mm
I
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
DAVIS
* m
W"^
iS^Lk^T.
•
il
OUSTER'S LAST FIGHT.
•
J. Steeple Davis, who has gained a distinction as a painter of
battle scenes, has given us here a vivid picture of what was un
doubtedly the most awful massacre on record. On June 25th, 1876,
that brave commander of the famous Seventh Cavalry of 600 men,
General Geo. A. Custer, unexpectedly came upon the lower end
of Sitting Bull's camp, containing thousands of warriors. Al
though outnumbered twelve to one, General Custer did not hesi
tate, but gave orders to charge. The full details of the fight will
never be known, as every white man engaged was killed. A
monument has been erected to the memory of the Golden-Haired
Fearless Leader. Every soldier was buried where he fell. Sev
eral acres of ground were fenced in and monuments erected at
the head of each grave, and a suitable house was built for a care
taker, who devotes his time to keeping the grass green on this
memorable spot. The location is Ft. Custer, Montana.
IBRARY OF
AMERICAN HISTORY
FROM THE DISCOVERY OF . . . .
AMERICA TO THE PRESENT TIME
INCLUDING A COMPREHENSIVE HIS
TORICAL INTRODUCTION, COPIOUS
ANNOTATIONS. A LIST OF AUTHOR
ITIES AND REFERENCES, ETC.
PROFUSELY AND BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED.
MAPS, CHARTS, PORTRAITS, FAMOUS HISTORIC
SCENES AND EVENTS, AND A SERIES OF
BEAUTIFUL POLYCHROMATIC PLATES.
By EDWARD S. ELLIS, A. M.
AUTHOR OF "THE STANDARD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES,"
"YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES," "THE
ECLECTIC PRIMARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES," "STORY
OF THE GREATEST NATIONS," "A HISTORY OF THE STATE OF
NEW YORK," ETC.
ILLUSTRATORS
C. M. Relyea, H. A. Ogden, J. Steeple Davis, Warren Sheppard,
W. H. Lippincott, A. B. Doggett, De Cost Smith, W. P. Snyder,
Gilbert Gaul,W. C. Fitler, C. Kendrick, Joseph Gleeson and others.
THE CHARLES P. BARRETT CO.
(Btrifum b
is limited to five hundred copies, of which this is
Copy No.
COPYRIGHT, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900,
I BY HENRY W. KNIGHT.
COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY FRANK E. WRIGHT.
COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY MAI^ORY & HOOD.
COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY MAIyI,ORY & CO.
COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY THE JONES BROS. PUB. CO.
COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY THE JONES BROS. PUB. CO.
SPECIAL NOTICE.— The illustrations in this volume are protected by copyright, and
they must not be reproduced or copied without written permission from the publishers.
Disregard of this warning will subject the offender to the penalty provided by law.
PRESENT DAY REGULATION UNIFORMS
TABLE OF CONTENTS, VOLUME VI.
Chapter LXXXII. Garfield and Arthur's Administrations,
1881-1885 1441
Chapter LXXXIIL Cleveland's First Administration, 1885-
1889 1460
Chapter LXXXIV. Cleveland's First Administration, 1885-
1889 (Concluded) 1472
Chapter LXXXV. Harrison's Administration, 1889-1893 . . . 1488
Chapter LXXXVI. Harrison's Administration, 1889-1893
(Continued) 1503
Chapter LXXXVII. Harrison's Administration, 1889-1893
(Concluded) 1522
Chapter LXXXVIII. Cleveland's Second Administration, 1893-
^97 - - 1537
Chapter LXXXIX. Cleveland's Second Administration, 1893-
1897 (Continued) 1566
Chapter XC. Cleveland's Second Administration, 1893-
1897 Concluded) 1612
Chapter XCI. McKinley's Administration, 1897 l^Z7
Chapter XCII. McKinley's Administration, 1897 (Con
tinued) 1667
Chapter XCIII. McKinley's Administration, 1897 (Con
tinued) 1679
Chapter XCIV. McKinley's Administration, 1897 (Con
tinued) 1690
Chapter XCV. McKinley's Administration, 1897 (Con
tinued) 1705
CHAPTER LXXXII
GARFIELD AND ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATIONS
1881-1885
[Authorities: In this chapter will be found a very minute account of the Greely expe
dition to the Polar regions. The reader may very naturally ask why large sums of money
should be expended and many lives imperilled in exploring the icy horrors about the
pole. The only reason we have ever heard for these efforts is the desire for accurate
geographical knowledge. There is perhaps another cause even more powerful in deter
mining human action, — a certain divine interest and curiosity,— a yearning to overcome
difficulties. Longfellow depicts this quality of man very strikingly in his *' Excelsior."
The political struggle for the Presidency related in this chapter furnishes an illustration
of the fickleness of people in large masses. The "Rum, Romanism, and rebellion" inci
dent shows how large and intelligent bodies of people are swayed and dominated by catch
words. Herbert Spencer would probably urge that the difference between this human
weakness and fetish worship is one of degree and not of kind. The current historical
authorities for the statements in this chapter are mostly the daily press and the maga-
sines.]
[AMES ABRAM GARFIELD was bom at Orange,
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November 19, 1831.
While he was an infant his father died, and he was
left to the care of an excellent mother. Brought
up in the backwoods, he became rugged, strong,
and active, so that in middle life he was always
superior to his own sons in athletic contests.
While still a boy, Garfield exhibited remarkable
mechanical ability, and his services were in demand among his
neighbors. When a young man he was driver for a canal-boat, and
at the age of seventeen attended the high school in Chester, where
he was a hard student and made good progress in Latin, Greek, and
algebra. Entering Hiram College in 1851, he was an instructor at
COPYRIGHT 1897.
Mrs. Tyler
Mrs. Polk
Mrs. Johnson
Mrs. Patterson
Mrs. Lincoln
IAOIES OF THE WHITE HOUSE— 1841 TO 1869
Mrs. Pierce
Miss Lane
Mrs. Fillmore
CHAP. LXXXII GARFIELD'S ADMINISTRATION
1443
the end of three years. Immediately after, he became a student at PERIOD vn
Williams College, where he was graduated two years later. Some ^.JJjJ"
time afterwards he was made president of Hiram College. Although STATES
elected to the Ohio Senate, he was president of the college when the
war1 broke out, and soon entered the military service. One of the
JAMES A. GARRELD
feats of which the college president was proud was his discovery of
an original demonstration of the famous 47th problem of Euclid, or
pons asinorum (the square described on the hypothenuse of a right-
angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares described on the
other two sides). *
* Samuri Takaki, however, excelled Garfield and every other mathematician of which
there is any record. This young man was one of a party of Japanese students in attend
ance, from 1872 to 1875, at the high school connected with Rutgers College, New
1444 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIJ
PERIOD vii Garfield made a fine record in the war. He was first lieutenant
' THE NEW colonel and then colonel of the Forty- Second Regiment of Ohio Vol-
UNITED
STATES unteers. He became a brigadier-general, doing excellent service in
Kentucky and Tennessee. He was Rosecrans' chief of staff, and
showed conspicuous galhntry at Chickamauga. He was elected co
Congress while serving in the field, and remained a member of that
body for seventeen years, when, in 1879, ne was sent to tne United
States Senate. He did no* take his seat, because of his nomination
for the Presidency.
The President Garfield chose the following Cabinet : James G. Blaine,
Presi- Secretary of State; William Windom, of Minnesota, Secretary of
Cabinet the Treasury; Robert T. Lincoln, of Illinois (son of the martyred
President), Secretary of War; William H. Hunt, of Louisiana, Sec
retary of the Navy ; Samuel J. Kirkwood, of Iowa, Secretary of the
Interior; Wayne MacVeagh, of Pennsylvania, Attorney-General;
Thomas L. James, of New York, Postmaster- General.
It was not long before dissensions arose in the Republican party.
Roscoe Conkling was the leader of the " stalwarts," who had sup
ported Grant's renomination for a third term ; while James G. Blaine,
Secretary of State, and a strong personal opponent of Conkling, v\ as
the leader of the "half-breeds." The stalwarts insisted that the
offices should be divided in accordance with the wishes of the Sena
tors and Representatives of the respective States. The President
claimed the right of naming the officers as he preferred. He nomi
nated Judge William Robertson for Collector of Customs for the port
of New York, one of the best offices in the gift of the administra
tion. He was confirmed, and Conkling and Thomas C. Platt, Sena
tors from the State of New York, were so angered that they resigned
their seats in Congress, the Senate adjourning in June.
Assas- President Garfield arranged to place his two sons in Williams Col-
an(^ to sPend a short time with his invalid wife at the sea-shore.
Presi- He rode to the Baltimore Railway station, July 2, 1881, in com
pany with Secretary Blaine and some friends, to take the cars for
Elberon, N. J. He was in the station talking with Mr. Blaine when
a wretched miscreant, named Charles Julius Guiteau, stepped up be
hind the President and shot him in the back with a pistol. The
Brunswick, New Jersey, and afterwards prominent in the naval department in the wai
with China. One day Takaki placed on the blackboard fourteen accurate and origina*
demonstrations of this famous problem.
CHAP. LXXXII GARFIELD'S ADMINISTRATION
1445
President staggered and sank to the floor, but was quickly lifted into
a carriage and carried to the executive mansion, while Guiteau was
hurried to prison before the people comprehended the crime he had
committed. But for this prompt action he would have been lynched.
The country was shocked by the second assassination of a Presi
dent, and the soldier who was guarding the prisoner only echoed the
feeling of the public when he fired his musket at the window of Gui-
teau's cell, in the hope of killing the assassin.
The President's wound was a severe one, but the hope was strong
that he would recover. He received the best kmedical skill, and so
general was the sympathy for the sufferer that earnest prayers were
offered up for him throughout Christendom. Never was a man the
subject of more petitions to heaven than the dying Garfield, but God
in His wisdom saw fit not to grant the prayers. The President was
removed to Elberon, where for a time he seemed to rally, but he sank
again and quietly passed away on the night of September igth. It
was a curious coincidence that this day was the anniversary of the
battle of Chickamauga, where he gained his chief military repu
tation.
The body was taken to Washington, viewed by vast throngs, and
then removed to Cleveland, where a fine monument has since been
erected over the remains. Congress voted that the President's salary
should be continued to the widow during the remainder of his term,
and a fund amounting to $364,000 was presented to her.
The assassin of the President was generally looked upon as a
" crank." He was a dogged office-seeker and had shadowed the un
suspicious Garfield for some time before he gained the courage to
shoot. His manner during his trial was intolerably insolent, his
purpose probably being to impress the jury with his lunacy. No
doubt that Guiteau had a slight touch of insanity in his family, and
he himself was not intellectually bright, yet he saw clearly the differ
ence between right and wrong, and was morally responsible for his
crime. The jury pronounced him guilty, January 25, 1882, and he
was hanged on the 3Oth of June following.
In accordance with the Constitution, Chester Alan Arthur now
became President of the United States. He was born in Franklin
County, Vermont, October 5, 1830. He was graduated from Union
College in 1849, taught school awhile, and then removed to New
York City, and became a lawyer. He was very successful in his
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Death
of the
Presi
dent
Presi
dent
Arthur
1446
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXH
PERIOD vii prof ession, and during the war was quartermaster-general of the
THB~NEW State of New York. He was made Collector of Customs for the
STATES pOrt jn 1871, and held the office for seven years, when he was re
moved by President Hayes.
The Cabinets of Presidents Garfield and Arthur, like those of the
first and second Presidents, are interwoven with each other. In ac-
The
Presi
dent's
Cabinet
SHOOTING OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD
cordance with custom, all of Garfield's advisers handed their resigna
tions to his successor, as soon as he assumed office. He requested
them to retain their places until the meeting of Congress. All com
plied except Mr. Windom, who resigned in October to be a candidate
for the Senate. Edwin Morgan was nominated as his successor and
confirmed, but declined to serve, and "Judge Charles J. Folger, of
New York, held the office until his death in 1884, when he was suc
ceeded by Hugh McCulloch. Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, of New
Jersey, followed Elaine as Secretary of State, serving to the end of
Arthur's term.
Secretary Folger was succeeded by Walter Q. Gresham, of Indi-
CHAP. LXXXII ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATION
1447
ana, and he by Mr. McCulloch, of the same State. Lincoln served PERIOD vn
under Garfield and Arthur. Kirkwood gave way to Henry M. Teller,
of Colorado, and Hunt to William E. Chandler, of New Hampshire.
Postmaster- General James resigned in 1881, and was succeeded by
Timothy O. Howe, of Wisconsin, Walter Q. Gresham, and by Frank
STATES
CHESTER A. ARTHUR
Hatton, of Iowa. Wayne MacVeigh, Attorney -General under Gar-
field, was followed by Benjamin H. Brewster, of Pennsylvania.
President Arthur was one of the most polished of gentlemen, and
showed no wish to change the policy of the former administration,
but he found several irritating affairs on his hands. One of these
was the " Star Route" frauds. In the sparsely settled regions of the
West a number of fast mail routes had been established, and were
marked on official documents each by a star. The professed object
The
" Star
Route
Fraud
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXII
THENEW
UNITED
STATES
A Mis
carriage
PERIOD vii of these star routes was greater promptness in the delivery of the
mail in the wild districts, where the settlements were few and far
between. The law, however, regarding mail contracts, limited the
amounts to be expended, but a clause permitted the appropriation of
money for " expediting" these mail routes, and this clause opened the
way for enormous frauds. The mail routes were leased at the legal
rates, and then vast sums were divided between certain officers of the
Government and the contractors for the additional contracts to expe
dite the same lines. Stephen W. Dorsey, John W. Dorsey, and
Thomas J. Brady, formerly Second Assistant Postmaster-General,
were indicted for a conspiracy to enrich themselves by defrauding
the Government.*
The prominence of the accused drew the attention of the country
to the trial. The frauds came to light while President Garfield was
alive, but nothing was done in the way of prosecution until Attorney-
General Brewster took up the matter. He pushed it vigorously, but
the result was a miscarriage of justice. The verdict of September
II, 1882, convicted several insignificant persons, while the real con
spirators went free. A new trial began jn December, and continued
six months. Dorsey's chief clerk turned State's evidence and gave
the most damaging testimony against his chief, and yet all three
were acquitted. There could be no doubt of the means employed to
secure this shameless verdict.
For years the Mormons have caused much trouble to our Govern
ment. In 1882 Senator Edmunds introduced an anti-polygamy bill,
which after considerable debate, passed both houses, and being duly
signed by the President, disfranchised and- made all polygamists in
eligible to office, f
The
Mor
mons
* A man who was active in this business told the writer that he made an independent
fortune in the space of a few months.
f The following proclamation of President Cleveland, issued September 27, 1894, gives
a clear idea of the status of the Mormon question:
••WHEREAS, Congress by a statute, approved March 22, 1882, and by statutes in fur.
therance and amendment thereof, denned the crimes of bigamy, polygamy, and unlawful
cohabitation in the Territories and other places within the exclusive jurisdiction of the
United States, and prescribed a penalty for such crimes; and
'•WHEREAS, On or about the sixth day of October, 1890, the Church of the Latter
Day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church, through its President, issued a
manifesto proclaiming the purpose of said Church no longer to sanction the practice of
polygamous marriages, and calling upon all members and adherents of said Church to
obey the laws of the United States in reference to said subject matter; and
" WHEREAS, On the fourth day of January, 1893, Benjamin Harrison, then President of
CHAP. LXXXII ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATION 1449
The suspension bridge connecting the cities of New York and PERIOD vn
Brooklyn is one of the most important structures of the kind in the "^.Jj**
world. The main span is 1,595 feet 6 inches long, and the two land STATES
spans 930 feet each, the masonry approach on the New York side
being 1,562 feet, and on the Brooklyn side 971 feet, so that the to
tal length is about 6,000 feet, or a little more than a mile.
The middle of the bridge is 138 feet above the water in winter, Thg
and, because of the expansion produced by heat, three feet less in Brooklyn
summer. There are few vessels which cannot pass ^underneath with l s*
out lowering their topmasts. Work was begun January 3, 1870, un
der the direction of the distinguished Prussian engineer, John A
Roebling, who built the suspension bridge below Niagara, another
across the Mississippi, and several similar enterprises. Mr. Roeb-
ling's foot was crushed while arranging his plans, and he died of
lockjaw. His son, Washington A. Roebling, with the help of his
wife and at the cost of a permanent injury to his own health, com
pleted the great task. Twenty persons were killed while the con
struction was going on, and the opening, May 24, 1883, was attended
with many impressive ceremonies.
An interesting event of President Arthur's administration was the Explora-
exploration of Alaska, our new possession, which was purchased from
Russia in 1867. This expedition was in charge of Lieut. Frederick
Schwatka, U. S. A., who had had some experience in exploring the
Arctic regions.
The Government had nothing to do with the expedition, which left
Portland, Ore., in the Victoria, May 22, 1883, at midnight. This
the United States, did declare and grant a full pardon and amnesty to certain offenders
under condition of future obedience to their requirements, as is fully set forth in said
proclamation of amnesty and pardon; and
*' WHEREAS, Upon the evidence now furnished me I am satisfied that the members and
adherents of said Church generally abstain from plural marriages and polygamous cohabi.
tation, and are now living in obedience to the laws, and that the time has now arrived
when the interests of public justice and morals will be promoted by the granting of am
nesty and pardon to all such offenders as have complied with the conditions of said proc
lamation, including such of said offenders as have been convicted under the provisions of
said acts:
'* Now, therefore, I, Grover Cle iland, President of the United 'States, by virtue of
powers in me vested, do hereby declare and grant a full amnesty and pardon to all per
sons who have in violation of said acts committed each of the offences of polygamy, big
amy, adultery, or unlawful cohabitation under the color of polygamous or plural marriage,
or who, having been convicted of violations of said acts, are now suffering deprivation of
civil rights, having the same, excepting all persons who have not complied with the con
ditions noted in said Executive proclamation of January 4, 1893."
1450 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXII
PERIOD^VH unusual hour was taken, because the officers engaged were afraid
THB NEW that the Government would forbid it.
CJKI
STATUS f^g Columbia- River bar was crossed the next night, and the fol
lowing morning the Victoria entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca,
leading to the inland passage to Alaska. Arriving at Victoria, the
metropolis of British Columbia, the explorers passed over to Port
p . Townsend, the port of entry for Puget Sound, and continued along
Re- the inland passage. The exploration of Alaska was quite complete,
Saska and added much valuable information to that already possessed. The
Indians of that country are very peculiar and interesting, and the
Yukon River is the third in length in the United States, the fourth
in North America, the seventh in the Western hemisphere, and the
seventeenth in the world. It is 2,044 miles long, and drains an area
of 200,000 square miles.
Beginning with 1875, our country was kept pretty busy celebrating
the centennial anniversaries of Revolutionary events down to the
evacuation of New York by the British, November 26, 1783. The
two most important were the Centennial Exposition of 1876, and
the anniversary of the surrender of 'Cornwallis at Yorktown, October
19, 1781.
Thousands of visitors flocked to Yorktown, where the ceremonies
proper began with the arrival of the President and most of his Cabi
net, on the 1 8th. The exercises were opened with prayer by Rev.
Robert Nelson, grandson of Governor Nelson, who commanded the
Virginia militia at Yorktown. Governor Holliday, of Virginia, de
livered the address of welcome. At its conclusion the sword which
was voted to the messenger who carried the news of the surrender to
The Philadelphia was displayed. Among the guests seated on the plat-
Y<^k- form was W. W. Henry, grandson of Patrick Henry. The corner-
Centen- stone of the fine monument was laid with Masonic ceremonies, under
direction of the Grand Master of Virginia, who occupied the chair
in which George Washington had sat while Grand Master of the
Virginia Masons.
More than twenty thousand people were present at the ceremonies
on the I Qth, including an array of notables such as are seldom
brought together in this country. There were many governors, lead
ing officers, and distinguished German and French guests, the de
scendants of those that had given us invaluable aid duiing the revo*
lutionary struggle for independence. A striking feature at the
CHAP. LXXXII ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATION
1451
STATBS
conclusion was the reading of the following order (and its compli- PERIOD vn
ance) by Secretary Elaine :
" In recognition of the friendly relations so long and so happily
subsisting between Great Britain and the United States, in the trust
and confidence of peace and good will between the two countries for
all centuries to come, and especially as a mark of the profound re-
BROOKLYN BRIDGE
spect entertained by the American people for the illustrious sover
eign and gracious lady who sits upon the British throne, it is hereby
ordered that at the close of these services commemorative of the valor
and success of our forefathers in their patriotic struggle for indepen
dence, the British flag shall be saluted by the forces of the army and
navy of the United States now at Yorktown. The Secretary of War
and the Secretary of the Navy will give orders accordingly.
"CHESTER A. ARTHUR."
The United States has furnished the most intrepid of explorers.
It was Captain Wilkes, as will be remembered, who coasted for so
many hundred miles the Antarctic continent, and Americans have
A
Graceful
Tribute
1452 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXII
PERIOD vii been equally daring in penetrating into the ice-invested regions of
THE NEW the far North. The most famous of all these achievements was that
UNITED
STATES which is known as the Greely expedition.
It was agreed in 1880 that several of the leading nations should
unite in fixing a number of stations in the polar regions, for the pur
pose of studying the different phases of the weather and the action
The of the magnetic needle, of which as yet little is known. Congress
Greely furnished the money for planting a scientific colony at the two places
tj£>a l" selected by the commission. These were Point Barrow in Alaska,
and Lady Franklin Bay in Grinnell Land. The party that was to go
to the latter station were Lieut. Adolphus W. Greely, U. S. A.,
commmander ; Lieuts. F. S. KisKngbury and James B. Lockwood,
U. S. A., as assistants ; and Dr. O. Pavy as surgeon and naturalist.
In addition, the company included twenty-two sergeants, corporals,
and privates, and tw~- Esquimaus. The steamer Proteus conveyed
the expedition to the oay, the starting point being St. Johns, New
foundland.
It will be noted hdt the Greely expedition did not set out to find
the North Pole, as most of the former exploring parties in that re
gion have done, but its movements were to be confined to the waters
of Smith Sound, with which hundreds of navigators are as familiar
as with those of Long Island Sound.
The simple plan for parties engaged in work like this is to fix
upon a place as a base, which can be reached by the government ves
sels with supplies. Then the explorers can venture in any direction
they choose and stay until their provisions run low, when they have
only to make their way back to the base, knowing that they will
there find all they want. If they wished to push so farnorth that it
would be too great a loss of time to return to the first point, their
friends could readily carry supplies forward by means of sledges, and
place them at different points, so that the explorers would be sure of
them on their return.
The The arrangement was that a relief party should be sent ^o Lady
Party Franklin Bay in the summer of 1883, to bring back Greely and his
companions, or to leave plentiful supplies against his return. In
1882 the Neptune landed a quantity of stores at Cape Sabine and
marked the storage place, so that Greely could readily find them
when he came back.
The relief expedition of the following year included the steam
CHAP. LXXXII ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATION
1453
whaler Proteus and the United States gunboat Yantic, but when ap
proaching Cape Sabine the Proteus was " nipped" in the ice and
sunk before she could land any of her provisions. Lieutenant Gar-
lington, the commander, and his men managed to escape in the boats
to Upernavik, the Danish settlement, where the Yantic had been
left. Thence the relief expedition made its way back to the United
States, leaving Greely and the explorers in a most dangerous situa
tion ; for, when they should reach Cape Sabine, they would be in
urgent need of provisions and would find none. There was no game
in that land of desolation, and it would seem that nothing could save
the brave men from perishing as have so many that penetrated the
regions in the past two or three hundred years.
It will be recalled that the Greely expedition, which sailed from
St. Johns, July 7, 1881, did so in the steamer Proteus, which was
afterwards sunk by the ice. She carried on her deck a steam launch,
the Lady Greely. The explorers reached Upernavik without acci
dent on the 23d of July, and laid in a stock of provisions, and hired
two Esquimau guides and thirty-two native dogs. About the middle
of August they reached Lady Franklin Bay or Sound, near which
they had been ordered to erect a signal station to be called Fort
Conger.
A rough but substantial house was built, and before the close of
the month all were in comfortable quarters. Exploring parties were
continually pushing in different directions. Musk-oxen, ptarmigans,
and occasionally wolves were shot, most of the latter being killed by
arsenic, as their attentions often became troublesome. No one dared
to venture away from home without firearms. On the i6th of
October the temperature was 40° below zero, and the moisture on
the inside of the window-panes froze to the depth of an inch, and on
the 1 3th of February it was 65° below, an intensity of cold almost
inconceivable. Glycerine and pure brandy froze solid, and even the
hardy Esquimau dogs suffered; but the men stood it better than
would be supposed.
The most important " side issue" of the enterprise was the explor
ation of the northern coast of Greenland. This expedition was in
charge of Lieutenant Lockwood, one of the most daring of young
men, and well qualified for the work. ' It was arranged that Sergeant
Brainard was to proceed to Cape Sumner in advance with supplies,
Lockwood following with more on his dog sledge. Sergeant
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Peril of
Greely
and his
Party
At Fort
Conger
1454 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXII
PERIOD vii Brainard made his start April 2, amid the waving of flags, the dis-
TH^NEW charge of firearms, and loud cheers.
STATES ^ study of the map is necessary to understand the movements of
this expedition, which in some respects was the most notable that ever
penetrated the remote regions of the far North. Fort Conger stood
near where the 64th degree of longitude is crossed by the 8ist of
Ex lor- nortn latitude. The party were thirteen in number, and the hard-
ing the ships they underwent seem incredible. The wind blew so hard for
CoasT days that the men were almost lifted off their feet, and the snow that
drove into their faces blinded them. The vast masses of ice were
tumbled together, so that often they had to use their axes to make
room for their sleds, and were continually climbing and toiling over
the crystal crags and boulders. At night, they huddled together in
their sleeping-bags, sometimes perspiring, but more often on the
verge of freezing, and yet resolute to push forward so long as it was
possible to make the least advance. Several broke down under the
strain and returned, the party being thus reduced to nine. Then
Lieutenant Lockwood and two Esquimaus were obliged to turn back
on the loth of April and force their way to Fort Conger, fifty miles
distant, in order to get new runners for their sleds and the food
which could be obtained nowhere else. The laborious journey to
camp was accomplished, and then with three sledges drawn by the
men and one dog sledge, they resumed their plodding towards the
Pole. On the 25th of April they were farther northward than any
American had ever been, and were hopeful of passing the highest
point reached by man.
Near where the 55th meridian and the parallel of 82° 20' cross
each other the majority of the party turned back, while_ three men,
Lieutenant Lockwood, Sergeant Brainard, and Frederick the Esqui-
Groping mau continued the northward journey, taking twenty-five days'
the^Pofe rati°ns with them. Since it was impossible to obtain another particle
of food, it was necessary that the advance and return should be
made very nearly within the period named.
It was the most toilsome kind of work from the start. The men
had to help push and pull the sledges, often being compelled to un
load them before obstructions could be surmounted.
Cape Britannia is in latitude about 82° 45'. It was seen but not
reached by the explorer Beaumont, and Lieutenant Greely had no
hope that Lockwood could pass beyond, but the intrepid young man
CHAP. LXXXII ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATION 1455
was determined to surpass all previous records. At Cape Britannia, PERIOD vn
he built a cabin and left five days' provisions and a record of what "-^J^
he had done, including everything that could possibly be spared. STATES
Thus it may be said the three men were stripped for the greatest
race ever run.
Frederick the Esquimau was left with the dogs in camp, and
Lockwood and Brainard climbed a half-mile up a mountain near by
and surveyed the landscape of sun and ice. Carefully noting their •Bonder-
bearings, they labored forward, often taking observations, and thrilled ful Work
by the knowledge that they were steadily drawing near the highest
point ever attained, and fired, too, by the resolve at all costs to pass
beyond it.
The memorable journey ended on the I3th of May, 1882, when
they reached a wide chasm in the ice, too broad to be crossed, and
extending for miles to the right and left. The Esquimau set out to
find a place narrow enough to be leaped. While he was absent,
Lockwood and Brainard prepared to take an observation ; but a dense
fog came up and prevented it. Frederick returned with the report
that he had found no place where the rent in the ice could be
crossed. A storm set in and raged so furiously that the three were
obliged to huddle together in their little tent and wait for it to abate.
On the 1 5th, all the conditions were favorable, and the observa
tions were taken with a care that excluded the possibility of mis
take. Then the thrilling fact was proved that their longitude was
40° 46^' west of Greenwich, their latitude 83° 24^' north. Hither
to the highest latitude reached was by the Nares expedition, sent
out by England in 1875-76, but the three men were now consider
ably beyond that, so that they had ATTAINED THE MOST NORTHERN
LATITUDE AND WERE NEARER THE NORTH POLE THAN ANY MAN
HAD EVER YET GONE.*
The extreme point thus reached was named Lockwood Island, and A Great
the farthest point which they could faintly discern in the far-away
horizon received the name of Cape Robert Lincoln, in honor of the
son of Abraham Lincoln, who was Secretary of War.
With the same labor and hardships the three men toiled south-
*This great achievement, however, has been surpassed by the Norwegian explorer,
Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, who on the 7th of April, 1895, reached a point among the ice
hummocks of the Arctic Ocean only 261 statute miles distant from the North Pole.
The latitude attained by Dr Nansen was 86° 14'.
1456 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXII
PERIOD vii ward, and early in June rejoined their comrades at Fort Conger.
THE^NEW Then began the wearisome waiting for the relief ship ; but the days
STATES an(^ weeks passed, and the dismal scene was brightened by no sight
of the longed-for sail or smoke of steamer. And so the months
slowly grew, until with an unspeakable depression of spirits they
saw the long Arctic night close in upon them.
Th That fearful reign of darkness, stretching into months, is a trial
Reign of before which the strongest men succumb. They grow insane, and
ness" seek to end their wretchedness by suicide. Days pass without a
man speaking a word ; the enforced companionship becomes intoler
able to the most intimate of friends, who plunge off in the darkness
for no other purpose than to get out of sight of each other.* Lieu
tenant Greely informed his companions that whether the relief ship
came or not, they would start for home no later than the 8th of
August. To add to the misery of the situation there was consider
able ill-feeling among many of the members, though Greely, Lock-
wood, and Brainard remained friends through all the hideous trials.
But charity must be extended to the poor fellows, for who could have
been tried more sorely than they ?
The twenty-five explorers started homeward, August 9, 1883,
using their little steam launch, a whale-boat, an English boat, and a
still smaller one for which need might arise. Their first destination
was Littleton Island, where they hoped to find a ship that would take
them to Newfoundland.
The voyage began well, but soon became a perpetual battle with
the ice and blinding tempest. Reaching Princess Marie Bay at last,
all saw that their situation was perilous as it could be. Most of the
men were in despair.
A Hope- The launch became useless, and they resorted to sledge travel, two
Journey of the sledges carrying a boat each, and all drawn by the men. The
floe upon which they were floating broke apart, and, after escaping
many dangers, they reached a point about a dozen miles from Cape
Sabine. A small party made its way thither, and came back with
news of the loss of the Proteus. It was inevitable that another
winter should be spent in the awful region; and a spot between Cape
Sabine and Cocked Hat Island was selected for their home. A new
hut was put up, and a welcome supply of provisions obtained from
* The snrgeon of Dr. Kane's expedition says that so all-pervading was this intense
depression that he saw a rooster deliberately fly overboard and drown himself.
CHAP. LXXXII ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATION
1457
the cache left by the Neptune in 1882. It was impossible to get
away from the spot, and when the long wintry night drew to a close,
all the men were on the verge of starvation. Not one of them be
lieved that they could survive more than a few days longer. Several
died, the brave Lieutenant Lockwood passing away on the morning
of April 9, 1884.
It may seem that the Government had forgotten Lieutenant Greely
and his comrades, but such was not the fact. There was widespread
alarm felt for them. In May, 1884, a relief expedition, consisting
of the Thetis, Bear, and Alert, under Commander Winfield S. Schley,
sailed from the Brooklyn Navy- Yard, leaving St. Johns on the I2th
of the same month. The ships encountered a great deal of ice in
Baffin Bay and Smith Sound, but pushed through, and June 22d a
number of men were sent ashore to search for the lost explorers.
With the steam launch of the Bear, they reached Brevoort Island,
where they found the letter written by Lockwood eight months be-
fore, and which made known that they were nearly out of provisions
and told where they had gone into camp.
The fact that the letter was written so long previous made it seem
impossible that any of the explorers were alive, but the relief party
now put forth every energy. The Bear pushed forward, and her
launch was sent out again the next day, with the result that the
camp of the sufferers was discovered. Lifting the flap of the
collapsed tent, the emaciated Greely was seen, apparently dying from
starvation and exhaustion.
Seven men out of the twenty-five were alive : Lieutenant Greely,
Brainard, Connell, Ellison, Biederbeck, Fredericks, and Long. Not
one could have survived another week had relief failed to reach
them.
The famishing and dazed men were treated with all possible skill,
but it took them a long time to rally. Ellison died during the halt
at Disco Harbor, and the relief expedition reached St. Johns, July
1 7th, whence the news was telegraphed to the United States. The
survivors arrived in New York on the 8th of August.*
* In 1886. the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain awarded two grand prizes
to Captain Adolphus W. Greely and Sergeant David L. Brainard, respectively, for hav
ing attained the greatest results in adding to geographical knowledge by explorations.
First-Lieutenant David L. Brainard, of the Second Cavalry, was promoted to a cap
taincy in 1894. His remarkable record as a subsistence officer on the ill-fated Franklin
Bay expedition attracted the attention of Secretary Lamont. When the camp was starv-
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
The
Relief
Expedi
tion
Rescue o*
the Ex
plorers
I45'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXX*
PERIOD vii No account of this scene can be so graphic as that given by the
'UNITED' memDer of the rescue party who first came upon the dying explorers.
STATES This man was J. A. Jackson, who was a signal man for Com
mander Schley.
"When we reached Beard Inlet," said he, "we came across a
record of Greely in an ice cache. We always kept a man in the
crow's nest on top of a mast, watching closely with a strong glass
for any signs of a habitation. This lookout man was changed every
half hour, and only men with strong eyesight were selected. There
was no such thing as darkness in those regions at that season of the
year — just a continual day. One day the lookout discerned a tiny
speck on the land several miles away, and boats were lowered for an
A f investigation. I was detailed among the boat's crew. When we
Story came to land we found the speck the lookout discovered to be a tent-
flap half raised. I shall never forget the sight as I pulled back the
tent flap.
" Greely was in a half -raised posture, his eyes glassy. He was
resting on his sleeping-bag, and in one hand he held a boot. The
top of the boot-leg was moist, and I suppose he had been trying to
get a little nourishment by chewing it. Fredericks was lying close
to him, and as I supposed at first glance was dead. Greely, as we
afterwards found out, had heard the shouting of our party. It was
about 40° below zero that day, and so still was the air that our
shouts could be heard a long distance away. One of the explorers,
Connell, was lying on his back with as little of life in him as any
man ever had. There was not a trace of human warmth to his
limbs, nor could I detect even the faintest beat of his heart, yet that
man lived. Whiskey saved him. We 'wig-wagged,' as the method of
signalling is called, to the ship. When the seven rescued men were
taken aboard ship we didn't dare take them to a warm room ; instead,
they were kept on deck and given gradually increased doses of
whiskey and nourishment. One of the men had his hands and feet
frozen off, as completely amputated as if by a surgeon's knife. He
died on his way home."
ing at Camp Sabine, Brainard, who had charge of the rations, consisting of Sealskin and
the other miserable substitutes for food, made primitive scales, carefully weighing out the
ration of each man, and when all others were too weak to move, he prolonged the exist
ence of the party seventy days by catching shrimps and dividing them among the sur
vivors, all of whom afterwards testified their belief that be never took even his rightful
share from their scanty store.
CHAP, LXXXII ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATION
1459
In the Presidential election of 1884, the Democrats put forward PERIOD v/i
Grover Cleveland, of New York, with Thomas A. Hendricks, of In- T"E NE*
UNITED
diana, the candidate for Vice- President. The nominees of the Re- STATM
publicans were James G. Elaine, of Maine, and General John A.
Logan, of Illinois. The Republicans made the tariff the main issue,
while the Democrats used civil service reform as their principal ar
gument. The Republicans as a party were strongly protective, but
many of their political opponents held the same views, and the lines
between the two parties were often intermingled or disappeared
altogether.
The contest was close, with the indications in favor of the election
of Elaine, when his chances were destroyed by one of those trifling
incidents which sometimes change the destiny of a nation. At a
banquet, near the close of the campaign, in New York City, Rever
end Dr. Eurchard, in a speech of welcome, referred to the Demo
cratic party as that of " Rum, Romanism, and rebellion." The
words (which Mr. Elaine said he did not rebuke because he did not
hear them) offended many Roman Catholics, who voted for Mr.
Elaine's opponent. Iv*r. Cleveland carried the State of New York
by the slight majority of 1,047, out of a total of more than 1,100,000.
This gave him an aggregate of 219 electoral votes to 182 for Mr.
Elaine. John P. St. John, the Prohibition candidate, received
151,809 popular votes, but no electoral ones, and 133,825 were cast
for Benjamin F. Butler, the greenback candidate.
p ,
dential
U Class k[ iMtleghiP _ jf|f
CHAPTER LXXXIII
CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION, 1885-1889
[Authorities: Probably one of the most efficient causes in impairing the usefulness of
our Presidents is office-seeking. Garfield lost his life on account of disappointing the
miserable Guiteau in his importunities for position, and life was scarcely endurable for
each of his predecessors in the Presidential chair on account of being pestered by people
in search of positions under the Government. Senators and Congressmen champion the
cause of these cormorants, and use the influence of their high office to secure for them
the places they seek. It is doubtful whether Jackson, when he said, "To the victors be
long the spoils," realized how much he was going to plague his successors. Mr. Cleve
land's partially successful attempt to bring under the domination of the civil service
eveiy office possible was undoubtedly a step in the right direction, and one that
wili relieve future Presidents of much nerve-wrecking annoyance. It is to be hoped that
the vork he began will be continued and perfected by his successors until our chief mag
istrate will be relieved from these exasperating beseechings. Of course, this will dk-
please the professional politicians, who endeavor to enhance their own political fortun&s
by securing places for their most active supporters. Special authorities for this chapter
are the same as those of the preceding.]
.OVER CLEVELAND was born at CaldwelL
N. J., March 18, 1837. He received his educa
tion in the public schools, and taught for *
while in an institution for the blind at Clinton,
N. Y. He made his home in Buffalo in 1855,
and, having been admitted to the bar, was ap
pointed assistant district-attorney in 1863, and
seven years later was elected sheriff of the county.
Although the city was strongly Republican, he was chosen mayor iri
1 88 1. His course added to his popularity, and he received the
nomination for governor in the autumn of 1882. His majority of
192,854 was so prodigious that it attracted the attention of the
Ec-Prwititttt Cleveland Home.
CBAP. LXXXIII CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1461
country, and led to his nomination for the Presidency at Chicago,
July 10, 1884, by a vote of 683 against 137 for all the others.
Four members of Mr. Cleveland's Cabinet served out the term.
They were: Secretary of State, Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware;
Secretary of War, William C. Endicott, of Massachusetts ; Secretary
of the Navy, William C. Whitney, of New York, and Attorney-
General, Augustus H. Garland, of Arkansas.
Daniel Manning, of New York, Secretary of the Treasury, was
succeeded by Charles S. Fairchild, of New York; Lucius Q. C.
Lamar, of Mississippi, Secretary of the Interior, by William F. Vilas,
of Wisconsin, transferred from the Post-Office Department, where
he was succeeded by Don M. Dickinson, of Michigan. Norman J.
Colman, of Missouri, was the firist Secretary of Agriculture.
