to work for them. Neither differences of birth nor of religion, neither class distinctions nor social prejudices can prevent the man of true merit from winning the just reward of his labors in this favored land. And yet we are not unmindful of the fact that only a few of the nation's great men are remembered in history and also of the fact that men of inventive genius were subjected to ridicule and scorn and often were compelled to labor in abject poverty and through years of disheartening hinderances before they .succeeded in convincing the world of their true worth. 108 THE COTTON GIN. 109 "The madhouse is the proper place for him," was said of Charles Goodyear who under the most trying adversity dis- covered the secret of controlling India rubber. Edison was dubbed "luny" because of his inventive genius. Indeed before most of the useful discoveries and inventions of to- day were perfected the public regarded them as chimerical and the product of an unbalanced mind. Their projectors were despised and abused while only the Great Eye that reads all hearts saw the anguish that wrung the hearts of these noble men, and knew the more than heroic firmness with which in the midst of their poverty and suffering, they agonized to perfect their inventions and discoveries. Some of them were not permitted to see the ultimate tri- umph of their labors before remorse, neglect, and insolvency hurried them to an untimely grave. Others like Dr. Wm. T. G. Morton, who discovered the use of ether, and Goodyear were harrassed and their right trampled upon by a sordid and licentious class of infringers. To know the history of these great men and their works, to comprehend in a measure the privations and hardships of this worthy class to whom our marvelous prosperity is due, to realize the success attending others, cheers and en- courages every noble youth. The Cotton Gin. The Cotton gin is a machine for freeing cotton from its seeds, which adhere to the fibre with considerable tenacity. Originally, the cotton gin was an apparatus in which the cotton was passed between two rollers revolving in opposite directions. This, the "roller gin t " is still used for ginning sea-island or black-seeded cotton, which is quite easily freed from its seeds. But green-seeded, upland or short-staple cotton, the species most generally grown, cannot be ginned by such simple means. In 1793 Mr. Eli Whitney, a native or Massachusetts, resident in Georgia, invented the saw gin, consisting of a hopper, one side of which is composed of parallel wires, between which revolve circular saws, the teeth of which drag the fiber through the wires, leaving the seed behind. This invention, which brought Mr. Whitney small profit and much litigation, has immensely increased the cotton industry of the world. The United States leads the world in inventive genius, and the vast cotton industry, which has so wonderfully cheapened the production of cot- ton cloth, is largely due to the pluck and perseverence of American skill. 8 110 STORY OF THE FIRST SEWING MACHINE. Whitney's Cotton Gin. 1793. Mr. Whitney was born in Massachusetts. His unusual mechanical genius aided him in overcoming the difficulties of poverty. By his own earnings he was enabled to gradu- ate at Yale in 1792. Going south to seek employment as a teacher, his attention was called to the difficulties of clean- ing the seeds from the cotton. Despite many discouraging circumstances he succeeded in inventing a machine that brought many millions of dollars to the south. Piratical infringers robbed this greatest of benefactors and he would have died in poverty had he not turned his attention to the improvement of fire arms, by means of which he acquired a fortune. Story of the First Sewing Machine. I. Elias Howe, Jr. It would be impossible to follow Mr. Howe through all the details of his varied experience during his early years. Suffice .it to say, that it was at Bos- ton, when in his twentieth year, and after he had learned the rudiments of his trade in one of the machine shops of Lowell, and subsequently in Cambridge, working side by side with Nathaniel P. Banks, that the thought of sewing by machinery was first suggested to his mind. EUAS HOWE, INVENTOR OF THE SEWING MACHINE. Ill 112 STORY OF THE FIRST SEWING MACHINE. 2. The Origin. In the year 1839 two men in Boston, one a mechanic and the other a capitalist, were striving to produce a knitting machine, which proved to be a task oeyond their strength. When the inventor was at his wits' end his capitalist brought the machine to the shop of Ari Davis, to see if that eccentric genius could suggest the solu- tion of the difficulty, and make the machine work. The shop, resolving itself into a committee of the whole, gath- ered about the knitting machine and its proprietor, and were listening to an explanation of its principle. Among the workmen who stood by and listened to this conversation and in this instance at least the old adage concerning listeners appears to have been reversed says Parton, was Howe; and from that time he was in the habit, in his leisure moments, of meditating devices for sewing by machinery. Having inherited a constitution hardly strong enough for the work of a machinist, and burdened even in his opening manhood with the care of a growing family, his attention was more and more concentrated upon the proj- ect of building a machine which would furnish him a liveli- . hood more easily earned. In December, 1845, upon a small capital provided by the generosity of an old friend, he shut himself up in a garret at Cambridge and set himself seri- ously to the task of inventing a sewing machine. 3. Six Months of Incessant Labor. After about six months of incessant labor and reflection he produced the first machine that ever sewed a seam, and he was soon the wearer of a suit of clothes. made by its assistance. This first machine, which is one of great beauty and finish, is still in existence, an object of peculiar interest to the curious who inspect it; and it will sew ten times as fast as a woman can sew by hand. 4. Begging a Shilling. Having patented the machine, and finding the tailors of America averse to its introduction, he went to England, where he succeeded in selling two ma- chines; but found so little encouragement that he would have starved to death but for the aid of friends, and he re- solved to return home or at least to send his family. So pinched was he while in London, that he frequently borrowed small sums of his friend, Mr. Inglis on one occasion a shil- ling, with which he bought some beans, and cooked and ate them in his own room, and through him also obtained some credit for provisions. 5. Conspicuous Object of Public Attention. Arriving* home after an absence of about two years, he found that the sewing machine was a conspicuous object of public attention; doubt had been succeeded by admiration of its qualities; PROF. MORSE'S TRIAL. 113 and several ingenious men having experimented, had finally improved upon the machine as originally constructed. A war of litigation ensued, and, after several years, Mr. Howe's claim to be the original inventor was legally and irreversibly established, the judge deciding that "there was no evidence which left a shadow of doubt that, for all the benefit con- ferred upon the public by the introduction of a sewing ma- chine, the public are indebted to Mr. Howe." To him, therefore, all other inventors, or improvers had to pay a trib- ute. From being a poor man, Howe, became in a few years one of the most noted millionaires in America; and his bust executed by Ellis, show? a man of marked personal appearance and striking natural endowments. Prof. Morse's Trial. Prof. Morse was a man of remarkable ability and per- severance, and was largely respected in his profession as a teacher. When he took up the subject of the study of electricity, and began to discuss his discoveries with friends, they soon began to shake their heads with doubt, and ques- tion his sanity. But, like all other inventors, he was poor, and his ideas gained but little favor or consideration among his friends. He was ridiculed, denounced as a lunatic and a "crank;" but he was an American, and had inherited, with his inventive genius, the true American spirit of push and pluck. He persevered, and bravely trampled down the taunts and jeers heaped upon him, and when the grand day of triumph came all were ready to do him honor. The friends who had refused to assist him the friends who had laughed at him and scorned his friendship were now thi first boasting his praise. Prof. Morse went to Europe, and begged of the European authorities to consider his proposition, patent his invention, and receive the benefits of its wonder-working service. But he was turned away without encouragement; he returned home to his native land, and only at the last moment xiid Congress favorably consider his proposition, and finally recognized his wonderful invention which has revolution- ized the business of the world. Prof. Samuel Morse, LL. D., was the eldest son of Rev. J. Morse, D. D., born at Charlestown, in 1791. He was a graduate at Yale college. In 1810 he went to England to study painting, and in 1813 received a gold inedal for his first effort in sculpture. He returned to New York in 1815 and became president of the National Academy of Design, and PROF. SAMUEL F. B. MORSE, The Inventor of the Electric Telegraph, 114 PROF. MORSE S TRIAL. 115 was soon appointed professor of the arts and designs in the University of New York. He did not give his entire attention to art, but was in- terested in chemistry, and especially in electrical and galvanic exper- iments, anjl on a voyage from Havre to New York, in 1832, he con- ceived the idea of a magnetic telegraph, which he exhibited to Con- gress in 1837, and vainly attempted to patent in England. His claims to priority of invention over Prof. Wheatstone, in England, have been the siibject of considerable controversy. He struggled on with scanty moans until 1843, when, as he almost yielded to despair, Congress, at midnight, and at the last moment of the session, appropriated $30,000 for an experimental line between Washington and Baltimore. For his important telegraphic invention, Dr. Morse was rewarded by testimo- nials, honorary orders of nobility and wealth. The magnitude of his discovery being acknowledged universally, several European States joined in presenting him a purse of 400,000 francs; and splendid ban- quets were given him in London and Paris. He died in New York. April 2, 1872. The First Telegraph Instrument 1837 116 STORY OF THE FIRST ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. The House where the First Telegraph Instruments were Made. Story of the First Electric Tele- graph. Samuel F. B. Morse of New York, during a voyage home from France in 1832, conceived the idea of making signs at a distance by means of a pencil moved by an electro-magnet and a single conducting circuit, the paper being moved under the pencil by clockwork. He con- structed a working model of his invention in 1836, and ex- 118 LAYING OF THE ATLANTIC CABLE. hibited it to several persons the same year, but not publicly until 1837. Several years were devoted to improving the invention and endeavoring to interest the public in the proj- ect. It was not until 1844 that the first public line was completed between Washington and Baltimore (40 miles), and the first message transmitted May 27 of that year. Within a few years, however, lines were extended to the principal cities of the United States. The Morse telegraph was introduced in Germany in 1847, whence it has spread all over the Eastern hemisphere, and may now be said to be the universal telegraph of thi world. Laying of the Atlantic Cable. The success of this undertaking at once revived the suggestion of laying a cable across the Atlantic ocean from Ireland to Newfoundland. In 1854 the attention of Mr. Cyrus W. Field, of New York, was directed to the subject, and mainly through his efforts a company was formed, principally of English capitalists, to undertake the enter- prise. The first attempt was made in August, 1857, but it was unsuccessful, the cable parting 300 miles from shore. The following year the attempt was renewed, and the enter- prise successfully completed August 5, 1858. The electrical condition of the cable was faulty at first, but signals and communications were exchanged with more or less facility until September 1, when the cable failed altogether. During this time 366 messages, containing 3,942 words, were inter- changed between Europe and America. Several attempts to pick up and repair the cable were made without success, and this disastrous result discouraged further enterprise in the same direction for a number of years. The experience gained, however, was of the highest value, and the success of the Malta and Alexandria (1861), Persian Gulf (1864), and other deep sea cables, led to the renewal of the attempt to cross the Atlantic in 1865, which again resulted in the break- ing of the cable after 1,186 miles had been laid out. The following year, however, a new cable was successfully sub- merged, being landed at Newfoundland in perfect working order July 27, 1866, and the great problem was thus at last definitely solved. In September following the lost cable of 1865 was picked up and completed. From that date such rapid progress has been made in the extension of telegraphic cables that at the present time no isolated system of tel- egraphs is to be found throughout the world. JUDGE STEPHEN VAIL, The First Manufacturer and Improver of Telegraph Instruments. 119 120 STORY OF THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. Different Submarine Lines. The first submarine lines were simply ordinary iron wires coated with gutta-percha to a diameter of half an inch. In the cable laid between Dover and Calais in 1851, four gutta-percha coated conducting wires were wrapped with hemp and enclosed in a wire rope for protection. This general plan has been followed in all cables since con- structed. The Atlantic cables are composed of a copper strand of seven wires, forming the conductor, surrounded by four layers of gutta-percha and covered by a serving of jute; outside of this is a protecting armor of ten wires of homogeneous iron, each enveloped in fine strands of manilla hemp. In shallow waters, where cables are exposed to in- jury from anchors, the armor is often made enormously thick and heavy, sometimes weighing as much as twenty tons per mile. There are now more than ten cables across the Atlantic. The First Steamboat in the World. The first application of steam to navigation that showed any evidence of success was made in this country in 1788, by John Fitch, of Philadelphia, Pa. Printing Telegraphs. The idea of a telegraph which should record message-- in printed Roman letters is due to Alfred Vail, of New Jer sey (1837). The first model of such an instrument was madt by Wheatstone (1841). House's Telegraph.- This wai the earliest practical printing instrument. It was introduced in 1847, and largely used in the United States until about 1860. It is simple in principle, though somewhat compli cated in construction. FIRST STEAMBOAT. 121 is a correct illustration, was 60 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 4 feet deep, and worked by paddles. The trial trip, at which the governor, and many distinguished men were present, was made over a mile course in front of Water street, Phil- adelphia. Although the experiment was considered suc- cessful, the project was abandoned, and it was left to Robert Fulton to practically demonstrate the theories of steam navigation. Fulton's First Steamboat. Fulton's First Steamboat. 1. Robert Fulton. At what time Mr. Fulton's mind wa~- first directed to steam navigation is not definitely known, but even in 1793 he had matured a plan in which he re- posed great confidence. No one previous to Mr. Fulton had constructed a steamboat in any other way, or with any result, than as an unsuccessful experiment, and although many have disputed his right to the honor of the discovery, none have done so with any semblance of justice. 2. Mr. Livingston. The Legislature, in March, 1798, passed an act vesting Mr. Livingston with the exclusive right and privilege of navigating all kinds of boats which might be propelled by the force of fire or steam, on all the waters within the territory or jurisdiction of the state of New York, for a term of twenty years from the passing of the act, upon condition that he should, within a twelve- month, build such a boat the mean of whose progress should not be less than four miles an hour. 122 FIRST STEAMBOAT 3. Interesting Circumstances. According to Mr. Living- ston's own account of these most interesting circumstances, it appears that, when residing as minister plenipotentiary of the United States in France, he there met with Mr Fulton and they formed that friendship and connection with each other to which a similarity of pursuits naturally gives birth. He communicated to Mr. Fulton his views of the importance of steamboats to their common country; informed him of what had been attempted in America, and of his resolution to resume the pursuit on his return, and ad- vised him to turn his attention to the subject. It was agreed between them to embark in the enterprise, and immediately to make such experiments as would enable them to deter- mine how far, in spite of former failures, the object was attainable. The principal direction of these experiments was left to Mr. Fulton. 4. Building a Boat. On the arrival at New York ol Mr. Fulton, which was not until 1806, they immediately en- gaged in building a boat of as was then thought very considerable dimensions, for navigating the Hudson. The boat named the Clermont, was of one hundred and sixty tons burden, one hundred and thirty feet long, eighteen feet wide and seven feet deep. The diameter of the pad- dle-wheels was fifteen feet, the boards four feet long and the drippings two feet in water. She was a queer look- ing craft, and, while on the stocks, excited much attention and no small amount of ridicule. 5. She Was Launched. When she was launched and the steam engine placed in her, that also was looked upon as being of a piece with the boat built to float it. ^ A few had seen one at work raising the Manhattan water into the reservoir back of the almshouse; but, to the people at large, the whole thing was a hidden mystery. Curiosity was greatly excited. Nor will the reader be at all surprised at the statement made by an eye-witness and narrator of these events, that when it was announced in the New Ycrl< papers that the boat would start from Cortlandt street at six and a half o'clock on Friday morning, the 4th of August, and take passengers 1o Albany, there was a broad smile on every face, as the inquiry was made, if any one would be fool enough to go? 6. She Started. When Friday morning came the wharves, piers, house-tops from which a sight could be obtained were filled with spectators. There were twelve berths, and every one was taken through to Albany. The fare was $7. All the machinery was uncovered and exposed to view. The after-part was fitted up in a FIRST STEAMBOAT, 123 ROBERT FULTON. rough manner for passengers. The entrance into the, cabin was from the stern, in front of the steersman, who worked a tiller, as in an ordinary sloop. Black smoke issued from the chimney; steam issued from every ill-fitted valve and crevice of the engine. Fulton himself was there. His remarkably clear and sharp voice was heard above the hum of the multitude and the noise of the engine; his step was confident and decided; he heeded not the fearfulness, doubts, or sarcasm of those by whom he was surrounded. The whole scene combined had in it an individuality, as well as an interest, which comes but once and is re- membered forever. Everything being ready the engine was set in motion, and the boat moved steadily but slowly from the wharf. As she turned up the river and was fairly under way there arose such a huzza as ten thousand throats never gave be- f24 STORY OF THK FIRST RAILROAt). fore. The passengers returned the cheer, but Fulton stood upon the deck, his eyes flashing with an unusual brilliancy as he surveyed the crowd. He felt that the magic wand of success was waving over him, and he was silent. 7. The Complete Success. The complete success at- tending steam navigation on the Hudson and the neighbor- ing waters, previous to the year 1809, turned the attention of the principal projectors to the idea of its application on the western waters; and in the month of April, of that year, Mr. Roosevelt, of New York, pursuant to an agreement with Chancellor Livingston and Mr. Fulton, visited those rivers with the purpose of forming an opinion whether they admitted of steam navigation or not. Mr. Roosevelt sur veyed the rivers from Pittsburg to New Orleans, and as his report was favorable it was decided to build a boat at the former place. This was done under his direction, and in the year 1811 the first boat was launched on the waters of the Ohio. It was called the New Orleans. 8. Rapid Growth. From the date of Mr. Fulton's triumph in 1807 steam navigation became a fixed fact in the United States, and went on extending with astonishing rapidity. Nor could a different result have been rationally expected in such a country as America. Story of the First Railroad. 1. Business Changes. Perhaps no invention of the present century has produced such widespread social and business changes as that of steam locomotion on railways. Not only have places that were formerly more than a day's journey from each other been made accessible in a very tew hours, but the cost of traveling has been so much /e- duced, that the expense has in a great degree long ceased to operate as a bar to communication by railway for busi- ness or pleasure, and the usual channels of trade have been most profitably abandoned or superseded, with the greatest benefits to every interest involved. 2. The History of Railways. That the history of rail- ways shows what grand results may have their origin in small beginnings, is no less true than that the power of capital is seen in this as in all other great material enter- prises. In evidence of the former truth, Dr. Lyell, men- tions the interesting, though of course, well-known, fact, that, when coal was first conveyed in the neighborhood of Newcastle-on-Tyne, from the pit of the shipping place, the pack horse, carrying a burden of three hundred weight^ was the only mode of transport employed as soon as roads STORY OF THE FIRST RAILROAD. 125 The First Railroad Engine-1 829. suitable for wheeled carriages were formed, carts were in- troduced, and this first step in mechanical appliances to facilitate transport had the effect of increasing the load which the horse was enabled to carry, from three hundred to seventeen hundred weight. 3. Wooden Bars or Rails for the Wheels. The next improvement consisted in laying wooden bars or rails for the wheels of carts to run upon, and this was followed by the substitution of the four-wheeled wagon for the two- wheeled cart. By this further application of mechanical principles, the original horse load of three hundred weight was augmented to forty-two hundred. These were indeed important results, and they were not obtained without the shipwreck of many a fortune. 4. Attachment of Slips of Iron. The next step of progress in this direction was the attachment of slips of iron to the wooden rails. Then came the iron tramway, the up- right flange of the bar acting, in this arrangement, as a guide to keep the wheel on the track. The next advance was an important one, and consisted in transferring the 8 126 STORY OP THE FIRST RAILROAD. guiding flange from the rail to the wheel, an improvement which enabled cast iron edge rails to be used. 5. Iron Rails. Finally, in 1820, after the lapse of many years, from the first employment of wooden bars, wrought iron raits, rolled in long lengths, and of suitable sections, were made and in time superseded all other forms of rail- ways, coming finally to the superb steel rails of later days. Of the locomotive engine, which makes it possible to convey a load of hundreds of tons at a cost of fuel scarcely exceed- ing that of the provender which the original pack-horse consumed in conveying its load of three hundred pounds an equal distance, it may justly be called one of the crowning achievements of mechanical science. 6. The Locomotive Engine. No sooner is a road formed fit for wheeled carriages to pass along, than the cart takes the place of the pack-saddle; no sooner is the wooden railway provided, than the wagon is substituted for the cart; no sooner is an iron railway formed, capable of carrying heavy loads, than the locomotive engine is ready to com- mence its wonderful career, and so on ad infinitum. The First Railroad Train. 7. The First Railroad. The characteristic enterprise of Americans did not fail them in this era of transformatioH and advancement. The first railroad attempted in the United States was a crude and temporary affair in Boston a double-track arrangement for removing gravel from Beacon Hill, and so contrived that, while one train de- scended the hill with its load, the empty train would thereby be hauled up for loading. A more positive effort in this jine, and more really deserving the name of railway, and STORY OF THE FIRST RAILROAD. Modern Dining Car. consequently honored by historians with the term of priority, was that constructed in Quincy, Mass., for the purpose of transporting granite from the quarry at that place to the Neponset River, a distance of about four miles; it was a single-track road, with a width of five feet between the rails, the latter being of pine, covered with oak and overlaid with thin plates of wrought iron; and the passage from the quarry to the landing, of a car carrying ten tons, with a single horse was performed in ah hour. This was completed in 1827, and the affair created much interest. 8. The First Use of a Locomotive. The first use of a locomotive in this country was in 1829, and was used on the railroad built by the Delaware & Hudson Company. From this fairly dates, therefore, American railway travel, with steam as the locomotive power. So popular was this means of transit, however, that, in thirty years from the time of its small beginning, more than 30,000 miles of the iron road traversed the country in different directions; this number of miles increasing to some 80,000 in 1879, with nearly 15,000 locomotives, and a capital of rising four and a half billions, 128 STORY OF THE FIRST STREET CAR. JOHN STEPHENSON. Story of the First Street Car. John Stephenson, who has just died at his home in New Rochelle, Westchester county, N. Y., had a career that is another instance of the business capacity, untiring energy and thrifty shrewdness of the people of the Scotch-Irish race. He was brought to this country when he was two years old, and though of foreign birth he was nevertheless in sentiment and training thoroughly American. A sketch of his life would be a history of the American street car {he first one of which he designed and built from the intro- duction of such carriages to the present time, when they are to be seen in every civilized and modern city of the world. And what is more, the cars actually designed and built by him are now in use wherever street rajlroads have been adopted. STORY OF THE FIRST STREET CAR. 129 At seventeen he was taken from school and put in a shop, but before two years had passed his father saw that his mechanical tastes and ingenuity were going to waste behind a counter, and he was taken away and apprenticed to a coachmaker whose shop was in Broome street, where, by the way, the carriage business still flourishes. When his apprenticeship was over, which was more than sixty years ago, he was invited by Abram Brower, who kept a livery stable opposite Bond street, on Broadway, to open a shop next the stables and keep his vehicles in repair. Mr. Brower at that time ran a stage line in Broadway from Bleeker street to Wall street, the fare being one shilling. As a gen- eral thing, money went further in those days than it does now, but this did not apply to stage rides. The stages then were in the old post-coach style, the coaches resting on leather thorough-braces. The seats were crossways of the coach, and the entrances on the sides. At the outset Mr. Stephenson endeavored to improve on this old style, and shortly there appeared from his shop the first vehicle known as an "omnibus." The advantage of this style of stage was soon seen, and they were built as fast as the old coaches needed replacing. So important were these new stages considered that they were named as ships are, and the first three constructed were called Minerva, Mentor, and Forget-me-not. The custom obtained for a long time, and still prevails to some extent in southwestern cities, where the railway companies run omnibus lines for the pur- pose of gathering up and delivering passengers. A year after Stephenson's independent career began, his shop and Brower's stable were destroyed by fire, and, being without insurance, his entire capital was wiped out. He soon opened another shop, and in it he built his first street car, in 1832. The New York & Harlem Railroad was char- tered in 1831, and the first street-car line was opened in the Bowery in November, 1832. It ran from Prince to Four- teenth street. The car which. Stephenson designed and built was named for the president of the road, John Mason, who was also president of the now rich and famous Chemical Bank. The opening of this road was a great civic event, and the mayor and common council of the city, with the officers of the road, made the first journey over the road, riding in Stephenson's car. The great success of the first American street car was heralded all over the United States. Orders from the Har- lem company for other cars soon followed, and in the same year came orders forthe new style of cars from Paterson, 130 ' STORY OF THE FIRST STREET CAR. N. J., Brooklyn and Jamaica, L. I., and from the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company (now the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company). Orders also came from Talla- hassee, Fla., and from Matanzas, Cuba. These first cars were four-wheelers, and all of them were used on railroads except in case of the Harlem company, which were used in the streets. When Ross Winans, of Baltimore, introduced the eight-wheel car Mr. Stephenson's shop in Elizabeth street was too small for the work he had to do, so in 1836 he built a new factory in Harlem, at Fourth avenue and One Hundred and Twenty-ninth street. There he did a much enlarged business and built regular railway cars of all styles. His business now rapidly outgrew his capital, and the panic of 1837 found him unprepared to meet his obliga- tions, when his debtors, chiefly railroad companies, could not meet theirs. He was compelled to go into bankruptcy and paid 50 cents on the dollar. His Harlem property was sacrificed and his Harlem railroad stock brought onlj 18 per cent, of its face value. As he was only twenty-six years old at the time of this disaster he was apt discouraged. By 1843 he had collected enough money to resume business. He bought at that time the site on Twenty-seventh street, near Fourth avenue, where the Stephenson shops are still located. He paid what was then considered a high price, $400 a lot. These lots are now worth at least $25,000 each. That is a very handsome ad- vance; or, as Mr. Henry George would say, a considerable " unearned increment." Though excused by law from recog- nizing the debts which had been compounded, Mr. Stephen- son paid them all off as soon as he was able. One of his creditors, Jordan L. Mott, refused to accept payment, saying that the failure was an honest one, and had been legally and morally wiped out by the bankruptcy proceedings. Some time after this refusal Mr. Mott ordered a truck to be made. ' When it was finished Stephenson delivered it with the bill, endorsed, "Received payment by the bank- ruptcy debt; John Stephenson." Mr. Mott tried to pay for the truck, but Stephenson firmly refused, so Mr. Mott had the truck draped in gay bunting, and drove it through the streets of New York, with this legend, in large, white letters on both sides of the vehicle: "This is the way an honest bankrupt pays his debts; his name is honest John Stephen- son." All of the profits of the new establishment for seven years were needed to pay these debts. After the Harlem failure, Mr. Stephenson for several years devoted himself entirely to building coaches and omnibuSes, and he continued building the latter till they STORY OF THE FIRST STREET CAR. 131 were entirely superseded in use by street cars. Street car roads were not profitable at first; but in 1852 they became more popular, and many new lines were built. In that year the Second, Third, Sixth, and Eighth avenue horse-car companies were chartered in New York, and Mr. Stephen- son received the order to build the cars that were needed. From that time to the present his works have pretty nearly always been run to their full capacity, and his cars were sent all over the world. The Old Stage Coach that Ran from Boston to New Yorb In Washington's Time, 182 A NEW ERA IN TRAVELING. A New Era in Traveling. The first bicycle ever made is shown in the accompanying illustration, called the Draisine. It was not made to ride upon, but it was made to push along on foot so as to rest and steady the traveler in his travels. The bicycle, as the first steam-engine or first steamboat, has undergone a great many changes. The first bicycle made in this country was made of two cart wheels, and resembles the modern bicycle in many par- ticulars. It grew from that rude construction of cart wheels to the high-wheeled cushion tire; then the modern safety bicycle was invented. Some modern improvements have been made, and no doubt some will be made. The First Bicycle. 1816. The safety bicycle is one of the revolutionizing inven- aonsof this age, and it is in its way destined to accomplish as important social results as the electric street railway. From being exceptional, its use has become common, and from being common it now bids fair to become well-nigh universal. Where the roads justify, workingmen have begun to appreciate the fact that the wheel relieves them of the necessity of living near the shop. So great is its speed that five or even ten miles is not a prohibitive distance between home and work. The young doctor in the town, and also in the country, where the roads justify INVENTION OF THE ELECTRIC LIGHT. 183 visits his patients on his wheel. Even the clergyman again, where the roads justify combines exercise and business by wheeling his round of parish calls. The wheelmen have taken the lead in demanding good country roads, and the construction of proper roads will remove one of the chief objections to country residence. Well-graded, smooth roads, properly drained and well cared for, are a public interest that demands universal attention. They are a prime factor of civilization. The churches should join in the chorus for highways made broad and smooth, in accordance with numerous Scripture injunctions. Good roads in a rural county mean better schools, better churches, better markets, higher prices for land, and better times every way. When the good roads are secured, the long-distance travel on bicycles will become something very considerable, as it already is .in Great Britain. By the way, it is to be hoped that competition may avail very materially to reduce the price of bicycles. If the makers would but reduce their prices by one-half, they would so greatly mul- tiply the army of riders who would clamor for good roads that nothing could resist the demand; and the good roads would in turn so stimulate the demand for bicycles that the manufacturers would make more money than ever. Invention of the Electric Light. 1. American Genius in the Line of Electric Lighting. The evident priority of American genius in the line ot electric lighting, it is safe to assert; though not alone in this country, but in Europe as well, electricity has been succes- fully employed in lighting cities, assembly halls, factories, depots, streets, parks, lighthouses, etc., and its adaption for marine purposes, as exhibited in the accompanying illustra- tion, is looked upon as likely to mitigate the perils of night and of fogs, and increase the facilities of ocean enterprise. 2. Mr. Edison. The inventions claiming to realize the best results in this direction are very numerous and con- stantly accumulating. Acknowledging, as do all men of science, the practicability of the thing when applied on a large scale, and especially out of doors, the chief im- portance has seemed to be in application to indoor service. That this was accomplished by Prof. Farmer, in his home m Salem, Mass., in 1859, is abundantly demonstrated. To realize this object conveniently, agreeably, abundantly and inexpensively, many contrivances have been brought for- 134 INVENTION OF THE ELECTRIC LIGHT. Use of Electric Lights on Warships. ward, foremost among which may be said to be those due to the wonder-working brain of Mr. Edison. 3. Electric Illumination. Already in this country and in Europe the various arrangements of electric illumina- tion which have seemed the most practicable have been put into operation, with the highest degrees of success, and in the case of large enclosures or areas, there appears to be no doubt as to its superiority. 4. Electric Power. The street cars moved by electric power have superior advantages over every other system. Electricity will soon run most of the city elevators and no doubt to a large extent displace the steam engine in the factory. The time is liable to be very near when all the pas- senger traffic will be transferred to the electric railway and only heavy freight carried upon our present railroads. THOMAS A. EDISON. The Greatest Inventor of the Age. 135 136 TYPESETTING MACHINES. Typesetting Machines. Although printing in some form was known to the an- cients, it was left to the present century to invent the modern machinery, without which it would now seem im- possible to get along. Type-setting machines were invented as early as 1822, but the defects of these early machines were too many and too great to permit a general use of the same. Within recent years composing machines have been constructed that have overcome the difficulties of the earlier machines. These machines, of latest invention, are being introduced everywhere in large printing establishments. TYPE SETTING MACHINE. DISCOVERY OF THE TELEPHONE. 137 Discovery of the Telephone. 1. Prof. A. G. Bell. We come now to the telephone, the patent for which wonderful device was taken out at Wash ington, in March, 1876, by Prof. A. G. Bell, affording fresh evidence of the versatility of American inventive genius. Though habitually sensitive to the honor and claims in this direction of its own countrymen, the London Westminster Review frankly admits that, of all modern -inventions con- nected with the transmission of telegraphic signals, the tele- phone has deservedly excited 1 the most widespread interest und astonishment, an instrument which undertakes not only to convey intelligible signals to great distances without the use of a battery, but to transmit in fac-simile the tones of *.he human voice so that the latter shall as certainly be recognized when heard over a distance of hundreds of jmiles as if the owner were speaking to a friend at his side in the same room. The telephone as the tens of thousands now in use show does all this. 2. Marvelous Little Apparatus. This marvelous little apparatus produces, as already remarked, cheap and instan- taneous articulate communication, that is, by direct sound, neither battery nor moving machinery, nor skill being required but merely the voice of ordinary conversation and attentive listening. It conveys the quality of the voice, so that the tone of the person speaking can be recognized at the other end of the line; it enables the manufacturer to talk with his factory superintendent, and the physician with his patient; establishes instantaneous intercourse between the main and the branch office, the home and the store, the country residence and the stable or any part of the grounds, (he mouth of the mine and its remotest workings, in fact, between any two points miles apart. Story of the Typewriter. i. Ancient. Typewriting history may be divided into two distinct eras ancient and modern, theoretical and practical. January 17, 1714, Mr. Henry Mill, of England, was granted a patent for a machine, but it was rude and clumsy and led to no practical result. To the next inven- tion in the typewriter line, America is entitled. In 1829 William A. Burt, the inventor of the solar compass, was granted a patent for a writing machine called the "Typog- rapher." The next patent was granted a Frenchman of Marseilles. This was called a Kryptographic machine. 13S STORY OF THE TYPEWRITER. m French Typewriter of 1833. 2. Modem. The Remington Typewriter, invented in 1867, was the first of modern machines. The first ten years were spent in seeking to set aside the prejudice against the new invention. Since then progress has been so rapid that today the typewriter is indispensable in all lines of business and all occupations where considerable writing is required. New Remington Typewriter. THE X RAYS. 139 The X Rays. 1. Discovery. The X Rays are so called for want of a better name X standing for the unknown quantity in mathematical science. It is seldom that a discovery in science excites so wide an interest of not only scientists, but also those engaged with other pursuits. Since their dis- covery by Prof. Roentgen of Wurtzburg, Germany, in December, 1895, interest as to the possibilities of the prac- tical application to surgery has been unabated. Prof. Roentgen followed in the path of Crookes, Hertz and Len- ard, who by their arduous labors have brought to the notice of the world the subject of cathode rays, one of the most important in electricity. 2. Definition. Briefly defined, they are rays produced by electricity in a peculiar manner in a vacuum. If two electrified wires are placed in an air-tight glass tube, and this connected with an efficient air-pump, it will be found that, as the air is gradually withdrawn from the tube, the character of the spark produced by contact of the wires un- dergoes a striking change. "The narrow, tortuous, thread- like spark loses its definite outline, becomes enlarged, hazy in structure, and takes on a rosy purple tint." It continues to become more and more nebulous in appearance as ex haustion proceeds, and when the pressure within has been reduced to about one-hundreth of that of the ordinary at- mosphere, the luminous haze fills the entire tube. But before this result has been reached the discharge at the negative pole, or cathode, has begun to show its individu- ality, its light flowing backward, so as to form an envelope around the wire, and as exhaustion proceeds, it becomes quite independent of the position of the positive wire, or anode, and extends outward in every direction, showing a characteristic bluish light. These vacuum tubes had been made for some time by German physicists and experimen- ters in electricity, and the striking individuality of the cathode ray was noted long before its remarkable possibili- *ies were dreamed of. 3. Crookes' Discovery. Mr. Crookes, a British scien- tist, experimented with the mercury air-pump until he re- duced the pressure within the glass to no more than a few millionths of an atmosphere. This gave especial opportu- nity for the study of the cathode ray, and this study was pushed forward by scientists, particularly in Germany. 4. Lenard's Work. The work of Phillip Lenard, at the University of Bonn, in 1894 and 1895, contained the origin of later discoveries concerning the remarkable photographic 140 THE X RAYS. power of the cathode ray. He employed the device of mak- ing a window in the vacuum tube, closed with a thin sheet of aluminum. The metal is pervious to the rays, and thus he was able to obtain them for the first time outside of the tube, and to experiment with them. He found that they penetrated many substances, even when opaque to light, and he obtained photographic pictures with them, taken through sheets of aluminum. Lenard published the first account of his experiments in January, 1894, and a descrip- tion of later discoveries in October, 1895. 5. Roentgen's Further Discovery. Professor Roent- gen followed in the line of experiments indicated by Le- nard, and, as his account was the first to attract public SKELETON OF FROG. attention, the credit of original discovery was given him His account of his experiments, which was published in the Journal of the Physical and Medical Society of Wartburg, THE X RAYS. 141 Germany, in the latter part of 1895, was admirably concise and lucid. He had proved the remarkable power of the fays to produce effects upon the photographic plate, after having passed through substances opaque to light, thus re vealing the hidden structure of the substance. He had found it possible to obtain pictures of various parts, of the human body, which showed the bones distinctly in their proper form amid the fainter image of the fleshy parts. These, with other results, opened a field so rich in possible results that they aroused the most intense interest through- out the civilized world. 6. Practical Use in Pathology and Surgery. The prac- tical use of the new discovery to benefit suffering humanity cannot yet be accurately stated, but its importance in med- ical practice can hardly be overestimated. While many of the supposed possibilities may be visionary, it is safe to say, "First: That deformities, injuries, and diseases of bone can be readily and accurately diagnosticated by the X Rays; but that the method at present is limited in its use to the, thinner parts of the body, especially to the hands, forearms t and feet. "Second : That foreign bodies which are opaque to ine rays, such as needles, bullets, and glass can be accurately located and their removal facilitated by this means. "Third: That at present the internal organs are not accessible to examination by the X-rays because of the thickness of the body, and because some of the parts are enclosed in more or less complex bony cases." It is hoped that with a better knowledge of the nature of the rays, and greater ability to make them more effec- tive, many obstacles will be overcome which will make them much more widely useful than at present. 7. Humorous Inquiries. The humorists are still manu- facturing gayety out of the X rays, and most of the fun evolved is as light and inappreciable as the mysterious rays themselves. Here, however, are a couple of good ones. Anxious Mother (to the X-ray doctor): "Oh, doctor, we missed one of our silver spoons, and, as baby has been very cross all day, we want you to look through him and see if he has it in him !" < Grandma: "You'll hardly think it possible, but I can remember the time when people couldn't see through a stone wall at all!" Little Granddaughter: "Couldn't they, really ? What strange stories you do tell, grandma !" Some time ago, Mr. Edison received at his' laboratory the hollow eye-pieces of a pair of opera-glasses, with the request that he " fit them with the X-rays" and return them to the Vermont sender. Evidently the Green Mountain individual had a desire to see things. CHAPTER IV. OUR GOVERNMENT. State Papers The Declaration of Independence. As Adopted by Congress. When, in the course of human events, aecomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitles them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter'or abolish it, and to insti- tute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that men are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accus- tomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a desire to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonists ; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 1. He has refused his assent to laws the most whole- some and necessary for the public good. 2. He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of im- mediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operations till his assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend them. 3. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommo- dation of large districts of people, unless these people would relinquish the right of representation in the Legislature a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 142 144 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE^ 4. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable and distant from the repository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 5. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. 6. He has refused, for a long time after such dissolu- tions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise, the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from with- out and convulsions within. 7. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states, for that purpose obstructing the laws for the naturali- zation of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the condition of new appropriations of lands. 8. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 9. He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 10. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers, to harrass our people and eat out their substance. 11. He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures. 12. He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil power. 13. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation. 14. For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us. 15. For protecting them, by mock trial, from punish- ment for any murders which they should commit on the in- habitants of these states. 16. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world. 17. For imposing taxes on us without our consent. 18. For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury. 19. For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pre- tended offenses. 20. For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary gov- THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 145 ernment and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies. 21. For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments. 22. For suspending our own legislatures and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 23. He has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his protecion and waging war against us. 24. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 25. He is at this time transporting large armies of for- eign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desola- tion, and tyranny already begun with circumstances of cru- elty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 26. He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken cap- tive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 27. He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our fron- tiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the cir- cumstances of our immigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably inter- rupt our connections and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces pur separation, and hold them as we hold the rest of man- kind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. We therefore, the representatives of the United States pf America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to 146 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority, of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these United Colonies are, and of right, ought to be free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown and that all political connec- tion between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that, as free and independ- ent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do. And tor the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor AMERIGO VESPUCCI, The man who visited America in 1499 and after whom the continent was named* THE CONSTITUTION. 147 ALEXANDER HAMILTON, One of the leading spirits in framing the Constitution of the United States. Constitution of the United States of America. PREAMBLE. We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America: ARTICLE I.. THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. Section 1. Legislative Powers.- All Legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, whi^h gha.ll consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. 148 THE CONSTITUTION. . Section 2. House of Representatives. The Houseof Represen- tatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. Qualifications of Representatives.-No Person shall be a Rep- resentative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. Appointment of Representatives. Representatives and direct taxes shall be ^ apportioned among the several States, which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers which shall be determined by adding to whole number of free pei> sons including those bound to service for a term of years and, exclud- ing Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. Number of Representatives. The a9tual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one Representative, and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five and Georgia three. Vacancies. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. Officers, How Appointed. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and their officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. Section 3. Senate. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years ; and each Senator shall have one vote. Classification of Senators. Immediately after they shall be as- eembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three c'asses. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the necond year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be choaen ev- ery second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Leg- islature, which shall then fill such vacancies. Qualifications of Senators. No person shall be a Senator who shall have not attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a cifizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an in- habitant of that state for which he shall be chosen. President of the Senate. The Vice-Prpsident of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States. Senate, a Court for Trial of Impeachments.- The Senate shall have the sole Power to t^y all impeachments. When sitting for that pnrpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United State is tried the Chief Justice shall preside, and no per- son shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirde of the members present. THE CONSTITUTION. 149 Judgment in Case Of Conviction. Judgment in cases of im- peachment shall not extend further than to removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit tinder the United States. _ But the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law. Section 4. Elections of Senators and Representatives. The times, places and manner of tuplding elections for Senators and Repre- sentatives shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof ; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regula- tions, except as to the places of choosing Senators. Meeting of Congress. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in Decem- ber, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. Section 5. Organization of Congress. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members in such manner, and under such penalties, as each House may provide. Rule Of Proceeding. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with tho concurrence of two thirds, excel a member. Journal of Congress. Each House shall keep a journal of its pro- ceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parto as may in their judgment require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. Adjournment of Congress. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. Section 6. Pay and Privileges of Members. The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall, in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. Plurality of Offices Prohibited. No Senator or Representative fchall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased, during such time ; and no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office. Section 7. Revenue Bills. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. How Bills Become Law. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the United States. If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journals and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the per- feons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of e&ch House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by tea Presi- 150 THE CONSTITUTION. JOHN JAY, First Chief Justice. dent within ten days (Sundays exeepted) after it shall have been pre. sented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner aa if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which ca^e it shall not be a law. Approval and Veto Powers of the President. Every order, resolution or vote to which concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may bo necessary _(except on a question of adjourn- ment) shall bo presented to the President of the United States, and be- fore the same shall take effect ; shall be approved by him, or being dis- approved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the .Senate and the House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations pre- scribed in the case of a bill. Section 8. lowers Vested in Congress. The Consrress shall have power * THE CONSTITUTION. J51 To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States ; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States. To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states and with the Indian tribes ; To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures ; To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States ; To establish post offices and post roads ; To promote the progress of science, and useful arts, by securing for iimited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their re- spective writings and discoveries ; To constitute tribunals inferior to the pupreme court; To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the Law of Nations ; To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make .rules concerning captures on land and water; To raise and support arrr ies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years ; Powers Vested in Congress. To provide and maintain a navy : To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces ; To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrection and repel invapions; To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States, respectively, the appointment of the officers and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress ; To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards and other needful buildings ; and To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this constitution in the Government of the United States or in any depart- ment or officer thereof. Section 9. Immigrants, How Admitted.' IThe migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty mey be imposed on such importation, notexceedingtendollarsforeachpereon. Habeas Corpus. -The privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. Attainder. No Bill of Attainder or ex-post facto law shall be passed. Direct Taxes. No Capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. Regulations Regarding Duties, No tax or duty shall be laid fu articles exported from any State. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 152 THE CONSTITUTION. Money, How Drawn. No money shall be drawn from the treaa. ury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. Titles of Nobility Prohibited. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever from any king, prince or foreign state. Section 10. Ppwers of States Denned. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligations of con- tracts, or grant any title of nobility. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely neces- sary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with anothor State, or with foreign power, or en- gage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. ARTICLE II. THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. Section 1. Executive Power, in Whom Invested. The ex- ecutive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office duringthe term of four years, and to- gether with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows : Electors. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legis- lature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be en- titled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be ap- pointed an elector. Proceedings of Electors. Proceedings of the House of Repre- sentatives. The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabi- tant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole num- ber of electors appointed ; and if there be more than one who have such a majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for Presi- dent; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President the votes shall be taken by States, the representa- tion from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a_ choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number 0? votes of the electors shall be the Vice-President. But if tjiere should THE CONSTITUTION. 153 remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-President. Time of Choosing Electors. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors and the day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the same throughout the United States. Qualifications of the President. No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adop- tion of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resi- dent within the United States. Resort in Case of Disability. In case of removal of the Presi- dent from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the Congress may by law pro vide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability both of the President and Vice- President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly until the disability be removed or a Presi- dent shall be elected. Salary of the President. The President shall, at stated times, re- ceive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them. Oath. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation : " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Section 2. Duties of the President. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer, in each of the executive departments, upon any sub- ject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. May Make Treaties, Appoint Ambassadors, Judges, etc. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and con- suls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law, but the Congress may by law vest the appointments of such inferior officers as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law. or in the heads of departments. May Fill Vacancies. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate by grant- ing commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session. Section 3. May Convene Congress. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he ehall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment, he jnay adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States. Section 4. How Officers May Be Removed. The President, Vice-President and all.civil officers of tne United States shall be re- moved from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, orpther high crimes and misdemeanors. 154 THE CONSTITUTION. ARTICLE III. THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. Section 1. Judicial Power, How Invested. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme court and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and estab- lish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for ther services, a compensation, which shad not be diminished during their continuance in office. CHIEF JUSTICE FULLER. Section 2. To.What Cases It Extends. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in Jaw and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdic- tion ; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party ; to lontroversios between two or more States ; between a State and citizens ef another State ; between citizens of dittermt States ; between citizees THE CONSTITUTION. 155 of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State or the citizens thereof and foreign States, citizens, or subjects. Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. In all cases affecting Am- bassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the supreme court shall have original jurisdic- tion. In all the other cases before mentioned, the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such excep- tions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. Rules Respecting Trials. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crime shall have been committed ; but when not committed within any State the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may bylaw have directed. Section 3. Treason Defined. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted o( treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. How Punished. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work cor- ruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life o k the person at- tainted. ARTICLE IV. Section 1. Rights of States and Records. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records and judi- cial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which -such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved and the effect thereof. Section?. Privileges of Citizens. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. Executive Requisitions. A person charged in any State with trea- son, felony or other crime who shall flee from justice and may be found in another State shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. Law Regulating Service or Labor. No person held to ser- vice or labor in one State under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. Section 3. New States, How Formed and Admitted. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; but no new States snail be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. Power of Congress. The Congress shall have Power to dispose of ' ' " - ' irritory or this Con- the United States, or of any particular State. Section 4. Republican Government Guaranteed. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion, and on application of the legislature or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence. 156 THE CONSTITUTION. ARTICLE V. Power Of Amendment. The Congress, vchenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall me r/otse amendments to this Coustitution. or, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in thrre-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress provided that no amendment which msy bo made prior tb the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any mannet affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article! and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. ARTICLE VI. Validity of Debts Recognized. All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. Supreme Law of the Land Defined. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby , anything in the Consti- tution of Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. Oath; of Whom Required and for What. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the. members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. ARTICLE VII. Ratification. The ratification of the convention of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. Article I. Religion, Free Speech, Redress for Grievances. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press ; or thu right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redrees of grievances. Article II. Bearing Arms. A well-regulated militia being neces- sary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Article III. Soldiery. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent cf the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be Described by law. Article IV. Right of Search. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and par- ticularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Article V. Capital and Criminal Arrest. T No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or other infamous crime, unless on a pre- THE CONSTITUTION. 157 eentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the s^me offense to be twic^ put in jeopardy of life or liinb ; nor shall he be com- pelled in any criminal case to be a "vyitness against himself, nor be de- prived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. Article VI. Right of Speedy Trial. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an im- partial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. Article VII. Trial by Jury. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed $20, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the com- ARTICLE VIII. Excessive Bail. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excess- ive fines be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. ARTICLE IX. Enumeration of Rights. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, slia 1 not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. ARTICLE X. State Rights. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. ARTICLE XI. Judicial Power. The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States, by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. ARTICLE XII. Electors in Presidential Elections. The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by ballot f9r President and Vice-Presi- dent, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their ballot the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vioe-Presi- dent, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as Presi- dent, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the pres- ence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest number* not exceeding three on the last of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately by ballot the Pres- ident. But in choosing the President the votes shall be taken by States. the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this 11 168 THE CONSTITUTION. purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President, when- ever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the Pres- ident. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-Presi- dent shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two- thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice* 'President of the United States. ARTICLE XIII. 1. Slavery Forbidden. Neither slavery nor involuntary servi- tude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to tkeir jurisdiction. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. ARTICLE XIV. 1. Equal Protection .All persons b9rn or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immuni- ties of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny to c.ny person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 2. Appointment of Representatives. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, ex- cluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male members of such State, being of twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, ex- cept for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of represen- tation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 3. Public Official Debarred. No person shall be a senator or Representative in Cougress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or holding any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid and comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. 4. Public Debt Responsibility. The validity of the public debt of the United States authorized by law, including debts . incurred for paymentof pensions and bountiesfor services in suppressing insur- rection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 159 claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legis- lation, the provisions of this article. ARTICLE XV. 1. Right Of Suffrage. The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation. Emancipation Proclamation by Presi- dent Lincoln, January i, 1863.* Whereas, On the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and .sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing among other things the following, to-wit : " That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any state, or designated part of the state, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free ; and the execu tive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons or any of them in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom ; that the executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclama- tion, designate the states, and parts of the states, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; and the fact that any state, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by the members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such states shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong counter-vailing tes- timony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such state, and the people thereof be not then in rebellion against the United States." Now, therefore,!, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States.by the virtue of the power in me vested ascommander-in-chief of the army *The tendency of the government of the people of the United States toward liberal sentiments and the genertfl welfare of man is shown by the legislation, considered^ a whole, of Congress and of the United States, but by no act more conspicuously than by the abolition of the slavery in the United States. Slavery was abolished by the thirteenth amendment to the constitution, but preliminary to the amendment was the Emancipation Proclamation, written and issued by President Lincoln. 160 DEPARTMENTS OP OUR GOVERNMENT. and navy of the United States in the time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war-measure for suppressing: said rebellion, do, on this first day of January; in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- dred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for tlie full period of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate a? the states and part of states, wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day iu re- bellion against the United States, the following, to-wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, Ft. John, St. Charles, St. James. Ascension, Assumption, Terre-Bonne, Lafourche, Ste. Marie, St. Martin, and Orleans, includ- ing the city of New Orleans), Mississippi. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eieht counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berk- ley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anna, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are, for the present, left precisely r-sif this proclamation were not issued. And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare, that all persons held as slaves within said designated states and parts of states are, and henceforth shall be free; and that the executive government of the United States, in- cluding the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and I recommend to them, that in all cases, when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And Ifurther declare and make known, that such persons, of suitable conditioc, will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my nnme. and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washing- ton this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand fight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By the President. WILLIAM H. STEWAHD, Secretary of State. Departments of Our Government. 1. Three Departments. The United States is the most extensive and powerful republic in the world. The general government as well as the respective state governments are republican and representative in form. There are three dis- tinct departments in each Legislative, Executive, Judicial. 2. The Legislative Department. The Legislative de- f "MASSA SAYS WE'RE FREE. 1 w 162 HOW BILLS ARE PASSED AND LAWS MADE. partment or Congress consists of two distinct bodies the Senate and the House of Representatives. Laws are enacted by the concurrrent action of both these houses, and the approval of the President, by signing his name to them. When a bill has passed both houses of Congress, and been presented to the President for his signature, if he does not approve it, he may send it back to the House in which it originated, with his objections. After this, if both Houses pass the bill, by a two-thirds vote, it becomes a law without the signature of the President. If any bill is not returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after being presented to him, it becomes a law without his signa- ture, unless Congress has sooner adjourned. 3. The Executive Department. The Executive Depart- ment consists of the President and his cabinet, appointed by him with the approval of the Senate, numbering eight, one being at the head of each of the following- departments of the government : The state, treasury, war, navy, post- office, justice, interior, and agriculture. 4. The Judicial Department. The Judicial Department consists of the supreme court and the inferior courts. The former is composed of one chief justice, and eight associate justices. It is the tribunal in the nation, and its decisions are intended to construe the true intent and meaning of the laws of the land, and to decide appeals from inferior courts. How Bills are Passed and Laws Made in Congress. i. The Framers of the Constitution. Most of the framers of the Constitution were elected members of the first Congress. Their wisdom and patriotism did not desert them, and every bill that became a law was the subject of active debate by all. To prevent the hasty consideration of any measure, rules were adopted by the House of Repre- sentatives and the Senate, but while it is true that many of HOW BILLS ARE PASSED AND LAWS MADE. 163 ADLAI STEVENSON, Vice-President 1893-97. these early rules still remain in the manual of each House, their force has been lost in the neecjs and demands of in- creased legislation. It is seldom, indeed, that a bill is deemed important enough to arouse general debate, and frequently bills are rushed through Congress which have been hastily considered and are possessed of little merit. 2. Over Fifteen Thousand Bills. In the Fifty-second Congress there were over fifteen thousand bills introduced in the Senate and House. They were referred, as thev were in the earlier Congresses, to the proper committees. Thou- sands of them were considered by these committees, and reported back to their respective Houses either favorably 164 HOW BILLS ARE PASSED AND LAWS MADE. or unfavorably, and hundreds of them were passed, but of the whole number introduced only a small percentage became laws. 3. The Course of a Bill Through Congress is most in- teresting. Take, for instance, a private bill that has had its origin in the Senate (and for the purpose of illustration the Senate will do as well as the House, for in both of these bodies the system is practically the same). A private bill is, as the term indicates, for the relief of some individual, while a general or " public " measure is far-reaching in its effect. In nine cases out of ten the senator who introduces a private bill is solicited to do so by one of his constituents who wants a pension, or who desires the charge of deser- tion removed from his military record, or who has a claim against the government of some kind or the other. The bill may or may not be properly draughted, but whether it is or not, it is usually introduced by the senator without careful consideration. 4. The First Reading of the Bill. There is a legend printed on the bill that the senator first asked and obtained consent to introduce the bill; but, in fact, the senator does nothing of the kind. He rises in his place during the morn- ing hour, when the introduction of bills is in order, and simply reads the title of the bill and askes that it be re- ferred to the proper committee. The title of the bill is then read by the reading clerk, and the reference is made in a perfunctory way by the President of the Senate. That is called the first reading of the bill. It is true that an ob- jection might be raised to the first reading of the bill, but that has not been done for years, if, in fact, it was ever done. 5. Introducing the Bill by Request. It is not difficult to get a bill introduced. If the senator or representative does not care to be responsible for it, he states that he intro- duces the bill by request, and it is so printed. There are many people, ignorant of the course of legislation, who believe that the mere introduction of the bill insures its passage, and it is a lamentable fact that there are senators and representatives who give false hope to their constitu- ents by simply introducing the measure, sending a copy of it to the claimant, and then dismissing the whole matter from their minds. 6. The Life of a Bill terminates with the Congress in which it was introduced, and it is customary with some to icintroduce in the new Congress all of the old bills which were not favorably acted upon. In the Fifty-Second Con- gress one senator from a middle state, probably through the zeal of his private secretary, introduced an old bill four AN EXCITING SCENE IN CONGRESS, 12 165 HOW BILLS ARE PASSED AND LAWS MADE. times. In each case the bill was referred to the same com- mittee and was exactly for the same relief. 7. The Old Bill is usually accompanied by a mass of papers that have upon them the earmarks of preceding Con- gresses. These papers cannot be withdrawn from the files of the Seriate if at any previous time the measure has been reported upon adversely. They are retained in evidence of that adverse action, but if a measure has been reported favorably the papers may be withdrawn upon a motion of a senator. _ Old claims may or may not be meritorious, but they are invariably regarded with suspicion as well as dis- like. The multitudinous duties of a senator leave him but little time to delve into musty papers and to prepare writ- ten reports which will stand the test of the committee, let alone the Senate. 8. To Get a Bill Out of the Committee. It is a hard matter to get a bill out of the committee, for several reasons. Most of the committees of the Senate are composed of nine members. These members are in turn appointed sub- committees, to which are assigned the various bills which have been referred to the whole committee. In the course of a Congress these references to the working committees of the Senate consist of from three to nine hundred meas- ures. All of this means a great deal of exacting work. Per- haps in the mass of bills referred to an individual senator, as a sub-committee, there is a large percentage which is not deserving of a favorable recommendation. These bills are usually held back, out of consideration to the senators who have introduced them. If a report is urged upon any one of them it means unfavorable action, and that is never desired, as an unfavorable report practically kills the bill. But outside of these bills there are many meritorious meas- ures which lie dormant until the sub-committee in charge is stirred up to make a report upon them. 9. When a Bill Has Passed the Committee, the one who has prepared the report submits the bill, amended or not, as the case may be. The bill is reprinted with its amendments, and is given a calendar number. The report is also printed and given the same calendar number, the calendar being a record of each of the bills in the order in which it is reported back to the Senate with the favorable or unfavorable recommendation of the committee. At this period in the course of the passage of the bill, the claimant feels hopeful. He believes his measure is nearly a law, for if it is passed by the Senate, he will then have to get it only through the House. Perhaps he has an- ticipated the action of the Senate, arid, has had **. similar bilj HOW BILLS ARE PASSED AND LAWS MADE. 167 already introduced in the House. His efforts may have been successful in that body and the bill may be on the House calendar also. 10. Both the Senate and the House. But the work of getting the bill on both the Senate and House calendars has been the work of months. The committees usually meet but once a week, and then remain in session not over an hour and a half. For weeks at a time no legislative busi- ness may be considered by the committee in charge of his bill, on account of nominations made by the President, However, the private claimant finds that weeks have passed into months, the long session ended, and the short one begun before he gets his bill on the calendar of each house. There is not much time for legislation of a private charac- ter in the short session, except at the beginning. The appropriation bills for carrying on the government for the ensuing fiscal year must be prepared, and, as they have the right of way over all other legislation, a private bill must take its chances. But being on both the Senate and House calenders, it has a favorable prospect. 11. When the Bill Has Passed Either the House or the Senate it becomes an act and is signed by the Clerk of the House if it be a House bill, and by the Secretary of the Senate if it be a Senate bill. The Senate bill has now be- come an act and is again reprinted, but still retains its identity as a Senate measure. The only changes are in the heading, which reads " in the House of Representatives," and in affixing the date of passage and the name of the Secretary of the Senate. 12. Many Bills Are Reported. During the course of a Congress many bills are reported. The House calendar in the last days of a Congress is usually a thick, voluminous document, and it would be a matter of impossibility to dis- pose of all of the bills, which still remain on the calendar. It is customary, therefore, for the House to assign to the sev- eral important committees one or two days each for the con- sideration of the business which these committees deem most Eressing. Only a few of the many bills can be selected to e pushed to a final passage. The claimant must still be on the alert to secure for his bill a place among those which shall be given this great favor. If his bill passes it goes back to the Senate, with the amendments made by the House. 13. Accepting or Rejecting the Amendments. The Senate then has to concur in the amendments or reject them. If they are accepted and adopted by the Senate, the bill is ready for the President's signature. 168 CONGRESS COMPARED WITH EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTS. 14. The President's Signature. When the act is laid before the President a few hurried words, needed to explain the purport of the bill, are spoken. If they are not satisfac- tory a "pocket veto" follows, which means that the Presi- dent has declined to approve the law, and it therefore dies with the Congress. This frequently happens. But if the President is satisfied he affixes his signature, his executive private secretary records the number of the bill in his book and then rushes out of the doorway to appear calmly in front of the President of the Senate and announce that the President has approved Senate bill of such a number. The private bill has become a law and the claimant is at rest. Our Congress Compared With Euro= pean Parliaments. 1. Delays and Losses. The uncertainties, delays and losses attending the law-making faculties of the United States, the Senate and House of Representatives at Wash- ington bring home sharply and tangibly to every citizen in the land as to excite not only an extraordinary interest in regard to our congressional methods of doing business, but, also, in regard to parliamentary ways and methods in other countries. The vexed questions of "quorum," "silver," " tariff," have of late been thrust forward so prominently, and debated so bunglingly and lengthily, as to compel the atten- tion of the public mind and to cause it to inquire, to wonder, how knotty questions of like perplexing and weighty char- acter are dealt with when drifted into by the legislative bodies of other great countries. 2. Origin of Legislative Bodies. The parliamentary grm is traceable to remote ages. First appearing in the rough councils of primitive tribes, it developed by slow gra- dations until it fairly blossomed out amidst the Greeks and Romans, and, upon their collapse, it withered and under- went decay. Parliamentarism, or the exercise of a nation's sovereignty through regularly elected bodies, is distinctly a modern outgrowth, its original home England, whence it spread to other countries, which more or less successfully adopted it. The American Congress is based essentially on the English lines, and is really an importation, pruned and trained to suit the requirements of a new world. The base upholds the superstructure, and, fortunately, in this partic- ular instance was of a vivifying, enduring kind, and so the superstructure remains capable of improvement, which many think is now greatly needed. CONGRESS COMPARED WITH EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTS. 169 3. Written Constitution. In considering the English system, the striking fact stands out that the most powerful and leading parliamentary nation during the last few cen- turies never possessed a written constitution, and that one merely fixed by practice and precedents amply sufficed for the enormous share of prosperity and freedom it enjoyed throughout that extended period. 4. The Difference Between the English and the Conti- nental Constitutions. The difference between them lies in the fact that the former gradually grew into life, while the lat- ter were made to order at short notice and launched without a particle of inherent vitality, truly very readable on paper, but unsuited to long use and liable to be erased at a stroke of the pen, or rather the sword. 5. The House of Commons. The House of Commons, elected by the people on an enlarged suffrage plan, and the House of Lords, of hereditary membership, have been very much improved as working machines within the past fifty years, although their school of oratory cannot be ranked as high as in the days of Pitt and Burke, or even so late as of Peel, Bright and Palmerton. The only notable orator left over from the old school is Mr. Gladstone, the present octo- genarian, recently having retired from public office. 6. The Current Style in the Commons. The current style is plain, concise English for the transaction of the bus- iness of the day, beyond which its statesmanship now neither looks nor is capable of looking. The body harbors, no uncommon, remarkable talent; the oratory is fair, so far as it goes. There is no straining for effect, no "stump, speaking " for petty outside communities; no talking to the galleries, and there is a steady sticking to practical work both in the House and in the committee rooms. 7. Improvement Over the Practice of Congressmen. This is a decided improvement over the practice of Con- gressmen who, being exceedingly fond of cheap notoriety, prattle by the hour to the galleries and to the reporters,, though in the meantime necessary questions be waiting con- sideration. Stump speaking, for the most part a mixture of screaming words and guffaws, is the besetting sin of the newly fledged delegates at Washington, eager to make themselves heard, through the press, to their local constitu- ents. Nothing of the kind has a foothold in the English Parliament. The general public is too critical and exacting- to tolerate neglect of business, which is always important because it so nearly concerns both local and national affairs, as no European Parliament is free to disregard local mat- ters and devote itself exclusively to high national affairs, as CONGRESS COMPARED WITH EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTS. 171 Congress is compelled to do under our mixed system. For the rest, a special public is not allowed in the galleries of the London building, as in the two Washington Houses, wherein the gallery audience greatly outnumbers the mem- bers and almost overawes them by the influence of open applause or condemnation. Here again, in this small item of gallery restriction, our Republican system might adopt, without any*silly conceit, a betterment from the mother country. 8. Filibustering. Filibustering is now impossible in any European Parliament, and should be equally impossible at Washington, the minority's pretenses being altogether in- defensible. The French were the first to see the necessity of the cloture rule, and in this their notorious chop-logic instinct placed them on the right track for once. It is a vast improvement, a logical and indispensable step in accord- ance with the more rapid advances in every civilized land; it simply prevents a few, most often cranky, persons from putting obstructions on the track to stop the train, of progress. 9. The House of Lords. The sessions of the House of Lords, presided over by Lord Chancellor, have a strictly perfunctory character, though in picturesqueness of splen- did scenery it holds first rank. The Speaker of the House of Commons is elected by the members, and has great power and many privileges. In the usual course of his pre- siding he takes the chair at 4 P. M., when prayers are read by a clergyman of the Established Church, and the business of the day commences. The members invariably thin out about dinner hour, which is 7, to return about 9 P. M., when the night's sitting is entered on in earnest, to last sometimes until daybreak, and always until the small hours of the morning. 10. Parliamentary Holidays. The Parliamentary holi- days are frequent during a session, all the more so as the ministerial tenure of office is not fixed, but is subject to the uncertainties of voting. The best debating nights are Mon- days and Thursdays, and on Wednesday the House sits only from noon to 6 P. M.; of course there is no sitting on Sunday, which, however, on the continent is an important day for official work, elections being held on that day when they become necessary. Unless forty members are present at a sitting, it is agreed that "there is no House," to use z. Parliamentary phrase; that is, not a sufficient quorum to transact the public business. xx. Queer Privileges. All members sit on benches, and have no desks as congressmen have. The attitudes of THE HOUSE OF LORDS, THE LEGISLATIVE HALL OF THE ENGLISH ARISTOCRACV- 172 CONGRESS COMPARED WITH EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTS. 178 the members, when not speaking, are limited by ho conven- tionalities, and the greatest freedom is allowed, including the practice of smoking and drinking at will, wearing hats, and a considerable amount of subdued playfulness and chaffing in the English style. 12. Ministers. Ministers, though appointed by the (Jueen, have also to be members, and, after appointment, are invariably re-elected by their constituencies. The benches to the right of the Speaker's chair are the recog- nized seats of the government party, the heads of which, the ministers, occupy the first bench. The benches to the left of the Speaker's chair are filled by the members form- ing the "opposition," the leaders of which also take their seats on the first bench directly confronting the ministerial bench. The ministers, being responsible both for the mak- ing and execution of the laws, occupy the front rank, the main position in the House of Commons, of which the prime minister is the recognized leader, though the opposition has its own special leader. 13. Voting. The process of voting is done, not by a roll call, but by the members passing into their respective "division lobby," in order to be counted; the count is what tells. The ayes, or those in favor of the ministry, retire into the lobby on the right of the Speaker's chair, and the noes, or those voting with the opposition, retire into the lobby on the left of the Speaker's chair. 14. The Queen Opens Parliament. When the Queen opens Parliament, and she also prorogues or dissolves it when the premier authorizes, she enters the building through the " Victoria Tower," and proceeds to her " robing room," which is a spacious apartment elegantly fitted up, and only issues from it to march in solemn procession black roa, crown, and other regal paraphernalia through the Victoria gallery, 110 feet in length, to the House of Lords. She makes this march on foot, as it would be against English etiquette for her to be carried in a " sedia gestatoria " (porta- ble chair), as the Pope of Rome is in St. Peter's. English etiquette is extremely exacting,somuch so that Her Majesty is now more than ever addicted to shirking it. On arriving in the House of Lords, her throne awaits her to sit down on. 15. In Full Dress. The peers in the presence of the Queen are arrayed in their robes, the members of the House ofCom- mons are in dress suits, the ladies of the court in attendance are attired in splendid costumes, and the scene itself is emi- nently adapted to such a rich display, the House of Lor ^ fl w . O OT3 c o 2^ s ^ fl s? S. S'ft fl 53 .2 3 jSjW* 5 - 73 il 11} S . 3 rf g, B | m^rfla|fel SjS-5lls 9.2 5 VB -^ -IS 3 ^ ta Chi lie cr Und or a -c^ | ^ ..S 2-H 'i illsl* 73 tpe^tS 1 1 : g, u : 2 j a' i i o ^ -2 O Q fa *o I s s I 3 o : o a R, a ffl iH O QUALIFICATIONS FOR VOTING IN EACH STATE. 181 ! PL, > >> rt a> 'O T3 ^ t i O M ri >> r> I il I 1 * o 5 55 QUALIFICATIONS FOK VOTING IN EACH STATE. 223 . 15 * 13 tSS &&;- .2*S 512^ 2 fl & i, *"S S^tS S^-TSd Oc3:2 13 s .a g hT3 -P I! S8 ?:i|| -o^^ to to , s to to nf" Sg Hill .1 il I in CO i 5 5 -g J ^ 5 | S ^S j 3S .5 02 ^3 43 * QQ ^ S 02 1 ll S 11 g Baggg s s's-s JggdS 'g 5 g lill I :l I o o 6665 U M W U V oo 11 ^2 - T3 * 5 .11 a a* j) 5a 'S'o P P * ^ o| i3 Ugi-i 293J a o o fc ^ ffplll S 5-*-ll :|*J5 fr-fcn 8**S S a o 5 >. s c s ** ill S-S 5^3 I 1IH0J "1I.S13- 154HJ 5^-1 c * ** .-t *^ siifif* 8^8tb ^1^1 5djjJ ^"^ S 8 e ft r -.~rr s -, o tn w I Q 190 EDUCATION OR PROPERTY QUALIFICATION FOR VOTING. 191 Educational or Property Qualification for Voting. 1. Qualifications. In some countries the electoral franchise, as the right to vote is called, is still further limited to persons who can read and write, or to persons possessing a specified amount of property, or paying a cer- tain annual rent for the premises they occupy. Property qualifications originally existed in a number of our states, but they have generally been abolished. 2. Educational Qualifications. An educational quali- fication is proposed in some states, and will probably be adopted in many within the next few years. Where public or free schools are made accessible to the whole population there would be no injustice in requiring that only those shall vote who can both read and write. 3. Minors. Minors, or persons under age, and paupers are not allowed to vote because they are dependent; and it is presumable that they would vote under coercion, and not according to their independent judgment. Moreover, a person incapable of managing his private business ought not to have a voice or influence in public affairs. It is probable that women are denied the vote for the same reason because the greater part of them are in a depend- ent condition; and the law takes no note of exceptions. 4. General Manhood Suffrage. General manhood suffrage, which prevails in the United States, is required by justice, and is necessary to the perpetuation of peace in a community or nation. By his vote each man has his in- fluence upon those affairs which are common to all citizens; if he is outvoted, he is still satisfied, because it was his hope to outvote his opponents, and it is his hope to have the majority with him at another time. 5. Property Qualifications. It is sometimes urged that only those who possess property ought to be allowed to vote taxes and appropriations for public purposes. This propo- sition has an appearance of justice ; but, besides being gen- erally impracticable, it rests upon a wrong view of society. It supposes a degree of meanness and bad spirit in the poor and of intelligence and liberality in the wealthy, which we do not find in actual life ; and it would facilitate a divi- sion of men into classes, the poor arrayed against the rich, which, if it existed, would make free government almost, if not quite, impossible. 6. Vote Money Out of the Pockets of the Rich. If general man-hood suffrage anywhere leads the poor to vote 192 EDUCATION OR PROPERTY QUALIFICATION FOR VOTING. money out of the pockets of the rich wastefully or for need- less or corrupt purposes, the reason is that the rich have abdicated their proper place and influence in political soci- ety and have selfishly given themselves to mere money- getting or a life of pleasure, by which they endanger not only themselves, but what is of greater consequence, the stability of the community. It is an additional argument in favor of general suffrage if it compels the wealthy and in- telligent as an act of unavoidable self-defense to exercise that influence in political affairs which justly and naturally belongs to them, and reminds them that their prosperous fortunes bring with them duties and responsibilities. 7. Take Notice. Take notice that a free state or re- public cannot remain prosperous if the more fortunate of its citizens withdraw themselves from political duties to devote their lives to money-getting or to pleasure. Take notice, too, that when a rich man complains that his poorer neighbors many of whom he probably employs vote against his interest, you will find that he conducts himself toward them selfishly, and thus loses the influence which his wealth naturally gives him if he rightly uses it. 8. Under Our System the States Have the Exclusive Power. Under our system the states have the exclusive power of declaring, each for itself, which of the citizens shall vote; being prohibited only from excluding persons on ac- count of race, color, or previous condition of slavery. They cannot, however, give the franchise indiscriminately, for the federal government has the exclusive authority to declare who shall be citizens. Thus no state could allow Chinese* to vote, because these people are not capable, under the laws of the federal government, of becoming citizens. But any state may adopt an educational or property franchise or condition, only making it equally applicable to all citi- zens. * This is still a disputed question. Chinamen have been admitted to naturalization privileges. Although there is no definite law against it, yet no state would be likely to attempt to pass a law granting citizenship to this despised race, knowing that such a statute would be contested in the courts. CUMULATIVE VOTING. 193 The Ballot Reform Movement. The following is a list of the states and territories which have adopted new ballot laws based more or less on the Australian system: 1888 Kentucky (applying only to Louisville), Massachu- setts. 1889 Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mis- souri, Montana, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Wisconsin. 1890 Maryland (applying to Baltimore), New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming. 1891 Arkansas, California, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Oregon, West Virginia, Colo- rado. 1892 Iowa, Maryland (whole state), Mississippi. 1893 Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada, Texas, and in Florida for the city of Jacksonville. 1894 Virginia. f The only states in which some form of reformed ballot- ing does not yet exist are: Georgia, Louisiana, North Caro- lina, South Carolina. Cumulative Voting. 1. Representation of Minority. "The majority shall rule," is a principle accepted by all persons devoted to free popular government. But shall a minority have no repre- sentation? It seems to be the dictate of good sense and of justice that when any society or body is represented in government, provision should be made to represent its parts or divisions, as this is absolutely necessary to the represen- tation of the whole. A representative house stands in the place of its constituency and should embody all the essen- tial elements of the constituent mass. But where the will of the majority is regarded as if it were the whole constitu- ency, the majority gets more than its share of representa- tive power. Elections on this plan, in which the motive is to grasp unjust power, become costly and corrupt. Several Elans of minority representation have been tried in Eng- md and United States and have proved satisfactory. 2. The Limited Vote. This plan has been tried in cer- 194 CUMULATIVE VOTING. tain cases and certain districts in Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois. According to this plan the voter is forbidden to vote for the whole number to be chosen, but is autho- ized to give votes singly to each of a less number or a sin- gle vote to one. By an amendment to the constitution of New York proposed by the convention of 1867 the court of appeals of the state was to consist of a chief judge and six associate judges, each voter to vote for the chief and for four only of the associate judges. By means of this arrange- ment the political minority of the state, at the first election under the amendment secured two of the six associate judges of the court. This system is used in the election of judges in Cook county, including Chicago, and in localities in Pennsylvania and New York in the reelection of various officers. 3. The Cumulative Plan. This is considered the better system. In the Illinois constitution of 1870 we have it in an important application, exhibiting all its characteristic fea- tures. The section referred to is as follows: "The house of representatives shall consist of three times the number of the members of the senate and the term of office shall be two years. Three representatives shall be elected in each senatorial district, at the general election in the year 1872, and every two years thereafter. In all elections of repre- sentatives aforesaid each qualified voter may cast as many votes for one candidate as there are representatives to be elected, or may distribute the same, or equal parts thereof among the candidates as he shall see fit, and the candidates highest in vote shall be declared elected." Under this sys- tem the voters are permitted to give all three of their votes to one candidate or to distribute them at pleasure. 4. Both Parties Represented. By this plan both of the great parties have a representative in every district, forby concentrating their votes on one candidate a minority may be reasonably certain of electing him. 5. Even Division of House. Since the adoption of this system the House in the Illinois legislature is generally very evenly divided. The Senate has been republican for years, but the House has repeatedly had a democratic majority, thus preventing partisan legislation. 6. How Logan was Elected. There are 51 districts in Illinois, thus making 51 senators and 153 representatives. In the election of a U. S. Senator 103 votes are necessary to elect. The last time that John A. Logan was elected the united houses numbered 102 republicans and 102 democrats. Day after day the houses united at twelve o'clock and the result was always the same. At last a republican represen- SEN. JOHN M. PALMER. Springfield, 111. 195 196 CUMULATIVE VOTING. tative died. This did not change matters for then voting ceased until a representative was elected to fill the vacancy. Then a democrat representing a very strong democratic district died. The republicans, presumably, made no effort to elect a man for "the district is overwhelmingly demo- cratic." This put the democrats off their guard. Many did not go to the polls because the republicans did not vote and a democrat would be elected without any effort on their part. About two hours before the closing of the polls, the republicans came in from all quarters. It was found that they had secretly arranged this plan so as to catch the democrats. The democrats attempted to rally their forces, but it was too late and the republicans elected their man. This is how Logan was elected. 7. A Representative Although Expensive System. In 1891 the Illinois legislature had 101 democrats, 100 republi- cans and 3 populists. For six weeks the joint houses balloted each day at an enormous expense to the state. The dead lock was finally broken by the populists returning to their old parties, thus electing John M. Palmer, the democratic candidate. SHALL WOMEN VOTE? 197 'f/ $%$&? MRS. GROVER CLEVELAND. Shall Women Vote? i. The Question Agitated. This is a question that is demanding the consideration of the American people as never before. It is not a new question, but is being agita- ted everywhere and will not be settled until woman has equal suffrage with man. 14 198 SHALL WOMEN VOTE. 2. Opposition. While the question of woman's suffrage is rapidly pushing itself to the front, it is not without oppo- sition from some good, true-hearted, and well-meaning men. For years we have heard of organizations that tend to pro- mote the cause of woman's suffrage, and many battles have already been won through the influence of these organiza- tions. It may seem strange, but the fears of some are so great that equal suffrage will win, that organizations are being effected to oppose the granting of the ballot to women. 3. Unfounded Fears. The knowing ones predict terri- ble consequences, in their anxiety to conserve woman's modesty and native delicacy, and are quite certain that home sanctities will be irremediably outraged now that women are getting their political eyes opened. Infants are to be left desolate, or consigned to the tender mercies of their papas, while the "new woman" goes gadding round to election meetings, and meddling generally with things she cannot possibly, and never will, understand. But our very shrewd fathers and brothers are not justified at all in their pessimism. 4. Woman's Elevation as Civilization Advances. The Indian squaw is no better than a slave. She does the work while the Indian whiles away his time in idleness, in hunt- ing, or in smoking. India and the countries of the East present spectacles of men who are "lords of creation," and women who have no rights that men need respect. But as the benign influences of civilization and Christianity reach these darkened cor- ners of the earth, woman is being elevated and made an equal with man. In Europe, the large standing -armies, where men are re- quired to spend their best years in comparative idleness, compel women to engage in hard manual labor. No won- der that the foreigner, accustomed to sights like the cut on opposite page is opposed to woman's suffrage. 5. W. C. T. U. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union has been and still is a mighty factor in solving what some term the vexed woman question. The latent power of thousands has been revealed, new avenues have opened until to-day woman is ready to compete with man in almost an-y calling. 6. The Scripture Argument. Many claim that woman's suffrage is contrary to Scripture. Some remind us that Paul told wives to be subject to their husbands in every- thing. Paul also told sons to obey their parents and ser- vants to be subject to their masters. Yet no one objects to 199 200 SHALL WOMEN VOTEf the voting of servants and sons. The deference and obedi- ence which the members of a household may owe in the household to the father of the family, does not affect their rights and duties as citizens. Again, how is it contrary to Scripture to let a woman vote on state and municipal questions, yet in accordance with Scripture to let her vote on church questions? 7. Neglecting Domestic Affairs. Judge Kingman, for four years a judge of the U. S. Supreme Court of Wyoming, says: '*! do not believe that suffrage causes women to neglect their domestic affairs. Certainly, such has not been the case in Wyoming, and I never heard a man complain that his wife was less interested in domestic economy be- cause she had the right to vote, and took an interest in making the community respectable." Whatever tends to make woman a more intelligent companion for her husband, and a more broad-minded mother to her children, is a dis- tinct benefit to the home. 8. Civil Rights. It is as absurb to deny all women their civil rights because the cares of the household and family take up all the time of some, as it would be to exclude the whole male sex from Congress because some men are sail- ors, or soldiers in active service, or merchants whose business requires all their attention and energies. 9. The Legal Aspect. Does our sense of natural justice dictate that the being who is to suffer under laws shall first personally assent to them? that the being whose industry government is to burden should have a voice in fixing the character and amount of that burden? Then, while woman is admitted to the gallows, the jail, and the tax-list, we have no right to debar her from the ballot-box. zo. Strange Argument. Suppose woman, though equal, to differ essentially in her intellect from man, is that any ground for disfranchising her? Shall the Fultons say to the Raphaels, " Because you cannot make steam-engines, there- fore you shall not vote? " Shall the Napoleons or the Washingtons say to the Wadsworths or the Herschels, " Because you cannot lead armies and govern states, there- fore you shall have no civil rights? ii. The Ballot an Educator. The ballot is an educator, and its benefits can be seen by contrasting the descendant of Jamestown or Plymouth, educated by his ballot, and the descendant of the same European ancestors who have grown up under a monarchy and never been allowed to choose. There have always been men glad to share with woman every advantage. Hence American women are as well informed as men, have as much patriotism and are just as capable of choice. THE WOMAN WHO DOES NOT CARE TO VOTE. 201 902 SHALL WOMEN VOTE? 12. Guardian of Her Children. Grant that woman's intellect be essentially different, even inferior, if you choose, still, while our civilization allows her to hold property and to be the guardian of her children, she is entitled to such education and to such civil rights voting among the rest as will enable her to protect both her children and her estate. It is easy to indalge in dilettanti speculation as to woman's sphere and in the female intellect. But leave dainty speculation and come down to practical life. Here is a young widow; she has children and ability, if you will let her exercise it, to give her the best advantage of educa- tion to secure them every chance of success in life, or she has property to keep for them and no friends to rely on. Shall she leave them to sink in the unequal struggles of life? Shall she trust their all to any adviser money can buy in order to gratify your taste and give countenance to your nice theories? or shall she use ?U the powers God has given her for those He has thrown upon her protection? II we consult common sense and leave theories alone there is but one answer. 13. A Source of Domestic Trouble. Let women vote! cries one. "Why, wives and daughters might be Demo- crats, while their fathers and husbands were Whigs. It would never do. It would produce endless quarrels." And the self-satisfied objector thinks he has settled the question. But if the principle be a sound one, why not apply it in a still more important instance. Difference of religion breeds more quarrels than difference in politics. Yet we allow women to choose their own religious creeds, although we thereby run the risk of wives being Episcopalians while their husbands are Methodists, or daughters being Catholics while their fathers are Calvinists. Yet, who this side of Turkey dare claim that the law should compel women to have no religious creed, or adopt that of their male rela- tives? Practically this freedom in religion has made no difficulty; and probably equal freedom in politics would make as little. 14. Clear the List and Let Her Try. Some reply,"It will be a great injury to feminine delicacy and refinement for woman to mingle in business and politics." Of such objections on this and kindred subjects, I love to dispose in some such way as this: The broadest and most far-sighted intellect is utterly unable to foresee the ultimate consequences of any great social change. Ask yourself on all such occasions ir there be any element of right and wrong in the question, any principle of clear natural justice that turns the scale. If so, take your part with the perfect and abstract right. THE WOMAN WHO WOULD VOTE. *204 WHERE WOMEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE. and trust God to see that it shall prove the expedient. The questions, then, -for me on this subject are these: Has God made woman capable morally, intellectually, and physically of taking this part in human affairs? Then, what God made her able to do, it is a strong argument that He intended she should do. 15. Leave it to Woman. We do not attempt to settle what shall be the profession, education, or employment of woman. We have not that presumption. What we ask is simply this, what all other classes have asked before: Leave it to woman to choose for herself her profession, her educa- tion, and her sphere. We deny to any portion of the species the right to prescribe to any other portion its sphere, its education, or its rights. We deny the right of any individual to prescribe to any other individual his amount of educa- tion or his rights. The sphere of each man, of each woman, of each individual is that sphere which he can, with the higliest exercise of his powers, perfectly fill. The highest act which the human being can do, that is the act which God designed him to do. 16. Marching to the Front. Whether we are in favor of this movement or not, argument will never settle it. The freedom of the press, the freedom of labor, the freedom of the race in its lowest classes, was never argued to success. The moment you can get women to 'go out into the highway of life and show by active valor what God has created her for, that moment this question is settled forever. One solid fact of a woman's making her fortune in trade will teach the male sex what woman's capacity is. Examples are not wanting to-day. The women are determined to have it, and men who do Hot agree with them might as well as not reconcile them- selves to the inevitable. In three states women have uni- versal suffrage already. With the many organizations already existing that aid them in their effort, and a host of intelligent broad-minded men to support their cause, there is no question as to the final disposition of the matter. Where Women Have the Right to Vote. In Great Britain women vote for all elective officers, except members of Parliament. In France the women teachers elect women on all th ' Boards of Education. In Sweden women vote for all elective officers except Representatives; also, indirectly, for members of the House of Lords. WOMAN'S RIGHTS. 205 14 206 WHERE WOMEN HAVE THB RIGHT TO VOTE, In NforWay they have School suffrage. In Ireland the women vote for the harbor boards and Poor Law Guardians, and in Belfast for municipal officers. In Russia women householders vote for all elective offi- cers and on all local matters. In Finland they vote for all elective officers. In Austria-Hungary they vote by proxy for all elective officers. In Crotia and Dalmatia they have the privilege of doing so in local elections in person. In Italy widows vote for members of Parliament. In the Madras Presidency and the Bombay Presidency (Hindustan), the women exercise the right of suffrage in all municipalities. In all the countries of Russian Asia they can do so wher- ever a Russian colony settles. The Russians are colonizing the whole of their vast Asian possessions and carrying with them everywhere the "mir," or self-governing village, wherein women who are the heads of households are per- mitted to vote. Women have municipal suffrage in Cape Colony, which rules a million square miles. Iceland, in the North Atlantic; the Isle of Man, between England and Ireland, and Pitcairn Island, in the South Pacific, have full women suffrage. In the Dominion of Canada women have municipal suf- frage in every province, and also in the Northwest Terri- '* Darn My Stockings.' What man could do it? MAN'S FEARS REALIZED, Women at the Polls. 207 208 WHERE WOMEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE. tories. In Ontario they vote for all elective officers, except in the elections of members of Legislature and Parliament. In New Zealand women have the same suffrage rights as have men. In the United States, besides the three states, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, giving full women suffrage, the follow- ing grant school suffrage in various degrees: Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. In Delaware suffrage is exercised by women in several municipalities. In Kansas they have equal suffrage with men at all municipal elections. About 50,000 women voted in 1890. TALKING POLITICS AT HOME. In Wyoming women have voted on the same terms with men since 1870. The convention in 1889 to form a State Convention unanimously inserted a provision secur- ing them full suffrage. This constitution was ratified by the voters at a special election by about three-fourths ma- jority. Congress refused to require the disfranchisement of women and admitted the state July 10, 1890. CHAPTER VI. Parties, Rise and Fall, Nominating Conventions. 1. History Repeats Itself. "History repeats itself" is an old proverb, but it is true in too general sense to be a practical guide to America. No other nation ever came into existence as we did. The most active, adventurous, unselfish, original, and forceful spirits of the world came here, not to seek homes only, but to get out of an atmos- phere too conservative for merit to grow in. On their arrival new ambitions were awakened, new incentives quickened their thoughts, and new fields for political and even religious inquiries were opened before them. Words grew into new significance never before applied to them. 2. Name Pioneer. It would fill a volume to describe the name pioneer in its grandness, since the pioneer spirit took possession of the American mind, and began the work of producing new States, bringing true merit to the front, and exalting the nation by growing up Washington, Jeffer- son, Abraham Lincoln, and other great men from the politi- cal germ of a virgin soil planted by pioneers. 3. Political Parties Are of Slow Growth in Europe. Political parties are of slow growth in Europe, and their issues limited within the interests of a dynasty cemented together by religious holds on the conscience acting in con- junction with a financial grip that disperses bread to a nation of landless rent payers. 4. The Civil Rights of Man. While we, like Europe, inherited science from Greece, neither we nor England inherited our political policy from her. She taught us astronomy but not the laws of a land tenure nor the civil rights of man. Civil rights have come to us under the quickening influence of nature's broad domain, spread out before us on the plains of the New Word. Here was an immaculate page on which to write the policy of a nation whose children and youth have rounded up into manhood's proportion, not lean with hunger nor plethoric with abused authority. c? 5. Political Parties. ^-Neither the Roman nor the Saxon nor the Norman invasion of England produced any popu- lar political parties. The people continued of one mind through all these changes as much as they were under the Druid Age. They had no opinion nor any knowledge of the situation as to any policy except the one foreshadowed by their rulers. But after a hiatus of inert years two oppos- ing elements came into collision with each other, not on political issues but religious the Cavaliers and the Puri- tans. These were the first popular issues in England, but RISE AND RAGE OF POLITICAL ISSUES, a political issue took root with them, arranged under the names of Whigs and Tories. 6. Whigs and Tories. The Tories, advocates of the Divine Rights of Kings, and the Whigs, though loyal to the Crown, wished to subject its authority to Parliament. This issue is still before the English people, and though in a modified form, was manifest in the late policy of Gladstone in his attempts to establish Home Rule for Ireland, a great question not yet settled. The old Whig party are now called Liberals, but the Tories have changed neither their name nor principles, being stalwart advocates of the pre- rogative of the Crown and defenders of the House Lords. Such was and is now the partisanship of a nation whom we are proud to own as our parent state. During the Commonwealth of England, as might be supposed, the issue between the Whigs and Tories was taken up by the American colonies, but the < Whigs were in the majority except in the Virginia colony. 7. The "Declaratory Act." Moderation is a rare qual- ity in nations or even individuals when under the inspira- tion of success, and England was no exception to the rule. Her American colonies nad always been loyal to her, and from appearances at that time it seemed manifested that a revenue might be drawn from them without disturbing the harmonious relations. Under this unfounded confidence in their submissive spirit, the English Parliament in 1763 passed what was termed "The Declaratory Act " the object of which was to make it legal to tax the American Colonies. But this was not done without opposition. 8. The Stamp Act. Not without a strong opposition in the British Cabinet the Stamp Act was passed soon after the Enabling Act, and the time of its taking effect being set in 1765. During this interim able advocates of constitutional rights, both in England and America, have laid down principles which neither words could logically answer nor can time obliterate their force. They are as fresh now as when they came from the tongues of both the English and the American representatives of constitutional lav/ at that time. Mr. Pitt, in his opposition to the Stamp Act, in re- ferring to the days of the French and Indian War, the suc- cess of which was due to his premiership, called attention to certain members of the Cabinet who, during that event- ful period, proposed to tax the colonies by means of a stamp act, used the following language: "Not that there were wanting some, when I had this honor to serve his majesty, to propose to me to burn my fingers with the American Stamp Act." RISE AND RAGE OF POLITICAL ISSUES, Ull 9, The Stamp Act Repealed. The Stamp Act was re- pealed by Parliament as a palliative ere tne time had elapsed for its enforcement, but other acts were passed, such as the revival of the navigation laws, which had long been a dead letter, but now to be actually enforced. These laws subjected certain articles of merchandise to an excise duty, but the opposition to being taxed in this way was so great, and so many impediments thrown in the way of executing them, that the British Cabinet yielded to the inevitable rate and practically abandoned the policy that had been tried, but in vain. 10. The Article of Tea. The article of tea was the only exception, and an attempt was made by the East India Company to introduce this trade into Boston, relying on suc- cess by making the price of tea, even with its duties added, cheaper than its market value in England. On it arrival in Boston harbor the whole town turned out, and from tie thousands who beheld this subtle attempt to circumvent the will of the Bostonians, a few stalwart Whigs of the Ameri- can type, disguised themselves in the garb of" Indians, boarded the tea laden vessels and emptied the politically couiraband contents into the sea. Years passed away be- fore anyone ever knew who these men were. The last sur- vivor of this number died about forty years ago, and his iron framed picture adorns many a gallery throughout the country. n. First Colonial Congress. As the Chameleon changes color according to its contiguity to shades, so the public conscience, impelled by the evolutions of English law, first demanded redress, next independence, and next, to secure it, demanded a sword, the last argument to which manhood, resorts. The Colonial Congress assembled in New York, 1765. The Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia, 1774, at which latter place maturity of thought reached its limit in a declaration of independence, July 4th, 1776. This marvelous demand, without a parallel in history, struck not -only England, but Europe and the world, with astonishment. 12. Articles of Confederation. Two years later, July 4, 1778, articles of confederation and perpetual union were signed. American Whigs were now called rebels in Eng- land, while American Tories still retained the name in both countries. Most of them left America for their political home, and here it ought not to be omitted that these royalists were composed of a highly respectable element in society. 212 RISE AND RAGE OF POLITICAL ISSUES. 13. The Sword Was Drawn. Social ties were severed, lovers were parted never to meet again, and even kindred ties were absolved; for the sword was drawn, not to be re- turned to its scabbard till Europe was deluged in war, and till a new nation was born, and a new plan to be unfolded as the popular heart willed it. From that time to the present this nation has been mounting from strength to strength, and its inventive gen- ius, the admiration of the world, has furnished many a model to be copied by this world, or be left behind in the progress of grandeur. It is not always strange that a nation of thinkers should give birth to a variety of political parties, each holding themselves to be virtues of inde- pendence. 14. Declaration of Independence. Seventy represen- tatives of the original proposers of purposes of this nation signed the Declaration of Independence, and in their Declaration none of the principles evolved in the govern- ments of Europe were borrowed, but the principles of popular thought in America were summarized into an epitome by Thomas Jefferson, none of which were more original with him than with his peers at that time, but his forcible style of formulating them was the admiration of America and the astonishment of Europe. 15. Peace Commissioners. During the war which followed the first substantial success that crowned the victories of Bennington and Saratoga, by the latter of which General Burgoyne's armies sent Peace Commissioners to America, and to use a metaphor, gave the Continental Congress a blank sheet on which to write the terms on which peace could be made, promising to accept any- thing short of absolute independence. This offer was declined. The next year the British renewed the offer during the darkest hours of the war, but Congress was as firm as ever in its original purpose, whereupon the Eng- lish Commissioners with an assurance that never had a parallel in history, asked of the cabinet the privilege to circulate documents among the people, embodying the substance of this offer. It was refused, nor was it compli- mentary to the cabinet to suppose it possible that it would grant any overtures that might create in the public mind, especially one at variance with the unanimous will of this firm body of men. 16. France. The best apology for this puerile piece of diplomacy on the part of our British fathers is that drown- ing men catch at straws. The first fruitage of the capture of Burgoyne's army was our treaty with France, whereby that power made a solemn pledge not to make peace with RISE AND RAGE OF POLITICAL ISSUES. 213 Great Britain until our independence was secured. Later in the war Cornwallis and his army were taken prisoners at Yorktown by a timely union of the forces under Washing- ton himself and our generous ally La Fayette. This victory in effect won our cause; but the treaty by which peace was to be secured was long delayed on account of the compli- cated conditions of it, not only pertaining to France but also to Spain. The latter power had been reluctantly drawn into a war with England by events not within the scope of these pages. She was no friend to America, and it was political torture for her to fight the British when every gun she fired was indirectly assisting her rival on American soil for territory, as she then owned Florida and the entire territory west of the Mississippi, together with New Orleans and its surroundings east of that stream. 17. Other Impediments. Besides these, other impedi- ments acted as friction to delay making a peace treatv which were the title and character by which the American Commissioners were to be received at the negotiations for peace which were to be held at Paris. What were they? Were they the Plenipotentiaries of a nation, or commis- sioners from American colonies to treat for peace? If the former, the main question was concluded in advance, and there was little to treat on left. If the latter, they went into the convention on humble terms which were degrading to the nation they represented. 18. The Illustrious Men. John Adams, John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, and Henry Lawrence were the illus- trious men who held the honor of America in their hands, and they were equal to the occasion. After long delay the king consented to treat with the American Commissioners as representatives of a nation defacto. The question of boundary was not the only difficult one to settle, and Spain was the disturbing element in this issue. Her king was of Bourbon blood, like the French king, and by virtue of the family contract between these thrones they were to guar- antee to each other the integrity of the respective territory of each, and, although the demand of the American Com- missioners was the Mississippi, and its western limits in- volved no territorial loss to Spain, yet it gave the new nation a great start at the onset over herself as to territory, and Spain used her utmost influence to make the Alleghany Mountains the line, leaving the territory intervening therein and the Mississippi open to the progress of future condi- tion. 214 RISE AND RAGE OF POLITICAL ISSUES. 19. The American Commissioners. But the American Commissioner^ were firm in their demand of the Mississippi as the western line, and the treaty, after much delay, was signed to this effect by Messrs. Adams, Franklin and Jay on the part of America, Mr. Lawrence being not present, and by David Hartley on the part of England. 20. Treaty of Peace. Thus cldsed the American Rev- olution at Paris, September 3, 1783, bringing a nation into the great family or nations with but one political party, but whose various interests were destined to develop others in the future. There was no one living at this date who fully under- stood or conceived the magnitude of the victory won by war and secured by the terms of the treaty. During the war, few if any one tried to forecast the future. The con- federacy of the colonies really had terminated its union when the war ceased. It was not fitted to the emergencies of a nation, as was soon proven. It could not deal with foreign questions nor had the government made any pro- posed plans to meet any such emergency and did not till a necessity for it existed. 21. Centralized Power. The bitter expressions of the colonists brought to light when the strong arm of the crown tried to abridge their constitutional rights as English sub- jects, had made each of the confederated states jealous of centralized power lest it might set bounds to the authority of the state subversive of freedom, and under this convic- tion private citizens were reluctant to recognize any cen- tralized power above the state. 22. During a session of the Continental Congress held March 3, 1786, initial steps were taken to formulate a con- stitution. During the deliberation of this Congress arguments were made against the proposed measures on the ground that they would terminate in a constitutional monarchy. But such suspicions were quieted by the logic of Hamilton, Adams and Jay, who while deserving the chief credit for drafting our Constitution were ably assisted by many other of our model statesmen of that prolific age in the growth of eminent Americans. 23. Sacred to the Rights of Man. Who but the pro- foundest thinkers the world ever produced could make so perfect a framework wherewith to build a nation? Where in English literature was ever the exigencies of a nation so amply provided for? What other monument was ever so sacred to the rights of man? The following account of the manner of this guide to national grandeur is copied from "The Rights of Man," by Thomas Paine: RISE AND RAGE OF POLITICAL ISSUES, 215 " The powers vested in the governments of the several states, by the state constitutions, were found, upon experi- ence, to be too great, and those vested in the federal gov- ernment, by the act of federation, too little. The defect was not in the principle, but in the distribution of power. 24. A Continental Conference. " Numerous publica- tions in pamphlets and newspapers appeared on the propriety and necessity of newly modeling the Federal government. After some time of public discussion, carried on through the channel of the press and in conversations, the state of Virginia, experiencing some inconvenience with respect to commerce, proposed holding a continental con- ference, in consequence of which a deputation from five or six of the state assemblies met at Annapolis, in Maryland, in 1786. This meeting, not conceiving itself sufficiently authorized to go into the business of a reform, did not more than state their general opinions of the propriety of the measures and recommend that a convention of all the states should be held the following year. " This convention met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, of which General Washington was elected president. He was not at that time connected with any of the state governments or with Congress. He delivered up his commission when the war ended, and since then had lived a private citizen. 25. A Federal Constitution. "The convention went deeply into all the subjects, and having after a variety of debate and investigation agreed among themselves upon the several parts of a federal Constitution, the next question was the manner of giving it authority and practice. "They first directed that the proposed Constitution should be published. Second, that each state should elect a convention expressly for the purpose of taking it into consideration and of ratifying or rejecting it; and that as soon as the approbation and ratification of any nine states should be given, those states should proceed to the election of their proportion of members of the new federal govern- ment, and that the operation of it should then begin, and the former federal government cease. 26. Ratified the Constitution. "The several states pro- ceeded accordingly to elect their conventions; some of those conventions ratified the Constitution by a very large majority, and in two or three unanimously. In others there was much debate and division of opinion. In the Massa- chusetts convention, which met at Boston, the majority was not above nineteen or twenty, in about three hundred mem- bers; but such is the nature of representative government, that it quietly decides all matters by majoritv. ,'fter the 216 RISE AND RAGE OF POLITICAL ISSUES. debate in the Massachusetts convention was closed, and the vote taken, the objecting members arose and declared 'that though they had argued and voted against it because certain parties appeared to them in a different light to what they did to other members, yet, as the vote had been decided in favor of the Constitution as proposed, they should give it the same practical support as if they had voted for it.' "As soon as the nine states had concurred and the rest followed in the order their conventions were elected, the old fabric of the federal government was taken down and a new one erected." 27. The Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. While the convention was in session, the debates on such articles in it as might be prejudicial to the broadest principles of freedom, or to the individual rights, called forth nice distinctions between the rights of the masses and those of the high bred man of mind and of culture born to rule. These conditions, drawn from nature and education com- bined, cannot fail to have a controlling influence in juris- prudence; but constitutionally they^nust be subject to the same laws as govern other conditions. The old federal fathers of the nation were the brainiest men in the world; but the commoner element must have their voice in this matter, and the debates drew forth, and anticipated the wants of all classes; and, in doing this, erected two political parties, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists being the first political parties after the adoption of the Constitution. The anti- Federalists assumed the name Republicans about 1791. 28. First President. The first Wednesday in January, 1789, was appointed for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, and the first Wednesday in the following February for the voting of the electors. They were 69 in number, all of whom voted for Washington for President. John Adams had 34 votes for Vice-President, and 35 were cast for other candidates. THE ORIGIN OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN AMERICA, THE HON. MR. RUSSELL, OF MASSACHUSETTS, The Origin of Political Parties in America. 1. The Bitterness of Party Spirit. The bitterness of party spirit is never to be excused or defended, much less commended, yet the existence of parties seems unavoidable in the conditions of our people, and should not be regarded as necessarily an evil. They promote watchfulness on the part of the people, and render it next to impossible for those in power to betray their trust or to cherish abuses that im- peril the nation. 2. The Political Parties of the Colonial Period were transplants from the mother country, with issues allied to those which represented the divisions of public sentiment on the other side of the ocean. The Tory was the loyalist party in England, which supported the prerogatives of the Crown, and defended its exactions and tyrannies, often to the hazard of the liberties and prosperity of the people. 3. The Liberalists of that day, both in England and in the colonies, were known as Whigs. They stood for t>' rights of the people, under Constitutional governmeu., against the aggressions of the Crown. In the estimation of the Tory, the people exist for the government; but in the estimation of the Whig, the government exists for the people. 4. The Revolution. During the period of the Revolu- tion the words Tory and Whig fitly expressed the senti- ments of. the parties in their relation to the mighty struggle, i'HE OlilOlN 6P fcOLtf ICAL f AfttllS IN AMERICA, 21$ out, after independence, the word " Tory " became too ob- noxious to loyal Americans ever to be used in this country as the name of a political party. The word " Whig " never incurred odium of any sort, but it lost much of its signifi- cance in the new conditions which followed the war, par- ticularly under the Articles of Confederation. 5. The Federalist Party. Those who favored the making of a constitution and secured its adoption, believing in a strong Federal government, were designated Federal- ists, while those who opposed it in the interest of larger pow- ers for the states were called Republicans. These were the parties under the Constitution. The Federalists elected the first President, George Washington, and set the new gov- ernment in operation. They interpreted the grants of power made in the Constitution quite liberally, assuming that the purpose of that instrument was to constitute the United States an independent sovereignty. 6. The Opposition Grew. The Federalist party, after incorporating its essential principles in the government, and electing Washington twice and John Adams once, would seem to have had prestige and power enough to maintain itself and conquer opposition; but the opposition grew in intensity and virulence, and the party in power fell under odium through the unwise action of some of its adherents who, in its name, sought for enlargements of power not in the Constitution and never contemplated by the real found- ers of the government. 7. Democratic-Republican Party. In the meantime the opposition, then known as the Democratic-Republican party, had acquiesced in the adoption of the Constitution, accepted its provisions, increased in public favor and gath- ered strength to gam control of the government by the election of Thomas Jefferson to the presidency. By this time the original issues between the parties had passed away, and new questions had arisen, so that "Federalist" and "Republican' had come to mean something widely dif- ferent from the ideas which were attached to them in the earlier history of the parties. 8. The Party of Jefferson and Madison. The party of Jefferson and Madison, the first competitor of .the party which elected Washington and Adams, became the ?arty of the government upon the accession of Mr. efferson, and, in the broadest sense, the National party, the events preceding and causing the war of 1812 contributing largely to the expansion of its principles, as well as to its triumph, in the complete overthrow of the Federalist party. 220 THE ORIGIN OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN AMERICA. 9. Re-Elected Without Opposition. The people who supported Jefferson and Madison approved trie enlarge- ment of their ideas, carried the war to a successful issue, and elected Mr. Monroe to the presidency, leaving the remnant of the Federalist party scattered and powerless. Under Monroe's first administration the old issues became obsolete, and party organizations ceased to exist. He was re-elected substantially without opposition. In the fullest sense he was the President of the people. When his sec- ond term expired there were no organized parties to put candidates in the field, after the modern methods. The old Federalist party was dead; the old Republican party had outgrown itself as a party, had expanded its creed, pos- sessed the government and lost identity as a party in suc- cessful administration. No existing political party can possibly antedate this epoch in our national history an epoch distinguished in our political annals as the era of peace and good-will. 10. The Democratic Party. Such was the creed of the Democratic party when it first became a party. That creed, like all creeds, was a growth. It never sprang ma- tured from any man's brain. Its germinal ideas accorded with the principles which guided Mr. Jefferson's adminis- tration after his practical statesmanship had lifted him above the vagaries of his earlier years, and made his con- duct of the government wise and vigorous. The real seed- thoughts of the party, however, were found in the adminis- tration of Andrew Jackson, or rather in the discussions ex- cited by his acts while in office. The doctrines promulgated by his f ollowerSjWhich were afterward formulated into a creed for the party, were not made prominent in connection with pending questions, so as to be effective in his first election. 11. No Political Organizations. When Mr. Monroe's successor was to be chosen there were no political organiza- tions to nominate candidates. In this condition of affairs what might have been anticipated came to pass. Several statesmen of high character were brought forward by their personal friends as worthy to receive the electoral votes of the states. Adams, Jackson, Clay, Crawford and White became candidates, although the last two were scarcely recognized as such outside of their own states. The first three were the real competitors. They were all friends of the administration; their following was not partisan, but personal. The electoral votes were so divided that no choice was made and the election was carried into the House of Representatives. Jackson had the largest num- ber of votes, but not enough to elect him. THE ORIGIN OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN AMERICA. 22) 12. John Quincy Adams. The friends of Adams and Clay united their forces and gave the election to Adams, and Adams made Clay his secretary of state. This trans- action had the appearance of barter and gave great offense to the followers of Jackson, who raised the cry of bargain and sale, and lost no time in determining to oppose the administration thus inaugurated. They rallied to the sup- port of their chief, determined to elect him at the end of Four years, a purpose they pursued with tireless energy till it was accomplished. This organized opposition to John Quincy Adams, in the interest of Andrew Jackson, was known as the Jackson party. The supporters of Adams were known as the Administration party. 13. The Whig Party. It was inevitable that political parties so distinctly marked and openly struggling for suc- cess, should have distinguishing names. These were soon found. The Jackson party took the name Democrat, and became the Democratic party. As an organization it re- mains till this day. The other party took to itself the honored name of the party of the Revolutionary patriots, and became the Whig party. Adams was its candidate for re- election, but failed; Jackson was elected. He was the first Democratic President, using the term in its modern sense. 14. The Fate of the Whig Party. The fate of the Whig party, coming as it did through complications with the slavery question, affords lessons of profound signifi- cance. As a party it comprised a large share of the intelli- gence and talent of the country. Its principles commanded the approval of the most gifted of the nation. Its methods were open and honorable; and, so far as it affected the legislation of the countiy, its influence was beneficial. A more patriotic party never sought the favor of the Amer- ican people; yet its success was limited, as it never enjoyed the privilege of an unbroken administration of the govern- ment. It elected two Presidents, and both died in office. Its first President, General Harrison, died in a month after his inauguration, before his policy could be developed, and the Vice-President, on whom the duties of the presidency de- volved, proved untrue to the party which elected him, and defeated the measures on which the hearts of the people were set. 15. The Abolition Party. The downfall of the Whig party dates from its defeat in 1852. The influence of the " Third party " was something, but not a powerful factor in its overthrow. The assumption that it was a chief agency is not supported by the facts. In 1840 and in 1844 the abolition party cast an inconsiderable vote, which did not 15 222 THE ORIGIN OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN AMERICA. amount to a disturbing element in the elections of those years. In 1848 the "Free-Soil" party was in the field with a broader platform and with a greater element of strength. 16. Large Free-Soil Vote. The nomination of Gen- eral Taylor by the Whigs alienated the Quakers and some other anti-slavery people from the Whig party; while the nomination of Lewis Cass by the Democrats offended many in that party, particularly in the state of New York, and prepared the way for the large Free-Soil vote cast that year the largest ever cast. Martin Van Buren bolted the nomination of Cass, and he and his special adherents expressed sympathy with Free-Soilism, probably as much to defeat his old competitor, General Cass, as to advance the cause of freedom. He was nominated by the Free-Soil party and accepted. His candidacy drew from the Demo- crats about as many votes as were drawn from the Whigs, and aided not in the destruction of the Whig party, but in the election of General Taylor. The Free-Soil vote of 1852 was much less than in 1848. 17. The Know-Nothing Party. Then came the Know- Nothing furor, which swept the country like a tornado, dis- rupting party lines as nothing had ever done before. It was not a third party, but a movement of extraordinary charac- ter, forming an anomalous chapter in the history of Ameri- can politics. The Whig party .was already out of the field, and never again confronted its old competitor. 18. The ^Republican Party.- The Democratic party, though badly shattered, being in power, managed to survive as a party. Out of the debris came the Republican party, organized and drilled, ready for the fray, in 1856. Into it came the anti-slavery elements of all the old parties, includ- ing all the voters of the Free-Soil party, who were in it from principle. Pro-slavery Whigs went over to the Democrats. Thus after the culmination of the slave power, and after the sifting of the Know-Nothing storm, the lines of the parties were finally drawn upon the issues thrust upon the country by the aggressions of slavery. The practical question de- manding settlement was the extension of slavery into the territories. The Republican party squarely accepted this issue ; but, anti-slavery as it was, it proposed no interference with the institution in the states where it existed. 19. Lincoln and Johnson. Looking backward from the present, the discovery that the Republican party has made mistakes is no evidence of superior discernment. It did not develop its own scheme of reconstruction. The death of Mr. Lincoln was followed by embarrassments through the defection of Andrew Johnson, that crippled its opera- THE ORIGIN OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN AMERICA. 223 tioni. and forced contentment with half-way measures. With his unquestioned loyalty to the Union, Mr. Johnson was at heart a Democrat, and in the crisis of reconstruction his Democratic instincts asserted themselves, throwing into confusion the counsels of those who had given him power. In debate he was the peer of the strongest men of his times, and.having the courage of his convictions his exercise of the veto power was prompt and vigorous. With less of kindliness toward the south than Mr. Lincoln possessed, his sense of obligation to the whole country and to the future was dull in comparison with that which character- ized his predecessor, the illustrious martyr. In these cir- cumstances it was impossible for the party to carry into effect any measure that encountered his prejudices. Com- promise in reconstruction was therefore inevitable. 20. The Stamp of its Power. Nevertheless the Re- publican party has been a success and as such it will pass into history whether it shall ever elect another President or not. Its fundamental principles inherited from the Whig party, and those developed in the fires of its conflicts, have been wrought into the fabric of the government, so that no party will attempt their elimination. The stamp of its power is in the Constitution, in the established rights of suffrage, in the national currency, and in everything to the mainte- nance of the national honor at home and abroad. 21. Other Parties. There have been other parties which have figured more or less in the political field. The Anti-Masonic party has had an ephemeral existence/but never reached the dignity of a national party, and exerted only an incidental influence in public affairs. The same is true of the Abolition and Free-Soil parties, previously named. There was an American party, the product of Know-Noth- ingism, which lingered for a while after the storm, and con- tributed to the confusion that reigned in political circles during the interval between the going down of the Whig party and the development of the Republican party. There was a "Union" party in the field prior to the war, known as the Bell-Everett party, from the names of the candidates; but it was only a temporary expedient, a sort of post-mortem wriggle of defunct Whigism, where the Republican move- ment was unable to obtain recognition. 22. The Prohibition Party. The Prohibition party came into the field at a later date, and exhibited greater persistency than some of the other "third parties," having under it a noble sentiment, and in it men of moral worth and philan- thropic aim; but even this party never had the prospect of reaching the goal of its ambition, and never made any direct contribution toward the destruction of political evils. 224 PARTY GOVERNMENT. The Prohibition party, however, has for more than a quarter of a century shown a tenacity and an unswerving hold to principle that will, sooner or later, give it prestige among the great parties, or incorporate its principles in sorne other great party, not yet formed. 23. People's Party. The last experiment in this line, the so-called People's party, has puzzled and bewildered many astute manipulators or public sentiment, yet inspiring a high degree of hopefulness with regard to beneficial results The practical lesson deducible from this summary of political history is that there is no foundation for a political party to stand upon that is either broad enough or strong enough to give the slightest hope of achieving success in controlling the affairs of the nation, except some principle of construing the Constitution of the United States, which is sufficiently far-reaching to touch every department of the government and to determine the character and genius of our institutions. Party Government. ,1. The Purchased Vote. Elections go by extremes; first one way and then the other. It is thus seen that a large proportion of the voting population is easily changed. In every national election thousands and millions of dollars are expended directly and indirectly in the purchase of votes. Large sums of money pass over the bars of the saloon at every election, left there by candidates or their friends, for this unrighteous purpose, and hence men are too often entrusted with an office because of their influence over the low and vicious classes rather than on account of their fit- ness and qualifications. 2. The Most Important Functions. Among the most important functions of these organizations are the selection of candidates and the adpption of a platfcrm or declaration of principles. These responsible duties are intrusted to conventions, composed of delegates chosen for the purpose at the party elections, known as the primaries. 3. Divisions. Those who have so far conformed to the rules of a party as to be entitled to vote at its primaries may be divided into two classes, as follows: 1. Citizens who PARTY GOVERNMENT. 225 have no special advantages to gain, and whose only motive for participation is their desire for good government. 2. Those who are actuated by personal ambition or hopes of securing office, contracts, or pecuniary benefits. 4. Time and Labor. In order to carry the primaries a considerable amount of time and labor must necessarily be expended. The voters must communicate with each other; views must be compared and harmonized; candidates sug- gested, interviewed and agreed upon; tickets prepared and supplied, and concert of action secured. 5. Trickery and Fraud. But the majority of citizens, engrossed as they are with private business and family cares, have neither time nor inclination for such tasks. And when their reluctance is overcome, as it occasionally is by their sense of public duty, they are likely to find that their opponents have no hesitation in resorting to misrepresenta- tion, trickery, or fraud, in order to control the result. Under these circumstances a small but well-disciplined, energetic and unscrupulous minority can generally defeat the honor- able and patriotic majority. It is therefore not surprising that honest and industrious citizens are apt to conclude that it is useless for them to take part in such contests. 6. Party Leaders. Public offices, contracts and pat- ronage are what they work for and what they must have, by fair means if possible, but if not, then by whatever means niay be necessary. For this purpose they are obliged to combine among themselves and to submit to such leaders as may seem best able to direct their efforts and to secure and apportion among them the prizes they covet. Having once acquired complete control of a nominating convention, their natural desire is, of course, to nominate such candi- dates as will best serve their own personal interests, and in the absence of factional fights among themselves, the only real check upon this desire is their fear of losing enough of the more independent votes to turn the scale in th.e general elections. 7. Candidates. This conflict between what they would like to do and what they dare to do, usually results in their nominating such men as have no more honesty and inde- pendence than may seem to be absolutely necessary for ultimate success. And if they can secure candidates who are generally believed to be able and honorable, but who will really obey and assist the spoilsmen, the temptation to nominate them, and thus deceive and outwit the people, can hardly be resisted. 8. Party Platform. In the construction of a party plat- form the leaders are naturally governed by similar motives, Filling the Party Orator with Political Wind. 226 PARTY GOVERNMENT. < and, instead of publishing a frank statement of their real objects and intentions, they are disposed to adopt whatever may seem most likely to attract the voters. In their effort to do this they seek to treat almost every subject of public Interest, but there are necessarily some points in regard to which even the members of their own party are divided, and it is one of the defects of party government that while many voters find sentiments which they disapprove in each platform, they can see no alternative but to cast their ballots for one or the other and thus seem to endorse and support ideas to which they are really opposed. 9. Vote for the Best Men. It would appear, therefore, that our system of political parties must necessarily tend to place the selection of our candidates and the declaration of our principles into the hands of a small minority of compara- tively selfish and unscrupulous men. It is therefore evident that in order to secure good laws and preserve our free institutions we must vote for the best men, regardless of party. 10. Candidate Belongs to a Party. Under such a sys- tem, if a candidate belongs to a party which happens to be on the most popular side of some leading question, like the tariff or silver coinage, his lack of integrity or personal ability must be very glaring to prevent his election. And when he takes his seat in a legislative body, and it becomes his duty to make a careful study of some important ques- tion, to sift the evidence and reach a wise and just con- clusion, he, who should be like an impartial judge or an unprejudiced juryman, may be found to be only the bond- servant of the leaders of his party, a mere automaton for the registering of their decrees. n. The Remedy. The business and industrious classes will have to take more of an active part in the elections. The farmer must leave his farm for a few hours and the busi- ness man his store or office and meet in the primaries and caucuses and defeat the wardheelers and unprincipled politicians who are always on hand to advance the interests of some unworthy candidate. The time has come when men must take an interest in the government under which they live and to which they must look for liberty and pros- perity; and the time must come when men must not vote for party, but for the best men; men who are honest and will fearlessly do their duty regardless of the party influences. A public officer must work for the interest of the people at large, and not solely for the party which placed him in power. The President of the United States, to be a good executive of the nation, must be a President of the United 228 PARTY GOVERNMENT. States in fact and not simply a president of the party which placed him in office and the same principle should apply to every executive or legislative office in the gift or the people. 12. The National Parties. The national parties as Macy in his Civil Government says, are the agencies which render it possible for millions of people to choose their rulers and express themselves on national questions. They are thoroughly organized. Each party has a national com- mittee, a committee in each state, one in each county and often one in each township. They hold caucuses, prima- ries, and conventions; select candidates for office; formulate political doctrines; hold meetings, persuade voters and in various ways strive to secure a majority of the votes. 13. Two Parties Only. It is desirable that the parties be only two in number. They are artificial agencies for obtaining majorities; and if there are more than two of them, this becomes more difficult. A third party may be organized for the purpose of advocating certain opinions, and of influencing the regular parties to adopt those opin- ions; but as soon as one of the parties may be induced to adopt the opinions of the third party, the latter should dis- band. If a third party attempts to keep up a separate or- ganization after it loses its distinctive principles, it becomes a source of confusion and corruption to the voters. 14. The Third Party. A third party may -be organ- ized for the purpose of displacing one of the old parties. Such a plan is almost sure to fail. We have in our history one notable instarice: the Republican party displaced the Whig party; but the circumstances were peculiar. It would be a great waste of political energy to disband all the counties of the state, and then organize new counties in their place. It is likewise a waste of political energy to disband an old party and organize a new party to take its place. There must be peculiar circumstances to justify such a waste. It is not an easy task to make seventy mill ions of people acquainted with a new organization. 16 230 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. A Complete History of All National Nominating Conventions. It is not necessary to go very far back in our history to find the origin of our nominating conventions. The Con- stitution of the United States provided only for the election of the President and Vice-President, and the idea was that electors should be chosen by the people of the states, who would not only name the candidate but elect him to his high office. In the choice of our first President this idea was for the first and only time carried out, and without be- ing nominated Washington was chosen President by the first Electoral College of the country. The number of elec- toral votes cast in 1789 was 69, all of which were cast for Washington. John Adams received the next highest number, 34, and was declared Vice-President. During the next four years the number of electoral votes increased very largely, being 132 at the second presidential election. All of these were cast for Washington, while John Adams re- ceived 77 votes for the vice-presidency. The retirement of Washington in 1796-7 opened the doors fora host of presi- dential candidates, there being no other man whom the people could unite on with so much unanimity. Upon opening the returns for the election of Washington's suc- cessor for the term beginning March 4, 1797, there were found to be no less than thirteen distinguished names among those voted for for the presidential office. These were John Adams, Jefferson, Thomas Pinckney, Burr, Sam- uel Adams, Ellsworth, Jay, Clinton, Johnstone, Iredell, Henry, C. C. Pinckney and Washington. At this election the number of electoral votes had increased to 139, of which John Adams received 71 and Thomas Jefferson the next highest number, 68. HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 231 1800. The era of "republican simplicity" was now passing away. The gratitude that impelled the unanimous election of Washington was felt in regard to no other man, and the acknowledged leadership which put forward Adams and Jefferson as the two candidates in the third general elec- tion was no longer recognized. Hence the date 1800 became an era in our political history, as it was the time of the in- stitution of the nominating caucus. This congressional caucus, which enjoys the honor of being the first, was held in Philadelphia during the year, and after a good deal of discussion resulted in the nomination of Jefferson for Presi- dent and Burr for Vice-President. The presidential con- test this year was between these two on one side and Adams and Pinckney on the other. The electoral vote was 188, and stood 73 each for Jefferson and Burr, 65 for Adams, 64 for Pinckney, and 1 for John Jay. No choice was made and the election went to the House of Representatives, which, after balloting thirty-six times, during six days, resulted in the election ot Jefferson and Burr. In 1804 the contest lay be- tween Jefferson and Pinckney for President and Clinton and King, both of New York, for Vice-President. Though there must have been a caucus nomination there is no record of such an event. The electoral vote was 176, of which Jeffer- son and King received 162 and Pinckney and Clinton 14. 1808. Toward the close of Jefferson's administration the Legis- lature of Virginia fell into discord in regard to the respect- ive claims of Madison and Monroe for the next presidential term and a Republican congressional caucus was held in Washington in January, 1808, to decide which should be nominated. There were 136 Republican members of Con- gress, of whom 94 attended the caucus and agreed to nomi- nate Madison. No record exists of the manner in which the opposition made their nominations, but the opposing candidate was Pinckney. The electoral vote was 175, of which Madison recived 122, Pinckney 47, and Clinton 6. The latter for Vice-President received 113 ballots, the scat- tering votes being divided among a number of rival aspir- ants. 1812. In May, 1812, a congressional caucus nominated Madison for a second term. This year is, however, memorable for the first feeble attempt at a nominating convention. The opposi' 232 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. tion had been growing in strength and called a convention to meet in New York in September, 1812. Eleven states were represented at this first convention, and De Witt Clinton, of New York, was placed in nomination, a move- ment which received the warmest support from the Legisla- ture of that state. The records do not show that any can- didate for Vice-President was nominated at this convention. The election resulted in the choice of Madison. The elec- toral vote numbered 217, of which Madison, for President, received 128 and Clinton 89, while for Vice-President Gerry received 131 and Ingersoll 86. . Madison entered upon his second term March 4, 1813, but there is no record of his having taken the oath of office. 1816. In 1816, just before the close of Madison's second term, the Republican congressional caucus again met and nomi- nated James Monroe for President. There were 119 votes in the caucus, of which Monroe received 65 and Crawford, of Geoj-gia, 54. The opposition Federalists were consider- ably disorganized at this time, since no record exists of any nomination, though their ticket was represented by Rufus King, of New York. It hardly seems possible for a conven- tion to have been held of which no records remain, and the more reasonable supposition is that King presented himself as a candidate at the request of his friends. His efforts were in vain, for he was badly beaten. The number of electoral votes cast at the election was 217, of which Mon- roe received 183 and King 34. The contest for Vice-Presi- dent was more lively, as five candidates contested the elec- tion. Harper received 4 votes, Ross, 5, Marshall 4, Howard 22 and Tompkins 183. 1820. In 1820 the Federalists were so much scattered and so unable to rally their forces that in effect no opposition was made to the nomination or election of Monroe to his second term. The electoral vote numbered 235, of which Monroe received 231 and John Quincy Adams received 1. As be- fore, five men "entered the lists for the vice-presidency. Harper and Rush each received 1 vote, Rodney 4, Stockton 8, and Tompkins 218. 1824. In 1824 the caucus feature began to be very displeasing to the Republicans in general and great numbers of them gave previous notice that they would not be governed by HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 233 the dictates of the caucus. There were at this time 216 members of Congress who were counted as Republicans, yet the caucus which nominated Crawford was composed of only 66 members, and in consequence of the slim attend- ance and the non-concurrence of the party the nomination of Crawford was very generally repudiated by the Republic- ans. Three other candidates were brought into the field by legislative and popular nominations Andrew Jackson, John Ouincy Adams and Henry Clay while six nomina- tions for the vice-presidency were made. The number of electoral votes in the contest of 1824 was 261, of which Jack- son received 99, Adams 84, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. For Vice-President Calhoun received 182 votes, Sandford 30, Macon 24, Jackson 31, Clay 9, and Van Buren 2. No elec- tion having been made, the contest went to the House of Representatives and Adams was elected by the vote of 13 states. This " scrub race," as it was called, put an end to the caucus system. 1828. As soon as the contest of 1824 was decided the Legisla- ture of Tennessee announced Jackson as a candidate for the next term. He was opposed by Adams, but no record ex- ists as to the manner or the latter's nomination. Calhoun, Rush and Smith were candidates for the vice-presidency, but how they were designated as such is not known. The contest was a spirited one, and resulted in Jackson's elec- tion by a large majority. There were 261 electoral votes, of which Jackson received 178 and Adams 83. For Vice-Presi- dent Calhoun received 171, Rush 83, and Smith 7. 1832. We now come to what may properly be regarded as the convention period of American politics, which has contin- ued down to the present time. The first regular national nominating convention of which any record can be found met in Philadelphia in September, 1830. It was called .the United States Anti-Masonic convention, and was composed of 98 delegates, who represented New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, Maryland and Michigan territory. Francis Granger, of New York, was president, but no busi- ness was transacted except to issue a call for another con- vention of persons opposed to secret societies, to be held at Baltimore. In compliance with this call the national Anti- Masonic convention assembled at Baltimore September 26, 1831, There were 112 delegates present, every state being 234 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. represented, but only New York, Massachusetts and Penn- sylvania had .the full number of .delegates allowed. This movement had its origin in the excitement caused by the alleged killing of Morgan for disclosing the secrets of Free- masonry. John C. Spencer, of New York, was-chosen presi- dent. The convention nominated William Wirt, of Mary- land, for President, and Amos Ellmaker, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President. In May, 1832, t.he first national Democratic convention was held, in Baltimore. The party was entirely satisfied with Jackson, and there could be no organized opposition to his renomination, and so it was unanimously confirmed by the convention. The real purpose of the convention was the nomination of a vice-presidential candidate, the party having fallen out with Calhoun. At this convention Gen. Robert Lucas of Ohio presided, and the regular proceed- ings began with the adoption of the famous two-thirds rule, which has been affirmed in every national Democratic con- vention from that day to this. Delegates to the number of 313 were present. Martin Van Buren was nominated for Vice-President, receiving 208 votes. The Republicans recognized the fact that conventions were to be the popular means for nomination of candidates, and accordingly met in convention at Baltimore December 12, 1831. James Barbour was chosen president. There were 157 delegates present, representing seventeen states and the District of Columbia. No formal declaration of princi- ples was made, but an address was published dealing with the shortcomings of Gen. Jackson, in which he and his ad- ministration were severely criticised. The unanimous vote of the convention was cast for Henry Clay as the candidate for the presidency, and for John Sergeant for Vice-Presi- dent. The address of the convention recommended another convention of " young men of the Republican party," and in pursuance thereof a convention was held May 11, 1832, in Washington. William C. Johnson was chairman, but as the nominations of the party had been made the preceding autumn nothing was left for the convention to do except to pass resolutions, which it did, in favor of industrial protec- tion and internal improvements, and against the rotation-in- office principle lately promulgated by Jackson. In the contest of 1832 there were twenty other candidates who ran without having regular party nominations. In the election the electoral votes numbered 288; for President, Wirt received 7, Floyd 11, Henry Clay 49, and Jackson 219. For Vice-President, Ellmaker received 7 votes, Lee 11. Wil- kins 30. Sergeant 49, and Van Buren 189. HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 235 1836. The years 1835 and 1836 saw the convention system fairly under way. There were two nominating conventions held. The Democratic national convention assembled in Baltimore in May, with representatives from twenty-one states. Andrew Stevenson presided, and for the first time there was a long list of honorary Vice-Presidents. Only one ballot for the presidential nomination was taken, which re- sulted in the unanimous choice of Martin Van Buren. The ballot for Vice-President resulted in 87 votes tor Rives and 178 for R. M. Johnson. No platform was adopted by the convention. A Whig state convention held in Harrisburg, Pa., in the latter part of 1835, by acclamation nominated William Henry Harrison and Francis Granger for the national ticket, and a Democratic Anti-Masonic convention held soon after in the same city ratified the nomination of Harrison, but substituted John Tyler in place of Granger for the vice- presidency. A number of other nominations were made by state Legislatures and other bodies, whose records have been lost. There were in all five candidates for President, and in the election Mangum received 11 votes, Webster 14, White 26, Harrison 73, and Van Buren 176. For Vice-Pres- ident there were four candidates. Smith received 23 votes, Taylor 47, Granger 77, and Johnson 147. 1840. The years 1839 and 1840 saw three conventions, the first of which was also the first Abolition convention ever held in the United States. Its session began at Warsaw, N. Y., No- vember 13, 1839, and lasted several days. Distinct Abolition principles were announced in its platform and James G. Birney was nominated for President, Francis J. LeMoyne for Vice-President. Although these candidates declined the nominations, they received 7,609 votes in the Northern states. The Whig national convention met at Harrisburg, Pa., De- cember 4, 1839. Twenty-one states were represented by 254 delegates, and James Barbour presided. Balloting was car- ried on in the committee of the whole for several days, but no result was reached until the Scott delegates went over to Harrison. The first ballot in the convention resulted in 16 votes for Winfield Scott, 90 for Henry Clay, and 148 for William Henry Harrison. There was no contest over the vice-presidency, John Tyler being the unanimous choice of thr convention. 236 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. The national Democratic convention assembled at Balti- more June 5, 1840. Delegates from twenty-one states were present and William Carroll presided. Van Buren was unanimously nominated for President, but when the ques- tion of Vice-President arose the dissension was so serious that no choice was made, but the designation of a candidate was left to the people. In this election the number of elec- toral votes was 294, of which Van Buren received 60 and Harrison 234. There were four candidates for Vice-Presi- dent. Polk received 1 vote, Tazewell 11, Johnson 48, and Tyler 234. 1844. The canvass of 1844 was preceded by three national conventions. The Liberal party national convention began at Buffalo, N. Y., August 30, 1843. It was virtually the Aboli- tion party under a new name and adopted an extended dec- laration of belief embodying the principles of Abolitionism afterward openly expressed by the Republican party. Lei- cester King presided, and the nominees were James G. Bir- ney for President and Thomas Morris for Vice-President. The Whig national convention assembled at Baltimore, May 1, 1844, and was composed of delegates from every state in the Union. Ambrose Spencer was president and Henry Clay was nominated for President without a dissent- ing voice. The choice of a Vice-President was more diffi- cult and three ballots were taken before a choice was made. On the last ballot Frelinghuysen received 155 votes, Davis 79, and Fillmore 40. The Democratic national convention met in Baltimore, May 27, 1844. The two-thirds rule was responsible for the convention being a hot one. Nine ballots were taken, there being four candidates on the first. Of the votes cast Van Buren received 146, Cass 93, Johnson 29, and Buchanan 4. There was not much change in the balloting until the eighth, when Van Buren received 104, Cass 114, Buchanan 2, Cal- houn 2, ad Polk 44. This was the first ballot in which Polk's name was mentioned. On the ninth ballot Polk re- ceived 233 votes, Van Buren 2, and Cass 29. Silas Wright was nominated for Vice-President, but he declined, and George M. Dallas was substituted. The result was the election of Polk, he receiving 170 electoral votes and Clay t5. 