Twenty-five years had passed since the Democracy held the reins
of government, and the members of the party, as might be expected,
' were clamorous for the offices that had been so long in the hands
of the Republicans ; but the President offended a great many of his
supporters by living up to the principle of civil service reform,
which, as will be remembered, was the leading plank in the plat
form on which he was elected.
One of the most striking objects that greets a person when sail
ing up the harbor of New York is the Statue of Liberty. It is the
conception of Frederick Auguste Bartholdi, the eminent French
sculptor. An appeal made for subscriptions in France in 1874 met
with a cordial response, and February 22, 1877, Congress voted to
accept the gift and set apart Bedloe's Island for the site. The
official presentation of the statue to the minister of the United
States took place in Paris, July 4, 1884, the presentation being made
by Count de Lesseps, who stated that one hundred thousand French
persons had contributed to its cost, and that they represented 180
cities, 40 general councils, and many chambers of commerce and
societies.
The Bartholdi status was dedicated October 28, 1886, and, al
though the weather was cold and rainy, the ceremonies were impres
sive. Among those on the reviewing stand were President Cleve
land, General Sheridan, Secretaries Bayard, Lamar, Whitney, and
Vilas of the Cabinet ; M. Bartholdi, M. de Lesseps, and the French
delegation, and many leading American citizens.
Every one knows that the Bartholdi statue is of colossal propor-
PERIOD Vll
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
The
Presi
dent's
Cabinet
The Bar
tholdi
Statue
1462
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXJII
STATES
tions, being the largest work of the kind ever built, but the follow-
*n& %ures are worth noting: it is 150 feet from the base of the fig-
ure j-o fae top of the torch, which is 305 feet above low-water mark.
The copper sheets that form the outside of the statue weigh 88
tons. The forefinger is more than eight feet long; the second joint
about five feet in circumference; the finger-nail more than afoot;
GROVER CLEVELAND
the nose almost four feet, and the head about fourteen and a half
Death of feet high. Forty persons can stand together in the head, and twelve
within the hollow torch-
The first year of Cleveland's administration will always be mem
orable because it saw the death of the foremost soldier and citizen
of the Republic. A malignant cancer developed at the root of
General Grant's tongue, and medical science was powerless to check
ULYSSES S. GRANT
REPRODUCED FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDERSON TAKEN NOT LONG BEFORE GENERAL GRANT'S LAST ILLNESS
1464
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIIJ
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Bio
graph
ical
Sketch
of Grant
its growth. His vitality enabled him to resist it for a long time, and
he was removed to Mount McGregor, in New York State, where he
was surrounded by his devoted family and attended by physicians of
the highest skill. With death steadily advancing upon him, and
amid the most poignant suffering, he completed his Memoirs, which
form an invaluable addition to the history of the Civil War. At
last his great vitality succumbed, and he quietly passed away, a few
minutes after eight o'clock, on the evening of July 22, 1885.
So much has already been told of General Grant, in the history of
the late war, that only a few additional facts are necessary. He was
born at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, April 27, 1822, and
was the son of Jesse Root and Hannah Simpson Grant. His bap
tismal name was Hiram Ulysses, but it was given as Ulysses Simpson
upon his appointment to West Point, and he allowed it so to remain.
He was a sturdy lad with no special taste for a soldier's life when
he entered the Military Academy, from which he was graduated in
1843, standing twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine. He was sent to
the frontier, and gained his first practical knowledge of campaigning
in the war with Mexico. He did so well that he received the brevet
of captain. He remained in the army for a time after his marriage
to Miss Julia Dent, of St. Louis, but resigned in 1854, and lived
near that city on a farm belonging to his wife. He was a real estate
agent for a time, and once ventured to run for the office of city sur
veyor, but was defeated.
Removing to Galena, Illinois, Grant worked as a clerk in his
father's store at a salary of fifty dollars a month. When President
Lincoln called for volunteers, Grant, as the only military man in
Galena, drilled the company raised there, and took it to Springfield,
the capital. He was a patriotic man, and sent a letter to the ad
jutant-general offering his services, but no notice was taken of his
application. Governor Yates, after a time, set him to work to help
organize and equip the volunteers of the State.
This field was limited, but the excellent manner in which he per
formed his task attracted attention, and he was commissioned as
colonel of the Twenty-First Regiment of volunteer infantry. In a
short time his regiment was one of the best drilled and disciplined
in the service. He was stationed at Ironton, Mo., and August 7,
1 86 1, was assigned to duty as brigade commander. He took part at
Cairo on the 2d of September, his territorial command being under
1466
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIM
PERIOD VII
THE~NEW
UNITED
STATES
Well
Merited
Honors
The
Funeral
Ceremo-
Fremont, and including Southeastern Missouri, Southern Illinois, and
Western Kentucky and Tennessee. He lost no time in occupying
Paducah, an important point, threatened by the Confederate General
Polk from Columbus. It was this act that broke up the neutrality
of Kentucky, and incensed the secessionists of that section; but
Grant's course was approved by the Government, and he threw all his
energies into the work he had undertaken.
Grant's first battle in the Civil War was that of Belmont, on
November ^th. Advancing from Cairo, he attacked a strong Confed
erate force, covered by the guns at Columbus, and after driving them
out of their camps with heavy loss, he withdrew to his fleet on the
approach of Confederate reinforcements. His next work was the
brilliant capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, which roused the
admiration of the North. Thenceforward his career is interwoven
with the history of the war, and has therefore been fully told in the
preceding pages.
In many ways the country showed its gratitude to General Grant
for his pre-eminent services. Swords of honor, money, and houses
were given to him; Congress voted its thanks and created a new
army rank for him, and finally he was twice chosen by an immense
majority President of the United States.
After his return from a tour around the world General Grant en-
gaged in business in the city of New York. The soul of honor him
self, he became the victim of adroit swindlers, and lost all his own
savings and those of many others. It was the severest blow of his
life, but he was enmeshed in the toils that have ruined thousands, and
which proved the crowning misfortune of his life. It was shortly
after this that the cancer manifested itself and his earthly career
drew to a close. The funeral ceremonies were among the most im
pressive ever seen in the history of our country. The remains were
fittingly entombed at Riverside Park, on the Hudson, the funeral
procession being viewed by twenty miles of people, wedged shoulder
to shoulder on either side of the nine and a half miles' line of march.
Probably half a million were in the double line and in the windows
along the route. Among those in the carriages were Generals Sher
man, J. E. Johnston, Sheridan, Buckner, John A. Logan, President
Cleveland and his Cabinet, Ex-President Hayes and Arthur, with
Senators, Congressmen, governors, mayors, assemblymen, and hun
dreds of prominent citizens.
CEAP. LXXXIII CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
146;
Among the innumerable honors to the memory of General Grant, PERIOD n;
one of the most pleasing was the unveiling of an equestrian statue in TgJ1}55t
front of the Union League Club in Brooklyn, April 25, 1896. The STA™
STATUE OF LIBERTY
governor of the State and his staff, and many distinguished military
men were present, besides an immense assemblage of citizens from
New York and adjoining States. The string that unveiled the
statue was pulled by Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., son of Colonel Frederick
1468 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIII
PERIOD vii D. Grant, and grandson of General Grant. The statue is bronze,
THE NBW and stands 1 5 feet 8 inches in height, the pedestal being a granite
SPATES block 1 6 feet in height.
Besides General Grant, a number of notable persons passed away
during the first administration of President Cleveland. Vice- Presi
dent Thomas A. Hendricks died unexpectedly at his home in In-
Death of dianapolis on tne afternoon of November 25, 1885. He had returned
the Vice- the day before from Chicago, where he caught a severe cold. He
dent" was carried off by paralysis of the heart. He was a worthy citizen,
charitable, kind, courteous, and held in high respect by political op
ponents as well as by friends.*
General George B. McClellan, at his beautiful home on Orange
Mountain, N. J., was seized with such severe neuralgic pains about
the heart at three o'clock on the morning of October 29, 1885, that
Death of ^e succumbed within five hours. He had always enjoyed robust
Gen. Me- health, and his death was a shock to his friends. He was born in
Philadelphia, December 3, 1826. On his graduation at West Point,
in 1846, he stood second in the largest class that up to that time had
ever been graduated from the academy. He at once took service in
the war with Mexico, and was breveted captain for distinguished
* A curious assertion has been made in connection with the death of Mr. Hendricks.
The law at that time was that the president pro tempore of the Senate succeeded to the
presidential office in the event of the death or incapacity of both President and Vice-
President. In the absence of a president pro temper et the succession devolved upon the
Speaker, but either of these officers only acted as President until Congress could be
called together on twenty days' notice, and a special election could be ordered. The death
of Mr. Hendricks early in Mr. Cleveland's term brought a situation that had no prece
dent. Until his sickness Mr. Hendricks had prevented, by declining to vacate the chair,
the election of a president pro tempore, induced thus to act with some political advantage in
view, the Senate being Republican by a narrow majority. When he died, therefore, there
was no president pro tempore % and there was no Speaker, since the death occurred be
tween the dissolution of one Congress and the assembling of the next. While President
Cleveland was making his preparations to go to Indianapolis to attend the funeral, the
peculiar situation was laid before him that if he were killed the country could have no
head, and there would be no one with even temporary authority to call an extraordinary
> , session of Congress. No special election could be ordered, and indeed no step at all be
«• taken. All must be in confusion until the time for the regular assembling of Congress in
December; and until the Senate chose a president pro tempore or the House elected a
Speaker, no one could perform any of the duties of President. The extraordinary situa
tion was impressed upon Mr. Cleveland by Senator Edmunds (who was the first to per-
ceive it) and others, and upon their urgency the President remained in Washington
(for which he was severely criticised) during the funeral of Mr. Hendricks. As soon
as Congress convened afterwards, Senator Edmunds pressed to enactment the Presi
dential Succession Bill, by which such a contingency as the one named is rendered
impossible.
CHAP. LXXXIII CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1469
bravery at the capture of the City of Mexico. At West Point, Stone- PERIOD vn
wall Jackson was one of his classmates. TIJ*I?™
McClellan's career with the Army ot the Potomac and during the STATES
Civil War is a part of history. In 1877 he was elected Democratic
governor of New Jersey by the large majority of 12,000. His ad
ministration was creditable. His character was stainless through
life, and he died as he had lived, a consistent Christian.
General Winfield Scott Hancock, commanding the military Death &
division of the Atlantic, Department of the East, died on the after- Gen.
nftttcock
noon of February 9, 1886, when he lacked five days of being sixty-
two years old. He was born in Pennsylvania, being a twin of his
brother Hilary. When he was at West Point, U. S. Grant, Me-
Clellan, Rosecrans, Longstreet, and Stonewall Jackson were cadets.
He was breveted for gallantry in the war with Mexico, and made a
fine record during the Civil War. He possessed undaunted courage,
was a fine organizer, a splendid fighter, and a loyal supporter of Mc-
Clellan, Burnside, Hooker, and all the commanders of the Army of
the Potomac. No one did more than he to win the decisive battle
of Gettysburg, and he received the thanks of Congress for his ser
vices. He was painfully wounded in this battle, but kept his saddle
as long as he could sustain himself. While he lay on a stretcher,
as we have learned, he sent word to General Meade, telling him the
Confederates were in full retreat. At Chancellorsville he captured
General Edward Johnson and his whole division. In the Presiden
tial election of 1880 he received 10,000 more votes than Garfield,
and but for his unfortunate declaration that the tariff was a " local
issue" he would have been successful. General Hancock was strik
ingly handsome in appearance, and his marked courtesy of manner
and thoughtful consideration made him popular in the South. He
was a patriot who was an honor to the republic in which he was born
and to which he gave his lifelong services.
Samuel Jones Tilden died on the morning of August 4, 1886, at Death of
Yonkers, N. Y. He was born in New Lebanon, in the same State, s/ !•
February 9, 1814, and was a very successful lawyer. The most
creditable work of his public career was his fight against the cor
rupt " Tweed Ring" in New York City. He was elected governor
of New York, in 1873, by a majority of 50,000, and his administra
tion was a commendable one. His statesmanlike qualities gave him
the Presidential nomination in 1876, when, as has been shown, he
1470 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXX;II
was really elected, though the Electoral Commission decided in favor
Ts£EDw of R- B- Hayes-
STATES Ex-President Arthur died at his home in New York Oty,
November 18, 1886, of Bright's disease. His funeral was attended
by the President and his Cabinet, General Sheridan, and other dis
tinguished citizens. General John A. Logan, the foremost type of
Death of ^e American volunteer, died at his home in Washington, December
Ex- 26, 1886, of a violent attack of rheumatism, complicated with brain
Prcsi- , T
dent trouble.
Arthur Twenty years had passed since the sun of the Confederacy sank
forever behind the hills of Appomattox. The leaders were fast
passing away, and the grass was growing over the battlefields, fur
rowed by shot and shell, and upon the mounds that marked the last
resting place of the fallen heroes. The " bloody chasm" that once
separated the sections was closed, and across^it were clasped the
hands of those who wore the Blue and those who wore the Gray.
Mourners who had visited the cemetery in New Orleans to strew
^hd?hUe fl°wers on tne graves °f their dead friends laid the sweet tributes
Gray also upon the last resting-places of those that had once been their
enemies. This act of honoring alike the Confederate and Union
dead touched a responsive chord North and South. In one section,
Memorial Day is as sacred an anniversary as is Decoration Day in
the other.
It was this incident that inspired Judge Francis M. Finch, of
New York, to write :
THE BLUE AND THE GRAY.
By the flow of the inland river
Whence the fleets of iron have fled,
Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver,
Asleep are the ranks of the dead.
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day —
Under the one, the Blue;
Under the other, the Gray.
These in the robings of glory,
Those in the gloom of defeat.
All with the battle blood gory,
In the dusk of eternity meet.
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day,
Under the laurel, the Blue;
Under the willow, the Gray.
LXXXIII CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1471
From the silence of sorrowful hours.
The desolate mourners go.
Lovingly laden with flowers.
Alike for the friend and foe.
Under the sod and the dew.
Waiting the judgment day—
Under the roses, the Blue.
Under the lilies, the Gray.
So with an equal splendor,
The morning sun rays fall,
With a touch impartially tender,
On the blossoms blooming for all.
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day —
Broidered with gold, the Blue;
Mellowed with gold, the Gray.
So, when the Summer calleth
On forest and field of grain,
With an equal murmur falleth
The cooling drip of the rain.
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day —
Wet with the rain, the Blue;
Wet with the rain, the Gray.
Sadly, but not with upbraiding,
The generous deed was done;
In the storm of the years that are fading,
No braver battle was won.
Under the sod and the dew.
Waiting the judgment day —
Under the blossoms, the Blue;
Under the garlands, the Gray.
No more shall the war-cry sever,
Or the winding rivers be red;
They banish our anger forever,
When they laurel the graves of our dead.
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day —
Love and tears for the Blue,
Tears and love for the Gray.
PERIOD VI
THE NE-«
UNITED
STATES
and Citadel.
CHAPTER LXXXIV
CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION, 1885-1889
(CONCLUDED)
[Authorities: Among the matters discussed in this chapter are the anarchist riots at
Chicago during Mr. Cleveland's first administration and the murder by them of a number
of policemen. The anarchists were subsequently tried, and punished by execution or
imprisonment. Later, a governor of Illinois, obviously in the hope that it will help his
political fortunes, denounces those who were instrumental in bringing these miscreants to
justice, and pardons those that survive. One of the least hopeful signs of permanence in
a government like our own is that such men can become leaders of political parties, have
themselves elected to high office, and so become efficient in controlling and directing the
industrial and political destiny of our country. It seems, when speculating about such
episodes, that the elective franchise has been too generously conferred. The rabble of
Europe come here, not with tlieintention of becoming good, law-abiding citizens of our
republic, but to breed discontent among our workingmen and to reap advantage from
the dissensions that result from their r.uschievous propaganda. They are speedily in-
vested with the franchise, and help to place in office such men as the governor referred to.'
|HE Apache Indians of the Southwest are the most
murderous of all the red men that have resisted
the settlement of their country by the white
people. It has been shown that the grossest in
justice marked the action of the first settlers
towards the Indians, and from that day until the
present hour this unwisdom, dishonesty, and
fraud have prevailed to a greater or less degree.
It has been truly said that back of all the Indian outbreaks and mas
sacres the inciting cause will be invariably found in broken treaties,
scoundrelly agents, and disregarded obligations on the part of the
national government. It is a sad fact that in every Indian outbreak
it is the innocent and not the guilty that suffer.
CattU .Sarde-n.. tltw York. Cit«.
CHAP. LXXXIV CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1473
But, aside from the injustice towards the Apaches, they committed PERIOD vii
many of their crimes in pure wantonness. They are treacherous, as TTjJI^EEJs>
merciless as tigers, and with a power of endurance that approaches STATES
the marvellous. One of those stocky, iron-limbed bucks will lope
up the side of a mountain for half a mile without the slightest in
crease of respiration ; he will ride over the alkali plains of Arizona
and New Mexico when the flaming sun so heats the metal of the Th
weapons of his pursuers that they blister their hands ; he will endure Apaches
thirst for hours, and if at the end of two or three days he decides to
eat, he will feast upon serpents, or insects, or kill his pony and con
tinue his raid on foot; a party of them will burrow in the sand that
is hot enough to roast eggs, peering out like so many rattlesnakes,
until the unsuspicious wagon-train has reached the righ't spot, and
then burst upon them like a cyclone; if hard pressed they will
scatter like a covey of quail. When pursuit has been made impos
sible they come together in some mountain gorge, fifty miles
away. They would burn the buildings of a ranch, slaughter the
men, women, and infants, and by the time a pursuit could be or
ganized would be repeating the atrocity a dozen miles distant. The
bravest man shuddered for his family when news reached him that
Victoria, or Mangus, or Geronimo had broken away from the reser
vation, and with eight or ten hostiles was spreading desolation and
woe along the frontier.
There was no trouble with the Warm Spring Indians until 1872.
They were satisfied with their fertile lands in Warm Spring Valley,
New Mexico, and only asked to be let alone. But there were plenty
of greedy white men who coveted the land, and they persuaded the Injustice
Interior Department to order the Indians to leave. In March, 1872, Apaches
they were taken to the barren region around Fort Tularosa, to be
taught the improved methods of farming. Nature interposed a
check, for the soil was not only worthless, but it was so cold that
ice formed except for three months in the year, and the only vege
tation that would grow was stunted turnips. General Howard saw
the blunder that had been made, and had the Warm Spring Indians
sentx back to their old homes. It was not long, however, before
a still greater mistake was committed, when they were removed
to the San Carlos Reservation. There the water was brack
ish and the soil sterile, but, worst of all, the section was the
home of a thousand Chiricahua Apaches, who were hereditary
93
1474
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXI\
PERIOD vii enemies of the Warm Spring band, hardly three-fourths as
T«E NEW numerous.
UNITED
The leader of the Warm Spring Indians was Geronimo, the most
famous of the miscreants that spread terror and desolation for years
through the Southwest. His father was Mangus Colorado, who was.
JNITED
STATES
Geron
imo
AN APACHE WARRIOR
if possible, worse than the son. Mangus Colorado was one of t Le
few Indians who had no ground of complaint against the whiten ;
they had never ill-used him, but his hatred of them was intense.
He trained his son in this terrible school, and when finally Mangus
was killed, he left a worthy successor behind him.
Geronimo pushed the work of massacre so relentlessly that a vig
orous effort was made to run him down. One of those enlisted
against him was a chief named Chato. This Indian was a cousin of
CHAP. LXXXIV CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1475
Geronimo, and the two claimed to be enemies. It was Chato who PERIOD, vn
murdered, some years before, the family of Judge McComas at a ^uJ^-JSf
crossing of the river Gila. Although Chato afterwards professed to STATES
be a good Indian, and never tired in the pursuit of his cousin, there
are grounds for believing that a secret understanding existed between
AN APACHE HOME
them, and that Geronimo received timely warning of every threaten
ing movement against him.
Finally Geronimo declared that he would be a hostile no more. Geron
He remained quiet and peaceful for a time, but in May, 1885, he
broke away from the reservation, taking with him thirty-four war
riors, eight youths, and ninety-one women, the party not going into
camp until they had ridden one hundred and twenty miles. Their
1476 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIV
pursuers were at their heels, and kept it up for several hundred miles,
but not once did they get within gunshot, and the band found safety
STATES among the mountains. The hunt, however, was maintained, and at
last a desperate effort resulted in the capture of Geronimo. He
was held prisoner a single night, when he broke away again. Re
turning some days later with several warriors, he caught up a white
A Cap- woman and threatened to kill her if she did not point out his wife's
ture and tent (this chief is now living with his seventeenth wife). She
Escape showed him the tent, and, seizing his wife, he was off before any
man knew of his presence in camp.
Captain H. W. Lawton took up the pursuit May 5, 1885, with the
intention of operating within Mexican territory, as it was thought
that Geronimo would withdraw to his stronghold in the Sierra
Madres. Instead, however, his band separated into small parties, and
began a bloody raid in Southwestern Arizona and Northwestern
Sonora. Captain Lawton therefore changed hb original plan, and
took up the direct pursuit.
Lawton's command included thirty-five men of Troop 3, Fourth
Cavalry, twenty Indian scouts, twenty men of Company D, Eighth
Infantry, and two pack-trains. They left Fort Huachuca, and
entered at once upon their difficult and dangerous task.
In June, fresh detachments of scouts and infantry took the places
of the others who were worn out, and in the following month the
hostiles were driven southeast of Oposura, the pursuers having
travelled by that time a distance of 1,400 miles, over parched desert
and wild mountains. Never before were the Apaches pressed with
so persistent vigor. Three times they were forced to abandon their
animals and flee on foot. " Every device known to the Indian," says
Captain Lawton, " was practised to throw me off the trail, but with-
A out avail. My trailers were good, and it was soon proved that there
Pursuit;8 was no sPot tne enemv could reach where security was assured."
When the cavalry were used up, infantry and Indian scouts took
their place, doing a work whose difficulty can hardly be understood.
During the day the heat was frightful, and the rain fell in torrents at
night. Many of the iron-limbed soldiers succumbed, until only four-
teen of the infantry were left. When they were barefoot they gave
up, and Lieutenant A. L. Smith with his cavalry took their places.
Amazing as was the endurance of the Apaches, they had never
known anything like this. The tremendous pursuit was due to Gen-
CHAP. LXXXIV CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
M77
eral Miles, who had succeeded General Cook, relieved at his own PERIOD vii
request. As proof of the almost incredible work done by this com- "^.JJjJ*
mand during more than four months, they passed a distance exceed- STATES
ing 3,000 miles, the trail of the Apaches crossing and recrossing
ON THE WAR PATH
itself, and leading through the wildest portions of what seemed inac
cessible mountains. Scout Eduardy once rode a single horse nearly
500 miles within the period of a week. The raiding and massacre-
ing covered a region of 30,000 square miles, while about 3,000
14/8
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIV
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
The
Rene
gades
Geron-
imo
brought
to Bay
soldiers on our side of the line, and as many Mexican soldiers
across the border, were trying to run down the hostiles.
General Miles pressed the pursuit with untiring vigor. The
mountains where they were likely to go were thoroughly scouted.
The renegades, in addition to the unspeakable Geronimo, included
Natchez, son of the famous Cochise, and more than thirty others.
These men knew the trails and passes and water-holes throughout
the 'wild section, and being impeded by no baggage, were able for a
long time to elude their pursuers. Our soldiers stationed guards at
the water-holes, and the heliographic service, just introduced, flashed
orders to troops in the field, from peak to peak, across immense areas
of country.
Captain Lawton, of the Fourth Cavalry, kept up the pursuit of
Geronimo's band and gave the Indians no rest. Frequently he
dashed into their camp and captured their provisions and stock, but
the warriors saved themselves by skurrying into the mountains ; and
the pursuit being still pressed, they hurried across the border into
Mexico.
This, however, availed them nothing, for the soldiers (in accord
ance with an understanding with the Mexican authorities) galloped
after them, and the Mexican troops joined in the pursuit. A few
days later a deserter brought in news that Geronimo's band was en
camped near the town of Fronteras, in the Sierra Madre, and that
they were worn out and short of ammunition. The wily Geronimo
was trying to make a treaty with the Mexicans which would leave
him free to raid American territory.
Learning these facts, Lieutenant Charles B. Gatewood, of the
Sixth Cavalry, volunteered to go into the Apache camp and try to
persuade Geronimo to surrender. Gatewood spoke Apache, and was
an old acquaintance of the great war chief, but the task he offered to
perform was so perilous, as, in the opinion of his friends, to offer no
hope and to involve the certain death of the daring officer. Gatewood
was an experienced Indian fighter, and he knew that these ferocious
miscreants were in the worst mood conceivable, because of being
run down, and the probability was that he would be killed on the in
stant he placed himself within their reach. Nevertheless, he set
out without hesitation, accompanied by two Chiricahua scouts.
The Apaches were encamped in an abandoned Jesuit mission
village of old adobe houses, with an adobe wall around it. When
CHAP. Lxxxiv CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1479
near the place, Gatewood dismounted, and leaving his horse in PERIOD vn
charge of the two scouts, walked into the village. The moment the ^vrrxS*
Indians saw him, they caught up their guns. Gatewood laid down STATE*
his carbine, and, recognizing Geronimo, beckoned to him to ap
proach. The chief advanced, and the two sat down beside each
other, on a pile of stones, for a talk, while the sullen warriors, a
short distance away, grimly awaited the orders of their leader.
Almost the first words of Geronimo were a demand of the visitor Gate-
as to whether he knew the risk he ran, and whether he expected to
leave the place alive. The lieutenant's reply was the only one that
could save his life :
" Of course you can kill me, but you are a great chief that I have
known for years, and to whom I give my confidence. Could you
gain anything by it? The Mexican troops are coming from the
south, and we are only a few miles to the north. You will soon be
surrounded; will you not be wise, therefore, in surrendering to us
and in trusting to our honor?"
Opening the conversation in this way, Gatewood conducted it
with exquisite tact. Knowing thoroughly the Indian character, he
flattered the terrible chief, lulled his suspicion, roused his self-
interest, and increased his fear of the consequences of continuing his
raids and massacres. The officer saw that he had succeeded in in
teresting Geronimo, who finally promised, on the assurance of Gate-
wood that he should be allowed to come and go in safety, to visit
Captain Lawton on the morrow for the purpose of having a talk with
him.
This ended Lieutenant Gatewood's mission, and bidding the chief
good-by, he walked out of the village unmolested and returned to
camp. On the following day Geronimo visited Captain Lawton,
and soon after the two set out for Fort Bowie to meet General Miles,
the Apache band and Captain Lawton's command marching on
parallel lines, and often encamping within sight of each other.
Eleven days later they met General Miles at Skeleton Canon, he Surren-
being on his way from Fort Bowie. At this place Geronimo and Apaches
Natchez, with their followers, surrendered upon the single condition
that their lives should be spared. Geronimo, Natchez, and two of
their warriors rode in an ambulance to Fort Bowie, the nearest rail
way station, the others following on foot. Thence they were sent
eastward to Fort Pickens. Soon afterwards all of the Chiricahua and
1480
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIV
PERIOD vii Warm Spring Apaches remaining on the San Carlos reservation
THE NEW were removed to Fort Marion in Florida.*
UNITED
STATES Regarding the heroism displayed by Lieutenant Gatewood, Cap-
tain Charles Nordstrom says :
- " When Lieutenant Gatewood volunteered to convey terms to
Geronimo he knew that his life depended on the simple caprice of
one of the most bloodthirsty savages on the American continent —
A GALLANT EXPLOIT
A
Merited
Tribute
that his chance? of returning to his wife and babe alive were
probably less than those that his 'scalp-lock' dangling from the end
of a lodge-pole would furnish the enemy as they danced around it
the enthusiasm necessary to continue the campaign. But if he
thought of these things no one ever knew, and he departed upon his
hazardous journey with the same 'nonchalance he would have pre
pared for his daily gallop. His mission proved successful — Geron-
* Another of the many exploits of our soldiers deserves record. In a fight in the
Pointa Mountains, May 3, 1886, Lieutenant Powhatan H. Clark, of the Tenth Cavalry,
dashed forwards at the risk of his life and carried off Corporal Scott, who was desper«
ately wounded and lying helpless under a hot fire of the Apaches. This gallant officef
was injured and drowned in the river near Fort Custer, Mont., in 1893.
CHAP. LXXXIV CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1481
imo and his people, excepting a small band under Mangus — who
later surrendered to Cooper, of the Tenth Cavalry — in due course
surrendering unconditionally to General Miles at Fort Bowie. This
was the second time that Gatewood had bearded the lion in his den.
" Geronimo had surrendered! The Southwest was wild with joy.
Men shook hands, congratulating each other on the happy issue of
the campaign; women kissed and wept in each other's arms, for
their little ones were no longer in danger of having their throats cut
or their brains battered out against the side of the cabin, while they
looked on in anguish, knowing the worse fate in store for them. A
feeling of unutterable relief and thankfulness was experienced by all,
tempered, however, by the unnatural anxiety concerning the disposi
tion to be made of the ' prisoners of war/ Geronimo had surrendered
before, only to * break out ' again with renewed acts of fiendishness.
'Will he be allowed to do the same thing over again when he gets
rested?' was the question asked on all sides.
" No man in this country has read the lessons of experience to
greater advantage than General Miles, as his action at this stage
amply demonstrated. His acquaintance with the previous history of
the Indian question in Arizona, with a thorough knowledge of the
Indian character, convinced him that again to turn Geronimo and his
band loose as « prisoners of war * to prey upon the people at their
leisure, as had been done before, would be one of the most gigantic
crimes of the nineteenth century, for the commission of which he did
not propose to be held responsible. Promises of future good be
havior did not avail ; these had been made before, only to be broken.
It was proposed to- take no further chances, but to put it forever out
of the power of these wild beasts to do further harm. And thus it
happened that almost before the ' Indian Ring ' on the one hand and
the Indian Commission on the other knew that Geronimo was in our
hands, he and his followers were shipped off to St. Augustine, the
Indian Botany Bay, where in meditation upon his past misdeeds he
had become a * quiet, docile old man.'
" Arizona and New Mexico took a long breath. The snake I/ad
not only been scotched, but virtually killed. Every town, from
Albuquerque to Tucson, gave itself up to the joy of the hour.
Fetes were organized, balls and parties were given, and every one
without regard to past affiliations did all in his power to honor him
who had courageously delivered the people from the deadly menace
PERIOD VII
UNITED
STATES
General
Rejoic
ing
The
Rene
gades
Brought
East
ward
1482
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIV
PERIOD vn of a merciless foe. The name of Miles was on every lip, his praises
THE NEW sung DV all.
UNITED J
STATES « Geronimo's deportation marks the commencement of a period of
prosperity unequalled in the history "of the two Territories since
they were added to the national domain as one of the results of the
THE END OF IT ALL
Prosper- Mexican war. The people who but yesterday were fleeing their
^r-!^ e borders prepared to remain, and a tide of immigration set in that
Territo- has continued ever since. The wife and mother no longer kissed
her husband good-by, as he went forth to his daily vocations, with
the sickening fear that he might be brought back to her cold in
nes
CHAP. LXXXIV CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1483
death, the victim of some sneaking Apache's bullet; the husband PERIOD vn
and father departed to his mine or ranch, cheered by the certainty ^j^^w
that on his return he would not find his cabin in ashes, his children STATES
murdered and mutilated, his wife gone, but where he left it in the
morning — his loved ones running to meet him, the glad smile of
conscious security mantling their "happy faces. Is it to be wondered
that these people love Nelson A. Miles? Sheri-
" It was the writer's good fortune to be present when General dan's
Sheridan gave utterance to that bon mot which has since become so
celebrated. It was in January, 1869, in camp at old Fort Cobb,
Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, shortly after Custer's fight with
Black-kettle's band of Cheyennes. Old Toch-a-way (Turtle Dove), a
chief of the Comanches, on being presented to Sheridan, desired 'to
impress the General in his favor, and striking himself a resounding
blow on the breast, he managed to say : ' Me, Toch-a-way ; me good
Injun.' A quizzical smile lit up the General's face as he set those
standing by in a roar by saying: 'The only good Indians I ever saw
were dead.' '
At about ten o'clock at night, August 31, 1886, Richmond, Va.,
was violently shaken by an earthquake, an experience so new
and startling that the city was thrown into wild excitement.
Columbia, S. C., received a more severe shock, the buildings
Swaying back and forth, while the terrified inhabitants rushed
into the streets in their night-robes. There were lesser shocks at
Memphis, Nashville, Raleigh, Chattanooga, Selma, Lynch burg,
Norfolk, St. Louis, Mobile, Louisville, Wilmington (Del.), Wil
mington (N. C.), Cleveland, Chicago, and as far north as Albany,
N. Y.
None of these cities, however, suffered to the extent of Charles-
The
ton, S. C. Telegraphic communication with the rest of the Charles-
world was cut off, and the fear spread that the city had been Earth-
utterly destroyed — a fear that happily proved unfounded. quake
It was a few minutes before ten in the evening that the first shock
was felt in Charleston. From the rocking, tumbling buildings the
people rushed shrieking into the streets, many believing that the last
day of all things had come. Ten distinct shocks were felt at inter
vals of half an hour, gradually growing less severe, so that the last
was only a tremor. The disturbances started several fires, and
twenty buildings were burned before the flames were under control.
1484
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIV
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Extent
of the
Disturb
ances
Anarch
istic Riot
in
Chicago
No element of terror was lacking. The affrighted people camped in
the open streets or fled to the country for refuge.
To the close of September, there were thirty-four recorded shocks ;
twenty-eight were noted in October, and fourteen in November.
Most of them were slight, but the deaths numbered more than a hun
dred; $10,000,000 damage was done, and two-thirds of the city re
quired rebuilding.
Most of the domestic disturbances in this country are due to for
eigners, many of whom flee from their own homes to escape punish
ment for their crimes. Among the thousands that flock to our shores
are the very dregs of society in the Old World, the worst of .whom
are the Anarchists, who scoff at religion and the most sacred of or
dinances, and whose aim in life is to destroy existing governments
by means of violence and murder.
As shown elsewhere, the country was disturbed by numerous
strikes in 1886. The demand was made in Chicago and New York
that eight instead of ten hours should constitute a full day's work.
Many of the disputes were settled by compromise, but generally the
demand was refused. Because of this, 40,000 workmen in Chicago
went on a strike. They were mainly iron-workers, brick-makers,
lumbermen, freight handlers, and factory hands.
On Monday, 'May 3, a swarm of men, incited by the pestilent
Anarchists, and numbering more than 10,000, attacked the Mc-
Cormick Reaper Works, on Western Avenue. In the midst of the
turmoil, a patrol-wagon, containing twelve policemen, hurried to the
spot. Drawing their revolvers, they faced the mob, which had
doubled in numbers, and ordered them to disperse. They replied
with a volley of stones. Then the police fired over their heads and
were jeered at. When this had occurred twice, the officers aimed
directly at the rioters and hit several. The mob returned the fire,
but harmed no one.
Other patrol-wagons dashed up, and the police forced back the
strikers and cleared the streets. The trembling workmen in Mc-
Cormick's Works were brought out and escorted home, amid the
taunting of the people at the windows and on the sidewalks.
On the evening of Tuesday some three thousand men and boys
gathered at the old Haymarket Plaza, Des Plaines and Randolph
streets, in answer to a call circulated by handbills printed in English
and German. Most of the men were armed, expecting a collision
CHAP. LXXXIV CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1485
with the police. In the midst of a wild harangue by one of the
Anarchists, Inspector Bonfield with a column of policemen forced
his way through the mob to the wagon which the speakers used as
a platform, and commanded the orator to cease and the crowd to dis
perse. The mob answered with stones and hoots and grew more
demonstrative because of the forbearance of the officers.
In the midst of the confusion, some person standing at the en
trance to an alley opening on Des Plaines Street (or in the wagon),
hurled a small, thin object, which spat fire as it dropped to the
ground in front of the body of policemen. It was a dynamite bomb,
and the next moment it exploded with awful effect. Seven police
men were killed, eleven crippled for life, and twelve so badly hurt
that they were unfit for duty for more than a year. Despite the ap
palling result, Inspector Bonfield and the remainder of his men
charged upon and scattered the rioters.
The leaders in this horrible outrage were arrested and brought to
trial. They were found guilty, several hanged, and a number sen
tenced to long terms of imprisonment. Governor Altgeld, himself a
German, however, in 1893 pardoned all who were left, on the ground
that their trial was not a fair one. Yet there never was a fairer
trial. It is unquestionably correct law that the overt act of any
band of conspirators truly interprets the criminality of all the
preceding steps. All are responsible for what is done by each in
pursuance of the common purpose. Never was guilt more clearly
established. It may be added that Governor Altgeld's fondness for
setting criminals free led him, during the latter part of his last
gubernatorial term, to include among those pardoned some that he
himself had sentenced when on the bench.
Since the Chicago crime a reaction has set in against Anarchists,
and they have caused little trouble during the last few years.
General Philip Sheridan died after a painful illness at Nonquitt,
Mass., August 5, 1888. He was born in Albany, N. Y., March
6, 1831. He received the advantages of a common school education,
and was appointed to West Point in 1848. He was compelled to
pass an extra year in the institution because of a fight with another
cadet, and was graduated thirty-fourth in a class of fifty-two. He
served on the frontier and in Washington and Oregon. His com
mission as first lieutenant was dated March I, 1861, and when he
came East to play his part in the great drama of the Civil War, it
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
The
Dyna
mite
Bomb
Death of
Gen.
Sheridan
I486
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIV
vii was with the ambition of winning a captaincy before the struggle
^UNITED* was oven He won tnat rank two months later, and in a little morn*
STATES
GENERAL PHILIP SHERIDAN
than a year was commissioned colonel of the Second Michigan
Cavalry. He commanded a brigade and did brilliant work at Boone-
ville, July I, 1862. His commission as brigadier-general bore date
CHAP. LXXXIV CLEVELAND'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1487
of the day of the battle. He assumed command of a division, and PERIOD vn
showed marked skill at Perryville, in the following October. In the
UNITED
terrific engagement at Murfreesboro, Sheridan held for several hours STATES
the key-point, and displayed dauntless bravery and fine generalship.
His commission as major-general bore the date of December 31,
1862, the day on which the battle opened. He distinguished him
self again in the struggle with Bragg at Chickamauga, and his di- ^ ^ .
vision was the first to pass the crest of the ridge at Lookout Moun- Gen.
tain and Missionary Ridge. When Grant was made lieutenant- '
general of the United States, he appointed Sheridan (April 4, 1 864)
to the command of the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, where
his services did much to hasten the conclusion of the struggle. He
was made lieutenant-general March 4, 1869, and a few days later as
sumed command of the Division of Missouri, with headquarters at
Chicago. He visited Europe during the Franco-German war,
1870-71, and was present as spectator at some of the most important
engagements. He succeeded General Sherman, on his retirement,
in command of the armies of the United States, November i, 1883,
and received his commission as general while he lay stricken with
mortal illness.
In the Presidential election of 1 888, eight tickets were put for-
ward. The Democratic was Grover Cleveland, of New York, and
Allan G. Thurman, of Ohio; the Republican, Benjamin Harrison, of
Indiana, and Levi P. Morton, of New York. In addition, the Prohi- Presi-
bition ticket was headed by Clinton B. Fisk, of New Jersey; the Election
Union Labor, by A. J. Streeter, of Illinois ; the United Labor by of l888
Robert J. Coudret, of Illinois; the American Labor by James L.
Curtis, of New York; the Industrial Reform, by Albert E. Redstone,
of California, and the Equal Rights by Belva A. Lockwood, of Wash
ington, D. C.
Only an insignificant support was received by the last six tickets
named. Harrison carried every Northern State except New Jersey,
and received 233 electoral votes to 168 for Cleveland.