1848. Three conventions preceded the contest of this year. The Democratic convention was held in Baltimore, May 17, 1848. There was considerable trouble at the outset with HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 237 the credentials of the delegates who claimed recognition. New York sent two delegations, one commonly known as "barnburners " and the other as "hunkers." The conven- tion sought to please all by admitting both, but neither del- egation was satisfied unless the others were excluded, and accordingly both withdrew. Andrew Stevenson presided. Four-ballots were taken, the candidates being Cass, Wood- bury, Buchanan, Calhoun, Dallas, Worth and Butler. Cass began with 125 votes on the first ballot and ran up to 179 on the fourth, and was nominated. Three ballots were taken tor Vice-President, on the first of which William O. Butler received 114 and Jefferson Davis 1, the remainder being scattered among several candidates. Butler gained on the second and was nominated on the third ballot. The " barn- burners," who bolted the convention, were so incensed at the nomination of Cass and Butler that they called a con- vention at Utica, N. Y., June 22. Samuel Young presided, and Van Buren was made the nominee for President and Henry Dodge for Vice-President. The Whig national convention met in Philadelphia June 7, 1848. John M. Morehead presided. The candidates were Taylor, Clay, Scott, Webster, Clayton and McLean, and four ballots were taken. The number of votes was 270, and on the last ballot Taylor, who had started with 111, re- ceived 171, and was declared the nominee. Fillmore was nominated on the second ballot for Vice President. August 9, 1848, a Free-Soil convention assembled at Buf- falo, having representatives from eighteen States. Charles Francis Adams presided, and Van Buren and Adams were made the nominees of the convention. In a long platform the convention protested vigorously against the action of the Whig and Democratic conventions and demanded the freedom of the slaves in the style used later by the Aboli- tionists. Nothing came of the movement and Van Buren and Adams received no votes at the fall election. The electoral vote in 1848 was 290, of which Taylor secured 163, and Cass 127. 1852. The campaign of 1852 was a spirited one and opened in a spirited way. The Democratic convention met in Balti- more June 1, arid was presided over by John W. Davis of Indiana. There were ten candidates, and forty-nine ballots were taken before a candidate was nominated. The ballot sheet is called one of the greatest curiosities in American politics and is given complete on the following pages: 16 238 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. BALLOTS. co- ca CJ Buchanan. Douglas. Marcy. Butler. Houston. 1 a c 5 Dickinson. || Pierce. I.. 116 118 119 115 114 114 113 113 112 111 101 98 98 99 99 99 99 99 89 81 60 53 37 33 34 33 32 28 27 33 64 98 123 130 131 122 120 107 106 106 107 93 95 94 89 88 88 88 88 87 86 87 88 88 87 87 87 87 85 85 92 102 104 103 103 101 101 98 96 93 91 79 74 72 49 39 28 28 28 28 27 27 20 23 21 21 34 34 34 34 39 40 50 51 51 51 51 51 50 56 63 64 64 77 78 80 81 80 85 38 91 92 92 80 60 53 52 43 37 33 33 33 33 27 27 26 25 26 26 26 26 27 27 27 27 26 26 26 26 26 25 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 25 23 44 58 70 84 85 85 85 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13 15 19 23 24 24 24 25 25 20 16 1 2 1 1 8 * I r< < & 8 9 9 8 8 8 Cj 10 10 10 10 11 11 10 10 9 9 11 9 9 10 4 11 12 12 10 8 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 n 3 3 3 3 3 3 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 ii 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 16 1 1 15 30 29 29 29 29 29 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13..., 14...!..,. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31.. 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39.... 40 41 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 239 BALLOTS. en CO a Buchanan. Douglas. | o* 1 :J O> z Houston. 1 I S Dickinson.! o g 42 101 101 101 96 78 75 73 2 27 27 27 28 28 28 33 33 33 32 32 33 33 9 91 91 91 97 97 95 90 2 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 29 29 29 29 44 49 55 282 43 44 45 46 47 48 49.. The persistence of the solitary voter who voted forty- eight times for Daniel S. Dickinson and the introduction of Franklin Pierce's name on the thirty-fifth ballot, which re- sulted in nomination on the forty-ninth, has no parallel in the history of American political conventions. William R. King was nominated on the second ballot for Vice-Presi- dent. The Whigs met at Baltimore June 16 and an uproarious session of six days followed. There were no sudden or startling changes, as in the Democratic convention, but the gain of the successful candidate was slow and gradual. The candidates were Scott, Webster and Fillmore, and the number necessary to a choice was 147. Scott began with 131 votes and increased his number slowly until the fifty- third ballot, when he had 159. Fillmore began with 133 and ended with 112. Webster began with 29 and ended with 21. William A. Graham was nominated on the second ballot for Vice-President. The Free-Soil Democrats held their convention at Pitts- burg August 11, Henry Wilson presiding. All the free and several of the slave states were represented. John P. Hale and George W. Julian were nominated for President and Vice-President, respectively, but at the subsequent election received no electoral votes. The number of electoral votes was 296, and of these Pierce and King received 254, while Scott and Graham received only 42. In this contest Pierce and King carried all the states except Tennessee, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Vermont. 240 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 1856. Four conventions were held in 1856. The first in order was that of the American National Council, which met in Phila- delphia, February 19, and was presided over by E. B. Bart- lett. Three days were spent in adopting a platform, which was mainly a " know-nothing," anti-administration declara- tion. A President was nominated on the first ballot, which stood: Fillmore 179, Law 24, Raynor 14, McLean 13, Davis 10, and Houston 10. Andrew J. Donelson was nominated for Vice-President on the first ballot. The Democrats met at Cincinnati June 2, John E. Ward presiding. Pro-slavery and state-rights resolutions of the strongest character were adopted and seventeen ballots were taken before a nomination was made. The candidates were Buchanan, Pierce, Cass and Douglas. Buchanan began with 135 votes and gained steadily to 296, a unanimous nomination. Pierce began with 122 and fell off gradually until the last ballot. Douglas began with 33 votes, rose to 121, and on the last ballot had 3^ votes. The highest vote received by Cass was 7. Ten candidates sought the vice- presidential nomination, but on the second ballot all with- drew except Breckinridge, who was unanimously nomi- nated. The first Republican national convention assembled in Philadelphia June 17, Henry S. Lane, of Indiana, being chosen presiding officer. The platform was decidedly anti- slavery. An informal ballot for President was taken to test the preferences of the delegates, and showed 359 votes for John C. Fremont, against 196 for McLean. The nomination of Fremont was at once declared unanimous. An informal ballot for Vice-President was taken, which resulted as fol- lows: Henry C. Carey received 3 votes, S. C. Pomeroy 8, John A. King 9, Henry Wilson 9, A. C. M. Pennington 1, N. P. Banks 46, W. F. Johnston 2, J. R. Giddings 2, Jacob Col- lamer 15, Cassius M. Clay 4, Charles Sumner 35, Thomas Ford 7, David Wilmot 43, Abraham Lincoln 110, and Will- iam L. Dayton 259. The latter was unanimously nominated, but this informal ballot will always be memorable as show- ing the popularity of Mr. Lincoln at this early day. The Whigs met at Baltimore September 17, Edward Bates presiding. The platform deprecated the reign of strong partisan feeling and advocated peace and quiet. Fillmore and Donelson were unanimously nominated, but in the sub- sequent election carried only Maryland. Of the 296 electoral votes Buchanan and Breckinridge received 174, Fremont and Dayton 114, and Fillmore a^nd Donelson 8. HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 241 1860. The year 1860 marks a new era in American politics and the conventions of this year show the great upheaval that had taken place in the minds of the people. An account of the conventions of this year is given more in detail for this reason. The national Democratic convention met at Charleston April 23. Every state in the Union was repre- sented by full delegations, but the party dissensions in Illinois and New York caused the sending of two delegations from each of these states. Francis B. Flournoy was chosen temporary chairman. The exclusion of the " Wood " dele- gation from New York and the admission of the Douglas delegation from Illinois inflamed the southern members of the convention at the very start, and much angry debate followed. Caleb Cushing was chosen permanent chairman and a platform committee was selected, it being insisted that a platform was necessary before a candidate was nominated. The platform committee wrangled four days and were unable to agree and accordingly four platforms were submitted to the convention from which to select one. The platform presented by the majority of the committee declared "that Congress had no power to abolish slavery in the territories; that the territorial Legislature had no power to abolish slavery in the territories, nor to prohibit the intro- duction of slavery therein, nor any power to destroy or impair the right of property in slaves by any legislation whatever;" and " that it is the duty of the Federal govern- ment to protect the rights of persons and property on the high seas, in the territories, or wherever else its jurisdiction extends." These ultra pro-slavery declarations were dis- sented from by others of the committee who, headed by Henry B. Payne, brought in a minority report, reaffirming the Cincinnati platform of 1856, which advocated the non- interference of Congress with slavery in the territories and declared that slavery was a question of property as such should be decided by the Supreme Court and pledged the Democracy to abide by the decision of that court. This minority report was signed by members of the committee from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Con- necticut, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,Wis- consin, Iowa, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania. A third report was presented by Gen. B. F. Butler, which indorsed the Cincinnati platform with some trivial altera- tions. A fourth report was presented by T. A. Bayard, which also affirmed the Cincinnati platform with the proviso that all cui/ens had equal rights in the territories. These reports were all sent back to the committee and on the next day 242 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. Mr. Avery brought in a modified platform from the majority. This assorted the rights of the slave-holders in the terri- tories and when a sufficient number of inhabitants were in any territory, the same should be admitted as a state with- out taking the slavery question into consideration at all. The minority report was brought in by Mr. Samuels, of Iowa, and embodied the same measures that were urged by the three minority reports previously submitted. The majority report was adopted by the convention by a vote of 165 to 138. This action of the convention was bitterly re- sented by the Sothern delegates, and the delegation of Ala- bama offered a protest to the proceedings and afterward with- drew from the convention. The delegations from Florida, Mississippi and Texas followed the lead of Alabama. Parts of the delegations from Louisiana, South Carolina, Arkan- sas, Delaware and North Carolina also withdrew. After the withdrawal of these delegates, the convention proceeded to ballot for President. The full convention contained 303 members, but a large number had withdrawn, so that a two- thirds vote of 202 members would be difficult for any one candidate to secure. The two-thirds rule prevailed and the result was that no nomination was made at Charleston. Fifty-seven ballots were taken, however, the candidates being Douglas, Guthrie, Hunter, Dickinson, Andrew John- son, Lane, Jefferson Davis, Toucy and Pierce. The candi- date who had the highest vote was Douglas, who received 152j^. The convention adjourned to meet at Baltimore on the 18th of June. At the appointed time full representations were present from all those states which had not withdrawn from the Charleston convention, and the delegations that had left that convention were excluded from this. Enraged at this exclusion of the seceding delegates the delegations from Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, California and Delaware, together with portions of the delegations from Maryland, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Missouri retired from the convention. Mr. Gushing, the chairman, also retired, and Gen. Todd, of Ohio, was chosen in his place. Balloting for President began, Douglas, Breckinridge and Guthrie being placed in nomination. Two ballots were taken. On the first Breckinridge received 5, Guthrie 10 and Douglas 173^. On the second Guthrie received 5^, Breck- inridge 7^ and Douglas 181^. After the second ballot Douglas was unanimously nominated. Fitzpatrick was nominated for Vice-President, but declined, and Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, was substituted. HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 243 The seceders from the Baltimore convention met in that city June 28. In all, twenty-one states were fully or in part represented, but there were no delegates from Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina or Wiscon- sin. Caleb Gushing presided. The two-thirds rule was adopted and the delegates who had been refused admission to the regular convention were urged to unite with this body. The Avery platform, upon which the Charleston convention had split, was unanimously adopted. One ballot was taken for President, John C. Breckinridge receiving 105 votes, being the whole number of delegates present. Joseph Lane, of Oregon, was nominated on the first ballot for Vice- President. The band of seceders from the Charleston conven- tion met at Richmond June 11 and organized by choosing John Erwin as chairman. Delegates were present from Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. This convention did nothing more than ratify the nomina- tions of Breckinridge and Lane made by the Baltimore seceders. A Constitutional Union convention was held at Baltimore May 9. It promulgated strictly Union and Constitutional principles. The candidates for President were John Bell, Sam Houston, John M. Butts, John McLean, J. J.Crittenden, Edward Everett, W. L. Goggin, W. A. Graham, W. L. Sharkey and \V. C. Rives. Bell and Everett were unan- imously nominated. The Republican national convention met in Chicago May 16. It was called to order by David Wilmot and was composed of delegates from all the free states, together with representatives from Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri. George Ash- mun, of Massachusetts, was chosen permanent chairman. The majority rule in nominating candidates was adopted. The platform adopted boldly declared the condition to which the country had been reduced was due to the continued years of Democratic rule, and promulgated Republican doctrines in regard to slavery in the territories. The eighth plank in the platform was specially directed against slavery and declared it to be a shameless institution and that it should not be spread in the territories of the United States. The candidates for President were many, including Seward, Lincoln, Wade, Cameron, Bates, McLean, Reade, 244 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. Chase, Dayton, Sumner, Fremont, Callamer and C. M. Clay. The result of the balloting was as follows: 1 2 3 Seward . 173^ 184 y> 180 Lincoln .... 102 181 231 K Wade 3 Cameron 50^ Bates . ... 48 35 22 McLean 12 8 5 Reade 1 Chase 49 42^ 24# Dayton 14 10 1 Sumner 1 Fremont 1 Callamer 10 Clay 2 1 After the third ballot Lincoln lacked only 2>^ votes of a nomination. A change of 4 votes in Ohio from Chase to Lincoln made his . nomination assured. Changes rapidly followed until the nomination was made unanimous. The balloting for Vice-President was: 1 2 101K 86 Banks 38 y. Reeder 51 Hickman 58 18 Hamlin 194 367 Read 1 Davis 8 Dayton 3 Houston . . 6 The whole number of electoral votes was 315, of which Lincoln and Hamlin received 180, Breckinridge and Lane 72, Bell and Everett 39, and Douglas and Johnson 12. HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 245 1864. The war was in progress in 1864 and the nominating conventions were few and devoid of any interest except such as arose from the question of preservation of the Union. The Republicans met in Baltimore June 7, William Den- nison, of Ohio, presiding. There was a very full representation of delegates, many being admitted from the states actually in rebellion. The con- vention was unanimously in favor of Lincoln's renomination, and on the first ballot he received 497 votes, being the entire vote of the convention except 22 votes from Missouri, which were given to Gen. Grant. The Vice-Presidential candi- dates were Hamlin, L. H. Rosseau, D. S. Dickinson arid Andrew Johnson. As the first ballot was taken every one perceived the great numerical strength of Johnson, and he was nominated on the first ballot. The Democrats met in Chicago August 19. Horatio Sey- mour was the permanent president. The attendance of delegates was by no means full and little interest was mani- fested in the convention either by the people or the dele- gates. George B. McClellan was nominated for President on the first ballot, receiving 202^ votes, while Seymour received 23^. The candidates for Vice-President were Pendleton, Guthrie, D. W. Voorhees, G. W. Cass, August Dodge, J. D. Catron, Powell and Phelps. Before the second ballot all had withdrawn, leaving Mr. Pendleton a clear field, and he was nominated. The number of electoral votes was 331 and of these Lincoln and Johnson received 212 and McClellan and Pendleton 21. 1868. The Republicans led off in the conventions of the year, meeting at Chicago May 20, with Gen. Hawley as presiding officer. There was only one sentiment in the party regard- ing a presidential candidate, and Gen. Grant received every vote in the convention on the first ballot. For the vice- presidency there was more difference of opinion. Colfax, Wade, Hamlin, Fenton, Wilson, Curtin, Kelly, Harlan, Pomeroy, Speid, and Cresswell all sought the nomina- tion. Five ballots were taken, a.nd Colfax was unanimously nominated on the fifth. The Democrats met in the city of New York on July 4. Horatio Seymour presided. There were a large number of aspirants for the presidential nomination, including Han- 246 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. cock, Hendricks, Seymour, English, Doolittle, Johnson, Chase, McClellan, Field, Hoffman, Blair, and Pendleton. Twenty-two ballots were taken, and Seymour was nomi- nated while seated in the chair guiding the deliberations of the convention. Frank P. Blair was nominated on the first ballot for Vice-President. The number of electoral votes was 294, of which Grant and Colfax received 214, and Seymour and Blair 80. 1872. The first convention of the year was that of the national Prohibition party. This party had been organized at a meet- ing called for that purpose at Chicago September 1, 1869. The name first adopted was the Anti-Dramshop party, but before the meeting adjourned the name was changed. The party convention met at Columbus, O., February 22, 1872. The Rev. John Russell called the convention to order; the Hon. Henry Fish was chosen temporary, and the Hon. S. P. Chase permanent chairman. The platform declared for prohibition in the sale of intoxicating liquors, and for suff- rage without regard to " color, race, former social condition, sex, or nationality." The subject of nominations was referred to a committee of 13, who reported the name of James Black, of Pennsylvania, for President, and that of the Rev. John Russell, of Michigan, for Vice-President. The chief interest, however, in the campaign of 1872 centered in the Liberal Republican movement. This move- ment originated in Missouri in 1870, its chief instigators being Carl Schurz and B. Gratz Brown. It consisted of moderate Democrats and disgruntled Republicans, who united in a state campaign in support of the "Liberal ticket." A mass state convention was called by the Repub- lican wing of the party to meet at Jefferson City January 24, 1872, and at this meeting nearly every county in the state was represented. It closed its proceedings by issuing a call for a national convention at Cincinnati on the first Monday in May, " to take such action as their convictions of duty and of public exigencies may require." January 9 the Democratic State Central committee of Missouri issued an address favoring the making of no nominations in 1872, and the support of the candidate of the disaffected Repub- licans. On May 1 a large convention of Liberal Republicans assembled in Cincinnati, and organized by making Carl Schurz, of Missouri, the permanent chairman. A platform was adopted, which was believed to be broad enough to accommodate Democrats as well as Republicans. Without HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 247 the formal naming of candidates the balloting for President began. Six ballots were taken, with the following result: 0) & a> a S 00 o> a OT a a . a *n5 tn 03 T3 2 jl cd C 3 8 n PM o i 0} ^ cS 3 tf cd j5* g CQ 8 W ^ ^ W 1? 2 3 The Democratic national convention met in St. Louis June 28, and was organized by the choice of John A. Mc- Clernand as chairman. The platform was called the reform platform, because it proposed to reform, all the alleged abuses which had grown up under the Republican rule. One of the planks denounced "the present tariff levied upon nearly 4,000 articles as a masterpiece of injustice, inequality, and false pretense. It yields a dwindling, not a yearly rising revenue. It has impoverished many indus- tries to subsidize a few. It prohibits imports that might 250 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. purchase the products of American labor. It has degraded American commerce from the first to an inferior rank on the high seas. It has cut down the sales of American manufacture at home and abroad, and depleted the returns of American agriculture, an industry followed by half our people. * * * It promotes fraud, fosters smuggling, enriches dishonest officials, and bankrupts honest mer- chants. We demand that all custom-house taxation shall be for revenue only." There were 738 delegates. The vote for presidential candidate stood: First ballot, Samuel J. Tilden 404^, William Allen 54, A. G. Thurman 3, Thomas A. Hendricks 140^, T. F. Bayard 33, Joel Parker 18, W. S. Hancock 75, M. Broadhead, 16. The second ballot stood: Tilden 535, Allen 54, Thurman 2, Hendricks 85, Bayard 4, Hancock 58; necessary for a choice, 492. Mr. Hendricks was nominated for Vice-President. There being a dispute over the electoral votes of Florida, Louisiana, Oregon and South Carolina, they were referred by Congress to an electoral commission, composed of eight Republicans and seven Democrats, which, by a strict party vote, awarded 185 electoral votes to Hayes and Wheeler, and 184 to Tilden and Hendricks. 1880. Gen. Grant returned to the United States from a trip around the world late in 1879. He had everywhere been received with a distinguished consideration that was grati- fying to the pride of the American people. His return under these circumstances caused his name to be con- nected with the Republican nomination for the presidency for a third term. No sooner was this done than a strong opposition to his nomination appeared in the Republican party. So strong was this sentiment that a Republican Anti- Third Term convention was held in St. Louis on May 6, pre- sided over by J. B. Henderson, at which strong resolutions were adopted opposing the nomination of Gen. Grant. In many states, notably New York, the sentiment in favor of Grant was equally prominent. The national convention met in Chicago June 2, and a six days' session followed. George F. Hoar was both temporary and permanent presi- dent of the convention. A long controversy ensued ovej the power of state conventions to name delegates from the congressional districts, and bind their action by instructions. Several days were spent in debating this question, and it was finally decided that state conventions had not the power to bind district delegates by instructions^ This decision resulted in the loss of many votes for Gen. Grant HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 251 The platform did not differ greatly from previous party utterances. The fifth plank, however, contained this sen- tence: " We affirm the belief, avowed in 1876, that the duties levied for purposes of revenue should so discriminate as to favor American labor." This was all that was said regard- ing a tariff. The first ballot for President was taken on the 7th, the fifth day of the convention, and before a nomination was made 36 ballots were necessary. The vote in detail was as follows: -S S , . r/; e . g a C3 .3 Eg a s i a a i | 3 +3 a 3 j a 3 1 I .a .'jQ 1 a 1 w a CO 1 aJ o & o 0$ a CO I 03 1... 304 284 "93 34 30 10 19.. 305 279 96 31 32 10 1 2... 305 284 94 32 31 10 20.. 308 276 93 31 35 10 1 3... 305 282 93 32 31 10 i 21.. 305 276 96 31 35 10 1 4... 305 281 95 32 31 10 1 22.. 305 275 97 31 35 10 1 5... 305 281 95 32 31 10 1 23.. 304 275 97 31- 36 10 2 6... 305 281 95 31 31 10 2 24.. 305 279 93 31 35 10' 2 7... 305 281 94 32 31 10 2 25.. 302 281 94 31 35 10 2 8... 306 284 91 32 31 10 1 26.. 303 280 93 31 36 10 2 9... 308 282 90 31 32 10 2 27.. 306 277 93 31 36 10 2 10... 305 282 9231 32 10 2 28.. 307 279 91 31 35 10 2 11... 305 281 93 31 32 10 2i 29.. 305 278 116 12 35 7 2 12... 304 283 92 31 33 10 1 30.. 307 279 118 11 33 4 1 13... 305 285 89 31 33 10 1 31.. 308 276 118 11 37 3 1 14... 305 285 89 31 35 10 32.. 309 270 119 11 35 3 1 15... 309 281 88 31 36 10 !!! 33.. 309 276 110 11 44 4 1 16... 306 283 88 31 36 10 34.. 312 275 107 11 30 4 17 17... 303 284 90 31 36 10 35.. 313 257 99 11 23 3 50 18... 305 283 91 31 35 10 36.. 307 42 3 5 399 Besides these 1 vote was" cast for Harrison on the third ballot, 1 for Hayes on each of the tenth, eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth ballots, 1 for McCrary on the thirteenth and 1 for Hartranfton each of the nineteenth, twentieth, twenty- first and twenty-second ballots. Chester A. Arthur was nom- inated on the first ballot for Vice-President. The Greenback or National Greenback-Labor party took 'an active part in the canvass, its convention being held at Chicago on the 9th of June. The first ballot for a presi- dential candidate was informal and resulted as follows: James B. Weaver 224^, Herrick B. Wright 126^, Stephen B. Dillage 119, B. F. Butler 95, Solon Chase 89, E. P. Ahls 252 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 41, and Alexander Campbell 21. By a change of votes be- fore a result was announced Gen. Weaver was unanimously nominated. Gen. James B. Chambers was nominated for Vice-President. The Prohibitionists met at Cleveland June 17. The num- ber of delegates present was 142. The Rev. A. A. Miner was chosen permanent chairman. Neal Dow, of Maine, and A. H. Thompson, of Ohio, were nominated for President and Vice-President by a rising vote. The Democratic convention was held at Cincinnati June 22. It was expected that Mr. Tilden would be the nominee, but two days prior to the meeting of the convention he pub- lished a letter withdrawing his name. Gen. Stevenson was chosen permanent chairman. The platform declared for "no sumptuary laws, separation of church and state, com- mon schools fostered and protected, home rule, honest money, consistency of gold and silver and paper convertible into coin on demand, the strict maintenance of the public faith, state and national, and a tariff for revenue only." Three ballots were taken, resulting as follows: 1 2 3 1 2 3 Hancock .. Hendricks 171 49 y> 320 31 705J 30 i English . . . Morrison 1 62 19 Bayard 1537-2 111 2 Seymour 8 Tilden 38 6 1 Payne 81 Thurman 68 V> 50 Ewiner. . 10 Field 65 65> McClellan . 3 Randall . . . 6 128K William H. English was chosen for Vice-President on the first ballot. The result of the election was: Garfield and Arthur 214 electoral votes and Hancock and English 155 electoral votes. 1884. The Republican national convention met in Chicago June 3. John B. Henderson was chosen permanent chair- man. The platform was reported by William McKinley, Jr., of Ohio, and contained the first declaration in favor of a protective tariff ever made by the party. It was as follows: " It is the first duty of a good government to protect the rights and promote the interests of its own people. The largest diversity of industry is most productive of general HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS, 253 prosperity and of the comfort and independence of the people. We therefore demand that the imposition of duties on foreign imports shall be made, not for revenue only, but that in raising the requisite revenues for the government such duties shall be so levied as to afford security to our diversified industries and protection to the rights and wages of the laborer to the end that active and intelligent labor, as well as capital, may have its just reward and the labor- ing man his full share in the national prosperity." The balloting for a presidential candidate followed the adoption of the platform and resulted as follows: 1 2 3 4 334^ 349 375 541 Chester A. Arthur 278 276 274 207 G. F. Edmunds 93 85 69 41 John A. Logan 63K 61 53 7 John Sherman 30 28 25 J. R. Hawley 13 13 13 15 Robert T. Lincoln 4 4 8 2 W.T.Sherman 2 2 Gen. Logan was nominated for Vice-Pfesident without opposition. The Democrats met in Chicago July , William F. Vilas, of Wisconsin, being the presiding officer. The platform stated: " We therefore denounce the abuses of the existing tariff, and, subject to the pending limitations, we demand that Federal taxation shall be exclusively for public pur- poses and shall not exceed the needs of the government economically administered." The platform was very long. Gen. Butler submitted a minority report, which was a formal and explicit declaration in favor of a protective tariff, but the report was rejected by a vote of 97 ^ yeas to 714j^ nays. Two ballots were taken for presidential nominee, which stood as follows: 1 2 1 1 2 Grover Cleveland. 392 683 |j. G. Carlisle... fl7 T. F. Bayard Joseph McDonald S. J. Randall A. G. Thurman... 170 56 78 88 81 Y 2 !i George Hoadly. T. A. Hendricks S. J. Tilden [ R. P. Flower. . . 3 1 1 4 '45^ 17 254 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. Mr. Hendricks was nominated for Vice-President. The Prohibition convention assembled at Pittsburg July 23, there being 416 accredited delegates present from thirty- one states and territories. Samuel Dickie, of Michigan, was chosen permanent chairman. John P. St. John, of Kansas, was nominated for President and William Daniel, of Maryland, for Vice-President. The platform demanded prohibition in the manufacture and sale of intoxicants, the ballot for women, and arraigned both the old parties for the ills that beset the people. A national convention of the Anti-Monopoly party met in Chicago May 14 and nominated Benjamin F. Butler for President. The national Greenback-Labor party met at In- dianapolis May 27, and was presided over by Gen. J. B. Weaver. Gen. Butler was asked if he would accept the presidential nomination from the party, and, responding in the affirmative, he was nominated on the first ballot. Ab- salom M. West was selected for the vice-presidency. The platform favored substituting greenbacks for national bank notes, the destruction of " land, railroad, money and other gigantic corporate monopolies," and favored raising the revenues by duties on luxuries. The Electoral College had 401 votes, of which Cleveland and Hendricks received 219, and Elaine and Logan 182. The Democratic convention met in St. Louis June 5, and organized with Patrick A. Collins for permanent chairman. For some time before the meeting the renomination of Mr. Cleveland was conceded, and the only interest centered in the vice-presidency. For the second office only two names were before the convention Isaac P. Gray, of Indiana, and Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio. Mr. Thurman was nominated on the first ballot, receiving 690 votes to 105 for Mr. Gray and 25 for John C. Black, of Illinois. ( > \ The Republicans met at Chicago June 19. In the early part of the year it seemed probable that Mr. Blaine would be the nominee of the convention, but on the 12th of Feb- ruary, in a letter addressed by him to B. F. Jones, dated in Florence, he said that as personal reasons would prevent him from entering the contest, his name "would not be pre- sented to the convention." No serious efforts had been made in behalf of any candidate except John Sherman, whose nomination had been urged by the Ohio state con- vention in July, 1887. After the letter of Mr. Blaine other State conventions recommended the nomination of "favorite HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 255 sons." May 30 Mr. Elaine wrote another letter in which he said that he could not accept the nomination without show- ing bad faith toward those candidates who, relying on his former letter, were already in the field, and therefore he could not accept at all. The convention organized by choosing John M. Thurston temporary and M. Estee for permanent chairman. The platform was presented on the third day. On the tariff the platform said: "We are un- compromisingly in favor of the American system of protec- tion; we protest against its destruction as proposed by the President and his party. They serve the interests of Europe; we will support the interests of America. We accept the issue and confidently appeal to the people for their judg- ment. The protective system must be maintained." Eight ballots were taken in nominating a presidential candidate. as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Alger . . . 84 116 199 185 143 187 120 100 Depew 99 93 91 Gresham 107 108 118 98 87 91 91 59 Hawley 18 Phelps 95 18 5 Sherman 8?9 949 944 985 ?94 944 980 118 Lincoln 8 9 1 9, Allison 79 75 78 88 99 78 76 Fitler 94 . Harrison 85 91 94 916 919 981 979 544 ingalls 98 16 Rusk 95 90 18 Elaine 85 88 85 42 48 40 15 5 McKinley 9 3 8 11 19 16 4 Foraker 1 Douglas 1 14 .... The vice-presidency went to Levi P. Morton on the first ballot. The Prohibitionists met at Indianapolis MaySO and or- ganized by choosing H. C. Delano for temporary and Gen. St. John for permanent chairman. Gen. Clinton B. Fisk was nominated for President and John A. Brooks for Vice- President. Considerable discussion arose over the platform, especially upon the subject of woman suffrage, which was decided in favor of unlimited suffrage. 256 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. The United Labor party held its convention May 15, at Cincinnati, 274 delegates being present. This party was formed February 22, 1887, at a convention held in the same city, to which delegates had been invited from the labor and farmer organizations, includingKnights of Labor, Wheelers, the Corn-growers, the Homesteadry, Farmers' Alliances, Greenbackers and Grangers. The convention nominated A. J. Streeter, of Illinois, for President and C. E. Cunning- ham, of Arkansas, for Vice-President. The platform, after reciting the hardships of farmers and laborers, declared against land monopoly, for government ownership of rail- roads, postal savings banks, free coinage of silver, arbitra- tion in strike disputes, a service pension bill, a graduated income tax, popular election of senators, exclusion of the Chinese, and female suffrage. The Union Labor convention was held in Cincinnati May 16. The party was made up from the Greenbackers, farm- ers' organizations and other labor reformers. The conven- tion consisted of 90 delegates, representing nine states. Robert H. Cowdrey, of Illinois, was nominated for Presi- dent and W. H. T. Wakefield, of Kansas, for Vice-President. The platform demanded public ownership of land, taxing of land according to value instead of area, government own- ership of railroads and telegraphs, reduction in hours of labor, simplification of court proceedings, and denounced both the old parties as " hopelessly and shamelessly cor- rupt." The national convention of the American party was held at Washington August 14, 126 delegates being present, more than half of whom were from New York. The opposition to the dictation of New York led to the withdrawal of 25 delegates from other states. James L. Curtis, of New York, was nominated for President and James R. Greer, of Ten- nessee, for Vice-President. The platform demanded full cit- zenship as a qualification for voting, a protective tariff, restriction of immigration, repeal of naturalization laws, and denial of the right of aliens to hold real estate. f Several minor conventions were held during the year. The first of these was the industrial reform convention held at Washington, February 22, which nominated Albert E. Redstone, of California, for President, and John Colvin, of Kansas, for Vice-President. The new party had no support at the polls and cut no figure in politics. The national equal rights party was another political nonentity. It held a convention at Des Moines, la., May 15, and nominated Mrs. Belva A.*Lockwood, for President, and A. H. Love, for Vice-President. Mr. Love declined and Charles S. HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS. 257 Wells was substituted. A demand for woman suffrage and equal rights of man and woman was the only important feature of the platform. The greenbackers met at Cincin- nati, September 12, but as only eight delegates were present, no nominations were made. There were 401 votes in the Electoral College, and of these Harrison and Morton re- ceived 233 and Cleveland and Thurman 168. 1892. The Republicans led off in the conventions of 1892, meeting at Minneapolis, June 7. J. Sloat Fassett was chosen temporary and William McKinley permanent chairman. Preceding the convention the exciting question had been as to whether Mr. Elaine would accept the nomi- nation if tendered him. He had previously addressed a note to Mr. Clarkson saying his name would not go before the convention, but his friends declared he would accept the nomination if tendered to him. There was no other name mentioned for the nomination except that of Mr. Har- rison. Mr. Elaine's resignation of the secretaryship of state was deemed to answer the question of his acceptance in the affirmative. A question- arose early in the convention which settled the strength of the two factions. Two re- ports from the committee of credentials were presented. The Harrison men favored the majority report, the Elaine men the minority report, the former of which was adopted. The platform reaffirmed the doctrine of ultraprotection and will be found complete among the national platforms. Pres dent Harrison was nominated on the first ballot, 905 vot^d being cast; of these Harrison had 535 1-6, McKinley 182, Elaine 181 5-6, Reid 4, and Lincoln 1. The Democrats met in Chicago June 21. W. C. Owens was made temporary and W. L. Wilson permanent chair- man. The convention was in many respects a peculiar one in the history of party meetings. It was evident before the convention that Mr. Cleveland was the choice for a large majority of the rank and file of the Democratic- party and that he was opposed by the politicians of his party, the bit- terest opposition to him being in his own state. The regu- lar delegation, from that state was unanimous for David B. Hill's nomination and in favor of any candidate to beat Cleveland. Only one vote was taken in the convention. The number of delegates was 910. The vote stood: Cleve- land 617^, Boies 103, Hill 114, Gorman 36^, Carlisle 14, Stevenson 16%, Morrison 3, Campbell 2, Russell 1, Whit- ney 1, and Pattison 1. The vote on Vice-President stood: 258 HISTORY OF ALL NOMINATING CONVENTIONS, Stevenson 402, Gray 843, Mitchell 45, Morse 86, Watterson 26, Cockran 5, Tree 1, and Boies 1. O The Prohibitionists met at Cincinnati June 29. Gov. St. John was temporary and Eli Ritter was permanent chairman. The important question before the convention was that of fusion with some of the new parties, but the idea met with no favor. Gen. John Bidwell was nominated on the first ballot, the vote standing: Bidwell 590, Demorest 139, Stewart 179. The vote for vice-presidential candidate stood: Cranfill 386, Levering 380, Satterlee 26, Carskadon 21. Before the vote was announced enough changes were made to give Cranfill 416, or nine more than enough. Bid- well and Cranfill were declared the nominees of the party. The People's Party convention met at Omaha July 4. The permanent chairman was H. L. Loucks, of South Da- kota. Only one ballot was taken for President and was as follows: Weaver 995, Kyle 265. J. G. Field was nominated for Vice-President on the first ballot. A convention of Socialists was held in New York August 28.^ The nominee for President was Simon Wing, of Mas- sachusetts, and for Vice-President Charles H. Matchett, of New York. 1896. The first nominating convention was held by the prohibi- tionists, May 27, at Pittsburg. For some time there had been difference of opinion concerning the platform. The narrow- gaugers, as they were called, demanded that prohibition be the one and only issue recognized in the platform. The broad-guagers just as emphatically protested and insisted that free silver, woman's suffrage, and other questions be included. In the adoption of the platform the question of free silver was paramount to every other. The vote on the free silver plank was 387 for and 427 against. After the rejection of this plank the convention adopted a substitute in which prohibition was the only question recognized. Joshua Levering, of Maryland, was nominated for president and Hale Johnson, of Illinois, for vice-president. Mr. Samuel Dickie was selected chairman of the National Com- mittee. A number of "the free silver delegates with Gov- ernor St. John as their leader left the convention and organized the " National Party," of which Rev. C. E. Bentley of Nebraska, was the nominee for president and J. H. Sou*hgate of North Carolina, for vice-president. HISTORY OF ALL POLITICAL CONVENTIONS. 259 The Eleventh National Convention of the Republican party was held at St. Louis, June 16th. This was the first Republican convention held west of the Mississippi, and the first' held in a state that has always been certainly Democratic. The pre-eminent plank in the platform is the money plank. A gold standard was adopted by a vote of 818^ to 110^. The platform declared for moderate pro- tection. The vote for candidate was as follows: McKinley, 661K; Reed,84^; Morton, 58; Quay, 61^; Allison, 35^- Garret Hobart was nominated as Vice-President. Im- mediately after the adoption of the currency plank Senator Teller, of Colorado, made a statement defining the position of the silver delegates, whereupon he and thirty-three other delegates left the convention. Senator Teller was one of the founders of the Republican party, served as senator for a number of terms, and was respected even by those who differed from him. His speech before the convention is described as an affecting one, tears rolline p down his cheeks as he bade his party good-bye. Mr. McKinley's nomination was universally approved and received with much enthusiasm throughout the coun- try. Mr. Mark Hanna, who managed Mr. McKinley's can- vass, was appointed Chairman of the National Committee. Before the meeting of the Democratic Convention in Chicago, July 7th, it was known that the silver men had more than a majority. Some of the silver delegates urged the nomination of Senator Teller, who recently bolted the Republican party, while others opposed the measure. Chairman Harrity called the convention to order and by direction of the National Committee reported Senator Hill, of New York, for temporary chairman. The silver men were too anxious for victory to permit a "gold man," aC they termed him, to be even temporary chairman, and nom- inated John W. Daniel as temporary chairman. No appeal on the part or the gold standard men for chivalrous, courteous, judicious treatment on the part of the majority, no pleading not to violate tradition, no concession, would satisfy the majority. Daniel was elected by a vote of 556 to 349, Senator Hill not voting. It was very evident from the first that the gold men had no rights which the silver men were inclined to respect. The silver men seemed to be intoxicated by their victory, and no eloquent pleadings could prevent them from seating their delegates m contested cases. Stephen White, of California, was chosen permanent chairman. The platform declared for free silver. Eloquent speeches were delivered on both sides. The gold democrats charged gallantly upon the HISTORY OF ALL POLITICAL CONVENTIONS. convention. The silver men stood firmly to their guns. W. J. Bryan, an ex-Congressman from Nebraska, in closing a masterly address in favor of free siver said, " We answer the demands for a gold standard by saying you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." The most dramatic scene in the history of the convention en- sued. Mr. Bryan became the man of the hour and stood in the front rank of the possible presidential candidates. The platform adopted satisfied the most radical of silver men. A number of delegations where the gold men were in the majority concluded not to bolt the convention, but to ab- stain from voting for candidates. The result of the ballots is as follows: Bland 1 9f\ 2 ?81 3 ?91 4 241 1 2 2 3 4 Boies.... 86 37 36 83 Russell . . 2 * * " ' * * Matthews K7 ft4 81 36 Stevenson 9 10 9 McLean 54 53 54 46 Tillman .. . 17 105 1P7 ?,19 280 Hill 1 1 1 Blackburn 88 4 ?7 Teller 8 3 Pattison . 95 100 97 "" 10 * votinc. . . , 185 160 1fifl 1fiB Before the fifth ballot was completed the McLean and Bland men, realizing the inevitable, withdrew the names of their respective candidates, and in the midst of a storm of wild enthusiasm Bryan was unanimously nominated. Arthur SewaH,of Maine, was nominated for Vice-President. William E. Russell, who had been elected governor of Massachusetts for three times and who stood in the front ranks of the Democracy of New England, made an earnest protest against the adoption of the silver platform. The following week he died very suddenly, although not yet forty years ol'd. As this was his last speech we here give extracts from it. Mr. Chairman and Members of this Convention: I have but one word to say. The time is past for debate upon the merits of this issue. I am conscious, painfully conscious, that the mind of this convention is not and has not been open to argument and reason. I know that the will of its great majority, which has seen fit to override precedent, to trample down rights, to attack the sovereignty of states, is to be rigidly enforced, I know that an appeal even will fall upon deaf ears There is but one thing left to us, and that, the voice of protest, and that voice I raise, not in bitterness, aot questioning the sincerity, the honesty, of any Democtat; that voice I utter with a feeling of infinite sorrow. And, mark me, my friends, the country, our country, if not this THE POLITICAL LANDSLIDES. 961 convention, will listen to our protest. I speak for one of the smallest states of this Union; not great in territory or population; not prominent in her material resources, but glorious in her history; great in her character, in her loyalty to truth, in her devotion to principle and duty, and in the sacrifices she has willingly made for independence, liberty, and our country. That state has taught us, her children, to place principle above expediency; courage above time- serving, and patriotism above party. And in the cause of justice and of right not to flinch, no matter how great the majority or how overbearing may be its demands. We did not think that we should live to see the time when these great Democratic principles which have triumphed over Republicanism should be forgotten in a Democratic convention, and we should be invited under new and radical leadership to a new and radical policy; that we should be asked to give up vital principles for which we have labored and suffered repudiate Democratic platforms and administrations, and at the demands of a section urging expediency, be asked to adopt a policy which many of us believe invites peril to our country and disaster to our party. " Oh, that from this great majority, with its power, there might come the one word of concession and conciliation! Oh, that from you there might be held out the olive branch of peace, under which all Democrats united could rally to a great victory." The Populists met at St. Louis, July 24, and after many very exciting scenes, nominated Wm. J. Bryan, for Presi- dent, and Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia, for Vice President. The financial question was uppermost, although Coxey and others attempted to press their different hobbies to the front. The Political Landslides of American History. 1. Changes in Controlling Party. It sometimes occurs that a party that has been put in power of the government by a decided majority, is overturned at the next election by as great or even greater majorities. The result is called a "landslide." 2. Not Uncommon in Our History. Although the word is new in that sense the thing itself has not been uncommon 18 282 THE POLITICAL LANDSLIDES. in our history. Jefferson was elected by a narrow majority in 1800. Four years later three states only gave electoral votes against him. 3. Election of President by the House of Representa- tives. In 1824 the country was so closely divided that the election of the President was thrown into the House of Representatives. In 1828 more than five-sixths of the elect- oral votes outside of New England were for Jackson. The Harrison campaign of 1840 was followed by a memorable "landslide." No less than nine states which Van Buren had carried in 1836 voted for Harrison. 4. General Taylor. General Taylor was elected by the Whigs in 1848 by a large plurality on the popular vote and by a majority of thirty-six of the electors. In 1852 Franklin Pierce, the Democratic candidate, had nearly a quarter of a million plurality of popular votes, and carried all the states but four. The vote of the electors was more than six to one in his favor. 5. General Grant. Coming to more recent times. Gen- eral Grant was elected President for a second term in 1872 by a popular majority of more than three-quarters of a mill- ion votes, and carried thirty of the thirty-seven states. In 1874 the Democrats were everywhere successful, and car- ried the House of Representatives by a large majority. 6. Great Change. Then, in 1888, Harrison was elected President by sixty- five majority of the electoral votes; but HI 1890 the Democrats carried Congress by almost three to one. The House of Representatives, elected in 1892, con- tained a Democratic majority of about eighty, and that which was elected in 1894 is controlled by the Republicans by a majority of one hundred and thirty-three. 7. The November Election of 1894. The November election of 1894 resulted in an overwhelming Republican victory. Throughout the North the Republicans carried the states usually classed as doubtful by decided majori- ties; those which rank as Republican states gave majori- ties so enormous as to be compared with those only which were given during and just after the Civil war. In some cases the majorities were the largest ever recorded for the party. 8. In the South. In the South the Democrats were much more successful than in the North. But even there large inroads were made upon their majorities, and one or two states gave Republican majorities for the first time since the days of " Reconstruction." 263 NO THANKSGIVING HERE-i8 9 2. Farmer Ben: "Great gosh, the turkey's gonel" The Landslide of 1892. Each party has its own explanation of the event. Each having in its time experienced both reverses and vic- tories, understands that what now seems a most emphatic popular verdict may be reversed at the very next election. 9. Not Good for the Country. No one can think that the sudden and violent party changes to which the country is subject are- conducive to its political health and its ma- terial prosperity; nevertheless we must expect them to occur occasionally. 10. Changes of Political Issues. Changes of political issues, and the conditions incident to a large and increasing foreign element in the population, have something to do in producing them. The caprice of a large number of men who are not sufficiently well instructed to have decided views on the great financial questions upon which parties are now divided, cause the most of the shifting of votes from o side to the other. 264 265 ELECTION A SUDDEN CHANGE IN THE ELECTION RETURNS. 266 THE SPOILS SYSTEM IN AMERICAN POLITICS. 26t The Spoils System in American Poli- tics. The election of officers is secured by the united action of the voters not all the voters. Hence the persons elected ordinarily feel indebted to certain active men of the com- munity and if they do not do all in their power as a public officer to reward their supporters, they are looked upon as ungrateful. Thus has grown up a system of vassalage, or a feudal tenure of office. In this way, after parties have come into power, their ability to dispose of patronage acts as a cement to keep the party together. 1. Loaves and Fishes. As soon as a party succeeds in electing its candidate to office there are plenty within its ranks to look about for loaves and fishes. And the more power the officer has to distribute good things by creating or filling vacancies in minor offices, the more he is besieged and the more likely he is to serve his party rather than the people in the administration of his office. The result of the spoils system is that many elections, involving no policy of government except the honesty and ability of the candidates, degenerate into desperate struggles between members of two parties for a means of livelihood. In any consideration of the spoils system it is important to examine its cloak. 2. The Curse of National Politics. How absurd it is to drag national politics into local elections; to elect a mayor because he favors tariff reform or to defeat a candidate for constable because he thinks the national government should enter upon the free coinage of silver. Such a practice caa- not be excused except from a party standpoint. For it I can see but two motives: first, the securing of office and patron- age as spoils and, second, the holding of voters together so that they can be relied upon when national issues do arise. In this way many a person who would be the choice of the people to perform the duties of an office has been defeated, much to the detriment of the public service. The existence of these facts indicates a weakness in our elec- tion machinery which should not be overlooked by the voters of this tree land of ours. 268 THE SPOILS SYSTEM IN AMERICAN POLITICS. The Ward Heeler Demanding a Contribution for Politi- cal Purposes. 3. Bribery and Corruption. By the use of the Aus- tralian system of voting, the danger of bribery and corrup- tion in elections has been overcome to a considerable ex- tent. The secrecy enforced in voting is the point of safety. BEFORE ELECTION. The Politician is Pleased to See Mr. Jones. 18 269 THE SPOILS SYSTEM IN AMERICAN POLITICS. 271 By that simple device the would-be purchaser of deprived of the means of absolute certainty that t a vote is the vender of "a vote voted according to contract. But, notwithstand- ing the secrecy incident to voting, practical politicians assert that many votes are still bought. Probably the in- struments now most conducive to the purchase and sale 'of votes are the separate party ballots and the paster ballot. But as these are already in much disfavor, it is to be hoped they will soon disappear. 4. Trading Votes. "If you will vote my ticket for mayor, I will vote your ticket for governor." How often is such a proposition made and accepted between voters of ood standing in the community, but of opposite politics! uch a transaction does not come within the statute relat- ing to bribery; but I do not believe it can be defended from an ethical point of view. If as is generally conceded, the state can rightfully claim that it is the duty of citizens to vote, it necessarily follows that each voter is under obliga- tions to pass upon each matter according to his best judg- ment. What would be thought of a judge if he should an- nounce that he would decide a certain case upon the merits of some other? If judges cannot properly trade decisions, voters should not trade votes. 5. Parties as They are Managed. Parties go on con* tending because their members have formed a habit of joint action, and have contracted hatred and prejudices and also because the leaders find it to their advantage in using these habits and playing upon these prejudices. The American parties continue to exist because they have existed. The mill has been constructed and the machinery goes on turn- ing, even where there is no grist to grind. But this is not wholly the fault of the men, for the system of government requires parties just as that of England does. These sys- tems are made to be worked, and always have been worked by a majority. The majority must be cohesive, gathered into a united and organized body. Such a body is a party. 6. The Political Boss. "The evil to be remedied is the dictation of the political boss. As parties are now consti- tuted, nominatioi.s are made, not by the community or any considerable portion of it, but by a single man, who for the time being is in control of the party machine. No man can hold office except by the consent of such a boss, and when rebelled against it means defeat. I know of no remedy for this state of things because the public stand idly by antf permit the dictation, and seem rather to enjoy the results of it. Education and intelligence have always been put forward as the proper antidotes for political evils, but my 272 THE SPOILS SYSTEM IN AMERICAN POLITICS. observation leads me to think that the educated portion ol the community is more apt to follow the machine than any other portion of it, because the uneducated can be pur- chased, while the enlightened are probably beyond the reach of that temptation." 7. The Remedy. In order to make effective the rem- edy it seems to be necessary for citizens to devote not only a considerable portion of their time, but to do so in an em- ployment which is not congenial to their tastes. That it is the duty of each citizen to given a reasonable amount of his time and to expend a reasonable amount of energy in secur- ing proper nominations to public office all will admit. Each citizen undoubtedly owes this duty to the state, and owing to this duty to the state, the state in turn is obligated to furnish him with the means whereby the time and energy which duty requires him to give shall be expended in a manner that shall make his efforts felt in the result. .It cannot justly require him to give up a large portion of his time and require him to study and practice what has be- come a profession in order that his influence shall be felt in making nominations. The state has also a duty to the citizen growing out of the fact that it prints the ballots. It should see to it that the names of candidates which it prints upon the ballots to be cast by the voter are not chosen through fraud and trickery. As it is useless for a single in- dividual to go to the polls without prior organization in the hope of electing an independent candidate to office, it is the duty of the state to see to it that the organi- zations among voters, so far as they operate to place candidates in nomination, conform to fair and reasonable rules. The Politicians Fixing up a Ticket. Filibustering or Legislative Obstructions. 273 Filibustering or Legislative Obstruc- tions. 1. There are Many Good Things in the law-making powers of our national government, and there are many things that can be greatly improved. 2. Party Prejudices. When a party is in power it should have the right to make laws without serious legisla- tive obstruction. The people have placed their representa- tives in power to make the laws and will hold them respon- sible. But the system of American politics is greatly in error as to the rights of the minority. The minority in our legisla- tive bodies instead of recognizing the rights of a majority, do everything possible to defeat or obstruct legislation. If the majority has the right to rule, no minority has a right to obstruct or embarrass their work. If the people elect the majority to make laws, the minority has no right whatever to defeat the will of the people. 3. Obstruction. All minorities practice obstruction more or less, and it is not easy to draw the line between proper and improper use of this weapon of defense. Men are apt to approve its use when it is employed by their own party friends, and to condemn it when used by the opposite party. 4. The Right of Petition. On several occasions, half a century ago, John Quincy Adams stood almost or quite alone in the House of Representatives maintaining the right of petition, and defying the majority to silence him. He once forced his opponents to abandon an attempt to pass a resolution of censure against him, by occupying nearly a week of the session in a speech of defence. Indeed, he seemed unlikely to close his "few remarks" in time to allow any business to be done. Perhaps in so doing he performed a useful service which could have been performed in no other way. At all events, those who admire "the old man eloquent" praise and do not censure him for his unyielding course of obstruction. 5. Gag. There may be a question if, when the "gag" is applied by an arbitrary majority in disregard to all rights of debate, it is not justifiable to continue obstruction long enough to attract public attention to the matter; since in such a case that is the only method of protest left. 6. Long Continued Obstruction. But, on a broad view of the subject, long continued obstruction is to be condemned severely, whether it is practiced by our friends or by our 774 FILIBUSTERING OR LEGISLATIVE OBSTRUCTIONS. opponents. Of course an arbitrary refusal of the majority to allow the minority reasonable time for debate is equally to be condemned. 7. Determined Minority. It has been shown by the recent events that a determined minority may block the busi- ness of the Senate indefinitely. It was only when the minority became divided on the policy of obstruction, and a few only were disposed to continue the struggle, that a vote was" reached. 8. Majority Should Govern. Since it is the business of a Legislature to pass laws, and since in every free nation the majority should govern, it is simply common sense to say that a system of rules which permits a minority to frustrate the will of the majority is not a good system. This is neither a partial nor a partisan opinion. If it works against one party to-day it will work in that party's favor when it obtains a majority. 9. The Caucus. The caucus is an American institu- tion, and is unknown outside of the United States, except in a modified form in England and Canada. The nominating convention, made up of delegates chosen in primary party meetings, does not exist except in this country. And while parties are known all over the world, it is only'in some parts of this country that they have a recognized standing. In Massachusetts, and perhaps in other states, party caucuses are conducted according to a specific act, and the law pro- tects those who have rights in a party meeting from those who, without right, might try to control it. 10. Popular Initiative. We can hardly suppose that the machinery of government has even yet been perfected. There is a proposition to introduce here the systems in vogue in Switzerland known as the referendum and the " popular initiative." By the first of these systems a law passed by the Legislature is, under certain circumstances, referred to popular vote. Of course a law ratified by the people h,is more force and is less liable to repeal than one not ratified. 11. Decision of the People. The "popular initiative" gives to a certain number of voters asking for it the right to demand a popular vote upon a law. In Switzerland, when thirty thousand citizens petition for a vote upon the revision of the law, such a vote must be had, and the decis- ion of the people is final. Fifty thousand citizens may require a popular vote throughout the republic upon a prop- osition to amend the Constitution. The principle or the popular initiative has always been a part of the New Eng- land town meeting system, but has never extended beyond it even to the county government. GERRYMANDERING. 275 12. Improvement. And if those two principles should be adopted by and by, are we even then at the end? Certainly not Let us suggest one direction in which an improvement may come. There seems to be no good reason why, in these days of quick communication, voting should not be done by mail instead of by the personal presence of the voter at the polls. Vast harm is done because men entitled to vote cannot do so or will not take the trouble t It will be easy to devise a system that will render voting by mail safe to the great advantage of good government. Gerrymandering and its Effects Upon Legislation. 1. Provisions of State Constitutions. The constitu- tions of states of the Union usually fix the number of mem- bers to be chosen for the state Legislature. But it is left with the Legislature itself to divide the state into districts, in each of which the voters shall elect one or more mem- bers. Since population will naturally increase more rapidly in some parts of a state than in others, it follows that the dis- tricts must be changed from time to time in order that each member of the Legislature may represent, as nearly as pos- sible, the same number of voters. 2. Contiguous Territory. No rule is made in the State constitution as to the method of mapping out the districts. Most states require that all districts shall be fixed inside of county lines, and that a single district be made up of "contiguous" territory. Otherwise the Legislature may draw up the district map as it pleases. It was long ago discovered that this power might be turned to partisan use. Some sections or neighborhoods will always cast a large majority for one party, when close at hand there may be sections which invariably give a majority to the other party. 3. Injustice to the Voters. Now if the Democrats, for example, can combine into one district as many sure Re- publican neighborhoods as possible, and then arrange the neighboring districts so that in each district there shall be just enough Democratic voters to counterbalance the Repub- licans in the same district, it is clear that the Democrats will have the advantage. The Republicans might carry the first district by 10,000 majority, and the Democrats get only 1,000 majority in each of three other districts. The Repub- licans would cast more votes, but the Democrats would elect more members, and thus control the state legislation. If then a Legislature making a new " apportionment " of the state is strongly partisan, it has an opportunity to take advantage for its party for the ensuing elections. 276 GERRYMANDERING, -GERRYMANDERING.- Figuringf Out the Other Fellows. 4. Origin of tne Name. This practice is known as "gerrymandering" a state, and the origin of the name is curious. As long ago as 1811, the Democratic majority in the Massachusetts Legislature passed a law "redistrictmg" the state for senators, with very irregular district bound- aries. The governor who signed the bill was Elbridge Gerry. One district in Essex County stretched from Boston to the New Hampshire boundary. FIRST GERRYMANDER DISTRICT. Eastern Massachusetts. 377 278 GERRYMANDERING. Gilbert Stuart, the famous painter, sketched on the map the outline of the district, and added eyes ana claws to the figure, so that it seemed like the picture of a strange winged beast. " It looks," said Stuart to a Boston editor, " like a sala- mander." "Salamander!" cried the editor; "call it Gerrymander!" and Gerrymander it has been called from that day to this. 5. Many Famous Cases. There have been many famous cases of unjust gerrymandering, where states have been so divided as to elect the officers of one party, when the other had a large majority of the total vote. Both polit- ical parties have in turn taken advantage of the expedient and an unfair division of a state by one party has often been followed, when the control of the Legislature changed, by an equally unjust " redistricting " in favor of the other side. States such as Ohio and New York, where neither party is permanently in control, have had their district map altered at most frequent intervals and in the most remarka- ble way. The famous "Shoestring " congressional district of Mississippi was a thin strip of territory reaching from the north to the south boundary of the state. 6. Unfair Gerrymandering. By some politicians gerry- mandering is regarded as a perfectly fair means of secur- ing partisan advantage. But the better class of political leaders do not hesitate to denounce it. Unfair Gerrymandering, moreover, has lately received a severe blow from the courts. In Wisconsin the party in power had passed a law dividing the state, irrespective of county lines, so as to make apparently sure for themselves a permanent majority. But the Supreme Court of the state declared the law unconstitutional, because the state consti- tution makes a restriction on the general method of form- ing the districts by requiring that county lines be followed. The Legislature might cut a county into congressional districts on any plan it chose, but it could not combine into one district voters situated in two different counties. For- tunately for fair elections a large proportion of the state constitutions contain precisely this useful limitation. FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 279 First Administration. POLITICAL ISSUES AND POLITICAL PARTIES. 1. The First Cabinet. Washington appointed for his Cabinet, Alexander Hamilton for the Treasury Depart- ment; General Henry Knox for the War Department; and John Jay for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, all of whom were Federalists. Thomas Jefferson was appointed Secretary of State, and Edmund Randolph for Attorney General, both of whom were Anti-Federalists. 2. The First Extra Session of Congress. During an extra session of Congress, called for pressing business, ten amendments to the Constitution were made, the chief de- sign of which was to vouchsafe broader principles of free- dom than the Federal party had conceded or even intended; freedom not having been guaranteed by the original word- ing of this instrument, all of which, in the estimation of the Anti-Federalists were necessary, as a safe guard against monarchy. An act regulating commerce and a tariff bill were passed at this session; the latter being barely sufficient for a revenue, though it was ostensibly for protection as well. 3. First Regular Session. The next regular Congress met at Philadelphia, March 4, 1790. It was the first regular session, and began the work of bringing the elements of a nation into practical working order. Thefinarcial question was the most important issue to meet. The debts due France must be paid in full. The domestic debt was also equally binding on the honor of the nation, but besides these were the debts due various other States. The Burden of Debt. How to provide for the liquidation of these was a difficult thing, and seemed to set at de- fiance the doctrine of state rights, so dearly prized by the Anti-Federalists. If the United States assumed them, it was taking business out of the State that had contracted them. The Federalists were in favor of the United States assuming the responsibility of these debts regardless of the state rights doctrine. The Anti-Federalists would not consent to this, but the issue was finally decided by two Anti-Federalists deserting their party and voting on the other side, which arbitrarily settled a question that had come as a necessity and no other way for whose solution seemed possible, though done by what was termed a loose construction of the bind- ing forces of toe Constitution, which could hardly be con* 280 FIRST ADMINISTRATION. GEORGE WASHINGTON, Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, February 22, 1732 President April 30, 1789-March 4, 1797. Died at Mt. Vernon, Virginia, December 14, 1799. sidered in any other light than a violation of that sacred instrument, but it was claimed that the end justified the means, and the best apology for it was that it partook of the necessities characteristic of war measures to practically control the States, though unconstitutionally, in order to do justice to them. After this terms "loose constructionists" and "strict con.- stitutioners" came into party lines. FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 28J g. The Third Session of Congress. Increase of the Tariff. Locating the Capitol. Charter of a United States Bank. The third session of Congress met at Philadelphia December 6, 1790. During this session Vermont and Ken- tucky were admitted into the Union. A bill for a slight increase of the tariff on distilled spirits was passed, also provisions made for locating the capitol on the Potomac, and another bill for the charter of a United States bank, capital of $10,000, $2,000 of which were to be subscribed for by the United States. All these were federal measures, but had not been tenaciously opposed by the other party, who by this time had become more reconciled to centralized power, which had wrought visible improvements in the financial interests of the country, besides increased respect for us abroad. 6. Washington Unanimously Re-elected. Washing- ton's impartial position secured the Anti-Federalists' support for a second term, and they agreed to give their unanimous support to him for re-election, but each party had its own separate candidate for Vice-President, the Federalists choosing John Adams, and the Anti-Federalists, or Repub- licans, as their party had begun to be called, George Clin- ton. Washington's vote was unanimous. Adams had 77 votes, Clinton 50, Jefferson 4, and Aaron Burr 1. Washing- ton and Adams were inaugurated March 4, 1793. THE FATHER OF OUR COUNTRY. 282 SECOND At>MiNisRAtiotf. Second Administration. THE RISE AND RAGE OF POLITICAL ISSUES. 1. A General Feeling of Confidence. At the opening of this administration there was a general feeling of confidence in the stability of the constitutional form of government just adopted, and what gratified all parties the most and added to the strength of the Federal party, was the fact that the prophesying of a Conservative press in England, that there was not material in America out of which to construct a permanent government had been proven false by the auspicious beginning already made in the adoption of the constitution, an arrangement which our enemies in England had pronounced impossible. "The forces to govern a nation must be inherited " said the English Tory press, but to be just to the crown officials it should not be omitted that no offensive prophesies were made by them, whatever opinions they might have on this subject. 2. The Public Debt. But though the political skies seemed bright, the public debt had been funded and pro- vision made for liquidating it, yet there were significant evidences of party friction which needed critical but charitable attention from the administration, and it was a fortunate thing that no extreme partisan had been elevated to the office of President, to fill the chair during the second administration when the strong arm of conservatism, tem- pered with the spirit of both justice and charity, was so necessary, in order to set the sails of the ship or state to ride the high seas of nationalism. Washington was the best man to do this, and it is only a fair inference to con- ceive that the Anti-Federalists supported him for Presi^ dent, not because they entirely approved of his policy, but under a conviction that he would take no radical steps that might endanger the general cause. 3. The Critical Condition. The critical condition of the political outlook at this time may be inferred from a passage in a letter to Washington from Mr. Randolph, the Attorney General, during the first administration. He says: " It can not have escaped you that decisions in our politics as systematically as those which prevail in Great Britain, such as opposed the Constitution from a hatred of the Union, can never be conciliated by any overture or atone- ment. By others it is mediated to push the construction of the Federal power to every tenable extreme." 4. A Fatal Error. A third class, Republican in princi- ple, and thus far in my judgment happy in their discern- SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 283 ment of our welfare, have notwithstanding mingled with their doctrine a fatal error that the State Assemblies are to be resorted to as the engines of correction to the Federal administration. The animadversions between Hamilton and Jefferson at this time perhaps justified the apprehen- sions of Mr. Randolph, but Washington wrote letters to both of them which had the effect to pour oil on the troubled waters, giving offense to neither party. 5. English Complications. Pending these dangers at home, clouds were gathering in the eastern horizon from over the waves that, happily for America, diverted attention from home issues that time was bound to settle more amiably than could be done during the present existence of personal resentment. England entered on her road to grandeur on the high seas. Here was her realm, tenable only by maintaining her superiority over other nations, and controlling the laws of trade for the world. America, as >et, had no right on the ocean, she wished to find a market for her produce, and to do this a commercial treaty with England was the only channel through which this desirable ond could be attained. Hitherto England, the arbiter of the ocean, would not allow an American vessel to sail with mer- chandise to any port than her own, and the hapless monger in American goods had to pay English merchants a profit on all foreign exportations. 6. A Commercial Treaty with England. The first necessity was a commercial treaty with England, for which end Washington sent John Jay to the Court of St. James. England had already had abundant evidence of Mr. Jay's culture in diplomacy at the treaty of Paris, and he was received with becoming respect. A treaty was made with no unnecessary delay, recognizing certain rights to Ameri- can commerce, among which was direct trade with the East Indies, but the assumed right of search and impressment of American seamen was not given up. England exercising the business of this aggressive policy by the pretense that the seamen she took from American decks, were desert- ers from her naval force. 7. The Treaty. Washington did not hesitate to ratify the treaty, notwithstanding this omission, and the Anti- Federalists thereby gained great strength, for the general dissatisfaction as to the so-called "ignominious" result of the treaty was almost universal. The Federal party did not attempt to justify this omission in the treaty, but took the ground that it was the only way to escape a war with Eng- land, for which the country was illy prepared. Even in this day many people condemn the policy of 284 SECOND ADMINISTRATION. Washington in ratifying a treaty with no redress for such a humiliation in it. How much more, then, would it fall short of the demand of the old revolutionary soldiers. The Re- publicans saw this and made the most of it. Added to the rest, much popular indignation, owing to the demand of Genet, the first minister sent to represent the new French Republic, had been manifested among the commoner ele- ment of the Anti-Federalists, but Jefferson took no part in this sentiment, because Genet had abused his rights as a minister by enlisting men tor the French service and then obliged the administration to give him hispasspott, even in violation of the popular verdict. 8. The Opposition. At the head and front t>f the op- position to the Federalists stood Thomas Jefferson. He had opposed the banking policy and other Federal measures, whenever they, in his estimation, unnecessarily abridged either individual or state rights. His letter to Monroe, dated Monticello, June 12, 1796, is inserted here to show his position at that time: MONTICELLO, June 12 1796. To COLONEL MONROE, Dear Sir : Congress has risen. You will have seen by their proceedings the truth of what I always obstrved to you, that one man outweighs them all in influence over the people who have supported his judgment against their own and that of their representatives. Republicanism must lie on its oars, resign the vessel to its pilot, and themselves to the course he thinks best for them. I had always con- jectured from such facts as I could get hold of that our public debt was increasing about a million of dollars a year. You will see by Gallatin's speeches that the thing is proved. You will see further that we are completely sad- dled and bridled, and that the bank is so firmly mounted on us that we must go v here they will guide. They openly published a resolution that, the national property being increased in value, they must by an increase of circulating medium furnish an adequate representation of it, and by further additions of active capital promote the enterprises of our merchants. It is supposed that the paper in circula- tion in and around Philadelphia amounts to twenty millions of dollars, and that in the whole Union to one hundred millions. I think the last too high. All the imported com- modities are raised about 50 per cent, by the depreciation of the money. Tobacco shares the rise, because it has no competition abroad. Wheat has been extraordinarily high. SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 285 from other causes. When these cease it must fan to its ancient nominal price, notwithstanding the depreciation of that, because it must contend in markets with foreign wheats. Lands have risen within the vortex of the paper and as far out as that can influence. They have not risen at all here. On the Contrary, they are lower than they were twenty years ago. Those I had mentioned to you, to wit, Carter's and Colle, were sold before your letter came, Colle at two dollars the acre. Carter's had been offered me lor two French crowns (13s. 2d.). Mechanics here get from a dollar to a dollar and a half a day, yet are much worse off than at the old prices. Volney is with me at present. He is on his way to Illinois. Some late appointments, judiciary and diplomatic, you will have heard, and stared at. The death of R. Jouett is the only small news in our neighborhood. Our best affections attend Mrs. Monroe, Eliza and your- self. Adieu affectionately, THOMAS JEFFERSON. MT. VERNON, The Home of George Washington. 9. A Partisan Campaign. The second term of Wash- ington was now drawing to a close, and in the popular heart there seemed to be a dread of inaugurating a partisan campaign in the next Presidential election, and Washing- ton was urged by the moderate men of both parties to ac- SECOND ADMINISTRATION. cept the nomination for a third term. This he declined, and on September 17, 1793, issued his famous farewell ad- dress. The bitterness manifested in the attacks upon Washing- ton by his political opponents was his incentive to writing this address. To these attacks he made no reply, giving as a reason that they were too illogical to merit one, but he in- tended his farewell address to be a general answer to the accusations against him. At that early date no provision had been made for mak- ing presidential nominations, but John Adams was the true representative of the Federal party, second only to Wash- ington; and the popular voice confirmed him as candidate for President, and Thomas Pickney was the Federal can- didate for Vice-President for the same reason. 10. John Adams Elected. Thomas Jefferson was the true ideal of Republicanism, and next to him was Aaron Burr. These men had earned the confidence of the new party, the former by his master mind together with his zeal in the cause of freedom, and the latter by his equally acknowledged zeal, if hot by his executive ability. The election took place in November, 1796. In the Elec- toral College 71 votes were cast for Adams, 68 for Jefferson, 59 for Pickney and 30 for Burr and 2 for Washington. Jefferson having the next highest number of votes to Adams, was the Vice-President elect, while Adams was P resident. The two were sworn into office March 4, 1797. THIRD ADMINISTRATION., Third Administration. 287 THE RISE AND RAGE OF NEW POLITICAL ISSUES. I, The Most Stalwart Federalists. The election of Adams, one of the most stalwart Federalists of the party in the face of so many unpopular issues that the Federalists had taken against the Republicans, was looked upon as a triumph of conservatism over radicalism, and his adminis- tration was marked with decision begotten of confidence, JOHN ADAMS, Born at Braintree (now Quincy), Norfolk County, Mass** October 19, 1735. President March 4, 1797-March 4, 1801. Died at Braintree, July 4, 1821. 288 THIRD ADMINISTRATION. but not more than was needed to meet the foreign emer. gencies about to come before America. 2. French Revolution. The success of the American Revolution had inspired the French to undertake one with the same end in view, and however justifiable this attempt might be, it was the misfortune of France that the inflamma- ble material that gave the momentum to her lacked the re- straining influence that characterized the American states- men, and even the conscience of the common citizen. The American Revolution astonished the world by the wisdom and moderation of its demands; while the French Revolution shocked its sense of mortality, by its horrors and its sacrilegious disregard of all divine sentiments. But by a miracle of courage and zeal, it had succeeded in estab- lishing a Republic on the ruins of a dynasty, that fell under the recoil of crushed liberty, asserting the rights of nature in man. 3. Trouble with France. On assuming the responsi- bility of President, Mr. Adams was confronted with un- friendly, not to say hostile, words and acts from France by way of retaliation for asking France to recall Genet for his alleged abuse of his prerogatives as minister to the United States. The French government refused to receive our minister, annulled our treaty of 1778 with them, and their cruisers forced our vessels into French ports on the ground that they carried munitions of war for their enemies. It was an unhappy state of affairs that we were then placed in; a hostile attitude toward the nation whose alliance had been instrumental in securing independence for us, but our apology for it lies in the fact that it was not the nation that we opposed, but an extreme faction of that that now held a transient lease of power. As might be sup- posed, there was a strong element of sympathy with the French among the Republicans of America, and to this day there are many who would not approve of the heroic treat- ment of this foreign issue by Mr. Adams. It is no far- fetched deduction that Jay's treaty with the English was an offense to France and an infringement on the spirit of our treaty of alliance with that nation of 1778, which was still in force. 4. Acts of Aggression on American Commerce. November 13, 1797, the Republican members voted against a bill for arming vessels to defend American commerce from French spoliation. But Mr. Adams disregarded their views. In the meantime, the French continued their acts of aggression on American commerce; but when the possi- bility of war came the Republicans were enforced to acqui- THIRD ADMINISTRATION. 289 csce in the defensive policy of the administration, even it war should result. To this end appropriations were made to raise an army and equip a fleet to be used against France, should diplomacy prove unavailing in the settlement of the unfriendliness which Genet's official acts in the United States had created between the Red Republicans of France and the Federal party in the United States. 5. Sympathy with France. Notwithstanding this, Democratic clubs used their utmost influence to oppose the administration by appealing to the chivalric sentiment of the country based on gratitude toward France for past ser- vices during the revolution, and it cannot be denied that their argument touched a sympathetic chord in the heart of young America, brimful of patriotism. These clubs had been established in the United States by Genet in his untem- pered zeal in the revolutionary cause of France, and that their design was to reverse the Federal policy and bring the country into alliance with the French seemed probable. 6. The Alien and Sedition Laws. This supposed dan- ger was the cause incentive to the alien and sedition laws, giving the President power to banish from the country any one whom he considered dangerous to the peace, or to fine and imprison such persons as should be supposed guilty of conspiring together to oppose any measure of the Govern- ment. It is no marvel that the Republicans opposed this bill and made it the occasion of renewing their charges of des- potism against the Federalists, for such a stretch of author- ity injured the Federal cause, but was soon offset by the Republicans passing the Virginia, and soon afterward the Kentucky resolution, which although they were passed by but two state Legislatures, the whole Republican party were responsible for them. These resolutions held that the alien and sedition laws were unconstitutional, and that the states ought not to be bound by them, and that they set the National Government at defiance by holding up the supremacy of the states. 7. The Part Taken by Genet in America. The part taken by Genet in America, though justified by his patriotic zeal for the cause of his country was impracticable. To undo what he begun here was the excuse for the Alien and Sedition Laws, though far fetched as is claimed. His recall was not a partisan measure, but to undo his insiduous work. As soon as the French saw the true situation in America, it was apparent to them that there was no issue between the two nations, but between the Jacobins of France and the Federal administration. The former were not crushed 290 THIRD ADMINISTRATION. in the fall, Robespierre and France made overtures of peace to America, much to the satisfaction of every class, and resulted in a treaty called "The Convention of 1800." 