CHAPTER LXXXV
HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION, 1889-93
[Authorities: The saddest matter chronicled in this chapter is the awful disaster at
Johnstown, Pa. That catastrophe, like the great Chicago fire, furnished abundant
evidence that, while mankind is pre-eminently selfish, there are thousands of people
sufficiently otherwise to come promptly to the aid of those that suffer from these un
avoidable calamities. Aid in every possible shape, including hundreds of thousands
of dollars, was promptly sent, and a profound sympathy was felt for the victims of that
flood not only in the United States, but throughout civilized Europe. The dream of
the altruist is that a feeling of the common brotherhood of man should grow in inten
sity until injury to one is recognized as an injury to all. The slaughter of the Arme
nians by the Turks furnishes another illustration of the manner in which the thought
ful people of the world can be wrought upon by human suffering. The shameful
impotence of the " Powers of Europe" shows how the best instincts of our humanity are
blighted and made of no avail by the jealousies of politics and the temporizing policy of
diplomacy.]
NJAMIN HARRISON was born at North Bend,
Ohio, August 20, 1833, and is the son of John
Scott Harrison, who was the son of the ninth Presi
dent. He was an excellent student in his youth,
and early attracted attention by his skill in debate,
while in attendance at Miami University, Oxford,
Ohio. He became a law student in Cincinnati,
and married Miss Lavinia Scott before his admis
sion to the bar. When he became a lawyer he settled in Indian
apolis, which has since been his home.
Harrison volunteered early in the war, and was appointed colonel
of the Seventh Indiana, which he raised. He was a brave and skil
ful officer, and on the urgent recommendation of General Hooker
was made a brigadier-general. He was prostrated by an almost fatal
CHAP. LXXXV HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1489
STAT»
illness for a time, but recovered to render excellent service, and, PERIOP
joining Sherman at Goldsborough, commanded a brigade to the close
of the war. He was elected United States Senator in 1880, and
served the full term.
The Cabinet chosen by President Harrison included: James G.
Blaine, Secretary of State; William Windom, Secretary of the
BENJAMIN HARRISON
Treasury (he died in 1891, and was succeeded by Charles Foster);
Redfield Proctor, Secretary of War (succeeded in 1891 by Stephen
B. Elkins); William H. H. Miller, Attorney- General; John Wana-
maker, Postmaster-General ; Benjamin F. Tracy, Secretary of the
Navy; John W. Noble, Secretary of the Interior; Jeremiah M.
Rusk, Secretary of Agriculture.
On the 1 5th of March, 1889, a hurricane destroyed or crippled all Disaster
the American and German warships in the harbor of Apia, Samoa, at Samoa
94
Naval
1490 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXV
They were anchored near each other when the terrific gale broke
upon them. The engines were started, but the ships dragged
STATES ^gjj. anchors and became helpless. The German gunboat Eber first
struck the coral reef and turned keel upwards. The brave Samoans,
forgetting the enmity of the sufferers, rushed into the water and saved
one officer and four men, the loss being five officers and sixty-six men.
The German flagship Adlervi'&s lifted to the top of the reef and thrown
on one side. Of the one hundred and thirty officers and men, twenty
were drowned or killed when the ship capsized ; the rest swam to the
wreck, and clung to the rigging and spars until taken off. The
American steamer Nipsic, by fine handling, kept clear of the reef
and was successfully beached. The German corvette Olga, after
striking nearly every other vessel, was beached on a sand-flat. The
British corvette Calliope, having the most powerful engines, slipped
her cable and by a narrow chance succeeded in reaching the open
sea. The U. S. steamer Vandalia was carried on the reef near shore
and sank. Nearly all who tried to swim to land were drowned, while
those who clung to the rigging were swept off by the Trenton, which
floated by a few hours later, some falling in the water and some on
the deck of the Trenton, which was then thrown on the beach in
front of the American consulate. The Nipsic lost seven men ; the
Vandalia five officers and thirty-nine men, and the Trenton one man.
On June 14, 1889, Germany, England, and the United States
guaranteed the independence and neutrality of Samoa.
Along the western slope of the Alleghany Mountains, in Penn
sylvania, winds the beautiful Conemaugh Valley. Sweeping to the
southwest to Johnstown, it curves northwesterly to New Florence,
sixteen miles distant. Johnstown, with its 30,000 inhabitants, is
39 miles from Altoona and 78 from Pittsburg, and the Pennsylvania
Railway takes the course of the Conemaugh valley for 25 miles.
In Johnstown are the Cambria Iron Works, with 6,000 em
ployees.
At the head of a small lateral valley, extending some six miles
Johns- from South Fork to the southeast, was the Conemaugh Lake Reser-
Ftood v°ir> owned by the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club of Pitts-
burg. It was nearly a hundred yards above the level of Johnstown,
a mile and a half wide at its broadest part, and extended back two
and a half miles, with a depth in many places of over a hundred feet.
The reservoir was by far the largest in America. The weight of the
CHAP. LXXXV HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1491
volume of water thus held motionless by a single dam was incon- PERIOD vii
ceivable. THE NEW
UNITED
Below this dam, it will be remembered, curved the deep Cone- STATES
SISTERS OF CHARITY BUILDING (AFTER THE FLOOD)
maugh Valley, half a mile wide, with steep mountain wa^s as its
boundaries. It turned at almost right angles upon reaching Johns
town, with clusters of villages above and below, in which lived the
1492 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXV
PERIOD vii employees of the Cambria Iron Works. The dimensions of the dam
*"NITODW were i,ooo feet in length, no feet in height, 25 feet thick at the
STATES ^Opf ancj ^o feet aj- ^e base> it was fatally weak, because it was
made wholly of earth and had no "heart wall," while, instead of
crowning in the middle, it was two feet lower there than anywhere
else. The discharge-pipe at the foot of the dam had been closed,
and the rock spellway was choked by a grating to prevent the escape
of fish.
This prodigious mass of water had kept the people below in a
state of alarm for years. More than tfnce they were thrown into
panic by reports of the dam giving way under pressure of the floods,
and many protests were made to the owners of the reservoir. All
that they did was to have an inspection made by an engineer, who
invariably reported that the dam was secure and there was no cause
for fear. So in time the people believed the reports.
There were protracted rain-storms in the month of May, 1889,
Danger causing a great increase in the volume of water above the dam. It
rose so fast that two engineers ordered the gang of men at work to
open a sluiceway to relieve the pressure. They toiled with might
and main, but the water continued to rise, and the danger was so im
minent that several messengers were sent down the valley to warn
the people. Between two and three o'clock the water pouring over
the top of the dam was a foot deep and rapidly increasing. The darn
was certain to give way in a short time.
Engineer Park Reaped upon a horse, and, pale with excitement, for
he saw the awful peril, sped down the valley, with his animal on a
dead run. As he thundered past the houses and through the villages
and towns, he swung his arm and shouted :
"Run to the hills! the flood is coming! Lose not a minute or
you are lost !"
Sad to say, this warning, like the cry of " Wolf !" had been re
peated so often that only a few people believed it. Some made their
way up the mountain slopes, while others calmly talked over the
matter and decided there was no cause for misgiving.
Break- Engineer Park, almost frantic with excitement, was still hoarsely
age of calling to the people to flee, when, at three o'clock in the afternoon,
300 feet in ti e middle of the dam suddenly slipped forward, as if on
wheels, and then dissolved and disappeared like so much cobweb.
Through this huge gate plunged a volume of water, forced to a height
CHAP. LXXXV HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
M93
and depth of two hundred feet, and lashed by the miles of lake be- PERIOD vii
hind to a speed higher than that of an express railway train. It is THE NEW
six miles to South Fork, and the distance was passed in a few STATES
seconds more than three minutes, while all the water left the reser
voir in less than an hour.
Appalling as was the velocity of the flood from the moment of
starting, it became still greater. Its momentum was terrific beyond
conception. The viaduct at South Fork was swept out of existence
the instant it was struck, and the portage road was scoured for miles.
Whirling about, the flood went down the valley like an arrow dis
charged straight at Johnstown, and charging at a pace greater than
VIEW OF DEBRIS AND STONE BRIDGE (AFTER THE FLOOD)
two miles a minute. It is eighteen miles from Conemaugh Lake to
Johnstown, and the distance was passed in seven minutes !
The force of this mass of water rushing down the valley was in
credible. The largest trees were snatched up by the roots, like so
many straws, and flung high in the air or hammered sideways .into
the ground ; rocks weighing hundreds of tons were rolled over and
over like the wheels of a bicycle, and hurled aside as a boy would
throw a ball ; houses were playthings, and trees, rocks, and dwellings
Terrific
Force ol
the
Flood
1494
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXV
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Incredi
ble
Speed
of the
Current
were jumbled and churned together and carried resistlessly forward
in the grasp of the current.
At East Conemaugh, thirty-two locomotives, with cars, side-tracks,
switches, and rails, were wrenched loose in an instant, and the flood
played battledore with them. The engines, weighing twenty-five
tons apiece, bobbed about and dipped among the debris in the current
like so many corks, while the enormous mass of wreckage thus
jammed in the middle of the torrent, where its speed was greater
than at the sides, formed something in the nature of a solid head
to the herculean battering-ram that was spinning down the Cone-
maugh Valley.
The borough of Franklin was wiped out, a few persons living
higher up the mountain side escaping. The 500 houses in Wood-
vale, almost opposite Johnstown, were compact and firm and safe, and
two minutes later had vanished, and with them many lives.
The flood which hurled itself directly against Johnstown was fifty
feet high, half a mile wide, and thundering forward at the rate of two
and a half miles a minute. In places the muddy water could hardly
be 'seen because of the machinery, locomotives, fly-wheels, boilers,
a hundred miles of twisted barbed iron wire, steel rails, trees, logs,
houses, bricks, rocks, bowlders, and struggling men, women, and chil
dren that were tumbled and tossed about as if they were tennis balls.
Johnstown was struck by two divisions of the flood. The left
swept over the flat at the base-of the mountain and shot across the
southeastern part of the city to Stony Creek, which had overflowed
a number of streets. The right and central division plunged through
the city, and kept to the course of Conemaugh Creek until, strange
as it may seem, it collided with an artificial obstacle which it could
not displace. The Pennsylvania Railway bridge to the west of
Johnstown was so perfect a piece of masonry that it stood as solid as
a mountain wall. The wreckage quickly choked the arches, and
made the bridge itself an immovable dam. The water thus checked
sheered off and struck the left division, which had just wiped out
Kernville and Glendale. The two volumes of water met in the
middle of Johnstown.
It was an extraordinary meeting, the two floods flying at each other
as if each were jealous of the destruction done by the other. They
spun round and round in a huge whirlpool, which completed the de
struction of the city.
CHAP. LXXXV HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
J495
The only portion of Johnstown that escaped was the more elevated PERIOD vn
section, several strong buildings in the middle of the city, which, by
some freak of the whirlpool, eluded its full force; a row of stone and
STATES
VIEW OF MAIN STREET (AFTER THE FLOOD)
brick structures near the railroad, the office of the Cambria Iron Works,
several business blocks, and the telegraph-office. Only 'the walls of the
business block were left. The villages below were utterly destroyed.
CHAP. LXXXV HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
M97
STATES
the
Railway
Bridge
The firmness of the railway bridge and the clogging of its arches PERIOD vn
caused the fast accumulating waters to pour over this newly formed
dam, while the wreckage stretched from shore to shore, and was
piled a dozen feet above the structure. This stuff weighed thou
sands of tons, fifty feet deep, and extending a sixth of a mile back
from the bridge. It consisted of houses, locomotives, trees, timber,
machinery, furniture, and household utensils, tied inextricably together rh k t
by hundreds of miles of barbed wire from the Gautier Mills. In the
houses and portions of houses many people were imprisoned by the
buildings, that were so wrenched that escape was impossible. While
the fast-gathering crowds were striving to release the prisoners, the
wreckage took fire, from some cause unknown, and scores must have
been burned to death.
Pennsylvania promptly sent troops to Johnstown to preserve order
and distribute relief. Miss Clara Barton, with a large number of
members of the Red Cross Society, and a force of physicians, hurried
to the scene, and everything possible was done for the relief of the
sufferers. The country at large showed its sympathy by contribu
ting nearly $3,000,000 to the relief fund, of which New York and
Philadelphia each gave $500,000. The official list of dead was 2,280,
of whom 770 were never identified. No doubt fully 3,000 people
perished, some of the remains not being found until three years
after the flood. Of the relief fund, $65,000 was expended in erect
ing the Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital, which was dedicated
February 4, 1892. On May 31 following a monument to the mem
ory of the victims, and costing $6,500, was unveiled. The owners of
the faulty dam of course were never punished.*
One of the most vicious bands of miscreants anywhere is the
" Mafia" among the Italians. It includes assassins who do not hesi
tate to take the lives of those whom they dislike, and who will com-
murder to shield any of their number from punishment.
Among the energetic foes of this atrocious band was David C.
The
" Mafia'
* Among the many strange incidents connected with this calamity none was more re
markable than that of John T. Sharkey and his wife. In the fearful struggle for life,
during the flood, they became separated, and each was convinced that the other was
drowned. Mr. Sharkey worked in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other eastern cities, and
finally on Monday, April 26, 1897, he arrived at Roanoke, Va. While walking along
the street he came face to face with his wife, who lived near and had visited the town to
do some shopping. Neither had married, both had saved considerable money, and after
their singular separation for eight years, they again resumed the journey of life together.
1498 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXV
PERIOD vii Hennessy, Chief of Police of New Orleans. In the face of threats,
THE NEW he traced a number of murders to members of the Mafia, and would
UNITED
STATES have brought the criminals to justice had he not been shot down at
midnight, near his own door, October 15, 1890.
When the crime became known, the city was thrown into uncon
trollable rage. A number of suspected Italians were arrested and
A sassi imPrisoned. Several were identified as among the assassins, and
nation one of them, Antonio Scaffedi, was killed in his cell by Thomas
°Hen-e Duffy, a newspaper carrier.
nessy Of the Italians arrested, nineteen were indicted. Nine were
placed on trial, and conclusive proof was brought forward that the
fatal shots were fired by Antonio Scaffedi, Antonio Marchesi,
Manuel Politz, Antonio Bagnetto, and Monasterio. To the dismay
of the city, six of the Italians were acquitted, and a mis-trial was en
tered in the case of the other three.
Beyond a doubt the jury had been corrupted, and the verdict was
intolerable. The citizens, including the most prominent men in New
Orleans, came together and openly resolved to take the matter in
their own hands. Marching to the parish prison, on the I4th of
April, they demanded the keys. Being refused, they broke in the
door and sixty armed men entered. The Italians had been given a
chance to hide themselves, but they were quickly found. Nine, in
cluding five of those awaiting trial, were shot to death. Marchesi
was only a boy and was spared. Politz and Bagnetto were hanged
outside the jail in full sight of the excited populace.
Great as was the provocation of the citizens, their killing of five
of the prisoners could not be justified, for they had not been brought
to trial, and their guilt or innocence remained to be established. It
was claimed that four were subjects of King Humbert, and Italy
took official action in the matter. Through Baron Fava, her min
ister, she sent a protest, which was indorsed by mass-meetings of
Italians in New York, Chicago, Pittsburg, and other cities.
Upon learning of the tragedy, Secretary Blaine sent a letter to
"fhe ° Governor Nicholls, of Louisiana, expressing the deep regret of the
Italian United States Government, and called upon him to bring the offend-
Govern
ment ers to justice. The governor replied that the whole subject was
under investigation by the grand jury. This information was sent
to Baron Fava, but his government, who seemed not to understand
the methods which the Constitution compels us to follow under the
CHAP. LXXXV HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION 1499
circumstances, was dissatisfied, and ordered Baron Fava to return PERIOD- vii
home. THE NEW
UNITED
Subsequently Italy modified its demand. Secretary Blaine re- STATES
plied with dignity and courtesy, but the investigation dragged
in New Orleans. Finally, Detective Dominick C. O'Malley and five
others were indicted for attempting to bribe talesmen and thus to
'pack the jury, an act which was the direct cause of the tragedy. T
Concerning- the persons engaged in the lynching, it appeared that ing with
most of the citizens of New Orleans were involved.
Investigation showed that eight of the eleven Italians killed were
American citizens. Another had renounced his allegiance to King
Humbert, preparatory to becoming a citizen. This left two that
were Italian subjects, but it was established that they were criminals,
and were in this country in defiance of the immigration laws, and,
therefore, were not entitled to protection.
The result of the investigation was not pleasing to Italy, but she
showed a more conciliatory disposition than at first, and the United
States met the advances in the same spirit. A mutually satisfactory
conclusion was reached, when our Government agreed to pay the
families of the victims the sum of $20,000, on the understanding
that the action should not be taken as an acknowledgment of Federal
liability for the failure of the Louisiana authorities to protect the
lives of Italian subjects, but only as an evidence of American good
will towards Italy. The offer was accepted, and the former cordial
relations between the countries were re-established.
About this time it looked as if we were to become involved in a
war with Chili. That country, which is one of the most powerful
and warlike in South America, revolted against the government of
Balmaceda and was successful. The insurgents charged that Patrick
Egan, our minister, gave aid to the Balmacedists, and allowed many
to find refuge at the Legation at Santiago. At the close of Septem- Threat-
ber, 1891, the angry insurgents had prevented many persons from ened
entering and leaving the Legation, arrested American citizens, and, wjth
it may be said, held the place in a state of siege. Matters were so Chili
threatening that the United States steamer San Francisco was sent
to join the Baltimore, the only American man-of-war in Chilian
waters.
The irritation against Americans was increased by the charge that
Admiral Brown, of the San Francisco* had given secret information
1500 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXV
PERIOD vii to the Balmacedists, — a charge for which there were no grounds,
THE^EW Still other accusations of bad faith were made against the Americans.
STATES wno were heartily hated by the Chilians that had helped to win in
the revolution.
Having been given leave -jf absence, some forty men of the Balti
more, on the i6th of October, 1891, went ashore at Valparaiso, all
The being in uniform, but without weapons. Sailors under such circum-
Affair at stances are likely to be boisterous, and no doubt the Americans were
raiso" somewhat disorderly. At any rate, one of them was soon involved
in a wrangle with a citizen. It was like a spark to a pile of powder.
Almost in an instant the Americans were fiercely assailed on every
side by a mob with knives and firearms. The sailors defended
themselves with great bravery, but were at fatal disadvantage.
Charles W. Riggin, boatswain's mate of the Baltimore, was kilted,
and William Turnbull, a coal-heaver, mortally hurt, while others
were badly wounded. The Americans were arrested and misused
while being taken to prison, , but they were soon set free, as m>
criminal charge could be brought against them.
In obedience to orders from Washington, Captain Schley, 'of the
Baltimore, made a prompt investigation of the affair. He reported
that Riggin was set upon and beaten while riding in a street car, and
then dragged out, and killed by a pistol shot ; that the police were
brutal in arresting the men ; that a number of the wounds were made
by bayonets, proving that the police took part in the assault, and
that the Americans gave no cause for the attack. Captain Schley
did not forget to note one fact — a number of the police and of the
sailors of the Chilian fleet did their utmost to protect the Americans.
As directed by our Government, Minister Egan called the attention
of the Chilian authorities to the report of Captain Schley, asked for
their statement of the case, and notified them that if the facts were
found as reported by Captain Schley, full reparation would be insisted
upon.
Curtness The reply to this was that no weight could be given to the Ameri-
of the can officer's report ; that the matter was under investigation by the
Govern- Chilian authorities,, who promised to judge and punish the guilty;
ment that since judicial investigation under Chilian law is secret, the time
had not come to make known the result ; and finally, that the demands
of the United States could not be agreed to.
This reply was almost insulting. President Harrison referred to
40PYRIGHT 1897
ATTACK ON AMERICAN SAILORS AT VALPARAISO
FROM THE ORIGINAL DRAWING BY CHARLES KENDRICK
1502
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXV
VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Settle-
ment of
the Dis
pute
it as " offensive," but awaited the official verdict. The inquiry came
to an end January 8, 1 892, and declared that the incident was started
by a brawl between drunken sailors of both nations, and that the
police did all they could to suppress th disorder. Sefior Manuel
Matta charged in the Chilian Senate that the American minister and
consul at Valparaiso had kept back testimony which would have
cleared up the matter. Matta sent a circular to the Chilian Lega
tions in the United States, directly charging falsehood against the
American minister and the American naval officers in their reports
to Washington, and making discourteous references to Secretary
Tracy and the President of the United States.
A sharp correspondence took place between the nations, and the
United States gave Chili the choice of war or, I, an apology for the
attack on the sailors of the Baltimore ; 2, an indemnity to the sailors
injured, and to the families of those killed by the mob ; 3, the with-
drawal of Matta' s insulting letter.
Chili hesitated, but complied with all these demands, a note to
that effect reaching Washington, January 27, 1892. She offered to
leave to the decision of the United States Supreme Court the ques
tion cf payment for the acts of the mob at Valparaiso. Thus once
more was dissipated the rising war-cloud. *
* This award, amounting to $75,000, was distributed by the Secretary of the Navy,
February 9, 1893, as follows : To the families of those killed, namely, Charles W. Riggin,
boatswain's mate, and William Turnbull, coal-heaver, $10,000 each. To those seriously
injured: Jeremiah Anderson, coal-heaver, $5,500; John Hamilton, carpenter's mate,
$5,000; John W. Talbot, seaman apprentice, $4,000 ; John H. Davidson, landsman,
$3,000; George Panter, coal-heaver, $2,500; William Lacey, coal-heaver, $2,000;
Herman Fredericks, seaman, $1,500; Henry C. Jarrett, seaman, $1,500; John
McBride, oiler, $1,500; John Butler, seaman apprentice, $1,500. To those assaulted
and detained in prison, eighteen in number, sums ranging from $1,200 down to $700.
To those arrested or slightly injured, twenty-three in number, sums ranging from $500
down to $300.
1/adiau Eucatxrpmetvt
CHAPTER LXXXVI
HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION, 1889-1893— (CON
TINUED)
[Authorities: A well-known and safe induction established by innumerable facts in the
history of the race is that an inferior civilization coming into contact with a civiliza
tion that is superior is destroyed. The story of the Aborigines of Peru and of Mexico,
the disappearance of some North American Indian tribes, and the rapid decrease of the
negro population are illustrations of the operation of this law. For it is a law, — pitiless,
relentless, not to be escaped. It is, besides, irremediable. The higher civilization may
be a kindly one, and seek to use its good offices to prevent the destruction of the other,
but such efforts are always in vain. Mr. Spencer has condensed the formal statement of
the law into his celebrated phrase, " the survival of the fittest." Nature puts a premium
upon fineness of physical and mental fibre. By such means she is slowly moving the
human race towards that period called the Millennium. In this chapter we have a de
scription of one of the last acts in the drama of the red man's journey towards the " set
ting sun." It is a piteous drama, and one calculated to stir the sympathy of the philan
thropist. The authorities for this and following chapters are many and various. Con
temporary publications have been carefully consulted.]
|HE most terrible Indian war in the history of our
country impended during the winter of 1890-91.
The cause need not be given, for it has always
been the same, and doubtless will be to the end.
The Indian Bureau was dishonest to the core, and
the red men were cheated right along, the white
plunderers acquiring immense fortunes by their
dishonesty, and none ever being punished therefor.
The most powerful of the Indian tribes are the Sioux, who num
ber probably 30,000. They occupied the Sioux Reservation, 35,000
square miles in extent, and slightly larger than the State of Maine.
In this reservation are five agencies : Standing Rock, Cheyenne
1504
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVI
PERIOD vii River, Brule, Rosebud, and Pine Ridge, their distances apart varying
THE NEW from one to two hundred miles.
UNITED
STATES There are two distinct divisions or classes among the Sioux — the
progressive, who till the land, dislike war, are anxious to improve
their condition, and are partly Christianized ; and the non-progressive,
who are eager for war and pillage, hate the white men and other
The leader of this reactionary
Classes tribes, and are fond of excitement.
Of Sioux
The
" Mes
siah
Craze"
ISSUING OXEN TO INDIANS AT STANDING ROCK AGENCY
party was Sitting Bull, who had much to do with the massacre of
Custer and his cavalry in 1876. He was always an enemy of the
white men, and, when there was peace, was sullen and moody, long
ing for the occasion to strike a blow at the people whom he execrated.
He was a medicine man and chieftain, born in Dakota in 1837.
What is known as the "Messiah craze" appeared among the In
dians early in 1890, and spread like a prairie-fire. A warrior
claimed to have received a revelation from the Messiah to the effect
that He had orice come to save the white race, but they despised and
killed Him. Now He rejected them, and would come in the spring,
CHAP. LXXXVI HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1505
destroy the whites, but save his red children. All who believed in PERIOD vii
him were to wear a certain kind of dress and to practise the Ghost THE NEW
UNITED
Dance as often and as long as they could. Should any one die of STATES
exhaustion while thus engaged, he would be taken directly to the
Messiah, and enjoy the companionship of those gone before, and all
would come back to earth to tell what they had seen.
When the Messiah appeared in the spring, he would create a new
earth, which would cover the present world, and bury the whites and
INDIAN GHOST DANCERS
all the red men that did not take part in the dance. Then the earth
should be as it was centuries ago, except that there should be no
more death.
Such in brief was the new faith. The Ghost Dancers appeared
everywhere. They wore short calico skirts, and joining hands,
swung around in a circle, going faster and faster, becoming wilder
and more frantic each minute, until when nature could stand the de
lirium no longer they dropped to the ground and lay as if dead. The
medicine man solemnly declared that they were dead, and were then
visiting the spirit world, and would soon return to describe their
marvellous experience.
95
The
Ghost
Dancers
1506
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXX\T
PERIOD VII Sitting Bull saw in this new delusion his opportunity for mischief.
He sent his messengers among Big Foot's band on the Cheyenne
River Reserve, the Lower Brules, farther down the Missouri, the
STATES
SITTING BULL
Upper Brules, or Spotted Tail's people, at Rosebud, and the aged
Red Cloud's followers among the Ogalallas at Pine Ridge. There
were many discontented fanatics among those people, made doubly
CHAP. LXXXVI HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1507
fierce by their dishonest treatment, and they determined toco-operate
with Sitting Bull.
At the beginning of the winter of 1890, some 4,000 agency In
dians were encamped at Pine Ridge. They had given up their out
lying villages, churches, and schools. Twenty-five miles away on
Wounded Knee Creek were 2,000 Brules and Wazazas in tents.
They furnished many recruits for Sitting Bull, but hesitated about
coming into the agency because of the troops. The Brules, how-
SITTING BULL'S HOME
ever, " enlisted," and, stealing horses and cattle, rode towards the
Bad Lands, and were ready to join in hostilities as soon as they
began.
It was so clear that a formidable war was coming unless Sitting
Bull's plotting was checked, that it was decided to arrest him. His
camp was forty-three miles southwest from Pine Ridge. On De
cember 12, 1890, General Ruger telegraphed from St. Paul to Colo
nel Drum, commanding at Fort Yates, the military post near Stand
ing Rock agency, to arrest Sitting Bull. It was the wish of General
Ruger that the military and civil agents should co-operate, but Major
McLaughlin, the agent, thought it wise to have the arrest made by
the Indian police, believing that less irritation would be caused. A
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
The
Arrest of
Sitting
Bull
Ordered
1508
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVI
PERIOD vii time was selected when most of the Indians would be away, drawing
THE NEW their rations from the agency.
UNITED •*
STATES ft was found that Sitting Bull meant to leave the reservation, and
it became necessary, therefore, to act at once. Forty Indian police
STANDING HOLY" (SITTING BULL'S DAUGHTER)
rode towards the famous medicine man's camp, followed by two troops
of cavalry commanded by Captain Fechet and some infantry under
Colonel Drum.
The whole force halted within five miles of the camp and held a
consultation. It was agreed that the soldiers should take station
within two miles or so of the camp, so that, if needed, they could
• be signalled.
CHAP. LXXXVI HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1509
THE
UNITED
STATES
Ten Indian policemen entered the tent of Sitting Bull, roused PERIOD vii
him from his bed, and forced him to come outside. He was angered,
and began shouting to his followers, one of whom caught up his gun,
and dashing out of his tepee, called to the other warriors to bring
their weapons. They ran thither, and firing began. Bull Head, the
principal Indian policeman, was struck in the leg. He instantly
"CROW FOOT" (SITTING BULL'S SON)
turned and sent a bullet through Sitting Bull's head, as he was
shouting his commands to his followers. Another of the police shot
Sitting Bull at the same moment in the stomach.
The police, who were all brave men, forced the hostiles to take
refuge in the stables, from which they drove them. Then the as
sailants secured possession of a house, into which they carried their
dead and wounded. There were twice as many hostiles as police
men, and the latter were attacked so furiously that they were in
A Co*
flict
1 5 10 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVI
danger of being killed to a man ; but one of them had galloped to
the top of an adjoining hill and signalled to the cavalry, who hurried
STATES Up^ anc^ opening with their Hotchkiss and Catling guns, quickly
scattered the Sioux.
This is the generally accepted version of the death of Sitting Bull,
but the statement has been made that it was understood among those
-„ who set out to arrest him that an excuse was to be found for ending
Losses the career of the most dangerous agitator among all the Indian tribes.
Five of the Indian police were killed, including Bull Head, the
lieutenant in command, who had shot Sitting Bull. Six of the
hostiles besides the chief were known to be killed, including Crow
Foot, son of Sitting Bull, and a number wounded.*
The hostiles fled to the Bad Lands, and joined Start Bull and Crow
Dog, who were already there with 200 bucks. More of the dis
affected arrived until the force was a formidable one. There was
much relief when General Miles reached Pine Ridge Agency on the
1 8th of December and took charge. Five days later word was re
ceived that there were 3,000 Indians in the Bad Lands, one-sixth of
whom were fighters, and that the number was rapidly increasing.
Vast was the relief, therefore, when it was learned that Big Foot,
with 200 of Sitting Bull's fugitives on Cherry Creek, had sur
rendered to Colonel Sumner ; but the relief gave way to anxiety
p. when news came that while Sumner was conducting his prisoners to
Foot's the Missouri, the whole band broke away and hurried off to join the
hostiles that were farther south.
Four companies of the Ninth Cavalry (colored), with two Hotch
kiss guns and one mortar, left Pine Ridge immediately on receipt of
the news, and were followed by a wagon-train and escort, the inten
tion of the troops being to intercept the fugitives.
Four days after the escape of the latter, their camp was discovered
by an Indian scout. It was on Wounded Knee Creek, eight miles
* Sitting Bull really owed his death to his son Crow Foot, a bright, intelligent youth,
seventeen years old. When the police came to arrest the medicine man his intention
was to submit quietly. " You are very brave," said Crow Foot to his father, "but when
the police come you behave like a child. " Thus aroused, Sitting Bull made a resistance
which proved fatal. When Bull Head, the policeman who was mortally wounded, was
lying on a bed in Sitting Bull's cabin, he heard a slight noise under him. He spoke of it
to his friends, who, stooping down, discovered Crow Foot and compelled him to come
forth. The boy was killed by one of the Indian police, who were exasperated at the loss
they had sustained. Standing Holy, Sitting Bull's little girl, who was not harmed, was
about ten years old.
CHAP.LXXXVI HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1511
north of Major Whiteside's position. Four troops of the Seventh PERIOD vii
Cavalry immediately rode forward, and at sight of them the hostiles,
to the number of 150, formed in battle-line, with guns and knives.
Major Whlteside also made ready for a fight.
Thus matters stood, when Big Foot approached unarmed and on
foot. The officer dismounted and walked towards him. He was
STATE*
BULL HEAD"
ready to treat the chief in a friendly manner, but he did not trust
him.
" We want peace, " said Big Foot ; " I am sick, and my people " .
"I'll not parley with you," interrupted the major; "you must Big
surrender or fight; which shall it be?"
"We surrender,' and would have done so before, had we known
where to find you."
Foot
1512 HISTORY OF THK UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVI
s**
PERIOD vii Big Foot made a gesture to his warriors who raised the white
THE^NEW flag. The band was surrounded, and a messenger sent with all haste
STATES for several troops of the Seventh Cavalry and Lieutenant Taylor's
scouts to aid in disarming and guarding the prisoners, of whom 1 50
were, warriors and 250 squaws, besides numerous children.
The troops of the Seventh arrived in the afternoon, and on the
following morning Colonel Forsyth told the males to come out of
their tepees for a talk. They obeyed with evident reluctance, and
ranged themselves in front of the tent in which Big Foot lay sick.
Colonel Forsyth then informed the Indians that in groups of twenty
at a time they must give up their weapons.
The Indians were sullen and in ugly humor. They slouched into
Battle of their tepees, and did not appear again for several minutes. t When
ed Knee they did so, they handed up two rifles only. Major Whiteside was
annoyed, and spoke to Colonel Forsyth. The cavalry were ordered
to dismount, and they formed in a square and closed in within
twenty feet of the hostiles. A detail was sent into the tepees, and
it took but a brief while to find sixty guns, which were brought out.
As it was evident that the Indians were not keeping faith, the
soldiers were ordered to:search them. This had hardly commenced
when the savages flirted rifles from under their blankets, and began
firing with great rapidity at the soldiers, who, it may be said, were
at their elbows.
More than fifty shots were discharged before the troops understood
what was going on. Then they opened with deadly effect on the
hostiles, and the conflict lasted for half an hour, with the combatants
almost within arm's length of each other. In the confusion and ex
citement, a number of Indians dashed through the lines and reached
the hills to the southwest. They lost about a hundred, while
twenty-four of the soldiers were killed, and thirty- three wounded,
several of whom died.
Why It was charged that in this most serious conflict of the uprising
amTS *ke s°ldiers pursued and shot down squaws and children. It was
Children undoubtedly true that women and children were killed, but it was
Shot unavoidable. The garments of the squaws and bucks were so similar
that it was hard to distinguish the former from the latter. One of
the soldiers explained that he had no time to inquire the sex of the
enemy that was aiming at his heart, nor could he investigate the
age of the young buck engaged at the same work.
CHAP. LXXXVI HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1513
STATES
It must be remembered, too, that the squaws were the most furi- PERIOD vn
ous of fighters. A swarm of them clubbed Captain Wallace to death
when he lay helpless on the ground. Had these women kept out of
the battle, none would have been hurt.
The belief was general that the impending war was made inevita
ble by the affair at Wounded Knee. The situation was graver and
more serious than before.
Tired from their severe ride, the Seventh Cavalry had hardly
reached camp early the next day, when a messenger arrived in great
INDIAN POLICE
haste at Pine Ridge with news that the Indians had fired the Catho
lic mission buildings and were killing the teachers and pupils. The
soldiers lost no time in galloping off; but the alarm proved baseless, Alarm at
for it was the day-school structure, a mile nearer the agency, that
was burning, but 1,800 hostiles were some distance beyond the mis
sion, under the command of Little Wound and Two Strike.
The Seventh quickly formed in line and attacked them. It was
noticed that only a few of the Indians took part in the fight. Colo
nel Forsyth, who was an old campaigner, believed this meant an
ambuscade, and forbade his men to advance too far. But for this
precaution the whole command would have been cut off. In truth,
!5I4 -••",;• HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVI
PERIOD vii they were so nearly surrounded that they would have suffered
^mS>w severety but for the gallant assault by the colored cavalry upon the
STATES rear of faQ hostiles, and the headlong flight of the latter.
Many Indians who had remained neutral, and were looked upon
as friendly, now stole away from the agency, as chance offered, and
joined the enemy. Their signal-fires twinkled in the horizon; the
Peril ghost dances became more frenzied, some of the converging hostiles
being drawn even from British territory, whence they galloped
through the intense cold to take part in the destruction of their
hereditary enemies. About the only ones that resisted the impulses
of hatred and passion were a few Cheyennes, the Indian scouts and
police, and Chief American Horse. General Miles at that time had
about 8,000 men under his command.
Skirmishing was going on continually, but the great battle was
postponed from day to day, though hardly a man believed, with each
rising sun, that it could be delayed for more than a few hours.
On Sunday, January 4, 1891, a terrifying plot was discovered.
The Indians had agreed that each warrior should select a white man,
and, late that night, kill him. As soon as the hostiles outside heard
the firing, they should rush into the agency and join in the massacre.
Only a few soldiers were at Pine Ridge, and they were some distance
off in the intrenchments.
The people, on learning of the plot, ran from their homes to the
stores and storehouses, which were hurriedly barricaded, and every
preparation made for resistance. Seeing that their scheme had be
come known, the Indians did not make the attack.
Lieut. Edward W. Casey, of the Twenty-Second Infantry, was the
A Rash commander of a company of Cheyenne scouts. Accompanied by one
of them, he rode from the camp of General Brooke, January 7th, intend
ing to reconnoitre a village of the hostiles on White Clay Creek, near
the White River. It was _a very dangerous thing to do, for the
Indians were holding one of their ghost dances, and would resent the
approach of any white man. General Brooke warned Casey to keep
out of sight of the village, and the experience of the lieutenant ought
to have restrained him. Disregarding the advice of his superior,
however, the officer rode a"bout eight miles, when he came in sight
of the hostile village.
He was immediately discovered by an Ogalalla and a Brule Indian,
the former of whom rushed into the village with word that an armv
CHAP. LXXXVI HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1515
officer was approaching. The rage of the hostiles at this intrusion PERIOD VH
became intense.
It so happened that a French half-breed named Jack Richards was
RED CLOUD"
in camp, whither he had gone to look after his lamily, who were held
prisoners. Red Cloud told him not to lose an instant in hurrying to
Casey and warning him to turn back at once. Richards set out to
1516 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVI
PERIOD vii do so, but directly behind him rode the Ogalalla and the Brule,
THE NEW known as Plenty Horses, and a savage fanatic.
UNITED . J
STATES AS the three approached Casey, the Ogalalla called out in the
Sioux tongue to the lieutenant that Plenty Horses had a bad heart
and meant to kill him. Casey thanked the Brule and Richards, but,
instead of following their advice, said he would ride to the top of an
Sh . adjoining hill, and take one good look at the village before returning.
of Casey had hardly reached the top of the butte, when Plenty
asey Horses levelled his rifle at him. The Ogalalla struck the weapon
aside and begged him not to shoot the officer. Plenty Horses rode
off a short way and began circling around Casey, chanting a dismal,
dirge-like song. Suddenly he raised his gun and fired. The bullet
struck Lieutenant Casey in the head, and he rolled out of the saddle
without word or exclamation.
The news quickly reached the Indian camp, and the aged chief
Red Cloud rode out to recover the body and save it from indignity.
Richards carried the news to General Brooke, and the report of it
was brought to Pine Ridge by Yankton Charley, an Ogalalla scout,
who kept his horse on a dead run for twenty miles through a bliz
zard, the animal falling dead directly after his arrival. General
Brooke sent Lieutenant Getty with a detachment of cavalry to bring
in the body. It was surrendered and found free from mutilation.
Red Cloud and his friends were so angered by the killing of Casey
that, in spite of the threats of the others, they rode into the agency
and surrendered to General Miles.
The situation assumed a peculiar phase. Five thousand or more
hostile Indians were encamped within a short distance of Pine Ridge,
while the soldiers were slowly and guardedly closing in upon three
sides and striving to force them into the agency. The situation
suggested a drove of wild horses being gently urged towards an en
closure, but ready to break into an irrestrainable stampede upon the
slightest cause.. The drivers, in thex persons of the soldiers, were
A Deli- several miles in the rear, " inching" forward, on the alert that none
°^ t^ie ^rove broke away, and cautious about frightening them by a
too rapid approach.
There were many sensible Indians who saw the inevitable end of
a conflict, and urged the others to submit, but probably a fourth of
the hostiles were bucks too eager for a combat to be restrained.
They clamored for a fight, and would listen to no arguments. It
CHAP. LXXXVI HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1517
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
would have been well could those enthusiastic young men have PERIOD vn
been taken aside and had their wish gratified.
General Miles and his men displayed admirable tact. It has been
said with reason that there were hours during this remarkable
"round-up" when the firing of a single gun, even if accidental, would
have precipitated the most fateful conflict that has ever taken place
between the white and the red men. The flint and steel were in
contact, but the spark had not yet been produced that was to fire the
magazine.
General
Miles'
Tact
SIOUX ENCAMPMENT BELOW STANDING ROCK AGENCY
Orders were issued that so long as the Indians continued their
approach to the agency, even at a slow rate, thus showing a disposi
tion to surrender, not a shot was to be fired. At the same time the
officers were resolute. If any of the hostiles tried to break through
the lines, they were to be shot down, or, failing in that, the cavalry
were to pursue and capture them. The belief was that hundreds of
the braves, dreading punishment for what they had already done,
would, at the last moment, make a desperate effort to escape, in
which event the fighting would be of the fiercest character.
On the i oth of January, the Indians went into camp on White Clay
Creek, five miles from Pine Ridge, and near the spot of the Catholic
Mission fight. The village was in a winding ravine, and was two
miles in length. The weather was bitterly cold, and there was a
1518
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVI
PERIOD VII
UNITED
STATES
The
Gradual
Closing
In
An
Extraor
dinary
Scene
great deal of snow on the ground, which was whirled in blinding
eddies by the wind. Only a part of the Indians had tepees, the rest
finding shelter in the pockets at the sides of the ravine, where pine
boughs were arranged so as to give them partial shelter. They had
with them a number of wounded.
The arguments of the elder Indians caused a sullen move, on the
night of the loth, to a point two miles nearer Pine Ridge. The
hostiles had food, and dawdled away the time, hitching forward with
many halts, and often refusing to stir until in the mood to do so,
while the soldiers, with the utmost care, gradually followed and
closed in. No such unique situation has ever been seen. General
Carr and his veteran Indian fighters of the Sixth Cavalry edged up
from the left, and General Brooke with the Ninth Cavalry and Sixth
Infantry encamped on the site occupied by the Indians twenty-four
hours before. Scattering hostiles came in and submitted, but the
main body held off and sulked.
The seven hundred men at the agency had four 3 -inch rifled can
non, four Hotchkiss, and two Gatling guns. It was often impossible
to see a dozen feet in advance because of the whirling snow mixed
with alkali dust, and the weather continued intensely cold.
At mid-day on the nth, the formidable Indian force sat down
within a mile and a half of the agency. The bucks were restless
and almost irrestrainable. The situation could not have been more
critical.
The sentinels in Captain Dougherty's fort saw a number of dusky
faces, half hidden by the dangling strands of black hair, peep over
the ridges to the north and then whisk out of sight. They were the
scouts of the hostiles. Then a number of Indian horsemen galloped
to the summit of a butte, which was soon covered with them. They
sat motionless, glaring at the soldiers, as if challenging them to
come out arid fight ; but the soldiers returned their stare and calmly
waited. Then the Indian horsemen rode down the slope and passed
through a winding valley to the old home of Red Cloud.
The scene which followed was extraordinary. The bucks ran
back and forth, firing their rifles over the heads of those who were
urging surrender. When this had continued some minutes, they
turned their weapons on their horses and dogs and shot them down.
It was a relief to their pent-up rage, and, with what followed, con
vinced General Miles that the long-deferred battle was about to open.
CHAP. LXXXVI HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1519
The troops made ready for action. The surgeons began preparing PERIOD vn
bandages and placing their gleaming instruments in order, cannon THE NEW
were shifted into new positions, and all civilians were ordered to STATES
leave the breastworks.
The thousands of hostiles advanced slowly down the sides of the
STEAMER ROSEBUD"
ravines, their eagle feathers fluttering from their crowns, while the
spectators scanned the strange scene through their glasses with
breathless interest. Passing from sight for a few minutes behind a Hostile*
group of pines, the line came into view again on the west side of
Clay Creek, where the tepees appeared so rapidly that they looked
1520
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVI
STATES
PERIOD vii like huge dirty toadstools popping through the crust of the earth.
There must have been six or eight hundred, counting those that were
nO|- [n sjght from the earthworks, for they extended for more than
three miles along the ravine.
A cold, dense fog hid the sun on the I5th until the latter part of
the afternoon. Then when it lifted the immense band^of hostiles
were seen to be in motion, and the signs indicated that the Indians
were about to keep the promise made the day previous, and come in
and surrender.
Most fortunately this belief was confirmed. The hostiles moved
forward from the wooded ravine north of the agency, around the
INDIAN TRADING STORE, STANDING ROCK
base of Horseshoe Butte, and into the valley a fourth of a mile far
ther south. At the head were the bucks who drove scores of ponies
bunched together; then came the jolting wagons, driven by squaws,,
and filled with tepees, poles, and camp equipage. There seemed to-
be no end to the dogs, and the ponies trotting along without saddle
or bridle were plentiful enough to provide a mount for a brigade
of cavalry. Most of these had been captured by the Indians while
raiding along White River.
The The procession was four miles in length. Every one was aston
Number ished by the numbers and strength of the hostiles, which was much
°f greater than had been suspected. There were 732 lodges and nearly
6,000 Indians in line. One-third of the Sioux nation was encamped
at the agency. A conservative estimate made the number 1 1,000, of
whom nearly a third were warriors. Although only a few worthless
guns were turned in, the surrender was complete, and the baleful war
CHAP. LXXXVI HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1521
cloud had vanished, never again to appear in so formidable propor
tions.
General Miles did not share the uneasiness felt by many others.
He issued a congratulatory address to the soldiers, and began placing
the troops on a "peace basis." He preferred charges against Col.
J. W. Forsyth, Seventh Cavalry, because of his conduct at the battle
of Wounded Knee, but the charges were dismissed by Secretary of
War Proctor, and Colonel Forsyth was ordered to resume command
of his regiment.
It was not long after the cessation of hostilities that Plenty
Horses, the slayer of Lieutenant Casey, was arrested and brought
to trial at Sioux Falls, S. D. There was a deep interest in the
trial, and the general wish and belief was that the Brule would be
executed for his act.
On the 28th of May, 1891, however, Judge Shiras peremptorily
stopped the proceedings and ordered the jury to bring in the verdict
" not guilty." Some of the jurors were inclined to protest, and much
surprise was felt, but the learned judge in a few sentences showed
that no other verdict could be sustained.
This explanation may be summarized : a state of war existed be
tween the United States and the Indian troops encamped in the
neighborhood of Pine Ridge agency. Although the manner in which
Lieutenant Casey was killed cannot be condemned too severely,
yet he was engaged in an act of legitimate warfare against the
Indians, and was in such situation that he could be legitimately
killed by them. Consequently his death was justified by the laws
of war, and Plenty Horses could not be punished therefor, any more
than could a Union soldier for shooting a Confederate soldier during
battle.
This incident was the closing act of the great Indian uprising of
1890-91. There have been local outbreaks since at widely sepa
rated points, but none of a serious nature, and \t seems impossible
that anything approaching the peril at Pine Ridge agency can ever
again threaten any portion of our country.
96
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Charges
Against
Col.
Forsyth
Close of
the
Uprising
CHAPTER LXXXVII
HARRISON ' 5 A DMINIS TRA TION— 1889-1893
(CONCLUDED)
[Authorities: One is reminded by the contents of this chapter of Shakespeare's
u Imperial Caesar, dead and turned to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away."
At the end of all human effort and achievement, be it base or ignoble, whether they tend
to advance or to retard the onward march of weal and progress for the human race, one
end awaits us all, — death, "invida mors." In a brief space of years we must note the de
parture from life and its work of many of our noblest and best who distinguished them
selves on one side or the other during our Civil War. Sherman, Porter, Johnston, Blaine,
Hayes, Beauregard, Davis, — the list is a long one. How it diminishes the apparent
value of high achievement ! And to him that thinks deeply, the reflections that such rec
ords beget should do much to bring a kind of philosophical indifference for " the failings
and wailings 'neath the sun." The origin of fatalism is not far to seek. The authorities
that have been relied upon are contemporaneous publications, and the biographies of the
men whose deaths are noted.]
|HE Grand Army of the Republic is an association
of veterans who fought on the Union side during
the Civil War. The first post was organized at
Decatur, 111.^ April 6, 1866, which was not quite a
year after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The
first department encampment was held at Madison,
Wis., on the 7th of the following June, and the
first national encampment met at Indianapolis, No
vember 20th of the same year.
One of the most touching sights in the^5 later day's is this an
nual coming together of the men who risked their lives in the de
fence of their country. Most of them were young and vigorous
«h« SoWUr» H«mt. U'asrtunslou Pd.
CHAP. LXXXVJI HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1523
youths in the stirring days of 1861, when the nation summoned
them, but they are now old and grizzled, and many are feeble and
tottering under the weight of years and of wounds received in that
mighty struggle for the life of the nation. But the fire of patriotism
glows as brightly as ever in their hearts, and will continue to burn
until they cross the river and join the vast army of comrades that
have gone before.
From the iQth to the 22d of September, 1892, our national capi
tal was given over to the twenty-sixth annual encampment of the
Grand Army of the Republic. The gathering was the largest that
has taken place since the memorable review of the Union forces at
the close of the war in 1865. Washington was elaborately deco
rated, and the thousands of visitors from every section of the coun
try vied with each other in honoring the heroes who proudly kept
step to the " music of the Union" more than a quarter of a century
before.
It is estimated that fully 67,000 men, in the parade of September
2Oth, marched past the stand in front of the Treasury building, from
which Vice-President Morton reviewed them. The mortal illness of
Mrs. Harrison prevented the President from meeting his old army
comrades, as he earnestly wished to do.
The route taken was that followed by the 150,000 survivors of the
Armies of the Potomac and the West, when they marched by under
the proud gaze of President Johnson and his Cabinet, Generals
Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, and in the presence of the foreign-
representatives at Washington. On that historical occasion, the
vast procession was thirty miles long, which, moving briskly, occu
pied seven hours on both the 23d and 24th of May in passing the
reviewing stand. The parade twenty-seven years later took about
eight hours to march over the same ground.
While the American merchant steamer Philadelphia was lying at
the Venezeulan port of La Guayra, November 10, 1892, a man came
on board and asked the protection of our flag on the ground that he
was a political refugee. It is the law of nations that any person
fleeing from his country because of political offences is not subject
to extradition. That is to say, the government in whose territory he
takes refuge will not give him up to the offended government that
claims him. During our Civil War, any Confederate who managed
to reach Canada, provided he had committed no crimes other than
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
The
Grand
Army o!
the Re
public
The
Mijares
Incident
1524 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVII
IOD vii political, was as safe from disturbance by the United States as was
THE NEW the Queen of England.
UNITED ~
When the stranger, therefore, applied to the captain of the Amer
ican ship for protection because he was a political refugee or fugi-
itive, his request was granted. The man turned out to be General
Pedro Vincente Mi j ares, who had been governor of Caraccas under
a ruler that was deposed from power.
Bravery When it became known to the police of La Guayra that Mijares
Ameri- had taken refuge on the American steamer, a company of Venezuelan
Cmander" tro°Ps marched down to the pier and a demand made for the sur
render of Mijares on the ground that he was " an enemy of the gov
ernment." The captain refused to give him up. The soldiers
attempted to board the vessel and take the fugitive, but the com
mander met force with force, and repelled them.
Fearing further trouble, the captain of the Philadelphia moved
his vessel away from the pier, and anchored. Then the captain went
ashore and laid the facts before United States Minister Scruggs,
who assured him he had done exactly the right thing.
All this was well enough, but Venezuela just then was in a bad
way. She was hardly over the struggles of a bitter civil war, in
which the worst passions of men are roused. At such times the
people have little respect for what is known as international law, or
indeed for any other kind of law. The repulse of the attempted
arrest of Mijares angered the authorities of La Guayra, and there
was imminent danger of an attack upon the American vessel. Such
an act would cause bloodshed and would be fatal to the refugee.
The captain of the Philadelphia, therefore, decided to sail at once.
When he demanded his clearance papers, however, they were re
fused unless he would surrender General Mijares. In this dilemma
the captain applied to the United States Consul. That official held
a consultation with Minister Scruggs and the Secretary of Legation,
who decided to grant to the captain the right to sail, in view of the
fact that clearance papers had been demanded and refused, and that
the Philadelphia carried the United States mail.
ofthe7 ^hat same n*&kt, therefore, the vessel, under cover of darkness,
Fugitive weighed anchor and left without her papers. Eight days afterwards
General Mijares safely reached New York, and the Philadelphia was
admitted to entry at the New York Custom House.
Now, while this incident was not much in itself, it had great sig-
CHAP. LXXXVII HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION 1525
nificance. Two similar occurrences had taken place in the history PERIOD VH
of American shipping, and the action of the captain of the Philadel- T.HFN!^'EEW
phia was supported by the rulings of the Navy Department, by the
decisions of foreign courts, and by all versed in the laws of nations.
In the year 1885, a Nicaraguan political refugee named Gamez
took passage on the American steamer Honduras, at San Jose, in
Guatemala, his destination being the port of Punta Arenas in Costa
Rica. When the vessel put into San Juan del Sur the Nicaraguan Gamez
authorities endeavored to arrest Gamez. The captain would not
permit it, and he, too, had to sail without his clearance papers.
During his absence criminal proceedings were begun against the
captain in the Nicaraguan courts, but he was acquitted, the judgr.
formally expressing the opinion that he was under no obligation to
surrender Gamez to the Nicaraguan authorities. The Supreme
Court of Granada afterwards confirmed this opinion, when the deci
sion was appealed to it.
Our Government expressed itself most decisively en this question
in the other case referred to. In the month of August, 1890, Bar-
rundia, who was a political fugitive from Guatemala, took refuge
upon an American steamer at San Jose. A demand for his arrest
was made and complied with, upon the advice of the American Min
ister, who said he had assurances that the life of the prisoner would
be respected. Barrundia, however, resisted the arrest, and was killed
while defending himself.
The United States Minister was recalled for his course in the
matter, and Commander Reiter, of the Ranger, who knew what was
going on and whose ship lay near by, was dismissed from the service
because he did not interfere. Commander Reiter would have been
quick to act had he not been advised against it by the American
Minister.
It will be seen from this that our Government has established an
"ironclad" rule for the guidance of its officials under such circum
stances. General Mijares was not charged with violating any of the A Just
ordinary laws of Venezuela. He, therefore, was a political refugee
and nothing more. Being that, he was not liable to arrest, afrer
placing his foot on the deck of an American vessel, which, when
our country's flag is flying overhead, is, to all intents and purposes,
sis much a part of the soil of the United States as the site of the
Capitol in Washington.
1526 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVII
PERIOD vii Furthermore, no passenger on a neutral ship, bound for a neutral
THE NEW port, can be arrested for political offences, while the ship is stopping
STATES a|- any pOT^ of the country to which he owes allegiance. As has
been shown, his arrest can be made only when he is charged with
ordinary criminal offences, committed at the port from which he
embarked. The United States has declared in language that cannot
be mistaken its purpose of giving to all political refugees applying
to it the ful]est protection of the Stars and Stripes.
Jefferson Davis, ex-President of the Southern Confederacy, died
Death of in New Orleans, December 6, 1889. He was born in Kentucky in
I8o8» anc* was graduated from the West Point Military Academy in
1828. In 1831-32, he saw service in the Black Hawk War, and
the following year, as first lieutenant of dragoons, fought against the
Comanches and Apaches. Resigning from the army in 1835, ne
became a cotton planter in Mississippi, but re-entered the service
on the breaking out of the Mexican War as colonel of the First
Mississippi volunteers. He displayed great bravery^ as we have
learned, at Monterey and Buena Vista, being severely wounded in
the latter battle. He was elected to the United States Senate on the
conclusion of the war, but resigned in order to become a candidate
for the governorship of his State. He failed of election, and served
as Secretary of War under Pierce. He was United States Senator
again during Buchanan's administration, but resigned and went
South upon the secession of Mississippi. His funeral was generally
observed throughout the South. His body was removed to Rich
mond in 1891, and a movement set on foot to erect a monument to
his memory.
General Sherman died peacefully at his residence in New York
city, February 14, 1891, and with him departed the last three of the
great leaders of the Union armies during the Civil War — Grant,
Sheridan, and Sherman.
Death of William Tecumseh Sherman was born at Lancaster, Ohio, Febru-
Gen. arv 3^ !82O. He was the third son in a family of six sons and five
daughters. The death of the father left the family in straitened
circumstances, and William fell under the care of Hon. Thomas
Ewing, who treated him with considerate kindness. Entering the
West Point Military Academy, Cadet Sherman was graduated in
June, 1840, sixth in a class of forty-three. He first saw service
against the Indians in Florida, and was promoted to a first lieuten-
CHAP. LXXXVII HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
152;
ancy in November, 1841. Transferred to the Pacific Coast in 1846, PERIOD vn
he remained thereuntil 1850. The army offering little chance of T"E*EW
promotion during peace, he resigned and became a banker in San
Francisco, and in 1858-59 undertook the practice of law in Leaven*
STATES
WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN
worth, Kans., he having studied the profession during the leisure of
his army life.
In 1860 he became superintendent of the State Military Academy
at Alexandria, La. An ardent Union man, he resigned upon the
secession of the State and returned to St. Louis. Captain Sherman
was one of the few military men who comprehended from the first
the magnitude of the impending conflict. He ridiculed President
Lincoln's call for 75,000 men for three months, and paid no heed to
it. When the term of enlistment, however, was made for three
Bio
graphi
cal
Sketch
of Sher
man
1528 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVII
PERIOD vii years, he came forward and was commissioned colonel of the Thir-
'THENEW teenth Infantry in the regular service. Arriving in Washington,
STATES ne was assigned to the command of a brigade of Tyler's division of
the army, which suffered severely in the battle of Manassas and Bull
Run. In his comments on this opening battle of the Civil War,
General Sherman said :
Sher- " It is now generally admitted that it was one of the best-planned
Opinion battles of the war, but one of the worst fought. Our men had been
of Bull toj^ so Often at home that all they had to do was to make a bold
appearance and the rebels would run ; and nearly all of us for the
first time then heard the sound of cannon and muskets in anger,
and saw the bloody scenes common to all battles with which we
were soon to be familiar. We had good organization, good men, but
no cohesion, no real discipline, no respect for authority, no real
knowledge of war. Both armies were fairly defeated, and whichever
had stood fast the other would have run. Though the North was
filled with mortification and shame, the South really had not much
to boast of, for in the three or four hours of fighting their organiza
tion was so broken up that they did not and could not follow our
army when it was known to be in a state of disgraceful and causeless
flight. It is easy to criticise a battle after it is over, but all now
admit that none others equally raw in war could have done better
than we did at Bull Run, and the lesson of that battle should not
be lost on a people like ours."
His Soon after this battle, Colonel Sherman was made a brigadier-
Services general of volunteers, and assigned to the department of the Cum
berland under General Robert Anderson of Fort Sumter fame. He
succeeded General Anderson, who retired because of ill health, and
was next transferred to St. Louis and placed in charge of Benton
Barracks. He took command of the Fifth Division of the Army of
Tennessee, after the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson by Grant,
in February, 1862. The services of Sherman at Shiloh, before
Vicksburg, at Chattanooga, and his great march from Atlanta to the
sea, his northward advance, and the surrender of General Jo. Johnston,
have already been told. On May 30, 1865, General Sherman took
leave of his army in general orders. Upon the reorganization of the
army, Grant became general, and Sherman lieutenant-general.
When Grant was elected President, Sherman succeeded him as gen
eral, holding that rank until his retirement in February, 1884.
CHAP. LXXXVII HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1529
THE
UNITED
STATES
°/
Porter
General Sherman made his home in New York City, where he PERIOD vn
became a great social favorite. He was welcomed everywhere, and
J
throughout his long and eventful life, no whisper was ever uttered
against his spotless honor. Yale. Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth,
and other universities and colleges conferred upon him the degree
of LL.D., and he was made a member of the Board of Regents of
the Smithsonian Institution. His funeral was impressive, the re
mains being deposited beside those of his wife and little son Willie,
in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis.
The day preceding the death of General Sherman, that is, on Feb-
ruary 13, 1891, Admiral David Porter died suddenly in Washington.
He was born in Chester, Pa., June 8, 1813. His father at that
time was doing excellent service as commander of the frigate Essex,
in the war against Great Britain. When only fourteen years old,
the son was appointed midshipman in the Mexican Navy, and served
under his cousin, Captain David H. Porter. Two years later, young
Porter entered the United States Navy as midshipman, afterwards
filling different positions in the service. He took part, during the
Mexican War, in the engagements at Vera Cruz, Tuxpan, and Tabasco,
and in the land fights at Tamultec and Chifflon.
Porter's first assignment, at the opening of the Civil War, was to
the command of the steam frigate Powhatan, sent to join the
Gulf blockading squadron at Pensacola. In the attack on New
Orleans, from April 18 to April 24, 1862, Porter commanded the
mortar fleet, consisting of twenty-one schooners, each carrying a
thirteen-inch mortar, accompanied by five convoy steamers. Then
followed a series of operations above New Orleans, the object of
which was the capture of Vicksburg. Porter had command of the
naval forces of the upper Mississippi, and helped Grant and Sher
man in their efforts to open that river for commerce.
In September, 1862, Porter, as acting rear-admiral, assumed
command of the Mississippi squadron. His passage of the Vicks
burg batteries opened communication with General Grant, who then
placed himself in the rear of the city. Porter's commission as rear-
admiral bore the date of the fall of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863. His
assistance in the capture of Fort Fisher, N. C, led to his being
thanked a third time by Congress. Soon after the close of the war,
Porter was appointed vice-admiral, and served until 1869 as superin
tendent of the Naval Academy at Annapolis. He succeeded Farra-
Porter's
1530 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVII
PERIOD vn gut as admiral, on the death of that officer in 1870, and with the
THE NEW death of Porter the office ceased to exist.
UNITED
STATES Gen. Joseph Eggleston Johnston died in Washington, March 21,
1891. Next to General Lee he was the greatest leader of the Con
federate forces during the Civil War. He was born at Farmville,
Va., February 3, 1809, and was graduated from West Point, number
thirteen, in a class in which General Lee stood second.
General Johnston served in harbor garrisons and in the Seminole
War in 1836, and entered the Mexican War as captain, displaying
notable bravery at the siege of Vera Cruz, and in the battles of Cerro
Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec,
and the capture of the City of Mexico. During this war he earned
two brevets for gallantry. In June, 1 860, he became quartermaster-
general of the United States Army. He resigned in April, 1861,
and was one of the first four brigadiers commissioned at Montgom
ery. His arrival at Bull Run was just in time to turn the impend*
ing Confederate defeat into a victory. In the fighting on the Penin-
sula, Johnston was desperately wounded, and was succeeded in
command by General Lee, by whose fame his own was thenceforward
eclipsed.
Upon his recovery the following spring, General Johnston was
transferred to the command of the Southwest, including Pemberton's
forces in Mississippi and Bragg's in Tennessee. He confronted
Sherman with great skill, until superseded at Atlanta by Hood.
General Lee, upon assuming charge of all the forces of the Confed
eracy, immediately restored Johnston to command, and, as has
been told, his was the last great army to surrender to the Union
forces.
General Johnston held many responsible trusts after the close of
the war. He served as Congressman from the Richmond district,
and President Cleveland appointed him a commissioner of railroads.
General Johnston was a pall-bearer at the funeral of General Grant,
and again at that of General Sherman. Between him and General
Sherman an intimate friendship existed, and they mutually agreed
that the survivor should be present in the capacity named at the
funeral of the other.
The closing months of President Harrison's administration were
marked by a number of notable deaths. That which attracted the
most attention was of James G. Blaine, who had been one of the
CHAP. LXXXVII HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1531
unsuccessful candidates for the Presidential nomination at Minne- PERIOD vu
apolis in June, 1892. , T^Srw
At the time of Mr. Elaine's death he was our foremost statesman. STATES
His great ability, his prominence not only in our own country but
in the eyes of Europe, his strong Americanism, and the impress that
JAMES G. BLAINE
he left upon our national affairs, justify a fuller notice than is gen
erally given to the leading actors in our history.
Mr. Blaine was born in the hamlet of Brownsville, Washington
County, Pa., January 31, 1830. He was an excellent student, and
was graduated from Washington College at the age of seventeen,
becoming a tutor shortly after in a military college at Blue Lick
Springs, Ky. He married Miss Harriet Stanwood in 1851.' He
was an instructor in an institution for the blind in Philadelphia from
September, 1852, until November, 1854, when he removed to the
Elaine's
Early
Years
1532 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIJ
PERIOD vii city of Augusta, Me., which was ever afterwards looked upon as his
THE NEW home.
UNITED
STATES Mn Elaine next assumed the editorship of The Kennebec Journal,
a paper of comparatively little importance. It was, however, a good
training-school for his facile pen. His fine command of words, his
. . brilliant ideas, his winning personality, and a remarkable memory of
Politics faces helped to make him a power in his adopted State — a power
that steadily grew until it became national. He threw all his ener
gies into the organization of the new Republican Party from the
ruins of the old Whig Party that had been one of the great political
factors of the Union for many years.
Mr. Blaine was a delegate to the Republican National Convention
in 1856, and a member of the Maine legislature from 1858 until
1862, serving the last two years as Speaker. In 1862 he was
elected to Congress and served continuously for seven terms. He
was chosen Speaker in 1869, and was twice re-elected. At the
Presidential convention in Cincinnati, in June, 1876., Blaine was the
leading candidate for the nomination. At the opening of the con
test he received 285 votes, Bristow 113, Conkling 99, Morton 124,
and Hayes 61. A combination of all the opposing candidates threw
the nomination to Mr. Hayes at the moment when it seemed certain
for Mr. Blaine.
He gave his effective help to the election of the Republican
ticket, and during the same year was appointed United States Sena
tor to fill the unexpired term of Senator Morrill, being elected the
following winter for the ensuing term.
The next Republican national convention met in Chicago in June,
1880. At the opening, Blaine and General Grant, the latter having
served two terms, were the leading candidates. After a week's de-
ilaine termined contest, it became apparent that neither could be nomi-
Author nated. General Garfield was sprung upon the convention, Elaine's
friends went to him, and he carried off the prize on the thirty-sixth
ballot. Garfield selected Blaine as his Secretary of State. Upon
the assassination of President Garfield, Secretary Blaine resigned
and for the first time in more than twenty years became a private
citizen. He employed his leisure in writing his valuable work
"Twenty Years in Congress." This production added to his popu
larity and made him a more prominent " Presidential possibility,"
as the expression goes, than ever before. At the Republican na*
CHAP. LXXXVII HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION,
1533
STATES
tional convention in Chicago, June, 1884, Mr. Elaine was nominated PERIOD VH
on the fourth ballot. His defeat was due to the trifling incident
already related.
A rei:omination awaited Mr. Elaine in 1888, but after considera
tion, he refused to permit his name to go before the convention.
Ex-Senator Benjamin Harrison received the honor, and when elected
President he made Mr. Elaine his Secretary of State.
It was while Mr. Elaine held the high office of Secretary of State Blame's
that his name became associated with the International American
Conference, popularly known as the Pan-American (All American)
Congress. His services were of the highest character, and must
prove a blessing to both continents.
The closing years of Mr. Elaine's life were shadowed. Walker,
his eldest son, died January 15, 1890; Alice, the oldest daugh
ter, who married Col. J. J. Coppinger, passed away at her
father's house, February 2, 1 890, and , Emmons, a gifted son,
and a graduate of Harvard, died in June, 1892, shortly after his
by this time, too, the health of Mr. Elaine, which had shown
signs tor several years of breaking, left no doubt among his friends
that his life was nearing its end. He strove to rally from his grow
ing weakness, and at times succeeded, but those who best knew him
saw the pitiful effort he was vainly making.
Shortly before the assembling of the Republican convention in
Minneapolis, June, 1892, Eiaine resigned from the Cabinet of Presi
dent Harrison. After much dallying, he had consented to allow the
use of his name as a Presidential candidate. His own wishes were
against this course, but he was persuaded to it by his family and a
few friends.
The nomination went to President Harrison instead. It was well Political
it did, for the turmoil and excitement of a Presidential contest must appj,tnt-
have hastened the death of Mr. Elaine. He had been afflicted most ment
sorely in his family, and his health, over which he had long been
anxious, failed so rapidly that he could no longer hide the truth from
himself.
He died on the morning of Friday, January 27, 1893, at his resi
dence in Washington. Every token of respect and honor was shown
to his memory, and his death was mourned alike by political friends
and opponents.
1534
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVU
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Other
Notable
Death
Ex-President Hayes died January 17, 1893, at his home in Fre
mont, Ohio. Among the attendants at his funeral was President
elect Cleveland.
General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard died in New Orleans,
February 20, 1893. He was born near that city, May 28, 1818, and
was graduated from the
West Point Military Acad
emy in 1838. He did
good service in the war
with Mexico, and was
twice wounded. He was
appointed Superintendent
.of the Military Academy,
January 23, 1861, but re
signed a month later to
serve the Southern Con
federacy. It will be re
membered that he com
ma n d e d at Charleston,
when Fort Sumter was
bombarded, and at Bull
Run, when, towards the
close of the battle, he was
superseded by Jo John
ston. He became a gen-
eral, but his services in the South hardly met the expectations of
the Confederacy.
Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, Professor of Mathematics in the
University of the South since 1875, died at Sewanee, Tenn., March
28, 1893. He was born in St. Augustine, Fla., May 16, 1824, and
was graduated from West Point in 1845. He was breveted for
gallantry at Cerro Gordo and Contreras, and was Assistant Professor
of Mathematics at West Point from 1845 to 1852. He was wounded
in service against the Comanches in 1859, and became a major in
January, 1861, but resigned when Florida seceded from the Union.
He was made a general in February, 1864. He was severely
wounded at the battle of Bull Run. He led the advance of Gen.
Braxton Bragg's army in the Kentucky campaign, and defeated the
Union forces under Gen. William Nelson. In February, 1863,
KIRBY SMITH
CHAP. LXXXVII HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION
1535
STATES
Lea<Hn
Presi-
Nomina-
tions
he was assigned to the command of the Trans-Mississippi De- PERIOD vn
partment, including Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, and organized
a government there. His district was self-supporting when the war
closed. His forces were the -last of the Confederacy to surrender.
He was President of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company
from 1866 to 1868, and Chancellor of the University of Nashville
from 1870 to 1875. General Smith was the last surviving general
of the Confederacy.
The Republican National Convention was in session at Minne-
apolis from June 7 to June 11, 1892. The number of delegates
present was 904^. The votes necessary to a choice were 453. On
the first ballot, President Harrison received 535^ votes; Elaine,
182^; McKinley, 182; Reed, 4 ; and Lincoln, i. This made Har
rison's plurality 1 66, and he was therefore nominated on the first
ballot.
For candidate for Vice-President, Whitelaw Reid and Thomas B.
Reed were put in nomination, but Reed withdrew before a ballot
was taken, and Reid was nominated unanimously.
The Democratic National Convention was in session in Chicago
from June 2ist to June 23d. The whole number of votes cast was
909^ ; necessary to a choice, 607. On the first ballot, Grover
Cleveland received 617^ votes; Hill, 114; Boies, 103; Gorman,
$6/4', Stevenson, 16^; and Carlisle, 14. Mr. Cleveland, there
fore, like his Republican opponent, was nominated on the first
ballot.
On the first ballot for Vice-President, Adlai E. Stevenson, of
Illinois, received 402 votes; Isaac P. Gray, 343; Allen B. Morse,
86 ; John L. Mitchell, 45 ; Henry Watterson, 26 ; Bourke Cockran, 5 ;
Lambert Tree and Horace Boies, I vote each. Stevenson was
then nominated by acclamation.
The Prohibition Party National Convention was in session in Cin-
cinnati from June 29th to July I st. John Bidwell, of California, was
nominated for President on the first ballot, and James B. Cranfil, of
Texas, was nominated for Vice-President.
From July 4th to 5th, the National Convention of the People's
Party was in session at Omaha. James B. Weaver, of Iowa, was nom
inated for President, and James G. Field, of Virginia, for Vice-Presi
dent.
On August 28th, the Socialist Labor Party, at a meeting in New
Other
1536 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVII
PERIOD vii York, nominated Simon Wing, of Massachusetts, for President, and
THTif*w C. H. Matchett, of New York, for Vice-President.
vMnwo
STATUS in the struggle of November 8th the Democrats not only
elected their President, but gained control of the Senate and House
of Representatives. Thus on March 4, 1893, the entire law-making
machinery of the United States passed under the control of that
party. Mr. Cleveland's plurality of 1 3 1 over Mr. Harrison, and his
majority of 108 overall, is the largest plurality received by any Presi-^
dential candidate in the Electoral College since 1872, and, with that
exception, the greatest victory since the election of Pierce in 1852,
when the Whig Party went to pieces.
Another notable fact was the first entrance in thirty- two years of
a third party into the Electoral College.
A variety of causes helped to bring about this surprising result.
o?Demo- Among them may be named a desire for a more moderate tariff
cratic policy, that is, one more directly for the raising of revenue, and yet
success protective jn a general sense of American interests; the fear of
Federal interference in the elections ; the wish for free silver, and
for a repeal of the tax on state bank issues ; the widespread belief
that high protection tends to the concentration of wealth and pre
vents the laborer from receiving adequate employment ; and, finally,
the general unrest and desire for a change of administration.
£ aK e XXttcUitjatt
CHAPTER LXXXVIII
CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION— 1893-189?
[Authorities: The present chapter is devoted almost exclusively to a description of the
World's Fair at Chicago. Such an expression in the days of our fathers would never
have been thought of. The facilities for intercommunication were so rudimentary that
they were taxed to the utmost by the County Fair. The advent of railroads and Morse's
telegraph was followed, after an interval of readjustment to new conditions, by the State
Fair. It was not, however, until after the introduction of the ocean cables that an In
ternational or World's Fair became a possibility. By means of the land and the ocean
telegraphs the feat of putting "a girdle round the earth in forty minutes " has been real
ized, and enterprising men in every part of the habitable globe knew almost simultane
ously what was being done in preparation for the great enterprise. Time and distance
became factors of little moment. No such exposition of the products of nature, of hu
man handicraft, and of human invention would have been dreamed of before the intro
duction of those space-annihilating agencies, the railroad, the ocean steamer, and the tele
graph. The sources from which we have derived much valuable help in writing this
chapter are Rand, McNally and Co.'s ** A Week at the Fair," the official ** History of
the Mid-Winter Fair," the ** History of the Cotton States Exposition, "and contemporary
publications.]
noon on March 4, 1893, President Harrison be
came a plain citizen of the great republic, and a
plain citizen, Grover Cleveland, became President
of the United States, This quiet exchange of
places is one of the most striking features of our
Government.
President Cleveland selected the following Cab
inet : Secretary of State, Walter Q. Gresham, of
Illinois (succeeded by Richard Olney, of Massachusetts) ; Secretary
of the Treasury, John G. Carlisle, of Kentucky; Secretary of War,
Daniel S. Lament, of New York; Attorney- General, Richard
Olney, of Massachusetts (succeeded by Judson Hermon, of Ohio) ;
97
•lU* AdmttusUatiou J3uiUJui
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. Lxxxvin
PERIOD VII
THB NEW
UNITED
STATES
The In-
auerura-
Previous
Inaug
urals
Postmaster- General, Wilson S. Bissell, of New York (succeeded by
William L. Wilson, of West Virginia) ; Secretary of the Navy,
Hilary A. Herbert, of Alabama; Secretary of the Interior, Hoke
Smith, of Georgia (succeeded by David B. Francis, of Missouri) ;
Secretary of Agriculture, J. Sterling Morton, of Nebraska.
The day of the inauguration was among the worst ever known in
Washington. In the morning the ground was covered with snow,
and the feathery particles were still blown slantingly in the wind.
The streets were soon filled with icy slush. Not a few deaths were
the direct result of exposure to the weather by the two hundred
thousand visitors that crowded the city to witness the inauguration
ceremonies.
Zachary Taylor was the first President who took the oath of
office and delivered the inaugural address in the open air. Previous
to 1849 it had been read in the Senate Chamber. Jefferson, as we
have learned, was the first President to be inaugurated in Washington.
Washington's first inaugural was 1,300 words in length; his sec
ond only 134. John Adams's inaugural was 2,300 words long;
Jefferson's, 2,100; Madison's, 1,100 on both occasions; Monroe's,
3,300 and 4,400; John Quincy Adams's, 2,900; Andrew Jackson's
first and second, each 1, 100; Van Buren employed 3,800 words, and
William Henry Harrison, the most voluminous of them all, 8,500.
John Tyler, in entering upon the duties of President, after the
death of Harrison, addressed his inaugural of 1,600 words to the
public, and published it in the newspapers, Congress not being in
session. Polk employed nearly 5,000 words, and Taylor, 100. Fill-
more simply announced the death of Taylor in a message of 260
words sent in to each House of Congress, and delivered no inaugural.
Franklin Pierce's address was 3,300 words; Lincoln's, on his
first election, 3,500, and on his second only 500 words. Johnson
took up the reins of Government after Lincoln's death in a brief
message of 360 words. Grant's first inaugural was i,ioowords
long; his second, 1,300. Hayes employed 2,400 words, and Gar-
field, 2,900.
Arthur followed the custom of other Vice-Presidents in succeeding
to the Presidency through death by giving only a very short address
of 400 words. Cleveland's first inaugural, which he committed to
memory, was 1,600 words. Benjamin Harrison entered office with
an inaugural of 4, 500 words
1540
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIU
Button VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
The
Grandest
Celebra
tion
Other
World's
Fairs
THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION
The grandest celebration thus far in the history of our country
was held in the city of Chicago to commemorate the four hundredth
anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus,
So immense were the preliminary steps in this vast enterprise that
they could not be completed in 1892, the true anniversary, which
was therefore held one year later.
The strife for the honor of the World's Fair was keen among the
leading cities, and New York was confident of securing the prize ;
but Western push and enterprise succeeded, and, on the 24th of
February, 1890, Congress named Chicago as the favored place. On
the 2d of the following July the site was selected. This extended
from the point nearest the city, two and a half miles to the southern
extremity of Jackson Park, comprising nearly seven hundred acres
of attractively laid out grounds and lakes. Lake Michigan reached
along the entire front, while in the background was the extensive
South Park system. The site agreed upon by the Board of Directors
was the section known as Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance
Jackson Park has a frontage of one and a half miles on Lake Michi
gan, and contains six hundred acres of ground, while the Midway
Pfeisance, connecting Jackson and Washington Parks, is a mile long
and six hundred feet wide, affording an additional area of eighty-five
acres.
To gain a clear idea of the enormous extent of the Columbian
Exposition, let us compare it with the other world's fairs :
location and
Year.
Sil
<°|
Number
of Feet
Under
Roof.
Number
of Ex-
tiibitors.
Total
At
tendance.
c
.2-- .
1^
flo-
Total
Receipts.
Guarantee.
Coat.
London, 1857
Paris 1855
2lJ^
700,000
I 866 ooo
17,000
6,039,196
144
$1,780,000.00
6,441, 280.00
British Gov't.
French Gov't.
*
Ixnidon, 1862.. .
23^
1,291,800
28,653
6,211,103
121
1,644,260.00
English Gov't
2,300,000
1'aris, 1867 ...
87
3,371,904
52,000
10,200,000
217
2,103,675.00
French Gov't.
*
Vienna, 1873... •
Philadelphia, 1876
280
236
2,963,421
1,688,858
142,000
30,864
7,254,687
9,910,996
186
i59
6,971,832.00
3,813,724.00
$4,500,000
2,510,000
7,850,000
Paris, 1878
100
1,858,778
40,366
16,032,725
191
2,531,650.00
2,250,000
*
Paris, 1889
Chicago, 1893.. .