8. Decline of the Power of the Federalists' Power. The Federalist party, now near its downfall, had brought the American Revolution through all the dangers that had threatened it, and united the nation under a constitution, not as a popular measure, but perforce of logical argu- ments, to overcome the objections of sticklers for state rights. It was incarnation of regal dignity, far exceeding it in moral force and executive ability; especially diplomacy, as history proves. Some of the leading men were undecided in their choice between a monarchal or republican government, but the great body of them were uncompromising Republicans in principle. Albeit their sun set in a halo of glory, when the transcendent power of Young America, now casting off his swaddling clothes, as personified by the Republican party, took the helm. . 9. A Hot Presidential Contest. For the next presi- dential candidates, the Federalists nominated Mr. Adams for a second term, and C. C. Pickney, of South Carolina, for Vice-President. The Republicans nominated Thomas Jefferson, the present Vice-President, and Aaron Burr of New York for Vice-President. The popular election was very evenly balanced, and but for a quarrel between Mr. Adams and Mr. Hamilton might have gone in favor of the Federalists. There were for Jefferson 73, for Aaron Burr 73, for Adams 65, for Pickney 64, and for Jay 1, votes in the electoral college in the succeeding February. 10. First Election by the House of Representatives. No single candidate having a higher number of votes than any other, there was no choice and the election went to the House of Representatives, where ten States voted for Jef- ferson and four for Burr and two voted. blank, after six days' balloting. This elected Jefferson President and Burr for Vice-President, who were sworn into office on the 4th of March following. FOURTH ADMINISTRATION. 291 THOMAS JEFFERSON. Born at Shadwell, Albemarle County, Va., April 2, 1743. President March 4, i8oi-March 4, 1809. Died at Monticello, Va., July 4, 1826. Fourth Administration. OUR HEROIC AGE AS A NATION. THE RISE AND REIGN OF A NEW PARTY. THE SETTLEMENT OF OLD QUESTIONS AND THE RISE OF NEW ISSUES. i. The First Republican President. The election of a Republican President was a rebuke to the old Federal party, who beheld in Jefferson an able captain at the head of a popular element which might lead the country into excesses in Democracy, inconsistent with the dignity of the govern- ing power, as well as the best interests of the nation. 292 FOURTH ADMINISTRATION. 2. Cause of Distrust. Another cause of distrust in Jefferson among the Federalists grew from an impression that he was an advocate of the doctrines of Thomas Paine on religious questions, but these objections soori dis- appeared under the overshadowing influence of other minds. The Vllth Congress assembled. Political parties were at first nearly equally divided in the Senate, but eventually there was a majority for the administration. Jefferson then discontinued the custom established by Washington of delivering in person his message to Con- gress. 3. Uniform System of Naturalization. This Congress, pursuant to the recommendation of the President, estab- lished a uniform system of naturalization, and so modified the law as to make the required residence of aliens five years, instead of fourteen, as in the act of 1798, and to per- mit a declaration of intention to become a citizen at the expiration of three years. 4. First Sinking Fund. By his recommendation also was established the first sinking fund for the redemption of the public debt. It required the setting apart annually for this purpose the sum of $7,300,000. 5. First Law in Relation to the Slave Trade. At this session the first law in relation to the slave trade was passed. It was to prevent the importation of negroes, mulattoes, and other persons of color into any part of the Uaited States, within a state which had prohibited by the law the admission of any such person. The penalty was $1,000 and the forfeiture of the vessel. 6. The Slave Trade Was not then Prohibited by the Constitution. The slave trade was not then prohibited by the Constitution nor was the subject then generally agitated, though it had been as early as 1793, when, as previously stated, an exciting sectional debate followed the presenta- tion of a petition from Pennsylvania to abolish the slave trade. 7. The Purchase and Admission of Louisiana. Prob- ably the most important occurrence under the first admin- istration of Jefferson was that relating to the purchase and admission of Louisiana. There had been apprehensions of a war with Spain, and with a view to be ready, Congress had passed an act authorizing the President to call the executives of such of the states as he might deem expedi- ent, for detachments of militia not exceeding 80,000, or to accept the services of volunteers for a term o. twelve months. The disagreement arose over the southwestern boundary line and the right of navigation of the Missis- FOURTH ADMINISTRATION. 293 sippi. Our government learned in the spring of 1802 that Spain had, by a secret treaty made in October, 1800, actually ceded Louisiana to France. Our government had, in 1795 made a treaty with Spain which governed the right of deposite at New Orleans for three years, but in October 1802, the Spanish authorities gave notice by proclamation that this right was withdrawn. Excitement followed all along the Valley of the Mississippi and it was increased by the belief that the withdrawal of the privilege was made at the suggestion of France, though Spain still retained the territory as the formalities of ceding it had not been gone through with. Jefferson promptly took the ground that if France took possession of New Orleans, the United States would immediately become allies of England, but suggested to Mr. Livingston at Paris, that France might be induced to cede the island of New Orleans and the Floridas to the United States. It was his belief, though a mistaken one, that France had also acquired the Floridas. 8. An Aggressive War Against Jefferson's Adminis- tration. The Federalists in Congress seized upon this question as one upon which they could make an aggressive war against Jefferson's administration, and resolutions were introduced asking information on the subject. Jefferson, however, wisely avoided all entangling suggestions and sent Monroe to aid Livingston in effecting a purchase. The treaty was formed in April, 1803, and submitted to the Sen- ate in October following. The Republicans rallied in favor of this scheme of annexation, and claimed it was a con- stitutional right in the government to acquire territory, a doctrine widely at variance with their previous proposi- tion, but occasions are rare where parties quarrel with their administrations on pivot measures. The Federalists claimed that we had no right or power to acquire territory, and that the acquirement of Louisiana would give the South a preponderance which would " continue for all time, since southern would be more rapid than northern development;" that states created west of the Mississippi would injure the commerce of New England, and they even went so far as to say that the admission of the Western World into the Union would compel the eastern states to establish an Eastern empire. Doubts were also raised as to the rights of Louisi- ana, when admitted to citizenship under our laws, as their lineage, language and religion were different than our own. 9. The Inhabitants of the Purchased Territory. Its inhabitants were French and descendants of French, with some Spanish Creoles, Americans, English and Germans in all about 90,000, including 40,000 slaves. There were 20 294 FOURTH ADMINISTRATION. many Indians, of course, in a territory then exceeding a million square miles a territory which, in the language of First Consul Napoleon, "strengthens forever the power of the United States," and which will give to England a mara- time rival that will sooner or later humble her pride. 10. Ratifying the Treaty of Purchase. Little chance was afforded the Federalists for adverse criticism in Con- gress, for the purchase proved so popular that the people greatly increased the majority in both branches of the VIII. Congress, and Jefferson called it together earlier, for the purpose of ratification. The Senate ratified the treaty on the 20th of October, 1803, by a vote 24 to 7, while the House adopted a resolution for carrying the treaty into effect by a vote of 90 to 25. Eleven millions of dollars of the purchase money was appropriated, the remaining four millions being reserved for the indemnity of American citizens who had sustained losses by French assaults upon our commerce, from which fact subsequently came what is known as the French spoliation bill. 11. Prestige and Success to the Republican Party. Fortunately for the success of the new party Jefferson, while he had omitted the imposing ceremonial which had accompanied all the official conventions and assembles of the Federalists, had preserved the respect due to execute officers with simpler formalities, all the more grateful to the common people whose affection for their rulers is heightened by easy familiarity. And this, more than all other causes combined, gave prestige and success to the Republican party. 12. Our Heroic Age. " The stately ceremonials of Washington's administration were appropriate at the time. And we confess that they seem to us not unbefitting the man. This was our heroic age the half mythical epoch of nation founders. We cannot, like the ancients, trans- late the latter to demi-gods. But it seems to us very harm- less that they should drift down the tide of tradition associated in the national memory with science accompani- ments which in the distance appear grand and high. We never expect to see Washington painted on the canvas in pantaloons, and a round hat, and we should as soon think of quarreling with the costume as with the manners of the first presidency." 13. Jefferson's Re-election. Jefferson was elected for a second term by an overwhelming majority, having re- ceived 162 votes in the electoral college of February, 1805. George Clinton was elected Vice-President by the same number, while Charles C. Pickney and Rutus King, tb Federal candidates, bad but 14 votes, FIFTH ADMINISTRATION. 295 The Great Issues of the Fifth Administration. POLITICAL EVENTS, PARTY CONTESTS, PARTY STRUGGLES, ETC. 1. The Federal Party's Influence. During the three Federal and one Republican administrations preceding this time the issues between the Federal and Republican parties had been clearly defined. But though the Federal- ists were politically crushed, they maintained an influence in the councils of the ration that could not be disregarded by their opponents, especially as they embraced the most respectable portion of the people the clergy of all de- nominations, the most noted lawyers, the wealthiest mer- chants, and all that class of men who are slow to oppose the "powers that be." 2. Attitude of the Republicans, or Democrats, as They Called Themselves. On the other hand, the Republicans were composed of the active spirits of the country men who cared little for inherited name or fame; men who glori- cu m their individuality and valued everything for what it showed itself to be, stripped of the garb of pretension. 3. The Position of the Two Parties. The Federalists had censured Jefferson for his friendly act to Thomas Paine, in sending a war vessel to convey him from France to the United States. Thomas Paine's political writings and political influence had done much to educate the people in self government and make a great nation of the American people. The Republicans had in their ranks the masses who be longed to no church and had no faith to defend. All those who had embraced the cause of the French Revolution were Republicans. The men of quick impulses and salient points of character were Republicans, while the men of more immutable thoughts were Federalists. One party was the balancing force of the other through the natural and educational convictions of the respective minds. 4. A New Treaty with England. Whoever has stud- ied the character of Jefferson cannot fail to see in him the representative of Republican Democracy, but while he fully represented it, his quick sense of practicability served him in various exigencies which came upon him in his official responsibility. He well knew that his constituency favored France and hated England. Neutrality was essential in order to avoid a war with England. _ The commercial treaty of 1794 with England as far as it affected commerce, 296 FIFTH ADMINISTRATION, expired by limitations in 1802, and the convention of 1800 made no provision for commercial relations, therefore, American trade with both of these countries rested on tran- sient acts of Parliament with the one, and French decrees with the other. American vessels bound for French ports were liable to seizure by English cruisers, and if sailing for English ports liable to seizure from French cruisers. As a means of relief, Jefferson, in 1806, appointed James Monroe and William Pickney as commissioners to the court of St. James to make a treaty. On the 31st of Decem- ber this end was effected on very favorable terms to the United States, commercially; but even through the utmost exertions of the American commissioners, the English com- missioners, Lords Holland and Aukland, could not be pre- vailed upon to concede to the right of search, and Jefferson refused to ratify this treaty, for the reason that it lacked the concession of this right, which was the only consistent course he could take, he having censured the Federalists for ratifying Jay's treaty because it did not prohibit the right of search. This gave offense to the Federalists, who claimed that it was better than no treaty, and it caused great dissatisfac- tion in the New England states, whose commercial inter- ests demanded the encouragement of foreign trade. 5. The Next Great Event. The next great event dur- ing the administration of Jefferson was the attack of the British frigate, Leopard, upon the United States ship, the Chesapeake, off Hampton Roads, in June, 1807, and taking from her deck four English seamen, and impressing them into the British service. In this encounter three Ameri- cans had been killed and eighteen wounded. The British promptly offered reparation but refused to relinquish their rights to search American vessels. The grounds on which they claimed this right being that it was their only way to reclaim deserters from the British service who had enlisted in the American service. 6. The Embargo Act. The Embargo Act was passed on the 18th of December, 1807, as a retaliatory measure. The substance of this act was to prohibit vessels within the jurisdiction of the United States from sailing for foreign ports. Very little notice was taken by England of this new act of the American administration. On the contrary, its effect was a recoil on American commercial interests, and the Federal party, especially in the New England states, raised an effective clamor against the Republicans for a measure that had proven so disastrous to tne commercial interests of the country. FIFTH ADMINISTRATION. L Foreign Complications. Only a few weeks after the rgo Act had been passed British orders in council had been issued, bearing date of November, 1807, that "All trade directly from America to every port and country of Europe, at war with Great Britian, is totally prohibited." Previous to the issuing of the British orders the decrees of Berlin, and later those of Milan, had been issued by Napoleon, and while they aimed a blow at British commerce they dis- regarded the" rights of neutrals, and Americans suffered from them the same as that of other neutral nations. The following report made to the House of Representatives November, 1808, will show the situation at the time: " The aggression of England and France collectively, affecting almost the whole of our commerce, and persisted in, notwithstanding repeated remonstrances, explanations and propositions, the most candid and unexceptionable, are, to all intents and purposes, a maritime war waged by both nations against the United States. It cannot be denied that the ultimate and only effectual mode of resisting that warfare, if persisted in, is war. A permanent suspension of commerce after repeated and unavailing efforts to obtain peace, would not properly be resistance; it would be with- drawing from the contest and abandoning our indisputable rights freely to navigate the ocean. The present unset- tled state of the world, the extraordinary situation in which the United States are placed, and the necessity, if war be resorted to, of making it at the same time against both nations, and these two the most powerful in the world, are the principal causes of hesitation. There would be none in resorting to that remedy, however calamitous, if a selection could be made on any principle of justice or without a sac- rifice of national independence." 8. The Federalists Opposed the Embargo Act. The Federalists had opposed the Embargo Act, and the New England states were almost unanimous against it, because it sacrificed their interests to what the Republicans claimed to be a necessary foreign policy wherewith to force the English to make a treaty favorable to the United States. 9. " The Non-Intercourse Law." March 1, 1809, an act was passed by Congress called " The Non-Intercourse Law." It was intended as a substitute for the embargo, on the following conditions, to-wit: "That if England and France would both repeal their restrictions on American commerce then the United States would repeal both the embargo and non-intercourse acts." Much diplomacy but no relief was the fruit of this proposition. The Federalists accused the Republican party of passing the embargo act 298 SIXTH ADMINISTRATION. as a vindictive measure against the New England Federal- ists, which charges had little effect, as the Republican policy was vindicated by their popular vote on the coming PresU dential election. 10. James Madison Elected President. The Repub- lican candidates were James Madison, for President, who received 122 electoral votes, and George Clinton, for Vice- President, who received 113 electoral votes. The Federal candidates were C. C. Pickney, for President, who received 47 electoral votes, and Rufus King, for Vice-President, who received 47 electoral votes. Besides these there were some scattering votes for other candidates. The successful can- didates were sworn into office on the 4th of March, 1809. Sixth Administration. POLITICAL EVENTS OF THE SIXTH ADMINISTRA- TION. THE SUCCESS OF THE DEMO. CRATIC PARTY. 1. Republican or Democratic Party. The fall of the Federal party, and, on its ruins, the rise of the Republican or Democratic party as the Republicans began to call themselves now, had subordinated partisan issues to the na- tional question of foreign commerce. 2. A Bad Feeling Against England. The war between France and England had taken such a phase, that neutral nations who had any commerce on the ocean, were almost as badly punished as the belligerents themselves. They had no immunity from capture from either one belligerent or the other. If bound for the ports of either belligerent the other would seize their vessels. Both parties wished to avert war, but in their policy they were not sustained by the people, who were exasperated against England, not only for claim- ing the right of search, but for selling guns and scalping knives to hostile Indians on our frontiers. ?. Popular Indignation Demanded War. But a change oreign policy was demanded during Madison's first term. Popular indignation demanded war, and forbear- ance had reached its limit. This feeling was universal among the Republicans, who now gloried in the name of Democrats, and even the Federal masses, despite loyalty to party ties, began to have vengeful thoughts for late English aggressions. SIXTH ADMINISTRATION. 299 JAMES MADISON, Born at Port Conway, King George County, Virginia, March 16, 1751. President March 4, iSop-March 4, 1817. Died at Montpelier, Virginia, June 28, 1836. Pending this agitation, Mr. Erskine, the English minis- ter to America, in April, 1809, made a proposition to the President to the effect that if the United States would repeal the Non-Intercourse Act, the English orders in council, of which the Americans complained, should be repealed. This proposition was hailed with delight by the chief executive, and he hastened to give it force by procla- mation. All that was wanting now to restore quiet was the ratification by the English Government. On the following July, dispatches came that the happy compromise had failed to be ratified on the ground that Mr. Erskine had exceeded his instructions in some of the provk'on^ry details of the article in question. 4. To Checkmate the English. Both parties were dis- appointed that peace had been averted through such a cap- tious ruling of the British Cabinet, and war was the result. Since 1778 there ever has been, and still is, a friendly feel- ing in America for France, and although a charitable 900 SIXTH ADMINISTRATION. construction was put upon the decrees of Berlin on the ground that they were necessary to checkmate the English, whose orders in council had been so disastrous to America, and although the diplomatic correspondence between the two countries ever since the inauguration of the "The Con- tinental System" had been antagonistic, yet the French Minister evidently felt a partial assurance that a wedge of disintegration could be inserted between America and Eng- land by an adroit piece of coquetry towards her (England) on the part of France. 5. Trying to Avert War. To this end, on the 5th of August, 1810, M. de Champagny, the French Minister, pro- posed to the American Minister in Paris, General Arm- strong, that the Berlin and Milan decrees should be re- voked on two conditions, which were that England should repeal her orders in council and that America should repeal her non- intercourse laws. This proposition was promptly submitted to English Court, but it was declined on the ground that in its estimation Napoleon had no intention to repeal his offensive decrees in their application to Eng- land. 6. A Formal Declaration of War Against England. Much fruitless diplomacy followed, succeeded by a formal declaration of war against England, made June 18, 1812. Though not a party measure, the opposition to it in New England was emphatic. The governors of Massachusetts denied the constitutional right of the President to call their militia out of the state, except for defense in case of invasion. 7. Madison Re-elected. The next presidential elec- tion gave 128 votes for Madison, a second term; Gerry, the Republican candidate for Vice-President, 131 votes. Clin- ton, the Federal candidate for President, had but 89 votes, and Ingersol, the Federal candidate for Vice-President, had but 86 votes. Madison and Gerry were inaugurated March 4, 1813. SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. 301 Political Events of the Seventh Administration. x. The War Against England. The war against Eng- land was now the inevitable policy of the United States, war not conducted on party lines, although the feeble and unavailing protest against it, nearly the whole of it, came from the Federalists. Many New England people opposed it, alleging that it might expose them to an invasion, and that it was waged on issues that time only would settle without drawing the sword. To oppose it a convention assembled in Hartford December 15, 1814, composed of delegates from the different New England States. 2. Secret Session. Several days were spent in secret session, and its proceedings were not published till 1833, during which long interval a treasonable indictment rested on the heads of those who composed it, by implications, in the minds of the people, more onerous than their actions, had it been known, would justify. The secretary, Theodore Dwight, was the one who relieved the suspicion by pub- lishing the whole proceedings, nothing of which were treasonable. 3. Negotiations for Peace. After the war had pro- gressed two years, negotiations for peace were begun at hent, in Belgium, in August, 1814. Though American arms had won laurels, particularly at sea, yet we wanted peace. More victories on sea or land were not needed on the score of glory, but were we sure to win them, when England had the victors of Waterloo, now released from home service, ready to bring against us? Even Young America knows when to use discretion, and the President threw no fire brands into the council fires by raising any issues for which the war had been declared. England wanted peace, too. Her thirst for military glory had been satiated by "he down- fall of Napoleon, who was now her prisoner, and he who would have counseled a continuation of war, after the ex- haustive struggle she had maintained in conquering him, would have been considered an enemy to mankind. 4. Peace Declared. The articles of peace between England and America were signed December 24, 1814, by the American Commissioners, John Quincy Adams, Albert Galatin, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, and Jonathan Rus- sell, and by Lord Gambier, Henry Gouldburn, and William Adams, on the part of England. The treaty was duly rati- fied by both countries. It settled no point in disputed theory, but practically settled all of them except the still 20 302 SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. debatable northeastern and northwestern boundary lines between the two nations. It did another thing, which was to soften partisan asperities in America, and to pave the way for the "era of good feeling" which characterized the second administration of Monroe. 5. American Diplomacy. The United States had crossed swords with England, in the main victoriously, and had demonstrated its discretion in diplomacy in its firm- ness on certain issues, in the decision of which it held the controlling power, and by its silence on other issues which time would solve in favor of the United States. All poli- tical parties shared the naticnal pride, even the Federalists, who opposed the war. The experiences of the late war had shown the necessity of national money, as wars always do, and one of the first things to be done after peace had been restored was to make provision for this requirement. 6. The National Bank. Hamilton planned the National Bank, It had answered the ends for which it was intended and went out of existence in 1811 which was the limited time of its charter. At this date an attempt to re- charter it had failed by one vote. The Republicans had opposed it from the first, but now, April 10, 1816, largely through Republican influence, a national bank was chart- ered for twenty years with a capital of $35,000,000, of which one-fifth was to be subscribed by the general government. 7. A Long Debate. A long debate preceded this act, the substance of which showed that the reasons for chartering the bank were to give the country a sounder and better currency than that which the state banks had furnished since the first United States bank had gone out of existence in 1811, the value of whose paper bad sunk nearly twenty per cent., and caused a great loss to the people and even to the government. It should not be overlooked that the United States bank charter was this time a Republican measure in opposition to the Federalists, while the first one was just the reverse. 8. Indiana Admitted. Near the close of this administra- tion Indiana was admitted, and the society that organ- ized Liberia for freed negroes was formed. 9. James Monroe Elected President. The next Presi- dential election was now at hand, and the Republicans had only to walk over the course. James Monroe, the Republi- can candidate for President, had 183 votes, Daniel D. Tomp- kins, candidate for Vice-President, had the same number. Rufus King, Federal candidate for president, had 34 votes, while a few votes each were given to different Federal can- didates for Vice-President. The successful candidates were inaugurated March 4, 1817. EIGHTH ADMINISTRATION. 303 Political Events and New Issues of the Eighth Administration. i. Result of the War. The war of 1812 never had a counterpart. On the part of America it was a test of nation- ality. Could the United States keep their name in the fam- ily of nations by defending those rights for which govern- ments are designed? That was the question, and an em- phatic "yes" was the answer which thundered from the guns of our infantine marine. The treaty of Ghent, which JAMES MONROE, Born In Westmoreland County, Virginia. April 28, 1758. President March 4, 1 8 1 7-March 4, 1 825. Died at New York City July 4, 1831. hushed the voice of the guns, made in haste and under the excited feelings on both sides, left some issues between the two countries practically unsettled, especially such as re- lated to American foreign rights in a national point of view, as well as our commercial rights on the protection of Amer- ican citizens abroad. 304 EIGHTH ADMINISTRATION. For the first time in the history of our country, these issues came before Mr. Monroe for the reason that he was the first president to represent the policy to be penned by a republic that had shown its ability on the ocean to protect its rights like other nations, conspicuous among which was the policy to be framed offensive and defensive towards our neighboring nation on the American continent. Up to this t ; ,e the United States had never been consulted by HENRY CLAY. any European nation as to either conquest or any other dis- position to be made of countries this side of the Atlantic. 2. The Monroe Doctrine. At this time Spain was rap- idly losing control of her conquered provinces in the West- ern World, and that other European nations were taking measures to secure footholds here was certain; hence the policy to be pursued by the United States in relation to this matter was looked for with great interest. Mr. Monroe was well equal to the occasion in setting this forth in his own dignified plainess, which so well repre- sents the sentiments of his peers that it has descended into history as the Monroe Doctrine. Let us quote his words. EIGHTH ADMINISTRATION. 305 3. Our Rights. "In the wars of the European powers, in matters relating to themselves, we have never taken any part; nor does it comport with our policy to do so. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense. With the movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity more immediately interested, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and importunate observers. The political systems of the allied powers are essentially different in this respect from that of America. This differ- ence proceeds from that which exists in their respective governments, and, to the defense of our own, which has been abused by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of her most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers, to declare that we shoifd consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. "W 7 ith the existing Colonies or dependence of any European powers we have not interfered, and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independ- ence we have on great consideration, and on just principles acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny by any European power, in any o her light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." 4. Purchase of Florida. The rapid growth of the United States had made Florida a very untenable colony for Spain, and on the 22d of February, she ceded it to the United States for the considerat'on of $5,000,000 and by the same treaty relinquished any rirht she might have to terri- tory on the Pacific coast, north of the 42d parallel. This was a humiliating measure for Spain, being a confession that her people could not keep pace with Young America in national progress. 5. * Admission of Missouri an a Slave State. The next year another question came up that had its opposers through the same channel that had produced so much friction in the national councils ever since the adoption of the consti- tution. The ordinance of 1787 had excluded slavery from all territory north of the Ohio river, and no constitutional objection had been made to the restrictive clause in that * During this administration five newfetates were admitted into the Union: Misssisippi in 1817 ; Illinois in 1818; Alabama in 1819; Maine in 1820, and Missouri in 1821, EIGHTH ADMINISTRATION. ordinance. But now a large pecuniary interest in slaves had grown up in the South, and with it a disposition to defend that interest. To this end the people of Missouri territory in 1819 applied for admission into the Union as a slave state. Individual rights, state rights and constitu- tional rights were demanded by the people in the south, and to guarantee this, slavery must be allowed in the new state. On the other hand, the advocates of freedom declared that their rights would be violated by the admis- sion of Missouri as a slave state. 6. The Missouri Compromise. The compromise by which the bill was passed, was, that henceforward all terri- tory west of Missouri and north of the parallel 36 80' should be free from slavery. No political party fully rep- resented either side of this issue, in its first incipiency, although, of the few Federal senators and representatives then in Congress, the majority were against the admission of Missouri as a slave state. On the other hand the Repub- licans or Democrats as they were by this time sometimes called, were largly in favor of admitting the state without restrictions. On this side the southern states were united irrespective of parties, the opposition coming entirely from the north, also, almost irrespective of parties. 7. Not Strictly a Partisan Issue. The proof that it was not strictly a partisan issue is seen by the close vote by which the compromise was passed, which was as follows: In the house, against the restrictions, 86 yeas; 82 nays; the senate concurring by a vote of 26 against 15 this division of opinion being much more nearly balanced tl>an a division separating the Federalists from the Republicans. Henry Clay was one of the most conspicuous advocates for the compromise, in which work he was assisted by the moder- ate men of both parties. 8. Strict Constructionists and Loose Construo tionists. Ever since the adoption of the constitution, in 1781, the term, Strict Constructionists and Loose Construc- tionists has been in vogue. They have been used more in a descriptive sense than as defined party names, although the loose or liberal Constructionists had been chiefly found in the Federal ranks because they had been the advocates of a United States bank, protective tariff and international improvements. The Anti-Federalists and their successors, the Republi- cans, had objected to these measures on the ground that the constitution authorized no such responsibilities in its strict construction, and only by a loose construction of its powers could the United States adopt them. Hence the origin of these terms, EIGHTH ADMINISTRATION. 307 9. The Convulsive Issue. In the convulsive issue just passed as to slavery in Missouri, these terms had been ap- plied in the settlement of a more irritating problem than ever before, the advocates for slavery having made it the occasion for bitter attacks on their opponents, on the ground of violating the rights of the constitution by their loose con- struction of its meaning and intent, in guaranteeing the rights of each state to make its own laws. 10. The Friends of Freedom. The friends of freedom retorted that the true policy of the government, as to creat- ing or admitting more slave territory, had been forecast when the ordinance of 1787 had excluded slavery forever from all territory north of the Ohio; and on that ground claimed to be strict constructionis. 11. United States Bank, Protective Tariff and Internal Improvements. The question, whether a United States bank, protective tariff and internal improvements were in accordance with a strict construction of constitutional powers or not, was subsequently settled in the affimative, though prior to the settlement of the question as to whether the constitution had power to limit slavery. During the late struggle Henry Clay had made himself very popular in the south, first by his favoring the admission of Missouri without the restricting clause in question, and next by his able and timely advocacy of the compromise on which the issue was settled. During the whole contest he had been speaker, but at the next session he resigned on account of private affairs, and John W. Taylor, of New York, was chosen to fill his place. Mr. Taylor was the embodiment ot one ot those Aboli- tion Whigs of a twenty-year-later day who cared more for his convictions than his party. He was opposed to the ex- tension of slavery, and was in favor of internal improve- ments and protective tariff; and his election as speaker may be reckoned as the first sign of disaffection in the Re- publican ranks from which ultimately the Whig party germinated. His election was exceedingly offensive to the southern states. 12. Monroe's Re-election. Mr. Monroe's first term was now near its close, and during the sanguinary conflict that it witnessed, his moderation had won universal confi- dence. No other one seemed so competent to guide the ship of state as he, and no candidate for the next presiden- tial election was run against him. The count of the electoral votes for President showed 235 for Mr. Monroe, and 1 for John Quincy Adams. Daniel D. Tompkins, the same Vice-President elected with Mr. 808 NINTH ADMINISTRATION. Monroe for the first term, had 215 votes for re-election, and 14 votes were scattering. On the 5th of March, 1821, Monroe and Tompkins were inaugurated. Political Events of the Ninth Admin- istration. 1. The "Era of Good Feeling." The "Era of Good Feeling " was no empty name wherewith to characterize the second term of Mr. Monroe, when at the assembling of the XVIIth Congress came together senators and repre- sentatives with no antagonistic issue before them. The Missouri compromise had quieted the apprehensions of any immediate danger to the slave interests, and the anti-slavery extensionists felt assured that this same obligation had pledged all territory north of 36 30', the dividing line specified in the act, to freedom. 2. New Issues. The limits and rights of Congress con- ferred by the Constitution as to the question of tariff, bank- ing and internal improvements has never been defined, and, as these were the only questions now before the coun- try, the only political parties then in practical working order were loose constructionists and strict con-struction- ists, terms which were descriptive rather than nominal. 3. Daniel Webster Opposed a Protective Tariff. Daniel Webster opposed a protective tariff as a national policy, but was willing to modify this rule to suit emergen- cies. Henry Clay advocated the other side, and the debates in the Senate between these two opponents on these oppos- ing interests were exhaustive, and have since that time fur- nished material for the endless controversy that has, to use a metaphor, played "Yankee Doodle" with variations on thin vocal instruments of political music that is, as a policy of political economy. Europe had beaten her swords into plowshares and was now raising her own bread, and it almost seemed as if the farmer's occupation was gone. There was little earning to dp on the high seas, and business was stagnated. 4. Increase of Tariff. This revived the question of loose construction versus strict construction to ascertain what could constitutionally be done to give relief, and on this the House and Senate were nearly balanced, leaving but a small majority in favor of a protective tariff, which NINTH ADMINISTRATION. 809 resulted in slightly increasing the duties on articles of American manufacture. '5. LaFayette. In the summer of 1824 the American people were much gratified by the arrival of LaFayette, now aged and gray, who returned once more to visit the land for whose liberty he had fought and bled. The hon- ored patriots as well as the younger heroes, who had learned from their fathers his claims to their gratitude and love, came forth to greet him. His journey through the country was a triumph. At the grave of Washington the great patriot of France wept over the dust of the great patriot of America. His name will ever be hallowed. 6. Alliances with American Republics. For the first time an issue involving a policy, as to alliances with Ameri- can Republics, now came before Congress. At the suggestion of Bolivar, ex-President of Columbia, South America', a convention of representatives from Central and South American republics had been invited to meet at Panama to take into consideration measures wherewith to resist Spain in her determination to still retain American possessions by force of arms; and the United States were invited to send commissioners to this convention. 7. A New Contest. A discussion ensued in which Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, Hayne, Woodbury, and Others engaged, chiefly defining the nature of the instruc- tions to be given to the commissioners. The President had already expressed an opinion in his message to Congress on this subject. On preceding pages it will be seen that the policy of the administration had been well defined, which was the frame work not only for the representatives to the Panama convention but an expo- sition of American policy on such issues ever since that time. There was only one political party at this time, and the succeeding presidential election was necessarily a choice of such men as in the opinion of the electors were the best representatives of the paramount interests of the country. 8. Nominating Candidates. A caucus for nominating jandidates had been called by Congress, but it was a fail- ure, so few had attended it. Moreover, all that a caucus could do in the way of nominating candidates for President had already been practically done in debating the tariff question in Congress, for that was the main issue before the country at this time, and he whose views on this subject came nearest to the general sense of Congress and the country stood the best chance for the- presidency. 310 NINTH ADMINISTRATION LAFAYETTE. Henry Clay, Speaker of the House; William H. Cra.v- ford, Secretary of the Treasury; John Quincy Adams, Sec- retary of State, and Andrew Jackson were the leading can- didates for the President, while John C. Calhoun was sup- ported by a large majority for Vice- President. 9. The Election of John Quincy Adams by the House. There were then 261 electors, and of these 99 voted for Jackson, 84 for John Quincy Adams, 41 for Crawford and 37 tor Clay; 182 were cast for Calhoun for Vice-President, and 78 for various other candidates. This elected him, but no one candidate for President having a majority over all the others, no choice was made, and the election went; to the TENTH ADMINISTRATION. 311 House of Representatives, who were to elect a President from the three who had the highest number of votes at the electoral college convened in February, 1825, succeeding the November election of 1824. There were 24 states, of which 13 voted for Adams, 7 for Jackson and 4 for Crawford, after having a long and exciting debate on the issue. Adams and Calhoun were inaugurated March 4, 1825. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, Born at Braintree, Norfolk County, Mass.. July 1 1, 1767. President March 4, 1 825-March 4, 1829. Died at Washington, D. C., February 23, 1 848. Political Events of the Tenth Admin- istration. i. A Bright Page in Our History. The sterling vir- tues of John Quincy Adams when he assumed the Presi- dential chair, form a bright page in our history, all the more conspicuous for his simplicity and the absence of any subtlety in his policy. That the harmony which had pre- 312 TENTH ADMINISTRATION. vailed during the past administration had been substi- tuted for a more heroic policy on the issues which were now accumulating as the country increased in wealth, was to be supposed. 2. The Federalists were no more as a Party. Though the Federalists were no more as a party, yet they had be- queathed a conservative element to a future generation, which, blended with a veneration for their memory, sur- vived their downfall, and to a certain extent is still manifest. 3. The Charge of Conspiracy. Mr. Adams was not without this conviction, and both himself and Mr. Clay had enough independence of party spirit to give principles the preference to all else. When the House of Representa- tives had voted by states and elected Mr. Adams as Presi- dent, the states choosing Clay electors had voted for him, thereby giving him a majority. This aroused the indigna- tion of the states which had voted for Gay electors, and of the Democrats or extreme Republicans as well, and con- spiracy was charged upon both Mr. Adams and Clay to in- sure the election of Mr. Adams, which suspicion was strengthened by Mr. Adams appointing Mr. Clay as Secre- tary of State. This charge was solemnly denied, and it is proper to state that the charge was never proven, even by circumstantial evidence. 4. Adams and Clay Faction. Public convictions in favor of the principles, at a later date, destined to be the declared policy of the Whig party, seemed to be gaining strength, and it is a singular fact that although Mr. Adams favored the growing current of public voice toward liberal construction, yet up to 1828 the last year of his adminis- tration Congress did not sustain him, and he was during all this time in an antagonistic position toward both houses. Pending this interim, the term "Adams and Clay faction' was frequently applied to those who were in sympathy with them during various attempts to inaugurate a system of internal improvements. But this "faction," as it was called, finally triumphed, during the first session of the XXth Con- gress, when the tariff of lb'28 was passed, giving manufac- turers a still greater protection. 5. Liberal Appropriations for Internal Improvements. The same Congress made liberal appropriations for internal improvements which last act sustaining Mr. Adams' admin- istration by adopting the measures he had recommended. 6. A New Party. A new party sprang up now of which Adams was the acknowledged leader, which, though standing on the platform of the subsequent Whig party styled itself National Republicans. ELEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. 313 Jackson was the champion of the old trunk of the party that dated its patent as an inheritance from Jefferson, and this party now gloried in the name of Democrats. Neither party claimed any credit as being the exponent of the old federal party, for the reason that the Federalists had opposed the war policy, albeit both alike revered the memory of Washington and of John Adams, the latter of whom had advocated the war, and the former was reposing in his honored tomb before the war had been declared. 7. Jackson Elected President. The time for selecting the candidates for the next presidential election was at hand, the system of national conventions now in use had not been adopted, but in lieu of it the different state legis- latures made nominations, and common consent informally accepted them. Hitherto Congress had made the nominations, and the results had been that twice the elections had been thrown into the House the last time with a suspicion of corrup- tion Andrew Jackson for President and John C. Calhoun for Vice-President were the nominees of the Democrats, and John Quincy Adams for President and Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President were nominated by the National Republicans. That the two were the ablest representatives of their respective parties that the country afforded in proven by their subsequent record. In February, 1829, the electoral votes were counted, show- ing for Jackson 178 votes and for Adams 83. Calhoun had 171 votes and Rush 83. The popular vote was 647,231 for Jackson and 509,097 for Adams. Jackson and Calhoun were inaugurated March 4, 1829. Political Events of the Eleventh Administration. I. Jackson's Greatness. Andrew Jackson had made a record before his election by using cotton bales for bul- warks when New Orleans was attacked by Packenham. The victory he then won was as marvelous as his method was original. Packenham could not flank him, for he had the Mississippi on his right and Alligator Swamp on his left. Neither could a British officer retreat before half his number of raw Yankees, especially those who knew no more about rules of war than to crowd behind bales of cotton; hence the result. 314 ELEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. ANDREW JACKSON, Born In Waxhaw Settlement, North Carolina, March 15, 1767. President March 4-, 1 829-March 4, 1 837. Died at the Hermitage, near Nashville, Tenn., June 8, 184-5. But even if Jackson did not win this victory, he was nevertheless an original character whom everybody either loved or feared. Once a ruffian attacked him. Did he call for help? No. He pounded him into submission with his fist. The writer, when a child, saw 5,000 girls, who worked in the factory at Lowell, Mass., dressed in white on parade to do him honor. One of them, in her extravagant admira- tion for Jackson, approached his carriage and asked the honor of kissing him. Unexpected as this episode was, he ELEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. 315 leaned his sturdy masculine face forward and received the gentle token to the admiration of a thousand spectators. 2. His Physical Courage. This was Jackson in a new role, but it was an index of the homage paid him. His moral and his physical courage were supreme. His assured cast of facial expression happily blended with cordial man- ners to people in humbler life, won all hearts, and by com- mon consent dubbed him a democrat in its extremest attri- bute. Opposition added strength to his cause, for he was like a ship that could sail but in rough seas. At that time loose constructionists generally meant high tariff men, but a strict constructionist was not necessarily an anti-tariff man on this policy; the country was not as positively divided on party lines as at present. 3. Removals from Office for Political Opinion's Sake. Jackson began his administration by a sweeping removal from office of nearly 700 persons, including post- masters whose political opinions had been opposed to Democracy. Up to this time the removals from office in the former administrations had been as follows: By Wash- ington, in eight years, 9, one of which was for defalcation; by John Adams, in four years, 10, one of which was for defalcation; by Jefferson, in eight years, 39; by Madison, in eight years, 5, three of which were for defalcation; by Mon- roe, in eight years, 9, six of which were for causes not poli- tical; by John Quincy Adams, in four years, 2, both of which were for causes not political. * This new policy of removals from offices for political opinion's sake has been practiced ever since, and has so thoroughly been adhered to that its propriety of late years is not objected to except by a small minority. It took a Jackson to inaugurate it, and that it has brought strength to his party is generally believed, else why would his succes- sors do the same? Is it for patriotic motives? 4. Three Problems. At the opening of the XXIst Congress, which was the first one of Jackson's administra- tion, three problems were before the nation the tariff ques- tion, the internal improvement question and the banking question. 5. Different Views. The old Federal party had been from the first in favor of all of them, as indispensable to the good of the nation, and they had all been opposed by the National Republicans, but adopted reluctantly when an overwhelming popular will demanded them. 6. Jackson's Policy. On the subject of banking, Jack- son in his first message took ground unfriendly to the 316 . ELEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. United States Bank, that had been chartered in 1816 for twenty years, by saying that it had failed in " establishing a uniform and sound currency," and suggested in place of it a national bank, " founded on the credit of the government and its revenues." In the same message he recommended a distribution among the states of the surplus public moneys coming from the tariff, as a means whereby internal improvements could be made, thereby avoiding the infringement of " a question- able constitutional right" of Congress to make appropria- tions for such purposes. On the tariff question he said, that "the rule to be ob- served in graduating the duties upon foreign products \vas that which would place our own in fair competition with them. Notwithstanding Jackson's unfriendly policy toward the United States Bank, at the next session a bill to recharter it passed both Houses, but he vetoed it July 10, 1832. 7. The Tariff of 1828. The tariff of 1828, which was higher than any former one, was now the fixed law of the land, but it produced great discontent in the South among the partisans of Democracy. Calhoun, the Vice- President, was a Democrat, and at a later date in Jackson's first ad- ministration the collision between him and Jackson came. 8. A Bill to Limit the Sale of Public Lands. But while the Calhoun policy was maturing a new question was sprung upon the country by Mr. Foote, of Connecticut. The substance of Mr. Foote's proposition was a bill condition- ally to limit the sale of public lands, for prudential reasons, but extreme constructions of it had resulted in partisan recriminations, and brought into the debate on it unex- pected issues. 9. The State Rights Doctrine Issue. Mr. Hayne, of South Carolina, advocated the policy of investing each state with the " control of all the public lands within their respective limits." He opposed the policy of " creating a great national treasury from the state public lands or other sources. :: * * It would be a fund for corruption fatal to the duration of our institution, and to the sovereignty and independence of the states." Daniel Webster replied to Mr. Hayne in a speech which has become famous as a landmark in the political records of the United States. This great senatorial debate fairly reopened the State rights doctrine issue, which had slumbered since the pro- mulgation of the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, in 1 7989. 10. Calhoun' s Nullification Policy and the Breaking Up of Jackson's Cabinet. At the next session Calhoun 's ELEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. 317 nullification policy as to state rights, together with some disputes between himself and Jackson growing out of the Seminole war, ended in the breaking up of Jackson's cabi- net, and estranging the friendship of these two distin- guished exponents of Democracy the one, Mr. Calhoun, in his extreme fidelity to state rights, announcing a princi- ple destined to be settled ultimately by the sword, and the other, Jackson, not venturing over that line of demarkation which could only be defined by the same power. Jackson vetoed several bills for internal improvements, but signed two important ones, thereby committing himself to the sanction of such a policy. 11. Calhoun' s Influence. After the dissolution of Jack- son's cabinet, through his quarrel with Calhoun, for once he was circumvented by his political antagonists. He had nominated Martin Van Buren as minister to England, but through Calhoun's influence the Senate failed, to confirm it, and to give point to the blow Calhoun, through his influence in the Senate, had so arranged the affair that, when the vote was taken there should be a tie, thereby giving him the satisfaction of rebuking Jackson by his casting vote; 12. Repeal of the Tariff of 1828. Calhoun demanded the repeal of the tariff of 1828, and threatened secession as an alternative. As an offset to this aggressive position, Jackson, on December 16, 1832, issued a proclamation to the people, accusing the nullifiers of treason, and warning them of the fatal consequence of this course, if they did not desist. 13. Clay's Compromise Tariff Bill. A new tariff bill was soon passed, abating the rates from the tariff of 1828, #nd the next year, 1833, Clay's compromise tariff bill, pro- viding for a gradual reduction in rates until 1842, after xwhich only 20 per cent, on all importations should be paid, quieted the country. Both sides claimed the victory; but Jackson's fame went up and Calhoun's down under the respective pretensions of each. 14. Three Political Parties. For the next presidential election there were three political parties in the field the Democrats, the National Republicans or Whigs, and the Anti-Masons. 15. Origin of the Anti-Mason Party. The latter party was created by the abduction of William Morgan, of Baia- via, N. Y., from his home in September, 1826. He had published a book claiming to have exposed the secrets of Free Masonry. Bills of indictment were found against sev- eral persons engaged . in the abduction, two of whom had been punished by imprisonment. The affair caused intense 21 318 ELEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. excitement, and became the nucleus for a new political party which discriminated against Masons as public officers, and in the coming tripartite contest for President of the United States their influence was felt. 16. National Conventions. The Democrats through- out the entire country had early nominated Jackson by common consent as candidate for a second term. But candidates for President had now, for the first time, to be nominated by national conventions, held for that special purpose. Baltimore was the place fixed upon by each of the three political parties for holding them respectively. 17. Nominations of the Anti-Mason Convention. That of the Anti-Masons came off first, the time of whose meeting was in September, 1831. William Wirt, of Vir- ginia, was their candidate for President, and Amos Ell- maker, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President. The entire party, with a few exceptions, were composed of National Republicans. 18. Nominations of the National Republican Conven- tion. In the succeeding month the National Republican convention met and nominated Henry Clay'for President, and John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President. Internal improvements, banking and protective tariff was the policy which they advocated, and they did not hesitate to declare it in their platform, which was the first time any party had dared to take such a step, so great had the hesi- tancy hitherto been in the popular mind to advocate such a policy. 19. Nominations of the Democratic Convention. The Democratic convention met in March, 1832. It had only to confirm the nomination of Jackson; and Martin Van Buren, of New York, was nominated for Vice-President, thereby rebuking the Calhoun faction, which had defeated his appointment as minister to England. 20. The Election. The popular election came off the following November, and when the votes of the electoral college were counted the succeeding February, in 1833, Jackson had 219, and Van Buren only 189, the Pennsyl- vania electors having given their support to Wm. Wilkins, of their own state. Clay and Sergeant had each 49 votes, and Wirt and Ellmaker, the Anti-Masonic candidates, 7 votes each, which were from the Vermont electors. South Carolina doggedly refused to affiliate with any of the parties, and cast her 11 votes for John Floyd, of Vir- ginia, and Henry Lee, of Massachusetts. The popular vote for Jackson was 687,502, and for Clay 530,189. Jackson and Van Buren were inaugurated March 4,1833. TWELFTH ADMINISTRATION. 319 Twelfth Administration. 1. Slavery Question. Says Cooper, in speaking of this administration: "Agitation of the slavery question in the United States really began about this time. Evil dis- posed persons had largely circulated through the United States southern states pamphlets and circulars tending to stir up strife and insurrection; and this had become so intol- erable that it was referred to by the President in his mes- sage." Congress, at the session of 1836, was flooded with petitions and memorials urging Federal interference to abolish slavery in the states, beginning with the petition of the Society of Friends of Philadelphia urging the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. These petitions were referred to committees after an acrimonious debate, as to whether they should be received or not. 2. The Position of the Government. The position of the government at that time is embodied in the following resolutions, which was adopted in the House of Representa- tives as early as 1790, and substantially reaffirmed in 1836, as follows: "That Congress has no authority to interfere in the emancipation of slaves or in the treatment of them within any of the states; it remains with the several states to provide any regulations therein which humanity and true policy may require." At this time the abolition question was regarded as a sickly sentimentality, transient in its course, and no poli- tician set his sails for its breezes, although such men as John Quincy Adams never hesitated to act in harmony with the movement, on issues that were preliminary to the ultimate end, such as abolition of slaves in the District of Columbia, and to do which was claimed by this unpopular party, but denied by the great majority of the two main parties. 3. The United States Bank Question. The United States Bank question was the important question to be con- sidered. The country needed a staple currency as well as the administration. Both had been losers by the deprecia- tion of questionable bank paper, and in casting about for a remedy there was a clear majority in both Houses to re- charter the United States Bank, whose original charter expired by limitation in 1836. 4. Deposit of Public Funds. By the legal provision in 1816 the public funds had been deposited in it and must continue to be, unless remedied by order of the Secretary of the Treasury, who was to use his own discretion as to the necessity of doing it as a matter of safety after having examined the soundness of the bank. 320 TWELFTtf ADM INIST RATION. 5. Removal of Deposits. Lacking in his convictioft against the policy of continuing the bank, Jackson requested Mr. McLane, the Secretary, to make no new deposits therein, whereupon Mr. McLane examined the liabilities of the bank and found its assets abundantly large to secure them, in his estimation, and refused to obey the Presidential order. Jackson promptly removed him and appointed Mr. J. Duane to succeed him, but he also declined to follow his instructions, and in turn was removed and Roger B. Taney appointed. Mr. Taney conceded to the President's wishes by removing the deposits and distributing them in various banks in different parts of the country. 6. Caricatures to Vilify the President. The Whigs looked upon this measure with intense hospitality, and the picture makers in New York had enough to do to make the caricatures to vilify the President. The Jacksonians claimed that the administration was justified in this act, even if the bank was sound, as it aimed a blow at the power too great for the good of the nation. NOTE. The writer, then a young lad in New York, sold many of these caricatures. Jacob Little, a great financier in New York, was a good customer for them. 7. The Doctrine of " Popular Rights." Many upheld Jackson because he had dared to attack the moneyed inter- ests of the country. He was the standard bearer of the doctrine of " popular rights." He had advocated the plan of distributing the public money in the United States Treas- ury among the states. When Henry Clay introduced a res- olution into the XXIIId Congress to distribute the proceeds from the sale of public lands among the states, this meas- ure was opposed by the leading Democrats, although it was a popular one. Benton spoke against it with great vehe- mence, and Jackson did not now advocate the bill, but had misgivings as to its propriety. Clay pressed the matter and secured its passage at the next session. It passed the Senate by a vote of 38 for to 6 against, and the House by 155 votes for to 38 against it. Jackson signed it with reluc- tance, but had he not done so it would, nevertheless, have become a law by the same vote by which it was passed. By its provision the distributed funds were lent to the states instead of being given to them. 8. The Territory of Texas. The United States, in the treaty by which Florida had been acquired of Spain in 1819, relinquished to that power the country lying between the Sabine and Rio Grande rivers, called Texas. The inhabit- ants of the territory were largely composed of a nonde- script class of adventurers from the United States-^pliable TWELFTH ADMINISTRATION. 321 material for any enterprise that required dash and tough- ness. Among them were not a few outlaws the whole mass preserved by the leaven of such men as Sam Hous- ton, Moses Austin, and some literary reporters from New York press. 9. Slavery in Texas. Slavery had been early intro- duced into Texas while under the government of the Mex- ican republic, which did not recognize this institution. There is evidence that ever since 1807 southern propa- gandists had, through Aaron Burr and others, contemplated either the annexation of Texas or a separate confederacy including it. 10. War with Mexico. Texas proclaimed her inde- pendence March 2, 1836. War with Mexico ensued, and sympathizing spirits in large numbers flew from the south- ern states across the Sabine to assist the Texans in their fight. The war was begun during Jackson's second term, and he said in his message, "Hands off." The Texan cause gained ground, constantly propelled by the momen- tum of Texan valor and American emigration thither to share the dangers and the glories of a " Texan ranger." 11. Prelude to Annexation. The independence of Texas was acknowledged by the United States during the last session of Congress in Jackson's second term. This was the most decisive step the government had yet taken, the apparent result of which would add strength to the South in her struggle with the North on the slavery issue. It was a prelude to annexation, without which the ultimate end to which southern ambition aimed would not have been gained, and the expected annexation came according to the program. 12. *Close of Jackson's Administration. Jackson's ad- ministration was now drawing to a close. Both his terms had been marked by decisive acts that left their impress on the nation to be felt. Martin Van Buren was a confidential friend and adviser of Jackson, and it was through his influence that he was made the candidate for his place. 13. The Nominating Convention. The nominating convention came off in Baltimore, May, 1835, and Mr. Van Buren and Richard M. Johnson became the Democratic candidates. No platform was adopted, for the reason that the party had declared a policy, well known and not diffi- cult to be understood by the masses. It was hostile to banks, high tariff and internal improvements at the public expense. The Whig policy involved grand schemes oi speculation, in which banks, high tariff and internal im- provements were to be necessary factors. *Two states were added during this administration: Arkansaa in J836, and Michigan, January, 1837. 322 TWELFTH ADMINISTRATION. 14. The Result of Election. The Whigs divided their scattered forces on several candidates who had been nomi- nated by different interests, including in their ranks Anti- Masons and Abolitionists, and when the electoral college met in February, 1837, the votes were counted, and for Presi- dent, Van Buren had 170; for Vice-President, Johnson had 147. The Whig candidates were: Wm. H. Harrison, for President, who had 73 votes; Daniel Webster, candidate for the same office, had 14 votes; Francis Granger, candi- date for Vice-President, had 77 votes; John Tyler had 47 votes for the same office. There were other scattering votes on both sides, but no choice was made for Vice-Presi- dent, and the election for one went to the House, when Johnson was chosen. The popular vote for the Democratic ticket was 761,549. That of the opposition was 736,656. Van Buren and Johnson were inaugurated March 3, 1837 "QUEEN OF THE OCEAN," THIRTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 323 MARTIN VAN BUREN, Born at Kinderbook, Columbia County, New York, Decembers, 1782. President March 4, 1837-March 4,1841. Died at Kinderbook July 24, 1 862. Thirteenth Administration. 1. A General Bank Explosion. Says A. W. Young: " Mr. Van Buren's accession to the presidency occurred at an un- propitious period. The pecuniary pressure which followed the issuing of the specie circular, and which was already general and severe, was rapidly approaching its crisis. This pressure was extensively regarded as the natural re- sult of a policy which he was pledged to continue. In May, the event for some time anticipated by many a general bank explosion took place. The banks in the city of New York, by common consent, suspended specie payment. The banks in other cities were compelled to adopt the same course. In the state of New York the Legislature legalized the suspension for one year. 2. The Causes. Among the causes to which the sus- pension of specie payment was ascribed were the divisions of specie to the West, and the drain upon the banks in the Atlantic cities for exportation to Europe, to pay for the txcessive importations of goods. Another cause of the de- of the currency was supposed to be the large 324 : THIRTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. loans made by the banks having on deposit the surplus rev. enue with the expectation that it would remain with them until called for by the general government. Instead, how- ever, of being permitted to retain these funds as a basis for the extension of their loans, they were unexpectedly de- manded for the purpose of distribution among the states; 3. Mercantile Failures. The speculation and enor- mous appreciation of property during the last two or three- years was followed by a revulsion, and a corresponding de- preciation. Mercantile failures in the commercial cities, as- Boston, New York and New Orleans, exceeding in number and amount, probably, any that ever occurred witnm an j equal period of time, took place in a few months before- and after the suspension. Representations of the vast de- preciation of property, and of the general prostration ofbusi-' ness, were made to the President, with request f-o rescind- the specie circular, and to call an extra meeting of Con- gress. On the 15th of May, a few days after the Gtispen- sion in the city of New York, a proclamation was issued for convening Congress on the first Monday in September,- 4. Act Regulating the Deposits. Under the provis- ions of the resolutions of 1816, and by the act of 1836, regu- lating the deposits, the Federal officers were prohibited from receiving or paying out the notes of any but specie paying banks. And the deposit banks, as well as others, had now suspended. Under existing laws, therefore, no collections or disbursements of public money could be made. If done at all it must be done in violation of law. 5. The President's Message. Pursuant to the proc- lamation, Congress assembled on the 4th of September, 1837. The President's message was almost exclusively devoted to the banks and currency, the causes of the exist- ing difficulties and their remedy. He suggested the entire disuse of banks as fiscal agents of the government, the col- lection, safe keeping, transfer and disbursements of the public money by officers of the government, and of the employment of specie alone in its fiscal operations. It was the recommendation of the sub-treasury scheme. He believed the exclusive use of specie a practical operation. Of the seventy or eighty millions in the country, ten mill- ions would be sufficient for the purpose, if the accumula^ tion of a large surplus revenue were prevented The large increase in specie since the act of 1834 had contributed largely to the feasibility of the measure. The gold coinage alone had been since August, 1834, ten millions, which exceeded the whole coinage at the mint during the 31 previous years. THIRTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 325 6. Bills Passed. The bill authorizing the issue of treasury notes, the bill for adjusting the remaining claims on the late deposit banks and the bill to extend the time of payment on merchant revenue bonds all passed the Senate on the 19th of September. By the last of these bills the time of payment or the obligations given by merchants for the payment of duties on goods imported was extended nine months. 7. Sub-Treasury Bill. The bill known as the Sub- Treasury Bill, reported by Mr. Wright on the 14th, was taken up in the Senate on the 19th, when Mr. Calhoun offered the amendment of which he gave notice at the time of his speech on the bill to authorize the issue of treasury notes, viz., requiring the eventual payment in specie of all money due to the government, familiarly called " the specie clause." This amendment was debated by Messrs. Niles, Benton, Walker, Calhoun and Buchanan, in support of it; and Messrs. Talmadge, Clay, Webster, King, of Georgia; arid Preston in opposition. The amendment was adopted on the 2d of October ; yeas, 24 ; nays, 23. 8. Petitions for the Abolition of Slavery. A large number of petitions for the abolition of slavery in the Dis- trict of Columbia, and remonstrances against the annex- ation of Texas were received at the extra session. A reso- lution was proposed to be offered by Mr. Adams, "That the power of annexing the people of any independent foreign state to this Union is a power not delegated by the Constitu- tion of the United States to their Congress, or to any depart- ment of their government, but reserved to the people." But the motion being decided out of order, the resolution was not received nor read. 9. The XXVIth Congress. The last Congress (the XXVth) was not distinguished for party action. The XXVIth Congress opened December 2, 1839. The Whigs had gained in strength and numbers in the House, and after an acrimonious, not to say desperate contest^ R. M. T. Hunter, a Whig, was chosen speaker. He was in favor of the sub-treasury scheme/which was the "last feather" that turned the scale of the election in his favor, and the sub- treasury bill passed during this session. 10. Promises of Gold and Silver Currency. Notwith- standing that the general crash in the financial interests of: the country had affected all classes, yet the old-time Demo-* crats were firm in their first love. The promises of gold, and silver currency was a flattering prospect to them, and so confidently did some of them look forward to this "good time coming" that they made it a rule to demand specie 22 326 - THIRTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. for whatever they had to sell. On the other hand the bank- ing and trading men of the country and all that class who favored public improvements at the expense of the state, who were in favor of high tariff and high prices, v/ere banded together in a firm alliance (under the general name of Whigs). 11. The Abolitionists. In the ranks of the Whigs were the anti-slavery advocates the anti-Masons and metaphysicians in sentimentalism, in various spheres of. thought, more frequently then made the subjects of specu- lation than in the present age. Contrary to the expecta- tions of the Whigs, the Abolitionists organized' a distinct party. But this movement was looked upon by the great mass of even both contending parties, as ultra-montane, a mere ripple, soon to be submerged in the great waves of the sea of public interests,; 12. Candidates for the Presidency. The Whig National convention met at Harrisburg, Pa., December 4, 1839. It adopted no platform was silent on the subject of slavery but, in order to secure southern support, after having nominated William Henry Harrison as candidate for the presidency, nominated John Tyler for Vrce-Presi- dent. Except Calhoun himself, they could not have selected a man who better represented southern principles. 13. The Anti-Slavery Convention. The Anti-Slavery convention, the first of its kind, was held at Albany, April 1, 1840. In it the Liberal party was organized, and James, G. Burney was nominated as its candidate for President, and Thomas Earle, candidate for Vice-President. The Democratic convention was held at Baltimore, May 5, 1840. It denied the constitutional rights of Congress to protect manufacturers by a tariff, any further than a revenue tariff for the general good of all classes would do it, and also denied its right to make internal improvements at the expense of the public treasury, or to charter a bank. It also denied the right of Congress to interfere with slavery in the states a right that even the liberty party did not then claim. They nominated the same candidates as had been successful in their last campaign Van Buren and Johnson. 14. The Contest. The contest that followed was an ex- citing one. It was in the main between the wealth produc- ing interests, by means of banking and a protective tariff on one side, and on the other the more domestic classes of men who were willing to go a little slower on the road to wealth and national grandeur men to whom the terms, wealth and fame were more significant of such physical FOURTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 327 conditions as food, raiment, and military glory, than of tall church-spires, architectural domes, and millions behind them. 15. Long-Haired Philosophers. The Abolitionists were, as a rule, cynical, and were sometimes called, in de- rision, "long-haired philosophers," "freedom shriekers," and other epithets in a spirit of contempt. 16. Two Great Journalistic Exponents. The issue at stake brought the best talent of the country into the arena. Thurlow Weed, the editor of the Albany Evening Journal, and Hezekiah Niles, edi'tor of Niles' Register, were the two great journalistic exponents of the Whigs, and the former (Mr. Weed) having been attracted by the force of Horace Greeley's editorials in the New Yorker, secured his services to the cause of the W 7 higs and their tariff policy; and young Greeley was made the editor of the Log Cabin, published under the auspices of the Whig state committee of New York. This was the occasion that introduced that eminent journalist into prominence, who was destined ultimately to exert such a world wide influence. 17. The Popular Election. The popular election passed off in November, 1840. Amid the vocal din of log cabin songs, interlined with something about hard cider and Harrison's latch string always hanging outside of the door (on the part of the Whigs.) While the Democrats were almost as talkative about " Dick Johnson " having slain Tecumseh at the battle of the Thames. 18. The Electoral Votes. When the electoral votes were counted the following February, 1841, they stood: For Harrison and Tyler, 234; for Van Buren, 60; for John- son, 48. There were some scattering votes for Vice-Presi- dent. The popular vote was more nearly equal, being: For Harrison, 1,275,017; for Van Buren, 1,128,702. Harrison and Tyler were inaugurated March 4, 1841. Fourteenth Administration. i. A Whig Majority in the Senate and House. Among points of solicitude by the Democrats, none were more objectionable to them than the possibility of the overthrow of the Jacksonian policy, concerning both the "tariff" and the "bank." The fact that there was a Whig majority in the Senate and House, was made more conspicuous by the 328 FOURTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. WM. H. HARRISON, Born at Berekely, Charles City County, Virginia, February 9, 1773. President March 4, i84i-April 4, 1841. Died at Washington, D. C., April 4, 1841. message of President Harrison, who called for an extra session to meet on the 31st of May; but which he was nevei permitted to witness, in consequence of his death on the 4th of April. 2. Abolition of the Sub-Treasury Project. John Tyler now being the head of the nation, immediately a bill was offered and passed for the abolition of the sub-treasury project, and received Tyler's signature forthwith. The Whigs had determined upon a line of work, -in full accord with their principles, and one of these was to establish a central system of finance. An introductory measure was the establishing of a bank for this purpose. To accomplish this, a bill to create "The Fiscal Bank of the United FOURTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 329 States," with a capital of $30,000,000, was introduced, con- taining a clause by which the capital might be raised to 850,000,000 if needed. It passed to a vote, and the follow- ing is the result: In the house, 128 yeas to 97 nays; in the senate 26 yeas to 23 nays; being purely a party vote. The bill was vetoed by Tyler because it contemplated a discount business; whereas, he thought it should have been only a bank of exchange; he also objected that certain states, which were entitled by the bill to have branches, had not given their consent. To placate him a new bill adapted to his views was formed and passed, only to receive again the fatal veto. 3. The Cabinet Resigns. This second veto taught the Whigs the futility of attempting to adapt themselves to his exacting methods, and filled the entire party with indig- nant astonishment. Their hopes were blasted. The Cabinet, with the exception of Webster, resigned; he, holding the helm of state as secretary, still hoped so to steer the craft that she might not leave the open sea of a Whig administration. Clay called Tyler to account in his terse and forcible words, and charged him with apostacy in terms that met the party's approval. Thomas Ewing, the Sec- retary of the Treasury, in conversation with the President, was heard to say that Tyler would have signed the second bill had there been only a slight change in it; in fact, only the prohibition from dealing in other than foreign exchange and inter-state bills. At the same time the President expressed a wish to Webster that such a new bill be drawn and presented to Congress. At this extra session a bank- *upt law was passed. 4. Asking the Dissolution of the Union. It was also provided by enactment that the funds from the sale of pub- lic lands be distributed among the several states on con- dition that the tariff of 1833 should remain as it was. This was a sort of funeral iarewell to the dead bank as the Whigs dared not attempt to restore it under the widespread aversion to it as expressed in the popular voice. Amid these twin troubles the bank and the tariff there came from Haverill, Mass., a petition, signed by 46 per- sons, and presented by John Quincy Adams asking the dissolution of the Union, because of equal benefits con- ferred upon different states in the interest of slavery. The Senate stood aghast that this southern bit of dissolution should have been projected across their horizon from fair and stable Massachusetts. In two weeks' time the northern patriots had ample opportunity to score the southern, whose fiery eyes showed more of hate for the audacious petition 330 FOURTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. JOHN TYLER, Born in Charles City -County, Virginia, March 29, 1790. President April 4, i84i-March 4, 1845. Died at Richmond, Virginia, Januaiy 17, 1862. than love for the Union; but the greatest censure came from those who later were the most active participants in secession, and those offered Mr. Adams the greatest affronts; simply defending the right of petition he had pre- sented this, and not because he was in any way in sympathy with it. 5. Revenues Insufficient. Concerning the tariff of 1833 it may be noticed that it gave a 20 per cent, ad valorem upon all importations after June 30, 1842. During the last fiscal year the receipts from it had so far failed that it became necessary to raise $1^,000,000 for currency use; thus proving the revenues insufficient. 6. Attempts to Raise the Tariff. The distribution of proceeds of land sales to the several states was a Whig measure to assist them in the payment of foreign claims. The fact that this distribution was hedged behind the pledge to raise the tariff of 1833, and that the compromise would be violated if so raised, was not sufficient to meet the emer- gency. Two attempts to raise the rates of the tariff failed, but a third was successful and was passed without receiving the distribution bill. From that time on the tariff held a higher rate than 20 per cent., and, in consequence, the land FOURTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 331 money distribution became a nullity of the past. The Presi- dent gave this bill raising the tariff his signature. 7. Annexation of Texas. Following these questions, the bank and the tariff, the annexation of Texas became the one theme of exciting interest. Southern Whigs and the Democrats favored it. Calhoun advocated it as a way to hold the balance of power. Clay opposed it, and Webster as well, yet they were unable to defeat it before the second session of the XXVIIIth Congress. The liberty party gave their opposition, all unavailing. The 3d of March, 1845, saw Florida become one of the states of the Union, and, because it was south of the Missouri compromise line, 36 30', the slavery of the South became her legal heritage. 8. Nominations for the Next Presidential Election. Pending this administration, with a Whig majority in both Houses, and the Democrats holding the reins through a Whig President with Democratic tendencies,there was little to be done but to wait and x hope that the next presidential election would mend things. A convention for this pur- pose was held on May 1, 1844, at Baltimore, which put in nomination Henry Clay for President and Theodore Free- linghuysen for Vice-President. A policy was announced to this effect: a protective tariff, a national currency, and the distribution among the states of surplus revenues. The 27th of May saw the Democrats in session in Balti- more, firm for "strict construction," to which they added a demand for 54 40' or fight, with regard to our northwest boundary. The nomination of James K. Polk for President and George M.Dallas for Vice-President put them squarely on their platform. The Abolitionists had met August 30, 1843, denouncing slavery and recommending penal laws to stop the return of fugitive slaves to the south. They put up James G. Burney for President and Thomas Morris for Vice-President. 9. The Result. The November, 1844, election settled the whole question. Had the Abolition vote of 62,300 been added to the vote for Clay he would have been elected. The electoral votes were 170 for Polk and Dallas to 105 for Clay. The popular Democratic vote was 1,337,243, and the Whig 1,299,068. Polk and Dallas were inaugurated March 4, 1845, 332 FIFTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. Fifteenth Administration. i. Two New Issues. Besides the anti-slavery ques- tion, two new issues of great magnitude were now to be met. These were the Mexican and the Oregon questions. JAMES K. POLK, Born in Mecklenburgh County, North Carolina, November 2, 1795. President March 4, i845-March 5, 1849. Died at Nashville, Tennessee, June 15, 1849. 2. *Texas Admitted Into the Union. Congress met December 1, 1845; on the 29th Texas was admitted into the Union with no provision as to slavery, most of the Whigs voting against and most of the Democrats for the bill. War with Mexico was the result, and, pending its progress, the Oregon question came up for solution. 3. The Oregon Question. At first the President mani- fested a disposition to adhere to the principles of his posi- tion during the electioneering canvass to claim the line of 64 40 'but through the influence chiefly of Webster (Whig), Galhoun and Benton (Democrat), together with the gravity of the situation, he modified his demands by sub- mitting the matter to be compromised by a new treaty *Iowa was admitted in $46 and Wisconsin in 1848. FIFTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 333 based on that of 1842 between Daniel Webster, on the part of the United States, and Lord Ashburton, on the part of England. They agreed on the parallel of 49 as the proper boundary, but not till after bad blood had been stirred up on both sides, which line was established by commissioners from both countries in 1846. The dispute between the two countries on the northeastern boundary was settled also at the same treaty. 4. The Mexican War. The Mexican war resulted in the acquisition of Texas, New Mexico, California and Arizona, by treaty, wriich increase of territory added fresh material for the slavery issue, anti-slavery agitation, to decide what portion of the newly acquired territory should be open to slavery. Calhoun, and his constituency, took the ground that all new territory should be open to it, and openly advocated disunion as the only alternative which the south could take, consistent with their honor. 5. The Anti-Slavery Party. The Anti-Slavery party asserted their principles with all the force that justice and political economy, in their estimation demanded. While both the Whigs and Democrats of the North regretted their attitude, believing their agitation was transient,' and would soon vanish before the other great issues of the country, and acted accordingly, but instead of this result their num- bers continued to increase, and their demands grew more tenacious. 6. Tariff for Revenue Only. During the XXIXth Con- gress the tariff bill of 1846 was passed. It was for revenue only, and not designed as protection. 7. A Dead-Lock. The XXXth Congress was occupied by discussions as to the organization of the territory ac- quired from Mexico, but without any definite result. The Ero-slavery element demanded that the whole of it should e open to slavery, but there was too strong a Free Soil force in the House to allow this, and a dead-lock on this question was the result. 8. Policy of the Democratic Party. True to the time- honored policy of the Democratic party, Mr. Polk vetoed all bills for internal improvement passed during his admin- istration, thereby carrying out a strict construction prin- ciple in the use of public funds. 9. The Free Soilers. The late action of the southern section in opposing the organization of California and New Mexico, except as slave territories, had disgusted many northern people, and was the germ whence grew a new party called the Free Soilers, another name for Abolitionists perhaps not quite so odious 22 834 FIFTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. ZACHARY TAYLOR, Born in Orange County, Virginia, November 24, 1784. President March 5, i849-July 9, 1850, Died at Washington, D. C., July 9, 1850. 10. Barn Burners and Hunkers. The Democratic con- vention, for the nomination of candidates for the next presi- dential term, met at Baltimore, May 22, 1848. To this convention two sets of delegates came from the state of New York, one representing such of the party as favored Free Soil, and the other, such as were willing to affiliate with the southern Democrats. The former were called Barn Burners (as a synonym of disgrace), and the latter Hunkers. FIFTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 335 The Barn Burners retired from the convention, after much parliamentary discussion, and harmony then prevailed. 11. Democratic Candidates. Lewis Cass, of Michigan, received the nomination for President, and William O. But- ler, of Kentucky, for V ice-President. The convention was firm in the strict construction policy, and silent on the anti- slavery issue; but voted down a resolution that Congress had no power to interfere with slavery. 12. The Free Soilers' Convention. The Free Soilers held their national convention in Buffalo, August 9, and the Barn Burners, who had retired from the Democratic convention, joined them. It adopted a platform denying the power of Congress to create a slave state, and astonished the country by the nomination of Martin Van Buren for President. Charles Francis Adams was nominated for Vice- President. The Abolitionists joined them, and held no con- vention of their own. 13. The Whig Convention. The Whig convention met at Philadelphia June 7, and nominated Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, for President, and Millard Fillmore, of New York, for Vice-President. They were also silent on the slavery issue, which seemed to be growing more and more dangerous, but voted down a resolution to enforce the Wil- mot proviso. This was an amendment proposed by Mr. Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, to a bill for the purchase of terri- tory from Mexico. Said amendment providing that terri- tory thus acquired should not be open to slavery. It was not carried, but became a salient premise, around which Free Soilers rallied. 14. The Wilmot Proviso. The Wilmot Proviso had been introduced into the Whig convention, and a resolution that Congress had no power to interfere with slavery, into the Democratic convention (although both coventions voted respective resolutions down), which revealed the political tendency of each, as to the anti-slavery question; and was significant of a disposition of the majority of each conven- tion to conceal their sentiments on the rising issue in ques- tion. 15. The Election was Exciting. The popular election on the following November was unusually exciting. The Free Soilers had strong hopes of throwing the final election into the house, but when the electoral votes were counted, Taylor and Fillmore had 163, and Cass and Butler 127. The popular vote stood: 1,360,101 for Whigs, and 1,220,544 for the Democrats, and 291,263 for the Free Soilers, the latter showing a large gain in the anti-slavery sentiment of the country. Taylor and Fillmore were inaugurated March 5, 1849. SIXTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. MILLARD FILLMORE, Born in the township of Locke, Cayuga County, New York, January 7, 1800. President July 9, i850-March i, 1853. Died at Buffalo, New York, March 8, 1871. Sixteenth Administration. 1. The Doctrines of "Squatter Sovereignty." The efforts of statesmen and politicians to keep the anti-slavery question from becoming a positive issue in Congress had now reached its limit. The problem to be solved was, whether the newly acquired territory should be organized on the plan of the Wilmot Proviso the Missouri Compro- mise, or whether the doctrines of "Squatter Sovereignty" should prevail in them, which was to let the territory be open for settlement for both holders with their slaves and Free Soilers, and determine among themselves whether the states in it shall ultimately be free or slave states. 2. Calhoun's Views on the Slave Question. - - The immensity of the territory to be organized awakened the apprehensions of the North, lest the South should fix their laws and institutions over it, thereby subordinating the whole country to slave rule by means of such an overwhelming pre- SIXTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 887 ponderance. Calhoun contended that the Constitution was the Supreme law of the land, and covered every territory with its requirements; and inasmuch as it recognized slavery, any settler should he permitted to take his slaves to such territory and be protected in holding them. 3. Webster's Reply. Daniel Webster the "great expounder," replied to him, that "the Constitution did not bind territories till they had been created into states," and while it provided the forms by which this could be done, "was inoperative as to the exercise of power over the terri- tory." It could not exercise its functions even over a state, without acts of Congress to enforce it." 4. The Important Bills on the Calendar. The most important bills now on the calendar were: a bill for the admission of California as a free state; a bill for the organi- zation of Utah and New Mexico as territories, subject to become either free or slave states; a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and a stringent fugitive slave bill. Henry Clay, the great compromiser, undertook the task of engrafting them all into one "omnibus bill," as it was called, except the one for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, which he did not think expe- dient; and passing them through both Houses at a single balloting. 5. Various Propositions. Jefferson Davis proposed the extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific. Mr. Seward proposed the Wilmot Proviso to cover the ter- ritory in question. Calhoun's last speech was read by James M. Mason, while the debate on Clay's compromise was pending. It reiterated what he had said before, but he died two months afterward, March 31, 1850, not living to see the fate of the omnibus bill. Mr. Taylor, the President, also died before the pending issue was settled, and Mr. Fillmore became President July 10, 1850. 6. Clay's Omnibus Bill.- Clay's Omnibus bill ulti- mately became the basis on which the compromise was made, but not till after eloquence had been exhausted on both sides, and the country excited as it never had been before on a moral issue. 7. California Becomes a State. California had begun to fill up so rapidly with gold seekers that it became a state September 9, 1850, and was admitted without slavery, New Mexico and Utah were organized as terri- tories without the Wilmot Proviso, and the fugitive slave bill became a law. 8. The North and the South. The South settled into an illy concealed tranquility and the North acquiesced 338 SIXTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. with equal grace, except the Anti-Slavery party, to whom the fugitive slave law was odious. 9. The Democratic Convention. June 1, 1852, the Democratic convention met at Baltimore to nominate candi- dates for the next presidential term. It took more radical ground than ever before by endorsing the Kentucky resolu- tions of 1798, which it will be remembered placed the state rights above the Constitution. It also declared fidelity to the compromise of 1850, and was emphatic against slavery agitation. Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire and William King, of Alabama, were the candidates nominated. 10. The Whig Convention. The Whig convention met at the same place on the 16th. It declared a similar policy to that of the Democrats, as to the compromise, but showed favor to a system of internal improvements. It nominated Winfield Scott, of Virginia, and William A. Graham, of North Carolina, as candidates for the next term. 11. The Free Soil Convention. The Free Soil con- vention met at Pittsburg August 11. It denounced slav- ery, the compromise and the parties who supported it. John P. Hale of New Hampshire and George W. Julien, of Indi- ana were their candidates. The count of the electoral votes in February, 1853, succeeding the popular election, showed for Pierce and King 254, and for Scott and Graham 42 votes. 12. Pierce and King Inaugurated. Pierce and King were inaugurated March 4, 1853. The popular vote was: For the Democratic ticket, 1,601,474; for the Whig ticket, 1,386,578; for the Free Soil ticket, 156,149. 13. The State Election in Illinois. At the state election in Illinois, in 1852, the Free Soilers united with the Whigs on the election of E. B. Washburne, whom they sent to Con- gress. This triumph, while it broke the chain which had hitherto bound old parties together in this state, placed it in the skirmish line of the conflict that ensued, and in the front of the battle that turned the scale in the forum and the field. SEVENTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 339 \ FRANKLIN PIERCE, . Born at Hillsborough, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, November 23, 1804. President March 4, i853-March 4, 1857. Died at Concord. New Hampshire, October 8, 1869. Seventeenth Administration. 1. The Compromise of 1850. That the compromise of 1850 had settled forever the slavery question, was the uni- versal opinion of all parties except the radical anti-slavery men and women/the latter having by thistime taken aeon- spicuous part in the discussion of the issue. 2. Death of Clay, Webster, and Calhoun. Henry Clay, the great light of the Whigs, as well as the man to whom the nation had been indebted for the past com- promises of the country, was no more. He had died at Washington, in the spring of 1852. Daniel Webster, the man whose words fell like sledge- hammer blows upon the principles which he opposed while they carried an assurance of personal friendship with them, had also passed off the stage four months after the demise of his great peer. J. C. Calhoun, whose integrity had never been questioned, even if his policy might be wrong, and whose eloquence was at par with Webstfr and Clay, had preceded them. 840 SEVENTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. There were none who could fill their places in the populai heart none who could be recognized as leaders to be fol- lowed by their respective constituency, left in the great political arena to take a part in the conflict now at hand.' 3. The Know Nothings. A new party called the Native American party, and designated as "Know-Nothings," rep- resenting a policy hitherto not considered by any former party, the fundamental principle of which was a religious resolution to " purge " the government from Roman Cath- olic influence, on the ground that it had allied itself to the Democratic party, and by virtue of this alliance our large cities were officered by Irish Catholics, now arose. 4. Their Make Up. This party was made up largely from the Whig ranks, but in it were also many Democrats. It was at first a secret order, and hence an unknown quan- tity till the day of election, when results revealed the names of those for whom they had voted; but ere their influence was widely felt an unexpected turn of affairs, as to the slavery issue, came upon Congress that became a strategic point to occupy, which would give to their party vantage ground, who occupied it.- 5. The XXXIIId Congress. The XXXIIId Congress, the first of the new administration, opened December 5th, 1853. On the 4th a bill was introduced into the Senate to establish a territorial government for Nebraska, which was referred to the committee on territories, of which Stephen A. Douglas was chairman. Mr. Douglas reported the bill on the following day with amendments. 6. A Special Report to the Senate. The true intent of the amendments as to whether they had annulled former compromises or not were not understood by the Senate, and to leave no doubt on this important point a special report was made to the Senate on the 4th of January, 1854, further amending the original bill in such language as could leave no doubt that its construction meant the overruling of the Missouri Compromise. 7. Sectional Antagonism. The late compromise of 1850 had been a basis by which other contingent issues had been settled, and this sudden blow aimed at the dimensions tone of the compromise fabric created a sensation through- out the North, opening the flood gates of sectional antag- onism. 8. The Principle of " Squatter Sovereignty." Mr. Douglas defended the bill, on the ground that in 1848 a bill brought before Congress, for the extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific ocean had been defeated, and that this defeat had made it necessary to effect SEVENTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 341 the v,oinpromise of 1850 to supersede it. He further stated that the object of the bill was not to legislate slavery into the territory in question, or to prevent its going there, but to leave the matter to be settled by its inhabitants. This view of the case was the principle of what was termed " squatter sovereignty." 9. The Missouri Compromise. In reply to Mr. Douglas, Salmon P. Chase denied, that the compromise of 1810 had superseded the Missouri Compromise, and to substantiate his premise quoted the language of Mr. Atchison, senator from Missouri, who, on that occasion, had declared that " though a grave error, the Missouri Compromise could not be repealed." Lewis Cass was one of the thirteen on the compromise in 1850, and to him Mr. Chase appealed to know if any thing had been said by that committee about the supersedence of the Missouri Compromise. He remained silent. 10. " The Kansas-Nebraska Bill.' 'The debate on this bill began early in December, 1853, and terminated with its passage May 25, 1854, slightly modified but clearly super- seding the Missouri Compromise, thereby opening the new territories to slavery. The bill included Kansas, by a change from its first name to that of " The Kansas-Nebraska Bill." 11. Whigs Divide. Up to this time the Whigs had held intact their organization, but now their leaders, as well as even the most insignificant tyro in their camp, could feel the wedge of disintegration penetrating to the heart of their body politic. The southern Whigs had largely deserted them and gone over to the Democrats when any measure touching slavery had come before Congress. A few of them had joined the American party. 12. Power in the North. The Free Soilers were an acknowledged power in the North not to be despised, and the problem now was to find a political nucleus around which to gather in opposition to the Democratic party, by whose quasi alliance the South had managed to divide the political forces of the North and conquer them in detail. 13. '* Border Ruffians." The border war between Kansas settlers and Missouri raiders called "Border Ruf- fians," grew from the rivalry which had sprung up between slave party at the South and the Emigrant Aid Society of the North to fill up Kansas with their respective classes of settlers. In this contest the North had the advantage from their locality, took the lead and kept it, but the superior numbers did not avail them in the election, for the Border Ruffians overran the state and prevented them from victory. 842 SEVENTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 14. A New Political Faith. The result was to make proselytes throughout the country to a new political faith and the names of Free Soilers, Anti-Nebraska Men, etc., soon began to be looked upon with usual favor. 15. Transitory State of Politics. Pending this transi- tory state of politics, the American party had elected sev- eral members of the House and some ambitious politicians began to spread their sails to the breeze under an impres- sion that they were destined to rise above any other party. They joined hands with the Anti-Nebraska men and elected their speaker, N. P. Banks, at the opening of the XXXIVth Congress. Meanwhile Kansas became the "cockpit" of the contest. The slavery party of the territory held their elec- tion in accordance with constitutional forms, at least out- wardly and established their legislature at Shawnee, under the auspices of President Pierce. 16. The Free Statesmen. The free statesmen held their election and established their legislature at Topeka. Each framed a constitution for the state; one recognizing slavery, the other prohibiting it. By order of the president the Topeka legislature was dispersed July 4, 1856, the Shawnee legislature being the one recognized by theadmip- istration. 17. The Free State Settlers Outnumbered their Oppo- nents. The free state settlers of Kansas claimed that they greatly outnumbered their opponents and that the Shaw- nee Legislature was created by fraudulent votes and vio- lence. On the 19th of March, 1856, the subject was taken under consideration in the House, and John Sherman, of Ohio; William A. Howard, of Michigan, and Mordicia Oliver, of Missouri, were appointed as a committee to go to Kansas, gather evidence and make a report as to the validity of their elections. When they returned they pro- nounced the elections of the free states party legal and valid. 18. The Tariff Bill of 1857. No bills were passed to retrieve this strain. During this session the tariff bill of 1857 became a law. It was a reduction of former rates. During Mr. Pierce's entire administration he adhered to the strict construction policy and opposed the anti-slavery agi- tation. 19. Republicans. -Thus far the free soilers had only been successful in destroying the Whig party, but their work was only begun. Free soil and a policy by which slavery could at least be subordinated to a wholesome restraint, was demanded by the North, and to bring such a salutary measure into practical working order all parties SEVENTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 343 except the extreme strict-construction Democrats united under the name of Republicans. 20. The Contest was Doubtful. Even with the united strength of all these, the contest was doubtful, for the South was unanimous and it was morally certain that some of the northern states were not yet ready to take the (in the esti- mation of many) "fatal step" which might involve a civil war. In this emergency the" Know-Nothing " party, under the hopeful incentive that their issue would naturalize the main one, or bridge over the " evanescent " (as some style it) wave of excitement, assembled at Philadelphia in con- vention, February 22, 1856, to nominate candidates for President and Vice-President. 21. Sincere in their Convictions. Probably no large body of men had ever before or since congregated with such versatile lights and shades, in a political sense. That the majority of them were sincere in their convictions and asser- tions that " Americans should rule America," there is no reason to doubt ; but it is certain that there were friends of slavery in the convention who tried their utmost to give the new political faith a momentum, under the impression that it would divide the Republican strength. A respectable moiety of the convention were freesoilers, and their attempt to put a plank into the platform, recommending the restora- tion of the Missouri Compromise, failing they withdrew from the convention, leaving the field subtleness of these oppo- nents. 22. Nominations. Millard Fillmore, of New York, and Andrew Jackson Donaldson, of Tennessee, were their can- didates for President and Vice-President. The Democrat nominating convention. had already been held at Cincinnati, on the 16th of June, and James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, for President, and John C. Breckinridge for Vice-President, had been nominated. Strict construction, the Kansas- Nebraska bill, then a political faith, were adhered to with great unanimity. The Republican convention met at Philadelphia June 17th, John C. Fremont for President and William L. Day- ton for Vice-President, were their candidates. Internal improvements, the prohibition of slavery and polygamy in the territories, and free Kansas, were their emphatically acknowledged policy. 23. A Heavy Strain of Antagonism. The canvass exceeded in earnestness any former one. The press, the pulpit, and the forum were on a heavy strain of antag- onism, not to call it a harder name, till the day of election. 844 EIGHTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 24. Results of the Election. The count of the votes of the electoral college in the following February showed for Buchanan and Breckinridge, 174; for Fremont and Dayton, 114. The Democratic popular vote was 1,838,169; the Republican popular vote, 1,341,264; the Know-Nothings Buchanan and Breckinridge were inaugurated March 4, 1857. Eighteenth Administration. I. Triumph of the Democrats. The late triumph of the Democrats in the face of such sanguinary opposition seemed to carry conviction, looking through conservative spectacles, that this party had a perpetual lease of power. But the under current was too strong to give general cur- rency to such a conclusion, notwithstanding that the slave interest thus far had always won when brought in competi- tion with the anti-slavery interests. JAMES BUCHANAN, Born at Stony Batter, Franklin County, Pa., April 22, 1791. President March 4, i857-March 4, 1861. Died at Wheatland, Pa., June i, 1868. EIGHTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 345 2. The Dred-Scott Case. During the heat of the late canvass the Dred-Scott case came before the judiciary department at Washington. The owner of the slave Dred had taken him from Missouri to Illinois in 1834, and after four years' residence in that state had taken" him to Minne- sota, from where he subsequently returned with him to Mis- souri and sold him, after which the slave brought suit for his freedom in the circuit court of St. Louis county, Mis- souri, on the ground of his master having voluntarily taken him to a free state. He obtained a verdict in his favor, but the case was appealed till it got into the supreme court of the United States. This court decided that, according to the constitution, he who had ever been a slave had no rights which a white man was bound to respect. 3. Corruption of Principle. Such a corruption of principle, as this decision was claimed to be, intensified the contest by giving a new impetus to free soil efforts in the North, while it imparted to the South a confidence in their own power which the sequel proved to be. All Kansas was an inviting theater on which to fight out the issue, which was whether this debatable soil was ultimately to be free or slave. Neither John Brown's exploit at Osawatomie, nor the sacking of Lawrence by Border Ruffians could settle this question, nor could the many daring acts of aggressive proselytism which were committed by both sides, but there was one issue on which seemed to hang the fate of Kansas, and this was the official action to be taken as to the validity of the Lecompton constitution. 4. Convention to Form a Constitution for Kansas. The act providing for the convention to form a constitution for Kansas authorized a census to be taken, enumerating the legal voters in the territory, April 1, 1857. In counties which had been settled by free state men no census was taken, and in apportioning the delegates for the constitu- tional convention the governor classed these counties with others more favorable to slavery, and they were really mis- represented in the convention. Under these disadvantages the free state men refused to send delegates to the con* vention. It met at Lecompton in September, and framed a con- stitution recognizing slavery, which articles in this docu- ment were to be voted on. 5. Free State Men Refuse to Vote. Most of the Free State men refused to vote at all, on the ground that they had not been fairly represented' in the apportionment of delegates to draft the instrument. Nor did they recognize as right the unusual plan of being obliged to accept a con- 346 EIGHTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. stitution, subject only to their power to change a single sec- tion of it, especially as there were other portions of it dis tasteful to them, to correct which no provision had been made. The election came off December 21, 1857. In favor of the constitution with slavery were 6,193 votes and against it 589. 6. Feeling of Indignation Through the North. This discrimination in favor of the slave interest, produced a deep feeling of indignation through the North. Frederick P. Stanton was then secretary under Robert A. Walker, the governor, but Mr. Walker being absent at Washington, Mr. Stanton had to act in his place, and he ordered an election to be held on the 4th of January, 1858, in which the people might vote for or -against the constitution entire. 7. Election Fraud. Against the constitution 10,226 votes were polled; for the constitution with slavery, 138 votes, and for it without slavery, 24 votes. At the same time, state officers and a representative to congress were voted for. The Free State men carried their entire ticket by a large majority, as reported by the presiding officers of the election, except Mr. J. Calhoun, who, instead of acknowledging the validity of this election, added a number of spurious names to the list of voters to secure a pro-slav- ery majority, which names it was afterward proven were copied from an old Cincinnati directory. The charge of this election fraud was confirmed by Mr. Stanton and Governor Walker rejected the returns as fraudulent. Meantime, Mr. Calhoun, being obliged to flee from Kansas, found refuge in Washington, but fearing to present the list of names to the administration, certificates were given to the Free State officers according to the first election returns. 8. The Lecompton Constitution. Notwithstanding these disclosures, President Buchanan on the following month, February, 1858, submitted the Lecompton Constitution to Congress, recommending its ratification, and in his expressed opinion said : " Kansas is therefore at this moment as much a slave state as Georgia or South Carolina." The only apology for which must have been that of state rights doc- trine guaranteed in the constitution right or wrong, beyond the reach of control by Congress. 9. A Bitter Contest. This aggressive step produced a bitter contest in which Stephen A. Douglas took a leading part by the advocacy of his favorite doctrine of popular sovereignty, and applying it to Kansas. 10. The Democratic Convention and Their Platform. - The Democratic convention to nominate candidates for the next presidential term met at Charleston, S. C., April 23, 1861. Douglas refused to endorse the Lecompton Consti- EIGHTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 347 tution, or to renounce the doctrine of popular sovereignty, and the majority of the convention sustaining him in this, most of the southern members withdrew, when the conven- tion proceeded to ballot for candidates, but no choice could be made, and the convention adjourned to meet again in Baltimore, June 18th, at which place it nominated Mr. Douglas for President, and Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, for Vice-President. Their platform represented popular sovereignty as its main stay. 11. Southern Delegates. The Southern delegates met at Richmond and nominated John C. Breckinridge, of Ken- tucky, and Joseph Lane, of Oregon, of course without any expectation that their candidates could be elected, but their resentment had been aroused, and candor was impossible. 12. Know - Nothing Convention. The American or Know-Nothing convention met at Baltimore May 19, and nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, and Edward Everett, of Massachusetts. 13. The Republican Convention and its Platform. The Republican convention met at Chicago May 16, I860. In its platform it maintained the constitutional right to make internal improvements at the expense of the national treasury. But the slavery question overshadowed all else, and care was taken that no equivocal language should be used in the platform on this point. Slavery was to be op- posed in the territories as a constitutional right. Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, was nominated as candidate for Presi- dent, and Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, for Vice-President. 14. The Douglas Democrats. The Douglas Demo- crats fully recognized slavery, protected by constitutional rights in the territories, till it had been rendered illegal there by popular vote. The southern Democrats, among whom were also many northern men, held that since the re- peal of the Missouri compromise had legalized slavery in the territories under constitutional rights, neither the state nor the Congress had any power to vote it out. Douglas laid down a plan for changing slave territory^into free ter- ritory by a popular vote, but the other faction made this impossible. 15. Distinction Between the Two Parties. In ac- knowledging the validity of the Lecompton constitution, this distinction between the two parties was put to a practi- cal test Douglas went one way and Buchanan the other, working against each other, while both worked against the " Black Republicans." 16. Quarrel Over the Kansas Issue. During the heat of the presidential campaign that followed Congress con- 348 EIGHTEENTH ADMINISTRATION. tinued to quarrel over the Kansas issue, and various at- tempts were made to procure the admission of the state into the Union, all of which were promptly voted down, till the pro-slavery force had become reduced in the Senate by the withdrawal of five senators, whose respective states had passed ordinances of secession. 17. Kansas Admitted Into the Union.* Thus weakened in opposition to free Kansas the senate passed an act for her admission into the Union, January 21, 1861 yeas 36, nays 16. The state was admitted under a constitution which the Free State men had framed at a convention assembled at Wyandotte in March, 1859, and by this act of Congress the most irritating controversy it had ever witnessed was at an end as far as legislation could control it. The Morrill tariff bill was passed at the same session. 18. The Result of the Campaign. The November election passed off amid the din of wordy strife between the three parties. The electoral college assembled in February, and the result of the campaign gave for Lincoln and Ham- lin 180 votes; for Douglas and Johnson 12; for Bell and Everett 39; and for Breckinridge and Lane 72. 19. No sooner was the result of the election known, than the southern leaders who had threatened to break up the Union, proceeded to carry out their threats. South Caro- lina first seceded, and by February 1 six other states had passed ordinances of secession. February 4, six states met and formed " The Confederate States of America," and selected Jefferson Davis as President, and Richmond, Va., as the capital. 20. Lincoln and Hamlin Inaugurated. Lincoln and Hamlin were inaugurated March 4, 1861. The popular vote stood 1,866,350 for Lincoln and Hamlin, 1,375,157 for Douglas and Johnson, 589,581 for Bell and Everett, and 845,763 for Breckinridge and Lane. * Minnesota was admitted in 1858 and Oregon in 1859. YOUNG LINCOLN SPLITTING RAILS. 349 350 NINETEENTH ADMINISTRATION. Nineteenth Administration. 1. A Deep Sensation. The election of Abraham Lin- coln caused a deep sensation throughout the entire country, but from several different lines of thought in viewing its destined revolt. 2. Actual War. Those who thought the most deeply ion the matter were not hasty in predicting its consequence, but pending the interim or suspense which preceded his inauguration few supposed that actual war would come, till on ihe fatal 14th or April, 1861, Fort Sumpter was fired on and taken by an armed force of rebels, in Charleston, S, C. This method of opening the war was chosen to "fire the southern heart," to use the expression made by Jeffer- son Davis, the president of the Southern Confederacy, JEFFERSON DAVIS, President of the Southern Confederacy. NINETEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 351 which effect though produced fire in the northern heart not anticipated by Mr. Davis, especially the firing of it almost universally with antagonism. There is good evi- dence that the southern leaders did not anticipate a general war, but a comparatively peaceful acquiescence, in a separation, and even General Scott in speaking on the sub- ject, foreshadowed a war of far greater magnitude than was generally anticipated, the only alternative to which was to say " Wayward sister, depart in peace." 3. Radicalism Had an Advantage Over Conserva- tism. Even Horace Greeley advised a peaceable separa- tion, but quickly rescinded such counsels when the spon- taneous uprising had time to manifest itself. Conservatism in the breath of politicians was now put to the rack of pain- fully contending emotions. It took a little time to throw away red or green spectacles and put on a pair of colored ones, through which the policy of the country could be seen in the light of reason untrammeled by either prejudices or opinionated vanity, but here was a dilemma in which radi- calism had an advantage over conservatism and impulse over hesitancy, for radicalism and impulse became the watchword now and prompt war measures were taken to put an army into the field, though against the advice of a very few, who opposed the war as impolitic, not to say unjust. 4. The Progress of the War. But while the progress of the war had the effect to create two classes of Demo- crats, known as peace and war Democrats, it also created two classes of Republicans, one class demanding an imme- diate freeing of the slaves and the other not unwilling yet to take such a radical measure. From the first time this policy was canvassed by advocates on both sides, not in a captious spirit, but under a conviction of supposed principles of political economy, and especially war economy. 5. The Policy of the Administration. Under mis division of sentiment the policy of the administration was cautious and moderate in action. First it accepted the services of such slaves as came within the Union lines on the ingenious assumption (of which General B. F. Butler was the author) that they were contraband a principle that no casuitry could gainsay, from whatever view might be taken in the premises. If the slave was a chattel he constituted the material of war he built forts for his mas- ter. If he was a citizen, and turned apostate to the cause of his country, the rules of war warranted the acceptance of his services in the Union cause. But accepting him as a contraband disarmed opposition from the peace party of the North, with whom peace meant a northern policy which 352 NINETEENTH ADMINISTRATION. should restore harmony to the nation by reinstating the rebels to their political standing before the war began, to do which it was all important that the slave should remain in bondage; and consistent with this theory he must not be accepted in the Union service as a citizen. 6. The Way Toward Universal Emancipation. That this initiatory step did much to open the way toward uni* versal emancipation there can be no reasonable doubt. It had broken through the web of toils that environed the Democratic heart of the North, whose aversion to freeing ALEXANDER H. STEVENS, Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy. the slave had long been canonized into a political faith; nor was the Republican party at first in favor of such a decisive step, except the old abolition element in it- which it may with no impropriety be called its vitalizing element. 7. The Proclamation of Emancipation. The procla- mation of emancipation was issued on the 22d of Septem- ber, 1862, to go into effect on the 1st of January following. A storm of indignation followed from the peace party, but NINETEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 353 the little ripple it raised in the sea of public opinion was soon lost in the tempestuous waves of war. It was a thun- derbolt in the camp of tht enemy, but they generally received it in sullen silence, like the Indian warrior who, when taken captive and tortured with fire, bravely conceals his emotions. 8. The XXXVIIth Congress. Previous to this decis- ive measure, the XXXVIIth Congress had made ample provisions for a revenue, in which a slight increase of the tariff of the previous session had some part, and the home- stead bill had been passed. 9. National Banking Law. At the second session of the same Congress an act was passed to provide a cur- rency, secured by United States stocks, which was a national banking law, the plan of which was drawn up by S. P. Chase, the secretary of the treasure. A conscription act for drafting men into the army and the suspension of habeas corpus were also passed during this session. A war of words followed which was carried on by peace men, but no violent acts were committed. 10. The War Prolonged. The war had been pro- longed far beyond the prediction of leading Republicans, and had, consequently, created unexpected opposition from the Democratic party, or perhaps, more properly speak- ing, from the rump of this party. xi. Censure Upon the Administration. The time for holding'conventions, to choose candidates for the next pres- idential term, was near at hand, and the Democratic party made the most they could of the defeats of the Union arms to bring censure upon the administration, while it violently attacked its martial law and conscription policy. Withal the war itself was carried on by their assistance, individu- ally, but as a party only in a modified sense. 12. The Republican Nominating Convention. Under this strain the Republican nominating convention met at Baltimore June 7, 1864. It was the darkest hour of the war, but unconditional surrender of the rebels was emphatically demanded, nor was there any toning down of ultra- aboli- tion sentiment in the convention. Abraham Lincoln for President and Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, for Vice- President, were nominated. 13. The Democratic Convention. The Democratic convention met at Chicago on the following August, the 29th. Had this party understood its true interests, it would not have held any convention at all during the strain of a war for which they did not hold themselves responsible, but greatly to their discredit, stump orators, if men of neither 354 NINETEENtll A DMINISTRATION. MAJOR-GEN. ROBERT E. LEE. patriotism nor reason nor common sense could be called such, ventilated their bad blood in abusing Mr. Lincoln. 14. A Recoil in Public Sentiment. Philosophic minds can penetrate a principle, and forecast a policy wherewith to bring it into practice; but the experiences of time and events may be necessary to bring such a principle to the understanding of a popular wave of excitement. But the men composing the peace Democracy were not philosophers. They were men who had ever been victorious in elections till "Black Republicans" had, in an evil hour, as they claimed, out-voted them, and brought on the war. These men, instead of the more moderate members of the party, were the orators of their conventions, and their emphatic denunciations of the war, which they pronounced a failure, and their caustic criticisms of the administration produced NINETEENTH ADMINISTRATION. 355 a recoil in public sentiment which greatly strengthened the Union cause, for it was apparent to every one not blinded by zeal without knowledge that the best elements of the Demo- cratic party were in the field fighting the common enemy, and that the only ground on which the present opposition to the administration stood was paradoxical. 15. Results of the Election. When the votes of the electoral college were counted in February succeeding the popular election of November, 1864, George B. McClellan, of New Jersey, and George H. Pendleton, of Ohio, the Democratic nominees, had but 21 votes, while Lincoln and Johnson had 212. They were inaugurated March 4, 1865. The popular vote stood: Republican, 2,216,067; Democratic, 1,808,725. THE HON. CARL SCHURZ, of Missouri. 356 TWENTIETH ADMINISTRATION. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Born in Hardin (now La Rue) County, Ky. t February 12, 1809. President March 4, i86i-April 15, 1865. Died at Washington, D. C., April 15 1865. Twentieth Administration. Z. A Great Hero. Among the heroes of the world was there ever one so great and so untrammeled with ostenta- tion, as Abraham Lincoln. The rebellion had been crushed by the force of arms, under^ his guidance through all its tortures, too intricate for ordinary minds to fathom. 2. Assassination of President Lincoln. A wave of exultation was rolling over the country, and at the height of its tide, on the 14th of April, 1865, Mr. Lincoln was shot TWENTIETH ADMINISTRATION. 35? dead at Ford's theater, in Washington by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson, the Vice-President, succeeded to the presidency, and never before in the history of the nation, had its chief executive taken such extravagant responsibilities upon himself in violation of the conviction of Congress as he did. 3. Reconstruction Committee Appointed. Congress did not meet till December 4, when among their first busi- ness they appointed a reconstruction committee. This was offensive to Mr. Johnson, and he dishonored the dignity of his high office by acting the part of a low-class lawyer in denouncing their action. From his action he intended evi- dently to restore the original doctrine of state rights which in turn modified or perhaps rendered inoperative the emanci- pation proclamation, but not having even one-third of Con- gress on his side, his veto power was incipient to act as a bar to its designs which were in harmony with the public voice of reason. 4. The Civil War Declared to be at an End. On the 2d of April, the President, by proclamation declared the civil war to be at an end. Congress meanwhile was work- ing assiduously in perfecting its plan for re-organization. Tennessee was formally restored to the Union by that body on the 23d of July; the 28th of that month, after a long and arduous session, Congress adjourned. 5. Notable Events. Meanwhile notable events in the foreign relations of the government had occurred. The Emperor of the French had been informed that the con- tinuation of French troops in Mexico was not agreeable to the United States, and on the 5th of April (1866), Napo- leon's secretary for foreign affairs gave assurance to our government that these troops should be withdrawn. The state elections, held in the autumn of 1866, indicated the decided approval by the people of the reorganization plans of Congress, as opposed to that of the President, who was openly affiliated with the Democratic party and the late enemies of the government in the South and elsewhere. The majority in Congress felt strengthened by the popular approval of their course, and went steadily forward in per- fecting measures for the restoration of the Union. 6. Steps for Restraining the Action of the President. They took steps for restraining the action of the President, who, it was manifest, had determined to carry out his policy in defiance to that of Congress. And as an indication of the general policy of the latter concerning suffrage, a bill was passed December 14 by a large majority of both Houses for granting the elective franchise in the District of 21 358 TWENTIETH ADMINISTRATION. bia, over which Congress has direct control, to persons "without any distinction on account of color or race." The President vetoed the bill, January 7, 1867, when it was re-enacted by the constitutional vote of two-thirds of the members or both Houses in its favor. 7. Charges Brought Against Andrew Johnson. On the same day, January 7, Mr. Ashley, representative from Ohio, arose in his seat and charged " Andrew Johnson, Vice-Pres- ident and acting President of the United States, with the commission of acts, which in the estimation of the Constitu- tion, are crimes and misdemeanors, for which he ought to be impeached." He offered specifications and a resolu- tion instructing the committee on the judiciary to make in- quiries on the subject. The resolution was adopted by a vote of 137 to 38, 45 members not voting. This was the first public movement in the matter of the President, which resulted in his tria. in May, 1868. 8. Bills Vetoed by the President. At a former session of Congress bills were passed for the admission of the ter- ritories of Colorado and Nebraska as states of the Union. The President interposed. Now similar bills were passed, prescribing as a preliminary to admission in their Constitu- tion granting impartial suffrage to their citizens and the ratification of the amendment to the Constitution. The President vetoed them; when that for the admission of Ne- braska was passed over his veto % That territory became a state on the first of March, making the thirty-seventh. A bill limiting the authority of the President in making offi- cial appointments and removals from office, known as the "Tenure of Office Act," was passed, and was vetoed by the President, and passed his veto, repealing so much of an act of July 17, 1862, as gave the President power to grant amnesty and pardon to those who had been engaged in the rebellion. A bill was also passed, with the same opposition from the President, for the military government of the dis- organized states. The XXXIXth Congress closed its last session on the 3d of March, and the XLth Congress began its first session immediately thereafter. 9. The Conduct of the President and Action of the National Legislature. In view of the conduct of the Presi- dent, which threatened the country with revolution, thisaction of the national Legislature was deemed necessary for the pub- lic good. It adjourned on the 31st of March, to meet on the first Wednesday in July. Congress assembled on the 4th of July, and on the 20th adjourned to meet on the 21st of November. The chief business of the short session was to adopt measures for removing the obstructions cast by the TWENTIETH ADMINISTRATION, 369 \\ ANDREW JOHNSON, Born at Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, December 29, 1808. President April 15, i865-March 4, 1869. Died in Carter County, Tenn., July 31, 1875. President in the way of a restoration of the disorganized states. A bill supplementary to the one for the military government of those states was passed over the usual veto of the President, arid it was believed that the chief magis- trate would refrain from farther acts calculated to disturb the public peace. Not so. Immediately after the adjourn- ment of Congress he proceeded, in defiance of that body and in violation of the tenure of office act, to remove the Secre- tary of War (Mr. Stanton)and to place General Grant in his place. The President first asked (August 5, 1867) the Secre- tary to resign. Mr. Stanton refused. A week later the Presi- dent directed General Grant to assume the duty of Secre- tary of War. Grant obeyed. Stanton retired under protest, well satisfied that his office was left in the hands of a pat- riot whom the President could not corrupt or unlawfully control. * 10. Hour of Seeming Peril to the Republic. The removal of the Secretary of War was followed by the removal of General Sherman from the command of the Fifth Dis- trict, and General Sickles from that of the Second District, by which the country Was notified, that the most faithful 360 TWENTIETH ADMINISTRATION. officers who were working with the representatives of the people for the proper and speedy restoration of the Union would be deprived of power to be useful. General Grant protested against these acts, but in vain. The country was greatly excited and the loyal people waited with impatience the reassembling of congress upon which thev relied in that hour of seeming peril to the republic. 11. Mr. Stanton Reinstated as Secretary of War. That body met at the appointed time, and on the 12th of December the President sent to the Senate a statement of his reasons for removing the Secretary of War. They were not satisfactory, and on the 13th of January the Senate rein- stated Mr. Stanton and General Grant retired from the war department. Already Congress had made much progress toward the restoration of the disorganized states of the Union, by providing for conventions for framing constitu- tions and electing members of Congress; and a few days after the restoration of Mr. Stanton, a new bill for the fur- ther reorganization of those states was passed by the House of Representatives, in which large powers were given to the General in Chief of the Armies, in their military govern- ments, and depriving the President of all power to interfere in the matter. 12. Attempt to Impeach the President. During this conflict Congress made an attempt to impeach the Presi- dent for what was claimed to be an overt violation of the constitution in his attempt to expel Mr. Stanton from the Cabinet, but it required a two-thirds vote to do this, and Johnson being saved from disgrace by a surplus vote, filled out his term. 13. The Republican Convention. The Republican con- vention for nominating candidates for the next term met at Chicago May 20, 1868. It was unwavering in its resolution to secure the suffrage of the liberated slave and to carry out the principles already begun by the former administration as to restoration. Ulysses S. Grant, of Illinois, and Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, were nominated as candidates. 14. The Democratic Convention. The Democratic convention met in New York City July 4. It demanded that seceding states should be restored to their former status in the Union without condition and left the question of negro suffrage to be settled by each state in its own way. Horatio Seymour, of New York, and Francis P. Blair, of Missouri, were the candidates. 15. Amendments to the Constitution. " Sink the slave question and elevate the money question," became practi- TWENTY-FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 361 cally the motto, and to this end amendments were made to ;he Constitution, which gave the ballot to the slave after having liberated him. 16. The XVth Amendment. The XVth amendment was the last of these. It was made by the resolution of Congress February 26, 1869, and became the law of the land after having been ratified by two-thirds of the states. This was the last act in the drama (to use a metaphor) that raised up and hurled down the rebellion. The tide was now turning, and with it the minor details of reconstruc- tion. 17. Electoral and Popular Votes. The electoral votes for the candidates for the next presidential term were counted in February, 1869. Grant and Colfax had 214, Sey- mour and Blair had 80. The popular vote stood: For the Republicans, 3,012,833; for the Democrats, 2,703,249. Grant and Colfax were in- augurated March 4, 1869. Twenty=First Administration. 1. Inroads Into the Shore Lines of the Republic. The ponderous waves of the civil war had made its inroads into the shore lines of the republic, as it was, and brought new issues upon Congress as to political rights of the seceding states, which had now by the condition of war brought upon themselves a state of territorial bondage. .This had been the ground on which the preceding administration had appointed principal governors for each of the states lately in rebellion. But there was a division of sentiment on this question among the northern people, nor was this feeling entirely limited to party lines. 2. Ratification of the Amendment to the Constitution. Pending this political state of affairs, the administration had taken such measures as forced this method sore against their will to ratify the amendment to the Constitution, which gave liberty and civil rights to the slaves ere they would be represented in Congress, and to remove obstacles to their new policy the supreme bench had pronounced this amendment constitutional ere the revolted states had been required to accept them. 3. The Right of Franchise to the Colored Race. As might be supposed this was, in a political sense, " the most unkindest cut of all," to force a state to pass sentence on itself, but there was no other way out of the dilemma, 362 TWENTY-FIRST ADMINISTRATION. ULYSSES S. GRANT, Born at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, April 27, 1822. President March 4, i86p-March 4, 1877. Died at Mt. McGregor, New York, July 23, 1885. and each state out of the Union by acts of rashness came in again by acts of humility, Georgia being the last to yield, which she did February 10, 1870. And here it is not im- proper to say, that in as much as the acts had not been sub- mitted to a popular vote, let a halo of charity be thrown over the American citizen whose courage shielded his honor, though spent in a vain and urgent cause, to which sentiment American manhood must respond. And here let it not be forgotten that by the stern decree of war we forced TWENTY-FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 363 the bouth to do what we had not done ourselves, and might never have done but for the war, and to be consistent, to extend the right of franchise to the colored race. 4. Issue of Bonds. During the XLIst Congress the national debt was funded. Bonds were issued to the amount of $200,000,000 on interest at five per cent., payable at the pleasure of the government after ten years; bonds were issued to the amount of $300,000,000, payable after fif- teen years, bearing four and one-half per cent, interest; and bonds were issued to the amount of $1,000,000,000, payable after thirty years, at four per cent, interest. 5. ** Carpet Baggers." The provincial Governors had become objects of great aversion to the southern people, and that very questionable means had been taken to render their official acts of no effect was clearly proven by the tes- timony of committees sent to the South to make reports. In Congressional discussions on this subject the Democrats stigmatized the provincial Governors as "carpet baggers," and made the most of their mistakes or "despotic acts " to censure them, and the Republican policy which had sent them to their field of unthankful, though lucrative, labor. 6. The Enforcement Act. The enforcement act became a law May 31, 1870. It gave the President all the authority necessary to protect the free men in those civil rights that the amendments to the Constitution had guaranteed to them, but the failure of fully achieving the desired end fur- nished another of the many illustrations afforded by history that public opinion sometimes takes the form of the higher law. 7. General Grant Nominated for a Second Term. Republican National Convention met at Philadelphia, Janu- ary 5, 1872. In its platform no abatement of its vigorous reconstruction policy was made. General Grant was nomi- nated for a second term as candidate for President, and Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, candidate for Vice-Presi- dent. 8. Liberal Republicans. The Republican party were not unanimous in his support, owing to the extreme meas- ure which had been taken in reconstructing the states lately in rebellion. They called themselves Liberal Republicans, and had already held their nominating convention in Cin- cinnati on May 1. Horace Greeley, of New York, and B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, were their nominees. 9. Position of the Democrats. The Democratic con- vention met in Baltimore on the 9th of July following. The position they occupied was peculiar. The Liberal Repub- 364 TWENTY-FIRST ADMINISTRATION. licans had already occupied the only ground on which they could take issue with the Republicans, and they joined hands with them by accepting their standard bearer as their own. 10. Not Regarded with Favor by the Old Time Demo- crats. This official act of the leaders of the party, however political it might have been, was not regarded with favor by the old time Democrats, and they met in convention at Louisville, Ky., September 3, and nominated for President Charles O'Connor, of New York, and Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts, as candidates for the next term. n. Their Platform. In their platform they repudiated the action of the preceding Democratic convention of Bal timore, and aimed a blow at the reconstruction acts of the administration, by a resolution that the constitution of each state was sufficient to protect life, liberty and property within its domain. 12. Anti-Masonry Come to the Surface Again. The subject of Anti-Masonry had been dormant in political circles since 1836, but it now came to the surface again under the name of the National Christian Association for the pur- pose of engrafting it into state policy. To this end a con- vention was held in Oberlin, Ohio, May 23, 1872, to nomi- nate candidates for President and Vice-PresSdent of the United States, in which Charles Francis Adams, of Massa- chusetts, and Rev. J. L. Barlow were chosen as standard bearers. 13. The Prohibition of the Liquor Traffic. Besides opposition to secret societies their platform contained resolutions against spirituous liquor traffic, and in favor of legal enactments to enforce the sacred keeping of the Sabbath. The prohibition of the liquor traffic had long been a subject of legislation in many of the states, but now , for the first time it was to be introduced into national politics by its advocates. 14. Candidates. A nominating convention met for this object in Columbus, Ohio, February 22. James Black, of Pennsylvania, and John Bussel, of Michigan, were chosen as candidates for President and Vice-President. , 15. An Emphatic Protest. Their platform was an emphatic protest against the manufacture or sale of spiri- tuous liquors, and recognized the right of the State to pro- hibit both by legislation. It can hardly be denied that out of the conscientious motives so many Republicans had re- fused to endorse the impolicy of the military governors that there were some apprehension that theGreeley depar- iure might become the channel. The possibility of this TWENTY-SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 365 called forth prompt and energetic advocacy on the part of the straight Republicans. O'Connor and Adams had refused to run on the straight Democratic ticket, and this complicated the matter in the eyes of sensitive Republic- ans. But if the contest had been doubtful at first, it did not long remain so. "What Mr. Greeley knew about farming," and hts having signed the bail bond of Jefferson Davis, to- gether with various honest eccentricities in his social as well as his political life, were made the instruments by which supreme ridicule had been unmercifully showered down upon the "Philosopher," as he was called in contempt, and he died several weeks after the day of election, as some averred, from the effects of the mortification consequent upon these attacks. 16. Results of the Election. The votes of the electoral college in the following February showed for Grant and Wilson 286. There were 66 Democratic votes; 42 were cast for Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, who had been substituted for Mr. Greeley deceased, and 24 were scattering. Brown, the candidate for V ice-President, received 4? votes, and there 14 scattering. The votes of Louisiana and Arkansas were rejected, on the ground of alleged fraud in the election. The popular vote stood, Republicans, 3,597,- 132; Democrat, or Greeley Republicans, 2,834,125; Prohi- bition, 5,508. Grant and Wilson were inaugurated March 4, 18731 Twenty=Second Administration. I. Friction Growing Out of Reconstruction. The fric- tion growing out of reconstruction was still manifest when General Grant began his second term. Under the authority of the provincial governors of the states lately in rebellion, the slave had become a citizen according to the new change in the Constitution. This was owned as a humiliation by the white citizen, and after the military governors had been withdrawn the old doctrine of state rights was brought into requisition wherewith to mitigve their grievances as they considered them. But, ala tor their cherished "palladium of liberty as the South viewed it! State rights as to qualifications for the right of suffrage were no more The new changes in the Con- stitution of the United States, which they had been com- pelled to subscribe to, or remain in territorial vassalage dbb TWENTY-SECOND ADMINISTRATION. under military governors, forbade strict action or. this mat- ter, and while legal submission was the only alternative, yet by means of throwing obstacles in the way of negro suffrage successful means to prevent it we're brought about. Nor did the southern people hesitate to use violence in many cases to achieve the desired ends. 2. Quarrel in. the Republican Party. Louisiana was the first scene of these acts. To make the matter worse a quarrel in the Republican party here sprung up in the division, or rather the appropriation of the spoils. Two rival governors, with their legislatures, had been organized in this state, each claiming authority by virtue of popular elections. But the votes of these election had been counted by two sets of returning boards; one of these boards having been chosen in the interest of the White League and the other in the interest of the Republicans. 3. Illegal Acts on the Part of Both. John McEnery was the governor-elect, in the estimation of the Democratic returning board, and Wm. Pitt Kellogg governor elect, in the estimation of the Republican returning board. The con- gressional debates on the respective merits of each brought to light very unsavory and illegal acts on the part of both. 4. The States Assume Control of Their Own Affairs. The Democrats of the North were, as a party, adverse to the Kellogg government, while the Republicans were not a unit as to its legality. Previous to 1875 all the states lately in the rebellion, except Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina, had assumed control of their own affairs, without further congressional guidance, and had taken their old places in the Union as democratic states. 5. XLIVth Congress. With their assistance, together with some substitution of Democratic or Republican con- gressmen from northern states, M. C. Kerr, of Indiana, Democrat, was elected speaker of the XLIVth Congress, which began its session in December, 1875. 6. Discrepancy Between the Value of Gold and Paper Money. During the war, when the great discrepancy between the market value of gold and paper money was constantly changing a convention of farmers was held at Bloomington, Illinois, in order to adopt a labor and green- back theory uniting the economical interests of the coun- try, and preventing speculation in the currency. 7. Labor and Greenback Party. In 1868 a Labor and Greenback party was formed in New York to advocate the same cause, at which Peter Cooper stood at the head, which was the first political action taken to substitute paper for metallic currency. TWENTY-SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 367 PETER COOPER, Candidate for President Greenback Party. 8. Policy of Greenback Party. It embraced the wage labor interest, anti-monopoly, opposition to the specie re- demption currency system, claiming that Congress has the sole power to issue or coin money and regulate its value; that money is simply a government authenticated tool of trade a tally to register and transmit from hand to hand the value amounts of the internal changes, and that only the state has the power to fix the value in the currency from whatever materials it may be made the precious metals or paper; that at present money should be made of paper, to be issued solely by the government, in amounts sufficient to transact the business of the nation and no more. 368 TWENTY-SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 9. Their Candidates. Under this policy the Green- back party came before the country, and assembled in con- vention at Indianapolis May 17, 1876. It nominated Peter Cooper, of New York, and Samuel F. Gary, of Ohio, as can- didates for President and Viee-President for the next term. 10. Their Arguments. One of the arguments used by this party, in the popular canvass, was the precedent which the government itself had established in the legal-tender act. This was exclusively a Republican measure, and one to which the Democrats were opposed, on the ground of un- constitutionally, and at the December term of the supreme court in 1869 a decision was rendered to this effect. Sub- sequently, an increase of two Republican judges constitut- ing this court, reyersed this decision in March, 1870, and unredeemable greenbacks still furnished the country with money for an indefinite period. 11. The Prohibition Party. The Prohibition party met in convention to nominate candidates for President and Vice-President for the next term, in Cleveland May 17. Their platform demanded the prohibition of the liquor traffic and manufacture in the District of Columbia and the territories, and amendments to the Constitution, by author- ity of which such restrictions might become universal. Green Clay Smith, of Kentucky, and G. T. Stewart, of Ohio, were their nominees. 12. The National Christian Association. The National Christian Association, whose platform went against all secret societies and in favor of prohibition, held their nominating convention at Pittsburg, Pa.. June 9, 1875, and nominated as their candidates fo v President and Vice- President James B.Walker, of HI? no; , and Donald Kirk Patrick, of New York. 13. The Republican Convention. The Republican convention met at Cincinnati June 14. It confirmed its position as to the transcendent power of the Constitution over the states, and advocated a tariff sufficient to meet the entire expenses of the general government. It also claimed the right of Congress to suppress polygamy in the terri- tories and advocated such action. It nominated Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, and Wm A. Wheeler, of New York, as their candidates. 14. The Democratic Convention. The Democratic convention met at St. Louis June 27th. They demanded retrenchment and reform in the administration, a speed} return to specie payment, a reduction and modification of the tariff, and a discrimination against Chinese immi- gration. TWENTY-SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 369 SAMUEL J. TILDEN, " Democratic Candidate for President. Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, and Thomas A. Hen- dricks, of Indiana, were their nominees. 15. Bofh Parties Claimed Three Southern States. The popular election of November 7, 1876, resulted in the states of Connecticnt, New York, New Jersey and Indiana and all the southern states except Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida going for the Democrats. The Republicans carried the other states, but both parties claimed the three southern states just mentioned. The matter was settled by a special intervention of Congress in establishing an elec toral commission to decide the case. 16. Validity of the Louisiana and Florida Elections.- It hinged on the validity of the Louisiana and Florida elec 870 TWENTY-THIRD ADMINISTRATION. tions; the Republicans claiming that fraud and violence had been used there to secure a Democratic majority, while the Democrats denied the charge, and claimed that in as much as said election returns had been legally made, Congress had not power to exclude them, even if the election had not been a fair one. 17. The Report of the Electoral Commission. The report of the electoral commission, after spending consider- able time in canvassing the subject, resulted in a resolution that the two houses of the XLIVth Congress, having counted the electoral votes have declared as final the election of the Republican nominees. 18. Decision in Favor of the Kellogg Government. By the action of the commission the votes of Louisiana and Florida had been transferred from the Democratic to the Republican side, which gave Hayes and Wheeler 185 votes against 184 for Tilden and Hendricks. Here it ought not to be omitted to state that this discriminating decision hinged in a discrimination as to which of the two factions in Louis- iana described in a foregoing page was legal, and that the decision in favor of the Kellogg government gave the elec- tion to Mr. Hayes. Up to this time, the legality of neither of the Lawrence factions had been acknowledged by the administration. 19. Number of Votes Cast. The popular vote stood 4,033,950 Republican and 4,284,885 Democratic. The pop- ular Greenback vote was 81,740. The popular Prohibition vote was 9,522. Hayes and Wheeler were inaugurated March 5, 1877. Twenty=Third Administration. i. Reconstruction Reaches Its Limit. Reconstruc- tion had reached its limit in severity when Hayes assumed the executive responsibility of the nation, for the reason that a considerate public opinion in the Republican ranks demanded a more charitable, not to say more just course toward the statesmen subjected to the rule of military governors who had used their arbitray power more to en- rich themselves than to bring wholesome laws to the states over which they ruled. 2. "The Bloody Shirt Republicans." This wing of the Republican party were now substantially in alliance with the entire Democratic party on this issue, and Mr. TWENTY-THIRD ADMINISTRATION. 371 Hayes himself shared this sentiment and adopted a policy in accordance with it. This gave great offence to the extreme Republicans, who were now dubbed "The Bloody Shirt Re- publican" party. 3. A Critical Moment. The moment was critical, the blood of stalwart Republicanism was up, notwithstanding RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, Born at Delaware, Delaware County, Ohio, October 4, 1822. President March 4, i877-March 4, 1881. Died January 17, 1893. which Mr. Hayes promptly withdrew the United States troops from Louisiana and South Carolina, and recom- mended the governors of those states to resign. Senators Conklin.Logan and Cameron predicted that such a course would be detrimental to the interests of the party, but the Executive held the South as near as possible to a strict observance of the terms prescribed in the late con- stitutional amendment and no such result followed. 4. The Army Used to Influence Elections. Owing to Democratic votes, the appropriation brought up to the XLVth Congress for the support of the army, was defeated. The grounds on which they opposed the bill were that the army was used as a means by which to influence elections. At a subsequent session, being an extra session, the Demo- crats softened and allowed the bill to pass. 872 TWENTY-THIRD ADMINISTRATION. HORACE GREELEY. Founder of the New York Tribune and Candidate for President in 1872. 5. A Bill for the Unlimited Coinage of Silver. At the same session a bill for the unlimited coinage of silver was passed, and on the 1st of January, 1879, the government resumed specie payments, the banks throughout the country doing the same. 6. A Democratic Measure. Each subsequent appro- priation bill, during Mr. Hayes* administration, was passed, but not without Democratic opposition for causes already told. But in the regular session of 1879 a bill was passed to prevent Congress from using the army to keep peace at the polls. This was a Democratic measure, arid designed to relieve the southern election polls from military restraint, and the President approved it, thereby showing that he held to justice as he viewed above party ties. 7. An " Era of Good Feeling." He was no partisan, and did little or nothing in his whole administration cal- culated to bring strength on his party except on the broad principle that true statesmanship does it; and it is not too TWENTY-THIRD ADMINISTRATION. 373 much to say, that an " era of good feeling," similar to that which Monroe brought about by non-partisanship action, was the result. 8. The Republican Nominating Convention. The Re- publican nominating convention met at Chicago June 2, 1880. It charged upon the Democrats the sacrifice of patriotism to lust for office and patronage, after which it advocated public improvements, opposed polygamy and Chinese immigration, and approved the administration of Mr. Hayes, which was a decided vindication of his recon- struction policy. James A. Garfield, of Ohio, and Chester A. Arthur, of New York, were nominated as their candidates for Presi- dent and Vice-President. 9. The National Greenback Party. The national Greenback party met in convention at Chicago June 9, 1880, to nominate Presidential candidates for the next term. If claimed that government, instead cf banks, should have the power of making and putting in circulation money; that bonds should not be refunded, but paid accordingto contract, and to enable the government to do this, legal tender notes should take the place of bank currency. James B. Weaver, for President, and B. J. Chambers, for Vice-President, were nominated as candidates. 10. The Prohibition Reform Party Convention. The Prohibition reform party held their nominating convention for the next term at Cleveland, June 17, 1880. Its elaborate platform was an argument in favor of the principles announced by them at previous conventions. Neal Dow, of Maine, was nominated as candidate for President, and H. A. Thompson, of Ohio, candidate for Vice-President. 11. National Christian Association. The National Christian Association met in convention at Chicago June 17,1880. Opposition to secret societies was their primary requisition, with other requirements of a Christian character to accompany it, also female suffrage. Its nominations were J. W. Phelps, of Vermont, for President, and S. C. Pomeroy, of Washington, for Vice- President. 12. The Democratic Convention. The Democratic convention met at Cleveland, Ohio, June 22, 1880. It charged the Republicans as conspirators in rewarding po- litical crime, Claimed that the election of Hayes was secured by fraud, and congratulated *he country on the honesty of the late Congress, which was Democratic, and had saved $10,000,000 per year in public expenditures. It advocated 374 TWENTY-FOURTH ADMINISTRATION. a tariff for revenue only, which was then in accordance with Mr. Hayes' recommendation, and opposed Chinese immi- gration. W. S. Hancock, of Pennsylvania, and Wm. H. English, of Indiana, were their candidates for President and Vice-President. 13. The Elected Candidates. The votes of the elec- toral college in February, 1881, subsequent to the popular election of November previous, stood as follows:. For Gar- field and Arthur, 214; for Hancock and English, 155. The popular Republican vote was 4,454,416; Democratic vote, 4,444,952; Greenback vote, 308,578; Prohibition, 10,305. Garfield and Arthur were inaugurated March 4, 1881. Twenty=fourth Administration. 1. President Garfield's Policy. President Garfield, in his inaugural address, promised full and equal protection of the Constitution and laws for every citizen, irrespective of race or color; advocated universal education as a safe- guard or suffrage; recommended such an adjustment of our monetary system " that the purchasing power of every coined dollar will be exactly equal to its debt-paying power in all the markets of the world, and that the national debt should be refunded at a lower rate of interest, without compelling the withdrawal of national bank notes; the prohibition of polygamy within the borders of our republic, and the regulation of the civil service by laws." These were the principle points discussed in the inaugural address. 2. A Struggle in the Senate. At the very beginning of the new administration there was a struggle in the Senate of the United States between the two great parties (Repub- lican and Democratic), for power in that body, each refus- ing to yield on the question of completing the organization, one wishing to elect new officers of that body, the other insisting upon keeping the old ones. There was a dead- lock for several weeks. 3. A Strife Concerning the Confirmation of Nomina- tions Made by the President. There was also a strife concerning the confirmation of nominations made by the President of the United States of incumbents for office in the state of New York, particularly that of the collector of the port of New York. The nominee for that _ office, it was concluded, was thoroughly qualified to fill it; but TWENTY-FOURTH ADMINISTRATION. 375 JAMES A. GARFIELD, Born at Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November 19, 1831. President March 4, i88i-September 19, 1881. Died at Elberon, New Jersey, September 19, 1881. was personally distasteful to the senior United States senator (Roscoe Conkling) from New York, and he vehemently urged his rejection by the Senate. 4. New York Unrepresented in the Senate. Because the Senate could not agree with him, the senator resigned his seat, deserted his post and returned home taking with him his senatorial colleague, so leaving the great state of New York unrepresented in the senate of the United States 376 TWENTY-FOURTH ADMINISTRATION. The President withdrew all of the nominations of New York, excepting that for the collectorship which was imme- diately confirmed, and the Senate adjourned May 20, sine die. The New York Legislature was in session at that time, and was compelled to take immediate steps to fill the seats deserted by the two New York senators. CHESTER A. ARTHUR, Born in Franklin County, Vermont, October 5, 1830. President September 20, i88i-March 4, 1885. Died at New York City, November 18, 1886. 5. The Vacancy Filled. Mr. Conkling had no doubt that he and his colleague would be immediately rechosen to fill their vacated seats. He was mistaken. Instead of meeting general support and sympathy, he encountered general oppo- sition and indignation among his political friends and others for his unwarranted course. Perceiving this, he repaired to the state capitol, and there conducted, for several weeks, a most unseemly personal struggle for a re-election, but was defeated. His seat and that of his colleague were filled by the choice of two other men. This strife at Albany had agitated the whole nation, and in the final result the people felt great relief. 6. Various Treaties Confirmed. While these personal struggles were going on at Washington and Albany, the government, which was moving on in successful progress, had confirmed important treaties; one with China concern- ing immigration and commerce; an extradition treaty with the United States of Columbia; a consular convention with Italy, modifying and defining the judicial powers of certain TWENTY-FOURTH ADMINISTRATION 377 consulates; a convention with Morocco respecting the tax- ation prerogatives of the Moorish government, and a treaty with Japan prescribing reciprocal duties for the Japanese and United States governments in case of shipwrecks upon their respective coasts. Young Garfield driving team on the canal. 7. Ill Feeling of Disappointed Office Seekers. On May 18 the Senate postponed the resolution asserting the Monroe Doctrine in the case of the Isthmus Ship Canal, The fearful agitation of the people by the humiliating strife for office at Albany intensified the ill feeling of dis- appointed office seekers everywhere, and produced its logical results '8. President Garfield Shot by Charles Guiteau. While that struggle was at its height the nation was ap- palled by the fact that one of this dangerous class dan- gerous alike to public order and public virtue had shot the 878 TWENTY-FOURTH ADMINISTRATION. President of the United States as he was about to leave the capital on atrip to New York and New England. The ter- rible deed was done at the station of the Baltimore & Poto- mac railway, in Washington at about 9 o'clock on Saturday. July 2, 1881, where he was to be joined by members of his cabinet. As he was walking through the passenger rocm JAMES G. ELAINE, Secretary of State under President Garfield. arm in arm with Mr. Elaine, the Secretary of State, two pis- tol shots were fired in succession from behind them and the President sank to the floor bleeding profusely. Only one !*hot touched his body; that entered it through the eleventh rib, about four inches to the right of the spine, and taking a TWENTY-FOURTH ADMINISTRATION 379 tortuous course lodged some distance to the left of the lum- bar vertebrae at the lower margin of the pancreas. It was externally a jagged wound, caused by a ball known as cali- bre 44, The wounded President was at first carried to a room in the second story of the building where he was shot, and later was carried to the executive mansion. 9. Arrest of the Assassin. The assassin was instantly arrested by a police officer (Kearney) to whom he said- " 1 did it, and will go to jail for it; I am a Stalwart (the political name given to the friends of Senator Conkling in the strife then going on), and Arthur will be President." 10. Guiteau's Letter. In his pocket was found the fol- lowing letter directed to the White House: " The President's tragic death was a sad necessity; but it will unite the Repub- lican party and save the republic. Life is a flimsy dream, and it matters little when one goes. A human life is of small value. During the war thousands of brave boys went down without a tear. I presume the President was a Christian, and that he will be happier in paradise than here in Para- dise, It will be no worse for Mrs. Garfield, dear soul, to part with her husband this way than by natural death He is liable to go at any time, any way. I had no ill will toward the President. His death was a political necessity. "I am a lawyer, a theologian, and a politican. I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts. I was with Gen. Grant and the rest of our men in New York during the canvass. I have some papers for the press, which I shall leave with Byron Andrews and his co-journalists at 1240 New York avenue, where all the reporters can see them. I am going to the jail. CHARLES GUITEAU." 11. Garfield's Death. Mr. Garfield died of his wounds on the 19th of the following September, a shining mark of sympathy amd affection of his country. Chester A. Arthur, the Vice-President, was inaugurated President the next dav after his death. 12. The Civil Service Bill Passed. The Civil Service bill was passed during this administration, the features of which was to retain persons in the public service through any political change in the administration, but there being no positive lines of demarkation in the bill it is still optional with the administration to discharge any one from his posi- tion, it being a matter of opinion as to the merit of the in- cumbent. 380 TWENTY-FOURTH ADMINISTRATION. 13. Various Bills Passed. The tariff question occupied the attention of Congress to a large extent, but without definite results. May 3, 1884, a bill was passed to prevent the immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States for ten years. June 12 following a bill appropriating $8,079,000 for improving rivers and harbors was passed. On the 29th of February following, $2,500,000 was appropri- ated for building cruisers and gunboats. THE HON. JOHN A. LOGAN, OF ILLINOIS, U. S. Senator from Illinois Candidate for Vice-President. 14. The Republican Convention. The Republican con- vention to nominate candidates for the next presidential term, met at Chicago June 3, 1884. In its platform it recom- mended duties on foreign imports, both for revenue and protection, James G. Elaine was nominated as candidate tor President, and John A. Logan for Vice-President. TWENTY-FOURTH ADMINISTRATION. BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, Candidate for PresidentGreenback Party. 15. The Democratic Convention. The Democratic convention to nominate candidates for President and Vice- President met at Chicago July 7, 1884. In its platform it accused the Republican party of misdirections of the pub- lic money, particularly as to improvements and in the in- crease of the naval service. It promised tariff reform by reduction of what it termed excessive rates. Grover Cleve- land was nominated as candidate for President and Thomas A. Hendricks for Vice-President. 16. Convention of the Greenback Party. The conven- tion of the Greenback party met at Indianapolis May 28, 1884, to nominate their candidates. It reiterated its claim that Congress had the right to control the issue of legal tender notes, and demanded the substitution of greenbacks for national bank notes. Benjamin F. Butler was the nom- inee for President and A. M. West for Vice-President 25 882 TWENTY-FOURTH ADMINISTRATION. 17. The Prohibition Convention. The Prohibition con- vention met at Pittsburg July 23, 1884. In its platform it set forth the evils of intemperance and demanded national measures to suppress the manufacture and sale of intoxi- cants. John P. St. John was nominated as candidate for President and William Daniels for Vice-President. THE HON. JOHN P. ST. JOHN, 18. Cleveland and Hendricks Elected. The votes of the electoral college in February, 1885, subsequent to the popular election of November, 1884, stood as follows: For Cleveland and Hendricks, 219; for Elaine and Logan, 182. The popular Democratic vote was 4,874,986; Republican, 4,851,981; Greenback, 175,370; Prohibition, 150,369. Cleveland and Hendricks were inaugurated March 4, 1885. TWENTY-FIFTH ADMINISTRATION. 383 GROVER CLEVELAND, Born at Caldwell, Essex County, New Jersey, March 18, 1837. President, first term, March 4, i88s-March 4, 1889. President, second term, March 4, 1893 March 4, 1897. Twenty-fifth Administration. I. Clean Cut Lines Between the Two Great Political Parties on the Tariff. During the political canvass that had resulted in the election of Mr. Cleveland, the want of policy was manifest in each party, inasmuch as the tariff Question had not been formulated into a defined policy, as it was destined to be at a later date. But not long after his inauguration this issue began to take shape and form sufficient to give clean cut lines of representation between the two great political parties that divided the country on distinct issues and these were on the tariff. 884 TWENTY-FIFTH ADMINISTRATION. 2. The Treaty With England. Aside from this issue *[ie most important question which has become before Mr. Cleveland's administration is the treaty with England to adjust complaints growing out of the fishery question. A treaty had been negotiated by commissioners, but it was not ratified by the President and Congress, on the ground that it did not secure the just rights of America, and this prolific source of petty annoyance is still unsettled. 3. The Inter-state Commerce Law. The Inter-state Commerce Law, regulating and equalizing railroads on freights and passengers throughout the United States, and preventing pooling the income of parallel lines, passed both Houses of Congress in January, 1887, and was approved by the President on the 4th of the following February. A treaty of reciprocity was also passed with the Hawaiian government bearing date of February 28, 1891. 4. Advised a Revision of the Tariff. In Mr. Cleve- land's annual message before the Congress of 1888 he advised a revision of the tariff and a reduction of its rates as a pressing necessity to prevent too great an accumula- tion of gold in the treasury, as he claimed inconsistent with the interests of the country.* 5. The Democratic Convention. Mr. Elaine, the acknowledged representative of the Republican party, promptly took issue with him on this policy. The Demo- cratic convention to nominate candidates for the next presidential term, met at St. Louis June 6, 1888. It en- dorsed the administration of Mr. Cleveland, including his tariff message, and without a dissenting voice nominated him as their choice of candidates for the next term, and Allen G. Thurman for Vice-President. 6. The Republican Convention. The Republican con- vention to nominate candidates met at Chicago, June 19, 1888. In its platform it recommended a reduction of letter postage to one cent per ounce, but its most important demand was protection for manufacturers by high tariff, although on some articles of popular^ consumption a reduc- tion of rates was proposed. Benjamin Harrison was nomi- nated as candidate for President, and Levi P. Morton for V r ice-President. 7. The Prohibition Convention. The Prohibition con- vention met at Indianapolis, May 30, 1888. Besides the mam purpose of this party to suppress the manufacture and sale of alcoholic liquors for beverages, it advocated female suffrage as a state policy. Bowen Fisk was nominated foi President and John A. Brooks for Vice-President. 8. Harrison and Morton Inaugurated. The vote of the * One of the last official acts of President Cleveland in this ad- ministration was the signing of the bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington as states, by which act they became states in November, 1889. TWENTY-SIXTH ADMINISTRATION. 385 electoral college which met in February, 1889, was for Har- rison and Morton, 233 ; for Cleveland and Thurman, 168. The Republican popular vote was 5,440,748, the Democratic popular vote was 5,536,242. Harrison and Morton were inaugurated March 4, 1889. BENJAMIN HARRISON, Born at North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, August 20, 1833. President March 4, iSSp-March 4, 1893. Twenty=sixth Administration. i Advantage of the Republicans in the Election of Mr. Harrison. It can hardly be denied that the prompti- tude with which Mr. Blaine took issue with Mr. Cleveland no the tariff question was used g^aUy to the advantage ot 386 TWENTY-SIXTH ADMINISTRATION. the Republicans in the election of Mr. Harrison. The tariff policy had not been fully denned by the Republicans, nor had any representative views of either party defined such a policy till Mr. Cleveland did so in his message of 1888, and Mr. Elaine was the first demonstrative man in the Re- publican party to accept the issue that. Mr. Cleveland's message had irrevocably canonized as a test of Democratic faith, to overthrow which the sequel proved to be an easy task by appealing to the interests of the labor element THE HON. ROGER Q. MILLS, of Texas, Chosen U. S. Senator in 1892. throughout the country, and asking it to vote for the advo- cate of a tariff on the ground that it would secure high wages for furnishing a home market for articles of Ameri- can manufacture. 2. The McKinley Tariff. Consistent with this, plans were laid to frame a new tariff bill raising the duties on nearly every article of American manufacture, which bill TWENTY-SIXTH ADMINISTRATION. 387 was popularly known as the McKinley Tariff. After much canvassing on the part of the Republicans among the vari- ous manufacturing interests of the country to bring to light such facts and statistics as in the opinion of friends of the bill the best good of the employer and the employee re- quired, rates were established on almost every article of EX-GOV. OGLESBY, OF ILLINOIS. manufacture. The bill became a law after passing both Houses, and being duly signed by the President, taking effect October 6, 1890. It was a partisan measure to the ex- clusion of any of the versatile methods known to local or 388 TWENTY-SIXTH ADMINISTRATION. clannish Interests sometimes thrust into the area of parti- sanship, though Mr. Randall, a Democrat, but not of the stalwart brand, lent his influence in favor of the bill. 3. The Contesting Cities for the Location of the World's Fair. The fourth century was now near at hand, whose close marked the eventful date of the discovery of the New World by Columbus. Plans had been laid for a fitting cele- HENRY WATTERSON. bration of this wondrous episode, and where should this take place? The contesting cities for the location of the World's Fair were Chicago, New York, Washington and St. Louis. Each of the cities were represented by commit- tees and all made a strong and determined effort to win the prize. The matter was decided when the vote was takeo TWENTY-SIXTH ADMINISTRATION- 389 On the insertion of the name of the city in the bill authoriz- ing the Fair. The contest was confined to the House of Representatives, the Senate being willing to accept any lo- cation chosen by the House. 