173
64}
1,000,000
5,000,000
SS.ooo
65,4^2
28,149,353
21,530,854
Paid ad
'«3
'83
8,300,000.00
33,290,065.58
3,600,000
19,500,000
6,500,000
18,759,000
missions.
* Run at a great loss. No report ever made, and exact amount of deficit cannot be obtained.
The following foreign governments made liberal appropriations
foi exhibits : Argentine Republic, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil,
CHAP.LXXXVIII CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1541
Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Danish West Indies, Ecuador, PERIOD vn
France, Germany, Great Britain, Barbadoes, British Guiana, British r**™£™
Honduras, Canada, Cape Colony, Ceylon, India, Jamaica, Leeward STATES
Islands, New South Wales, New Zealand, Trinidad, Greece, Guate
mala, Hawaii, Honduras, Haiti, Japan, Liberia, Mexico, Morocco,
Netherlands, Dutch Guiana, Dutch West Indies, Nicaragua, Norway,
THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING
Orange Free State, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Salvador, San Domingo,
Spain, Cuba, Sweden, Uruguay.
It followed as a matter of course that every State and Territory in
the Union entered heartily into the plan, the total appropriations
by them amounting to more than $6,000,000. Chicago came for
ward with gigantic contributions, and it was found at the close of
the Exhibition that the total number of paid admissions was $22,000,-
ooo, and that the receipts exceeded the expenses by some $2,000,000.
The original plan contemplated ten main buildings: Manufac
tures, Administration, Machinery, Agriculture, Electricity, Mines,
Transportation, Horticulture, Fisheries, and the Venetian Village,
but a change of plan took in the Art Galleries and the Woman's
Building, and finally the Forestry, Dairy, Stock Pavilion, Terminal
The
1542 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIII
PERIOD vii Station, Music Hall, Peristyle, Casino, Choral, Anthropological, and
TUNi?i?i7 many others were added. ,
On October 21, 1892, the grounds and buildings were opened and
dedicated with appropriate ceremonies by Levi P. Morton, Vice-
President of the United States, and presented by President Higin-
botham, of the World's Columbian Exposition, to President Palmer,
of the World's Columbian Commission. The Exposition opened
May i, 1893, and closed October 30 following.
The ' The dimensions of this building were 350 by 700 feet. As the
Mines name implies, the exhibit consisted of articles relating to mines and
Mining mining, which were grouped into 123 classes. Among these were:
Building cement from Heidelberg, mosaics in Carlsbad stone, French asphalt
specimens, French work in gold, platinum, and aluminum, silver and
ores from New South Wales, marble, granite, nickel, copper, and
platinum ores from Ontario, ores from British Columbia, Canada,
Japan, Russia, Brazil, Cape of Good Hope, Spain, Mexico, and Chili,
with a statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World" carved in salt.
In another portion of the same building were various ores from
Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Washington, Wyom
ing, Idaho, California, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio,
Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and other States. In this exhibit
were also shown Tiffany's collection of precious stones, the statue of
the "Silver Queen," German precious stones, tin plate, and a meteo
rite that fell in Arizona weighing more than half a ton.
Histori- In tne State Department, no one could fail to be impressed by the
cal Docu- arrav Of treasures. First of all was what seemed to be the Decla-
ments
ration of Independence as it came from the hand of its immortal
author, Thomas Jefferson, and with the signatures of the signers^
written more than one hundred years before. It was viewed with
great interest, and probably all believed that it was the original
Declaration itself, but truth compels us to say that such was not the
fact. It was only a copy, for under no circumstances will the Govern
ment permit the genuine Declaration to leave the archives at Wash
ington, where it is guarded with the most jealous care.
There, however, was the original petition of the United Colonies
to George III., presented by Benjamin Franklin in 1774, together
with the original journal of the Continental Congress. General Jack
son; one of the most remarkable Presidents we ever had, was recalled
i
CHAP. LXXXVIII CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1543
STATES.
by his sword, and with what reverence we looked upon Lincoln's PERIODVII
Emancipation Proclamation which struck the shackles from every
bondman in the United States. Americans can feel little respect
for George III., whose stubbornness cost him his colonies in this
country, but his autograph -letter was read with strange feelings by
the myriad thousands who paused to study it. Of more living inter
est were the various proclamations of our own Presidents with their
autographs, letters written by Washington, Franklin, the Adamses,
Jefferson, Madison, Polk, Van Buren, Monroe, Lincoln, Grant,
Arthur, and Hayes.
THE ELECTRICITY BUILDING
Around the circle under the dome were other relics equally
precious to every patriotic heart, among them being Washington's Precious
commission as commander-in-chief of the colonial forces, his sword, ReIlcs
his diary, and his account-books and army reports ; the sash used by
Lafayette to bind up his wound at Brandywine; the calumet pipe
smoked by Washington at the age of seventeen ; Benjamin Franklin's
cane; a waistcoat embroidered by Marie Antoinette ; wampum made
before the discovery of America ; camp service of pewter, used by
Washington throughout the Revolution ; Bible brought over in the
1544 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIII
PERIOD vii Mayflower by John Alden in 1620, and a part of the torch carried by
TS££r "Old Put" into the wolf >s den-
STATES. There were also a page from the Plymouth records of 1620 and
1621; a land patent issued in 1628; the commission from William
III. creating the common pleas court in Massachusetts in 1696; the
Colonial agreement in regard to enlarging Salem church in 1628; a page of
Relics record frOm one of the hideous witchcraft trials, held in 1692; the
earliest charter of free government ever known, the Compact of
Providence; a door-knocker that was brought to this country in the
Mayflower, and the portraits of the Justices and Attorney-Generals
of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Among the relics in the War Department were: A six-pounder
bronze gun presented to the colonial forces by Lafayette; the four-
pounder gun that fired the first shot in the War for the Union ; the
rifled gun that fired the last shot; cannon used in the Mexican War;
some very old cast-iron cannon found in the Hudson River; Chinese
cannon captured at Corea; bronze cannon captured at Yorktown;
the oldest Blanchard lathe in existence; the flag displayed at the
most northern point ever reached by man ; boot-legs from which the
starving Greely party made soup; relics of Sir John Franklin; a
wagon that accompanied General Sherman's train through all his
marches; the sacred shirt worn by Sitting Bull when Custer was
killed in the battle of the Little Big Horn, and figures of officers
and soldiers in the uniform of the War of 1812.
The Treasury Department was represented by the United States
Mint in operation, a collection of historic medals, and the coins of
various countries, ancient and modern; a ten-thousand dollar gold
certificate and a silver certificate of the same denomination, with
models of lighthouses and government telescopes and chronographs.
This building was 350 by 700 feet, and cost more than $400,000.
Electric- We have all learned something of the marvelous discoveries made
Buildin *n e^ect"city kv Edison, the most wonderful inventor of the age.
A few years ago, any one who had prophesied the phonograph or
telephone or kinetoscope would have been set down as a lunatic or
a crank; so that when we hear of some astounding feat Edison has
almost accomplished, the safer plan is not to express any doubt, but
"suspend judgment" until we learn the facts.
In the electricity buildings, therefore, the exhibits, while entranc
ing of themselves, were still more so in their promise of what is yet
CHAP. LXXXVIII CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1545
to come. Doubtless we are on the verge of the most astounding dis- PERIOD vn
coveries that have come to man since creation, — discoveries that will THE NEW
UNITED
affect civilization throughout the coming ages; such, for instance, as STATES
the new form of light that passes through opaque substances with the
same facility as through those that arc perfectly transparent.
MACHINERY HALL
The^Americans are an inventive people, and one could spend, not
hours, but days amid the wonders of Machinery Hall, speculating
over the possibilities that yet await. the explorers in a field of almost
infinite extent.
One of the curiosities which attracted universal attention was the
exact reproduction of the Convent of Santa Maria de la Rabida
(Saint Mary of the Frontier), where, as we learned in the first part
of this history, Christopher Columbus, tired and dispirited, stopped
with his child and craved food and lodging, and from which, when he
finally went forth, it was to discover the New World.
It cost $50,000 to build this model, which was stored with such
precious relics that it was guarded night and day by United States
troops. The collection, incomparable in its way, was made by
Hon. William Eleroy Curtis, who traversed all Europe searching for
1546
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIII
PERIOD vii relics of Columbus that might be placed on exhibition at the World's
UNITED* Fair- His success -excelled all expectations.
STATES ^ short distance away were moored the models of the three
famous caravels, the Santa Maria, the Nina and the Pinta. There
is no doubt that these are exact copies, to the minutest detail, of
the small vessels that left Palos in August, 1492, on the most mo
mentous voyage ever made by man. The Spanish Government built
the Santa Maria and presented it to the United States, and the three
The
Memory
of
Colum
bus
AGFNCULTURAL BUILDING
made their first public appearance at Huelva, Spain, during the
Columbus festivities held therein October, 1892. They started on
their voyage across the Atlantic, February 1 8th following, the Santa
Maria being commanded by Captain Concas, of the Spanish navy,
and convoyed by a Spanish man-of-war. The Nina, commanded by
Lieut, J. C. Colwell, of the United States navy, was convoyed by
our cruiser Newark, while the Pinta, commanded by Lieutenant
Howard, was convoyed by the Bennington. The officers and crews
had a taste of the discomforts attending the original voyage, but
reached Havana without mishap. They formed the most striking
feature of the grand naval review, held in New York in April.
% ^
CHAP. LXXXVIII CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1547
This structure was 800 feet long and 500 feet wide, with an PERIOD vn
annex 550 by 312 feet, erected at a cost of $620,000. The exhibits r™™*™
in the main building included cocoa, chocolate, and drugs from the STATES
Netherlands ; wood pulp and revolving stand from Sweden ; curious
shoes and agricultural products from Denmark ; agricultural products The
from France, the most striking being the Menier chocolate tower, ASricul-
which weighed 50 tons and was worth $40,000; fertilizers and prod- Exhibit
nets from Uruguay; an elephant tusk seven and a half feet long;
wools, woods, and feathers from the Cape of Good Hope, the most
attractive perhaps being a live Zulu "boy," six feet seven and a
half inches tall; woods from New South Wales; a cheese from
Canada weighing eleven tons ; tea and coffee from Ceylon ; a model
of Gladstone's estate at Hawarden Castle, and appropriate exhibits
from Germany, Spain, Brazil, Paraguay, Ecuador, British Guiana,
Japan and Mexico.
In another section were specimens of what are grown in New ^ varied
York, Missouri, Washington, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Exhibit
Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Wisconsin, Montana, North
Dakota, Maine, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Connecticut, and
Massachusetts. In the New England exhibit were excellent ex
amples of the spinning-wheel of our ancestors, corn-cribs, and other
conveniences, or rather necessities. An ingenious monument in
soap showed the origin of the American flag. The articles in this
building were so numerous that it would be tedious to read even a
list of them.
This vast building was 787 feet wide and 1,687 ^eet l°ng> witn a
ground area of about thirty-one acres and a gallery space of forty- Manufac-
four acres. It was the largest building in the world, and the largest Literal
roof structure ever made. Its construction required 17,000,000 feet B.
of lumber, 1 3,000,000 pounds of steel, and 2,000,000 pounds of iron,
with a total cost of $1,700,000. Byway of comparison, it has been
stated that any church in Chicago could be placed in the vestibule of
St. Peter's church at Rome, but this building was three times as
large as St. Peter's. The Roman Coliseum of ancient Rome was
capable of seating 80,000 persons, but this structure was four times
an large. In the central hall, which was a single room without a
supporting pillar, 75,000 persons could be comfortably seated, while
the whole building would seat 300,000 persons. There were 7,000,-
ooo feet of lumber in the floors, and it took five car-loads of nails to
543
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIII
PERIOD vii secure the 215 car-loads of lumber to the joists. To grow the
TU*ITED amount °f lumber required in its construction would take 1,100 acres
STATES. of Michigan pine land, while the iron and steel in the roof would
build two Brooklyn bridges. There were eleven acres of glass in
the skylights, and the roof lacked only eleven feet of being as high
as the Bunker Hill monument in Boston. Its ground plan was twice
the size of the great pyramid of Cheops. .
Fine Arts The building devoted to fine arts was 320 by 500 feet, with two
' annexes each 120 by 200 feet, erected at a cost of $670,000. The
collection of painting and statuary from all parts of the world was
FINE ARTS BUILDING
the finest ever exhibited anywhere, and it would be useless to attempt
even the most meagre description of it.
Leather The Leather Building was 150 by 575 feet, and among the curi-
Buildmg osjtjes shown were machines in operation, each of which turned out
1,000 pairs of shoes a day.
Forestry The Forestry Building was 208 by 528 feet, and no iron was used
Building in -ts construction, wooden pins taking the place of bolts and rods.
A study of the exhibits gave one a fair idea of the almost endless
variety of wood grown in various parts of the Union, besides those
of New South Wales, Mexico, Brazil, Germany and Paraguay.
CHAP. LXXXVIII CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1549
The dimensions of this building were 250 by 998 feet. In the PERIOD vn
dome were shown a miniature mountain and a pyramid of shrubbery; r*£££™
a crystal cavern under the mountain; a century plant; a sago palm; STATES
a model of the Capitol at Washington in climbing palms, and flowers
from the Cape of Good Hope.
In another portion were specimens of the Egyptian paper plant, Horticul-
from which the ancient papyrus was made, while among the American
fruits were Oregon pears weighing nearly four pounds apiece, a potato
fifteen inches long weighing five pounds, and a strawberry eleven
inches in circumference. The United States can certainly claim
supremacy as regards the size of its fruits.
The success of the Columbian Exposition was due in a large woman'
degree to Mrs. Potter Palmer, President of the Board of Lady Man- Building
agers. The dimensions of the Woman's Building were 199 by 388
feet. It was the design of Miss Sophia G. Hayden, of Boston, and
was of the Italian Renaissance style. The caryatides were modeled
by Miss Yandel, of Louisville, and the groups of figures on the roof-
line were the work of Miss Rideout, of San Francisco. Many of the
painted decorations were important, showing the artistic skill of
Mrs. MacMonnies and Miss Cassatt. The eastern parlor was fur
nished and decorated by the women of Cincinnati, and other smaller
rooms by the women of California, Kentucky, and Connecticut.
The library contained the literary works of the women of all coun
tries, and the ceiling was painted by Mrs. Dora Wheeler Keith.
Many important and interesting gatherings of women were held
in the assembly-room, where instructive discussions took place, and
addresses of marked excellence were given by the leading women of
the country.
A striking feature of the Exposition was the great interest shown The
by almost all the foreign nations. Some of them had buildings of ^r^n
their own, and in the aggregate millions of dollars were appropriated ings
by those countries in contributing to the success of the grand
enterprise.
The Victoria House was a- typical "half-timber" structure of the
time of Henry VIII. Although terra-cotta was extensively used in
the lower story, with red-brick facing and mullioned windows, the
building was a fine example of the comfortable old-fashioned English
manor house.
The interesting exhibits included a large scale map showing the
1550 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIIE
PERIOD vu discoveries made by Englishmen in America ; educational dis-
^mST plays ; post-office exhibits, contrasting the old and the new systems,
STATES. ancj a Seychelles cocoanut- plant. This plant is a rare curiosity.
"Chinese" Gordon, who was a learned and deeply religious man,
considered it to be the genuine "forbidden fruit of Eden."
Canadian The Canadian Building was two stories in height, with three
Exhibits entrances, and, including the veranda, covered an area of about 6,000
square feet. It had one of the best locations in the park, and,
in order to show the variety of woods indigenous to Canada, the
interior walls, ceilings, and floors of the pavilion were finished with
them, all being highly polished and very beautiful. The building:
was devoted mainly to the comfort of visitors from Canada, and
every possible convenience was supplied to them.
Adjoining this building was the Australia House, erected by
New South Wales, whose people manifested a deep interest in the
Exposition. The building was neat and artistic, capitally arranged,
and contained the eight offices of .the -com mission.
The Spanish Building was a three-fourths production of a section
of the Silk Exchange at Valencia, Spain, whose erection was begun
a short time before Columbus sailed on his first voyage. In the
tower all defaulting and bankrupt merchants were imprisoned. In.
the building were displayed many relics of Columbus, among, them
being several of his letters, a sword once owned by Queen Isabella,,
one that had been used by Cortez in his conquest of Mexico, ancient
artillery, with small, odd-looking cannon, etc.
The German Building was an imposing structure. In its belfry
was a chime of three bells made of cast steel at Bochum on the
Rhine, and whose final destination was the "Church of Mercy,"
erected at Berlin in memory of the late Empress Augusta. Within
the building were groups of statuary, panels illustrating the birth
and crucifixion of Christ, Schulter's statue of St. John, a library of
rare German works, antique German furniture, famous paintings,,
mammoth clocks, old manuscripts, and valuable musical works.
Haitia Haiti was modestly represented by a building in the southern-
Exhibit colonial style. On the front portico the coat-of-arms of the Republic
was painted, with the motto, and below the words, " Republique
Hatienne, 1492, 1892, 1804." The first date referred to the dis
covery of America, the second to the four hundredth anniversary^
and the last is the date of Haitian independence. In this building;
CHAP. LXXXVIJI CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1551
was shown the beautiful statue " Reverie," the work of Laforestrie,
a native sculptor, which took the second prize at the Paris Salon.
Other curiosities were an anchor from one of the ships of Columbus,
relics of the original inhabitants of the island, the bust and relics of
Toussaint 1'Ouverture, paintings, etc.
The Government of Siam erected a royal pavilion, whose design
was furnished by a native architect. It was a small structure, only
26 feet square, with a front elevation of 32 feet. It was made of
teakwood, elegantly carved and gilded, while1 the exhibits included
fine specimens of gems, rosins, dyes, silks, cottons, grains, and
tobacco.
The East India Building was not erected by the Government,
though it gave some unofficial aid to the enterprise. Many articles
were shown, among them being an Indian temple or shrine, figures
of Buddha, stories of Hindoo mythology, illustrated in wood and
stone, and on brass and silk, copies of famous monuments, tusks of
ivory carved into lace patterns, while the entire building was deco
rated in the striking colors of the Orient.
The Colombia Building occupied a space of 45 by 45 feet, with
conservatories on each side filled with lovely tropical plants. It
was two stories in height, the first occupied by an exceptionally in
teresting collection of antiquities taken from prehistoric graves in
Colombia, among them being water-bottles, human images, helmets,
trumpets, breast-plates, bangles, necklaces, anklets, and other articles
all made of pure gold. There were also many mummies and speci
mens of ancient pottery. These and many other interesting exhibits
were presented after the close of the Exposition to the Queen Regent
of Spain as an expression of gratitude for her services as arbitrator
in the disputed boundary between Colombia and Venezuela.
The Swedish Building was built of brick and timber brought from
Sweden. The interior gave a view of the capital, with exhibits of
Swedish sports, ships, the famous Swedish iron ores, and the manu
factured products of iron, china goods, glass products, and gold and
silver work.
Venezuela, despite the many troubles through which she had re
cently passed, erected a building that was a strong evidence of the
pluck and energy of her people. The single-story building was con
structed of white marble in the Graeco-Roman style of architecture
On the left of the three fine towers ornamenting the facade was a
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
East
India
Exhibit
Swedish
Exhibit
1552 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIII
PERIOD vii life-size statue of Columbus, and on the right one of Bolivar,
^UNITE™ the Washington of the country. There, too, were relics of great
STATES, historical value, many of which were prehistoric. The flag carried
by Pizarro during his conquest o"f Peru was shown.
The Turkish Building was a reproduction of a fountain erected in
Constantinople two centuries ago by Selim the Great. The exterior
walls were adorned by exquisite carvings in a species of hardwood
of great beauty. In addition, there were alternate panels of inlaid
wood and mother-of-pearl work, with an occasional text in Arabic
characters taken from the Koran. The effect of the work when first
• . viewed was somewhat bewildering because of its dazzling brightness.
The exhibit of Turkey could not fail to be attractive with its
wealth of festooned hangings of rich fabrics, the display of silks,
brilliant gems, and costly jewelry, gums, gold and silver wares, soft
fabrics, daggers, and Oriental wares.
Brazilian The Brazilian Building had its grpund plan in the form of a Greek
Exhibit crosSj the dimensions on the outside being 148 by 148 feet, the upper
story surmounted by a central dome made of steel, and the style of
architecture French Renaissance. In the bas-reliefs of the facades
and those on the stylobate of the dome the Indian figures were
allegorical. The building was not only beautiful but admirably
constructed at a cost of $90,000.
Guate ^e Guatemala Building was square in shape, with 1 1 1 feet on
malan each side, its style of architecture being original and nothing classical
in its character. The chief exhibit of Guatemala was its coffee,
while the space around the building was turned into a large garden,
in which grew coffee, bananas, and the tropical plants peculiar to
that country.
The Costa Rica Building was 103 feet long by 60 feet wide, and
of the Doric style. A beautiful exhibit was made of tropical birds
and plants. Norway erected a structure after the model of the old
"Stavkirke," a style dating back to the twelfth century. It was put
together in Norway of native pine, taken apart, and sent to this
country, where Norwegian workmen put it together.
The Ceylon Court was an antique Buddhist temple, displaying the
Dravidian style, as found among the ancient ruins of that island.
The elegant Cinghalese woods used in the construction were first
fitted in Ceylon and then sent to this country, where the building
was reconstructed. The court was 145 feet long, with a central hall
CHAP. LXXXVIII CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1553
50 feet wide. The decorations were so intricate and elaborate that
one might spend hours in their study without discovering a)l their
astonishing beauty.
The French Government Building consisted of two pavilions,
united by a semi-circular colonnade, at the centre of which was a
beautiful fountain decorated with statuary brought from France. In
the smaller pavilion was the large room for the city of Paris. There
the leading merchants of the city allowed the public to view their
choicest wares. The walls were hung with the finest Gobelin
tapestry, and the room adjoining contained only works of art and
valuable bric-a-brac.
In the larger pavilion were shown some of the finest paintings
of the French nation. In the " De Lafayette Room" were the
numerous interesting mementos and historical relics connected with
Lafayette's career in this country. No other foreigner can ever
hold so warm a place in the memory of Americans as this friend of
Washington and of our country. The building was only one story
in height, but it was 250 feet long by 175 feet wide. The most
instructive exhibit was the models and plans of schools, prisons,
hospitals, and the sewerage systems of Paris.
A peculiar and unique interest attached to a narrow strip of land,
nearly a mile in length, extending westward from the north end of
Jackson Park, and known as the Midway Plaisance. It formed a part
of the Chicago park system connecting Jackson and Washington
parks. It was devoted to the amusement features of the Fair, and
attracted great interest among the millions of visitors.
We have thus gained an imperfect idea of the contributions of
most of the foreign governments to the World's Fair at Chicago.
The grand enterprise, however, was of necessity purely American,
and its chief glory lay in the •magnificent support it received from
our own country. Had that been withheld, no aid from the "outside
world" could have made it successful. Splendid as was the support
given by the imperial city of Chicago itself, the Exposition could not
have survived the indifference and lukewarmness of the States as a
whole, for the Exposition was that of the United States of America,
and every patriotic American felt a pride in it, and was eager to
contribute his utmost energy towards its success.
The California Midwinter Fair, an echo of the Columbian Exposi
tion, was opened on January 27, 1894. New Year's Day was originally
98
PERIOD VII
THK NEW
UNITED
STATES
Lafay
ette
Relics
Midway
Plais
ance
The Help
from the
States
1554 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIII
PERIOD vii set, but many of the exhibits had not arrived, and the formal
Tum?m7 opening was deferred to the date named. The gates, however, were
STATES thrown open on the first, and thousands of visitors were present.
The beautiful monumental "Prayer- Book Cross," the gift of the late
G. W. Childs, was dedicated. This cross, which stands on a knoll
The near the main buildings, commemorates the landing of the great
winter English navigator, Sir Francis Drake, in 1580, from his ship
Fair The Golden Hinde, at what has since been known as "Drake's Bay,"
and the preaching there by Drake's chaplain, Francis Fletcher, of
the first sermon in English on the Pacific Coast. The monument is
57 feet high and is in the form of a Celtic cross, with the arms
15 feet in height and 23 feet across.
Ground was first broken for the fair in San Francisco on August
Principal 24' T^93- *ts cost was nearty $5,ooo,ooo, and its principal buildings
Build- were: Manufactures and Liberal Arts; Mechanic Arts; Horti
cultural and Agricultural ; Fine Arts ; Administration Building
and Festival Hall. One of the most interesting features was the
reproduction of a pioneer mining- camp, with all its accessories,
including a number of the identical cabins in which some of the
"Bonanza kings" of California's later days began their lives of
privation and toil in the diggings. There was also an exact repro
duction of the famous fort of Captain Sutter, as it was when visited
by Fremont the explorer in 1846, before any one suspected the
prodigious deposits of gold that lay hardly below the surface of the
surrounding country. Hundreds of relics of the days of the
"Argonauts" were exhibited and viewed with rapt attention by the
multitudes of visitors.
The buildings were colored in Oriental fashion, and with their
surroundings of orange-trees, magnolias, and palms, and the deep
blue of the California sky, they formed a picture of semi-tropical
luxuriance and splendor. The interest in the fair, which was moder
ate at first, owing to its following on the heels of the Columbian
Exposition, steadily grew, as its numerous beauties became better
known, and its millions of visitors represented every part of
the world.
On the 1 8th of September, 1895, President Cleveland, at his
summer home on the shore of Buzzard's Bay, Mass., pressed the
electric button which set in motion the machinery of the Cotton
States Exposition at Atlanta, Ga., a thousand miles distant.
CHAP. LXXXVUI CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1555
This exposition was one of the most remarkable and creditable in
the whole history of the South. The feeling was strong in that part
of our country that it had not been fitly represented at the Columbian
Exposition, and this was an attempt to make up for that deficiency,
if such it could be considered.
Undertaken during a period of extreme financial depression,
$500,000 was quickly subscribed in Atlanta, while Congress recog
nized the exposition as national, and appropriated $200,000 for a
government exhibit. The site was nearly 200,000 acres in extent,
and was in Piedmont Park, where were still to be seen the remains
of Sheridan's rifle-pits, during the furious fighting -round the town
more than thirty years before. The view was beautiful, and an
artificial lake gave water frontage to the principal buildings and
conveyance by gondolas and electric launches to and from different
points of the grounds. The buildings and grounds represented an
outlay of more than $2,000,000, and the largest electrically-lighted
fountain in the world threw water into the air at the rate of 15,000
gallons a minute.
Charles A. Collier was president and director-general of the expo
sition; Walter G. Cooper, chief of the department of publicity and
promotion, and Grant Wilkins, chief of construction and landscape
engineer. It was decided to keep the exposition open until the last
day of the year, closing it on Sundays. The first of the opening
exercises was a military and civic parade, participated in by United
States regulars, volunteer companies from different points in the
South, 5,000 Grand Army men, and many distinguished visitors.
Bishop Nelson made the opening prayer, followed by an address
by President Collier, another by Mrs. Joseph Thompson, for the
Woman's Board, one by Booker T. Washington, an address of wel
come to the city by Mayor King, and to the State by Judge George
Brown. These were followed by an exposition ode by Frank L.
Stanton, an oration by Judge Emory Spear, and a benediction by
Bishop Becker.
While all these were in excellent taste, breathing the true spirit
of Southern hospitality and national patriotism, the speech of Booker
T. Washington was in many respects the most striking of all. This
man is a negro born in slavery. He was educated at Hampton, Va.,
and, developing marked ability, he established the Tuskeegee (Ala.)
Normal and Industrial Institute for colored youth. The funds were
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES.
The
Atlanta
Expo
sition
Officers
of the
Expo
sition
A
Remark
able
Address
1556
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIH
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
PERIOD vii mainly obtained from New York and New England, and the institu-
^on nas been carried to a wonderful degree of efficiency and success.
Mr. Washington's presence on a distinctly Southern platform among
such distinguished company was an event that, ten years before, no
one would have believed among the possibilities.
•His audience was prepared to be indulgent and sympathetic, for
comparatively little was expected from him ; but very quickly all
^became interested. Then they began to applaud, and his wise and
eloquent sentences brought forth round after round of delighted
applause. In that brief address, the gifted man secured acknowl
edgment as the foremost colored educational leader in the South.
A Great
Object-
Lesson
HONOLULU FROM THE BELL TOWER, H. I.
The buildings were about thirty in number, spacious, substantial,
artistic, and well adapted to the purposes to which they were devoted.
Every Southern State was appropriately represented, while exhibits
were made by five Northern States, which, with a number of Central
and South American republics, had buildings on the grounds. The
exposition achieved the full measure of success, and exerted a marked
and beneficial influence upon the industrial and commercial interests
of the South, and, in a higher sense, upon the country at large. It
was fraternal in spirit, and awoke a responsive echo to the farthest
northern and western bounds of our country; it showed as never
before the amazing capabilities of the South; in truth, it was a
revelation to the South itself, few of whose people suspected the
CHAP. LXXXVIII CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1557
.,
marvellous resources of that region until this impressive object- PKRIODVII
lesson was spread oefore them. V^SiT
The location of the twelve islands composing Hawaii, lying in the STATES
Pacific, to the southwest of California, early attracted the attention
of navigators. The field was a promising one for missionaries, who
visited the islands during the first quarter of the century, and did a
beneficent work for civilization and Christianity. There is an old
saying that the sons of ministers and notably good men are generally
the worst sort of people. In Hawaii the sons of the missionaries
seized the most valuable portions of the semi-tropical islands, and
divided the principal offices among themselves. The royal native
family retained rule, but were so shorn of power that their reign was
merely nominal.
PALM TREES, QUEEN'S HOSPITAL, HONOLULU
In 1849 Hawaii and the United States made a treaty of commerce
and for the extradition of criminals, and a reciprocity treaty was
concluded in 1875. This gave a prodigious impulse to the sugar kaua
industry, which was virtually in the hands of foreigners. In 1891
Congress further confirmed treaty rights, and the natives saw
that the islands had become the ripe plum that was to be picked
by foreigners.
David Kalakaua, born in 1836, 'became king of Hawaii in 1874,
his elevation to that office being due to the aid of American and
1558
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIII
PBRIOCVII English ships. He had little ability, and preferred the grosser
THE NEW pleasures of life to the good of his subjects. He was soured and
UNITED J
STATES resentful at sight of the greed of the foreigners, and encouraged the
cry ofi "Hawaii for the Hawaiians," which the native members of
the legislature raised. The people who controlled the king were
reactionists, but in 1887 the progressists, by a vigorous movement,
compelled the king to sign a new constitution, which left him
hardly a shred of authority. The right of suffrage was given
to the white residents, and closer relations were established
with the United States, to whom Pearl Harbor, in Oahu, was
ceded, our country thus securing one of the best naval stations in
the Pacific.
In 1891 Kalakaua died in San Francisco, while engaged in
Liliuo-
kalani
THE KING'S RESIDENCE AT WAIKIKI, HONOLULU
negotiating a treaty of reciprocity with the United States. His sister
Liliuokalani, two years younger, thereupon became queen. She is a
coarse, revengeful woman, with a striking illustration of the absurdity
of committing the destinies of a nation to any man or woman solely
because of being "born to the purple." She shared the resent
ment of her people, and found the position of a monarch only in
name intolerable. Like an Indian chief plotting for revenge, she
bided her time, which came, as she believed, in January, 1893, when
there was an angry split in the leading party. She called the
CHAP. LXXXVIII CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1559
legislature together and proposed a new constitution, which took the PERIODVII
right of voting from the whites, and gave back to the crown the THE NEW
UNITED
many privileges taken from it. Her course was so radical that her
friends were fearful of the consequences, and induced her to modify
her scheme, which she did by declaring that all changes in the
fundamental law would be ''made in accordance with the method
provided in the old constitution.
THE KING'S NEW PALACE, HONOLULU
This did not lessen the alarm of the white residents in the island,
who had little faith in her promises, which she would not hesitate
to break if self-interest could be aided thereby. Many believed
that a massacre was among the probabilities. The United States
man-of-war Boston was lying in the harbor of Honolulu, and the
American residents appealed to her commander for protection. He
promptly responded — indeed, so promptly that he precipitated the
very trouble that was feared, and gave cause for many of the com
plaints made by the royal party. American troops were landed, the
Queen's minister of foreign affairs and the governor of the island
vigorously protesting, with the assurance that not the slightest
political change would be made except in accord with the spirit
and letter of the old constitution. Nevertheless, the citizens and
residents of the islands organized, declared the monarchy at an end,
and a provisional government was established until terms of union
with the United States should be agreed upon.
A Pro
visional
Govern
ment
Estab
lished
1560
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIII
PERIOD VII
UNITBD
Si *THS
Steps
Toward
Annex
ation
Cleve
land's
Change
of Policy
This was decisive work, but it was followed by that which was
still more so. On the 1st of February, 1894, the government
formally placed itself under the protectorate of the United States,
and the Stars and Stripes were hoisted over the government building
by a force of marines. The American minister Stevens was delighted
over the facile manner in which he believed Hawaii was to become
a part of the United States, where the sentiment was strongly in
favor of its annexation.
President Harrison authorized the presence on the island of such
force as might be needed to protect the lives and property of the
Americans there, but he disavowed the protectorate. Matters, how
ever, remained unchanged, while the sentiment in favor of annexing
the island rapidly grew in the United States. It did not take long
to frame a treaty acceptable to President Harrison. By its terms,
the government of Hawaii remained as it was, the supreme power
being vested in a commissioner of the United States, who could
veto any of the acts of the local government. The public debt was
to be assumed by the United States, which country was to pension
Liliuokalani at the rate of $20,000 a year and pay her daughter
$150,000. President Harrison recommended the ratification of the
treaty, and expressed the fear that delay upon our part would result
in some other power securing the islands.
Thus matters stood on the 4th of March, 1893, when President
Cleveland came into office. His sentiments were exactly the reverse
of those of his predecessor. He did not believe that there would
have been any revolution in Hawaii except for the landing of the
marines from the Boston, and he would have been glad to replace
the deposed queen upon the throne of her country. He withdrew
the treaty from the Senate, and sent James H Blount, of Georgia,
as a special commissioner to Hawaii, with full authority to make
investigation of its relations with our Government. Well aware of
the President's sentiments, Commissioner Blount, on the ist of April,
ordered the American flag hauled down, and formally terminated
the protectorate. In the following month, Minister Stevens was
recalled and succeeded by Mr. Blount as minister plenipotentiary.
But brief as was the existence of the protectorate, it gave the
provisional government a good chance to establish its strength.
Energy, tact, and wisdom were displayed. A force of more than
a thousand men were armed and drilled, malcontents overawed,
CHAP. LXXXVIII CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1561
treasonable utterances suppressed, while the old alien and sedition PERIOD vn
laws of our country were improved by an enactment of a fine of $100 r^j^^
and an imprisonment for thirty days upon any one speaking against STATES-
the provisional government.
Convinced that the queen should be restored, President Cleveland
sent Albert S. Willis thither for the purpose of taking such steps as
he could looking to such restoration. The movement must have Stub-
succeeded, but for the brutal stubbornness of Liliuokalani herself. Of Liliuo-
She was determined to have the lives of the leaders who had con-
spired against her,, and to banish their families. This was more
than could be conceded, and at the same time the Dole government
curtly refused to comply with Minister Willis's request to relinquish
its authority to the queen.
President Cleveland now found himself in front of an insur
mountable wall, for he could not use force without the sanction of
Congress, which from the first was hotly opposed to his course in
Hawaiian affairs. Meanwhile, the provisional government proved its
right to live by summarily suppressing a rebellion, and, after im
posing severe penalties upon the rebels, relaxed its harshness and
showed mercy towards them. The queen, having been arrested,
solemnly renounced for herself and heirs all claim to the throne,
urging her subjects to do the same, and declared her allegiance to
the republic.
Minister Willis was compelled to say that the provisional govern
ment and its supporters included the^most progressive, intelligent
and patriotic people on the island; that the government was liberal,
impartial, secure, just to all, and that it was wisely administered, and
the Americans had been ignored to the preferment of other nation
alities. It was not the report expected or desired, but the character
of Minister Willis precluded any questioning of its truthfulness.
On the 29th of September, 1895, Lieutenant -General John M.
Schofield, having reached the age of sixty-four years, was retired ant-
from his command of the United States army. In accordance with
the rule, he retained his rank and three-fourths of his pay. He is
a native of Chautauqua County, N. Y., and having been appointed a
cadet to W7est Point, from Illinois, was graduated in 1853, m tne
same class with Sheridan, MacPherson, and the Confederate General
John B. Hood. He served in the First Regiment of artillery,
and was assistant professor at West Point in 1855-60. He was
1562
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIII
PERIOD vii commissioned major of the First Missouri Volunteers at the outbreak
THE NEW of the war. and served as chief of staff for General Lyon, who was
UNITED . J
STATES killed at the battle of Wilson's Creek. His promotion was rapid.
LIEUT.-GEN. JOHN M. SCHOFIELD
He was appointed brigadier-general of Missouri militia, acting as such
until November, 1862, when he became major-general of volunteers,
and commanded the Department of Missouri in 1863-4.
CHAP. LXXXVIII CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1563
The services of General Schofield have already been noted down
to the surrender of General Johnston, April 26, 1865, at which he
was present. In June following he was sent to Europe on a special
mission by the State Department, and remained abroad for a year.
On his return he was appointed commander of the Military District
of Virginia, retaining charge, 1867-68; was Secretary of War,
1868-69, when he was made major-general and assigned to the
Department of Missouri. He commanded the Division of the Pacific,
1870-76, and again in 1882-83; President Grant, who held his
scholarly attainments in high esteem, appointed him superintendent
of the Military Academy, 1876-81. He commanded the Division of
Missouri, 1883-86, and in the latter year was placed in charge of
the Division of the Atlantic and the Department of the East. Upon
the death of General Sheridan in 1888, Schofield succeeded him in
command of the army, his headquarters being in Washington. By
special act of Congress the rank of lieutenant-general was revived
and conferred upon Schofield in February, 1895.
Major-General Nelson A. Miles succeeded to the place of General
Schofield. He was born at Wachusett, Mass., August 8, 1839.
General Miles seems to be an illustration of the truth that generals,
like poets, are born, not made. He had never seen the inside of
the famous Military Academy at /West Point, and was engaged in
business when the war broke out. He joined the Twenty-Second
Massachusetts volunteers as lieutenant. He had always felt an
interest in military matters, and was possessed of excellent judgment
and great personal bravery. He soon attracted attention in the
Army of the Potomac, and was in every battle in which the army
took part, with a single exception, down to the surrender at
Appomattox. At Spottsylvania he captured Lieutenant -General
Bushrod Johnson and his whole division, and at Five Forks he
prevented the defeat of our army by rescuing Warren's Fifth Corps
and Sheridan's cavalry.
Miles received the rapid promotion he had so well earned.
Within a year he became lieutenant-colonel of the Sixty-First New
York infantry, and in a few weeks was appointed colonel of the same
regiment. In 1864, ne was made brigadier -general of volunteers,
and at the beginning of the following year he became major-general
of volunteers. Upon being mustered out of the volunteer service
he was given command of the Fourth United States Infantry, where
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Promo
tion of
General
Miles
Services
of Gen
Miles
1564
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXVIII
PERIOD vu he remained for three years, when he was transferred to the Fifth
THE NEW Infantry. His services as an Indian fighter have been of the most
UNITED •*
STATES brilliant kind. He commanded the Indian Territory expedition or
GENERAL MILES
1873, drove Sitting Bull into Canada, captured Chief Joseph, ctnd,
in 1878, took prisoners the troublesome band of Bannocks in
Yellowstone Park. He succeeded in bringing in Sitting Bull,
CHAP. LXXXVIII CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1565
thereby doing an inestimable service to Montana and the Dakotas. PERIOD vn
As we have learned, he captured Geronimo in 1886, and displayed T*£™£™
admirable tact and skill in subduing without serious righting the STATES
formidable Indian uprising of 1890-91.