4. The Vote for the Various Cities. Upon location the vote stood for the various cities as follows: Ballots. Chicago. New York. Washington. St. Louis. First vote 115 72 66 61 Second vote 121 83 46 59 Third vote 127 92 34 53 Fourth vote 134 95 29 48 Fifth vote 140 110 24 38 Sixth vote 149 116 19 28 Seventh vote 155 112 17 27 Eighth vote 157 107 18 25 Total vote, 307 ; necessary for choice, 154 on the last ballots. 5. Idaho and Wyoming were Admitted as States. Idaho and Wyoming were admitted as states and the new territory of Oklahoma created. During the administration an appropriation of $500,000 was made wherewith to begin the construction^ of the ^Hennepin canal, to connect the waters of the Mississippi river at the mouth of Rock river to those of the Illinois river near Hennepin. 6. The Pan American Confederation. The Pan Amer- ican Confederation convened at Washington, of which James G. Elaine was president, and a cordial feeling of national comity of interests was a general result, but many of the special things aimed at were not secured because none of them seemed to favor the interests of each and every nation represented. Nothing short of separate treaty with each could do this. 7. The Exciting Question. The exciting questions before this administration created unusual interest, not only as to party, but what men in that party should fulfil its requirements. 8. The Republican Convention. The Republican con- vention to nominate their candidate met at Minneapolis June/7, 1892. ^ There were three candidates in the field Harrison, Blaine and McKinley but the real contest was be- tween the first two. Harrison was chosen candidate for Presi- dent, and Whitelaw Reid candidate for Vice-President, by a decisive majority, after a great display of prestige to create favorable impressions toward each respective candidate. 9. A Platform Friendly to the Protection Policy. A plat- form was adopted friendly to the protection policy, which the party had advocated with success in the previous canvass. 890 TWENTY-SIXTH ADMINISTRATION. WHITELAW REID, Candidate for Vice-President, 1892. 10. The Democratic Convention. The Democratic convention met at Chicago June 21, 1892. The contestant; for nomination were Cleveland, Hill, and Governor Bois, of Iowa. Mr.. Cleveland received the nomination for Presi- dent by a large majority, and Adlai E. Stephenson for Vice- President. 11. The Platform Adopted. In the platform adopted there was no letting down as to the policy reducing the tariff, and the policy of civil service reform was advocated. 12. The Peoples Party Convention. The Peoples party held their convention at Omaha. James B. Weaver was nominated as candidate for President and James G Field for Vice-President. Its platform demanded a national currency to be issued by the government. 13. The Prohibition Convention. The Prohibition con- vention met at Cincinnati June 29, John Bidwell, of Cali- fornia, was nominated as candidate for President and Gideon L. Stewart for Vice-President. TWENTY-SIXTH ADMINISTRATION. 391 J. B. WEAVER, Candidate for President Peoples Party. THE HON. ROBERT LINCOLN, of Illinois. 36 392 TWENTY-SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. 14. Votes of the Electoral College February 8, 1893. Grover Cleveland, 277, President; Adlai E. Stephenson, 277, Vice-President; Benjamin Harrison, 145, President; White- law Reid, 145, Vice-President; James B. Weaver, 22, Presi- dent; James G. Field, 22, Vice-President. Cleveland and Stevenson were inaugurated March 4, 1893. RICHARD OLNEY, Attorney General under Cleveland. The Political Events and Issues of the Twenty =Seventh Administration. i. The Election of Mr. Cleveland an Unexpected Sur- prise. The election of Mr. Cleveland was an unexpected surprise to the Republicans and his first acts soon gave them an opportunity to criticise his policy. '2. The Hawaiian Issue. Among the last official acts of President Harrison was his friendly recognition of the revolutionarygovernment of Hawaii. This was overruled by Mr. Cleveland, be not receiving its accredited minister For this he was severely censured by the entire Republican party, nor did he escape condemnation from some Demo- cratic sources. But the great question of the tariff reduc- tion and the currency was destined soon to subpr4ioate all other issues to its earnest attention. TWENTY-SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION 393 THE HON. JOHN SHERMAN, of Ohio. 3. The Monetary Question. Foremost among the topics attracting the world's attention during the early days of this administration is that of finance. The lack of confidence and the general depression in the business world, the de- pletion in the stock of gold in reserve, financial failures, and the stringency of the money market, caused President Cleveland to assemble Congress in extra session Aug. 7, "to the end that the people may be relieved through legislation from present and impending danger and distress." 4. The Sherman Act. Among the laws considered un- wise by the President was the Sherman silver purchase act of 1890. This act, after a stubborn fight in the Senate, was repealed October 30, 1893, and was at once signed by the President. 394 TWENTY-SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. THE HON. CHAS. F. CRISP, of Georgia, Speaker of House, 52d and 53d Congress. 5. The Most Stubbornly Fought Battle. Probably the most stubbornly fought battle ever carried on by our lawmakers in Congress preceded the passage of the new tariff law, which went into effect on the 26th of August, 1894. For the first time in a generation the Democratic party found itself practically in control of every branch of the government on the 4th of March, 1893. The political cam- paign of the preceding year had been contested on the tariff issue. The Democratic platform of 1892 was pro* nounced in its opposition to the high protective system then in operation, while the Republican platform was as positive in its declarations favoring the protective policy of the administration of Mr. Harrison. Both the popular and electoral vote of the country was largely on the side of a change in the tariff policy of the country. TWENTY-SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. 395 THE HON. DANIEL LAMONT, Secretary of War, 1893-1897. 6. The Regular Session of Congress. The regular session of Congress opened on the first Monday in Decem- ber, 1893, but it was not until January 8 that the bill was introduced into the House. The introduction of the bill raised a storm of disapproval against it, a large proportion of which came from the Republicans, but its provisions for free wool, coal, lumber, sugar and iron ore caused violent opposition from Democrats representing states where those interests were likely to be seriously affected. In the whole history of the government it may be doubted whether any previous attempt at tariff reform had been so radical as was to be accomplished by the Wilson bill, for it proposed, within the space of one year, to abolish about 38 per cent, of the duties then being paid upon imports, besides carry- ing to the free list manufactures and farm products which paid from 50 to 60 per cent, duties. The bill, however, passed the House by a vote of 204 to TWENTY-SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW, The silver tongued orator. 140, an d went to the Senate February 2, 1894, where it was confronted by a condition of things wholly unlike that which existed in the house. The Democratic strength in the Sen- ate was exactly 44, one more than a majority, there being three vacancies. The Republicans numbered 37, and the Populists 4, whose sympathies were equally divided be- tween the Democrats and Republicans. Under these cir- cumstances it became absolutely essential for the Democrats to command every vote in their own party to carry" any measure they might present, while it was apparent that the Democrats in the Senate were more strongly inclined than those in the House to a moderate degree of protection 7. The General Debate in the Senate. The general lebate began in the Senate on the 2d of April and closecf TWENTY-SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. 397 6n the 24th, after which the bill was considered by para- graph, until the 3d of July, when the final vote was taken. Thus, after five months of consideration and debate the bill passed the Senate by a vote of 39 to 34. The affirma- tive vote was cast by 37 Democrats and 2 Populists (Kyle, of South Dakota, and Allen, of Nebraska), while the negative vote was made up of 31 Republicans, 2 Populists, Peffer, of Kansas, and Stewart, of Nevada), and one Democrat (Mr. Hill, of New York), who opposed the measure on account of its income tax feature. The bill then went to the conference committee of the two Houses, and the result was as was generally ex- pected. 8. The Deadlock. The deadlock continued, but party harmony had given way to pride of opinion and personal feeling. Proposals of compromise were made and rejected and bitterness of feeling grew more intense each day. A caucus was held in the House at the suggestion of some who were willing to yield to the Senate, but nothing was accomplished. Another caucus of the House was held on August 13, the House ending the struggle by accepting the Senate bill in its entirety in place of the Wilson bill. The bill passed the House and was sent to the President on August 15 and became a law without his approval, 9. Why the President Did Not Sign the Bill. The reason why the President did not sign the bill was becauso he did not wish to go on record as approving it with the amendments that had divested it of its most radical reduc- tion in tariff rates. 10. Utah Admitted. Utah was admitted as a state by the LIII. Congress, and became a state in 1896. 11. Last Session. The last session of the LIII. Con- gress was fruitless of import, owing to the want of harmony on financial questions. Several important measures were proposed, but were defeated by the majority. 12. LIV. Congress. The first session of the LIV. Con- gress was very brief and uneventful. It did very little of importance, chiefly because it was working too much at cross-purposes with itself and with the President to do much of anything. Out of 9,500 bills in the lower House, and 3,250 in the upper House (an average of 27 bills to each member in the lower and 36 in the upper), but 250 were passed and signed by the President. Of these, the most important were the appropriation bills, the appointment of the Venezuelan boundary commission, the suppression of prize fighting in the territories, removal of the disability of Confederate officers for the holding of appointments in the 26 398 TWENTY-SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. army and navy, and the requirement of one year's residence in a territory before securing a divorce. The House passed a bill revising the tariff and the Senate put a free-silver clause to it, and said " Give us this or give us nothing." Both Houses rolled up a big river and harbor bill, appropriating $80,000,000 in the next six years, and when the President vetoed it, both Houses united to override the veto. No re- lief, therefore, has come to the Treasury. The Senate tried to put a stop to the issue of bonds to keep up the gold re- serve, and the House blocked that game. Though the Re- publicans had a big majority in the House, and a nominal one in the Senate, the two houses were about as much at outs with each other as both were with the President. 13. Foreign Affairs. Mr. Cleveland began his second term as President by preventing the consummation of a treaty making the United States the protector of the new " republic " Hawaii either as a territory or state, or as a county, of Cali- fornia. The treaty was an official response to Minister Steven's land-grabbing dispatch that " the Hawaiian pear is now fully ripe, and this is the golden hour for the United States to pluck it." Mr. Cleveland did not believe either in the establishment of a protectorate or in annexation, and therefore he withdrew the treaty. He believed that the revolutionists had been aided by the American minister and American marines, and that the United States ought to undo its wrong and make reparation. His solution of the Hawaiian problem saved this country from deep disgrace, and from the commission of a crime, to the like of which, according to our jingo friends, England, is so prone that a general arbitration treaty with her wo*ld be of doubtful morality. The President's message on the Venezuela boundary dispute, and his subsequent action in the matter, have been elsewhere explained. Also, elsewhere in this work may be found the resulting arbitration treaty, which Mr. Olney, by the exercise of his diplomatic ability, succeeded in per- suading Lord. Salisbury to sign in a broader form than the British premier at first approved. There is a certain quality or tone in Mr. Cleveland's administration of foreign relations that has been gratifying to Americans. It has been thoroughly American and dig- nified. And even those who have disagreed with him in regard to some of his conservative policies must realize that the United States stands better before the world by reason of what he has done in respect to foreign affairs in regard to Hawaii and Venezuela. Even the most enthu- siastic and hot-headed friends of Cuba may, in time, be con- vinced that conservatism has better accomplished their hopes than precipitate action would have done. TWENTY-SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION. 399 14. Civil Service Reform. It was essentially in Mr. Cleveland's nature that lie should advance the cause of civil service reform. To him a public servant has but one allegi- ance and but one duty. His master is the public, and all his service is due to that master. Public place is for public service. That is his own ideal, and that, to him, is the stand- ard for all in the public employment. When he first went to Washington he knew very little of the methods for reform which had been agreed upon, but it was only neces- sary to show him clearly the fnndamental evil of the spoils system to make him its bitter and determined enemy. When he first became President there were about 15,000 classified places in the civil service. At the end of his second term there are 87,107 classified places, Mr. Harrison having added 8000. The merit system is in its present ex- cellent condition mainly by reason of Mr. Cleveland's efforts, and if Mr. McKinley will sustain the system for appoint- ments and promotions in the consular service established since Mr. Olney became Secretary of State, and will include the fourth-class post offices in the classified services, civil service reform will be accomplished so far as the extent of its jurisdiction is concerned. This is not a complete record of President Cleveland's services to the country ; it is merely a statement of the larger benefits that have been gained through his official acts. In the larger questions that have come to him, he ha:* comprehended the right way, and has had the courage to walk in it despite the opposition and criticism of the poli- ticians of his own party. Whatever one may think of his personality or of his party leadership, his stern fidelity and unselfish and intelligent devotion as a public servant make his two adminstrations illustrious. Rhymed History of the Adminis- trations. The following rhymed history is noted for the valuable information it gives in compact form. The author is unknown. Every young American ought to commit it to memory. First Washington we proudly name, The founder of his country's fame; Then Adams, ere his rule was done, The government graced Washington \nd Jefferson, in whom we see Republican simplicity. 400 RHYMED HISTORY OF THE ADMINISTRATIONS. Next Madison, disturbed by jars With Indian tribes and British Wars; And Monroe, handed down to fame By doctrine coupled with his name ; And Adams, second of his line, Who held aloft Protection's sign. Then Andrew Jackson, world renowned. Deliverer of New Orleans crowned, Van Buren next, whose wise regime, Saw carriages first drawn by steam. And Harrison, or "Tippecanoe," And one month later, Tyler, too. Next Polk presides o'er our domains, Vastly increased by Western gains ; Then Taylor, with whose sad demise Came the ''Missouri compromise." And Fillmore following in his train, Who well nigh came to blows with Spain. Here Pierce made treaty with Japan, From those fair isles removed the ban ; Buchanan witnessed "John Brown's raid," And North and South in arms arrayed ; The martyr, Lincoln, lived to see The Union saved, the slaves set free. Next Johnson, reconciling hates, Restored the reconstructed states ; And Grant, the hero of the hour, Was twice returned to highest power, And Hayes beheld increase of trade, Silver a legal tender made. Then Garfield, who like Lincoln slain, Left on the land a double stain ; And Arthur, with a "standard time," And Hooper's feats in Arctic clime, And Cleveland, who with turn of tide Gave to the White House a fair young bride Next Harrison's McKinley Bill, Which served his term to kill ; And Cleveland's battle royal with Hill, And broken lance for poor Queen LU, And just before his term was done His party split "sixteen to one.." CHAPTER VIII. Current Problems and Topics. EDUCATION AND CRIME. I. Percentage of Illiterate Persons and Prisoners in the Different States. In 1890, 6,324,702, or 13.3 per cent, of the 47,413,559 persons in the United States, 10 years of age or over, were illiterate, and .17 per cent., or 82,329, were prisoners in penitentiaries, jails, etc. In the north Atlantic states only 6.2 per cent., or 859,989 persons out of the popu- lation of 13,888,377, 10 years of age or over, were illiterate, while 28,258, or .2 per cent, were prisoners. The popula- tion of the south Atlantic states, 10 years of age or over, was 6,415,921, of whom 30.9 per cent., or 1,961,888, were illiterate, and only .17 per cent., or 11.409, prisoners. '1 he north central states had a population of 16,909,613, 10 years of age or over, of whom 5.7 per cent., or 964,268 were illiter- ate, and .12 per cent., or 19,954, prisoners. The south cen- tral states, with a population of 7,799,487, 10 years of age or over, of whom 29.7 per cent., or 2 318,871, were illiterate, had .2 per cent., or 16,084 in prison; and the western states, with 8.3 per -cent., or 199,686, illiterate in a population of 2,400,161 persons, 10 years of age or over, had .28 per cent., or 6,724, prisoners. 2. Prisoners. Of the 82,329 prisoners in 1890, 34.3 pei cent, were confined in the north Atlantic states, 13.9 per cent, in the south Atlantic, 24.1 per cent, in the north cen- tral, 19.5 in the south central, and 8.2 in the western states. Louisiana shows the highest percentage of illiteracy, 45.8 and 1,608 prisoners, or .2 per cent, of her population. South Carolina follows closely in percentage of illiteracy with 45 per cent., and has 1,184, or .14 per cent, of her pop- ulation prisoners. New Mexico comes next, with 44.5 per cent, of illiterates and 205 of population, or .18 per cent, prisoners; then Alabama, 41 per cent, illiterate and 2,518, or .23 per cent, prisoners; Mississippi, 40 per cent, illiterate and 1,777, or .13 per cent, prisoners; Georgia, 39.8 per cent, illiterate and 2,938, or .22 per cent, prisoners; North Carp- Jina, 35.7 per cent, illiterate and 2,033, or .18 per cent, pris- oners, and Virginia, 30.2 per cent, illiterate and 2,000, or .17 .per cent, prisoners. 401 402 EDUCATION AND CRIME. 3. Read and Write. Of the 82,329 prisoners in the United States June 1, 1890, 7,386, or 8.97 per cent, were charged with homicide, of whom 61.73 per cent, could both read and write, 4.84 per cent, could only read, and 33.43 per cent, could do neither. Of the negroes charged with homi- cide, more than one-half could neither read nor write; of the Indians, nearly two-thirds. 4. Foreign Born. The percentage of the illiteracy among the foreign horn was nearly three times as great as among the native whites. Of the 47,413,559 persons in the United States in 1890, 10 years of age and over, 6,324,702 v/ere illiterates. Of this number 3,212,574 were white and 3,112,128 colored, 2,065,003 native white and 1,147,571 foreign white. Of the prisoners confined on a charge of homicide, 253, or 3.44 per cent., had received higher education. 5. The Occupation. The occupation of 6,546 prisoners prior to incarceration was ascertained, of whom 102 were classified as professional, 38 official, 1,893 agricultural, 29 lumber, 212 mining, 19 fisheries, 173 trade and commerce, 380 transportation, 1,086 manufactures and mechanical in- dustries, 690 personal service, 2,253 unskilled labor and 21 miscellaneous. The number employed at the time of their arrest was 5,659, unemployed 1,22.5, unknown 467. 6. Intoxicating Liquors. The habits of the prisoners in respect of use of intoxicating liquors at time of arrest, as far as ascertained were: Total abstainers, 1,282; occasional or moderate drinkers, 3,829, and drunkards 1,267. Nearly one-half of the homicide prisoners were unmarried. The number of married was 2,715; unmarried, 3,615; widowed 703 and divorced, 144. 7. Ignorance. Ignorance is a cause of crime, neverthe- less 66.57 per cent, of ull prisoners charged with homicide received the rudiments of an education in English of their own tongue, and 3.44 per cent, received a higher education. Ignorance of trade is a cause of crime, but 11.35 per cent, of the prisoners were mechanics or apprentices and a much larger number had the necessary skill to follow mechanical pursuits. 8. Intemperance. Intemperance and idleness are no doubt the cause of more crime than all the other agencies com- bined. Very few criminals there are who cannot trace their first crime to an idle hour or to some sparkling glass. The hot beds of crime are found in the cities in those low dives where morality and temperance are never thought of. Intemperance is the curse of mankind and if the saloon and intemperance could be eradicated nine-tenths of our jails and penitentiaries would be without inmates. PRISON LABOR AND PRISON REFORMS. 403 Prison Labor and Prison Reforms* I- Convict Labor. As in this country, prison labor has been the subject of much discussion abroad. The labor system is the weak side of the otherwise strong system in England. This is seen in the use of the fly wheel. Prison- ers sentenced to hard labor may fulfill the sentence by turning the crank of a fly wheel so many thousand revolu- tions registered on an indicator. No prison official of the present day favors this plan. It cannot be called thrifiy for the prisoner or for the prison. Nearly every applica- tion of labor for productive purposes in England is in making articles for the government. Everything used in the army and navy, in the post office, and other de- partments, that can be made in prison, is made there. Hand labor is chiefly used, but this work is of but little use in educating the prisoner for outside labor. 2. English Labor Agitators. It is strange that English labor agitators, so generally intelligent in regard to indus- trial and economic questions, are so easily deluded into the belief that prisoners who labor for the government are re- movedfromthearenaof competition. The indifference to pro- ductive labor in Englandmakesthe system an expensive one. 3. The Right Principle. On the other hand there is no greater fallacy than that which assumes that the prison which pays all expenses is the best one or the cheapest. In some of our states the determination of legislators that prisons shall be self-supporting has been a barrier to reform. The prison is cheapest financially, as well as best ethically, which succeeds in reforming the largest number of prisoners. 4. Extreme Severity or Brutality. Nothing is clearer to penologists there and here than that extreme severity or brutality of any sort does not produce the best results. A prison discipline may be strict, exacting, uniform, and at the same time stimulating and humane. Nowhere in Europe is found a discipline so thorough and one which at the same time furnishes so many incentives to the prisoner, as in the Elmira Reformatory of New York. It is interest- ing to note that the managers of every reformatory regard this as a model. 5. Commutation of Sentences. In England and on the continent the method of commutation of sentences has been generally adopted; that is, a sentence for a definite number of years is reduced according to a certain scale by the good behavior of the prisoner. This system is in vogue in a number of our own states. As to a system of probation there is nothing equal to that ip use in Massachusetts! PRISON LABOR AND PRISON REFORMS. 405 where a large number of first offenders are released on pro- bation and officers are appointed in every county to ex- amine and take charge of such cases. 6. Capital Punishment. In regard to capital punish- ment it is interesting to note that while the death penalty, is in force in all but three of our states, and in some of them not only for murder, but for arson, mayhem, rape and burglary, it has been stricken from the codes of several Eu- ropean countries. Capital punishment for ordinary homi- cides has been abolished in Russia for more than a century, although it is still the punishment of treason. In 1874 it was abolished in Switzerland; permission to restore it was given to the cantons in 1879, but up to 190 no canton had availed itself of the permission. Holland abolished the death penalty in 1870, Italy in 1889, Portugal in 1867, Facts collected by Mr. William Tallack, of the Howard As- sociation of London, show that in most of those countries capital punishment had long ceased to exist before it was abolished. The general testimony is that there has been no increase of murders in any of these countries since such abolition. 7. Death Penalty. Again it appears that in countries where the death penalty exists the number of executions for murder is very small. In Austria the average is 4 per cent, on convictions; in Prussia less than 8 per cent.; in Sweden, Norway and Denmark there is one execution in every twenty sentences for murder. In England, out of 672 committed for wilful murder, 299 were convicted and sentenced to death, while 373 were either acquitted or found insane; of the 299 condemned to death, 145, nearly one- half, had their sentences commuted. 8. Suggested Reforms. As a result of this compara- tive study, the penological reforms and improvements which seem to be needed in this country, are the improve- ment of jails; the abolition of the lease system; the exten- sion of the reformatory plan; the adoption of the indetermin- ate sentence with the parole system; the extension of the probation system both for youths and adults, as in Massachusetts; work for prisoners committed to jail on short sentences; a higher grade of prison officers; the abolition of the spoils system in relation to prison manage- ment; an allowance to prisoners of a portion of their earn- ings, and its application to the needs of their families; the extension of manual education and industrial schools among preventive measures, and the organization of socie- ties for aiding discharged convicts, mainly in the direction of procuring them employment. 406 DIFFERENT METHODS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. Hanging for Mutiny. The Different Methods of Capital Punishment. i. Rights of the Many. The rights of the many against the criminal has been held from the earliest times to the present, and it has been the basis of this general idea that capital punishment finds its place in the jurisprudence of every time and of every nation. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life," is the formulated statement that makes the execu- tion of a fellow-man a possibUitv in a civilized country. DIFFERENT METHODS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 407 2. Methods of Taking Life. When once primitive- .nan had decided in his own mind that justice demanded a life for a life, he apparently exercised his ingenuity in de- vising methods to make the life-taking process as hideous and painful as h.e possibly could. The Cambodian stood with sword in hand and with several strokes cleft his victim in twain. Dr. Guillotin gave to the instrument which he devised a name which is a part of the language. The Prussian, with the directness which characterizes the Teuton, simply beheaded his victim with an ax, while the more resourceful mind of the Hindoo laid his victim in the street to wait the slow tread of the elephant whose lumbering hoofs were to crush from his body the vital breath. In Armenia the swift, bright blade of the razor gleamed as the last sight that greeted the eyes of the doomed. The modern view of cap- ital punishment has a two-fold object: First, to deprive the dangerous man of a life that might again find itself bent on mischief; then to warn those whose tendencies are similar that their end would be the end of disgrace. It was because of the deterrent effect that is supposed to reside in the tak- ing of life that Moses tabulated his series of punishments by death. 3. The Draconian System. Under the Draconian sys- tem the lightest crimes were held so heinous that the pen- alty of death ran almost through the entire gamut. But this was subsequently so modified through the one adopted by the Athenian law that men were not only not deterred and prevented from committing crime, but exile for life was a commutation easily secured. In more modern times in England, after capital punishment was an accepted fact and a public exhibition, horse stealing, cattle stealing, steal- ing from houses and forgery in general were capital offenses. From these crimes down to the picking of pockets no wrongdoer was exempt from death. The list would be tedious to enumerate, but suffice it to say that one hundred and sixty forms of violation of the law were punished by the execution of the individual. 4. Horrors of Persecution in Massachusetts. In our own country, in 1650, in the colony of Massachusetts, the list had diminished until it contained only idolatry, witchcraft, blasphemy, murder, manslaughter, poisoning, stealing, false witness, treason, cursing and smiting of parents, rebellious sons, Quakers and Jesuits returning after banishment; and in the year 1790 this list had been reduced to treason, mur- der, burglary and arson. 5. Different Methods. The modes by which the pun- ishment is inflicted vary in every country, from the prim- 408 DIFFERENT METHODS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. itive method of beating the subject with clubs until life is extinct up to the application of the swift messenger elec- tricity, that does its work almost as quickly and subtly as human thought. The killing of a victim by beating to death is the legal mode among the Hottentots, and the scene which precedes execution is almost impossible to imagine. The criminal is seized and placed in a circle composed of the leading men of his tribe. His sentence determined upon, the chief strikes the first blow, and thereafter his judges rain upon him a succession of strokes that cease only when the bruised and mangled victim falls to the ground exhausted. More skillfully barbarous, but by no means as brutal, was the punishment of boiling the victim to death. This was imposed during the reign of bluff King Hal, without benefit of clergy, upon prisoners. Those con- demned to this mode of punishment were subjected to the process in boiling water, oil, molten lead, and sulphur. An- other scarcely less humane mode of depriving a human being of life is that of blowing the condemned from a cannon, a subject that has been made painfully realistic by. Vereschagin's great picture. 6. Burning. Burning is one of the lowest, and to the average mind, the most dreadful forms of loosening the human soul from its environs. The ancient Romans, the Jews, the Britons and other nations have made use of it in their scheme of capital punishment. The Britons threw their victims, many in number, into wicker cages made in the form of some well-known idol. The wood was heaped around it and the fire lighted. As the flames rolled upward and mingled their roar with the impotent groans of the vic- tims the likeness to the god was lost, but to him was ac- credited the vengeance imposed on the sufferers. 7. Burying Alive. Another horrible method of inflict- ing the death penalty was by burying alive. It seems almost incredible that, not satisfied with interring the con- demned, some barbarous tribes buried to the hips or shoulders, packing the earth firmly in, and left their victim helpless, tomeet a lingeringdeath of exposure and starvation. 8. Crucifixion. Crucifixion, which the story of Christ has carried over the round world, is a form of punishment so repellant to modern ideas that it is almost an argument for those who deny the divinity of the Saviour who suffered. Yet Dr. Lyman Abbott has presented this practice as it ex isted at the time of Christ in his brilliant and interesting description: " Of all the cruel punishments of a barbarous age, cruci- fixion was the most barbarous. It possessed a bad pre- DIFFERENT METHODS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 409 ;minence of cruelty in an age when fashionable audiences crowded the vast amphitheater to applaud the fearful horrors of gladiatorial combats, and fair women gave the death signal, and feasted their sanguinary eyes on the ebbing life of the defeated. It was in this age that Cicero called crucifixion a punishment most inhuman and shock- ing, and wrote of it that it should be removed from the eyes and ears and the thought of men. Too horrible for a Roman citizen, no freeman might be subjected to it. It was reserved, with rare exceptions, for slaves and foreign- ers. Upon this Gentile cruelty the Jew looked with special horror. The cross, like the eagle, was a sign of degrada- tion. Its infliction by the Romans was a badge ot Israel's servitude. The ancient law of Moses fixed a peculiar curse to it. To crucify even a corpse was to submit it to the greatest possible indignity. Thus the agony of pain was intensified by the agony of a peculiar shame. The physical agony of the cross was that of a lingering death. The victim's life was wrested from him in a tierce, but pre- determined battle, that lasted many hours, often several days. Eyery moment of the hopeless contest added new agony to an anguish at first almost unendurable. The form of the Latin cross is as familiar as it is sacred to all Christendom. The sufferer was usually bound upon it as it lay upon the ground. The hands and feet were then firmly nailed to the wood. Lest this fastening should prove too frail, a transverse piece of wood between the thighs afforded additional support. The cross was then elevated, with the sufferer upon it, and fastened firmly in the ground. In this act the body was terribly wrenched. The concussion often dislocated the limbs. Then hanging between heaven and earth, the victim was left to die. The hot rays of an Oriental sun beat down upon his naked body and unshel- tered head. The ragged edges of his undressed wounds festered and inflamed. From these wounds shooting pains ran along in accelerating waves of increasing anguish. Every attempt to secure any relief from the unnaturally constrained position increased the torment. The blood, im- peded in its circulation, flowed in slackened and laborious currents. An increasing fever consumed the body with in- ternal fires; the head throbbed with anguish; the parched lips burned with a raging thirst. As death drew nigh insects swarmed upon the body, and birds of prey commenced to feast upon it before life was yet extinct. Yet no vital organ was directly touched, and the stubborn life surrend- ered to its invincible foe only after a long and protracted siege. Even the pitiless and stolid Roman endured not 410 DIFFERENT METHODS OF, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 411 long the sight of sufferings at once so protracted and in- tense. For death, if not hastened by other means, did not usually take place for four or five days. Rarely, however, was the wretched criminal suffered to die by the mere in- fliction of the cross. A thrust with a spear or a blow with the club at length put an end to tortures which wearied even the patience^of the spectators. Crucifixion was not, however, uncommon in an age when no discrimination was made between punishment and revenge, and when ingenu- ity was exhausted in the endeavor to intensify the suffer- ings of those condemned for crime, or even captured in war. At the time of the siege of Jerusalem hundreds of Jews were crucified together, and left to hang in sight of the city walls." 9. Crucifrangium. There was a peculiar punishment, and perhaps a capital one, called crucifrangium by the ancients, inflicted on Roman slaves and Christian martyrs, as also on women and girls. Under Diocletian twenty- three Christians suffered martyrdom in this manner. The legs of the criminal were laid on an anvil, and by main force fractured by a heavy hammer, somewhat similar to the more modern custom ot breaking the bones of offenders on a wheel by an iron bar. 10. Beheading. Beheading is of an ancient date, and was certainly known among the Greeks and Romans. Xenophon says that losing the head was looked upon as the most honorable death. The decollation, as it was called of St. John the Baptist shows the existence of this punish- ment among the Jews under the Roman governor of Judea. Suetonius tells that Caligula kept an artist in beheading, who decapitated prisoners in his presence, fetched indis- criminately for that purpose from the jails. The mode formerly practiced in England, by the ax and block (and still in use in Germany), and that which originated in France late in the eighteenth century and was gradually adopted in many other European countries the guillotine are de- scribed more in detail elsewhere. 11. Breaking on the Wheel. Breaking on the wheel is a mode of execution that has acquired some notoriety from the frequency with which it is mentioned in histories nar- rating the cruelties common in the Middle Ages, but it is really only one form of beating to death. The condemned, was lashed upon the periphery of a large wheel, which was caused slowly to revolve, and as it revolved, he received a succession of blows from clubs in the hands of the execu- tioners, or from bludgeons worked by clumsy machinery such as the times furnished; thus bruising the flesh, break- EXECUTION IN CHINA. 412 DIFFERENT METHODS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 413 ing the bones, and steadily reducing the body to a mangled, formless corpse. The "wheel" was for centuries a common instrument of torture and death in several countries of Europe. 12. Bisecting. Bisecting such as is practiced by the Cambodians is thus described: "Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord ;" also as instanced in the subjecting of the Rabbites to saws and axes and a roasting in a brick kiln. Thus used, the terms seem to include any rude, untaught mode of cutting the body asunder with an implement like a sword, or with a wooden saw; a martyrdom said to have been inflicted upon the Prophet Isaiah, and to have been a not uncommon fate of early Christians. Ep. Heb. xi, 87, says that " many were stoned, were sawn asunder." It is men- tioned as a Babylonian custom. 13. Drawing and Quartering. Drawing and quartering was not a distinct punishment, but an adjunct or circum- stance of aggravation formerly superadded in England to hanging for the heinous crimes, particularly high treason. In the ancient and severer form, sentence involving draw- ing and quartering directed that the offender should be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, and there hanged by the neck, but not until dead; that he should be taken down again, and while yet alive his bowels should be taken out and burned before his face; and that afterward his head should be severed from the body, and the body divided into four quarters, and his head and quarters should be at the king's disposal. 14. Stripping the Skin. Stripping the skin from the body of the condemned while he yet lived was formerly the custom in England. It was, however, a barbarous mode of torturing an offender to death, rather than a punishment in a judicial sense. The mode of punishment which includes flogging and the "knout," recently abolished in Russia, also covered by the terms "scourging," and "whipping," has not been used, primarily at least, in the other European countries in modern times as "capital punishment;" that is, has not been used where the sentence or judicial design has been to inflict death. 15. The Garrote. The mode of execution by the gar- rote seems to have been originally devised by the Moors and Arabs, and to have been taken from them by the Spaniards, by whom it has been transmitted to the Spanish colonies in America. In the earliest form it consisted of simply placing a cord round the neck of the criminal, who was seated on a chair fixed to a post, and then twisting the 21 THE GUILOTINE EXECUTION IN FRANCE. 414 MORTGAGE DEBT. 415 cord by means of a Stick inserted between it and the back of the neck till strangulation was produced. Afterward a brass collar was used containing a screw, which the execu- tioner turned till its point entered the spinal marrow where it unites with the brain, causing instant death. 16. Hanging. Hanging is, and has long been, the mode of capital punishment employed in England and America. In its simplest form, that of suspending the criminal by a cord around his neck from the branch of a tree, must have been of very early origin. Accounts vary as to the date of the introduction of the gallows as the insirument. This seems to have occurred in Roman dominions soon after the Emperor Constaritine abolished crucifixion. An early form of this seems to have been a crude imitation of a tree a tall post bearing at its top a projecting beam, from the end of which the fatal cord could be suspended. In the fifteenth c- ntury the gallows beam balanced, like that of a pair of scales, at the top of the post, from one end of which depends I thvi haiter, and from the other a heavy weight. When the rope was pulled down and put around the offender's neck, the weight at the other end lifted him from the ground. 17. Execution by the Guillotine and by Electricity. Far superior to hanging as a means of taking life judicially is execution by the guillotine and by electricity. The guil- lotine is at the present day employed in France and her colonies, in Belgium, Norway, Sweden, and in Denmark. The accompanying illustration gives a clear idea of its workings. The electric chair is so far in use in the state of New York only. Although its operation was attended with some bungling at the outset, a consensus of opinion pro- nounces it now the safest and most humane method of taking life; and, judging by the several reports from the other side, the probabilities are that the system will soon be introduced into several European countries. Mortgage Debt. The census of 1890 gives the aggregate mortgage debt as $6,019,679,985. Debt of public corporations $6,000,000,000. The remaining private debt is estimated at $5,000,000,000, making the total private debt more than $17,000,000,000. The public debt amounts to $2,027,170,546. New Yorkers owe more than one-fourth of the mortgage debt, Pennsylvanians a tenth. ^ These two states, with Massa- chusetts, New Jersey, and Ohio, owe more than one-half of the debt, so that western and southern people need not feel that they aione have debt. THE EXECUTION OF KEMLER, The First Electrical Execution in America, New York City. 416 HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM* 417 IN THE JAIL YARD. The Schoolhouse Makes No Criminals. The Origin and History of the Com- mon School System. The thought that man as man, without reference to any special practical end, should be educated seems to have occurred first to the Greeks, but it was not until the Refor- mation that men began to hold the opinion that every man's intellect should be so trained as to be able to read and inquire and think for itself. During what are called the dark centuries a state of deplorable ignorance prevailed all over Europe. It is re- freshing to find in the history of this dark middle age two monarchs who strove to give to their subjects the inestima- b 1 " privilege of lifting themselves out of the depths of ignor ance in which they were immersed. At the accession of Charlemagne to the throne of France no means of educa- tion existed in his dominions. This monarch, who it is said was incapable of writing, invited men of letters from abroad 418 HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. to come and reside at his court and instruct himself and his family. He also established schools in various cities of his empire. ID the ninth century Alfred the Great, of England, made similar efforts, but they died with him, his successors being too much occupied with warfare to continue the educational v vork thus initiated. NO SCHOOL IN REACH. Down to the time of the transitional movement in Europe from the mediaeval ages to the modern world, there is little of interest to the cause of popular education to record. The influence of the reformation upon education was made manifest early in the seventeenth century. In 161(f HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 419 the Scotch Parliament adopted measures for settling and supporting a public school in each parish at the expense of the heritors or landed proprietors. The legislation was repealed at the restoration of Charles 1 1., but was re-enacted by the Scottish Parliament in 1696. Lord Macaulay says: " By this memorable law it was, in the Scotch phrase, statuted and ordained that every parish in the realm should provide a commodious schoolhouse and should pay a moderate stipend to a schoolmaster. The effect could not be immediately felt, but, before one generation had passed away it began to be evident that the common people THE OLD WAY OF TEACHING SCHOOL. of Scotland were superior in intelligence to the common people of any other country in Europe. To whatever land the Scotchman might wander, to whatever calling he might betake himself^ in America or in India, in trade or in war, the advantage which he derived from his early training raised him above his competitors. If he was taken into a warehouse as a porter, he soon became foreman. If he enlisted in the army he soon became a sergeant. Scotland, meanwhile, in spite of the barrenness of her soil and the severity of- her climate, made such progress in agriculture in manufactures, in commerce) in letters, in science, in att 420 HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. that constitutes civilization, as the Old World has never seen equaled, and as even the New World has scarcely seen surpassed. " This wonderful change is to be attributed, not indeed solely, but principally, to the national system of educa- tion." Since then every power of the civilized world has adopted some system of public schools. What little objection has been made to taxation for universal education in this country has come from wealth, which says it cannot properly be taxed for the edu- cation of the people. We must not forget that without law the ownership of that wealth could not exist. Jeremy Bentham says: "The idea of property consists in an established expectation, in the persuasion of being able to draw such or such an advantage from the thing pos- sessed, according to the nature of the case. Now this expectation, this persuasion can only be the work of the law. I cannot count upon the enjoyment of that which 1 regard as mine, except through the promise of the -law which guarantees it to me. Property and law are born together and die together. Before laws were made there was no property; take away laws and property ceases.'' . The words, "I cannot count upon the enjoyment of that which I regard as mine, except through the promise of the law which guarantees it to me," come home with significant meaning in this day of socialism and oi clashing between capital and labor, which now so often occurs in the mon- archies of the Old World, and. even in our own land. The law guarantees the right of property, but instantaneous with the creation of the right of property must exist the paramount claim of the government to such portion of it as may be necessary fully to effectuate that guaranty. The law must be upheld and respected, or else all rights of ownership are in jeopardy and industry paralyzed. To maintain the law, education of the people is more potent than standing armies. Lord Brougham, in the House of Commons, said : " There have been periods when the country heard with dismay that the soldier was abroad. That is not the case now. Let the soldier be abroad; in the present age he can do nothing. There is another person abroad a less important person in the eyes of some, an insignificant person, whose labors have tended to produce this state of things. The school- master is abroad! And I trust more to him, armed with his primer, than I do the soldier in full military array, for up- holding and extending the liberties of his country*'* HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 421 It is intelligence," said Daniel Webster, " which has reared the majestic columns of our national glory, and this alone can prevent them from crumbling into ashes." State education, being so important to national exist- ence, is therefore a very appropriate object of taxation. In the English colonies of this country the people were accustomed to support the church by taxation. In many rf the New England towns they had their church, and the town chose its pastor and supported him, and in many cases the pastor was also the schoolmaster. In the course of time however, the sects multiplied, and the church in conse- THE NEW WAY OF TEACHING SCHOOL. quence became disconnected from the town government; But the work of education by the government was continued. One of the first legislative acts of the Continental Con- gress was in 1787. It was enacted that schools and means of education should forever be encouraged, and in pursu- ance of this policy the government set apart the sixteenth section in each township for the support of public schools. This enactment was for the territory north of the Ohio river. Notwithstanding the educational interests begun in this small way, it has developed great results. It was in this way that education was extended to the west, and since the abolition of slavery in the Southern states our public school system has been carried South, and the youth of all the states of the Union are now blessed with the privileges of a free public school. 26 422 THE HOPE OF OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The Origin of the School District. Children cannot properly be required to go further than two miles to school, arid wherever the rectangular survey prevails, of course, there is a regular system of locating schoolhouses. The township is six miles square. It is customary to locate a public highway on each section line. These highways divide the township into little squares of one mile each, and it is customary to locate a schoolhouse at each alternate cross-roads. This plan gives to each township nine school- houses two miles apart. A school district is thus made two miles square with a schoolhouse in the center. But this is an unfavorable shape. Those who live at the corners of the district are two miles from school. A more convenient method for forming district is recommended by Jesse Macy. By this plan a district is formed, containing five square miles instead of four, and no one who lives upon a public highway can be more than a mile and a half from school. On this plan the children living on the same highway go to the same school, while on the other plan they often go to differ- ent schools. The Hope of Our Public Schools. 1. The Safety of American Institutions. When the American people gained their independence they estab- lished the free public school. The founders and fathers of our country early saw that the safety and perpetuity of our country depended upon education. The nations that lead in civilization, in prosperity in invention and in general progress are those who have adopted some system of com- pulsory education and what is true of other nations is also true of ours. If civilization advances the public school must lead the way. 2. What Is Education. It is the uplift of one soul by the personal contact and effort of a superior soul, not in a material, but in a moral and intellectual sense. And no appliance or method can take the place of the superior soul. How infinitesimal appear all educational machinery when Arnold of Rugy arises before us. To rub against such a man for an hour was worth all the machine work of a whole year. 3. Our Supreme Need. Our supreme need in the schools of to-day is men, not machinery, not methods, not appliances. We need men of character, of conviction, of Steadfastness of purpose. THE SCHOOL TEACHER CLOSING SCHOOL, 423 -124 THE HOPE OF OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. If right character is to be produced in the public school, it must be through the influence of those who have a right character. The great mass of America's youth receives nothing beyond that which the public school offers. It is therefore an essential that our youth be trained in the pub- lic school in all that tends to make true citizenship. 4. Knowledge not Education. Although every great teacher, from Aristotle until now, has insisted on a more rational method, we are still tyrranized over by the tradi- ,tion that education is synonymous wi;h the acquisition of knowledge. It is not an education to know many things. The brain may be loaded with a mass of heterogeneous facts,date added to date,rnountain height to mountain height, river length to river length, population to population until time or finance fails, and then the education is far from complete. Digestion and assimilation are as necessary to mental as to physical health. Only applied knowledge is power. He is most truly and really educated who is pre- pared for the great work of life. 5. Moral and Religious Training. Saying nothing of creeds and dogmas, the youth of our nation must be under the charge of teachers who inculcate the principles of man- hood. Honesty, integrity, the duty of man to man and of man to God must be impressed upon the mind in the forma- tive years or the youth develops to be a burden and a curse to the community which he should assist to enlighten and to elevate. 6. Responsibility of Teachers. He who has not been overwhelmed with the importance of the great and sacred work of instructing the youth, lacks the first elements of fitness for it. Pyramids crumble but the proudest achieve- ments of the architect are surpassed by the teacher. His work tends to the building of the character of the individ- ual and the enlightenment and Christianizing of the com- munity and the nation and in this respect sweeps into eter- nity. Let our schools be presided over by patriotic teach- ers who are sound in morals and withal whole-souled Chris- tians and the future of our country is determined. 7. Value to National Life and Prosperity. Joseph Cook aptly and truly says : " There are no proper concep- tions, I think, in society at large, of the value of educating the uncleanest poor. Why, where have many of the great- est inventors come from? Who was Robert Burns? Who is the American Edison? Who was Ferguson when he lay on his back and stretched a thread before him, put beads upon it and marked the positions of the stars and made a map of the constellations in the peasant's hut? Who was THE HOPE OF OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 425 that railsplitter who was assassinated in Washington at the end of a civil war, and over whose eloquence as well as over whose statesmanship, every zone of the planet stood hushed in wonder? The talent that lies in the lowest population how are we ever to know how great it is unless we bring Burns out from under the thatch, and Ferguson up from his peasant's hut, and our Edison into proper employment, and our Lincoln from his hovel up and up, until he finds the place God made for him at the summit of political power in the foremost nation of modern times? Where are the lax executors of law, and the fleec- ers and tempters of the poor, who keep the vail of vice or ignorance hung over the eyes of the lower populations? A man very rarely finds out what great things are in him un- til he drops all the weights that impede his race. He does not know how swift he can be until every bad habit is sloughed off. Where are the men who execute the laws against intemperance? Shut your grog shops, open your schools, and God knows what flashing jewels you may yet dig out of the neglected ores at the very bottom of the un- wrought mine of the modern world " 8. Incentives to Higher Education. Our public schools are the incentives to higher education. Our colleges and universities, scattered all over the Union, contro'led princi- pally by Christian denominations, and conducted on broad and liberal plans, must depend largely upon the public school for their patronage. In the public school the desire for higher education is awakened and if fostered by the teacher, leads to noble and enlightened citizenship. Why can we fill so many institutions with students, if not for the fact that in the public school, the youth is led to see the ad- vantages and possibilities of a truly educated man, 9. Importance of Schools. The schoolboy of to-day becomes the voter of to-morrow. The millions of youth now in the schools of America are soon to decide all the grave questions of national interest which concern us as a people. The ballot more than the bullet must determine the destiny of our country. The ballot in the hands of the ignorant may do more mischief than the torch of the incen- diary in the towers of the metropolis. Our schools are the palladium of our commonwealth. 426 SCHOOL SAVINGS BANKS. School Savings Banks and How to Organize Them. 1. What Parents Owe to Their Children. It is a lamentable fact that few children have any knowledge pi the value and use of money. Few parents give their chil- dren little, if any discipline, in the art of saving money, and consequently children grow from childhood to manhood and womanhood without any knowledge of business. 2. Teaching Children the Value and Use of Money. Children should be taught the practical lessons of business in connection with their school studies. The study of arith- metic is but a theoretical system of business, and if the les- sons can be made practical and applied, there will be ten times the benefit to pupils. There is nothing better than a school savings bank to bring out that which will be most available later in life. Business training cannot be begun too young; every school should have a school savings bank, and no doubt it will be the means of making many prosper- ous and successful business men as well as furnishing val- uable lessons to the girls, which will make them competent and available in supporting themselves, should it ever be necessary to do so. 3. The School Savings Banks System. The school savings banks system, so favorably known and acceptably used in some European countries, has attracted consider' able attention in the United States- during the past year. Its experimental introduction in a few schools here has proven it a successful and valuable educational factor. It would appear that only a wider knowledge of the simplicity of inculcating thrift, in connection with book learning, was required to insure its general adoption. 4. In Three Hundred Schools. School savings banks are in use in three hundred schools in this country, and the 28,000 scholars who are depositors have about $140,000 to their credit. These, school banks are in eleven different states, Pennsylvania having one hundred and forty of them and New York sixty-five; the others being in Nebraska, Ver- mont, Maine, Indiana, California, Ohio, North Dakota, Massachusetts and New Jersey. These have, with few exceptions, been established since 1888; most of them dur- ing 1890, 1891 and 1892. Frequent inquiries as to the prac- tical working and advantages of the system betoken pop- nlar interest in this method of teaching economy. 5. Noble Examples. Madame Carnot, wife of the late s rench president, gave a Christmas entertainment in 1888 SCHOOL SAVINGS BANKS. 427 to 400 of the poorest school children in Paris at Elysee Pal- ace, and gave each child a school savings bank book with credit of 10 francs. Many lesser instances of practical en- couragement* to the poor are cited by the French press. The greatest assistance that can be extended to an individ- ual is to teach him to help himself, to see arid understand his own resources and responsibilities. Pope Leo XIII. at a papal jubilee gave a bank book and 100 francs to each DOING BUSINESS WITH SCHOOL BOYS. boy and girl in a certain district, born on New Year's day. A contribution of one franc or a half franc to start a school account, given to a child, or better, an opportunity shown him to earn the same amount, instills the initial lesson of economy quite as effectually. 6. How to Establish a School Savings Bank. In order to establish the system successfully it is necessary to have the co-operation of a bank and the approbation of the School authorities. The distribution of a few facts in regard 428 SCHOOL SAVINGS BANKS. to the practical economy through printed literature,the news- papers or a little meeting called to present the work seldom fails to win the desired support. The banks in most towns are so anxious to secure the children's deposits that they have gladly assumed the expense of printing the required forms; indeed, in some instances it has been a delicate matter to decide which bank should have the privilege. The managers realize that if the children deposit with them they are likely to become customers in later life, and from a business stand- point they are always ready to encourage habits of thrift. 7. School Authorities Endorse It. The school authori- ties are usually in glad accord with the idea of teaching economy in the schools; the teachers themselves, in most instances noted, are enthusiastic in the work. The children enter with zest into the accumulation of their earnings and savings, while the development of their individuality and self-dependence is a matter of general comment. When the system is about to be instituted the teacher explains to the scholars the end and aim of the school savings banks; that it is to teach them the practical value of money, how it grows by attention, the benefit of industry, the delight pJ giving and spending wisely, with other salutary lessons ir. thrift as opportunity occurs. The roll is called every Monday morning tor the collection of the children's savings. This occupies only a very short time, even the morning the work is instituted. Each child who is a depositor has the little copyrighted savings bank card, on the face of which is his name, that of the teacher and the school. On the back are the regulations. The card is folded, and on the inside is the date for each Monday in the school year, with space opposite for amount of deposit. 8. Names Are Called. When the names are called by the teacher each pupil who desires to deposit steps up with his card and money, handing them quickly to the teacher, saying, " Yes, 5 cents," or whatever the sum may be. She with a figure credits the amount on the child's card and on her roll book; passing the card back to the child, who keeps it always in hand as a memorandum and receipt. The first collection in the school is deposited in the bank as a general school fund. When a scholar has deposited 50 cents or one dollar, as the authorities may agree, he is given a bank book and the money is placed to his per- sonal credit by the bank; when he has S3 an interest of 3 per cent, is allowed him by the bank, and he has the privileges ot an adult depositor, acting through school facilities. 10. Teachers' Monthly List of Depositors. With the last collection of each month the "Teachers' Monthly list of SCHOOL SAVINGS BANKS. 429 "Good principles and good habits are in themselves a fortune.'- K | ? !' ? } ^d S i t-^ po ^ 00 P * S, * " *& o W 8 f ? g- * o ? DO o 1 f- | i' ? w S' g o w m 1 & S' M ? S "g, O 1 1 6* ,/no^'Bonpo jo axed i^nnessa uv ST SHTATBS "The masses know how to earn tetter than they know how to save. * 3 O P" r S a ^ I S? OQ S.' 93 a E- i i ? S. s i i L cr o P tr & ? g" ^ IS 28 430 SCHOOL SAVINGS BANKS. Depositors" is sent by each teacher to the principal of the school, and by him to the bank with the children's bank books that individual credits may '"be properly made. These lists are returned by the bank to the principal with the scholars' bank books during the week. The bank books are given to the children to take to their homes the last Friday of the month, to be returned with the following Monday deposits. ii. Signature of Parent or Guardian and Principal. The check with which pupils withdraw their money requires A SCHOOL SAVINGS BANK. the signature of parent or guardian and principal. The principal uses the general school fund bank book, received when the first school deposit was made. It is always sent with the week's deposits and returned to him by messenger with full amount ot credit. This frees him from responsi- bility, and the arrangement is such that any error can be at once traced to its source. 12. No Power to Withdraw Money. The principal or teacher has no power to withdraw money personally. The bank books taken into the home once a month arouse family interest, and parents often have been interested to curtail needless expenses by the practical lesson in the accumula- tion of small savings thus taken to them. The children SCHOOL SAVINGS BANKS 431 enjoy this instruction which fits them for everyday life and must develop to more self-reliant manhood and woman- hood. 13. A Thorough Trial. This system has been on trial for two years in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, now having it in use in sixty of the schools. We have heard no discouraging word of it save from the cigarette and candy vendors, who complain that it injures their trade. The teachers express much gratification in the credits of the scholars, and have themselves acquired some practical knowledge of banking. 14. The Young Man with a Future. One principal tells us of a boy who was obliged to stop school to learn a trade at fourteen preparatory to family support, but who is so interested in his school fund that he walks to it, ont. and a half miles, every Saturday evening for a year past with 25 cents to add to his account. This boy will doubtless make a provident successful man, arid is only one of the many who are being aided through this easy instrumentality to know the value of systematic thrift. 15. May Solve the Problem of Daily Existence. The child becomes an active rather than a passive agent; he is a recognized part of the nation, an individual factor, gaining with his book learning an acquaintance with the principles of thrift, a knowledge wherewith he may solve the problem of daily existence. The average boy and girl who have thus deposited their small savings go out into the broader life from the public school having $100 or $200, perhaps more, to his or her individual credit. 16. Rich and Poor Children. The children of the rich and the children of the very poor perhaps need this econo- mic instruction most, though there are many women and some men in the middle walks of life to-day who cannot without aid make out a bank check and endorse it or give the simplest receipt in form. This instruction gives the children familiarity with these forms, through practical use, with their earliest learning. The children of well-to-do people, who have money given them as a regular allowance, have surprised their parents by the amount saved in this manner. In some cases they have kindly given, in an un- ostentatious fashion, pennies to schoolmates, enabling them to start accounts. 17. Voluntary Deposits. The deposits are all voluntary on the part of the pupils. From one-third to one-half of the scholars in the schools where the system has been intro- duced become depositors, some making additions weekly, Others less frequently. The work is entirely philanthropic, 432 MILITARY TRAINING. bringing reward to the children, the neighborhoods, ancl through them, to the nation our nation, great in its strength, great in its need of purifying and enlarging influ- ence to insure perpetuity as God's nation. 18. Late Records. Records of late school meetings in Belgium and Denmark report the Trustees of Public In- struction and School Inspectors as speaking ably to the pupils on improving and keeping in mind through life the lessons of thrift allowed them through the school banks. Military Training in Public Schools. Within the past few years this idea has found favor with many, and yet it is as strongly opposed by many of our ablest, most intelligent, and most patriotic citizens. It is argued that we are a peace-loving and peace-making na- tion; that it is inconsistent to teach our children the princi- Sles of peace and the arts of war at the same time. It is ardly possible that the system will be universally approved and adopted. We append some arguments used by those in favor of the system. 1. Discipline. Discipline and good government make a school. Without proper subordination and a due respect on the part of the pupils for law and order, there can be no intellectual progress. Discipline consequently is the essen- tial principle of a successful school, and the first lessons of civil government and respect for law are thus early im- pressed upon the mind of the pupil of the public school. 2. Military Discipline. The monotony of the school work can be broken and a greater interest manifested on the play ground by organizing the different grades into small military companies or bands; teachers should become familiar with the common military tactics, and should drill the school in marching and the use of arms. Wooden guns and a wooden cannon can be easily made at a small ex- pense, and the boys will take great pride in the work, and the teachers will find it not only pleasant, but a profitable influence among the students. All pupils should be first trained in grades and then all united into, one company for general drill and parade. After pupils have attained some proficiency, officers should be elected or appointed and a regular military organization perfected. 3. Good Government. Military discipline and drill are found to be of great assistance in preserving good gov- ernment, in holding the student's attention to study and in sharpening the intellectual faculties. There results an in- 434 MILITARY TRAINING. creased excellence in academic work. Obedience and a proper respect for authority become second nature. The cadet in learning to obey develops in himself that rarest and most precious gift, the power of self-control, which marks the noblest type of man. Moreover, there is a charm and an incentive in a military atmosphere that appeal to the most sluggish nature and inspire one to increased ef- fort to excel. 4. Indifferent Students. Hence it is that many indif- ferent students, on passing from a common school to a mil- itary institution, surprise their former teachers and ac- quaintances by earnest application and brilliant results. Rank and office being the reward for a good deportment and scholarship, the student is impelled by a motive power not existing elsewhere. The cadet officer in performing his duties in commanding and in directing his fellows, learns lessons that will be of lasting value to him in after- life. Both as officer and as private the cadet learns to at- tend carefully to matters of personal neatness and exem- plary deportment. There is no other system by which are instilled so thoroughly order, patience, punctuality, cheer- ful obedience, respect for one's superiors, and a sense of duty, honor and manliness. 5. Good for Brain Work. "Under a system of mili- tary education it would seem that there must be a loss in the time and energy available for the usual academic work. Experience shows that the very opposite is true. It is seen that the time devoted to military instruction and exercise is more than compensated by the increased mental activity and vigor of the student. His attention is sharpened and his intellect quickened. He is more alert and can acquire more in a given time. It is not every youth who is studious by nature and who acquires knowledge from the love of acquiring." 6. To Accomplish the Best Results." To accomplish the best results the young student should be placed in sur- roundings favorable to industry; he should breathe a busy atmosphere. In the common school left to himself to regu- late his hours of study, and exposed to the innumerable temptations of society and good fellowship, the pupil uncon- sciously or heedlessly loses valuable time. In a military school it is otherwise. Life is regular as clock work. Not only recitation and drill, but also recreation, study and even sleep have their allotted hours. In this way ^the pupil learns method and acquires good mental habits," GOVERNMENT NAVAL SCHOOL. 435 Admission to the Qoverment Naval School at Annapolis. 1. Naval Cadets. In 1882 an act of Congress provided " that all the undergraduates at the naval academy shall hereafter be designated and called ' naval cadets,' and from these naval cadets who successfully complete the six years' academic course appointments shall hereafter be made as it is necessary to fill vacancies in the lower grades of the line and engineer corps of the navy, and of the marine corps." 2. Number of Appointments. It was provided further, however, "that no greater number of appointments into these grades shall be made each year than shall equal the number of vacancies which has occurred in the same grades during the preceding year. And that these appointments to be made from the graduates at the conclusion of their six years' course shall be in the order of merit; the assignment to the various corps .to be made by the Secretary of the Navy upon the recommendation of the academic board. And if there be more graduates than vacancies, those who do not receive appointments in the service shall be given a certificate of graduation, an honorable discharge and one year's sea pay." 3. The Appointments. Let us see how the appoint- ments to this great government school are made, and the requirements, both physical and mental, of a candidate for admission. The revised statutes say: " That there shall be allowed one naval cadet for every member or delegate of the House of Representatives, one for the District of Col- umbia, and ten at large. The Secretary of the Navy shall, as soon after the 5th of March in each year as possible, notify in writing each member and delegate at the House of Representatives of aijy vacancy that may exist in the district. The nomination of a candidate to fill said vacancy shall be made upon the recommendation of the member or delegate, if such recommendation is made by the first day of July of that year; but if it is not made by that time the Secretary of the Navy shall fill the vacancy." 4. Actual Residents. The candidate allowed for the District of Columbia and all the candidates appointed at large shall be selected by the President. Candidates allowed for Congressional Districts, for territories, and for the District of Columbia must be actual residents of the districts or territories respectively from which they are nominated. 436 GOVERNMENT NAVAL SCHOOL. 5. A Candidate. A boy who has the appointment in hand or in view should have himself thoroughly examined by some competent physician. It not frequently happens that a candidate who may be admirably equipped mentally finds himself sadly deficient physically. Many a lad who, in his country home, was the leader in athletic sports, or whose name upon the village streets stood for a prowess of strength, learns to his amazement, when subjected to the scrutiny of the board of surgeons, that he has some disabil- THE OUTCOME OF A SEA BATTLE. ity of which he never dreamed. Impaired vision, disease of the organs of vision, imperfect color sense, impaired hearing or disease of the ear, any impediment of speech, loss of many teeth or many teeth generally unsound, are some of the conditions that are sufficient to cause the rejec- tion of the candidate. 6. Mental Requirements. Next, as to the mental re- quirements: All candidates are to be examined mentally by the academic board in reading, writing, spelling, arithme- GOVERNMENT NAVAL SCHOOL. 43? tic, geography, English grammar, United States history and algebra. Deficiency in any of these subjects will be sufficient to insure the rejection of the candidate. Only a sketch of the mental examination can be given within the limits of this article. 7. Reading and Writing. In reading and writing can- didates must be able to read understandingly and with proper accent and emphasis, and to write legibly, neatly and rapidly. In spelling they must be able to write from dictation paragraphs from standard pieces of English literature, and the spelling throughout the examination will be considered in marking the papers. 8. Arithmetic. In arithmetic the candidate must pos- sess such complete knowledge of the subject as will enable him to proceed at once to the higher branches of mathe- matics without further study. The examination in algebra will be elementary in character, and is limited to questions and problems upon the fundamental rules, factoring, alge- braic fractions, and simple, equations of one or more un- known quantities. - 9. Grammar. In grammar candidates must exhibit a familiarity with all the parts of speech and the rules in re- lation thereto. They must be able to parse any ordinary sentence given to them, and generally must understand those portions of the subject which are usually taught and comprehended under the heads of orthography, etymology and syntax. 10. Descriptive Geography. Candidates will be re- quired to pass a satisfactory examination in descriptive geography, particularly of our own country, and it is well for the candidate to bear in mind that his knowledge of the geography of the United States cannot be too full or specific. 11. History of the United States. Candidates should also be familiar with as much of the history of the United States as is contained in the ordinary school histories. ',12. Where to Go for Examination. Candidatef , for admission to West Point are now by law allowed to present themselves at certain designated army posts for examina- tion, but unfortunately no like condition exists for the naval academy candidates, and they are all obliged to present themselves for examination at Annapolis. Those who have been nominated in time for them to reach the academy by the 15th of May will receive permission to present them- selves on that date to the superintendent for examination for admission. Those that may not be nominated in tinv to present themselves at the May examination will be ex* amined on the first of September following. 438 U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY. 13. Other Requirements. The candidates who success- fully pass the mental examination will be notified to pre- sent themselves for their physical examination; and this having been successfully passed, they receive their ap- pointments as naval cadets, and become students at the academy. Each cadet will be required to sign articles by which he binds himself to serve in the United States Navy eight years, including his time of probation at the naval academy, unless sooner discharged. The pay of a naval cadet is $500 a year, commencing at the date of his admis- sion. Each cadet must, on admission, deposit with the pay- officer about $200, to be expended for clothes and text- books. One month after admission each naval cadet is credited with the amount of his actual traveling expenses from his home to the naval academy. United States Military Academy. The conception of a military academy in this country dates back to 1776, when the lack of competent officers for the army led to the appointment of a committee by the Continental Congress to "prepare and bring in a plan of a military academy." Washington strongly urged the mat- ter, and in 1802 the Military Academy was founded at West Point. For years the results were very unsatisfactory. There was a great lack of system and subordination; cadets were admitted without regard to age or qualification, but under able and careful superintendents it to-day meets the expectations of the most hopeful. The number of appointments, requirements for admis- sion, examinations and courses of study are similar to those of the naval academy (see page 435). Candidates must be between seventeen and twenty-two years old. At the break- ing out of the Civil War, many of the cadets belonging to the southern states joined the Confederacy. This preju- diced some against the Academy for a time, but on the whole the general impression and testimony given is that all our wars since the founding of the Academy would have lasted much longer and would have resulted differently but for the skilled men that could be drawn upon in these times of necessity. HOW LAND IS SURVEYED.- 439 LAND SURVEYS. How Land is Surveyed. A. History. Thomas Jefferson and Albert Gallatin are jpposed to be the authors of our system of United States land surveys. 2. Townships. The land is first divided into squares by lines, six miles apart. These squares are called town- ships, and a row of townships running north and south is called a range. Townships are given proper names, but for the purpose of location they are designated by numbers. 3. Principal Meridians and Base Lines. First the surveyors select some prominent object or point, and draw- ing a straight line north and south through this point make what is known as the principal meridian line. Then draw- lijg a line at right angles across the principal meridiqn 440 HOW LAND IS SURVEYED. they establish what is called a base line. Marks one-half mile apart are left on each of these lines throughout their entire length. A 7 G 5 E 4 3 & 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 7 1 a i 4 y 5 ; 7 D B Illustration: A. B.=Principal Meridian. C. D.=Base Line. The numbers on the line A. B. mark the township lines t and the numbers on the line C. D. mark the range lines. Range lines are run north and south six miles apart on both sides of the principal meridian and numbered as shown in diagram above. Township lines are run six miles apart, parallel to the base line and numbered as shown above. Example: E. is in range 5, west, and in township 4, north, or 30 miles west from the principal meridian and 24 miles north of the base line (each square represents a town- ship six miles each way). F. is in range 4, east, and is in township 4, south, or 24 miles east of the principal meri4* ian anql 18 miles south of the base HOW TO LOCATE LAND. 441 How to Locate Land and Read and Write Descriptions. A township is 36 sections, each a mile square. A section is 640 acres. A quarter section, half a mile square, is 160 acres. An eighth section, half a mile long, north and south, and a quarter of a mile wide, is 80 acres. A sixteenth section, a quarter of a mile square, is 40 acres. NOTZTIf -19-; \3p 20 -16: 33 s: .2'7; .ll. 24- A TOWNSHIP WITH SECTION LINES. 1. United States survey ends with the location of the section lines. Marks are, however, made by the surveyors at the corners of the section and also half-mile marks between the corners. By these marks any piece of land may be accurately located. 2. Land is generally bought and sold in lots of 40 acres. or 80 acres or 120 acres or 160 acres, etc. 442 UNITED STATES HOMESTEAD LAWS. 640 Acres. B Sec. 25. Example: Lots A, B, C and D, taken together, are one- fourth of the entire section, and described as the N. W. \i of Sec. 25. A is described as N. W. X of N. W. X of Sec. 25. C D is described as S. y 2 of N. W. X of Sec. 25. X Y is described as N. X of S. E. X of Sec. 25. Z is described as N. E. X of S. W. X of Sec. 25. N. B. Where the government surveys cannot be used a full description has to be written out by the county sur- veyor. The United States Homestead Laws. The laws give to every citizen, and to those who have declared their intention to become citizens, the right to a homestead on SURVEYED lands to the extent of one-quarter secti jn, or 160 acres; or a half-qu"rter section, or 80 acres; the former in cases in the class o* ,r 6 35 Q S, MCKINLEY, WILSON AND DINGLEY TARIFFS. 11' i oP I I 02 OC3 3 II I II r-j -' S S .S -^TJ g '3'S i-M .Ti ^ tc^A2 o>^ 6C, Oi ' - Sg. * -g! t>^ >_. ?c j ^^ ftftftft :^5 I *l|t;lj 11 ;1 ji ll^lil^^ KHaSt aoa -l ft ^SSSsS'f^ o, ft 1 -d T) > 3 7J rS : S j )-H -U L . ft ^^-^mGDHtCCCai ^- " *-r-1<-1*H 1 -iW'FH -f3 * ^^ ' ^ -** ftfttjf-i^^^ifjCaiyjQQQQ^cScsiHfl ft53-^ Jj^SJs 22 a*j+j^j*ii;tj- 520 MCKINLEY, WILSON AND DINGLEY TARIFFS. J2 a > > > si "':! "TO V5> -wo^a ^c,-*- ^ + ag I 31 ? ! Ss s . il * O 00 U ' CX C w" 1 >- - B*** r ' gfessa fl N J2 |- | ^ ,n a - - - : t.' " SH fc .'"''o * O O O, a; CS fi) & ft ,. 03 ir: O ,^ O> ! ! -S^ * 00^4 -^ T 5 s . 1 1 IV s *s *J *a ': : 5 s s s SI s "S i' 4J : sscsisrs ;^^^^o5 So ft d 5 o S* s Ja= 1 1 III ;s = S m a> o ; i SS35 MCKINLEY, WILSON ANd DINGLEY TARIFFS. 521 " 522 MCKINLEY, WILSON AND DINGLEY TARIFFS. 8SS -3 -3 -5 & a a "Ha ft' S3 S3 5 ig-rl.-*.-. ftftft a O O O O O ^K*, loogll* &?S,I8|~ I 3 sssaSSaagg g*g|||ag S"S -Y fl a n-( * I i j i = ..,' "SSI ' sS" S IB^O :25 :i S : m :isi: lllill l?ls! MCKINLEY, WILSON AND DINGLEY TARIFFS. *23 13 1 524 MCKINLEY, WILSON AND DINGLEY TARIFFS. R M 02 OQ QQ OQ QQ OQ fC 02 OQ OQ OQ 02 OQ 02 OD 02 OQ OQ QQ CC C MCKINLEY, WILSON AND DINGLEY TARIFFS. 525 TJ * > & - r a-o^s : i : 3 ,w * cd 0^-^.2 : : 3 3; 3 ; ^ W OOOOO t! p,%.'*f-* c ?'? * TT^*** rvi n fa *^ ^* ^ '^ *.* !E It I ,-1,-I^JMl -5.. |l s |I|p55 00 |a >fticooo5 <1 '*'ooapo^'-i->tcooowc55astss 3SSS (H O fn Ml SS&g s S.S3 5 o oo o 2 ** o. w - .., Oi I ^a 2 i*s X :i ^I^S t3 CJ-^J SS^E 34 w ^ 1 g" 5 '' 14d^ BBjj i^iirjiil g^^^glSftj llllMIIII ri ilMl ssss HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. 527 A Complete History of the Financial Panics in the United States. 1. Financial Disturbances. Financial disturbances in any country are governed by the simple laws of cause and effect, and are by no means peculiar to the United States. A glance at the history of England or France, for example, will reveal the fact that these disturbances, sufficiently marked to be called panics, have occurred at somewhat regular intervals and, as in this country, have followed periods of speculation and of abnormally inflated values. That panics have been more common in our own country, however, than in the Old World is true and not at all strange, when it is considered that we are comparatively a new country, scarcely more than a hundred years old since a stable government was formed, and subject to the experi- ments and diverse schemes of a republican government of the people by the people. During the first 50 years of -our history the experimental stage was of course more marked, and it now may be truthfully said that we as a people are better equipped by reason of our abundant and varied resources and by reason of commanding ability on the part of our financiers than almost any country in the world. History shows that, however sound the monetary system of a country may be and however carefully the government may provide for an adequate revenue and a stable currency, panics as a matter of fact recur at tolerably regular periods. In this country these financial disturbances have occurred on an average about once in 10 years, vary- ing in duration from one to three years. 2. Over-Trading. To briefly trace the history of these panics from the beginning of our national life to the pres- ent day is the object of this chapter. By way of preliminary observation it may be stated in general terms that panics affecting th- entire business of our country have been usu- ally due to one of two causes, viz.: first, over-trading, call- ing for an excess of either manufactured or imported prod- ucts and consequent inflation of the currency used in this over-trading; or, second, to marked changes in the tariff regulations tending to unsettle manufacturing and with it the buying and selling interests of the community for such length of time as may be necessary to bring about an ad- justment of business to the changed tariff regulations. With two or three noted exceptions, the last of which had its beginning in 1893, the depressions caused by tariff changes have not, however, been so marked in t'nis country 528 HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. as from the first cause above named. For instance, from 1814 to 1893 there have occurred at least ten distinct panics at more or less regular intervals concurrent in the United States, in England, and in France, all of which were due to inflation or what we conveniently call " booming " or over- trading. 3. The Panic of 1814-15. During the first year of the Revolutionary War, Congress authorized the issue of "con- tinental currency" or paper money to the extent of $3,000,- 000 for the p'urpose of carrying on the war, which amount was increased in three years to $160,000,000 and by 1780 had reached the large amount of $359,000,000. Depre- ciation in the face value of the currency gradually took place until in 1779 Congress undertook to decree that it should be taken at its face value, but as in 1780 government ceased to take it for custom dues it rapidly went down, until in 1781 it was practically worthless. This state of affairs led Congress during the latter year to form the Bank of North America on a plan formulated by United States Treasurer Morris. The capital was fixed at $10,000,000. The bank, hampered from the first by the large loans re- quired by the government, was not a success, and having an inadequate capital continued to increase its note circula- tion during the succeeding seven or eight years until the people finally refused to take its issues at par or anywhere near it. Hard money was in general demand, causing a hoarding of the precious metals and consequent stagnation of business and an era of general bankruptcy followed. In 1790, Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, came forward with a proposition for the founding of a National Bank which Congress duly author- ized, and in 1794 it commenced business as the "Bank of the United States." It had a capital of $10,000,000, one- fifth of which was subscribed by the government and the other three-fifths by private individuals. Two of the latter $8,000,000 were to be paid in metallic money and $6,000,000 in 6 per cent, state bonds. The charter was to expire in 1811. It was, however, afterward extended. For several years transactions of the United States Bank were profitable, for it paid an average of 8 per cent, on its capital. 