General Miles was commissioned brevet-brigadier-general, March 2,
1867; brigadier-general, December, 1880, and major-general in 1890.
He commanded the Department of Missouri until 1894, when upon
the retirement of Major-General O. O. Howard he succeeded him,
in command of the Department of the East. General Miles com
manded the troops called out in 1894 to suppress the rioting
in Chicago.
He represented the United States army at the seat of the Turco-
Grecian war, and also at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897,
and commanded the army during the war with Spain. On June 6,
1900, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and retired
on account of age, August 8, 1903. The record of General Miles is
of the most honorable character. He proved in every test that he
was a patriot, a soldier of the loftiest courage, and a leader of high
military ability.
With the retirement of General Miles, the office of Commanding-
General of the Army was abolished, such command being exercised
directly by the Secretary of War, with the Chief of Staff as adviser.
General Samuel B. M. Young was made lieutenant-general, August 8,
1903, on the retirement of General Miles, and Brigadier- General
Leonard Wood became a major-general. General Adna R. Chaff ee
was made lieutenant-general on the retirement of General Young,
January 9* 1904, and succeeded him as Chief of Staff.
ot tUe Colorado,
CHAPTER LXXXIX
CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION, 1893-97
(CONTINUED)
[Authorities : The following chapter is devoted to a history of strikes in the United
States, including their causes and results. It is a history calculated to arouse sympathy
for the workingmen of our country and anxiety for the stability of our Government
Yet to the thinker whose mind is illumined by the lessons of history, and who believes
in the pre-eminence of brains in a few over the brawn of many, there is no real occasion
for alarm.
Other things being equal, acquired wealth is a pretty reliable measure of men. He
who by intelligence, enterprise, and persistence has won wealth — has become a capitalist
and employer of many — is more than a match for his employees in any struggle othe*
than physical. In such contests, when the element of brute force is eliminated, the
workingman has no chance of success.
Besides, the workingmen are very apt to engage as their leader the noisy, ignorant,
blatant demagogue, who in any game of diplomacy can be outwitted by a man of affairs.
The only philosophical way to adjust disputes between capital and labor is to permit the
laws of supply and demand to be operative.
Authorities for this chapter are official reports and contemporary publications.]
[HERE is no end to the plans which have been
formulated for the benefit of workingmen. Many
of these were wise, and gave hope that the disputes
between capital and labor would disappear and
everything would go forward in quiet and har
mony, but the solution of the most perplexing of
all social problems seems to be as far off as ever.
Strikes continue, with the destruction of property,
the paralysis of business, and often with violence and loss of life.
Of late years, despite the formation of laborers into unions, the
employers have generally been victorious over the strikers, for the
simple reason that men with plenty of money can afford to stay i:lk
©ccatx £team»hip
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1567
Arbi
tration
longer than those having to depend upon their daily wages for food PERIOD vn
for themselves and families. THE NEW
UNITED
"The great fact that gives capital the advantage is that labor is a STATES
drug in the market ; there are more workers than there are places
for workers; the supply is greater chan the demand. The real
difficulty, therefore, of this vexing problem is to change the relations
of capital and labor, or, in other words, to create a demand for all
the men that need employment.
The logical way of settling the quarrels between nations is by
arbitration. The old method, when two powerful countries could
not agree over some question, was to go to war. Thousands of lives
would be lost and innumerable families be plunged into mourning,
when, if the two warring peoples had agreed to leave the settlement
of the dispute to some nation friendly to both, the decision would
have been right, and all bloodshed saved. Several of the colonial
wars ended without the slightest gain to either side, and the War
of 1812, in which multitudes of lives were lost, millions of dollars'
worth of property destroyed, and the capital of our country burned,
came to an end without the settlement of the cause of the quarrel.
This, of course, cannot be the case when the wrangle is left to arbi
trators, and one of the most hopeful signs of the times is the grow
ing favor among nations of that method of saving life and gaining
the ends of justice.
It follows that arbitration is the true way of preventing the dis
astrous wrangles between employers and employees. When there
are pleasant relations between the parties, and when each is anxious
to maintain those relations, and they meet in that spirit to discuss
their differences, they are quite sure to come to an agreement before
they separate. If the employer is compelled to lower the wages of
his men, he will give his reasons, and the intelligent employees will
listen. If the employer has no good reason to give, and his cause is
clearly wrong, the men will be sustained not only by their own
unions, but by the public, if they strike.
The right to strike is as clear as the right to breathe, but the
wrong is committed when the strikers, as is nearly always the case,
use violence to prevent others from taking their places. Not only
that, but they pillage and destroy property, and some of the desperate
persons among them (quite often criminals who are the worst
enemies of the strikers) commit atrocious misdeeds. Then follow a
Rights
of
Strikers
1568
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
STATES
Rights
of Em
ployers
IOD vii call upon the military, a fight with the vicious mob, and such scenes
as ^ave alreacty been described in the account of the great railway
strike of I 8/7.
It sometimes happens — as in the Pullman Car difficulties of 1894 —
that the employers insist that there is no question to arbitrate, and
will not listen to the proposal to do so. This is clearly their right,
and when the men who have gone out destroy the property of their
late employers, all the damage must be paid for by the community
which failed to prevent the destruction. If the strikers use violence
towards the new men, the officers of the law must give the fullest
protection to the new employees. If they are not strong enough,
then the militia are called upon. It frequently happens that the
militia are in sympathy with the strikers and are therefore useless.
In that event, the regular army is in reserve. These men always
obey orders, and shoot to kill. No mob receives any mercy at their
hands, and against the Federal soldiers no unlawful combination can
prevail.
One momentous truth should be borne in mind. A powerful mob
may defy the authorities for a time; it may hold an entire city at its
mercy. Suppose it gains a hundred thousand friends; suppose
these swell to a million, and the revolt thus becomes far more for
midable than it has ever been in the history of our country — what
peril then threatens our Government ?
Absolutely none at all, for back of the military and the regular
army would rally ten millions of free men, who would grind the
rioters to powder. The safety of our country lies in the fact that we
are, have always been, and always will be a law-abiding people. We
will not permjt rioting and disregard of law. It is this stratum
which underlies our whole social fabric that is built, not upon sand,
but upon solid rock.
One of the reassuring features of the strike of 1 894 was the offer
of a number of old Confederate leaders to place themselves at the
head of their grizzled veterans and crush the rebellion in the bud.
Since the question of strikes is one that is certain to vex the
country for years to come, it will be of interest to give in this place
a history of the principal ones that have plagued the country during
the past century.
The earliest strike of which there is any satisfactory record in
this country was that of the boot and shoe makers of Philadelphia in
Hope
lessness
of any
Revolt
•COPYRIGHT 1897
STRIKE OF THE SAILORS IN NEW YORK, 1803
FROM THE ORIGINAL DRAWING BY CHARLES KENDRICK
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
vii the year 1796. These men "turned out," as the saying then was,
for an increase of wages. They won, and again struck in 1 798 and
STATES j ^9^ carrying their point each time.
The first strike in New York of which record has been found is
that of the sailors in 1803 for an increase of wages from $10 to $14
a month. The Jack Tars paraded around the water-front and corn-
Strike Pe^ec* seamen from every ship in port that they could. reach to join
of the with them in- their agitation. They became riotous, and the town
guard turned out and repressed their disorder. The leader of this
strike was convicted and sent to jail, and the strike was a signal
failure. On November I, 1805, the journeymen bootmakers of
Philadelphia again struck, this time for an increase in their pay of
from 25 to 75 cents on each pair of boots. The successful precedents
set by their fellows some years before did not avail them, however :
the strike was an egregious failure. Its organizers were found guilty
of "conspiracy to raise wages," and were fined $8 and costs each.
When the New York shoemakers turned out in 1809, 200 strong,
they won their contention, but when the shoemakers in Pittsburg
in 1 8 1 5 followed their example they failed, and were convicted and
fined.
As long ago as 1821 the printers struck in Albany against non
union workmen, but there are no data at hand now indicating the
exact result of their protest. Next in chronological order came the
strike of the spinning girls in the Cocheco Mills in Dover, N. H., in
1827. The carpenters and masons of Boston struck in 1 830 for a
ten-hour day, and failed. So the protest against non-union working-
men dates at least from 1821, and that for a ten-hour day at least
from 1830.
In April, 1834, the laborers on the Providence Railroad struck at
Mansfield, Mass., and became riotous. The Massachusetts militia
was called out to suppress their disorder, and succeeded in so doing.
In August, 1835, the operatives of twenty mills in Paterson, N. J.,
Early struck for shorter hours of work. This seems to have been a deter-
Strikes mined struggle, but the strikers lost their points of contention and
$24,000 in wages besides. The ten-hour-day agitation was continued
by the coal-handlers of Philadelphia in May, 1835, though without
decisive result, while the same year the journeymen shoemakers
again struck for shorter hours and more pay, and again carried their
point. Next in order came the dam-builders in Maine in July,
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1571
1836, with their successful contention for the right to smoke at PERIOD VH
work; and of the fifteen strikes between that year and 1842, so THE NEW
J UNITED
meagre are the statistics, it is apparent that barely ten were unsuc- STATES
cessful and three without positive advantage to either side.
The first strike of the ironmakers of Pittsburg of which there
seems to be record is that of February 5, 1842. They demanded a
fixed wage scale, and lost five months' wages and the strike. In ctrike *
August of the same year the weavers of Philadelphia struck for more Iron-
wages, and were as disorderly in their way, it seems, as the tailors
of Tooley Street. They raised a great deal of row, and their dis
orders were not quieted until January, 1843, when there was a set
tlement in the nature of a compromise. The strike of the brick-
makers in May, 1843, was attended by rioting and considerable
destruction of property, but there was no decided advantage to either
party to the contest. In May, 1845, the ironworkers of Pittsburg
struck again, this time for $6 instead of $5 a ton, and this time
they were successful. Philadelphia, being the great manufacturing
city of the United States in the earlier part of this century, was the
scene of the most strikes, and from 1844 to 1848, inclusive, there
were a number of such agitations in that city, the results of which
were in the main in accordance with the wishes of the workingmen.
The first great strike of the weavers of Fall River seems to have
been in 1848, when there was a protracted effort to adjust their dif
ferences, which was, however, attended with more loss to the strikers
than to their bosses, since the former lost$n,ooo and the latter
only $8,000. There was a great strike in the iron industries in
Pittsburg, beginning in December, 1849. It lasted well into the
new year, and was distinguished by more than usual bloodshed and
disturbance. On February i8th the strikers began to riot, and from
that time on non-union men were badly beaten whenever the oppor
tunity offered. The wives and daughters of the strikers joined in
their riots, and, as was said to be the case at Homestead, were not of
slow in using sticks and stones on the men who, they conceived, were strikers
robbing them of their bread and butter. There were a great many
arrests of strikers, and the fines imposed were heavy. They lost
everything they contended for, and the manufacturers signalized
their victory by reducing the wages of the men from $6 to $4.50 a
ton. In the ten years from 1850 to 1860 there were a number of
strikes of minor importance, nearly all of which are said by the
1572 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD vii collectors of the few statistics available to have been "unsuc-
THENEW cessful."
UNITED
STATES Qn February 22, 1850, the Massachusetts shoemakers struck in a
number of towns in that State, and there was great disorder. The
State militia had to be called out to quell the riots, and when the
strikers returned to work in April of that year it was estimated that
Few they had lost $200,000.
Labor The record of labor disturbances seems to have lapsed during the
aiices" war- I*1 J868 the Fall River spinners and weavers struck against
a?UW8r t^ie Januarv reduction in wages of 1 8 per cent. In two weeks it was
said the men lost $50,000, but they were partially successful. In
the years 1 868 and 1 869 there were seventeen big strikes, most of
which failed, and the next to attract attention is the revolt of the
iron-workers of Pittsburg on December 5, 1874, against what they
said were unfair wages. By April 1 5th of the following year the men
had gained their point, and an increase of wages was conceded to
them.
The record of labor agitation having been brought down now to
within a comparatively recent period, and the condition of mechanics
and laborers generally in the United States having been undoubtedly
greatly improved in that time, this ever-recurring question asserts
itself: Is that improvement commensurate with the value of the
lives, property, and money lost in the struggle to attain it ?
In the years from 1871 to 1875 the union cigarmakers struck 78
times, and from 1873 to 1875 there were strikes all over the country
in the cotton and wool and mining trades, mostly unsuccessful.
Then came the railway strike of 1877, the most serious up to that
time in the history of the country, the particulars of which have been
told elsewhere.
The In 1880 the Tenth Census report said that 762 strikes occurred
Strikes that year. In 1886, for by this time statistics on this subject had
begun to be collected with considerable accuracy> there were 1,900
strikes and a resulting loss of more than $2,858,191 in wages. The
great Wabash Railroad strike, as a result of which it was believed
General Manager Talmage lost his life, being a nervous man and
subjected at the time to threats of much brutality, began in 1885.
The year 1886 saw the famous Gould strike on the Southwestern
Railroad system. The receivers of the Texas and Pacific Railroad
discharged a man named Hall, who was a Knight of Labor. In
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1573
consequence of this action all the Knights of Labor employed on the
Texas and Pacific and Missouri Pacific railway systems struck
work on March I, 1886. The terrific conditions of 1877 were re
created on a larger scale. The strikers absolutely seized the cities
of St. Louis, Sedalia, Atchison, Kansas City, Parsons, Fort Worth,
Little Rock, and Texarkana, and stopped all trains. There was a
special committee of the House of Representatives on labor troubles
appointed to consider this subject, and it examined Jay Gould in
Washington in April, 1886. Much interest was manifested in Mr.
Gould's appearance as a witness before this committee. He bore
himself with consummate prudence, and made a strong impression.
He testified that General Master Workman Powderly, of the Knights
of Labor, had told him on March 28th of that year, when the strike
was less than a month old, that that strike was against the rules of
the Knights of Labor. There was indeed a general impression in
the minds of the public that Powderly condemned the undertaking
of this strike by the Knights of Labor from the very beginning, for
when he issued his general appeal to Knights of Labor, " wherever
found," to help the strikers, " whether right or wrong," and denounc
ing General Manager Hoxey because he would not treat with the
Knights of Labor, ^ie qualifications which he added to his appeal
were construed as a confession. The date of his appeal was April 14,
1886. As a result of this strike, the railroad men lost millions of
dollars in wages — some put the sum at $15,000,000 — and lost the
strike as well. General Manager Hoxey lost his life, dying in New
York in consequence of the nervous strain to which he was sub
jected.
As an illustration of how strikes originate, the St. Louis Globe-
Demorfat said at that time : " The present strike on the South
western system originated, as is well known, in the discharge of a
man of the name of Hall at Marshall, Tex. Strange to say, about
ten days before this strike was ordered, a general strike was threat
ened because of a refusal of the company to discharge a man.
Martin Irons, Chairman cf the Executive Committee of the Knights
at Sedalia, notified the superintendent of the railroad system at that
place that if a certain master-mechanic was not discharged within
forty-eight hours a strike would be ordered on the entire Missouri
Pacific system. The strike was averted only by the voluntary resig
nation of the man who had incurred the wrath of the' committee. He
PERIOD VII
UNITBD
STATUS
A For
midable
Strike
How
Some
Strikes
Orig
inate
1574 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD vii was a good mechanic, well fitted for his place, and a favorite with
THE NEW the officers of the road."
UNITED
STATES f he coaj an(^ freight handlers' strike in New York City began in
1886 and was not ended until the next year. Business was paralyzed
and many millions of dollars were lost. It was stated that only
twenty per cent, of the strikers were on the winning side in 1886.
From other sources there is reason to believe that, while the suc-
Great
Losses cessful strikers of 1 886 lost $2,400,000 in wages, the unsuccessful
Strikers str^ers l°st not ^ess tnan $I3>5OO,OOO in wages. This is the result
of labor agitation in a single year.
The Government report for the year 1887 said that between 1796
and 1880 1,491 important strikes had occurred, but from 1881 to
1886 there had been 3,902 strikes, in which 1,323,203 men were in
volved and millions in wages lost.
Carroll D. Wright reported that for six years ending December
31, 1886, success had followed in 10,407 cases, or 46. 59 per cent, of
the whole. The causes of strikes as given by him were : For in
crease of wages, 42.44 per cent.; for reduction of hours, 19.45 per
cent.; against reduction of wages, 7.75 per cent.; for increase of
wages and reduction of hours,- 7.53 per cent.; against increase of
hours, 0.62 per cent; all other causes, 22.17 per cent. While dis
claiming absolute accuracy, as every collator and collector of such
statistics must, Mr. Wright reported at that time that the loss to
strikers during the six years covered by his investigations was
$51,816,165, and loss to employees through lockouts for the same
period $8,132,717, or a total wage loss to employees of $59,948,882.
T The famous Reading strike, as it is called, began on the Phila-
Reading delphia and Reading Railroad on December 20, 1887, when 6,000
employees of the railroad company were called away from their work
by the Knights of Labor. The reason given for this action was in
general the refusal of the railroad company to recognize the Knights
of Labor as such. The facts were that a Port Richmond firm em
ployed a few non-union men. Their discharge was insisted upon by
the union men ; and whereas only 6,000 men went out at first, 30,000
men altogether participated in the Reading strikes of that year, and
the workmen lost in consequence $3,620,000 in wages. The loss of
the Reading Railroad Company was put at $1,000,000, and the loss
.'.,'. to consumers of coal in consequence of the increase they were com
pelled to pay. in prices was set down at $700,000. The places of
CHAP. LXXXIX, CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1575
most of the men who went out on this strike were filled by the rail- PERIOD vn
road company, which never conceded the point for which the Knights ^u^JJjJJ*
of Labor contended; and as long afterwards as June 9, 1888, several STATBS
thousands of the misguided strikers were still idle, suffering great
privations and bitterly regretting the day they struck. General
Master Workman Powderly himself said of this strike and of the
overbearing disposition the men had previously shown towards the
STREET-CAR STRIKE IN NEW YORK, 1889
railroad company: "The men on the Reading Railroad actually
controlled the entire management and had everything their own way.
They grew restive and allowed incendiary counsels to prevail. It
was no uncommon thing for them to stop a train on the down track
and talk to an up train in order to settle some little matter."
Another estimate of the losses incurred by strikes during the six
years from 1880 to 1886 on American railroads may be interesting
for purposes of comparison. It was made in the Philadelphia Press,
and declared that in that time there had been on American railroads
1,478 strikes, with an average loss of 38,127 days of labor. The
Esti
mate of
Losses
1576 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
pecuniary loss to employees was $2,089,494, while that to employers
was $6,267,558.
STATES f^Q glass-workers struck in Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and other
places in 1887, losing $495,264 in wages. Out of 884 strikes in
1887, 247 were successful, while 115 more were compromised on
terms giving some advantage to the workmen.
Suc_ The workers in the Edgar Thompson Steel Works presented their
cesses wage scale to their employers on December 29, 1887. The next day
Failures Andrew Carnegie refused to sign the scale. A strike was shortly
begun, after a conference in New York productive of no results, and
3,000 men, being without work for four months, lost $560,000 in
wages.
The strike of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers on the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and its branches began
early in 1888. On May 5th of that year the Tribune estimated the
cost of the strike up to that time at $3,000,000. The loss of the
Brotherhood was then estimated at $670,034, of which $410,572 was
wages. This sum had been lost by the 1,053 engineers, 1,053 fire
men, and 400 switchmen who had gone out. It is said that the
losses of the railroad company did not amount to more than one-
tenth of the losses of the men. Few of these strikers were re-em
ployed, and in consequence of the assessments levied at the time
there were such disturbances in the Brotherhood that a shortage of
$3,000 developed in Division 145. Another estimate of the losses
occasioned by this strike was $5,000,000 to the railroad company
and $1,000,000 to the strikers; conflicts of figures such as these
must be supposed to be largely due to the difference in the point of
view. A hostility which has since continued between the Brother-
The Lo- no°d of Locomotive Engineers and the Knights of Labor developed
comotive itself in the course of this strike, in consequence of the Knights of
hood Labor taking the place of the striking Brotherhood engineers at that
time. When the Knights of Labor struck on the Lehigh Valley
Railroad in November, 1893, it was feared that the Brotherhood
men would retaliate by taking the places of the Knights.
All New Yorkers remember the street-car strike in the metropolis
in January, 1889. The conductors and drivers on nearly all the sur
face lines quit work, and in consequence, on January 29, 1,200 street
cars, each earning on an average about $20 a day for its owners,
were taken off. The men on the Third Avenue surface road did not
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1577
strike, and after a week of general public discomfort and private
suffering their striking brethren were sorry they had not followed the
Third Avenue men's example. It was estimated that about 6,000 men
went out, asking for more money and shorter hours. When they
gave in, in about seven days, they hdd- lost about $300,000. The
strike was officially wound up on February 6, 1889, and the strikers
hurried back to get their old places, many of which, however, had
been filled in their absence. The total loss occasioned by this strike
was estimated at $1,707,000. The wages lost during the tie-up
itself by the strikers were paid to foot up $50,400. Weeks passed,
and the suffering among these men increased, and as late as March
9, 3,000 of them were said to be still lacking employment. There
were a number of riotous assemblages in the streets, and one striker,
by name McGowan, was killed by a shot from Policeman Snyder's
pistol.
The long strike of the Feather- Workers' Union in New York city
collapsed on March 21, 1889, the strikers failing to gain their point,
and renouncing their unions in many cases to secure re-employment.
About $5,000 had been paid out in support of the union.
In June, 1889, the glassblowers of New Jersey struck by order of
the Knights of Labor. There was the usual dreary struggle, and
on January 23, 1890, there was a settlement said to be agreeable to
both sides. At this time, however, seven of the large firms which
had employed the strikers were employing non-union men and re
fused to discharge them.
At half -past seven in the evening of August 8, 1 890, the strike of
the operatives of the New York Central Railroad Company began
with the blockading of trains in its tunnel above the Grand Central
Station. It was a question of trie recognition of the Knights of
Labor. The men put forward as a grievance the fact that the rail
road company had for some months been discharging Knights of
Labor, not alleging that membership as a complaint, but uniformly
finding itself able to dispense with the services of men who were
Knights. The Knights still in its service formally asked that their
discharged brethren be reinstated, and this request was refused.
The railroad company refused to treat with the Knights as such,
and Vice-President Webb announced that the company would fight
to the end rather than give in. Eight thousand Knights of Labor
then went out. There were riots at various points on the road, at
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Street
Car
Strike
in New
York
Strike
on the
N. Y.
Central
102
'578
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PBRIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Failure
of the
Strike
Strike
of the
Cloak-
makers
and
Tailors
DeWitt and at Albany in particular, and a number of people were
injured in a conflict between the Pinkertons and the strikers. Tne
entire system of the road was affected, and it was declared that " the
entire resources of the Knights were to be drawn on." The Brother
hood men on the Hudson division of the Central also struck on
August loth, although it was claimed for the company that 300 of the
men had returned to work on the railroad on August 9th. Vice-Pres-*
ident Webb rejected the offers of the State Arbitration Board to in
tervene, and carried his policy through to a successful issue. On
August 1 2th the strike was practically at an end, the railroad company
said, and when on August 25th the Supreme Council of the United
Orders of Railroad Employees refused to strike, the Knights were
inevitably done for. On September 4th three strikers tried to wreck
the Montreal express. The loss to the strikers and to the Knights
of Labor was very great and far-reaching, as many of the best men
in the employment of the company found it difficult to get work of
any kind thereafter. The sympathetic strike on the Delaware and
Hudson road had collapsed in thirty-six hours.
Earlier in the same year a chronic disaffection of the tailors in the
east side of New York city broke out suddenly, on March 3Oth, in an
outrage which excited the indignation of the entire city, when a
tailor named Harris Melzer, who did not strike, had a leather belt
forced into his groin by strangers who were said to be strikers, and
was left helpless and in the most horrible agony in the street. In
June, 1 890, the cloakmakers struck in New York city, and non-union
men were employed in their places. On July I2th more than 1,000
clothing cutters were notified that they need not come back to work
unless they would agree to adjure their unions. Joseph Barondess,
a young man of great force of character, who displayed good qualities
of leadership, took charge of this strike on behalf of the workmen,
and settled it with considerable success on July 2$th of that year, the
Manufacturers' Association having surrendered on most points. On
July 24th there had been such threats of bloodshed that Inspector
.Byrnes was called upon to interfere. On August 7, 1890, 3,000
cloakmakers struck under Barondess for an increase of pay. In
June, July, August, and September, 1890, the cigarmakers struck
repeatedly in New York city, and generally won their case.
The first of the recent builders' strikes began on June 5, 1800.
when the Board of Walking Delegates in New York ordered all wois
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION *579
stopped on buildings to which Peck, Martin & Co. were furnishing
materials. On that call 1,000 men went out, and at various times
in the next year or two there was a continuance of this agitation in
the building trades, the employers finally, it is thought, getting the
best of the struggle.
The eight-hour agitation was publicly begun on the last of May,
1890, which, taking it all in all, was a year characterized by very
general and widespread labor disturbances. The strike of the
Pittsburg puddlers cost them more than $170,000 in wages. The
strike of the Turtle Creek miners cost them $189,000. Twenty-
six thousand men struck in Chicago early in the year for an eight-
hour working day ; 2,000 builders struck in Boston, arid in Indian
apolis 2,000 mill-hands struck.
In Binghamton, in June, 1890; there was a very interesting strike
of i, 600 boys and girls employed in the cigar factories. They asked
an increase of wages. They made a bitter fight for what they
deemed their rights, and were treated with much severity, it was
contended, by the officers of the law. Up to October 3d of that year
sixty-two of the strikers had been arrested, "picketing" became a
crime, and civil suits for damages were brought against forty leaders
of the strikers and against the managers of the Binghamton Leader,
a newspaper which had given the strikers much encouragement. The
tremendous strike of the dock laborers and sailors in Australia began
on September 1st of that year, 100,000 of them going out, and com
pletely blocking the traffic in that part of the world. It cannot be
an exaggeration to say that the strikers of that year, 1 890, lost many
millions of dollars in wages. On September 16, 1890, 200 members
of the National Gold and Silver Beaters' Union struck for an increase
of wages, in New York, and there were similar strikes in Boston,
Philadelphia, and Chicago, all successful.
In 1890 the Connellsville coke strikes attracted general attention,
and in the disturbances which ensued a dozen or more lives were lost.
The strikers were defeated at all points, losing their homes, their
cause, and $500,000 in wages.
In February, 1891, the troubles of the union cloakmakers and
tailors broke out afresh in New York city, and strikers from these
unions were accused of having invaded the home of a contractor in
Jamaica, L. L, of wrecking his shop, and of throwing vitriol on a
child.
PERIOD VH
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
A Year
of Labot
Disturb-
ances
Another
Strike by
Cloak-
makers
and
Tailors
1580 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD vii The town of Kearny, N. J., which practically grew up around the
THE NEW great Clark thread mills, was in 1891 the scene of a strike which
UNITED
STATES entailed much suffering upon the employees. In 1873 William
Clark had come from Scotland to Kearny and founded the thread
mills, to which in 1886 he imported a man named Walmesley as
superintendent. In the ensuing years the hands struck three times
Strike at aSainst what they said was Mr. Walmesley's offensive treatment of
Kearny them, but lost in each case. In December, 1890, they went out
again, because he refused to take back some men they said he had
unjustly discharged. By March I, 1891, their strike was at an end,
the employees still refusing to go back, and the mills having been
filled with non-union hands.
One of the mills belonging to the Carnegie Steel Company is on
the Monongahela River, at Homestead, Pa., a few miles from Pitts-
burg. In 1889, a sliding scale of wages was adopted, by which the
pay of the workmen was increased or diminished in accordance with
the variation in prices. The agreement, however, was that $25 per
ton should be the lowest wages paid for what is known as 4x4
Bessemer steel billets.
This contract ended in June, 1 892, and the company notified their
workmen that the minimum or lowest price thereafter would be $22.
They gave as a reason for the change that the improvements in the
machinery enabled the men to earn a larger amount of money than
before by the same labor. The company insisted further that
December 3ist, instead of June 3Oth, should be the date for the ter
mination of the contract fixing the annual wages.
The men refused to accept the agreement, and were sustained by
the Amalgamated Association of Steel and Iron Workers. They
denied that the increased output made necessary the reduction,
^th6 an(^ reSai"ded the change of time named as caused by the fact that ir?
Carnegie mid-winter they were not in so good situation to resist a scaling-down
or s of wages as in summer. They demanded the continuance, there
fore, of the old agreement. Mr. H. C. Frick, the chairman of the
company, raised the minimum to $23, and the men came down to
$24. Beyond that neither would go.
Mr. Frick finally announced that if the men did not accept his
terms by June 24th, the company would no longer deal with the
union. The workmen held out, and en the 1st of July the lockout
began.
ll
COPYRIGHT 1897.
THE BATTLE AT HOMESTEAD, PA., JULY, 1892
FROM THE ORIGINAL DRAWING BY H. A. OGDEN
1582
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Employ
ment of
Pinker-
ton De
tectives
Sur
render
of the
Officers
The company determined to keep their works going with the
help of non-union men, and were prepared to hire armed watchmen
to protect their property should it become necessary. Neither side
would yield a point, and unfortunately, that great remedy under
such strained circumstances — arbitration — was not considered by
any concerned.
The excitement and turbulence increased until the sheriff of
Allegheny County was unable to control the mob. In the mean time,
the company hired some 270 men of the Pinkerton Detective
Agency of Chicago to guard the mill. This was a dangerous step,
in the inflamed state of the community. Well aware of what was
likely to follow, the attempt was made to convey the men to the mill
secretly at night by way of the river from Pittsburg. But the ap
proach of the detectives was signalled to the suspicious employees,
and, filled with anger and resentment, they awaited the coming of
the hired guards.
The barges with the Pinkerton men on board reached Homestead
about four o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, July 6th. A short
parley was held with the hundreds of angry workmen on the bank.
While it was going on, some one (it is uncertain from which side)
fired a shot. This precipitated a fierce fight. The barges drew off
and soon repeated the attempt to land, but failed again, where
upon they anchored in mid-stream.
Irregular firing was kept up through the day. The workmen
used a cannon and made a fort of steel bars. It is not known of a
certainty how many fell on both sides. The officers were armed
with Winchester rifles and killed about eleven workmen and wounded
eighteen. The cannon on the shore was charged with slugs and
scrap-iron, while some of the workmen had firearms. They killed
six detectives and wounded, at least twenty.
The situation of the officers on the barges finally became so des
perate in the face of the infuriated mob surrounding them, that at
about five o'clock in the afternoon they surrendered and were dis
armed. The leading strikers assured them of safety, but when the
Pinkerton men came ashore the fury of the mob could not be re
strained. They repeatedly assaulted the men on their way to jail,
fully 100 being seriously injured. The jail was unable to hold all
the prisoners, who were soon taken to Pittsburg. This left the
strikers masters of the situation for the time.
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1583
The sheriff now appealed to Governor Pattison for military aid.
He declined to give it until assured that every other resource was
exhausted. The sheriff tried to organize a posse, but was obliged to
notify the governor that it was impossible, and the county authorities
could not preserve the peace nor restore the mill to its owners.
Then the governor, on July loth, ordered out all the military forces
of the State, some 8,000 men, under Major-General G. R. Snowden.
Two days later the troops quietly occupied the town. No outbreak
occurred, for the presence of the military overawed the strikers, but
the situation was critical. The baffled workmen were watchful,
angered, revengeful, and " bided their time."
The Carnegie Company posted notices that unless the employees
returned to work, their places would be filled by non-union men.
Warrants were issued for the arrest of the leaders of the strike,
Hugh O'Donnell, Hugh Ross, Burgess McLuckie, and others, on the
charge of murder in the killing of the Pinkerton men on July 6th.
All of the arrested parties were released on bail.
The lamentable events at Homestead attracted the attention of
Congress, which appointed a committee of the House, three Demo
crats and two Republicans, with instructions to investigate and
report upon the causes of the trouble and the workings of the Pink
erton system.
The excitement, which had subsided to a great extent, flamed up
again on the 23d of July, through the attempted assassination of Mr.
Frick. A Russian Hebrew anarchist, named Berkman, gained en
trance to the office of Mr. Frick under the pretence of being con
nected with " The New York Employment Agency," and fired three
shots at him, two of which took effect. Mr. Frick grappled with
his assailant, and was assisted by Vice-Chairman Leischman, who
happened to be in his office. A violent struggle followed, during
which Mr. Frick was stabbed seven times with a dirk knife. With
the aid of the clerks, who rushed in, the assassin was finally over
powered and taken to the police station.
In the Criminal Court at Pittsburg, September iQth, the jury, with
out leaving their seats, convicted Berkman, who was sentenced to
twenty-two years in the penitentiary. The act of this miscreant
was condemned by the workingmen generally, even in Homestead,
where so many were bitterly opposed to Mr. Frick. Though the
man had accomplices in New York, his crime was not the outcome
PERIOD VII
THE NBW
UNITED
STATES
State
Aid
Attempt
to
Assassi
nate Mr.
Frick
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD VII
UNITED
STATES
With
drawal
of the
Troops
Collapse
of the
Strike
of any wide conspiracy. Mr. Frick's wounds proved less severe than
was supposed, and he was at work in his office again the following
month.
The company carried out their threat of employing non-union
men. There had been 3,800 employees in the Homestead mill, of
whom 1,200 were replaced by the ist of August, with more contin
ually coming, mainly from the East. Matters were so tranquil
that most of the troops were withdrawn.
There were no signs of yielding, however, on the part of the
strikers. At an immense meeting of the Amalgamated Association,
August 2d, it was resolved to continue the struggle. Contributions
had been sent in and were still coming from sympathizers in all
parts of the country. Several sympathetic strikes took place in the
other Carnegie mills, the most important of which were those at the
Union Mills in Pittsburg and the Duquesne and Beaver Falls mills,
The Duquesne strikers, however, soon went back to work, convinced
that the fight was hopeless.
By the ist of October the mills were running in charge of non
union men. Matters seemed so tranquil that on the I3th of that
month the last of the troops, after ninety-five days' service, were
withdrawn from Homestead.
With their departure, however, disorder broke out again. Con
flicts between the new and old workmen were frequent, though not
of a serious nature. The bitterness of feeling was mainly due to
the fact, evident to all by this time, that the employers had become
masters of the situation.
The fatal blow to the strike came November 2Oth, when the Amal
gamated Association, by a vote of 101 to 91, officially declared the
strike at an end. The direct cause of this break was the act of 300
mechanics and day laborers, who, three days before, went to the mills,
asked for work, and were given places. With the official declaration
that the strike was off, a general rush was made for the company's
office by the men who had been idle for five months. The company
found places for the majority, but treated with them as individuals,
requiring each to sign a pledge that he would not belong to any
labor organization, and would submit to the rules and regulations of
the company. The leaders of the strike, who were on the " black
list," were refused employment.
Now as to the cost of the Homestead strike : The strikers lost at
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1585
STATES
least $2,000,000 and the company double that amount. The ex- PERIOD vn
pense of the state troops was some $500,000. To this total must
be added the cost to Allegheny County in the murder, treason, riot,
and other cases resulting from the disturbance. More lamentable
than all were the two-score deaths due to the same cause.
The mining district of Coeur d'Alene is in Shoshone County,
Idaho. The twelve mines where the trouble occurred are about
TYPES OF STRIKERS
eighty miles from Spokane. The vast value of these mines will be
understood when it is stated that their output was from 100 to 400
tons of ore a day, and that the total yield was one-eighth of the
silver and lead consumption of the United States. The annual prod
uct is estimated to be $8,000,000.
A regulation put in force in the spring of 1 892 made the wages
of unskilled laborers, such as shovellers and carmen, $3.00 per day,
that of the skilled laborers remaining as before, namely, $3.50 per
day. The Miners' Union demanded the latter price for all laborers.
The company refused, and a lockout, involving 3,000 miners,
began April ist.
Lockout
at Coeur
d'Alene
1586 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD vii As at Homestead afterwards, the company imported non-union
THE NEW men to take the places of the strikers, and with the inevitable result.
UNITED
STATES The crisis was brought about by the United States courts at Boise
City when they issued a perpetual injunction against the Miners'
Union, restraining it from acts of violence. The governor of Idaho,
appreciating the gravity of the situation, and feeling himself unable
to meet it, applied to President Harrison to send troops to prevent
any outbreak. A President is always reluctant to take such a step,
and he declined for the time to do so.
Violence The non-union men at work in the mines were attacked on July
Strikers Iltn ^v a large force of union miners. They resisted bravely, but
after several of their number had been killed were obliged to sur
render. A few days later a car loaded with dynamite was run into
the concentrating works of the Frisco mine, which were utterly
wrecked by the explosion.
Emboldened by their success, the miners rose in arms throughout
the whole region, and, marching from mine to mine, compelled the non
union men to surrender, and forced their employers to send them away.
The governor called out the State militia, but only 200 were avail
able, and they of course were powerless. President Harrison was
again appealed to, and he issued orders for the United States troops
at Forts Sherman, Walla-Walla, Vancouver, Spokane, Missoula, and
Keogh, numbering some 2,000 men, to go to the scene of disturb
ance. Martial law was declared throughout the district.
General W. P. Carlin, of Fort Sherman, occupied Wardner, July
1 4th, without resistance, and placed forces at the other mining towns.
Between 300 and 400 rioters were arrested and turned over to the
civil authorities at Boise City, the rest fleeing to the mountains.
This vigorous action brought back order, and on July 23d most of the
soldiers were ordered home. Martial law was suspended on Novem
ber 1 6th.
Grand Master Sweeney, of the Switchmen's Union, ordered out
Strike at the switchmen, August 14, 1892, at the yards of the Erie, Lehigh
Buffalo Valley, and Buffalo Creek railroads at Buffalo, N. Y. His action
was based upon the refusal of the roads to grant an advance in wages
which would raise the pay of the switchmen on roads running east
of Buffalo so as to equal that received on the western lines. The
Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western was the only road that acceded
to the demand of the strikers.
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1587
The other companies immediately filled the places of the strikers PERIOD vu
with non-union men, whereupon the strikers resorted to violence. THE NEW-
UNITED
A large number of freight cars loaded with merchandise, two pas- STATES
senger cars, and other property were set on fire and destroyed.
Trains were derailed, an engine and water-tank wrecked, and the non
union men repeatedly assaulted. These lawless acts were dis
avowed by the Switchmen's Union, and declared to be the work of
desperate men having no affiliation with the strikers.
The sheriff's posse, numbering less than 50 men, were disarmed Weak-
by the strikers, and the 200 special policemen sworn in could do ness of
nothing beyond the city limits. As a result, traffic was blocked, and thorities
little work was done at the yards.
The situation became so grave that on Monday, August I5th,
General Doyle ordered out the Sixty-fifth and Seventy-fourth regi
ments of the National Guard. Still the strike spread, taking in the
switchmen of the Lake Shore road. The strikers continued violent,
and the sheriff and mayor of Buffalo appealed to Governor Flower to
call out the entire militia of the State. The following day the gov
ernor ordered several regiments from New York, Brooklyn, and other
places, and notified the rest to hold themselves in reserve.
This act of the governor concentrated some 8,000 troops in Buffalo,
where their presence overawed the strikers. Violence ceased, but
the switchmen would not yield, and the strike extended to the
Nickel Plate, the Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburg, and the Dela
ware, Lackawanna, and Western roads. By the latter part of August
the only road in Buffalo not involved was the Grand Trunk and
Michigan Central. Despite all this, however, and the fact that the
number of strikers was nearly 700, it became evident that failure
was before them. Their places were rapidly filled, and the new men
were protected at their work. With -a view of adding strength to
his position, Mr. Sweeney called together the officials of the Engi
neers', Conductors', Firemen's, and Trainmen's Unions, but they Failure
declined the risk of a sympathetic strike. This refusal brought strikers
about the collapse of the strike, which Mr. Sweeney declared off at
m:dnight, August 24th.
There had been trouble for a long time -in Tennessee because of
the Convict Labor Law, as it is called. A crisis was reached as long
ago as July 14, 1891. The Briceville mines belong to the Ten
nessee Coal-Mining Company of Knoxville, who leased convicts to
1588
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, LXXXIX
STATES
PERIOD vii work them. Forty other convicts were set to work making barracks
for those employed in the mines. On the night of July I4th, 300
miners surrounded the convict camp, and told the guard that their
labor would not be permitted in that part of the State. Further
more, they informed the convicts that they were at liberty to go
whither they chose. Only two of the prisoners accepted the boon
of freedom thus offered.
Governor Buchanan, being appealed to by the superintendent of
state prisons, called out a part of the state militia, and another body
Labor
Troubles
in Ten
nessee
CAMP SCENE UNDER LEHtGH VALLEY RAILROAD COAL TRESTLE
of convicts under the escort of about 100 troops were sent to the
mines. The miners, to the number of 1,000, armed themselves,
marched into Briceville, surrounded the militia, and summoned them
to surrender. Seeing his hopeless situation, the commander of the
militia agreed to take the convicts back to Knoxville, and did so.
The strong force of miners now marched to the mines of the
Knoxville Iron Company and forced the guards there to send away
the 125 convicts. Ten more companies of troops were hurried to
the scene of trouble. They included artillery armed with Catling
guns. A deadly collision looked inevitable.
Considerable sympathy was felt for the strikers. During all the
excitement only about a half-dozen convicts escaped. The miners
were orderly, but declared that as soon as the troops were with-
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1589
drawn they would liberate the convicts, whose employment they PERIOD vil
conceived to be a great injustice to free labor. They appointed a ^^^f
committee of five to go to Nashville and Knoxville to confer with STATES
the governor and mine owners in the hope of reaching a compromise.
The strikers further pledged themselves not to injure a dollar's worth
of property, and that no violence should be offered any one except in
self-defence.
The governor met the committee, July 22d, and told them he would
call an extra session of the Legislature and recommend that the con-
CHARGING THE STRIKERS
vict system be amended if not repealed. Meanwhile, the convicts
must be returned to the mines, and the troops would be withdrawn
upon the promise of the miners not to molest them. The latter,
after fully considering the matter, gave the required pledge.
The Legislature convened in extra session, August I ;th. A heated Legist
discussion followed, but a decision was finally reached that that body A^J-6
could not abrogate or amend the existing contract with the prison
lessees. On September I5th, the bill abolishing the convict lease
system was defeated. This placed affairs where they were were
before the trouble.
The miners had had their hopes raised, only to have them dashed
to the ground again. They felt, as has been stated, that the em-
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD vii ployment of convicts in the mine was a great injustice, and thou-
THE NEW sands of people throughout the State sympathized with them. The
STATES disaffected now resorted to violence.
With their numbers greatly increased, they broke out in open re
volt in October. At Coal Creek, Briceville, and Oliver Springs the
convicts, numbering about 400, mostly colored men, were released.
Release ^ Oliver Springs, on November 1st, the 1 60 convicts were set free,
of the prison was burned, and $15,000 worth of the company's property
Convicts j ,
destroyed.
Governor Buchanan issued two proclamations. The first offered
DIGGING TRENCHES
State
Action
a reward of $5,000 for the arrest and conviction of the leader 01
leaders in the convict releases, and $250 additional for the conviction
of each participant in the riots. The second proclamation promised
$25 for the capture of each released convict. Nearly everybody knew
who were the leaders of the revolt, but no attempt was made to arrest
them, for it was impossible to secure the evidence with which to
convict. Most of the convicts were recaptured in the course of a
few weeks, the cost to the State being about $10,000.
The quiet, which lasted for a time, was broken by a disturbance in
the latter part of November of another nature. The Cumberland
Company offered employment to free laborers without regard to color.
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1S91
A number of blacks took advantage of the offer, but their houses PERIOD vn
were attacked by an armed mob, and most of the occupants fled in "'JyjyJJjJ*
terror. STATES
Governor Buchanan and a majority of the citizens of Tennessee
were opposed to the convict system, so that in one sense the stand
taken by the miners was that of the State itself, though public sen
timent condemned the deeds of violence already described, and those
that followed.
On August 13, 1892, 400 miners burned the stockade at Tracy Darin~
City, and then, marching to the mines, ordered out the 25 guards Acts
and 390 prisoners, who were placed on a train and sent to Nashville, strikers
On the road the convicts cut the train and some of them escaped.
They were fired upon by the guards, who killed one and wounded
another. The following day a train with reinforcements for the
stockade at Inman was compelled to turn back. The next morning
the 65 guards and 300 convicts at Inman were made prisoners and
sent to join the others at Nashville. Troops on their way from
Chattanooga and Knoxville to the aid of the sheriff were stopped.
On August 1 6th, a force of miners, numbering nearly 2,000, compelled
the weak guard at Oliver Springs to surrender. Then they and the
92 convicts were marched out and despatched to Knoxville by way
of Cincinnati.
There was one man who, amid this confusion, weakness, and
timidity, thrilled the State by his heroism. He was Colonel Kellar
Anderson, who with 150 state troops made his way to Coal Creek,
one of the points of disturbance. The wires communicating with
him were cut, and there was a general fear that he and his command
h id been massacred, for the fierce miners were rapidly gathering
fi >m all quarters, and it was known that he and his little company
Vf :re surrounded.
On August 1 8th the large force attacked Colonel Anderson's posi- valor of
tiun, but were received with so deadly a fire that a number were
killed and the rest put to flight. Rallying, the miners charged
again, and were not only repulsed, but lost a squad of their men,
who were taken prisoners by Colonel Anderson. Then a third as
sault was made, only to be repelled as before.
This treatment was so unexpected to the assailants that they
abandoned the attack and displayed a flag of truce. Colonel Ander
son was asked to go unarmed under its protection, with the prisoners,
I592 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
to the railway station and address the people, urging their obedience
to t^ie ^aw* ^e a£reed to do so> DUt was betrayed. As soon as he
STATES placed himself within reach of the miners he was made prisoner,
and threatened with death if he refused to send an order to the garri
son to surrender. Colonel Anderson in vigorous language expressed
his opinion of his treacherous captors and defied them. They
A threatened several times to lynch him, and he believed his death was
Treach- a matter of only a few hours, but he remained as firm as a rock, and
Capture dared them to do their worst.
Meanwhile, hoping that with the leader in their hands they could
crush the militia, the miners made two more attacks, but were re
pelled by the troops under Lieutenant Fyffe.
Brigadier-General S. T. Carnes concentrated the National Guard
at Knoxville and moved towards Coal Creek. Leaving the railway
some miles distant, so as to avoid the dynamite-mines there was
reason to believe were laid, he advanced upon the village, only to
find that most of the malcontents had taken to the hills.
The first thing done by General Carnes was to seize more than a
hundred miners as hostages and demand the immediate release of
Colonel Anderson. He was set free at once. A body of volunteers
under Major D. A. Carpenter on their way to Coal Creek from an
other direction were ~*nbushed by the miners, lost three killed and
several wounded, and were driven back to Offuts, where they learned
that the garrison at Coal Creek had been relieved by General Carnes.
Order was now soon restored. Many of the miners engaged in
the disturbances fled into West Virginia and Kentucky, and the con
victs were returned to the mines and set to work under military pro-
tection. This was the only possible way of working them, and even
that has since been attended with occasional outbreaks.
Building The series of strikes ordered by the Board of Walking Delegates
in New *n ^ew York against the Building Material Dealers' Association
York resulted in the defeat of the men, who scrambled for their old places
on August 9, 1892. This strike began on the new Criminal Court
building in Centre Street in May. The grievance was the fact that
one Paul Chandler, an engineer employed by the Jackson Architec
tural Iron Company, had refused to pay a fine of $50 imposed on
him by the union, and in spite of this stigma was at work on the
building. District Association 253 of the Knights of Labor took
up the fight, and the bricklayers and allied trades who refused to
COPYRIGHT 1897.
I03
A HERO OF THE STRIKE
FROM THE ORIGINAL PAINTING BY J. STEEPLE DAVI9
1594 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD. vii stnke were forced out. The men finally submitted without condi-
tions, having lost $1,000,000.
In the spring of 1892 all the workingmen of New Orleans were
organized into unions, and soon afterwards the street-car hands struck
for higher wages, and won their strikes one after another. On
November 3d a general strike of all trades was ordered, and only four
Failures out °f i$,ooo men refused to go out. The strike collapsed on
*J|£ November i ith, the men losing $500,000, their employers $750,000,
cesses and the city of New Orleans about $5,000,000.
The strike of the pavers in New York city in 1892 lasted for
some fourteen weeks, the men finally returning to work on the orig
inal terms of their employment, after a loss, it was said, of $50,000.
The Carpenters' Union of New York won their strike against
Contractor Downey on March 3, 1892. He was accused of employ
ing cabinet-makers to do carpenter work at less wages than the
Carpenters' Union demanded. The lockout of the New England
Granite Syndicate in May, 1 892, caused the idleness in New York,
New Jersey, and New England of 70,000 men.
The interesting strikes in this country in the year 1893 were the
famous Ann Arbor strike, in which the United States courts made
such radical decisions, and those on the Lehigh Valley Railroad and
in Danbury, Conn.
The whole industrial world, of course, had its attention attracted
Great to the great English coal strike; by which it was said the enormous
EcSalh sum °^ $l 5°>000>oo° had been lost. In Sheffield alone nine-tenths
Strike of the population had been forced into idleness by reason of the in
ability of their employers to get coal. This particular agitation was
against a reduction of wages which the men feared was about to be
made, and caused untold suffering all over the British Isles. It was
successfully settled by Lord Rosebery on November 18, 1893, after
a dinner party to which he had invited the leaders of both sides.
In June, 1893, eight or ten strikers who had quit work for a con
tractor on the drainage canal near Chicago were killed in a fight
with workmen.
The strike on the Little Toledo, Ann Arbor, and North Michigan
Railroad began in March, the Brotherhoods of Locomotive Engi
neers and of Locomotive Firemen being involved. Judges Taft and
Ricks, of the United States Court, ordered Chief Arthur, of the
former Brotherhood, to promulgate an order that the by-laws of the
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION *595
Brotherhood requiring members to refuse to handle cars of a boycotted
non-union line were not in force. He obeyed this order of court on
March 22, 1893. This marks an era in the national history of labor
agitation.
Since the Ann Arbor decision, courts have not hesitated to go
still further in the repression of labor movements which are deemed
unlawfuly injurious to vested rights. On December 10, 1893, the
receivers of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company applied to Judge
Jenkins, in the United States Court in Milwaukee, for an order re
straining the employees of that company from combining and con
spiring to quit, with or without notice, the service of the road, with
the object of embarrassing its operation, and generally from inter
fering with officers and agents of the receivers or their employees in
any manner by actual violence, intimidation, threats, or otherwise.
This order was issued and served on December 26th, on the thirty-
two men who composed the conference committee which had met the
receivers. A similar order had been issued in the Ann Arbor case,
but only after a strike was actually in progress.
Early in November, 1893, the operatives on the Lehigh Valley
Railroad lines struck work, and on November 2ist, 27,000 working-
men in the Wilkesbarre coal mines, who had no grievance against
their employers, were forced to quit work for lack of railroad cars to
move their products. The Lehigh strike was declared off on
December 5, 1893, and a scramble for old places began among the
men. Many were taken on again, but many found themselves un
able to secure work. The point at issue in this strike was an inter
esting one. It was stated as follows, after examination of the con
ditions at Wilkesbarre : " The railroad officials shall recognize our
amalgamated railroad society. They shall receive our head officer.
We have a head as well as the railroad." Twenty engines were
burned out. About one-half of the engineers and firemen and three-
fourths of the trainmen got back, as individuals. New schedules
of wages were issued, and a rule made that only men under forty-
five years of age should be employed as engineers. Vain efforts
were made to get up another strike against these regulations. G.
W. Gourley, a non-union telegraph operator, brought from Philadel
phia to Wilkesbarre in the course of the strike, died on December 9th
ot corrosive poisoning, and strikers were accused. Nothing was
proven. The regular quarterly dividend on the Lehigh Valley stock,
PERIOD VIJ
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Legal
Steps
Against
Strikes
Strike
on the
Lehigh
Valley
Railroad
i596 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD vii duQ in January, 1894, was passed. In a report to the Board of
TH^NEW Directors, President E. P. Wilbur said that "the losses to freight
STATES ancj equipment during the strike amounted to $77,000." It was
said that the strike cost the company about $600,000. In his report
President Wilbur continued : " For the first time in the history oi
railroads the federated unions have united with the railroad organi-
Presi- zati°ns 'm an attempt to force recognition of and submission to de-
dent mands which, if acceded to, would, in the opinion of the officers of
Views8 V(>ur company, take the management of your property out of the
hands of its stockholders and their representatives. The position of
this company has been consistently maintained throughout, namely :
that the' policy of the management of the Lehigh Valley Railroad
Company has always been to deal directly and only with its em
ployees. Our company has always been ready to confer fully and
freely with its employees, severally or in numbers, on any subject,
and will continue to do so, but will neither recognize a foreign ele
ment as representative of our men, nor will we recognize a mixed
committee from different branches of our service as competent to
represent any one branch."
On November 25th nineteen hat factories in Danbury, Conn., closed
their doors and discharged their workmen for an indefinite period.
It was said that 90 per cent, of the population of this town of 20,000
people depended upon the hat industry for its support. There were
thirty-one factories in operation at the time, nineteen of which sud
denly refused to recognize the unions of their operatives, proposing
three methods of settlement : " First, abandonment of the hat in
dustry; second, the creation of independent shops; third, the con
tinuation of the present agreements with increased privileges from
the trade unions." The operatives declining to agree to any of
these, the lockout began. Arbitration was instantly proposed all
over the country. The remarks on this subject of a writer in The
Independent may find place here :
Errors " Arbitration is good where both sides can be brought to agree to
Regard- it. If one side objects it is, of course, impractical. Compulsory
tration arbitration is not to be thought of. It would imply an invasion of
the rights of both capital and labor. It goes on the assumption that
workmen have the right to insist on employment, and that the
owners have a right to insist upon service. Capital must be free to
employ labor on the best terms it can make ; labor must be free to
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1597
engage itself where it can get the best rates. . . . Labor must be free, PERIOD vii
capital must be free. If the problem raised by strikes is solved, it ^j^pW
must be on the basis of liberty." STATES
The Danbury trouble was talked of all over the country. Offers
were made to found a co-operative shop for the men. A special
town meeting was held on December 6th, and $50,000 was voted " to
aid the unemployed," the latter doing most of the voting. One
firm of employers took the employees back under the old terms on
December 26th. On January 3d the other employers issued a warn
ing to their locked-out men in which they said :
" We have waited about five weeks without taking any action that Warning
might deprive our former employees of an opportunity to work for strikers
us. If applications are not promptly made by them, and should
they continue to prevent others from working for us so that we
cannot fill the orders we now have in a reasonable time by work
performed, it will be necessary to have the goods made elsewhere.
It will be necessary for those who may receive employment to recog
nize the right of employers to employ whom they desire, whether
members of a trade union or not."
There was a curious strike in Walter Damroscn's Symphony
Orchestra on December 17, 1893, in Carnegie Music Hall. The
other musicians, members of the Musical Union, refused to play
with Otto Hegner, the 'cellist, because he was not a member of the
union. He had not been six months in the United States, and was
ineligible to membership, had he wished to join. It was feared at
first the Symphony Orchestra, which had been organized in 1890
with a guaranty fund of $50,000 for the first year, might be dis
rupted. There was a compromise at length, and Mr. Damrosch
yielded so far as to withdraw Hegner, who thereafter appeared only
as a soloist. Mr. Damrosch was afterwards fined by the Musical
Union for asking his orchestra to play with a non-union man.
The strike for increased wages on the Great Northern Railway,
which began about the middle of April, 1894, involved 5,000 em- strike
ployees on 3,700 miles of lines. It suspended traffic, passenger and on the
freight. The fight had been a determined one. United States Northern
troops were called upon to guard mail trains. The Knights of Labor Railway
joined hands with the striking members of the American Railway
Union. On April 3Oth the claims of employers and employees were
adjudicated by a conference of St. Paul and Minneapolis business
1598
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Strike
of the
Coal
Miners
THE ANACONDA MINE, CRIPPLE CREEK
men. Nineteen-twentieths of the points claimed for the strikers
were awarded them, it is said, wages being restored to the figure at
which they stood before the ten per cent. cut. All hands were or
dered to return to work. But it was declared that all employees
who had been arrested
for delaying the mails,
abandoning trains be
tween stations, and
maliciously injuring
the company's prop
erty, must have their
cases investigated be
fore they could go back
to work.
The hands employed
in the silk ribbon fac
tories of Paterson,
N. J., struck in February, 1894. On March 1 3th there were 10,000 of
them idle, and a mob of 1,000 of them rioted, invaded dye-shops, forced
other workmen to strike, -and terrorized mill owners. The cause of
it all was the agreement of the United Silk Weavers of America on
a scale of wages higher than the one in force. Strikes resulted in
New York, Hoboken, Paterson, and Williamsburg. A ruinous
idleness followed. A conference arranged by the business men of
Paterson on April 29th failed to bring about an agreement. On May
2d Levy Brothers opened their mill, and ten out of 125 weavers re
turned at manufacturers' prices. On May /th eleven out of 1,500
strikers returned to work. Non-union men were at work early in
June in many of the mills.
The strike of the coal miners of the United States in the spring
and summer of 1894 will be famous in history. It was deliberately
planned. On April I ith the National Miners' Convention in Colum
bus, O., resolved that "the greatest coal-miners' strike the world
ever saw" should be begun on April 2 1 st for " the old scale and no
compromise." And it was begun. President John McBride said on'
April 23d that 128,000 men were out in Alabama, Indiana, Illinois,
Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, the Indian Territory,
Iowa, Maryland, Tennessee, and Kentucky. By May 1st many in
dustries, especially in the West, had been forced to shut down for
CHAP.LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1599
Jack of fuel. More than a million and a half had been lost to the PERIOD VH
miners in wages. On May 6th miners were starving in Alabama. ^IJ^W
By the middle of May the railroads everywhere felt the coal famine STATES
severely. On May 25th rioting was in progress in many localities,
and a good many lives had been lost. On June 8th it was announced
that the Illinois operators were disposed to give in. By this time
at Cripple Creek, Colo., the trouble had assumed the proportions of an
insurrection, the governor had been asked to intervene, six citizens
had been held prisoners by the strikers, and the state militia and a
large number of deputy sheriffs, representing the county police
force, were on the ground regarding each other with hostile eyes.
On June 5th the representatives of the striking coal miners decided to Frightful
abandon the idea of forcing a national settlement and to try a district ragesby
settlement. Force, threats, arguments had been exhausted. In the Strikers
mean time a peculiarly brutal course had been pursued by the Slav
workmen in the coke region of Pennsylvania. For the first time
since 1891 the coke ovens were left idle, on April 25th. Dyna
mite, assassination, amazonian charges, kidnapping, and torture
were resorted to by the mob, and shooting and eviction by the
masters.
On June ist it was estimated that $3, 500,000 had been lost in price
of coal to operators, freight to the railroad companies, and wages to
the miners. Local conferences of miners and operators were held.
On June I ith a compromise was agreed upon at such a conference in
Columbus, acting for the men in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and
Illinois. An advance of 1 5 cents a ton was settled. A general pro
test against this settlement began the next day. The miners
wanted a greater advance. In the mean time the many bridges and
much other railroad property had been destroyed. The coke manu- Gradual
(acturers began to start their works with non-union men. Many C°J1?Pse
miners' meetings were held rejecting the compromise agreed on at Strike
Columbus. The strike in Alabama had already collapsed, " starva
tion and convict labor" being given as the reasons. The Pittsburg
miners, agreed to the compromise on being assured by President
McBride that it was " take what he got or be disastrously defeated/1
There was a slow but general resumption of work. President
McBride said that the national officers of the miners' organization
had been " hurried to a settlement by the knowledge of conspiracies
tor terrible violence." The miners had lost by June i6th in wages
1600 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD vii about $12, soo,ooo. The total loss, including that of the operators,
THE NEW to that date had been about $25,000,000.
UNITED
An incendiary fire in the Mary Lee mine, near Birmingham, sup
posed to be the work of striking coal miners, resulted in the death
of four men, July 2Oth. The striking Slavs and Italians in the West
ern Pennsylvania mines armed themselves with dynamite, and two
regiments of state troops were ordered to Walston, June 2ist. The
strikers fled, but in a few days succeeded in persuading many of the
non-union men employed in their places to quit work. But days
passed without the strikers gaining any decisive advantage, and
negroes and other outsiders were successfully put to work. The
striking miners, who now saw starvation at their doors, continued to
march and countermarch to no purpose. In a battle between negro
miners and marching strikers at Scottdale, Pa., July I ith, two negroes
were mortally wounded. But it was already settled that the great
coal-miners' strike was an utter failure.
Great Tne PuUman Car Company, whose works are near Chicago, has
Pullman been largely engaged for years in the manufacture of sleeping-cars,
Strike and has contracts with numerous railway companies for the running
of the cars over their lines. Dull times forced the Pullman com
pany, early in the spring of 1894, to give their large number of em
ployees the choice of accepting a cut in their wages or of having the
works closed. They accepted the former, the reduction being from
twenty-five to almost fifty per cent., with the understanding that the
old rates were to be restored as soon as the business of the company
warranted it.
The suffering of the workmen was so great that in May they
declared they could not live upon the pittance they received, and
they demanded the restoration of the old rates. The company refused,
declaring that they were running the business at a loss, for no other
purpose than that of keeping the men employed. This was not
satisfactory, and, on the nth of May, 3,000 workmen, the majority
of the whole number, struck. Thereupon the company closed the
works.
The American Railway Union, of which Eugene V. Debs is presi-
V. Debs dent, took charge of the case and declared a boycott of all Pullman
cars. The effect of this sweeping order was to forbid all engineers,
brakemen, and switchmen from handling the cars, on whatever road
they were used. At the sa^e time the Union demanded that the
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1601
Pullman company should submit the dispute to arbitration. The
company replied that there was nothing to arbitrate, since the ques
tion was whether they should or should not manage their own works.
A boycott on all Pullman cars was declared on June 26th, to begin on
the Illinois Central, thence spreading over the country. The compa
nies that persisted in handling the Pullman cars were warned that
their employees would strike, and behind it all was a threat to call out
every trade in the country.
Inasmuch as the railway companies that had nothing to do with
the manufacture of the cars were under heavy bonds to draw them,
they could not consent to the boycott without enormous loss. They
refused, and, on June 29th, President Debs declared a boycott on
twenty-two roads running out of Chicago, and ordered the commit
tees representing the employees on each road to call out the work
men as rapidly as possible, thus blocking all freight, passenger, and
mail transportation. Some of these roads did not use the Pullman
cars, but their officers had joined the Chicago General Managers'
Association, and thus incurred the hostility of the American Rail
way Union, less than a year old, and which had been formed with
the object of absorbing within itself all the separate unions of the
different classes of railway employees. It had a large following in
the West and Southwest, but was weak in the East, where the admir
able organization known as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi
neers has the good will of the employers no less than that of the
employees themselves.
The strike, as was expected, extended rapidly. President Debs
urged his men to refrain from interference with the property of rail
roads, but such advice is always disregarded. Rioting soon broke
out in many quarters, trains were blockaded or derailed, and men
who wished to take the strikers' places were savagely beaten. The
cutting off of many supplies from Chicago caused prices to rise to
an astonishing figure, and a famine impended. The destruction of
railway property became so serious that the companies called on the
city and county authorities for protection. The forces furnished
being unable to cope with the turbulent mob, Governor Altgeld was
appealed to, and he sent troops to the scene, but they, too, were
insufficient to overawe the lawbreakers. As is often the case, the
militia showed more sympathy with the strikers than with the
' authorities.
PERIOD VIJ
UNITED
STATES
Failure
to Ar
bitrate
Turbu
lence of
the
Strikers
1602
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Action
Of Presi
dent
Cleve
land
Unfortunately for the strikers, they brought the United Statea
Government into the dispute. The mails and postal service were
checked, and deputy marshals were resisted. The national Govern
ment is bound to protect the great lines of interstate commerce,
which also suffered interference.
Notice of such action was made
to the Attorney- General's office
at Washington, and on July 2d
a Federal writ was issued cover--
ing the judicial district of North
ern Illinois, forbidding all per
sons from interfering with the
mail-conveyance or with inter
state railroad commerce. The
arrest of several leaders followed,
an act that incited the strikers
to threats of revolt and treason.
The situation was so alarming
EUGENE v. DEBS tnat tne grand jury was sum-
m o n e d to find indictments
against President Debs and others. The Government having re
ceived notice that United States troops were necessary in Chicago
to enforce the orders of the courts, a large force of cavalry, artil
lery, and infantry was sent thither from the regular army. Gover
nor Altgeld, as might have been expected, made a long protest by
telegraph, but was properly snubbed, and President Cleveland sent
still more troops to Chicago, since it was apparent that the gover
nor's course had encouraged the strikers.
It should be noted that most of the latter were foreigners, chiefly
Poles and Bohemians. A mob of more than 20,000 had several col
lisions with the military, and a number were killed and wounded
Trains were ditched, buildings fired, and more troops were ordered
to the scene of disturbances, the President declaring that the law
breakers should be put down, if it required the whole United States
army to do it, since the Constitution clearly made such action his
duty.
The strike assumed serious proportions in California, where there
has long been a strong antagonism to the railroads. The greatest
trouble was at Los Angeles, Oakland, and Sacramento, where the
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1603
State militia refused to charge the rioters when ordered to do so.
While a force of regular troops were going to the scene of the dis
turbance on the railroad, the train was ditched by strikers, and
several were killed and hurt.* There was no fear that the regulars
would refuse to attack the Jaw-breakers; the only fear of the soldiers
was that they might not be permitted to perform the service for
which they had been summoned.
The prompt and stern measures of President Cleveland soon proved
effective. In addition, the immense numbers of persons who natu
rally feel a sympathy with poor men struggling to better their condi
tion were filled with indignation at the acts of the murderous
strikers. The rock of safety in this country is the law-loving senti
ment of the overwhelming majority. It was seen that the mobs
were composed of foreigners — not those that had spent several years
in the country and had become Americans in sentiment (and they
include many of our best citizens), but ignorant, brutal aliens, the
dregs of. Europe, hardly able to speak the English language. They
were the tools of demagogues, who, like the pestilent carpet-baggers
of the South, were eager to adopt any means that promised them
personal advantage.
The strength of the strike waned almost as rapidly as it rose.
The other labor organizations that were called out refused to obey;
instead of doing so, they expressed sympathy and kept at their work.
On July loth, President Debs, Vice-President Howard, and other
leaders of the American Railway Union were arrested and arraigned
on charge of obstructing the United States mails and of interfering
with the execution of the laws of the United States. -The leaders
were released on bail. They and others — forty-three in all — were
indicted by the Federal grand jury on July iQth, the bonds being fixed
at $10,000 for each. Bail was offered them, but they declined to
accept it and were lodged in jail. On December I4th Judge Woods
sentenced Debs to six months' imprisonment for contempt, the terms
of the other leaders being three months each. Many felt that this
summary action, in which the accused were not allowed a trial by
jury, was unjustifiable. It was not sympathy for the agitators that
* Upon the monument erected to the memory of the soldiers killed by the ditching of
the train, General W. M. Graham, commandant at the Presidio, caused the inscription
to be cut, ** Murdered by Strikers." The indignant labor organizations in San Fran
cisco protested and demanded the removal of the words, but the grim soldier replied :
" The words are true and they shall remain," and they are there still.
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Good
Effect
of the
Presi
dent's
Vigor
Punish
ment
of the
Leaders
1604 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
vn led to condemnation of the Federal authorities, but the fact that the
men had been condemned and punished without indictment and
STATES trjai by jury. It was a dangerous step, and a distinct menace to the
personal liberty of all citizens.
The strike was a vast failure, and, though it caused much uneasi
ness and alarm in remote sections not directly affected by the dis-
L ssons turbances, it taught several important lessons. We have already
of the referred to one — the peril from ignorant, brutalized foreigners, the
offscourings of Europe, that are turned loose upon our shores to be
come tools of designing men tenfold more guilty than they.
When the flurry was all over, President Debs declared that he
never again would have any official connection with a strike, for so
long as they are repugnant to society, so long is it idle to strike.
No matter upon how extensive a plan it is organized, failure is in
evitable. The only remedy is at the polls. The leaders of other
organized branches of labor expressed the same sentimeut. Work-
ingmen must look to the ballot for relief.
The general committee of the strikers on August 5th officially de
clared the strike at an end in Chicago, and their action was quickly
followed in other directions. On July 25th President Cleveland ap
pointed Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of Labor, John D. Kernan,
of New York, and Nicholas E. Worthington, of Illinois, a commission
to investigate the causes of the strike. In their report they recom
mended a permanent United States Railroad Strike Commission of
three members, whose recommendations should be enforceable by the
courts. It encouraged orderly labor unions, the licensing of railway
employees, and a system somewhat of the nature of that prevailing
in Massachusetts, for the promotion of arbitration.
According to the statistics of Bradstreet, which appeared in the
tksS~ ^tter part of January, 1894, there were in 119 principal cities
of the 801,000 unemployed, with about 2,000,000 dependent upon them
for support. In New England, 21 cities had 66,200 unemployed,
with 154,400 dependants. In New York and New Jersey (including
Wilmington, Del.), 15 cities had 223,250 unemployed, with 563,750
dependants. Twenty -four cities in the Central West had 227,340
unemployed, with 443,310 dependants. The same woful story was
true of other sections of the country, the only cities containing no
enforced idlers being Augusta (Ga.), Mobile, and Houston.
In Boston, February 2Oth, a throng of about 2,000 unemployed, who
COPYRIGHT 1897.
DITCHING A TRAIN
PJJOM THE ORIGINAL DRAWING BY J. STEEPLE DAVI«
1606 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
PERIOD vii called themselves " Socialist- Anarchists," after being addressed on
the Common by a number of speakers, marched to the State house,
and through their leaders demanded employment of Governor Green-
halge and an address from him. The governor went out on the
balcony and assured the crowd that while he personally would do all
he could for them, and would recommend to the legislature such
action as was within its sphere, they must not forget that the law-
making body had no power to employ men unless it had money to
pay them, and unless the work was needed for the public good. He
reminded them that the first duty of every citizen was to obey
the law.
The leaders of the crowd entered the legislative chambers and laid
their demand before the senate and the representatives. Signs of
turbulence increased after the withdrawal of the agitators, when the
police appeared and cleared the building.
The most striking appeal directly to the law-making body by the
unemployed was by Coxey's " Commonweal Army." J. S. Coxey, a
horse-breeder and stone-quarry owner in Massillon, O., started from
that place, March .25th, with about 75 men. Six days later, when
they had reached Beaver Falls, Pa., they numbered 170. The plan
of this " army," which carried no weapons, was to gather recruits on
the march, and to reach Washington about the ist of May, by which
time it was believed there would be a hundred thousand strong.
The announced object of this movement was to make an impres
sive demand upon Congress for the enactment of two laws : the first
providing for an issue of $500,000,000 legal-tender notes, to be ex
pended by the Secretary of War at the rate of $20,000,000 per month
in constructing roads throughout the country. The second law was
"Com- to provide that any State, city, or village may deposit in the United
States treasury non-interest-bearing bonds to an amount not more
than one-half the assessed valuation of its property, on which the
Secretary of the Treasury shall issue legal-tender notes.
The " army" which thus set out for the capital of the country
was the strangest procession of the kind that was ever looked upon.
There was a mingling of the pathetic and ludicrous appealing to
one's sympathy, and, while it excited ridicule in many quarters, it
caused misgiving in others. Who should forecast the growth of
this multitude which might be recruited at almost every mile, while
numerous similar bands started from different parts of the country
CFTAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1607
towards the same point ? How many men would gather in Washing- PERIOD vn
ton on the 1st of May? What would they do? Would they be
controllable?
The movement was a proof that there was, and still is, " some
thing wrong" in our social system. The sad problem that has vexed
the ages is not yet solved. When shall it be?
The march was continued with the leader in his carriage and his
lieutenants on horses. While their approach excited alarm in many
places, they committed no depredations and were enthusiastically the
received at other points. Sometimes the town authorities supplied
their wants and sometimes it was met by private aid, the real pur
pose being to hasten the departure of the visitors. Additions and
desertions kept their number at varying figures, but at no time did
it exceed 500, and when Coxey entered Washington, April 29th, he
had just 336 men, with whom he paraded through the streets, May
i st. Preparations had been made by the authorities for their coming,
and a death blow was administered to the intended spectacular dis
play, in the presentation of the petition, by the action of the police in
shutting them out from the Capitol grounds. Coxey and two of his
leaders took a short cut, were arrested and fined five dollars apiece,
and sentenced to twenty days' imprisonment for violating the statute
against carrying a banner in the grounds and trespassing on the grass.
The army rapidly crumbled to pieces and passed into oblivion.
Other "armies" converged towards Washington from Oregon,
Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, and different points in the West.
Unhappily, however, many vagrants and disreputable men took their
places in the ranks, and more than one scene of disorder followed.
In the State of Washington the " Commonwealers" seized a train,
several men were wounded in a fight with deputy marshals, and it
became necessary to call out the state militia. Similar depredations
were committed in Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. A
careful estimate gives the following strength of the six principal strength
" industrial armies" : i. Coxey's, maximum strength, 500; 2. Frye's, of the
from Los Angeles, Cal., near the end of March, maximum, 1,000; trial
3. Kelly's, from San Francisco, April 3d, maximum, 2,000; 4. Ran- Armies
dall's, from Chicago, May ist, maximum, 1,000; 5. Hogan's, from
Montana, April 2Oth, maximum, 500; 6. One from Oregon, about
April 1 5th, maximum, 900. The total is less than 6,000 men.
The Brooklyn trolley strike in the latter part of January, 1895
1608 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
FBRIOD vii was attended by violence and bloodshed. In obedience to the ordei s
THBNEW of the Knights of Labor, it began on Monday, January 1 4th. its
STATES "violent stage" continuing for sixteen days, when it gradually sub
sided. The forty-eight trolley lines radiating from the Brooklyn
bridge were involved, including the 5,500 men employed on the
cars and at the electric power stations.
The At the opening of the year the men demanded that a working day
Brook- should consist of ten hours' work during twelve successive hours of
Trolley ^me > tnat tne ^ve minutes of waiting for passengers at the begin-
Strike ning and end of every trip should form a part of the ten hours' work,
and that the pay for each working day should be raised, as had
been promised by the companies, from $2 to $2.25. To prevent the
crowding out of the regular men by the employment of an unusual
number of "trippers" (who received $1.50 a day on one- trip cars),
it was insisted that the number of such extra men should be limited.
Furthermore, the employees demanded that no schedule should call
for a greater running speed than ten miles an hour. This was a
most reasonable demand, since the dangerous speed of the trolley
cars in Brooklyn has been the cause of so many deaths (aggre
gating almost 200 at this writing), that the city has gained a grue
some reputation throughout the country.*
The employers refused to accede to these demands, and the strike
followed. Violence was certain to break out, and at the request of
the companies the mayor ordered the police to use vigilance and
vigor in suppressing disorder. Vicious men mingled with the
strikers, and the cars were obstructed, windows were smashed, and the
police forced to a standstill. Men who came from other cities to
take the places of the strikers were savagely beaten and driven off.
On the second day of the strike, 5,000 rioters attacked the police at
the Atlantic-Avenue depot, but were repulsed by the mounted
policemen.
Matters rapidly grew worse, and on the fifth day the mayor de-
by th? clared that the police were unable to repress the rioting and keep the
Strikers tracks clear. He made a requisition for the militia, and the Second
Brigade of the National Guard was ordered out, and several lines
* There was grim force in the proposed bill of a New York legislator that the punish
ment for capital crimes should be changed from electrocution to that of " turning loose "
the condemned in Brooklyn. " The trolley cars," said he, " are sure to get them, and
they are as effective as electricity."
Front Leslie's Weekly
SCENES IN BROOKLYN DURING THE TROLLEY STRIKE, JANUARY, 1895
104
i6io
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP. LXXXIX
fERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Help
from the
State
Statis
tics of
the
Strike
reopened. On the night of the iQth the mob became so violent at the
East New York stables, that the soldiers were compelled to charge
five times upon them, during which five persons were wounded.
Meanwhile, attempts had been made to bring the strike to an end
by arbitration, but they failed, and the outlook was so threatening
that a requisition was made upon Governor Morton for more troops.
On Sunday night, the 2Oth, the 4,000 soldiers comprising the
First Brigade crossed the bridge and joined the 2,500 already in
Brooklyn.
The city now looked like war times. Streets were barricaded,
camp-fires gleamed on the highways, sentries moved to and fro, there
were cavalry dashes by the fine Troop A from New York, while
many felt that a crisis was approaching.
A general once insisted that it should be a court-martial offence
for any officer to order his men to fire over the heads of a mob. It
is undoubtedly true that energetic measures at the first appearance
of revolt will quell It at once, while leniency encourages rioters to
violence. A mob on the Gates- A venue line shot two policemen,
when the soldiers gave them a volley that sent them skurrying to
cover.
The subsidence of the strike dated from this point. The strikers
saw the inevitable end. Twenty-two of the forty-eight lines were
reopened for travel on Wednesday. Collisions occurred at different
points, and several lives were lost, but new men were steadily tak
ing the places of the strikers, who saw that if they remained out
much longer there would be no room for them to return on any
terms. On January 28th the New York troops were ordered to break
camp and return home, and on the day following the strikers made
conditional proposals to return to work.
In April the special committee of the New York State Assembly
appointed to investigate the trolley strike in* Brooklyn reported that
5,000 men were thrown out of employment, of whom only about one-
tenth recovered their places. The loss in wages to the men was
about $750,000, besides the loss after the close of the strike to those
remaining unemployed. It cost $275,000 to suppress the disorder,
while no estimate can be placed upon the loss to the companies and
the business community. The causes of the strike were mainly the
schemes by which the lines strove to secure an increased profit on
capital without giving labor any corresponding benefit. Except for
CHAP. LXXXIX CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1611
the failure of the men to ask for arbitration before striking, the com
mittee placed the blame for the causes which led to the strike wholly
upon the company.
A strike involving thousands of laborers broke out among the coal
mines of West Virginia in the summer of 1897. General sympathy
was felt for the strikers, whose wages, in many cases, were meagre
and hardly above the starvation point. Eugene V. Debs and John
R. Sovereign, General Master-Workman of the Knights of Labor,
were active in promoting the strike, while P. M. Arthur, Chief of
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, expressed his sympathy,
though his organization took no official action in the matter. Sym
pathetic strikes occurred in adjoining States, and the lockout as
sumed formidable proportions. It lost ground in Western Virginia,
where many men returned to work, in response to the offer of in
creased wages, but the disorganization caused by the widespread sus
pension of work lasted for a long time.
PERIOD VII
UNITED
STATES
Great
Coal
Strike in
West
Virginia
Americ&a Desert
CHAPTER XC
CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION, 1893-97
(CONCLUDED) j.