4. State Banks. In the meantime, soon after the establishment of the national bank, in 1781, state banks, notably in Pennsylvania, began to be organized, and by 1811 there were 88 of these in existence with an aggregate capi- tal of $77,258,000. Speculation ran high, paper money was abundant and the apparent prosperity of the country was attributed to the issue of paper money both by the govern- HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. 529 ment and the state banks. Then came the War of 1812. At its beginning the exportation of the precious metals nearly ceased, the banks increased their issues and made great profits for the stockholders. The Farmer's Bank of Lan- caster, Pa., yielded a round 12 per cent, on its -stock, and a widespread mania prevailed among all classes to invest in bank stocks and to engage in visionary financial schemes generally. In 1813, 41 banks were chartered in Pennsyl- vania with a capital all told of only $17,000,000. These banks had no adequate specie basis, and yet continued the issue of notes on a liberal scale. On the other hand the New England states, with more prudence, had en- acted stringent laws governing banking and the redemption of bank notes and when under the pressure of war times and a surfeit of practically irredeemable currency the banks of the other states suspended payment in the early fall of 1814 the New England banks remained solid. A temporary arrangement was made between the business public and the banks, especially in Philadelphia, for the restoration of confidence based on the agreement of the .latter to resume payment of their notes at the close of the war and for a time money continued plentiful, times were apparently good, inflation of values extending to goods and to real estate was the rule everywhere and speculation was universal. Everybody could borrow money and few looked forward to a day of reckoning. When in 1815 the reaction came, people found that while the value of hard money had increased they had little of real value, as judged by the metallic standard, left to show for their great apparent gains. 5. The Large Loans to the Government. The large loans to the government by the banks for the prosecution of the war, amounting to nearly $53,000 000, helped along the inflation of currency, the banks advancing money beyond their resources, thus augmenting their circulation. When the crash came, the United States Bank, whose man- agers had taken warning in time and reduced its discounts and circulation, was found to be in fairly sound condition. By the middle of 1815, after peace had been declared, ocean commerce had resumed its activity and general business was in full swing, although the promise of the state banks to resume specie payment had not been fulfilled. 6. Reorganize the United States Bank. Early in this year a proposition was made to reorganize the United States Bank, and in April, 1816, an act was secured for the organization of a company with a capital of $35,000,000, in shares of $100 each. The government took 70,000 shares 530 HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. and the general public the other 180,000 shares. The latter were payable in gold or silver to the extent of $7,000,000 and $21,000,000 either in the same kind of money or in the United States' consolidated debt bonds at par or in other government securities at values varying according to the interest rate which they bore. Thirty dollars per share had to be paid on subscription, of which $5 were in gold; in six months $35 more was due, of which $10 had to be in specie, and the remaining $35 was payable in 12 months on the same terms. The charter was to run until March, 1836. Of the 25 directors, five were to be appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate, and the rest were to be -chosen by the stockholders and some of the states, no state being allowed to name more than three directors. In the contraction of any debt the bank was limited to $35,000,000 in excess of its total deposits; could not buy and sell the securities of other countries not capable of being at once realized upon; was confined to 6 per cent, interest on discounts and loans, and was restricted to $500,000 as the maximum amount to be loaned to the United States, $50,000 to each state, and loans to foreigners were entirely prohibited. Bank notes not exceeding $100 each were payable on demand, while larger denominations'were allowed sixty days for payment. The smallest bank note was for $5. Bills of exchange and sight drafts were receivable at the United States Treasury. The bank was to receive and disburse the public moneys, and to act as an agent for any state in the negoti- ation of a loan. Suspension of payment of bank notes or deposits could not be authorized either by Congress or by the directors. As a bonus for the charter, the bank was to give the government $1,000,000, in three installments. Upon the demand of the state Legislatures, branches were to be established wherever 2,000 shares of the stock were taken. 7. The Panic of 1818. It soon appeared that extensive speculation in the shares of the bank was going on. By September, 1817, the shares sold as high as $156.50 and so continued until December of the following yea-r when they fell back to $110. This result was largely brought about by the knowledge that some of the directors were freely loan- ing $125 or more on these $100 shares and the speculation mania ran high and precipitated the panic of 1818. Over-issue, or at least imprudent issue of bank notes upon a limited basis of specie began to be felt even before October, 1818, when the payment of the foreign debt of Louisiana withdrew a large sum from the United States Bank. HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. 531 Evidence of the depreciation of the currency also began to be seen in the large advance in the price of foreign goods, espe- cially those from India and China. As invariably happens, as soon as these indications of depreciation in the circulating medium were observed, a general demand for specie pay- ment set in. The bank had no alternative but to meet the demand, and to do this it strained every nerve, meanwhile reducing its circulation as rapidly as possible. The state banks did likewise, necessarily, and the result of the general contraction was a general stagnation of business. In order to pay the notes or the bank and its various branches, the national bank emptied its vaults of more than $7,000,000 and the state banks of more than $3,000,000 in specie in a single year. 8. Investigation by Congress. The management of the United States bank was finally made a subject of inves- tigation by Congress and a committee appointed by that body in the latter part of 1818 reported that the directors had violated several of the provisions of the charter. The result was the appointment of new directors and a change of management. The panic continued through 1819, and the country suffered severely. Real estate depreciated to about one-half its value, failures among business men of nearly all classes were almost universal and men of wealth speedily became poor, while the middle class were gener- ally impoverished. Manufacturing dwindled and the labor- ing classes were either idle or poorly paid. In January, 1820, the Legislature of Pennsylvania, which for some years had fostered a loose system of banking,adopted a conserva- tive course and decided that banks should be restricted in their note issues to one-half their capital, that no director should be re-elected until after a three years' interval, and that their books should be annually inspected by state ex- aminers. Other states adopted similar regulations and the national bank now being under a new management and public sentiment in a condition of healthy conservatism on the subject of banks and business, an improvement soon took place and the country gradually resumed its former prosperity. It is worthy of note that, during the general depression through 1818-19, the government securities kept up to 103 and 104. ". 9. The Panic of 1825. In 1825 another financial panic set in. The prosperity of the country for the preceding four or five years encouraged the formation of numerous banks, and, forgetting the lessons of the past, new banks were formed in Pennsylvania, and in 1824 the Legislature passed a bill re-establishing the charters of most of the banks which had 532 HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. failed 10 years before; while in New York, to "start a bank " was a kind of mania. Various stock companies of a speculative character were organized and stock speculation became rife. By 1825 the reaction set in, helped along materially by financial embarrassments in England, owing in part to speculations in America, cotton and mines and the ruling of money exchange in London, which rose from 5 to about 10 per cent. Cotton fabrics declined from 18 to 13 cents per yard, and many of the factories closed. This panic, however, was not of long duration, general liquidation and readjustment of values occurring during 1826, and during the latter part of that and in the following year times were again good, and money, in a commercial sense, easy. 10. United States Bank Putting in Circulation Large Amounts of Drafts. Although gradually the banks generally had become established on a better basis and hard money was plenty, yet by 1828 there began to de- velop a condition which, under other circumstances, would doubtless have led to a serious panic. This condition was largely caused by the course of the United States Bank in putting in circulation a large amount of drafts issued by the branch banks which circulated freely, taking the place of the bank notes put out by the local banks, merely displacing this circulating medium without increas- ing the general circulation. Naturally the issues of the local banks were freely exchanged for these drafts of the national bank, or rather of its branches, and the former having a comparatively limited circulation suf- fered thereby. This disturbance was, however, more in the nature of competition between the local banks and the na- tional bank than otherwise, and while causing some depres- sion to business from scarcity of currency did not rise to the proportions of a panic. Gold and silver money being comparatively plenty no doubt helped to prevent more seri- ous complications. During the next two or three years business was very active and the country prosperous. Wars in Europe, the cholera and other causes combined to make more productive the use of capital in the United States and the line of bank loans and discounts rose in proportion both among the state banks and in the United States Bank, the discounts of the latter rising from $24,000,000 in 1826 to $44,000,000 in 1831, and the circulation from 89,000,000 to $22,000,000. The New York banks had a surfeit of money by 1830, and all the banks extended their operations, thus making the obtaining of credit in business circles compara- tively easy. HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. 533 11. A Reaction. By 1831, however, over-trading, as usual, produced a reaction and the party opposed to the United States Bank, led by President Andrew Jackson, maintained that the influence and operations of the institu- tion were calculated to embarrass rather than to promote the interests of the country at large. 12. The Panic of 1837. Matters pertaining to the United States Bank continued much as formerly, the contentions of the bank and the anti-bank party going on until 1832, when it having transpired that the president of the bank had sent an agent to London to negotiate a loan of $6,000,000 from the Barings and its practical insolvency being charged, President Jackson strongly opposed the renewal of its charter, which was to expire in 1836. 13. Congress Antagonized the President. Congress, however, antagonized the President and voted to renew the charter. The President, with characteristic firmness vetoed the bill passed by Congress. In the following year, 1833, President Jackson ordered the withdrawal of the govern- ment deposits from the bank, which after considerable wrangling in Congress, the Senate opposing and the House sustaining the President, was accomplished. In 1836 Deal- ings between the government and the bank entirely ceased, its president, Mr. Biddle, having about this time mysteri- ously secured the special charter of the Bank of Pennsyl- vania. The directors turned over everything belonging to the old bank to the new one, and although owing the gov- ernment $16,000,000, made no provision for its payment. The career of this new bank with the old name and the old president will be noted later on. 14. Monetary System. The panic of 1837-39 was at first strictly one affecting the monetary system of the country and did not seem to check the general prosperity, while President Van Buren, who succeeded General Jackson in 1837, like his predecessor, favored a circulation of hard money and shaped the policy of his administration to secure it by having the United States Treasury refuse at first all bank notes of less than $5, later on all less than $10, and still later all under $20. All these exertions, however, failed to stave off the impending crisis resulting from ex- cessive over-trading, wild speculation, and above all the drain upon the country by Europe of hard money, the "balance of trade" being heavily against the United States. In 1836 the imports of this country exceeded the exports by the large sum of $50,000,000. Besides this, individual firms and houses engaged in speculative schemes were heavy borrowers from Holland and England. When the financial 534 HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. tension had become great, the Bank of England^ sharply advanced the rate of discount on American paper, and gen- eral collapse followed. Many of the banks suspended pay- ment, and though Mr. Biddle, of the new United States Bank schemed to stay the tide, his bank, too, suspended, and for a year general financial demoralization marked the panic of 1837. - 15. The Panic of 1839. The main cause which led up to the panic ol 1839 may be traced to Mr. Biddle and his wild financial schemes. After the resumption of business by his "United States Bank " he planned to control all the immense cotton sales of the south. He succeeded in becom- ing the great cotton factor, with agencies at Havre and Liverpool, to whom the bulk of this staple was to be con- signed. Having thus a monopoly, by shrewd manipulation the price was advanced, much to the satisfaction of the planters. But Biddle paid them in bank paper, while he drew on his foreign correspondents for gold, at one time drawing 3,000,000 pounds sterling on London. In the latter part of 1837 he caused to be established banks in several of the southern states, by the aid of which advances were made to the planters. They were flimsy affairs, with small capi- tal, and in the following year their note issues depreciated 80 per cent, and soon were refused by the cotton producers. But Biddle was equal to the emergency, and at once pro- ceeded to buy up the shares of the banks at a large discount. He also purchased their papers having two years to run, and in 1838 had put into the business on the strength of his United States Bank $100,000,000, while he loaned the plant- ers about $20,000,000 on their cotton crops for three years at 7 per cent. The southern bank shares which his bank had purchased soon rose to par, as he had intended, and then he sold them in the London market. The good crops in the United States and apparent general prosperity, together with the fact that Biddle kept a large balance in Europe, inspired general confidence in London, the Bank of England taking the paper of the United States Bank at 2 to 3 per cent, discount. Meanwhile the bank's stock of cotton controlled by Biddle increased until it reached as high as 90,000,000 bales. The speculation had yielded a profit of $15,000,000, but soon confidence in the brilliant financiering of the president of the United States Bank began to wane in this country, for the paper money which the planters had received for their cotton began to depreciate from 15 to 25 per cent., while the crop of cotton fell off about one-fifth. 16. Biddle. In February and March, 1839, the sales of cotton at Havre and Liverpool were made at a loss and the HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. 535 agents there began to store the large cargoes still being sent over. Seeing that this condition of affairs abroad was likely to react unfavorably at home, Biddle for a time threw dust into the financial air by starting a bank in New York with $50,000,000 of capital. He issued long-time papers and bought extensively with this paper American canal, railroad and other stocks, which he sold for a time in the London market. Before long, however, the bank's long-time paper fell to about 80 per cent, and American exchange and investments were practically ruled out in London and Paris. The cotton market was in a bad way, and the houses in Paris and at Amsterdam which had handled the staple for Biddle withdrew their connection. He was, however, still able to get money in London, and on the security of govern- ment bonds and canal and railroad shares secured help from the Rothschilds and to some extent from the Bank of England.- 17. General Depreciation. Nothing could stay the 'ncoming tide of general depreciation of all American securities, and the loss on these securities and the fall of cotton caused a large number of failures in London, Manchester and Birmingham. In the United States busi- ness circles had suffered from over-trading, and the general loss of confidence made actual money "tight," affecting even government finances. Bank failures were numerous, the failures being 959. The old "Bank party" united to force the government to turn to the United States Bank for help. The government issued instead $10,000,000 of treasury bonds. Biddle made a show, of resuming specie payment, but could not restore genuine confidence, while the national administration, under President Van Buren, ordered that collectors of government dues refuse all bank notes of less than $20 not payable in specie. At last the state of Pennsylvania ordered the resumption of specie pay- ment by all banks chartered by that state on or before Janu- ary 15, 1841. The shares of Biddle's bank had yielded no dividends in 1839, and during the first six months of 1840 fell to $61, although at one time they had been quoted as high as $1,500. After general loss to banks and other inter- ests of fully 50 per cent., the panic ceased in 1841, and business moved forward again on a more solid basis. The famous " United States Bank " had been forever swept away in the storm. 18. A Slight Panic. During the succeeding seven years the financial condition of the country showed much improvement. The banks were conducted on a more solid basis, and by 1844 the circulation was reduced to $58,000,000 536 HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. from $254,000,000 in the previous year, while the specie reserve had increased from $37,000,000 to $49,000,000 during 1844. The capital of the banks as well as their number was materially decreased, the former being reduced from a total of $350,000,000 in 1840 to $196,000,000 in 1846. Gradually, however, banks began again to increase in number, and note circulation by 1848 had reached $128,000,000 from $58,000,000 in 1844, while during the same time the specie reserve was reduced by about $14,000,000. In 1848 a slight panic, partly produced by the panic in Europe, but mainly by currency inflation with its usual reaction occurred, but its influence was not serious nor its duration long extended. 19. The Panic of 1857. From 1849 to 1857, in which year a serious panic in the financial history of this country occurred, general business was good and the increase of discounts by the banks was steady and the deposits showed a gradual gain. The discounts grew from $332,000,000 in 1849 to $684,000,000 in 1857, and the increase of the bank circulation was $100,000,000. The number of banks increased from 751 in 1848 to 1,416 in 1857, but while the 751 banks in 1848 had $207,000,000 of capital, the 1,416 banks in 1857 had only $370,000,000, and although the specie reserve increased considerably, it did not increase in proportion to the discounts and circulation. For example, in 1837 the specie on hand of the banks was $1 to each $6 of paper money, but in 1857 the specie on hand, amounting to $14,300,000, was in the proportion of $1 to $8 of paper. By the payment of high interest on deposits, the banks increased this item materially by the early part of 1857. The money so acquired was loaned freely to speculators, of whom there was an abundant crop, and up to June, 1857, when deposits began to diminish, loans, discounts and deposits indicated prosperity. Railway schemes were numerous and the shares on the market plenty, while specu- lation in lands on borrowed money by people having no solid backing had become extensive. As usual, large amounts of railroad shares .were floated in the London mar- ket. ,20. Signs of Trouble. By September, 1857, there be- gan to be signs of trouble, three or four small banks having suspended, and by the 1st of October the demands of the country banks upon the metropolitan American Exchange Bank of New York were greater than ever before. On the 13th of October, with a premium of one-fourth to one-half per cent, on specie the banks very generally suspended specie payment. Necessarily the wheels of commerce stopped, everybody following the example of the banks HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. 537 suspended payment, and for about a month the finances and business of the country were in a very critical condition, but the resources of the banks and the exceptionally good crops of the year soon served to restore a degree of confidence, and upon December 11, the banks resumed payment. The shrinkage of collaterals deposited by the banks may be seen when it is stated that these collaterals, in 1856, represented $2,500,000, on which notes from borrowers were accepted of $2,000,000, while the same collaterals in 1857 were valued at $560,000, on which only $383,000 was loaned on notes. General revival of business followed the resump- tion of the banks, and by January, 1858, recovery from the panic was complete. About the same flurry occurred at the same time in Europe, followed by a like speedy recov- ery. ^ Briefly over-issue of bank notes, too indiscriminate loaning by the banks to speculators, and the extension of business in the country upon excessive credits were the causes of the panic of 1857. More stringent regulations by some of the states, especially New York, governing the capital and management of the banks were one of the good results of the panic. 2i. The Panic of 1873. The most extensive and far- reaching in its results of any panic occurring in the history of the United States was the panic of 1873. The causes were many, but the readjustment of inflated values con- sequent upon the conditions brought about by the war of the Rebellion may be set down as the chief cause back of more immediate causes. During the war the whole mone- tary system of the country had undergone a change; gov- ernment bonds to a large amount had been issued, the green- back national currency established and money was plenty. When measured by a gold standard the money was quite as "cheap" as it was plenty. The immense expenditures called for in the conduct of the war stimulated all lines of business and speculation ran high. Land values especially in the west, where towns sprang up as if by magic, rapidly increased and great fortunes were realized by a good many of the investors. Manufacturers of all kinds were stimu- lated to undue proportions in many cases and great strides had been made up to 1872 in the apparent prosperity of the country. During the last two months of the latter year the signs of the coming storm appeared when the rate of discount went up to 7 per cent, and then nearly double that figure in some cases. Accommodation paper began to be hard to discount at the banks, though temporary improvement followed for fitful periods during the spring and summer of 1873. Railroad building went on at a HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. 539 rapid rate and on an extensive scale, involving an ex- penditure of about $121,000,000 and represented by about 4,200 miles of road during 1873. On October 18 the storm broke, when the great banking house of Jay Cooke & Co. went down. Not only this house but most other banking houses had loaded up with railroad and sim- ilar securities and the load was too heavy to carry. The price of gold, which in January, 1873, stood at 112)4 per cent, went up to 119^ in April. Bank discounts, which amounted to $300,000,000 in September, 1871, were reduced to $278,000,000 by September, 1873, and deposits which in July, 1871, were $248,000,000 stood at $198,000,000 in Septem- ber, 1873. During this month the New York Stock Exchange was closed for 10 days, during which time the "legal ten- der" notes were at a premium of from one-fourth to 3 per cent. 22. Withdrawal of Deposits. The withdrawal of de- posits everywhere caused a " run " on the banks, and the government stepped in to ease the situation by buying $13,500,000 of its 5-20 bonds, which afforded only temporary relief. Following the Jay Cooke failure came the closing up of Fiske & Hatch, the Union Trust Company, the Na- tional Trust Company, the National Bank of the Common- wealth and other large institutions. By the 1st of Novem- ber discounts which on the 12th of September had been $199,000,000 fell to $169,000,000, and stagnation of business was general. During the depression the national govern- ment put on the market a new issue of 5-20 bonds, most of which were taken by Germany, and this helped to relieve the strain. Throughout all the trouble government bonds not only held up but advanced from 91 per cent, in April, 1873, to 96 in October, when the panic was at its worst, showing the general faith in the stability and resources of the nation. State bonds also, as a rule, maintained their integrity and were freely taken whenever offered abroad. Railroad securities, excepting those of the old established lines, were much depressed and with good cause, for about 90 companies failed to pay their interest coupons when due. 23. Wholesale Manipulation of Stock. Doubtless the situation as regarded the railroads was made much worse than it would naturally have been by the wholesale manip- ulation of stocks, by combinations, notably that of the Van- derbilts, whose managers drove shares of some good roads down to a low point so that they might buy them up at their own figure. The stable character of the finances of the national government and the era of retrenchment which soon set in on the part of. the people, who had over-traded 540 HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. extensively, soon brought about a better state of affairs and gradually business again became active, based more nearly on real values in place of the former fictitious ones. 24. The Panic of 1884. Following the panic of 1873 the financial condition remained in a satisfactory condition until May, 1884, when a financial disturbance occurred, having its center in New York, but more or less affecting the entire country. It was, in the main, a panic of which the stock speculators of Wall street were responsible rather than because of any real weakness of the banks or of over-trading in business circles or of overproduction by the manufacturers. The era of railroad speculations had reached its culmination in this country in 1880, and the excessive competition in rates among new lines by 1881 had caused a retrograde movement to set in. Some of the large concerns in New York which had been reckless operators in railroad securities and had forced prices far above real values, found they could no longer perform the impossible feat of making water to run up hill and, in the language of the street, laid down. In May, 1884, the stockbroker firm of Grant & Ward, of which General Grant had unfortunately become a nominal member, failed through the crooked speculations of Ward, and for which General Grant after- ward made all the reparation in his power. The firm was closely connected with the National Marine Bank, which on the 5th of May failed. Then followed closely the suspen- sion of the Second National, the Metropolitan and a number of smaller banks which were intimately connected with these institutions. Before the close of the month the sav- ings bank of Fiske & Hatch and several banking and brokerage firms failed. 25. Credits. The panic among the banks so inti- mately associated became extensive, and getting credits even for legitimate transactions was next to impossible. Securities heretofore readily received as collateral were refused, and even on the offering of those of unques- tioned value no money could be had. In this emergency the Clearing House of the Associated Banks promptly arranged to issue certificates receivable in behalf of the crippled members of the association and supplemented this action by receiving through a committee bills and securities as collateral in exchange for which certificates of deposit bearing 3 per cent, were issued up to 75 per cent, of the deposit. This action not only prevented many failures but soon restored confidence and enabled the Metropolitan and other banks to resume without loss to depositors. In the mean time the Secretary of the HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. 541 Treasury aided the recovery by pledging the government to pay before maturity a large amount of bonds due in the near future. 26. Specie Payment. The government paid in gold, and the affected banks also managed to keep up their specie payment. Several banks, not over strong and many private banking firms failed beyond recovery, but these did not materially affect the general public. By the middle of June the immediate effect of the disturbance had ceased, though, like a receding wave, some small banking institu- tions remote from New York and Chicago were affected, and the panic of 1884 was a thing of the past. The number of banks in 1884 was 2,664. 27. The Panic of 1893-94. We come now to the last financial disturbance which assumed the proportions of a real panic, and had its noticeable beginning in 1893, and the effect of which was felt for many years. Good crops and fair prices, coupled with our system of national banks, enabled the country to realize continued prosperity after 1884, and the development of mining interests and agricultural resources in the West went on steadily, while manufacturing in all parts of the country increased, notably so in the reconstructed South, adding to the permanent re- sources of a great nation. In 1888 the specie reserve amounted to $181, 000,000, the banking capital to $592,000,000, the discounts to $1,684,000,000, and the exports to $1,350,- 000,000. By the following year the volume fcf trade was larger than in any year of the nation's history and the bank clearings showed an increase of 13 per cent, over 1888. The crops were abundant and railroad earnings were larger than for any previous period. Very naturally, the condi- tions were favorable to the unfolding of large enterprises, some of which were overdone, and in 1892 signs of a reaction were noted. In 1893, following a change of administration from the Republican to the Democratic party, which had become pledged in its v^atform to a free trade policy, the uneasiness consequent upon any radical change in the tariff of the country began to manifest itself and manufacturers contracted their operations extensively, while they main- tained a waiting attitude in anticipation of a radically changed tariff. Over-production in many lines also made it necessary for the manufacturers to reduce their output and a decrease of wages was the result. This contraction in turn affected all branches of trade and times during the summer and fall of 1893 were dull. Some bank failures took place, but only among small country banks. 35 542 HISTORY OF THE FINANCIAL PANICS. 28. A New Tariff Bill. As was expected the party in power, controlling both branches of Congress, proposed a new tariff bill, and during the long session of 1894 most of the time of Congress was taken up with its consideration. The uncertainty of its passage and the form which the pro- posed law would take if passed kept the country in a state of uncertainty all through the summer and fall. A large number of business failures occurred and many banks of the smaller variety closed up either temporarily or perma- nently, though the banks at such centers as New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, and St. Louis remained solid. In fact, rarely have the banks been in better condi- tion than since the beginning of the recent trouble. There was no lack of money in 1894-5, but for a time it was ex- ceedingly difficult to negotiate loans from the banks on any class of securities. A general policy of hoarding money among the people prevailed, and all who could put their surplus into first-class securities and stored them away in safety deposit vaults and elsewhere. 29. A General Distrust. A general distrust of the future prevailed and consequently traders did business on a narrow margin, buying small stocks at short intervals, thus adding to the uncertainties of the manufacturing inter- ests. To make matters worse wheat, under the influence of a large supply and a limited foreign dem.and, declined from time to time, varying for months from 53 to 64 cents, other products following in a less marked decline. To add further to the complications the great railway strike of July and August, 1894, initiated by the American Railway Union under the leadership of Eugene V. Debs, with its storm center in Chicago, took place and kept the country in a demoralized state, while extensive coal strikes in Pennsyl- vania, Ohio and Illinois added to the troubles. At last, just before adjournment in October, 1894, Congress passed a new tariff bill so long pending, though with much less sweeping reductions than were anticipated, and a settled policy on that question having been adopted, the country experienced the relief which certainty brings. The finances of the govern- ment, however, owing to inadequate revenues and the con- stant drain of gold from the United States Treasury, most of which found its way to Europe, operated unfavorably to rapid recovery from financial depression. In December government issued $100,000,000 of 3 per cent, bonds which were taken by a syndicate of New York bankers and afforded temporary relief. MONEY. 8 Money. First Issue in America. 1. Codfish. The first American money that history informs us of was wampum and the dried codfish of New- foundland. The latter were in general use as money, and answered the purpose better than any other material that could have been procured in that region. A single fish was a sufficiently small change for small transactions, and a mass of them not cumbersome, Superior convenience made its adoption for money natural. 2. Wampum. This consisted of small shells like beads. They were of two kinds, white and black. The white was the periwinkle; the black was made with more labor out of the black part of a clam shell and was double the value of the white. Strings, groups of strings and belts made of them were the money known as wampum. Wampum was made a legal tender in the Massachusetts colony for 12d. only. A belt of it was six feet long and consisted of 360 beads. The whites afterward caused an inflation by import- ing the beads by the barrel. 3. Corn. In 1641 corn was made a legal tender in the Plymouth colony for the payment of debts, " to save the debtor from the inequality of forcing him to great sacrifices in consequence of the scarcity of the money of the realm." 4. Spanish Coins. Gold and silver Spanish coins were used for a time, but in 1652 a mint was set up in Boston to make a set of coins for home circulation, and laws were made to drive out the Spanish coins. New England Shilling. New England Shilling. Issued by Massachusetts in 1652. in ;'i.6j v a \XII SOME OF THE FIRST COINS MADE IN THE UNITED STATES. 544 THE FIRST MONEY ISSUED IN AMERICA. 545 5. Current Money of Paper. King George III. author- ized the General Assembly of Delaware to create and pro- vide paper money for debt-paying purposes. Of this current money of King George, a sum equal to $150,000 of our American dollars were issued, each piece of paper being first printed from an engraved block of wood and thus numbered and signed personally by each of the three com- missioners appointed to take charge of this issue and note to whom it was paid for services or loaned on security; the interest paid for its use going to the treasuries of the three counties named in the bill. This is the first issue of current money of paper issued on American soil, though the Indians used a legal tender of shells made under the personal sanc- tion of their chief in settlement of their debts one to another. 6. The Reverse Side of these Bills were as follows, both the face and the reverse being copied, fac-simile, from the old money now in possession of the writer. The fac-similies of these old moneys will be valuable, as they repre- sent things of the past and point the way to better money in the future. The ex- istence of this money did not prevent men from obtaining gold or silver coins, or any- thing else their fancy craved that was in sight or known of. It did not lessen the value of any pile of land or other property. It was a new birth. A new creation. A public benefit, as it increased by its volume the sum of circulating medium, which was too of His Geo. .Dat- tbe Firjt *'l, First Continental Money. 546 THE FIRST MONEY ISSUED IN AMERICA. small for the good of a people disposed to enterprise and to be useful by going into debt for improvements. 7. Continental Scrip. To the continental scrip of olden time attention is called. It differs, as will be seen, from the bills of King George, or from greenbacks, as it does not declare itself to have power to pass current, nor to be a legal tender. It promises nothing, but entitles the bearer to receive five Spanish milled dollars. That is, five pieces of silver minted in Spain and with rough edges, or the value thereof in gold or silver, so that if this continental bill was redeemed it could be redeemed in Spanish money, or in metals, at such intrinsic value as they might have in the scales of trade. 8. Legal Tender. The power that emitted these bills of credit did not declare them to be legal tender for the pay- ment of debts; did not declare them receivable by the gov- ernment; did not give to them any function to perform as money; did not attach a penalty for counterfeiting because they were not, as bills, in possession of power to arbitrate a debt. Had Congress declared this currency of olden time to be legal tender money always held at par by its parent, it would always have ranked with the most precious metals or productions of power as a thing to pay debts. UNITED STATES SEAL. PAPER MONEY. 547 -FAKIR- Is where you get your money's worth." Paper Money in the United States. The English.colonies soon after their settlement issued paper money. Massachusetts took the lead, in order to secure funds to besiege Quebec. The circulation of paper money increased until hard money became in great demand, and much of the paper money was not worth 10 per cent, of its face value. In the War of Independence, Congress first issued three million of paper dollars. It was increased to $160,000,000, then to $359,000,000, and in 1781 it had no rating and was not taken at 1 per cent, of its face value. 548 PAPER MONEY. BANK OF NORTH AMERICA. Upon the adoption of the United States Constitution the issuing of paper money ceased, and gold and silver became the new circulating medium. The Bank of North America, organized and controlled by the United States, with a capital of $10,000,000, was greatly embarrassed, and, owing to its loans to the government, it was compelled to increase its note circulation to an enormous amount. This increase of paper money aroused suspicion; people refused the notes; every one struggled to obtain hard money, hence it became impossible to borrow money, and bankruptcy followed. In 1790 Mr. Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, pro- posed the organization of the national bank to Congress, and in 1794 it began operations under the name, " Bank of the United States," with a capital of $10,000,000, $8,000,000 being subscribed by private individuals and $2,000,000 by the gov- ernment. New Hampshire Shilling, Coined 1776. Two million of this sum were to be paid in metallic money, and $6,000,000 in state bonds; the charter was to continue till March 4, 1811. This bank paid an average dividend of 8 per cent. The success of the bank led peo- ple to believe that it was all owing to the issuing of paper money when the true cause was the prosperity oi the country. In consequence, the "Farmers Bank of Lancas- ter" was founded, with a capital stock of $300,000; others rapidly followed and great excitement prevailed. In 1812 the capital of the banks had risen to nearly $80,000,000, and there were already eighty-eight banks in existence. After the declaration of war with England (June, 1812) there was a great demand for dollar pieces, owing to the East Indian and Chinese trade, and when this demand was made for coin, it was a warning to the banks, who found it difficult to meet the demands of their creditors by redeeming their notes in gold or silver. DIFFERENT COMMODITIES USED AS MONEY. 549 The war, however, put a stop to the exportation of precious metals, and to a certain degree limited thfe circulation of paper, consequently loans, and enormous sums of money were distributed among individuals and among the states. Trade everywhere was stimulated, people were carried away with speculation, and every one seemed to indulge in golden dreams. ;. In Pennsylvania in 1813 forty-one banks with a capital of $17,000,000 were authorized by a large majority. ' The banks soon discovered the method of discounting their own stock. They thus increased the amount of notes, which depreciated in comparison with hard money, and dissipated on all sides the hope of exchanging with it, and in the absence of the demand from abroad for hard money, the demand came from within our own borders. All remittances in New England could only be made in hard money, and the laws of New England compelled all banks to pay a penalty of 12 per cent, upon the annual in- terest payments of those persons who did not pay their notes. Consequently the banks were not able to respond to the demands for redemption, and hence suspension of the banks followed. The Maryland Shilling, Coined in 1659 by Lord Baltimore. Different Commodities Used as Money. Any article of wealth /. e. anything which has value may be used as money. Tin was thus employed in ancient Syracuse and Britain, while to the same purpose we find iron in Sparta, cattle in Rome and Germany, a preparation of leather among the Carthaginians, platinum in Russia, lead in Burmah, nails ir\ Scotland, pieces of silk among th$ 550 MONEY. Massachusetts Cent, Connecticut Cent, 1787. 1785. Chinese, cubes of pressed tea in Tartary, salt in Abys- sinia, cowrie-shells on the coast of Africa, slaves among the Anglo-Saxons, tobacco in Virginia, codfish m Newfound- land, bullets and wampum in the early history of Massa- chusfijts, logwood in Campeachy, sugar in the West Indies, soap in Mexico, etc. But from the time of Abraham, when he paid (Gen. xxiii., 16) to the children of Heth 400 shekels of silver, " current money with the merchant "the earliest historical record of a purchase with money till now, gold and silver have been the money with civilized and com- mercial people. Philosophy and Laws that Govern and Control the Value of Money. 1. Good Government. The great majority of people desire good government, and they work and vote with a view of securing the same. Parties are organized by men for the purpose of promulgating ideas, which if carried into effect, will give the people good government. 2. Trusts and Combinations of Capital. The people give to members of Congress the power to act for them and to protect their interests in all legislation. No sooner, how- ever, is a party installed in office and power than men who have associated themselves together and organized corpora- tions, trusts and combinations of capital, seek to secure such legislation at the hands of Congress as will be favor- able to their respective interests. MONEY. 551 3. Philosophy of Money. The legislation on the part of Congress concerning money has been secured by very questionable methods, and while there has been verv much public discussion on the subject at times the people seem to have no adequate conception of the philosophy of money and the laws that govern and control the value of money. Most congressmen have no clearer understanding of the subject than the people whom they represent, and thev are, therefore, easily persuaded to adopt the theories ana con- clusions of the "great financiers" of this country and of Europe, and to enact the same into laws. 4. No Greater Question. There is no greater or more important question for the consideration of men at this time in this country than the money question. It is the paramount question anci the one that is the least understood by the people. It affects all interests and all classes of people. Never before in the history of this country has the question been so generally considered by the people as at the present time. As much as there has been written and said on the subject during the past thirty years, the people have appar- ently learned nothing concerning the matter. The trouble has been that the people have followed the advice of those who have secured financial legislation in their own interests, and they have refrained from investigating the question themselves, and therefore have not learned or become familiar with the laws that govern and control money and its value. Instead of thinking and acting for themselves they have permitted others to think and act for them upon the subject. They have been so busily engaged in the pursuit of money that they have had no time to consider the philos- ophy of money or the laws affecting money, and are quite content to turn the whole matter over to the "able and suc- cessful financier." 5. Financial Panics. Financial panics come and go, and still people do not seem to understand what it is that pro- 552 MONEY. duces them. During such times one hears on every hand the statements that " times are hard," " money is scarce," "there is no business," and the like. All sorts of reasons are given for financial panics except the right one. Among the various reasons alleged are "overproduction," "lack of confidence," " tinkering with tariff," " extravagance of the people," " too much money," "change of administration," "too much immigration," etc. 6. The Money Owners and the Owners of Bonds issued by nations and municipalities understand full well what it is that produces financial panics. It is they, and they alone, who, through the manipulation of the volume of the money and the legislation affecting the same produce financial panics. Their greatest opportunity for making money is during the period of a money famine, and the more fre- quently they occur the more of the wealth of the world they are able to secure. Such people mak^ no public speeches, write no essays and they are not interviewed by newspapers on the subject of money. They employ others to do that work for them. They have more effective methods of securing what they want, and those methods are not understood by the people. The people feel the effect, but they do not comprehend the cause of a financial panic. They fail to understand that a financial panic is simply a money famine, and that it is produced by the retirement of a large volume of money from circulation in the country where the panic occurs. No financial panic ever was, or ever can be pro- duced, in this or any other country, except by taking out of circulation a large volume of money. 7. All Money the Creature of Law. All money, except such as is used by common consent is the creature of law, manufactured and put in circulation by the government in pursuance of law. Under- our Constitution money may be coined out of any material that Congress may designate, and when any material is manufactured into money by the government in pursuance of law and made a legal tender for all debts, public and private, -such money becomes, when put in circulation, a medium of exchange. But we must remember that money has two essentially distinct offices. First, it is a medium of exchange ; and second, it is a measure of -values. A measure of anything must have the property which it attempts to measure. That is, value can be measured only by that which has value. We speak of greenbacks and bank bills as money ; so they are in the broader sense as media of exchange; but they have no value in themselves ; their value lies in what they represent, MONEY. 553 The national government designates what shall be the media of exchange, and says how much of one of these media shall be the unit of measure for values, but it has no power to place a value on that measuring unit. It may attempt so to do, but it will fail. Nature's laws are above those of man. The law may say that certain coins of gold and silver, and certain forms of debts, as greenbacks and bank bills, shall be the media of exchange. Also, that a certain num- ber of grains, coined gold (the dollar) shall be the stand- ard, but it can not place a value upon the gold in the dol- lar. The laws of demand and supply do that. 8. Price is value measured by a standard. The price of an individual piece of merchandise depends upon supply and demand for these goods. The average price of all objects of value entering into free competition in the world's markets depends upon the value of the gold in the dollar the measuring unit of all values. 9. Making Money. People talk about making money in some enterprise, as though they really made, manufac- tured it ; but, of course, that is only a figure of speech. If the government had never made any money, other means would have been resorted to in order to effect ex- changes of property. 10. Prices Rise and Fall. Money is the blood of com- merce. Its quantity must be sufficient for health ; its qual- ity must be good ; its circulation should be natural and free. Too much money in circulation leads to extravagance and speculation ; in due time comes re-action and panic. Insufficient money with which to meet the demands of legitimate business brings a congested condition of the money market. 11. The purchasing power of money depends upon the value of the circulating medium itself. Cheap money makes dear goods and high wages ; but it pays debts more easily. Dear money brings cheap goods and lower wages. In short, after the financial conditions are fully adjusted to a sound financial system, the question of the kind of money plays but a small part in business. Money is an expression of ratio between values. The ratio should be as firmly fixed as possible. When that is done, money has little to do with its second function to measure values. This leaves the laws of trade to act freely and naturally. Prices rise and fall because of demand and supply, and not according to the changing ratio of money. 12. Money Famine. There are three classes of people who are always benefited by a money famine the money 554 MONEY. owner and the bond holder out of debt, the annuitant and recipient of fixed incomes, arid public officers and others who receive fixed salaries. The amount such people receive by way of income or salary, or interest enables them to buy more and more property and labor as the prices of property and labor fall. Nearly all such people are anxious to have pro- perty decrease in price, since they would then be able to live better and purchase more with their money. Those who are benefited most are they who receive the largest incomes. The money owners and bondholders are among those who have secured legislation in this country under which a large portion of the volume of money in the country has been destroyed, by reason of which prices of property and labor in general have fallen more than one-half since 1869. 13. Falling Prices. It is to the interest of the money owner and bondholder out of debt, and the man with fixed income, to have a constantly shrinking volume of money, for the reason that there would be constantly falling prices and therefore they would be able to live better and better, year by year, at less and less cost. Such people, and those who depend upon them, are they who are working assiduously to prevent the manufacture on the part of the government of more money and at the present time they are having their own way about the matter. 14. The Panic of 1857 was brought about by an act of Congress demonetizing more than $200,000,000 of foreign coin, which up to February 21, 1857, had been a legal tender, under act of Congress, in this country, for all debts, public and private, and for no other cause whatever. 15. The Panic of 1873 was produced by the destruction, under the laws of Congress, of more than $1,300,000,000 of paper money and the act of February 12, 1873, which pro- hibited the further manufacture of silver into money. The destruction of money continued under said acts of Congress after that panic commenced until the Bland act was passed in 1878, which authorized the manufacture of silver into dollars at the rate of not less than two million a month. If it had not been for that law what would have been the con- dition of the country now? No human being can tell. 16. The Panic of 1893 was made possible by the laws enacted by Congress concerning money since April 12, 1866. The question is, What produced the panic of 1893? Many say it was "want of confidence," " fear of tariff legislation," " Democratic ascendancy and incompetency " and "fear oi destroying the tariff or changing it in such a way as to de- stroy protected interests." All such statements are the merest twaddle. Everybody has confidence in money, but MONEY. 555 nobody seems to have had confidence in property, for the simple reason that property was constantly falling in price. All the property in the country was ready to be ex- changed for money, and everybody seemed to be anxious to get money, but was unable to do so. The manufacturer could not employ men because he had no money with which to pay them. He was perfectly willing to manufac- ture, but he was unable to sell his products when manu- factured, because the consumer had no money to buy his products. There was an abundance of labor. Men were willing and anxious to work, but there was no money with which to pay them, and, therefore, they were idle. Mer- chants were anxious and willing to sell their wares, but they could not do so because the people had no money with which to purchase them. What was the trouble then? Simply and solely a scarcity of money ! It was stated upon every hand that there was just as much money in the country as ever. This statement was not true ; but if it were true, it does not follow that there was enough money, or that the shortage of money had not produced this condition. 17. The Panic of 1893 was doubtless caused by the fear of the working of the Sherman Silver- Purchasing Act of 1890. By this act the national government was com- pelled to purchase a certain amount of silver each month, and to issue silver certificates for the bullion thus brought into the national treasury. It was feared that, if these pur- chases continued, we would soon be on a silver basis. There were, perhaps, many other minor causes for the panic, but the fundamental cause was, in this, as in others, the dis- turbing influence of doubt as to the medium of exchange. 18. The Evil Results of the Panic of 1893. Run on banks caused many of them to fail, factories and machine- shops clo'sed, or run on short time. Workmen were thrown out of employment. All the sufferings common to all panics fell on the nation. The depressing effects of this panic dragged its slow length along for several years. IQ. The Panic of 1893 the Same as 1873. The panic of 1893 is simply a continuation of the panic of 1873. The panic of 1893 was produced in the same way that all other panics are produced, viz.: By taking out of circulation a large volume of money; nothing more or nothing less. The question is how was it done? Easy enough! The quantity of money in this country is so small that the retirement of a small amount from circulation would produce a panic at any time. Indeed, for years panics have been averted by the Secretary of the Treasury from time to time coming to the relief of 556 DIMENSIONS OF ALL THE GOLD AND SILVER. Wall street and paying out of the treasury large sums of money to assist the banks and moneyed men in Wall street in their financial troubles. Was this paternalism? If not, what was it ? 20. Value of All Property. It is estimated that the value of all the property of this country, real, personal and mixed, is about $64,000,000,000. It is safe to say that the price of all this property has shrunken since January 1, 189d, as a con- sequence of this financial panic not less than $10,000,000,000, and possibly a great deal more, saying nothing of the loss of wealth that might have been created by the millions of men who have been forced out of employment since the panic commenced. Dimensions of All the Gold and Silver in the World or Proportions of the Metals. 1. Gold and Silver. We find on authority of the direct- or of the United States mint that all the gold (coin and bullion) in the world in 1890, available for money, was less than $3,900,000,000, or in weight 188,651,368 ounces. Also that all of the silver (coin and bullion) so available was practically $3,820,000,000 or, 2,954,558,290 ounces. There are therefore in existence practically (less than) 16 ounces of silver for each ounce of gold, and, at this ratio less than $80,000,000 difference between the total values of the two metals. 2. Both Metals Equally Imperishable. The silver man says, both metals being equally imperishable and otherwise fitted for use as the basis of more convenient money than either, is it right and healthy that gold should be double in purchasing power, while silver, the world-wide money metal of the middle and poorer classes, is robbed of its money value and debased? 3. Bulk. But what of the alleged overbulkiness of silver? All of the gold in the world available for money, cast in a solid block, would scarcely equal a cube of 22 feet, while all the silver so available would make a solid cube of but 66 feet, neither one very large, and the accompanying sketch not only disposes of the " bulk " bugaboo, but sug- gests several pertinent questions for instance: Which, a national currency based upon the smaller cube (gold) or one sustained by both cubes (gold and silver), would be the most stable, elastic, and least readily cornered and speculated with? blMENSIONS OF ALL THE GOLD AND SILVER. 657 blMENSIONS OF ALL GOLD AND SILVER IN THE WORLD AVAILABLE FOR MONEY IF CAST IN SOLID CUBES. x >e> x >6> ^5^,5580 OuxwttS _____ d8g.fe5t.5fcg 15% . 36 558 CHIEF COINS OF THE UNITED STATES. The First United States Coins 1783. Silver Weight, 1 1 O Grains. . Chief Coins of the United States. The dollar is the unit of the United States. The United States has six gold coins, as follows: The eagle, value $10; the double-eagle, authorized by act of Congress, March 3, 1849; the half -eagle, act of Con- gress, 1837; the $3 piece, act of 1853; quarter-eagle, act of January, 1837; and the $1 piece, act of Congress, March 3, 1849. The eagle, half-eagle and quarter-eagle were first author- ized by act of Congress, 1792. The gold dollar, being so small as to be inconvenient, is used for specimens only. This coin was largely issued in 1849, when there was a great influx of gold from California. Our silver coins are as follows: The dollar, act of 1837; the half-dollar, act of 1853, and legal tender not exceeding $5; the quarter-dollar, also legal tender not exceeding $5; the dime and half-dime, legal tender not exceeding $1. The three-cent piece, legal tender for 30 cents, proved too small for convenient use, as did the half -dime. The twenty-cent piece was too near the size of a quarter of a dollar, and its coinage was discontinued. The first silver dollar of the United States was authorized by act of Congress, 1792, and coined in 1796. The half- dollar and quarter-dollar were first authorized in 1792. The 5-cent piece of the United States is made of copper and nickel, authorized by act of May, 1866, legal tender to the amount of a dollar. The cent is 88 per cent, copper and 12 per cent, nickel, authorized by act of 1857. The two-cent piece, same date, is legal tender to the amount of 20 cents; the one-cent to the value of 10 cents. GOLD AND SILVER COINAGE. 559 Gold and Silver Coinage Statistics. The following coinage statistics were compiled by the Tribune. These figures show which of the two metals it was the people handled between 1792 and 1877: Coinage of Coinage of Date. gold. silver dollars. 1793-95 $ 71,485 $ 204,791 1796 102,727 72,920 1797 103,422 7,776 1798. 205,610 327,536 1799 213,285 423,515 1800 317,760 220,920 1801 422,570 54,454 1802 423,310 41,650 1803 258,377 66,064 1804 258,642 19,570 1805 170,367 321 1806 324,505 1807 437,495 1808 284,665 1809 169,375 1810 501,435 1811 497,905 1812 290,435 1813 477.140 1814 77,270 1815 3,175 1816 1817 ^ 1818 242,940 &$ ^ 1819 258,615 # 8 r- 1*20 319,030 g g 1821 189,325 s 1822 88,980 8~ 1823 72,425 % 1824 t 93,200 1825 156,385 1826 92,245 8 gT 1827 131,565 a *<3 1828 { 140,145 &-* 1829 295,717 3 1830 643,105 gf ? 1831 714,270 ?-8 1832 798,435 ^ ' 1833 978,550 . P 8. 1834 954,270 g o- 1835 186,175 3 *? 560 GOLD AND SILVER COINAGE. Coinage of Coinage of Date. gold. silver dollars. 1836 135,700 1,000 1837 148,305 1838 809.595 1839 1,355,885 300 1840 1,675,302 61,005 1841 1,091,597 173,000 1842 1,834,170 184,618 1843... 8,108,797 165,100 J844 5,428,230 20,000 1845 3,756,447 24,500 1846 4,034,177 169,600 1847 20,221,385 140,750 1848 3,775,512 15,000 1849 9,007,761 62,600 1850 31,981,738 47,500 1851 62,614,492 1,300 1852 56,846,187 ' 1,100 1853 39,377,909 46,110 1854 25,915,918 33,140 1855 28,977,968 26,000 1856 36,697,768 63,500 1857 15,811,563 94,000 1858 30,253,725 1859 17,296,077 288,500 1860 16,445,476 600,530 1861 60,693,237 559,900 1862 45,532,386 1,750 1863 20,695,852 31,400 1864 21,649,345 23,170 1865 25,107,217 32,900 1866 28,313,945 58,550 1867 28,217,187 57,000 1868 18,114,425 54,800 1869 21,828,637 231,350 1870 22,257,312 588,308 1871 21,302,475 657,929 1872 20,376,495 1,112,961 1873 35,249,337 977,150 1874 50,442,690 "Crime" p'd. 1875 33,553,965 "Crime" p'd. 1876 38,178,962 "Crime" p'd. 1877 44,078,199 "Crime" p'd. Total $983,159,695 $8,045,838 Total coinage of trade dollars, 1874-77, 24,581,350. HISTORY OF GOLD AND SILVER LEGISLATION. 561 A Complete History of Gold and Silver Legislation in the United States. 1. England's Double Standard. When the Puritans came to Massachusetts Bay in 1630, England alone of all the nations of Europe was endeavoring to maintain the double standard. In all continental countries silver was the accepted standard. England struggled for years with bimetallic difficulties in its attempt to sustain the two metals. In 1798 the coinage of silver was suspended and the recep- tion of silver to be coined prohibited. Gold becomes the single standard of a country when the mints are closed to private coinage of other metals, and consequently the gold standard was formally adopted in 1816. Silver is still legal tender in Great Britain, but only to the amount of 2. 2. Bimetallism in the United States. The experience of the government of the United States with bimetallism during the first eighty years of its history was somewhat similar to that of France. It had a theoretical double stand- ard, but was practically monometallic. The two political enemies, Hamilton and Jefferson, agreed that both metals should be used, and that the ratio should be 15 to 1. Both metals were agreed upon, because gold and silver had been the money metals of the world. 3. Silver Monometallism. The first coinage act of this country was passed in 1792, but the first silver was actually coined in 1794. From 1792 to 1834 we really had silver monometallism under a double standard. Gold disap- peared from circulation. Specie payments were suspended in 1814 and metallic money was practically unknown. 4. Gold Monometallism. From 1834 to 1873 we have practically had gold monometallism under a double standard. In 1834 a movement began in the interest of gold. Congress changed the ratio from 15 to 1 to 16 to 1. Silver became the more valuable metal and disappeared from circulation. Silver coins were exported largely from this country. 5. Act of 1873. When the act of 1873 was passed extraordinary movements affecting currency were going on everywhere. Silver had been demonetized before that time. That act was a mere formal declaration of a fact. After 1873 and until 1878 the country was not only in fact but in law on a gold basis. 562 HISTORY OF GOLD AND SILVER LEGISLATION. 6. Silver Interests Advanced. Gold was the native product that appealed successfully to Congress for pro- tection, but for various reasons by 1876 silver was becoming the national metal. In that year Colorado was admitted as a state. The silver interests thus secured two senators in Congress. One of these was Henry M. Teller, who is still a member of the body, and is an able and experienced advocate of the cause of the free coinage of silver. The Bland bill, passed in 1878, provided for the coinage of not less than $'2,000,000 worth or silver bullion or not more than $4,000,000 worth "at the market price thereof, the bullion to be coined into 412^ grain dollars." Free coinage was defeated. President Hayes vetoed the bill, but on the same day that he vetoed it both houses passed it over his veto. Under this act the treasury never coined more than $2,000,- 000 worth of silver a month. 7. Bill of Free Coinage. The friends of silver were not satisfied. They insisted that the government should do something more for their favorite metal. On June 17, 1890, the senate passed a free coinage bill by a vote of 42 to 25. The house did not concur and there was a compromise measure agreed upon by a conference committee, uhich became a law, known as the Sherman act. This law required the monthly purchase of 4,500,000 ounces, and the coinage every month of 2,' 00,000 ounces of the bullion so purchased until July 1, 1891. After that, bars were to be coined for the redemption of the legal tender treasury notes authorized by the act. The act recited further that it was the "established policy of the United States to main- tain the two metals on a parity with each other." 8. Effect of Sherman Act. The operations of the Sher- man law were quickly felt. Holders of American securities became alarmed, lest they would be obliged to accept pay- ment in silver, and a general hoarding and exportation of gold followed. The business disaster which followed the loss of confidence in pur securities and inevitably in each other, and in everything else that usually commands the respect of business men, will not so speedily and readily be disposed of as desired. 9. Repeal of Sherman Act. Congress was c lied together in the summer of 1893 for the purpose of repealing the Sher- man act. After many vexatious delays, involving disaster and loss to the business interests of the country, a bill was passed unconditionally repealing the purchasing clause of the law. 10. Bimetallism not Practical. Thus, from 1792 to 1873, the country experimented with a nominal double standard LEGAL TENDER. 563 Since 1873 there has been a single standard, but since 1878 more silver has been in use than in the old days of the double standard, when the silver dollar was worth 103 cents and would not circulate, and, therefore, the cheaper 100-cent gold dollar drove it out. That is the weakness of the double standard. If the two metals are not tied together so closely that they do not pull apart, one is sure to get the better of the other. As they have equal debt-paying power the cheaper metal will be given the preference for that pur- pose, and will drive the other out, as gold did silver. The only way to prevent that, and keep both in circulation, is for the government to guarantee that the coins of the cheaper metal shall be redeemed in the other if desired, and thus kept at a parity. Whether a government can give such a guarantee with safety depends on the number of coins and the extent of the divergence in values. This govern- ment will not guarantee to redeem innumerable 50-cent silver dollars in gold dollars, and if it permitted the former to be coined, without a guarantee, all the gold would dis- appear at once. ii. Reflections. These developments raise the point as to whether the whole question of bimetallism as com- pared with a single standard either of gold or silver, is not being satisfactorily answered by the course of events out- side of legislation. From now on the offi :es of legislation are two either so to adapt the administrative functions as to effectuate the rapidly developing unwritten law of com- merce, and thus to keep a people at the very fore front of civilization; or, either to refuse thus to serve it, or to ob- struct it in serving itself, thereby keeping it at an increas- ing disadvantage. We must look to commercial develop- ment rather than to legislative, for signs which are to frame our expectations. Legal Tender. The term " legal tender " is a technical expression sig- nifying that which the law prescribes to be paid or tendered in order to discharge a debt, satisfy a judgment, fulfill a money contract or pay taxes. The very object or a legal tender law must necessarily be to establish a fixed measure or standard by which the value repaid or returned may be compared with and made equal to the value received. Hence, when a law gives legal tender force to several kinds of money, these kinds of money must always be preserved at eo^ual value, for if they 564 16 TO 1. are not so preserved the nature of the legal tender law is violated and its object defeated. The Motor of Industry is not money but moneys worth, not the dollar but the dollar's worth, not the name of the coin but its value; equality of value not the same sub- stance is what justice asks. What " 16 to i " fleans. People who do not keep themselves closely informed upon current political discussion, sometimes ask what is meant by the phrase, " 16 to 1," so often heard nowadays, in con- nection with financial discussions. We append a brief ex- planation. The standard gold dollar of the United States weighs 25.8 grains, and nine tenths of this, or 23.22 grains is pure gold. The standard silver dollar weighs 412.5 grains, and nine tenths of this, or 371.25 grains, is pure silver. Divid- ing the 371.25 grains of pure silver in a silver dollar by 23.22, the pure gold in a gold dollar gives 15.98 or (practi- cally) 16, the ratio in weight of the two metals used. The term "16 to 1" means that the pure silver in the standard dollar weighs about sixteen times as much as the pure gold in the gold dollar. One man said he was in favor of it because, as he under- stood it, every time the government coined a gold dollar they coined sixteen silver dollars. That was his idea. Now, " 16 to 1 " simply means this: That the value of an ounce of gold shall by law be equal to the value of sixteen ounces of silver. It means that weight by weight a gold dollar will weigh one-sixteenth as much as a silver dollar. If you want to change the ratio you can either put more silver into the do lar or take some gold out of the gold dol- lar. That is a thing that is fixed by law. At the time of the establishment of the United States mint Congress agreed that the ratio between gold and sil- ver should be as between fifteen pounds to one pound, this being at that time the relative value of the two metals. It was subsequently found that this ratio gave too high a value to silver It was accordingly changed in 1834 to 16 to 1. By this action Congress jumped on the other side of the stream. In European countries the ratio had been fixed at 15>^ to 1. As a result the silver owners of the United States shipped all their product to Europe for coinage, and until 1873, when the revision of the coinage laws was made, only about 8,000,000 silver dollars had been coined. WILLIAM J. BRYAN. Democratic Candidate for President, 1896 and Champion of Free Silver. " No Crown of Thorns, No Cross of Gold/* 565 566 FREE COINAGE. Under the Bland-Allison act 400,000,000 silver dollars were coined, and these, added to the notes issued under the Sherman act, make the total amount of silver in our cur- rency more than $500,000,000, all on a 16 to 1 ratio, At the present time the value of the silver in the mar- kets of the world is about thirty pounds of the white metal to one of gold. Our people would, therefore, under the ratio of 16 to 1 have 53-cent dollars, which might circulate for their face value in the United States, but which would only be accepted at their bullion value abroad. Free Coinage. But there is another matter involved in the present cur- rency discussion which is of still more importance than the ratio. That is the question of the " free coinage " of silver. By free coinage, is meant the right of the owner of any money metal to take the same to a government mint and have it coined into money, or what amounts to the same thing, to exchange it for money at the legal coinage ratio. Formerly, the law gave this right to all owners of both gold and silver bullion, but in 1873 this law was repealed so far as it applied to silver, so that the privilege of "free coin- age " now applies to gold alone. We have the free coinage of gold now. That simply means that if you have a piece of gold bullion you can take it to the mint and have it converted into gold and the gold will be handed back to you. Now, what we mean by free coinage is to give silver the same rights you give to gold. If a man has a silver bullion let him take the bullion to the mint, have it converted into coin, and let him take his silver dollar back with him. That is what free coinage means. Since 1873, the silver money of the United States has been coined from silver purchased by the government in the open market. The "free coinage" advocates demand that the mints shall be open to gold and silver alike. So when a man says he is in favor of "free coinage at a ratio of 16 to 1," he means that he wants the government to coin into lawful money, all the gold and silver bullion that may be offered at the mint, and at such a proportion thai there will be sixteen times as much (by weight) of pure silver in a silver dollar as there is of pure gold in a gold dollar. Unlimited coinage means that there shall be no legal restriction upon the amount of gold or silver that will be coined. In other words, that the amount shall depend, not upon the legislation, but upon the amount of bullion brought to the mint, SILVER DEMONETIZATION. 567 Bimetallism. Bimetallism is simply the use of two metals instead of one, and a ratio at which they are coined is a question to be settled by law. Bimetallism may exist at any ratio. It has existed at different ratios from time to time. The ratio is to be fixed by the government for the benefit of the peo- ple, who must use money. The present ratio is 16 to 1. Bimetallism means that you use two metals at any ratio and thus give to both metals equal privileges at the mint. Silver Demonetization. In 1853 Congress passed a law making the silver dollar a legal tender for five dollars only. At that time the silver dollar was more valuable than the gold dollar. In 1873 a law was passed totally demonetizing silver, except as used in the smaller coins ; that is, there was to be no more free coinage of silver dollars. The change was the more easily made as neither gold nor silver circulated at the time, greenbacks being the basis of all values in the United States. About the same time Germany demonetized silver. A few years later France and the Lat;n Union stopped the coinage of silver, but did not demonetize it. England has had the single gold standard since 1816. Most people believe in bimetallism, but differ as to the best method of reaching and sustaining it. The free silver people think the old free silver law should be restored. Others reply that the silver dollar would become the standard of value, and gold would be at a premium, or would disappear altogether as money. In that case the creditor would be compelled to receive what is due him in depreciated money. This would be as unjust as to make the debtor pay in ^predated money. In reply, the free silver people say, that, if the mints be opened to free coinage, the silver dollar would become as valuable as the gold dollar, because the gold dollar would then decrease and the stiver increase until the coins would become approximately equal in purchasing power. The two classes of thinkers agree that both gold and silver are needed to meet the demands of the commercial world. But the problem is to place the two metals on an absolute equality before the law, and, at the same time, maintain a single standard of values, which standard shall be the dollar whose commercial value, as bullion, is the greater. In due time this problem will be solved. . 568 THE VOLUME OF MONEY. The Volume of Money. 1. Two Theories. Much controversy exists as to what volume of money should be maintained in the United States. How much money is necessary for our prosperity. There are two theories one called the " per capita require- ment," which is, in effect, that the volume of money in a country should increase in proportion as the increase in the total number of inhabitants; the second theory is, that the volume or amount of currency should increase with in- creased wealth. 2. The Per Capita Theory. If this is the true theory then let us first inquire whether there really is, or can be, any relation between the number of people in a country and the amount of money, coins and notes, existing at any particular time. If there is no such relation then how can this theory stand? The table on the opposite page may aid us in this inquiry. This table conclusively shows that no such relation of currency to population exists. If it does not exist in coun- tries, it requires no great powers of reasoning to conclude that it also fails when applied to smaller communities, the state, the city, the town, the house. 3. Makes Money Plentiful. Many people favor this theory, for as the population increases there is an argu- ment for increased issues of money by the government, and they think if money is plentiful prosperity is promoted. Simply making money plentiful cannot influence an in- creased demand for any man's labor or products. A mer- chant may have thousands of men of wealth passing his store every day without selling them anything, while he may be doing a paying business with the laborers and men of small means. As the money in the pockets of the wealthy in this case brings no prosperity to the merchant, so money lying in the bank or in the treasury will bring prosperity to . no man. 4. Confidence Weakened. An unnecessary increase in the amount of currency tends to unsettle values and disturbs trade. The money-lender becomes fearful and withholds his money from circulation and people say it is scarce again. 5. No Limit. At this rate the government that con- tinually increases the volume of money without very good reasons will always be urged to increase its currency so as to have better times. Such a government might find itself like a horse going down hill with a load but without brakes on the wagon, he goes faster and faster with every step, but at the same time increases the speed that is driv- ing him to ruin. THE VOLUME OF MONEY. 569 a era S,P&> P v o p 3 ft> v " CLCLC/> ^2 ;gS;srSi B3S;li "^ a o P ,n P :. e^ a S.'o55 w rf o 3 a .T i "^ ^ t3 2 n> C3 P 21 Cfl ft) O) ^_, as. no P n> 3- o ::::::: B: ^t ooo sssissssi j^Sooooooc >ooooooc< i_i OS >t in O >- O5 tn OO 00 H* -3 t as eo u a: uTi pj-J,*- 1 QO po cojy lst 8PJ --1 H ?=P PS 8SSSSSSSSSS8SSS GOLD PER CAPITA. SILVER PER CAPITA. PAPER PER CAPITA. BANK CRED- ITS PER CAPITA. TOTAL PER CAPITA. StO SOUND MONEY. Sound Money. Hon. John G. Carlisle, Secretary of the Treasury, deliv- ered a speech on sound money at the Auditorium, Chicago, April 15, 1896, from which we quote the following: 1. Affects Poor Man. It is the poor man, and the man of moderate means, the man who has not, been fortunate enough to accumulate property or money, but who depends upon his wages, or upon the products of his own labor, for the means of supporting himself and his family, that always feels the first and most disastrous effects of a busi- ness or industrial depression, no matter whether it results from a depreciated and fluctuating currency or from other causes. 2. Labor His Capital. Such a man has nothing to dis- pose ot but his labor, and nothing with which to support himself or his family but the wages or the proceeds of his own labor, and any policy that even temporarily suspends or obstructs the industrial progress of the country, by dimin- ishing the demand for the products of labor, or by impairing the capacity or disposition of capital to employ labor, must be injurious to his interests, and must inflict more or less suffering upon all who are dependent upon him. 3. Labor Must be Steady. Labor cannot be hoarded; the idle day is gone forever; lost wages are never reim- bursed; and therefore steady employment and good pay in good money are essential to the comfort and happiness of the American laborer and his wife and children, and he will be unfaithful to himself and to them if he does not insist upon the adoption and maintenance of such a policy as will most certainly preserve the value and stability of all our currency, and promote the regular and profit- able conduct of all our industrial enterprises. 4. Financial Depression Brings Ruin. He cannot pros- per when thai country is in distress, when its industries are prostrated, its commerce paralyzed, its credit broken down, or its social order disturbed; nor can he prosper when the fluctuations of the currency are such that he cannot certainly know the value of the dollar in which his wages are paid, or estimate in advance the cost of the necessaries of life. 5. Silver Advocates. Their naked proposition is that the United Slates shall coin, at the public expense, for the exclusive benefit of the individuals and corporations owning the bullion, all the silver that may be presented at the mints into dollars worth about 51 or 52 cents, and compel all the other people in the country to receive these coins at a valu- ation of 100 cents each in the payments of debts due them for property sold, for labor, and services of all kinds. ( *i SOUNt) MONEY. 571 6. Currency Contracted. To say nothing of the gross partiality and manifest injustice o-f such a policy, its imme- diate effect would be to contract our currency to the extent of about $620,000,000 by stopping the use of gold as money. 7. Depreciating Currency. While the sudden expul- sion of $620,000,000 in gold from our stock of money would itself be sufficient to create a financial disturbance unpar- alled in the history of this or any other country, the situation would be very greatly aggravated by the fact that the pur- chasing power of all the remainder of our currency would be suddenly reduced about one-half; we should have only two-thirds as much currency as we have now, and at the same time it would be so depreciated in value that it would require about twice as much as we have now to transact the business of the country, provided there should be any busi- ness to transact. 8. Failure of Double Standard. The attempt to main- tain what is called the double standard of value, that is, the attempt to keep the legal tender coins of the two metals, gold and silver, in use as money at the same time, upon the ratio of value fixed by law, has repeatedly been made by kings and parliaments in every civilized country in the world, and it has failed again and again in every one of them; and it requires no gift of prophecy to foresee that it must continue to fail so long as self-interest constitutes a controlling factor in the business affairs of men. 9. Value of Money. Money received for wages, like money received on every other account, is valuable only to the extent that it can be exchanged for other commodities, and it is scarcely necessary to suggest that a dollar worth 50 cents will not purchase as much in the markets as a dollar worth 100 cents. 10. Affects Past Earnings as Well. If the solution of this question affected only the character and amount and Eurchasing power of the future earnings of the American iborer, it would still be a subject of the greatest impor- tance to him; but its importance is greatly increased by the fact that the safety and value of a very considerable part of his past earnings are also involved. The thrifty and provident working man, anticipating a time when he may be disabled or deprived of employment, has endeavored to save something out of his earnings in order to provide for the comfort of his wife and children in the future, and has laid it away at home or deposited it in a bank or building association, or invested it in a life insurance policy, of loaned to some friend in whom he has confidence. 572 FREE SILVER. 11. Banics and Trust Companies. The banks, trust companies, building associations, and other similar institu- tions owe the people of the United States today $5,353,138,- 621 for money actually deposited, a sum nearly eight times greater than the total capital of all the national banks in the country; while the life insurance policies held by the people in the various kinds of corporations and associations and in force today amount to $10,213,804,357, a larger sum than there has been actually invested in all our railroads, and about fifteen times larger than the capital of all the national banks. 12. Means 52 Cents on a Dollar. In view of these facts, which cannot be successfully disputed, I submit that you ought seriously to consider all the consequences to yourselves and your fellow-citizens before you agree to the free and unlimited coinage of legal tender silver at a ratio of 16 to 1, in order that these great corporations and associa- tions may have the privilege of discharging their debts to the people by paying 51 to 52 cents on the dollar, for that is exactly what it means. 13. Utter Ruin. But if free and unlimited coinage of legal tender silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 is established in this country a very large part of the money deposited in these various kinds of savings institutions will not be repaid in depreciated silver, but will be wholly lost, because such a reckless monetary system would precipitate a financial panic, which very few, if any, of the depositories could sur- vive. 14. Not Possible in America. It cannot be possible that in the closing years of the nineteenth century and in this great and free republic, the people themselves, will imitate the bad examples set by the corrupt potentates of Europe, who have made their names forever odious in his- tory by debasing the money of their subjects and robbing the industrious poor of the just rewards of their labor. Free Silver. The following are extracts from a speech delivered by Hon. Henry M. Teller, of Colorado, in the Senate of the United States, January 22, 1896. i. Danger Ahead. I do not suppose there has ever been a time in our history when the productive enterprises of the country were less remumerative than at this hour. frREE SILVER. 57& feut this has been our condition now for a number of years. It is morally certain that something is wrong; it is morally certain we cannot continue in this condition much longer. 2. Lack of Confidence. The President of the United States and the Secretary of the Treasury tell us that the en- tire difficulty arises from the lack of confidence in the money of the country. If that be true, then it behooves us to address ourselves without delay to changing this condi- tion and to securing a proper financial system. I do not myself, agree that the trouble which has arisen in this coun- try has grown out of the distrust of the currency. I deny that there is any thing which indicates that the people of the United States distrust the money in circulation; and the statement so made is opposed to the entire history of money. 3. No Depreciating Standard. I do not believe in de- preciating money. I believe in a stable money, and I be- lieve that money is the best which maintains a uniform rate of prices. But if I am to take the two, I shall be in ac- cord with the best minds of the people when I say that a depreciating standard is indefinitely better for us than an appreciating one. An appreciating standard means a par- alysis of business, a cessation of enterprise, a distruction of the energies of the country. The other means a stimulus. So of the two it is much better that there should be a de- preciation than an appreciation. 4. Mistakes. Our first mistake was made in 1873, when we deprived ourselves of one half the money metal of the world. The next great mistake was when the Bland bill came into the Senate from the House of Representatives as a free coinage measure, with then a divergency of only eight per cent between the silver and the gold in the mar- kets of the world, that the Senate did not accept the House bill and give the world the benefit of free coinage in the United States. If you had done that there would be no sil- ver question to trouble the world. If you had done that there would be no silver question to trouble you. The United States would have taken care of the surplus of silver until the silver of the world temporarily depre-sed by the action of Germany, had reached its proper and original mint value. 5. Remedy Needed. I am not insisting now that there is no other remedy except free coinage, although I do not believe there is; but I am begging my associates in the Senate, who do not believe in free coinage, whether they be on this side or the other, to present the American people in this hour of their distress some common sense system that the honest people of the country will believe is right; some system that shall prevent this government from run- ning into debt. 674 THE MONEY QUESTION. 6. Debt Means Decay. When a nation runs into debt in time of peace it either argues that it has entered upon a decay, that it is deteriorating, or it argues that the adminis- tration of public affairs is in the hands of incompetent men. A national debt is a national curse, and if made in time of peace, it is a national disgrace, one that ought to make every American blush. A national debt is inevitable if you are to maintain the gold standard. 7. Cost of Gold Standard. Our gold is being ex- ported to Europe and will continue to be so exported. It will go in spite ot us, and every day we seem to be putting ourselves in a worse position than heretofore. If we attempt to maintain the gold standard we must maintain it with the knowledge of what it is going to cost. I want the American people to know what it is going to cost. I do not believe the American people understand the danger which threatens not only their industrial pursuits, but the very existence of this nation as a free people by the gold standard. LISTENING TO HORR AND HARVEY. The above represents a farmer who has come a great distance to Chicago to hear the Horr and Harvey debates. Do you see with what avidity he takes in the arguments? THE MONEY QUESTION, 576 ARGUMENTS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE MONEY QUESTION. The Gold Side. "BIMETALLIC" EXERCISE, Makes Monometallism Every Time. i. Bimetallism Impossible. No economist of any reputation either in this country or in Europe, advocates the free coinage of silver at 16 to 1, or any other ratio, by any one nation. There are well-known bimetallists in England, France and Germany, but not one of them advises England or France or Germany alone to adopt the free coinage of silver at any ratio. Nor do any economists of repute in this country advise the United States to this step. It is perfectly well understood by all economists, whether favoring a single or a double standard, that the adoption of free coinage by this country alone and without interna- tional agreement, would not give us a double standard, but a single standard of silver. 576 THE MONEY QUESTION. A DANGEROUS EXPERIMENT 2. Good Intentions. This man may have good inten- tions. H^s intentions may not be clear to all, but no one need be in doubt as to results. The silver men no .doubt mean well, and the bulk of them have the idea that what they are after they will get and the people will be bene- fitted. But the common sense of the American people will declare itself at the polls against any such dangerous experiment. The Silver Side. 3. Tariff not Responsible. Many claim that the threat to reduce or abolish the tariff is the chief cause of hard times. These would shut out the money question and make protection the issue. The present industrial demor- alization cannot be accounted by tariff, pro or con. Declines in values have been going on since the demonetization of silver. Tariff changes will not stop this. THE MONEY QUESTION. 577 4. Demonetization Responsible. The demonetization of silver destroyed one-half of the redemption money of the United States. By making gold the unit and closing the mints to silver, it lessened the demand for silver, and its commercial value at once began to depreciate, as measured in gold. We are a gieat debtor nation, paying England 200 million dollars annually in gold in the payment of interest on our bonds, national and private, owned by her people, and to meet this annual interest we are giving up about 400 millions in property that is required in the market to secure the 200 millions in gold. 5. The Silver Dollar. Silver is now worth about 60 cents an ounce. The silver bullion in a dollar is worth about 54 cents. Free silver coinage would raise the price of silver to 129 cents an ounce, and the silver in an Amer- ican dollar would be worth one dollar in gold the world over even without a government stamp on it. 6. No Market for Money. Usually a large part of the money of the country is in a certain sense hoarded in New York and other great cities, because the owners cannot profitably invest it in productive industries The prices of the products of toil have fallen. The farmers of America cannot get as much for their crops or their stock as they should. 7. The Remedy. The remedy is free silver. With abundance of money prices will rise; capital will seek in- vestment in the soil and in factories; every man who wants to work will be employed, and in the competition between employers for employes wages will rise. 8. Double Foreign Market. The effect of an inflow of silver from abroad would be to double the foreign market for our goods, and give us such a period of prosperity as we have never known before. The whole productive energy of the nation would be employed. Wages would in- crease. The only refuge for Europe would be bimetallism. 9 Failure of Gold Standard. The gold standard can- not be maintained any longer except at the cost of ultimate national bankruptcy. That must be plain to every thought- ful man who has observed the course of events in this country since Mr Sherman stealthily fastened the gold standard system upon our government in 1873. Both Sides Discussed. 10. The Silverman. The Silverman ope:is the discus- sion by urging that the country needs more money than it has in circulation; that low prices of farm products and 578 THE MONEY QUESTION. hard times for farmers result from a limited supply of money; that gold is harder to get and debts harder to pay because the use of silver as money is restricted. II The Anti-Silverman's Argument. Here the Anti- Silverman replies that all the American product of silver is utilized as money under the present law; and that free coin- age, while not greatly increasing '-he amount of money in Boy in the closet: " I'll be blowed if I'll stay in here." TARIFF NOT THE ISSUE. circulation, would result in one of two things; it would either give the owners of the mines the profit on the making of money based on silver, which now goes into the Treasury or it would make silver the sole standard of money, cause gold to rise to a premium, and derange the whole currency system. 12. The Silverman's Reply, The Silverman rejoins that those who were injured by the demonetization of 1873 THE MONEY QUESTION. 679 have a right to demand that the wrong then done be righted, even though the effect were to drive gold to a premium and out of use as money. At the same time he disputes the theory that free coin- age would cause a premium on gold. The law determines what is a dollar, and though as bullion the silver dollar is worth but 53 cents in gold, it still buys as much as a gold dollar will buy, because the law makes it a dollar AN HONEST MAN'S DILEMMA, "How can I use both?" 13. Against Free Silver. Then the Anti-Silver debater retorts that gold and silver are at par, because the govern- ment exchanges one dollar for another; that under free coinage it could not obtain gold enough to do this; that all the foreign trade is conducted on a gold basis, and since gold is alone available for this purpose it will be held at a premium as soon as the Treasury fails to give a gold dollar for a silver one. 14. The Great Question . After all, the question may be brought within very narrow limits. Would free coinage 580 HARD TIMES. 581 make the value of the two dollars different? The silver- men say no; and some, though not all of them, add that if they thought it would result in that way they would still favor the measure. Anti-silvermen say yes; and the most of them would add that if they could persuade themselves that free coinage would not cause a premium on gold they would cease to oppose it. 15. Must Soon be Settled. In the near future this prob- lem of silver coinage must be settled. The country is standing on tiptoe awaiting political action. Hard Times. Hard times are a condition which every one can appre- ciate, even if he is not able to give their causes. The aver- age ma.n scratches around for a living for himself and family, and if the hard times pinch him, he only scratches the harder, while he lets the financial doctors settle the causes and the cure among themselves. But when financial doctors do not agree, then the ordinary man may be quite at a loss in attempting to make a decision. The following opinions of leaders in their sphere, taken from the New York Voice, are certainly very interesting, and to say the least widely differing, coming, as they do, from those representing differ- ent political parties and different spheres of action. Study these causes carefully, and then decide for yourself why times are hard. These are replies to the question, i4 What are the Chief Causes of Hard Times?" Andrew Carnegie. 1. Natural reaction from excessiv- development of our material resources between 1^80 and 1890 2. Almost equally potent the agitation for lowering the standard of value. 3. Unwise proposals of revolutionary changes in the tariff. Any one of these suffices; any two of them combined will bring disaster upon the most prosperous country, or most favorable conditions, that ever existed. Washington Gladden. 1. Extravagance. 2. Extension of credit. 3. Running in debt. These three are one When the whole community, rich and poor, persistently runs into debt as deep as it can go, a day of reckoning must come. Tariffs and currency troubles complicate matters, but the bottom difficulty is a reckless habit of consuming the income before it is earned. 38 5S2 HARD TIMES. Ballington Booth. One cause, to my mind, which brings hard times to the United States, is the lack of confidence on the part of the general public in: 1. The disposition of public men to deal with financial problems. 2. Their capacity or ability so to do. The withdrawal of large sums of money from the banks in favor of safety deposit vaults, causing in many cases said bank's suspension and general panic, and consequent tying up of money banks. Men in general wait to see what their neighbor does ; and as he did nothing, they do the same, and as a consequence the golden stream ceased to flow through the arteries of trade and commerce. In general, we Salvationists, with many others, believe that times would be much easier if the tremendous sums of money expended regularly in liquor, the theater, race- course, card table, etc. , were turned into less selfish and more honorable channels. Not in charity particularly, but in reforming and gospelizing the masses, and in teaching them the methods of saving both soul and body, which, in our humble opinion, is the only kind of charity that is worth consideration. John Swinton Thinks the Masses are Shorten Brains. It seems to me that three of the chief causes of bad times are: 1. The blighting influence of the new millionairism. 2. The shortage of brain and pluck among the masses. 3. ' The extension of immorality in all branches of the government, and in political parties. Judge Albion Tourgee. 1. Overproduction. 2. Uncertainty in the private mind as to the stability and operation of the tariff. 3. Great financial caution, engendered by the reckless talk of change and agitation by public leaders. Senator Peffer. 1. Private monopoly of the great and essential means and agencies of subsistence and comfort; as of land, fuel, food, commerce, transportation, money, etc. 2. Displacement of labor by use of machinery. 3. Unequal competition resulting from combinations of men and means the strong crowding out the weak. Susan B. Anthony. The trouble with women is that, whether we have hard times or good times, they never get their just share of the much or the little of the good, and the work of my life has not been so much the causes of men's failure to successfully manage their business affairs, HARD TIMES. 683 as to try to show them their failure in attempting to make a successful government without the help of the women of the nation. There is money enough in this country to- day in the hands of the few, if justly distributed among the hard-working, honest, and sober men and women, to make "Good Times" for every one. Editor Schilling of "The Milwaukee Advance." The attempt of the money kings of the East to force total de- monetization of silver by curtailing and calling in of loans, and curtailing bank credits. In case of a panic, when ' 'con- fidence is lost," cash is required and credit is contracted at a fearful rate, probably one-half, and this contraction works on the same plan as bleeding a person that is suffering from the want of blood. Samuel Dickie. 1. Credit inflation reaches and passes the point of danger. 2. A defeated party filling the newspapers with prophe- cies of financial disaster. 3. The possibility of debasing our currency by free silver legislation, creating a tendency to forced liquida- tion. William M. Stewart, Editor of "The Silver Knight." 1. Contraction of the volume of money of ultimate payment, which produce falling prices, stagnation, and maybe hard times. John P. St. John. 1. The demonetization of silver and the dictation of our financial policy by Wall Street. 2. The perpetuation of the saloons, which are hot-beds of everything that is bad. 3. Legislation which enables a favored few to absorb the wealth of the country as fast as the people produce it. Perhaps the chief reason for the hard times, from 1893 to 1896, was the reaction from a period of overspeculation in country and town. We had a decade devoted to one vast confidence game. From Duluth to the Pacific coast, fictitious values were put upon everything in the way of real property. In other parts of the country there was a similar experi- ence. Farmers sold out their eastern homes to settle on the tough, wire-grass sod lhat had never known the plow. They built barns, and houses, and fences that have gone to ruin, and paid for labor from which there was no return. Such crops as they had were a mockery, and mortgage followed upon mortgage, as the seasons came and went. 584 GOOD TIMES. 585 Good Times. We all understand in a general way what is meant by "good times." But good times never come to all people; neither do bad times affect other large classes. Only a small part ride either on the crest of prosperity or in the trough of adversity. Good and bad times are but the ebb and flow of the commercial tide. At times there are the mighty ground-swells of prosperity, and again a corre- spending recession to adversity. But the grand old ocean always seeks its level. . Agriculture, manufacturing, commercial activity, and in fact any and all forms of producing and exchanging values, we may place under the general head of business. Busi- ness in this broader sense rests on four corner stones: 1, The intellectual activity, business capacity, ingenuity, and the life energy of the people; 2, The medium of ex- change, or money ; 3, Credit; 4, A desire and ability of the people to exchange values. The first, which varies greatly as between nations, is practically a constant factor so far as it relates to any one people. We may, therefore, for our present purpose, ignore the first. The three great factors, then, that make for "good times" are money, credit, and the ability of the people to exchange values. Conditions which lead money and credit to do their per- fect work, will, ordinarily, bring good times. If either, or both, be disturbed, the business world is shaken. Money; Its Value. Money has two functions, and it must perform both successfully, or disaster will follow. All whose mind runs back to the Civil War days will re- member how unstable was the greenback dollar, and how correspondingly unstable were war-time prices. Money should measure values correctly and uniformly, or injustice and disaster follow. While cheap money is growing more cheap we have "booming" times; but the fr.tal collapse will positively come when the medium of ex- change takes its upward flight. So long as the measure of values continues to rise, so long wrlfl business remain de- pressed. When the measure becomes stable, or fixed, then comes prosperity, provided other conditions are favorable. Money; Its Quantity. Money is the life-blood of busi- ness. Its quality should be as perfect and as stable as human ingenuity can make it; fts quantity should be suffi- cient to make all exchange of values in business easy, and with an equal and uniform circulation ; congestion in the great money centers is dangerous. GOOD TIMES. Credit. Confidence is the foundation of credit. Any condition which leads to a want of confidence is fatal to credit. The greater part of all business is built on credit. Were it not for credit, the wheels of commerce would stop. When credit begins to fail, business is checked, sales fall off, factories and machine shops close or run on short time ; less demand for products, lower prices; wages fall, and workmen are thrown out of employment. A, B, C, and D by chance meet. A remembers that he owes B one dollar. He hands him the dollar, which, in turn, B pays to C, whom he owes. C in turn pays A the dollar, which he owes him. Each man has met his obliga- tion. This shows the circle of trade in miniature. A's- failure to meet his obligation would have clogged the cir- cuit of payments. Conditions that permit a free and ready circulation of values are favorable to good times. A Desire and Ability to Exchange Values. A desire, with the ability, to exchange labor for products, products for labor, labor for labor, and products for products, is the motive power that drives the machinery of trade. Lessen the desire and ability to exchange values, and business is depressed. It is sometimes claimed that economy is the source of prosperity. The claim is, perhaps, correct when used in a restricted sense. But extreme economy leads to stagnation. The United States, with her 75,000,000 people, is a better market than all of China with her 400,000, 000, or India with her 300,000,000. These half-starved people are compelled to practice extreme economy. They cannot purchase, so the merchants and manufacturers cannot sell, and trade is limited. Conditions which depress the laborer to starva- tion wages, react on the employers of labor. Conditions which lead the people to waste their earnings on valueless things, deprive themselves of the ability to purchase things that are of value. India exports wheat, when in fact she raises but a small fraction of what her people need, were they properly fed. They must live on a cheaper food, and sell their wheat to better fed Europeans. The other extreme is to live beyond one's means, to run in debt, to waste. But "a nimble shilling is better than a slow pound." A citizen who spends in legitimate business ten dollars, is of more value, financially, to a community than one who spends but one dollar. An Analysis of Causes. Returning to the reasons given for hard times, as noted in the preceding pages, let us analyze them. "Agitation for changing the standard of value," "Changes in the tariff," "Lack of confidence," GOOD TIMES. 687 "Disposition and ability of public men to deal with finan- cial problems," "Uncertainty as to the stability and operation of the tariff, " "Reckless talk of change and agita- tion by public leaders," "Filling the newspapers with prophecies of financial distress," "Loss of confidence among the American people in the soundness of their currency." It will be noted that all the reasons above given point directly to fear, to a want of confidence, in the minds of the people. These are the forebodings of a coming panic. Here are other reasons given for hard times : ' ' Extrava- gance," "Extension of credit," "Running in debt," "Credit inflation passes the point of danger," "Natural reaction from excessive development of natural resources." These would naturally lead to the impairment of credit. Again we quote: "Demonetization of silver by curtail- ing and calling in loans and curtailing bank credits," "The possibility of debasing our currency," "Contraction of vol ume of money of ultimate payment," "Loss of confidence in the soundness of the currency," "Demonetization of silver and the dictating of our financial policy by Wall Street." It will be noted that these refer hard times to the ques tion of money. Judge Tourgee suggests "overproduction" as one of the causes of hard times. Ballington Booth and John P. St, John name "the perpetuation of the saloon" as one of the causes of hard times. Is it overproduction, as suggested by Judge Tourgee, or underconsumption, as implied by Booth and St. John? Overproduction is possible only when the ability to purchase falls below the value of things pro- duced. If all feet were properly protected with shoes, if all bodies were warmly covered with proper clothing, if all hunger were properly appeased, if all people were warmly housed, would overproduction be possible? If the dread- ful waste through the saloon could be stopped, and the wasted money and time be turned into productive chan- nels, could there be an oversupply? CHAPTER X. INTERNATIONAL AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS. The " Monroe Doctrine." 1. Explanation. The Monroe doctrine relates to the interference of foreign, or European countries, with the affairs of the American continent. It was announced by President Monroe, in his annual message to Congress of December 2, 1823. It is expressed in two paragraphs of that message, which were distinct from each other, and were separated by other matter. The two paragraphs referred to different events. 2. The Occasion for the Expression of the First Para- graph. One of these paragraphs asserted that the Ameri- can continents, " by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers." The occasion for the expression of this view was that Russia had made a claim to a large part of the coast line upon the western shore of the North American continent. This passage was written by John Quincy Adams, the Secretary of State,, and was inserted by Mr. Monroe in the message. 3. The Occasion of the Other Paragraph. The occa- sion of the other paragraph qf the message was as follows: The Holy Alliance the name given to the alliance formed by the emperors of Russia and Austria and the King of Prussia was a very powerful combination, profess- edly in the interest of the Christian religion, but really in the interest of absolute power. 4. Danger to Our Peace and Safety. In the midst of a passage of some length, Mr. Monroe said that we owed it to the friendly relations existing between the United States and the European powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety, and that we could not view any attempt, by any European power, to oppress the Spanish-American countries, which had become independent, " in any other light than as a manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." 588 INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION. 589 5. The Policy of Congress. The Monroe doctrine, thus announced, became the settled policy of Congress and of the successive administrations, and has ben repeatedly ap- proved by national conventions of the great parties. It has been extended, with more or less logical consistency, in more than one direction. 6. Wrong Views. Some people understand that the United States has taken a position which implies a general oversight of the affairs of all American republics. More- over, according to one view, the Monroe doctrine gives us rights and obligations not only toward the adjacent islands of the West Indies, but toward Hawaii; but these are errors. 7. Enforcing It. The doctrine in its original form no longer requires a threat on our part to enforce it, for the United States has become so great that no foreign power would think of violating either of its principles we have quoted. International Arbitration. 1. Discussed. International arbitration has been dis- cussed for many years. Nothing practical has, however, resulted from these discussions. The Venezuela dispute, the message of the President of the United 'States, and the action of Congress has brought this question prominently before the American people as never before. 2. Our National Record. Our nation has always advo- cated the rights of neutrals, arbitration, and the peace- ful settlement of international disputes. It has contributed more than any other nation to the promotion of peace and the avoidance of great armaments. The United States and Canada have set an example to the world by dispensing with a standing army and sustaining nothing but a small marine police force on the great lakes. It is our glory to be safe without fortresses, fleets, or armies. 3. Arbitration Conference. While the risk of war with Great Britain was still in the minds of the people, an Arbi- tration Conference was called at Washington in April, 1896. It was 'generally conceded that the moment was opportune to set forth in the daily and periodical press that the true American doctrine on international relations is not force of arms but force of righteousness; that the mission of this nation is to teach the blessings of liberty and self govern- ment by taking millions from various lands into our own land and here give them experience of the advantages of freedom. 38 590 THE VENEZUELA DISPUTE. The Venezuela Dispute, 1. Essequibo River. 2. Purnaron River. 3. Moroco River. 4. Barima River. 5. Amakura River. 6. Schomburgk Line. 7. Boundary claimed by Great Britain. 8. Yuruari River. 9. Gold Mines. 10. Cnyuni River. 11. Orinoco River. 12. Mouth of Essiquibo. A. British Guiana. B. Venezuela. C. Atlantic Ocean. 1. Governments of South America. America is the home of republics. The last monarchy ceased to exist when Brazil became a republic in 1889. There are nine republics in North America and ten in South America. Some of these are weak and are frequently disturbed by revolutions. Besides these ten republics in South America there are three European colonies lying between the Amazon and the Orinoco rivers known as the Guianas, French Guiana on the east, Dutch in the center, and British on the west. 2. The Disputed Line. In 1810 a considerable por- tion of the territory between the Orinoco and the Amazon rivers became a part of Venezuela as successor of Spain. Four years later Holland ceded another part of this terri- tory to Great Britain. The boundary line between British Guiana and Venezuela was never established by treaty. The dispute is as to this boundary line. Venezuela claimed that the ancient boundary line between Holland and Spain, which she holds was the Essequibo river (1), and south to Brazil, should be the boundary between her and British Guiana. Her consistency lies in this that she has never varied from holding to this one line as the boundary; while on the other hand the British first claimed the Pumaron (2) as the ancient boundary, but afterward extended her claim THE VENEZUELA DISPUTE. 591 first to Moroco (3), then to Barima (4), then to Amakura (5),- then to the Orinoco delta, until now she claims as the boundary a line drawn along the summit of the hills separat- ing the watersheds of the Orinoco and the Essequibo, thus carrying the British limits up to the sources of the Cuyuni (10) and Yurari (8) rivers. 3. The Territory in Dispute. This includes the Yuruari valley in which gold mines (9) of great richness have recently been discovered. The possession of these gold mines would greatly aid the British in controlling the commerce of the Orinoco, and correspondingly affect the commercial and political relations of Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil. 4. Occupancy. Great Britain made no attempt to occupy any portion of her claimed territory west of the Pumaron (2) until 1840, when she sent a commissioner, who, without the consent of Venezuela ran a boundary line, taking from Venezuela an area equal to the state of New York. 5. The Schomburgk Line. This line is known as the Schomburgk Line (6). The British now refer to this line as marking the limits between what is without question British territory and what may be considered territory in dispute. In later years Lord Aberdeen disclaimed the Schomburgk Line and ordered the colonial authorities to obliterate the line and to destroy the posts and marks that defined it. Since the running of this line in 1840 several British admin- istrations have admitted that it has no validity whatever. 6. Agreement Entered Upon. In 1850 each of the parties obligated itself to the other not to occupy any of the then unoccupied territory in dispute until some definite settlement of the question of boundary could be reached. As usual in such cases each party soon accused the other of bad faith. Venezuela insisted that the compact was violated by British encroachments and England insisted that Venezuela had violated it by making certain mining concessions to a syndicate of capitalists. 7. Arbitration Urged and Refused. Venezuela all these years insisted upon a reference of the whole question of boundary to friendly arbitration. Great Britain as persist- ently refused to submit her claim to arbitration. In the meantime the British encroached more and more not only upon the disputed territory but constantly pushed westward the line of demarkation as England would have it. 8. Conditional Arbitrations Proposed and Refused. At several different times England did propose a plan of settlement of the line, but always accompanied it with con- ditions which Venezuela could not possibly accept. On* 592 THE VENEZUELA DISPUTE. condition was that Venezuela was to pledge never to alien- ate any part of her territory to a third power, another was that the Orinoco river (11) was to be open and free to the navigation of British vessels. Venezuela in rejecting these unjust proposals always suggested arbitration but Great Britain would never assent to this. 9. Further Encroachments. Subsequently the British authorities took forcible possession of the whole of the ter- ritory within the Schomburgk Line (6), which had been so explicitly disclaimed and ordered to be removed by Lord Aberdeen. They even went beyond this and included about seventy square miles of additional territory, so as to have a claim upon the recently discovered gold mines (9), the rich- est on the continent. 10. Venezuela's Demand and the British Refusal. This aroused Venezuela and greatly alarmed her. She at once demanded that the agreement of 1850 be complied with until the question was settled by impartial arbitration. The demand was not complied with and the proposal for arbitration was treated with haughty indifference. Ven- ezuela, being too weak to compel England, at once broke off diplomatic relations with her. Since then, realizing her inability by force of arms to hold her still undisputed terri- tory, much less to regain that already occupied by the Brit- ish, Venezuela has persistently endeavored in every possi- ble way to have the whole dispute referred to friendly and impartial arbitration. 11. New Conditions by the British. Great Britain, on the other hand, insists that arbitration shall apply only to territory outside of the Schomburgk line. In other words, she will not consent to arbitration concerning lands west of this line if Venezuela does not relinquish all claim to territory east of this line. 12. A Clear Case. From present knowledge the evi- dence points overwhelmingly toward aggressions on the part of England upon territory which in the past she herself distinctly recognized as Venezuelan. It would seem that a clearer case of absolutely unwarranted and inexcusable appropriation of the territory of a weaker power than these encroachments of the British upon the mainland of South America can probably not be found anywhere. ; j. The Monroe Doctrine. But what has the United Sta; e : to do with this matter? Early in the present century South America was threatened with invasion by certain European powers. James Monroe, President of the United States, at the suggestion of the British, incorporated in his message to Congress a passage which proclaims against THE VENEZUELA DISPUTE, 593 any interference of European powers with the independent governments of America. This doctrine has been held by our government ever since. 14. England's Aspirations. Since this doctrine affects the English they discard the Monroe doctrine. England very well knows the richness of the gold field of South America, yielding millions annually. A party of English engineers, has recently, "without consent or Brazil, engaged upon a reconnoissance for a railroad line south from British Guiana to the heart of the rubber territory of Brazil. The commerce of this entire region is already more than forty millions annually. English capital is controlling much of it. Where once England has placed her foot she regards the soil ever after as pertaining to her crown. The con- clusion seems strong that if the acquisition of territory by extensions of boundaries should not be checked we would ultimately see her in possession of the heart of the Amazon and Orinoco basins. 15. Our Duty. While the United States is not directly interested in this dispute, she has viewed its progress with anxiety, and has frequently tried to effect a settlement by arbitration. In 1823 England induced Monroe to protest against European aggress : on3 in America. The seventy- three years that have claps ,d have changed the situation only in this, the encroachments ~re by England and not by Spain. While all just and honorable means should bemused to settle the question, yel there is too much at stake to per- mit the forcible extension of European colonies on the con- tinent. To many it teems time to call a halt to the process of dismemberment of an American republic. Our com- merce, our interests in o'her American nations, our very existence is threatened if European countries are to be per- mitted to annex at will the territory ^ of American nations. The tenability of the Monroe doctrine must sooner or later be settled. Our honor, our plighted faith, our safety demands that we uphold the doctrine. England respects nothing but force. The lesson of Yorktown, how- ever, has taught her that we are not to be trifled with. She is too prudent to engage in war with the United States, unless there is more at stake than a strip of South American territory. 16. Official Correspondence. Under date of July 20, 1895, Secretary Olney addressed a communication to Mr. Bayard, the American ambassador in England, which was transmitted to Lord Salisbury August 7, fully setting forth the attitude of the United States. Arbitration was sug- gested as the only reasonable method of settling the dis- pute, and a definite answer was asked for whether the 594 THE VENEZUELA DISPUTE. British would or would not submit to impartial arbitration of the whole case. November 26, 1895, Lord Salisbury replied, lef using to consent to arbitration, except as already proposed by Great Britain. 17. President Cleveland's Message. Thereupon President Cleveland submitted the correspondence and a message to congress, vigorously defending Mr. Olney's position, and asked for authority to appoint a commission to determine the merits of the boundary dispute so that our government may be able to decide as to its course of conduct in the case. He also urged that the United States " resent by every means in its power " to prevent Great Britain from appropriating lands belonging to an American republic. 18. Congress Acts. The message met with enthusias- tic approval, and Congress at once authorized the Presi- dent to appoint such commission, and appropriated $100,000 for the expenses. 19. Objections. It soon became evident that many statesmen, financiers, educators and clergymen did not assent to President Cleveland's, course fearing that the spirit of *" jingoism " might be fostered thereby. 20. Desire for Peaceful Settlement.- While there was a general feeling of resistance to any warlike spirit, or any- thing that savored of "jingoism," yet the gravity of the interests involved and the far-reaching results could hardly have been over-estimated had England persisted in her course of action. The Boundary Commission was necessarily obliged to make exhaustive and laborious research, from the "blue books" of England, the historical records of Holland and even the archives of Rome were brought to light, in the history of the early mission settlements, in order to trace * Jingoism is of British origin and comes from a London music ball song which had the. refrain : " We don't want to fight, But, by jingo, if we do, We've got the ships, we've got the men, We've got the money, too." Jingoism indicates a desire to maintain the honor and glory of one's country at any cost, by fair or by foul means. It is to the nation what selfishness is to the individual, that sentiment which make's one desire to get wealth or honor without regard to others, even by trampling upon their rights. Jingoism in politics thinks more about the glory than the duties of the nation. It never stops to ask the justice of a cause but the interest of one's country. It talks more and makes more noise but does not love the country more than patriotism. The spirit of -ungoism is unpopular in our country. Only when a would-be states- man hates England more than he loves America are utterances given to it. We are more in danger of being slow to do our full duty to our citizens and to show sympathy to those who suffer from oppres- sion than of being quick to provoke war for uo higher purpose than Dfttional glory. THE VENEZUELA DISPUTE. 595 the matter fully, and learn the rights of the disputing parties. Before they had reached a point where a decision could have been m.ide Lord Salisbury had announced that the matter was about to be brought to a happy conclusion. The voice of America, through her highest executive's timely wisdom and fearless courage, had brought England to see the matter in a quite different light. 21. The Treaty Signed A treaty directing the appoint- ment of a tribunal composed of two members of the Supreme Court of the United States and two from the British Supreme Court with a fifth juror selected by them was then concluded. Should they fail to agree upon this fifth mem- ber within three months of their nomination the King of Sweden and Norway should select him. The formalities required in such a matter being duly arranged, the tribunal selected, and the fact also that Venezuela had sent a minister to Great Britain, once more resuming the disturbed diplomatic relations, all combined to end the active interest of the United States in the matter. The results of the Venezuela dispute as reached by the tribunal of award, and approved by England and Vene- zuela, were not fully satisfactory to either party. Neither fot what was demanded. Venezuela has reason to be satis- ed in one important particular. She has full control of the mouth of the Orinoco River. The boundary line as made by the arbitration tribunal, is indicated on page 588 596 CUBA AND ITS INDEPENDENCE. Cuba and Its Independence. 1. Discovery and Ownership. Cuba', the finest and largest of the West Indies, was discovered by Columbus October 28, 1492. Since .then it has been held by Spain. All early writers describe the natives as amiable, innocent, hospitable, and graceful. Velasquez, the first ruler, already began trampling upon the natural rights of the natives and butchering those who resented his brutal dominion. 2. Extent. Cuba is a long, narrow island, about seven hundred miles in extent from east to west, and has a breadth from north to south of twenty-one to one hundred and twenty miles. It has excellent harbors, which are well fortified. 3. Resources. Nowhere within the limits of western civilization is there a more favorable spot for the swift, almost boundless development of vast popular wealth. Rich beyond description, Cuba, with only a tenth of its area occupied, and its resources as yet only touched, would, under a liberal government, be the pride of the Western Continent. 4. Population. The population is about 1,600,000. 5. Spanish Misrule and Cruelty. It is said the Indian chief Hatuei, who was subjected to the tortures and cruel- ties of the Spaniards, said, "If there are Spaniards in heaven, I prefer to go to hell." Slaughter and deportation for the slave markets of Spain soon reduced the Indian population. African slaves were imported until forty years ago. Oppression born of greed, and practiced upon the Indians and Africans, became so ingrained in the class that governed Cuba 'that, after the last Indian sleeps in his grave and Spain has been forced to abolish her African slavery, she must needs hold over her own flesh and blood in Cuba, the same rod of oppression. So exasperating was that rod, so cruel its strokes, that Cuba was repeatedly thrown into bloody insurrections. 6. Government. Spanish rulers said, "Cubans cannot govern themselves." Spain did nothing for Cuba ; out of the vast amount of taxation, she spent practically nothing on Cuba for education or internal improvement. The fact is, there was only one party in Spain as regards Cuba the party that wanted to suck the orange and get all the juice out of it. ;. Official Greed. The Spaniards who came to Cuba to engage in business only, remained there long enough to CUBA AND ITS INDEPENDENCE. 597 accumulate a fortune, when they returned to Spain. Span- ish officials sent from the mother country only remained long enough to fill their pockets with ill-gotten gains, when they also returned to give place to a fresh horde of hungry cormorants, who went there to plunder the people, which they were permitted to do without restraint. There is no record of any Spanish official being punished for miscon- duct toward the Cubans. 8. Attempted Revolutions. Prior to the last insurrec- tion four others had occurred in the last century ; these were in 1829, in 1848-51, in 1855, and the bitter ten-year war 1868-78. Early in the nineteenth century Spanish tyranny and exactions led to revolts of Chili, Peru, Mexico, and other continental provinces. Cuba alone remained loyal; but Spain by her course of disinheriting Cuba and withholding her birthright, by the determined action of the Cortez to wring revenue out of Cuba and to guard against her achieving independence, has turned Cuban loyalty for Spain into hatred. The Cuban of to-day would rather die the death of battle than live under Spanish rule. Banished from the continent for her intolerant oppression, Spain, goaded by her tyrannical greed, was loath to relinquish her last hold' on the Western hemisphere. By just measures Spain might have placed Cuba in opulence and prosperity, at the same time causing the ever-increasing resources of the island to contribute largely to the revenues of the mother country. But the vanity of Spain by which her national pride has been reduced to pitiable insignificance made this impossible. 9. Outrages on American Citizens. The case of Dr. Ricardo Ruiz, an American c.tizen, aroused great indigna- tion. He was arrested merely on suspicion of sympathy with the insurgents and confined in prison two years, when he died. The death was reported to be by foul means, which the Spanish officials tried to prove was false. Also much interest was felt throughout the United States in Julio Sanguilly's imprisonment, which was discussed with much warmth in the Senate. After leaving him for two years in a dungeon in the hands of cruel Spain, he was finally re- leased upon the urgent demands of the United States. Many other cases might be noticed, and our Consul- General Lee even threatened to resign if our government did not better uphold him in his position as well as the safety of our citizens and national honor, in which action he was generously supported by the entire American popu- lation, 598 CUBA AND ITS INDEPENDENCE. 10. General Ruis Rivera. This veteran, who suc- ceeded General Antonio Maceo in command of the Cuban forces in ihe province of Rmardel Rio, was born in Puerto Rico in 1847. General Rivera is the son of a wealthy Spanish family; his father was a Spanish colonel. Young Rivera was sent to Spain to be educated as a lawyer. When the revolution of 1868 broke out, he was studying law in Barcelona. He gave up his college career and sailed for Cuba. Rivera fought valiantly; he displayed at the head of his troops remarkable ability. When ttn years were ended, in 1878, he stood out with Maceo in his refusal to accept the teriiis oi the treaty. He left the island without surrender- ing, and before going he handed his machete (ma-tcha'-ta) to Col. Figuerdo, his faithful friend, with this injunction. "This is my true weapon. If I ever return to Cuba to fight for her freedom, you shall return it to me. If you ever fight with it, and are forced to surrender or leave the fields of Cuba, break it in twain and bury it. Let it never fall into the hands of the enemy." Rivera saw the war renewed sixteen years afterward ; 'as soon as he was called to his post, he left Honduras, where he was prosperous in business. He took an expedition to Maceo; which materially strengthened the patriots in the vest. His long experience and his splendid qualifications made him conspicuous. He was a man of personal mag- netism, and a natural successor to his life long companion, General Antonio Maceo. TWENTY-EIGHTH ADMINISTRATION. 699 WILLIAM McKINLEY, Born at Niles, Trumbuil Co., Ohio, January 29, 1843. President March 4, 1897-1901; shot by Czolgosz September 6- died September 14, 1901. 600 M'KINLEY'S ADMINISTRATION. Twenty=eighth and Twenty=ninth Administrations. Good Will and Confidence. Never since the days of Madison and Monroe has a President of the United States entered upon the duties of his office in such an atmosphere of good will and confidence as that which surrounded Mr. McKinley. Everybody wishes him well; even those who were arrayed against him in the recent campaign have come through the battle with no touch of bitterness against the man himself. Supported by the entire press of the United States, his election was called the "triumph of true Americanism," and heralded at home and abroad as a con- vincing proof lhat the American people can be trusted to govern themselves. Extra Session, LV. Congress. In accordance with a call issued March 6th, by President McKinley, the LV. Congress met in extra session on March 15th, 1897. Hon. T. B. Reed of Maine was again chosen speaker of the House, Representative Bailey of Texas receiving the complimentary vote of Democratic members, and Repre- sentative Bell of Colorado that of the Populists. , Mr. Reed appointed only three committees, those on mileage, rules, and ways and means. The Dingley Bill. On the opening day of the extraor- dinary session, March 15th, Mr. Dingley, chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, reported to the House the new tarilf bill, which had been in course of preparation for some months, and on the nineteenth he submitted the views of the majority of the committee On March 22d, Mr. Bailey of Texas, Democratic leader in the House, pre- sented the minority report. The bill itself is * voluminous document of 169 printed 'pages, and is popularly called the Dingley bill. The debate on the tariff bill began in the House of Rep- resentatives, on March 22d, and lasted until the 81st, the final vote being taken at 3 p. m. The bill was at once sent to the Senate, where it was referred to the Committee on Finance, which reported it back April 4th. The Senate debate began thus and continued to July 7th, when the bill was returned in such a mutilated state that its own father could hardly recognize his child. However, the bill went to conference, whence it was reported to and rushed through the House, July 19th. The Senate then took it up again and debated till the 23d, when at 3 p. m. they voted to accept the conference report. President McKinley signed it the same day. SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. Spanish=American War. 601 The Final Revolution, resulting in the freedom of Cuba, commenced in October, 1895. The Cubans were successful in resisting the Spanish army sent against them, but were unable to drive it from the island. The struggle continued for nearly three years, and partook largely of the nature of guerilla warfare. M. GOMEZ. The government of the United States was neutral, and for that reason attempted, at great expense, to keep expe- ditions in aid of the Cubans from leaving American ports. These efforts were in part unsuccessful. The long war so near our coast caused much irritation both in Spain and the United States. The great sufferings among the reconcen- trados of Cuba greatly aroused the sympathies of the American people. Provisions and Medicines were sent the suffering Cubans in large quantities. Miss Clara Barton, the veteran 602 ' SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. president of the Red Cross society, was the head of the re- lief committee stationed in Cuba. This society also did much to relieve the distress of both armies in the war which soon followed. Reconcentrados. Govenor-General Weyler ordered all Cuban non-combatants, such as women and children, old men, and peasants, into the towns where the Spanish army had control. These people so collected were known as reconcen trades. Dreadful suffering was the result. Starvation and dis- ease swept away many thousands of these innocent people. President McKinley protested to the Spanish govern- ment against this order of General. Weyler. Finally, in April, 1897, the queen regent of Spain signed a decree granting reforms in Cuba. General Weyler was recalled, and General Blanco was appointed Captain- General of Cuba. Blanco expressed a willingness to have relief sent the suffering reconcentrados, provided none of it should go to the Cubans in arms. As a result, thou- sands of dollars were sent to Cuba by the people of the United States to relieve the starving people. Miss Clara Barton, in person, went to Cuba to aid in the distribution of supplies of food and medicine. The Destruction of the Battleship Maine. Finally, on the evening of February 15, 1898, while lying peacefully at anchor in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, the United States battleship Maine was sunk by an explosion, and two hun- dred and sixty of her seamen killed. After a careful investigation, the naval board appointed by the President, found that the explosion was external and caused by a sub-marine mine ; and not by an internal force, which was thought might have been the result of an acci- dent in the magazine of the ship. Our government assumed that this awful crime was not the act of the Spanish authorities. But the conditions, so near our shores, which made such a deed possible, were intolerable. The President's Message to Congress. April 11, 1898, President McKinley sent a message to Congress in which he said: "The grounds of intervention may be briefly summarized as follows: "First, In the cause of humanity, and to put an end to the barbarities, bloodshed, starvation, and horrible mis- eries now existing there, and which the parties to the con- flict are either unable or unwilling to stop or to mitigate. It is no answer to say this is all in another country belong- ing to another nation, and is, therefore, none of our SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 603 business. It is especially our duty, for it is right at our door. "Second, We owe it to our citizens in Cuba to afford them that protection and indemnity for life and property which no government there can or will afford, and to that end to terminate the conditions that deprive them of legal protection. GEN. WEYLER. "Third, The right to intervene may be justified by the very serious injury to the commerce, trade, and business of our people, and by the wanton destruction of property and devastation of the island. "Fourth (and which is of utmost importance), The pres- ent condition of affairs in Cuba is a constant menace to our peace, and entails upon this government at an enormous ex- pense. With such a conflict waged for years in an island so near us, and with which our people have such trade and business relations; where the lives and liberties of our citi- zens are in constant danger and their property destroyed and themselves ruined; where our trading vessels are liable to seizure, and are seized at our very door by war- ships of a foreign nation, the expeditions of filibustering that we are powerless altogether to prevent, and the irri- 604 SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. tating questions and entanglements thus arising all these and others that I need not mention, with the resulting strained relations, are a constant menace to our peace, and compel us to keep on a semi-war footing with a war nation with which we are at peace. ' ' On April 19th the following joint resolutions were passed by Congress: "Whereas, The abhorrent conditions which have pre- vailed more than three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Chris- tian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruc- tion of a United States battleship, with two hundred and sixty of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit to the harbor of Havana, and can not longer be endured, as has been set forth by the President of the United States in his message to Congress of April.ll, 1898, upon which the action of Congress was invited ; therefore, be it resolved, "First, That the people of the island of Ou-ba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. "Second, That it is the duty of the United States to de- mand, and the government of the United States does hereby demand, that the government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. "Third, That the President of the United States be, and hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire lan^ and naval forces of the United States, and to call into the actual service of the United States the militia of the several states to such an extent as may be necessary to carry these resolutions into effect. "Fourth, That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdic- tion, or control over said island, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination when that is accom- plished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people." War was declared April 25, 1898. Congress voted $400,- 000,000 with which to carry on the war. The President called for 200,000 volunteers; the National Guard of the different states responded quickly to this call. Manila, Philippine Islands. Commodore (now Admiral) Dewey, in command of the American navy at Hongkong, China, was ordered by the President to find and destroy the Spanish fleet. Accordingly Dewey, with six modern fighting vessels, entered Manila Bay on Saturday night, SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 605 April 30th. Gliding past forts and over mines, he gained the inner harbor at daybreak, May 1st, when he engaged the Spanish fleet. In a few hours every Spanish vessel was sunk. Not an American was killed, and only eight were injured. From May 1st to August 13th the city of Manila was besieged on the land side by the natives of the Philippines, who, like the Cubans, had been fighting for their liberty. Troops, with Gen. Wesley Merritt in command, were hurried across the Pacific to aid the American fleet. August 13th the city of Manila was captured by the Americans after a sharp engagement. Around Cuba. On April 29th a strong Spanish squad- ron under Admiral Cervera left the Cape Verde Islands, and shortly after made its appearance in the West Indies. For a few days the cities along the Atlantic coast felt great anxiety for their safety, and for some time the exact where- abouts of the squadron was a great mystery. Finally, Cervera ran his ships into the harbor of Santiago for the purpose of obtaining coal. Here he was quickly shut in by the American navy under Admiral Sampson and Commo- dore Schley. In order to keep the Spanish fleet in the har- bor, Lieutenant Hobson with six assistants, on the morning of June 3d, ran the coaling ship, Merrimac, into the nar- rowest part of the channel and sunk her there. In order to accomplish this he must face the direct fire of the Spanish fortifications and fleet. This exploit has few rivals in history. Hobson and his companions won the applause of the world, but the harbor was not closed, as we shall see. Every effort was now put forth by the American govern- ment to capture the city of Santiago, and with it the Span- ish fleet. During the last half of June, the American army under General Shafter landed near Santiago. On July 1st and 2d, heavy fighting gave the American army a position from which it could command the city. The battles by which this position was won are known as La Guasima, El Caney, ' and San Juan. On the 3d of July, Admiral Cervera at- tempted to escape from Santiago harbor. About 9:30 o'clock Sunday morning, the Spanish fleet was seen coming out of the harbor, in its effort to escape, In a few minutes the American fleet was in action. By 1:15 p. m., the whole Spanish fleet was destroyed. In that short time 600 Spaniards perished, and 1,200 were taken prisoners. 606 ANNEXATION OF HAWAII. The Americans lost not a single vessel, and but one man killed and two wounded. On the 17th of July, Santiago, with 22,000 soldiers, sur- rendered to General Shafter. The Americans were not as fortunate on lanfl as on sea. In the fighting around Santiago we lost in killed, wounded, and prisoners over 1,600 men. In addition to this many of our soldiers died from yellow fever and other diseases. On the fall of Santiago, an expedition, under General Nelson A. Miles, was sent against Puerto Rico. The Americans were rapidly gaining possession of this island when the war was brought to a close by the signing of the protocol. A treaty of peace was signed in Paris, December 10, 1898. By this treaty Spain surrendered all claim of sover- eignty over, and title to, Cuba. She ceded the following to the United States: Puerto Rico and other islands of the West Indies belonging to Spain, the island of Guam in the Ladrones, and the archi- pelajgo known as the Philippine Islands. The United States paid $20,000,000 to Spain. By this treaty Spain lost ner last colonial possessions brought to her through the discoveries of Columbus. In the year 1800 Spain was, so far as territory would make her so, the greatest empire of the world. The close of the nineteenth century finds her with practically no colonial possessions. In 1800 the Mississippi River was the western boundary of the United States, ttie Atlantic Ocean the eastern boun- dary. The close of the century finds her western boundary including Alaska, Hawaii, and the Philippine Islands. Her eastern boundary includes the island of Puerto Rico. This is from 65 west longitude to 118 east longitude, or a total of 183, a little more than one-half the circumfer- ence of the earth. So we can say with Great Britain, "The sun never sets on our dominions." Annexation of Hawaii, 1898. It was, perhaps, the ultimate destiny of Hawaii to come tfader the government of the United States. But the Spanish- American war greatly accelerated this movement. Congress passed a joint resolution accepting the cession POLITICAL CONTEST OF 1000. 60? of Hawaii to the United States. This resolution was ap- proved by the President July 7, 1898, thus making this date an important one to the people of these islands. In 1897, a treaty by which Hawaii was to become a part of the Union had been made between the two republics, but had not yet been ratified by the United States Senate. As it takes a two-thirds vote of the Senate to ratify a treaty, there was some doubt as to the success of the treaty; hence the use of the joint-resolution method. In this Congress followed the precedent established in the ad- mission of Texas in 1845. Tariff and Revenue Laws. During McKinley 's first term Congress again revised the tariff laws. It will be remembered that the tariff law passed during Harrison's term of office was displaced by the Wilson law. under Cleveland's administration. The Wilson law re- duced the tariff, and the revenue under it was not sufficient to meet the demands of the government. President McKinley promptly convened the new Con- gress, which soon passed what is known as the "Dingley Bill," a new tariff law. But the Spanish- American war soon made it necessary to find other methods of raising revenue. A stamp tax was placed on all legal papers, such as notes, deeds, drafts, mortgages, checks, orders, and the like. The tax on tobacco, alcoholic and malt liquors was also increased to meet this new demand. Political Contest of 1900. President McKinley was again the candidate for the Republican party, and William J. Bryan of the Democratic. John G. Woolley, the great temperance advocate, was the candidate for the Prohibition party, and Eugene V. Debs for the Socialistic-Democratic. Mr. Debs was, in 1894, president of the American Railway Union, and the leader 608 THE DESTRUCTION OP GALVESTON. of the great railroad strike of that year. There were other candidates in the field, but all the minor parties cast but few votes as compared with the total vote of all parties. The principal issue between the two great parties grew out of the results of the Spanish- American war. The Filipinos, though defeated in open battle, still continued the struggle in the form of guerilla warfare. President McKinley favored the holding and governing of the Philip- pine Islands as a part of the United States. Mr. Bryan taught that the people of these islands should be free to govern themselves under the protection of the United States. The question of the free coinage of silver again entered into the contest, but only as a minor question. The evils of intemperance, the fear of great trusts, the size of our standing army, all came into the political dis- cussion. The tariff slept during this campaign. William McKinley was again elected President of the United States by a still more decisive majority than in 1896. The Destruction of Qalveston. In September, 1900, a terrific cyclone, originating in the Caribbean Sea, swept across the Gulf of Mexico. As it struck the coast of Texas, it utterly destroyed the city of Galveston, by flooding with gulf waters the low island on which the city is, situated. This storm of wind and rain passed northward through Texas, then curving eastward, it passed over Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, and the Great Lake region. By the time it had left Texas, it had lost much of its destruc- tive effects. Many lives were lost in Galveston and in other parts of Texas. The heart of the nation responded to the cry of the needy. PRESIDENT KRUGER. 610 THE BOER-BRITISH WAR. The Boer-British War. Early History of the Boers. The Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic are composed of Dutch far- mers whose forefathers had settled in Cape Colony, and had afterward gone northward because they would not remain under the rule of the British who had taken posses- sion of Cape Colony. Freeing the Slaves. In 1836 many of the Boers left Cape Colony and trekked to the northward to make homes for themselves in the wild country north of the Orange River. In order to do this they had to fight for their very existence, for they were*among savages. " v This migration was caused by the Boers' hatred of Brit- ish manners, customs, speech, and laws. The principal grievance of the Boers was that Great Britain had abol- ished slavery in all her colonies. This she had done at the great expense of $100,000,000 paid her slave holders for the loss of their slaves- Cape Colony slave holders were supposed to receive $6,000,000 of this amount. The Boers were dissatisfied with the amount they received, which, we have good reason to believe, did not reach the pocket-books of those who should have received it. But the greatest grievance was that the Boers were un- willing to give up their slaves. So, for the privilege of having the liberty to enslave the black African, they went north and established the Orange Free State. This lies between the Orange River at the south and the Vaal River to the north. But the Englishmen soon began to crowd in upon the Dutch settlers above the Orange River. Again the more obstinate of the Boers trekked to the north of the Vaal River. Here a new Dutch state was formed, known as the Transvaal Republic. Majuba Hill. But the ever expanding British empire continued to encroach upon the Dutch farmers of the Transvaal. Finally, at the battle of Majuba Hill, in 1881, the British were badly defeated by the Boers. As a re- sult, the British government acknowledged the Transvaal as an independent republic. Diamond Fields and Gold Mines. Perhaps no disturb- ances would have been likely to arise, but for the discovery of rich diamond fields and gold mines in the Transvaal region. These brought in a large new population of out- siders, or "Uitlanders," as the Boers call them. These THE BOER-BRITISH WAR. 611 came from many countries, but most of them are of Eng- lish speech. They now outnumber the Boers. They paid taxes, but were not represented in the government. This fact finally resulted in the Boer-British war of 1899-1900. Dr. Jameson Raid. In January, 1896, Dr. Jameson, at the head of 800 men, made a raid upon the Boers, evi- dently with the intention of overthrowing their govern- ment. He was completely routed and taken prisoner. President Kruger delivered him over to the British govern- ment. The evidence against Dr. Jameson was overwhelm- ing. The British court found him guilty of violating the neutrality laws, and sentenced him to imprisonment. Causes of the Recent Troubles. To an unprejudiced outsider it looks as if both the Boers and the British were somewhat at fault. The Boers were extremely conserva- tive ; they were not willing to yield to outside influences. They are a tough, knotty sort of people, and it was very difficult for them to give way to modern ideas. They had won their political and geographical position by hard knocks. They appealed to the world in the name of justice, but they were not ready to be just in their own internal affairs. On the other hand, the Anglo-Saxon is ever pushing his way into all parts of the world, especially where diamond fields and gold mines are to be found. They are not overly thoughtful about the rights and welfare of others. The Englishman sees a great future in Africa. North America and Asia have been crossed by the railroad ; why not connect Cape Colony with Egypt by bands of steel? It will be done in due time. The Fighting and Sieges. We cannot here enter into a full history of the Boer-British war. It is sufficient to state that the Boers showed themselves to be magnificent fighters. The two little aristocratic republics of Africa held out for two years against one of the great empires of the world. The Boers commenced the fight by attacking the British at Glencoe, in Natal. This was on British soil. The Eng- lish soldiers were quickly shut in Ladysmith and besieged by the Boers. For one hundred fifty days the British held out against the Boers. In turn General Buller, the British commander, with all his efforts could not relieve Ladysmith. Kimberly and Mafeking were also besieged, and as per- sistently held out against the Boers. 612 THE BOER-BRITISH WAR. It was not until Lord Roberts and General Kitchener, with large reinforcements, were sent to South Africa that the tide was turned. General Cronje was a very bold and skillful general; but in one of his bold movements he was caught in a trap set by Lord Roberts. The British general had moved too quickly for Cronje, and he was obliged to surrender with his whole command. President Steyn, of the Orange Free States, held out for many months, after the fight had descended to the form of guerilla warfare. President Kruger, of the Transvaal Republic, went to Europe with the hope of persuading some of the great nations to intercede in behalf of the Boer republics, but without success. THEODORE ROOSEVELT, Twenty-fifth President. Born in New York, October 27, 1858. Inaugurated President at Buffalo, September 14, 1001, 614 SAFETY OF OUR GOVERNMENT. Safety of Our Government. 1. Personal Integrity. The life of our nation does not de- pend upon its statute books, but upon the public sentiment behind the statutes. Whether we shall have a gold or a silver standard is not of such vital importance as that we have sound moral sense in public men and in leaders of opinion. SAFE CITIZENSHIP retires personal integrity, conscience in poli- tics, Sunday's principles applied in Monday's transactions. 2. The Voter a Ruler. In a republic every voter is a ruler; and the only solid basis of good government is the individual conscience which seeks to know what is right and dares to do it. The ballot is infinitely more than a privilege; it is a solemn trust, and he who fails to use it, or who uses it carelessly or corruptly, is guilty of treason to his country. 3. Cool Heads. It is an easy matter to discover that the ship has sprung a leak any landsman can do that; but neither hysterics nor profanity can stop it. In such an emergency one clear cool-headed ship's carpenter is better than many professors of theoretical navigation or thousands of excited first-cabin passengers. 4. Argument versus Abuse. It will do the silver men no good to tell the gold men that they are nothing but "Wall street bloats." It will make no votes for the gold standard to assert that the silverites are a gang of ignorant know- nothings. It will not help either of the old political parties to assert that the Prohibitionists are not capable of think- ing of anything else but the destruction of the saloon. It will not gain the Prohibitionists a single vote to declare that there is an unholy league between the church and the saloon business. It will not decrease the Populist's vote to declare that some of them in their national convention took off their shoes, and that the majority of them wore long flow- ing whiskers. .Arguments make votes most rapidly when \t is shown by words and actions that you are a gentleman entitled to respect when you open your mouth to speak. 5. God Reigns. The ants were wrong in supposing that the end of the world had come because a plowshare went through their hill. Our plans may fail without a serious disturbance to the universal order. The Lord has not abdicated; he is as capable as ever of managing things. It is just conceivable that neither my way nor your way is the best way. The times may be a trifle out of joint, the hoodwink of justice may be temporarily awry, bimetallists may sing and rejoice in the light of their silver moon, sound money men may imagine the golden gate just ahead, the tides may ebb and Cherith may run dry, but "God reigns and the government is safe." GLOSSARY. 615 Gold and Silver Glossary. Bimetallism. Unlimited coinage of both gold and silver National. Without reference to other nations. Inter- nationalIn agreement with other nations. Bullion. Uncoined gold or silver in bars. Coinage. Free, coinage of all bullions offered, free ot charge to owners. Unlimited, coinage of all bullion offered Independent, unrestricted by other nations. Contraction. Reduction of amount of money in circu- lation. Expansion. National increase of amount of money in circulation. Fiat Money. The doctrine that the government can make paper, leather, or any other material into money by simply putting its stamp upon it, without reference to its redemption in coin. Gold Bugs. Those who support the gold standard, especially eastern money-lenders. Gold Reserve. Gold held by the Treasury for redemp- tion of paper money. Gold Standard. Gold the measure of all money value. Gold Standard Countries. Austria, Brazil, Chili, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Liberia, Newfoundland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Tur- key, United States. Inflation. Unusually or unnaturally large issue of paper money or depreciated coin. Parity of Gold and Silver. Equality of purchasing powers. As the bullion in a silver dollar is worth so much less commercially, than the gold in a gold dollar, silver money and silver certificates would be at a discount, if it were not known that the government is pledged to main- tain them at a parity or equality and receive them for all public dues. Seigniorage. The difference between the cost of bul- lion purchased by the government and its face value when coined. For example, the present commercial value of sil- ver is 69 cents per ounce. One hundred ounces costing $6S tvould coin $129.29. The seigniorage or gain of the govern- ment would, therefore, be about $60. Under free coinage this profit would go to the individual owners of the bullion. Silver Barons. Men who have large interests in silver mines and would be benefited by free coinage. Silver Standard. Silver the measure of all money value. Silver Standard Countries. Bolivia, Central America, China, Columbia, Ecuador, India, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Tripoli, 616 Popular and Electoral Vote for 1888. STATES. POPULAK VOTE. Pluralities. Total Vote. Electoral Vote. II Cleveland, Democrat. Harrison, Republican. Fisk, Prohibition. Streeter, Labor. Alabama Arkansas .. 117,320 85,962 117,729 37,567 74,920 1H,414 39,561 100,499 348,278 261,013 179,877 102,745 183,800 85,032 50,481 106,168 151,855 213,469 104,385 85,471 261,974 80,552 5,326 43,382 151,493 635,757 147,902 396,455 26,522 446,633 17,530 65,825 158,779 234,883 16,788 151,977 78,677 155,232 56,197 58,752 124,816 50,774 74,584 12,973 26,657 40,496 370,437 263,361 211,598 182,904 155,134 30,484 73,734 99,986 183,892 236,387 142,492 30,096 236,257 108,425 7,229 45,724 144,344 648,759 134,784 416,054 33,291 526,091 21,968 13,736 138,988 88,422 45,192 150,438 78,171 176,553 583 641 5,761 2,191 4,234 400 423 1,808 21,695 9,881 3,550 6.779 5,225 160 2,691 4,767 8,701 20,942 15.311 218 4,539 9,429 41 1,566 7,904 30,231 2,789 24,256 1,677 20,947 1,250 "5,969 4,749 1,460 1,678 1,084 14,277 'ioieis 61,123 C 27, 210 C 7.087H 13, 207 H 3360 3,441 C 12,904 C 60,003 22.195H 2.348H 31,711H 80,159H 28,6660 54,548 C 23,253 H 6,182 C 32,037H 22,918H 38,107H 55,875 C 25,717 C 27,873H 1,903H 2,342H 7,1490 13,002H 13,118 C 19,599H 6,769H 79,458H 4,438H 52,0890 19,791 C 146,461 C 28,404H 1,5390 5060 21,321H 174,100 155,968 251,339 91,798 153,978 i9,787 66,641 142,939 747,686 536,949 404,130 334,035 344,781 115,744 128,250 210,<21 844,448 476,273 263,306 115,807 523,198 202,653 12.596 90,730 303,741 1,320,109 285,512 841,941 61,911 997,568 40,766 79,941 303,736 357,518 63,440 304,093 159,440 854,614 IOC 70 8H 3H 60 30 40 12 C 22H 15H 13H 9H 13 C 80 6H 80 14H 13H 7H 90 160 5H 3H 4H 90 36H 110 23H 3H 80H 4H 90 120 130 4H 120 60 11H 233H 168 C California Colorado Connecticut . . . Delaware Florida Georgia Illinois 1,286 240 ' ' '136 7,090 2,694 9,105 37,788 622 39 1,344 Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts. Michigan Minnesota . Mississippi Missouri Nebraska *,555 1,094 22 18,632 4,226 N ewHampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio 13 ""626 47 3,496 363 3,873 18 Oregon Pennsylvania . Rhode Island.. South Carolina Tennessee Texas 48 29,459 "i,508 8,552 Vermont Virginia West Virginia. Wisconsin Total :. 5,538,233 5,440,216 249,907 148,105 576,158 C 478,141H 11,392,382 Cleveland's plurality, 98,017. Majority but Not Elected. The above table illustrates how a candidate can receive a majority of the popular votes and still not be elected. In 1888 Cleveland received 98,017 majority, but Harrison had 65 majority in the electoral vote. It results from the fact that a small majority in any state decides the electoral vote as really as very large majorities. For example: In the above table, take Alabama, Georgia, Electoral Vote for 1892, 1896, and 1900. 617 STATES. Cleveland. Harrison. Weaver. 1896. STATES. Cleveland. | 1 Weaver. 1896. 11 11 Nebraska. 8 g Arkansas H 8 Nevada 3 s California 8 1 9 New Hampshire 4 4 Colorado . . 4 4 New Jersey 10 10 6 H New York . . . 36 86 Delaware ... fl 3 North Carolina. 11 11 Florida \ 4 North Dakota. . 1 1 1 3 13 13 Ohio. 1 99 23 S 3 Oregon 8 1 4 Illinois ?4 ?4 Pennsylvania . . . 8?, 3?, Indiana 15 15 Rhode Island... 4 4 Iowa Kansas. 13 in 13 10 South Carolina. South Dakota... 9 4 9 4 is 13 Tennessee . 1? 12 Louisiana. H 8 Texas 15 15 6 6 Utah 3 Maryland 8 8 Vermont 4 4 15 15 Virginia 1? 12 5 9 14 4 4 M innesota 9 9 West Virginia... 6 6 g 9 19 12 Missouri 17 17 Wyoming. s 3 3 3 Total ?T77 145 7!fl 447 and Texas. These gave Cleveland 267,584 majority, but only 35 electoral votes. On the other hand, Indiana, New York, and Ohio gave Harrison only 34,949 majority, but 74 electoral votes. In these six states Cleveland received 232,635 majority, but Harrison received 39 majority on the electoral vote. This is one of the chief arguments used in urging the election of President and Vice-President by popular vote. Electoral Votes of a State may be Divided. From the above table it can be seen that the electoral vote of a state may be divided. This occurs only when the vote is very close or when the same elector or electors are on different tickets. In California and Ohio the vote was very close, giving Cleveland one elector in Ohio and Harrison one in California. On account of personal preferences, or for some other reason this one elector ran ahead of the ticket. In Oregon one elector was on two tickets. In North Dakota two Populist and one Republican electors were elected, but on e of the Populists voted for Cleveland, thus dividing equally the vote of the state. The vote was divided in Michigan because by act of Legislature each Congressional district voted separately for an elector. 618 IMMIGRATION. Immigration into the United States, 1820=1895. Year. Total Immigrants. Total Year. Immigrants. 1820 8,385 1860 150,237 89,724 89,207 174,524 193,195 247,453 163,594 298,967 282,189 352,569 387,203 821,350 404,806 459,803 813,339 227,498 169,986 141,857 138,469 177,826 457,257 669,431 788,992 603,322 518,592 395,346 334,203 490,109 546,889 444,42* 455,302 560,319 623,084 502,917 314,467 279,948 1821 9,127 1861 1822 6,911 1862 1823 6354 1863 1824 ... . 7,912 1864 1825 J.0,199 1865 1828 10,837 1866 1827 18,875 Fiscal year ending June 30. 1867 1828 27,382 1829 22,520 1830 23322 1868 1831 22,633 1869 1832 60,482 1870 1833 58,540 1871 1834 65,365 1872 1835 45,374 1873 1836 76242 1874 1837 79,340 1875 1836 ... . 38,914 1876 1839 68,069 1877 1840 84,066 1878 1841 80,289 1879 1842 104 565 1880 1843 52,496 1881 1844 78,615 1882 1845 . . . 114,371 1883 1846 154,416 1884 1847 234968 1885 1848 226 527 1886 1849 297 024 1887 1850 . ... 369,986 1888 1851 379,466 1889 1852 871 603 1890 1853 368645 1891 1854 427,833 1892 1855 ... . 200,877 1893 .. 1856 195 857 1894 1857 246945 1895 1858 119,501 Total 17 ,101,425 250,000 1859 118 616 From 1789 to 1820, estimated, COMPARATIVE POPULATION OF PRINCIPAL CITIES. 619 FIFTY PRINCIPAL CITIES IN 1900 IN THE ORDER OF THEIR RANK. CITIES. POPULATION. INCREASE FROM 1890 TO 1900 1900 1890 Number. Per Ct. New York NY 3,437,202 1,698,575 1,293,697 575,238 560,892 508,957 381,768 352,387 342,782 325,902 321,616 287,104 285,704 285,315 278,718 246,070 206,433 204,731 202,718 175,597 169,164 163,752 163,065 162,608 133,859 131,822 129,896 125,560 118,421 108,374 108,027 105,171 104,863 102,979 102,555 102,479 102,320 102,026 2,492,591 1,099,850 1,046,964 451,770 448,477 434,439 261,353 255,664 298,997 296,908 238,617 242,039 205,876 204,468 230,392 181,830 163,003 161,129 164,738 132,146 105,436 132,716 133,156 133,896 106,713 81,434 105,287 88,150 84,655 88,143 81,298 78,347 74,398 52,324 140,452 50,395 64,495 75,215 944,611 598,725 246,733 123,468 112,415 74,518 120,415 96,723 43,785 28,994 82,999 45,065 79,828 80,847 48,326 64,240 43,430 43,602 37,980 43,451 63,728 31,036 29,909 28,712 27,146 50,388 24,609 37,410 33,766 20,231 26,729 26,824 30,465 50,655 *37,897 52,084 87,825 26,811 37.8 54.4 23.5 27.3 25.0 17.1 46.0 37.8 14.6 9.7 34.7 18.6 38.7 39.5 20.9 35.3 26.8 27.0 23.0 32.8 60.4 23.3 22.4 21.4 25.4 61.8 23.3 42.4 39.8 22.9 32.8 34.2 40.9 96.8 26.9 103.3 58.6 35.6 Chicago 111 Philadelphia, Pa St Louis Mo Boston Mass Baltimore Md Cleveland, Ohio Buffalo N. Y Pittsburg, Pa New Orleans, La Detroit Mich . ... Milwaukee Wis Washington, D C Newark, N. J Tersev Citv, N. T. . iciocy v.iiy, i-i. j Minneapolis, Minn Providence, R.I ....... Kansas City, Mo St. Paul, Minn Rochester, N. Y Denver, Colo Toledo, Ohio Allegheny, Pa Columbus, Ohio Worcester, Mass Syracuse, N. Y New Haven, Conn Paterson, N. J Fall River, Mass St. Joseph, Mo Omaha, Neb Los Angeles, Cal Memphis, Tenn Scranton, Pa *Loss, 620 WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. FIFTY PRINCIPAL CITIES IN 1900 IN THE ORDER OP THEIR RANK Continued. CITIES. POPULATION. INCREASE FROM 1890 TO 1900 1900 1890 Number. Per Ct. Lowell, Mass 94,969 94,151 91,886 90,426 89,872 87,565 85,333 85,050 80,865 80,671 79,850 78,961 77,696 94,923 70,028 46,385 65,533 60,278 61,220 81,388 76,168 42,837 53,230 58,661 17,273 *772 21,858 44,041 24,339 27,287 24,113 3,662 4,697 37,834 26,620 20,300 22.2 0.8 31.2 94.9 37.1 45.2 39.3 4.4 6.1 88.3 50.0 34.6 Albany, N. Y Cambridge, Mass Portland, Ore Atlanta, Ga Grand Rapids, Mich.... Dayton, Ohio Nashville, Tenn Seattle, Wash Hartford, Conn Reading Pa Wars of the United States. BY WHAT NAME KNOWN. LENGTH OF WAR. FORCE ENGAGED. From. To. Regulars. Militia and Volun- teers. War of the Revolution . . Northwestern Indian War with France . . April 19, 1775 Sept. 19, 1790 July 9, 1798 June 10, 1801 July 27,1813 June 18, 1812 Nov. 20, 1817 April 21, 1831 1836 May 5, 1836 Dec. 23,1835 1838 April 24, 1846 1849 1856 1861 oops engaged i April 11, 1783 Aug. 3, 1795 Sept. 30, 1800 June 4,1805 Aug. 9, 1814 Feb. 17,1815 Oct. 21,1818 Sept. 31, 1832 1837 Sept. 30, 1837 Aug. 14,1843 1839 July 4,1848 1855 1858 ' 1865 ^ n Civil War.... 130,711 164,080 War with Tripoli Creek Indian War of 1812, Gt. Britain.. Seniinole Indian 600 85,000 1,000 1,339 13,181 471,622 6,911 5,126 9,494 12,483 29,953 1,500 78,776 1,061 3,687 5,408 .600,000 Black Hawk Indian Cherokee disturbance. .. Creek Indian War 935 11,169 ' 36,954 1,500 Florida Indian Aroostook disturbance . . War with Mexico Apache, Navajo and Utah Seniinole Indi*n . . Civil War 2,77 Number of Confederate ti COST OF WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 621 Cost of Wars of the United States. Revolutionary ............................................ $ 135,193,703.00 War of 1812-15 ............................................. 107,159,003.00 Mexican War.. .......................................... .. 100,000,000.00 Rebellion ................................................... 6,189,929,908.58 Estimated cost of Indian wars from July 4, 1776, to June 30, 1886 .......................................... 696,389,277.68 Spanish-American, including $20,000,000.00 for Philip- pine Islands. .................... .... ............... 222,000,000.00 Losses in wars Sio A U i ti -n n i En) ?, lish) --y-J"--- ........................ 50,000 men 1812-15 killed and wounded ............... 5614 Mexican War ____ ... ............ 3 42Q "''''''''''' Rebellion n 2r i ? d "j.--Ji .......... ,...........279,376 vu ' ? Confederate died ................. 300,000 'Spanish-American, killed, wounded and died in camp 3,883 *These figures do not include those who died after being mastered out. - In the War of 1812-15 there were 10 battles, 8 combats and assaults, 52 actions and bombardments. In the Mexican War there were 11 pitched battles and 35 actions, combats, sieges and skirmishes. In the Civil War of 1861-5 there .were 107 pitched battles, 102 combats, and 362 actions, sieges, ana lesser affairs. Since 1812 the United States army has had over 640 battles, rights, and actions against Indians. Since 1789 there have been 912 garrisoned forts, ' Arsenals and military posts in the United States. At the present time (1891) there are 144 garrisoned forts, arsenals and military posts. '. Up to and including June, 1861, there were 1,966 grad- uates of the Military Academy, and of these there were living at the outbreak of the Civil War of 1861-5 1,249. ; ; Of the 1,249, 428 were in civil life, and 821 were in the mili- tary service of the United States. Of those in civil life, 292 took sides with the Union and 99 joined the Confederacy, while 37 are unknown. Of the 821 in the army, 627 sided with the Union, 184 joined the Confederacy, and 10 took r : neither side. Of the 99 who joined the Confederacy from civil life all, except one, were either born and brought up or were residents of southern territory. On the other hand, of the 350 graduates born or appointed from southern states, 162 . remained loyal to the United States. Of the graduates who served in the Civil War, one-fifth were kUled in battle, while one-half were wounded. Lieutenant W< R.Hamilton, U.S, A. (From World Almanac.} ALPHABETICAL INDEX. PAGE. Adams', John, Administra- tion 287 Adams', John Quincy, Ad- ministration 311 Administrations 279 Advantage's of Citizen 19 Agricultural Products 96 American -History 62 America Holds the Future. 103 American Independence... 49 Arbitration 468 Arbitration, International.. 589 Arthur's Administration ...380 Atlantic Cable 118 Australian Ballot 184 Ballot, Corrupt and Ignor- ant 107 Ballot . 180 Ballot Reform 180, 193 Ballot an Educator 200 Bimetallism. .561. 567 Board of Labor Concilia 573, 615 .....474 .*...609 ..565 tion Boer-British War. Bryan. William J.. Buchanan's Administra- tion 344 Bullion 615 8 able. Atlantic 118 ables. Different Lines 120 Capital Punishment 406 Carpet Baggers 363 Chicago 84 Chicago Stock Yards 87 Cities, Government of Large : 106, 456 Cities. Growth of 82 Citizens, The 19 Citizenship 30 Civil Rights 37 Civil Service Reform 446 Civil Service Rules 452 Clay's Compromise Bill 317 Cleveland's First Adminis- tration 383 Cleveland's Second Admin- istration 392 Coins, Chief of U. S 558 Coinage. . . .' 615 Coinage Statistics 559 Common School System 417 Competition that Kills 480 Congress and Parliaments. 168 Congress, Changes in 176 Constitution of United ^States 147 Corner Stones of History. .. 62 Cost of Wars 621 Cotton Gin 109 Crime 400 Cuban Independence 596 Cumulative Voting 193 Current Problems and Top- ics :.401 Dangers, Threatening 105 Debt, Mortgage and.Public.415 Declaration of Independ- ence 142 Decoratipn Day 73 Demonetization of Silver.. .567 Departments of Govern- ment 160 Double Standard ...561 Dred Scott Case ? . 345 Duties of Citizen 20 fducation 401 ducational Institutions .. .103 Educational Qualifications for Voting 191 Electoral Votes 616.617 Electric Light 133 Emancipation Pr oc lama- tion 159, 352 Explanation of "16 to 1" ...564 Fiat Money , . 624 Filibustering , 273 Fillmore's Administration ..336 First Canals 80 First Congress 49 Flag, National ., 66 Foreign Ownership of: Land . 443 Free Coinage 566 Free Silver 572 Free Trade 508 Fulton's Steamboat 121 Calveston 608 Garfield's Administration.. 374 Gerrymandering u 275 622 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 623 PAGE. Glossary 615 Gold and Silver Legislatiori.561 Gold and Silver Statis- tics 106, 559 Gold Standard 561. 577 Gd^d Standard Countries ..615 Gobd Times 585 Gdyernment of Large Cit- ifs 456 Government Control of R. R 501 Government, Departments of 160 Grant's Administra- tions 361, 365 Growth of Cities 82 Hard Times 581 Harrison's, W. H., Admin- istration 327 Harrison's, Benj., Adminis- tration 385 Hayes' Administration 370 Hawaii 606 History of Voting 180 Homestead Laws 442 Hope of Ofar Public School. 422 How to Become a Speaker. 40 How Bills are Passed 162 How Land is Surveyed 439 How Laws are Made 162 How Logan was Elected... 194 How to Locate Land 441 Immigration 105, 618 Industrial Armies 495 Industry, Our. 100 Inflation 615 Ingenuity, Our 100 Issues of the Day 459 Intemperance 105, 402, 484 International Arbitration. ..589 International ' arid Foreign Affairs 588 Invention of Electric Light.133 Inventors and Inventions ..108 Jackson's Administra- tions 313. 319 Jefferson's, Thomas, Ad- ministrations 291, 295 Johnson's Administration.. 359 Killing Cattle at Armour's. 87 Killing Hogs at Armour's.. 89 ,abor.v..V 474 >abor Conciliation 474 ibor Emancipated 481 >r Legislation 477 >r Organized 475 ,abor Principles of 475 PAGE. LaFayette 309 Land and Land Laws ,.439 Land Owned by Foreigners. 443 Legal 'Fender 563 Liberties, Our Consti'tional 98 Lincoln's Adm'is'tions, 350, 356 Madison's Administra- tions 298-301 McKinley and Wilson Bills.514 McKinley's Adminis'tion. 400a Mexican War 333 Military Academy .-438 Military Naval School 435 Military Training in Schools432 Mineral Resources 96 Money, Commodities Used. 549 Money, First in America .. .543 Money. Gold and Silver 556 Money, Paper 547 Money, Philosophy and Laws ..550 Money, Question 575 Money, Volume 568 Monroe's Adm'is'tions. 303, 308 Monroe Doctrine 304, 588 Morse's Trial. 113 Mortgage Debt 415 National Nominating Con- ventions 230 Naturalization Laws 31 Naval Academy 435 New Era in Traveling 132 New York 82 Nominating Conventions... 230 Origin of Decoration Day.. 73 Origin of Flag 65 Origin of Political Parties. .217 Origin of Thanksgiving Day 70 Original Thirteen States 92 Our Country.. 49 Our Government ..142 Our National Greatness 91 Panics, History of 527 Parity of Gold and Silver... 615 Parliamentary Laws 44 Parties, Rise and Fall 209 Party Government 224 Philanthropy, Our 100 Pierce's Administration 339 Political Training for Citi- ( ) zens . ... 22 Political Boss 271 Political Parties. Origin ....217 Political Land Slides 261 Political Rights 37 Folk's Administration 332 Popular Rights 320 Population, Our 94 Population of Cities 619 624 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. Printing Telegraphs 120 Prison Labor 403 Prison Reform 403 Protection 506 Public Debt 415 Public Schools 422 Pullman Strike ..463 Qualifications for Voting. ..186 Railroad, First 124 Railroad's Right of Control, 503 Registration Laws 185 Responsibilities of Citizens, 19 Rhymed History of Admin- istrations 399 Right and Wrong of Strikes,470 Right of Petition ..' 273 Rightr of Citizens 33 Russell's Speech 260 Scenery, Our 96 School Savings Banks 426 Scientific Temperance In- struction 487 Seignorage 615 Seven Wonders of America, 91 Sewing Machine, First 110 Shall Women Vote? 197 Silver Demonetization 567 Silver Standard 561, 615 Silver Standard Countries .615 Sound Money 570 South African Republic.. ..610 Spanish-American War 601 Spoils System 267 Squatter Sovereignty.. 336, 340 State Papers 142 Steamboat First 120 Steamboat, Fulton's 121 Stock Yards 87 Story of Independence 49 Story of Declaration of In- dependence 57 Story of Telegraph 116 PAGE. Street Car. First 128 Strikes. History 469 Strikes, Prevention.. 468. Strikes, Right and Wrong of ,470 Tariff... Tariff of 1828 316 Tariff, History of ..510 Tariff, McKinley 514 Tariff Commission League. 517 Tariff Rates 516 Tariff Tables .-.... 5.18 Taylor's Administration.. ..336 Telegraph, First' Electric,... 116 Telephone, Discovery of.. .137 Thanksgiving Day... 70 Thirteen Original States... 92; : Tramp, Problem of ;. .490 Transvaal , . . ,,6X0. Trusts, Causes and Effects,498 Tyler's Administration ...,.329 Typesetting Machine.. 136 : Typewriter, Story of 137 Van Buren's Administra- tion 323: Venezuela Dispute.. 590 : Voting 180- Voting, Qualifications for .-.186 Wars of United States 620. Washington's Administra- tions 279, 282 Wealth, Centralization of.. 105 Wealth. Our National 98 What Americans Have Done 73 WilsonBill :...514 Where Women Vote 204 XRays 139 Young Man's First Vote 29 Young Statesman's Oppor- tunity 27 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. V'-"^ This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. . PP 26196792 MAY It 67-8 AM fti^i u? 1 i r.' * ' "v ~ LD 21A-60TO-7,'66 (G4427slO)476B General Library University of California Berkeley