[Authorities: To him who reflects upon the possibilities of industrial development
through the agency of the discovery and utilization of nature's forces, there is, perhaps,
among the many interesting subjects treated in this chapter, none more suggestive than
the ** harnessing of Niagara." Energy derived primarily from the sun has been wasted
by millions of horse-power for ages in the downpour of those stupendous falls. If that
energy were all diverted to human needs, the total manufacturing and locomotive indus
tries of our country could be supplied by it. Add to this the unused energy of our hun
dreds of rivers, the calorific power in the rays of the sun, and, greater than all, the dy
namics in the ebb and flow of the tides, and we have an aggregate beyond the power of
the imagination to conceive. The comparatively insignificant beginning at Niagara sug
gests the substitution of these tremendous forces for human labor in the early future.
The same source of energy will perhaps supply cities as remote from each other as Chi
cago and New York with power for all their manifold needs. It is not by any means
improbable that the homes of the future will be warmed in winter and cooled in summer
by electricity, and that the same agency will perform most of the work that now consti
tutes domestic drudgery.
British and American diplomatic correspondence, the excellent '* Current History "
edited by Alfred S. Johnson, and the leading newspapers and periodicals have been
drawn upon for much of the matter in this chapter.]
|N January 4, 1896, President Cleveland signed a
proclamation by which Utah became the forty-fifth
State of the Union. The order for the addition to
the national flag of the star representing the State
was issued by Secretary Lament, August 27,
1895. The position of the star on the flag is at
the right-hand end of the fourth row from the top,
as shown in the colored frontispiece to Volume
Six of this History. At the same time the regulation size of the
colors was changed from 6 by 5 feet to 5 feet 6 inches by 4 feet
4 inches.
tliftgara. FoU».
CHAP, xc CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION
1613
The constitution of Utah contains several noteworthy features. It
grants complete suffrage to women, including the right to hold office
and to sit on juries. A thorough liberal and progressive educational
system is projected. Grand juries are abolished except in special
circumstances, information taking the place of indictment, and the
trial jury consists of eight instead of twelve persons, three-fourths
of whom may render a verdict in civil cases, but a unanimous vote is
necessary to convict of crime. Polygamy, the great blot upon Utah,
is prohibited by her new constitution.
The State has an area of 84,970 square miles, of which 2,780 is
water surface. Its chief resources are mineral and agricultural, and
its climate is finely adapted to their development. Its population is
about 250,000; its assessed valuation of property in 1895 was
$97,983,525, and the total export of mineral product in that year
was $8,312,352. Utah has 19,816 farms, of which 17,684 are free
from all incumbrances. The irrigated acreage is 417,455 acres.
The number of sheep owned in Utah in 1894 was 2,422,802, valued
at $3,696,934, and yielding a wool clip of 12, 119,763 pounds, with
a value at shipping points of $864,260. January 6th was observed
as a holiday in celebration of the birth of the new State. The
first governor, Heber M. Wells, was elected in the preceding No
vember, and Frank J. Cannon and Arthur Brown, Republicans,
were elected United States Senators and took the oath of office
January 27th.
The power that has gone to waste for ages at Niagara Falls is
inconceivable, and the problem of utilizing a portion of it has long
engaged the attention and study of scientific minds. As long ago
as 1725 the first attempt was made by the operation of a primitive
saw-mill. After this, the prodigious torrent was permitted to flow
on unfretted until 1842, when Augustus Porter formulated the
scheme of hydraulic canals, but none was completed until 1861.
On March 31, 1886, the Niagara Falls Power Company was in
corporated, and in 1889 the Cataract Construction Company. Work
was begun in October, 1890, three years being required to complete
the tunnel, the surface canal, and the first wheel-pits. The canal has
an average depth of 12 feet, and a width of 250 feet. It taps the
river a mile and a quarter above the falls, and draws off enough water
to develop 100,000 horse power. The walls of the canal have ten
inlets for delivering water to the wheel-pit in the power-house, at
PERIOD VII
UNITED
STATES
The
New
State of
Utah
Harness
ing
Niagara
1614
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xc
PERIOD vii the side of the canal. This pit has a depth of 178 feet, and is con-
THE NEW nected by a lateral tunnel with the main tunnel, which operates as
UNITED J r
STATES a tail-race, and returns the water to the river below the falls. It
took 1,000 men more than three years to excavate the tunnel. There
were 300,000 tons of rock removed, and 16,000,000 bricks were used
for lining. The turbines work under a head of 140 feet, and each
develops 5,000 horse-power.
In August, 1895, the first distribution of power was made to the
works of the Pittsburg Reduction Company, near the canal. The
Carborundum Company, the Calcium Company, the Buffalo and
Success
of the
Effort
SALT LAKE CITY
Niagara Railway Company, and the Niagara Falls Electric Company
subsequently made use of the power.
The city of Buffalo, in December, 1895, granted a franchise to the
company to supply power to that city, by the terms of which 10,000
horse-power was to be furnished to consumers by June I, 1896, and
10,000 additional horse-power in each successive year. The Buffalo
Railway Company was the first customer. At midnight, on No
vember 15, 1896, the current was transmitted by a pole line, consist
ing of three continuous cables of uninsulated copper, with a total
length of seventy-eight miles.
Since then street cars have been successfully operated, and the
Niagara Falls Power Company is busily engaged in preparing more
i6i6
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xc
PERIOD vii generators, with which the tremendous energy will be conducted to
THE~NEW other industrial points at varying distances from the cataract.
UNITED . . • • 1 i <•
STATES Qur country was thrown into excitement in the latter part of 1895
and in the following year by what threatened to involve us in a war
with England over the question of the boundary line in Venezuela.
There had been a flurry with Spain some time before because of
her firing into the American steamer Allianca, which she unjustly
suspected of being engaged in helping the filibusters of Cuba, but
Great
with
Vene
zuela
NIAGARA FALLS
that was satisfactorily settled before the new international dispute
arose.
The quarrel between Great Britain and Venezuela was an old one.
Between tne rnouths of the Orinoco and the Amazon, along the
northeast coast of South America, lies the territory which down to
1810 was known as the Guianas. In the year named a large part
of this territory was ceded to Venezuela by Spain, while another
portion went to Great Britain from Holland in 1814. The boun
dary between the Dutch and Spanish possessions had never been
fixed by treaty. As might have been anticipated, the " earth hunger"
CHAP, xc CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION
1617
MAP OF VENEZUELA
duties, and pecuniary claims — the first overshadowing the others in
importance. England persistently refused all appeals while dealing
with this weak power. It was not until the latter part of the year
1840 that she advanced beyond the Pomaron River. Then she en
tered the region named, and set up a claim to the whole Atlantic
coast to the Orinoco delta. In 1841, Sir Robert Schomburgk, the
English commissioner, erected the boundary since known by his
name.
Venezuela was indignant, and ordered the Schomburgk frontier
marks at Barima to be removed. Matters rested until 1 844, when
England proposed a boundary line beginning a short distance west
UNITED
of England soon led to a dispute, which continued until 1887, when PERIOD vu
it reached a stage that led to a breaking off of the diplomatic rela
tions between her and Venezuela.
Venezuela claims all territory west of the Essequibo River and
southward to the border of Brazil, in support of which she presents a
long array of historical facts. In 1883, the weak republic began an
appeal, continued until 1887, and which at times was pitiful, that the
burly, overbearing empire should submit the dispute to arbitration
by some disinterested power. In the year named there were found
three sources of disagreement — the Guiana frontier, differential
The
Britain
1618 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xc
PERIOD vn of the Pomaron River, but in 1881 she once more set up a claim
THE"NEW that included the valleys of the Pomaron and the Moroco ; five years
UNITED
STATES jater her claim extended to the bank of the Guiana river, and in 1 890
she suggested a divisional line that gave her practical control of the
Orinoco delta. Finally, in 1893, she proposed a boundary line be
ginning at the mouth of the Amacuro and taking such course as to
The Dis- mc^U(^e tne uPPer waters of the Cumana and thence to the sierra of
puted the Usupamo. The territory in dispute is larger than the State of
tory" New York, and contains gold mines of great richness, a fact that
doubtless has much to do with the persistency of England in ref us
ing to submit the dispute to arbitration. Should she succeed in
maintaining her claim she would control the navigable outlet of the
great Orinoco river, which represents one-fourth of the commerce of
South America, and she would in addition exert a marked influence
upon the commercial and political relations of Venezuela, Colombia,
and Brazil.
The United States could not view this dispute with indifference.
In February, 1895, Congress passed a joint resolution, approving
the suggestion made by the President in his message, urging that
the question be referred *~ arbitrators. The purport of the resolu
tion was laid before Great Britain by Ambassador Bayard, but the
English authorities still refused to submit to arbitration their as
serted right to the territory east of the Schomburgk line. They
intimated that the question was wholly between them and Vene
zuela, or in other words advised the United States to attend to its
own business.
The interest of our country in this question lay in the probability
that the Monroe Doctrine was likely to be invoK ad. Though this
is not a part of the recognized body of international law, it is one of
The our most cherished principles, and we could never stand idly by while
Doctrhfe foreign governments were extending their possessions and power on
Threat- faQ Western hemisphere. There was a lengthy correspondence be
tween England and our Government during the summer and latter
part of 1895. On December I7th President Cleveland submitted
the correspondence to Congress, accompanying it with a message of
so vigorous a character that it electrified the country. He asked for
authority from Congress to appoint a Commission to determine the
merits of the boundary dispute, in order that the Government should
decide its line of action, insisting that if England maintained
i620 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xc
PERIOD vii wrongful course, the United States should resist " by every means
TH^NEW in its power, as a wilful aggression upon its rights and interests,
STATES the appropriation by Great Britain of any lands, or the exercise of
governmental jurisdiction over any territory, which after investiga
tion we have determined of right belongs to Venezuela."
Congress, as well as the country at large, ardently approved this
patriotic language. The sum of $100,000 was immediately appro-
Commis- priated for the expenses of the Commission of Inquiry. Two days
fnquhy ^ater tlie Senate unanimously passed the same bill. On the 1st of
January, 1 896, the President announced the members of the Com
mission as follows :
David J. Brewer, Republican, associate justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States, made president of the Commission.
Richard H. Alvey, Democrat, of Maryland, chief justice of the
court of appeals of the District of Columbia.
Andrew D. White, Republican, of New York, ex-president of
Cornell University, and ex-minister to Germany and Russia.
Frederick R. Coudert, Democrat, of New York, formerly a member
of the counsel of the United States in the Bering Sea arbitration.
Daniel C. Gilman of Maryland, president of Johns Hopkins Uni-
verity, independent in politics, but with Republican " leanings."
In the latter part of January the Commission began regular meet
ings. Mr. William L. Scruggs, ex-minister from the United States
to Venezuela, represented the latter country by appointment as
counsel. An immense mass of material in the shape of maps, docu
ments, and old books was placed before the commission, and the re
searches were vigorously prosecuted.
The British blue book on the Venezuelan question was laid on the
table of the House of Commons on March 6th. This gave the posi-
The tion of Great Britain in the boundary dispute. She insisted that if
tositfon t^ie kasis °f strict right was insisted on, she, as successor of the
Dutch, was entitled to the territory extending to Barima, including
the watersheds of all the rivers of Guiana south of the Orinoco
which flow into the Atlantic. England had certainly made out a
strong claim, and the decision of the Commission was awaited with
anxiety. The belligerent spirit, however, rapidly subsided in both
countries, though a wide diversity of sentiment was manifested in
Congress.
On January 8th the Washington correspondent of the radical
CHAP, xc CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1621
Chronicle of London proposed in that paper that the dispute should PERIOD vii
be included in a general plan for arbitration of all questions between TTHE NEW
Great Britain and the United States which fail of diplomatic settle- STATES
ment. He directed attention to resolutions favoring such an ar
rangement adopted in Congress on April 4, 1890, responded to
by a resolution in Parliament on June 16, 1893.
The prospect of a war between the two great English-speaking The
nations was terrifying, and would turn back the hands of progress for Danger
years, and indeed be an incalculable calamity to civilization. Nu
merous "peace meetings," at which the most eminent citizens were
present, were held in different cities, and the sentiments expressed
were heartily responded to in Great Britain. On February i8th
the London Times published a plan for a Joint Commission, it being
understood unofficially that our Government would accept it if pro
posed. Not only the Times but other papers urged it on the British
Government. The following is the plan :
A new Commission to be created by agreement between Great
Britain and the United States, consisting of two Englishmen and two
Americans, the two Americans probably to be two members of the
present Commission;
This new Commission to take up the inquiry, not in order to de
termine the boundary or draw a divisional line between British
Guiana and Venezuela, but to ascertain the facts and to report to
both Governments;
The four members to complete the inquiry if unanimous Or if a
majority of the whole concur;
If they fail to agree, a fifth member, a neutral, to be appointed by
the President of the Swiss Republic or some other acceptable per
sonage ;
The findings of this Commission upon matters of fact to be bind
ing upon both Governments, and to serve as a basis for subsequent
direct negotiations between all parties concerned with a view to New
agreeing upon the boundary line ; Negotia-
Should these direct negotiations fail, the question to be remitted
to a tribunal composed, for instance, of the chief justices of England
and the United States, with, if necessary, a third neutral member.
The air was full of rumors, and there was a general feeling of un
rest on both sides of the Atlantic. The Commission kept steadily at
work, but progressed slowly, and our Government carefully refrained
1022
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xc
PERIOD vii from interfering with it. In May the Boundary Commission's chief
THE NEW historical expert, Professor George L. Burr, of Cornell University,
STATES sailed for Holland to examine the Dutch records relating to the dis
pute. The supplementary British blue book was expected soon, after
which an expert would be sent to Madrid to examine the Spanish
archives.
Meanwhile, the British colony in Demerara became impatient, and
Venezuela protested against the delay caused by the slow work of the
Commission, and declared that the British colonists, encouraged by
officials of the home Government,
were penetrating not only the rich
gold fields, but the inland valleys,
thus expanding the "settled dis
tricts" which Lord Salisbury was
reluctant to make subject to arbi
tration.
Two questions, one of momen
tous importance to all nations,
steadily forged themselves into
the foreground. The first was the
settlement of the boundary dis
pute, and the second and vastly
greater was the establishment of
a scheme of general arbitration
between England and the United
States. At the suggestion of Am
bassador Bayard, Lord Salisbury
empowered Sir. Julian Pauncefote,
the British ambassador at Washington, to enter into correspondence
with Secretary Olney with the purpose of reaching a clearly de
fined agreement as a basis of negotiation to constitute a tribunal
for the arbitration of the Venezuelan question. On March 5, 1896,
Pro- the following heads of a suggested treaty were submitted to Secre-
A*rbitera- tary Olney by Lord Salisbury through her Majesty's ambassador:
On February 2 ist Ambassador Bayard suggested to Lord Salisbury
that he empower the British ambassador at Washington, Sir Julian
Pauncefote, to enter into correspondence with Secretary Olney with
a view to reaching a well-defined agreement as a basis of negotia
tion to constitute a tribunal for the arbitration of the Venezuelan
AMBASSADOR BAYARD
tion
CHAP, xc CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1623
question. With this request Lord Salisbury complied ; and on March PERIOD vn
5th he submitted to Secretary Olney through her Majesty's ambas- T^f ^Jf
sador the heads of a suggested treaty of arbitration. A synopsis of STATES
this treaty follows :
1 Numbet of Arbitrators and Method of Appointment — Her Bri
tannic Majesty and the President of the United States shall each
appoint two or more permanent judicial officers for the purposes of
this treaty; and, on the appearance of any question which in the
judgment of either nation cannot be settled by negotiation, each Synopsis
shall choose one of the said officials as arbitrator, and the two arbi- Treat6
trators shall hear and determine any matter referred to them in ac- Proposed
cordance with this treaty.
2 Provision for Appointment of an Umpire — Before entering on
such arbitration the arbitrators shall elect an umpire whose decision
shall be final in all cases where there is disagreement between the
arbitrators, whether in interlocutory or final questions.
3 Kinds of Questions to be Submitted — Complaints made by the
national representatives of one power against the officers of the
other; all claims or group of claims amounting to not more than
;£ 1 00,000; all claims for damages or indemnity under this amount;
all questions affecting diplomatic or consular privileges; all alleged
rights of fishery, access, navigation, or commercial privilege ; and all
questions referred by special agreement between the two parties,
shall come under the operations of this treaty.
4 A Court of Review — If, after an award has been reported,
either party shall protest against it within three months, the award
shall be reviewed by a court composed of three of the judges of the
Supreme Court of Great Britain and three of the judges of the
Supreme Court of the United States. If this court shall decide by
a majority of not less than five to one that the award is just, it shall
stand. This court is to review decisions regarding questions of fact
or of international law involving territory, territorial rights, sover- W(J^k °*
eignty, or jurisdiction of either power, or any pecuniary claim or Court of
group of claims of any kind involving a sum larger than ,£100,000,
when either party protests against the award as stated above.
5 Questions Involving National Honor — Any difference which,
in the judgment of either power, materially affects its honor or the
integrity of its territory, shall not be referred to arbitration under
this treaty except by special agreement.
1624
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xc
PERIOD vii 6 A Way of Escape — Any difference whatever, by agreement be-
THE NEW tween the two powers, may be referred for decision by arbitration a?
UNITED J J
STATES
RICHARD OLNEY
herein provided, with the stipulation that unless accepted by both
powers the decision shall not be valid.
In his reply of April i ith, Secretary Olney approved all these stip
ulations with the exception of those made in Sections 4 and 6. He
deemed the provisions of the former not sufficiently broad, and
CHAP, xc CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION
1625
Other
Provi
sions
thought that questions of the nature described in Section 4, and PERIOD vii
pecuniary claims or groups of claims aggregating a sum larger than THE NE*
;£ 1 00,000, and all controversies not specially described, be submitted STATES
to this board of arbitration, with the provision that before the arbitral
tribunal meet, the Parliament of Great Britain or the Congress of the
United States shall not declare such questions to involve the national
honor or territorial integrity. Should such declaration be made, the
question is to be withdrawn from arbitration. The awards were to
be final if concurred in by all the arbitrators ; if by only a majority,
they shall be final unless one of the parties to the arbitration protests
that the decision is erroneous in respect of some issue of fact or law.
Then, a court consisting of three judges of the Supreme Court of the
United States and three judges of the Supreme Court of Great Britain
are to decide the question. If this court is equally divided, they
shall appoint three learned and impartial jurists to be added to the
court, a majority of which, as thus constituted, shall decide questions.
Secretary Olney added that if this amendment proved acceptable
to Lord Salisbury, he saw no reason why the pending dispute regard
ing the Venezuelan boundary should not be included in the treaty,
and that if no general arbitration treaty was probable, the Vene
zuelan boundary question might be used as an experiment in arbitra
tion, whose settlement would probably indicate the lines along which
ft general scheme for arbitration could be drawn.
Instead of accepting Mr. Olney 's suggestion that the Venezuelan
question be included in the proposed arbitration treaty, Lord Salis
bury suggested that two subjects of Great Britain and two citizens
of the United States be appointed to report upon the facts affecting
the rights of Spain and Holland at the time when Great Britain ac
quired British Guiana. This commission having reported, Great
Britain and Venezuela should seek to come to an agreement, failing
in which, each should appoint a commissioner, and these two should
select a third. The decision of the three commissioners was to be
final, but it could not include as Venezuelan any territory occupied
by British subjects on or before January i, 1887.
Secretary Olney thought that the last clause was mischievous since Points of
it might become the means though which Venezuela would be
stripped of rightful possessions merely because British colonists had
been erroneously taught to regard such possessions as their own.
The Secretary advised that the clause be stricken out.
ence
1626
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP- xc
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Good
Temper
on Both
Sides
Little
Work for
the Com
mission
In objecting to the provisions of Section 6, Secretary Olney stated
that both the English and American methods of arbitration leave out
of consideration questions involving national honor and territorial
integrity, but the British method allows the disputants to determine,
after learning the result, whether or not they will be bound by it,
while the American plan binds both parties to abide by the result
whatever it may be.
The exceeding good temper displayed by both sides in this con
troversy increased the confidence that a satisfactory issue, honorable
to both parties, would be reached. That there was the best ground
for this hope was proven by the speech of Lord Salisbury at the lord
mayor's banquet in London, November 9, 1896, and by the additional
correspondence soon afterwards published. The most significant
words of Lord Salisbury were :
" You are aware that in the discussion had with the United States
on behalf of their friends in Venezuela, our question has not been
whether there should be arbitration, but whether arbitration should
have unrestricted application ; and we have always claimed that those
who, apart from historic right, had the right which attaches to es
tablished settlements, should be excluded from arbitration. Our
difficulty for months has been to define the settled districts ; and the
solution has, I think, come from the suggestion of the Government
of the United States, that we should treat our colonial empire as we
treat individuals; that the same lapse of time which protects the
latter in civic life from having their title questioned, should similarly
protect an English colony; but, beyond that, when a lapse could not
be claimed, there should be an examination of title, and all the
equity demanded in regard thereto should be granted. I do not be
lieve I am using unduly sanguine words when I declare my belief
that this has brought the controversy to an end."
Through this maze of diplomacy, the question finally narrowed
down to the question of how long must a settler have held a title to
a given possession to exempt it from the process of arbitration. The
period of fifty years was finally fixed upon as making a claim indis^
putably valid.
Inasmuch as the real business of the Commission had been
virtually taken out of its hand, it decided, though continuing its
labors, not to formulate any decision, in the hope that a friendly and
just settlement would render such a decision unnecessary.
CHAP, xc CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1627
Sir Julian Pauncefote returned early in November from a visit to PERIOD vii
England, bringing with him the treaty, the terms of which were **$*££*
STATES
LORD SALISBURY
signed by him and Secretary Olney on November 1 2th and were pub
lished December ith. The are as follows:
1628 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xc
First An arbitral tribunal shall be immediately appointed to de-
'UIMI£DW tenmne tne boundary line between the colony of British Guiana
STATES an(j faQ republic of Venezuela.
Second The tribunal shall consist of two members nominated by
the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States and two mem
bers nominated by the judges of the British Supreme Court of justice,
Terms of anc^ ^ a ^tn Jur^st selected by the four persons so nominated, or, in
the the event of their failure to agree within three months of their nomi-
'a y nation, selected by his Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway.
The person so selected shall be president of the tribunal. The
persons nominated by the judges of the Supreme Court of the United
States and of the British Supreme Court of justice respectively, may
be judges of either of said courts.
Third The tribunal shall investigate and ascertain the extent of
the territories belonging to, or that might lawfully be claimed by,
the United Netherlands or by the kingdom of Spain respectively at
the time of the acquisition by Great Britain of the colony of British
Guiana, and shall determine the boundary line between the colony
of British Guiana and the republic of Venezuela.
Fourth In deciding the matters submitted, the arbitrators shall
ascertain all the facts which they deem necessary to a decision of
the controversy, and shall be governed by the following rules agreed
upon by the high contracting parties as rules to be taken as appli
cable to the case, and by such principles of international law not
inconsistent therewith as the arbitrators shall determine to be appli
cable to the case.
RULES
(a) Adverse holding or prescription during a period of fifty years
the shall make a good title. The arbitrators may deem exclusive po-
Treaty \{^\cdi\ control of a district as well as actual settlement thereof suffi
cient to constitute adverse holding, or to make title by prescription.
(b) The arbitrators may recognize and give effect to rights and
claims on any principles of international law which the arbitrators
may deem to be applicable to the case, and which are not in contra
vention of the foregoing rule.
(c) In determining the boundary line, if territory of one party be
found by the tribunal to have been at the date of this treaty in the
occupation of the subjects or citizens of the other party, such effec
CHAP, xc CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1629
shall be given to such occupation as reason, justice, the principles PERIOD vn
of international law, and the equities of the case shall, in the opinion ^^JJjJ*
of the tribunal, require. STATES
This document, having been signed, was forwarded to President
Crespo of Venezuela, who attached his signature early in December.
Considerable opposition developed in Venezuela on the ground that
she was not to be represented on the commission. This opposition, Treatv
however, was mainly due to ignorance, and disappeared when the Signed
y*S
agreement was fully understood. Venezuela wisely decided that she
had in the great American republic a friend whom she could safely Crespo
trust.
The Anglo-Venezuelan arbitration treaty was signed by Sir Julian
Pauncefote, the British ambassador, and Senor Jose Andrade, the
Venezuelan minister, in the office of Secretary Olney at the State
department, on the afternoon of February 2, 1 897. Thus terminated
a controversy that has lasted nearly a century, and diplomatic rela
tions that had been suspended for ten years were resumed between
the two countries.
The signing of this treaty virtually dissolved the Venezuelan
boundary commission, though its formal dissolution did not take
place until President Brewer was notified by Secretary Olney that
the purposes for which it was organized had been made null and void
by the signing of the treaty.
In addition to the four articles of the treaty already given, it con
tained the following additional conditions :
ARTICLE v
" The arbitrators shall meet at Paris within sixty days after the
delivery of the printed arguments mentioned in Article VI II., and
shall proceed impartially and carefully to examine and decide the
questions that have or shall be laid before them as herein provided Con-
on the part of the Governments of her Britannic Majesty and the
United States of Venezuela respectively; provided always that the
arbitrators may, if they shall think fit, hold their meetings or any
of them at any other place which they may determine.
" All questions considered by the tribunal, including the final de
cision, shall be determined by a majority of all the arbitrators.
" Each of the high contracting parties shall name one person as its
1630 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xc
agent to attend the tribunal and to represent it generally in all
THE NEW matters connected with the tribunal.
UNITED
STATES
ARTICLE VI
" The printed case of each of the two parties, accompanied by the
documents, official correspondence, and other evidence on which each
relies, shall be delivered in duplicate to each of the arbitrators and
to the agent of the other party as soon as may be after the appoint
ment of the members of the tribunal, but within a period not ex
ceeding eight months from the date of the exchange of the ratifica
tions of this treaty.
ARTICLE VII
" Within four months after the delivery on both sides of the
printed case either party may in like manner deliver in duplicate to
each of the said arbitrators, and to the agent of the other party, a
counter case and additional documents, correspondence, and evidence
in reply to the case, documents, correspondence, and evidence so
presented by the other party.
" If in the case submitted to the arbitrators, either party shall
have specified or alluded to any report or document in its own ex
clusive possession without annexing a copy, such party shall be
bound, if the other party thinks proper to apply for it, to furnish
that party with a copy thereof, and either party may call upon the
other, through the arbitrators, to produce the originals or certified
copies of any papers adduced as evidence, giving in each instance
notice thereof within thirty days after delivery of the case ; and the
original or copy so requested shall be delivered as soon as may be,
and within a period not exceeding forty days after receipt of notice.
ARTICLE VIII
" It shall be the duty of the agent of each party, within three
months after the expiration of the time limited for the delivery of the
counter case on both sides, to deliver in duplicate to each of the said
arbitrators and to the agent of the other party a printed argument
showing the points and referring to the evidence upon which his
Government relies, and either party may also support the same before
the arbitrators by oral argument of counsel : and the arbitrators may,
CHAP, xc CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1631
if they desire further elucidation with regard to any point, require a PERIOD vn
written or printed statement or argument or oral argument by ^^HW
counsel upon it; but in such case the other party shall be entitled STATES
to reply either orally or in writing, as the case may be.
ARTICLE IX
" The arbitrators may, for any cause deemed by them sufficient,
enlarge either of the periods fixed by articles VI., VIL, and VIII.
by the allowance of thirty days additional.
ARTICLE X
" The decision of the tribunal shall, if possible, be made within
three months from the close of the argument on both sides.
" It shall be made in writing and dated, and shall be signed by the
arbitrators who may assent to it.
" The decision shall be in duplicate, one copy whereof shall be de
livered to the agent of the United States of Venezuela for his
Government.
ARTICLE XI
" The arbitrators shall keep an accurate record of their proceedings,
and may appoint and employ the necessary officers to assist them.
ARTICLE XII
" Each Government shall pay its own agent and provide for the
proper remuneration of the counsel employed by it and of the arbi
trators appointed by it or in its behalf, and for the expense of pre
paring and submitting its case to the tribunal. All other expenses
connected with the arbitration shall be defrayed by the two Govern
ments in equal moieties.
ARTICLE XIII
" The high contracting parties engage to consider the result of
the proceedings of the Tribunal of Arbitration as a full, perfect, and
final settlement of all the questions referred to the arbitrators.
ARTICLE xiv
"The present treaty should be duly ratified by her Britannic
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xc
PERIOD vii Majesty and by the President of the United States of Venezuela by
THE NEW and with the approval of the Congress thereof ; and the ratifications
UNITED ° f
STATES shall be exchanged in London or in Washington within six months
from the date hereof.
" In faith whereof, we, the respective plenipotentiaries, have
signed this treaty and have hereunto affixed our seals.
" Done in duplicate at Washington, the second day of February,
one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven.
"JULIAN PAUNCEFOTE,
"JosE ANDRADE."
Presi- ^ne residential election of 1896 was an extraordinary one. By
dential the 3d of September there were eight tickets in the field. Some of
nees these were duplications, but they were nominated by separate
national conventions duly called. In the order of nomination the
tickets were as follows :
Prohibitionist — Nominated at Pittsburg, May 2/th :
For President — Joshua Levering, of Maryland.
For Vice- President — Hale Johnson, of Illinois.
National Party — Free- Silver Woman- Suffrage offshoot of the regular
Prohibitionists, nominated at Pittsburg, May 28th :
For President — Charles E. Bentley, of Nebraska.
For Vice-President — James Haywood Southgate, of North Caro
lina.
Republican — Nominated at St. Louis, June i8th:
For President — William McKinley, of Ohio.
For Vice-President — Garret Augustus Hobart, of New Jersey.
Socialist- Labor — Nominated at New York, July 4th :
For President — Charles H. Matchett, of New York.
For Vice-President — Matthew Maguire, of New Jersey.
Democratic Party — Nominated at Chicago, July loth and nth:
For President — William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska.
For Vice-President — Arthur Sewall, of Maine.
Silverites — Nominated at St. Louis, July 24th :
For President — William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska.
For Vice-President — Arthur Sewall, of Maine.
People's Party — Nominated at St. Louis, July 24th and 25th:
For President — William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska.
For Vice-President — Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia.
CHAP, xc CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION
THE NEW
UNITID
STATES
National Democratic Party — Nominated at Indianapolis, Septem- PERIOD vn
her 3d:
For President — John McAuley Palmer, of Illinois.
For Vice-President — Simon Bolivar Buckner, of Kentucky.
The Democratic platform demanded the free coinage of silver,
while the Republican platform opposed free coinage and insisted on
preserving the existing gold standard. The contest lay between
these two leading parties of the country/
For weeks before the national convention in St. Louis, June i6th,
the tide set so strongly in favor of William McKinley for President
that all doubt disappeared, and his nomination took place on the first
ballot, Garret A. Hobart receiving the nomination for Vice-President
on the same ballot. When the gold and silver plank was adopted,
thirty-three silver delegates, led by Senator Teller of Colorado,
formally withdrew from the convention.
The National Democratic Convention was held in Chicago, July
nth. It became apparent before that date that most of the delegates
would favor the free coinage of silver, despite the strenuous exertions
of the Gold Democrats from the East. President Cleveland, on the
1 6th of June, issued an appeal to the Democrats against free silver,
and said he wished to be only a private in the ranks of the party.
The free-silver delegates in the convention would listen to no com
promise and concede no favors. Their men were put to the front
* The expression " 16 to I " has been heard probably oftener than it was understood.
Director Preston of the Mint, during the campaign of 1896, issued the following state
ment of the coinage ratio between gold and silver :
"All standard silver dollars coined by the mints of the United States since the pas
sage of the act of January 18, 1837, have been coined in the ratio of i to 15.9884 — gen
erally called the ratio of I to 16, 15.9884 being very nearly 16. Still, to reach accurate
results, the former and not the latter figure must be used in calculation. The ratio is
obtained in this way : The silver dollar contains 371. 25 grains of pure silver and the
gold dollar 23.22 grains of pure gold. If you divide 371.25 by 23.22 you will get the
ratio of weight between a gold dollar and a silver dollar, that is, 15.9884.
*' It is true that to be on a par with gold, silver would (at our ratio) be worth $1.2929.
The reason is this : A gold dollar contains 23.22 grains of pure gold. In an ounce, or
480 grains of gold, there areas many dollars as 23.2213 contained times in 480 grains.
If you divide 480 by 23.22 you get $20.67, tne number of dollars that can be coined out
of an ounce of pure gold ; in other words, the money equivalent of one ounce of gold or
of 15.9884 ounces of silver at the ratio of I to 15.9884. Now, if 15.9884 ounces of sil
ver be worth $20.67, one ounce will be worth $1.2929, as you can prove by simple divi
sion. The same result is obtained by dividing 480 grains, or one ounce, of silver by
371.25, the number of grains of pure silver in a standard silver dollar, at the ratio of I to
15.9884, which gives $1.2929.
*' Sixteen ounces of pure silver will coin a little more than one ounce of gold ; 15.9884
The
Republi
can
Nomi
nees
1634
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xc
PERIOD VII
THB NEW
UNITED
STATES
Nomina
tion of
Bryan
Nomi
nees of
the
••Sound-
Money
Demo
crats"
both in the temporary and the permanent organization, and on the fifth
ballot, William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska, an eloquent and ardent
advocate of free silver, was nominated. The nominee for Vice-
President was Arthur Sewall of Maine, who in his letter of ac
ceptance announced his sentiments as opposed to the single gold
standard.
The national convention of the Populists or People's Party was
held in St. Louis, July 22d-2 5th. The convention indorsed Bryan's
nomination, but refused to accept that of Sewall, and named instead
Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia, an uncompromising Populist. This
was done in the face of Bryan's threat not to accept the Populists'
nomination unless Sewall was also named. The threat, however,
was not carried out.
The capture of the Democratic convention by the silver men
caused so many defections that a convention of " Sound Money
Democrats" was held in Indianapolis, September 2d, at which ap
peared delegates from all the States except Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and
Wyoming. Without opposition the convention nominated Senator
John M. Palmer, of Illinois, for President, and General Simon B.
Buckner, of Kentucky, for Vice-President. The platform adopted
condemned the Chicago platform as undemocratic and denounced
alike the financial doctrine therein set forth and the tariff policy of
the Republicans. It favored tariff for revenue only, the single gold
standard, a bank currency under governmental supervision, inter
national arbitration, and the maintenance intact of the independence
and authority of the Supreme Court.
The campaign was a stirring one. Had the election taken place in
September or October, it is generally believed that Bryan would have
been successful. He made a vigorous canvass for himself, travelling
rapidly through different parts of the country, and addressing im
mense crowds several times daily and again at night. Mr. McKinley
remained at his home in Canton, Ohio, where he received thousands
ounces of silver will coin exactly the same amount of money as one" ounce of gold, that
is, $20.67. You can prove this by dividing 15.9884 ounces by 371.25 grains. The oper
ation is as follows ; 15.9884 multiplied by 480, divided by 371.25, equals $20.674. It i»
not true that sixteen ounces of silver will coin only $16.80 at the ratio of I to 16.
"As will be seen above, one ounce of silver will coin $1.2929. Multiplying $1.2929
by 16 gives $20.68. You can make the same result in another way : Sixteen ounces troy,
or 7,680 grains, divided by 371.25 gives the number of silver dollars that can be coined
out of sixteen ounces of silver ; 7,680 divided by 371.25 equals $20.68."
CHAP, xc CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 1635
of visitors, and made numerous addresses, all of which were in good PERIOD vn
taste, and served to strengthen the cause for which he stood. THE NEW
UNITED
The election on November 3d gave McKinley 271 electoral votes * STATES
and Bryan 176; majority for McKinley, 95.
On the popular vote, McKinley received 7,101,439, and Bryan
6,503,165; majority for McKinley, 598,274.
The votes cast for Palmer and Buckner were insignificant, R . .
amounting only to 133,554. the_
While it is a fact that a change of 25,000 votes rightly distributed
would have resulted in the election of Mr. Bryan, yet the election
was by no means as close as this fact would seem to indicate, for
Major McKinley was a majority President for the first time since
1872.
In 1856, the vote of Fremont and Fillmore exceeded that of
Buchanan by 386,760, while in 1860 Lincoln had less than forty
per cent, of the popular vote. Four years later his plurality over
McClellan was 407,342, there being no election of course in the
Southern States. In 1868, a number of the Southern States still
not participating, Grant's majority over Seymour was 305,458. In
1872, the opposition to Grant went to pieces, and his majority over
Greeley was 762,999, several of the unreconstructed States taking
no part in the election.
In 1876, Tilden's majority over Hayes was 252,042, with a
popular majority of 145,711 over all the other candidates. In 1880
Garfield had a popular majority of 9,464 over Hancock, but the
united opposition vote was 311,115 more than Garfield's total. In
1884, Cleveland's plurality over Elaine was 23,005, but it was 317,638
less than the total opposition. It would have required a change of
less than 600 votes to have made Elaine President. In 1888, Cleve
land was defeated, although he had 94,601 more votes than Harri
son, against whom the popular majority was 500,124. In 1892, Analysis
Cleveland had 379,025 more votes than Harrison, but the combined
opposition exceeded the Cleveland vote by 969,205.
The States carried by McKinley contain more than two-thirds of
our population and almost three-quarters of our wealth. The victory
was of the most decisive character.
When Mr. Cleveland became President for the second time, the
Democratic party and Congress were his ardent supporters. When
he left the White House, Congress was opposed to him, and his party
1636
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xc
PERIOD VII
THE~NBW
UNITED
STATES
Services
of Presi
dent
Cleve
land
was disorganized. Mr. Cleveland's course was always patriotic, and
he did all that was possible to maintain the financial credit of the
nation and to uphold the honor and good name of his country at
home and abroad. His call for an extra session of Congress was a
lusty blow to save the United States from the ruin threatened by
the Silver Purchase Law. His first regular message was a power
ful plea for sound money, public economy, a wise tariff revision, and
a safe and honorable foreign policy. Though his party failed to
rally to his support, his loyalty to principle was never shaken, and all
right-thinking men wii] honor the President who, while he made
mistakes, as did his predecessors, yet stood firmly against every
attack upon the financial honor of the country, and gave his unceas
ing effort towards preserving peace and the good name of the United
States among the nations of the world.
355u... ...
CHAPTER XCI
McKIN LEY'S FIRST A DMINIS TRA TION— 1897-1901
\Authorities: Many influential citizens of our republic hoped for the ratification of
the Arbitration Treaty negotiated between the English Government and Mr. Cleveland's
Secretary of State, Mr. Olney. The author, believing it to be a matter of great impor
tance to both countries, has given it much prominence in this chapter. It has, however,
been rejected by our Senate. The principal difficulty in matters of diplomacy between
this country and England is that the predominant considerations with statesmen of that
country are territorial aggrandizement and commercial supremacy. Questions of equity,
ethics, and international law become secondary in the face of these considerations. Eng
land is still tainted in her statesmanship with the old feudal instinct to secure by brute
force that from the attainment of which she would be debarred by the operation of the
laws of political equity. We read much about the isolation of that country from the rest
of Europe, and it starts the question whether there is not for nations, as for individuals,
a day of reckoning for wrong-doing and tyranny and selfishness.
The author is indebted for much of the history in this chapter to the biographies of
-.he political candidates, official records and documents, Congressman Nelson Dingley,
Jr., Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the Fifty-fifth Congress, " Current!
History, " and many contemporary publications.]
JILLIAM McKINLEY, twenty-fifth President of
the United States, was born at Niles, Trumbull
County, O., January 29, 1843, so that he was in
his fifty-fifth year, when he assumed his exalted
office. His. ancestors were Scotch, and were early
conspicuous for their valor and devotion to princi
ple. About the middle of the eighteenth century
two brothers, James and William, came to this
James settled in what is now the town of York, in South
ern Pennsylvania, where he married and sent his son David to fight
under Washington in the War for Independence. Returning to
Pennsylvania after the struggle, David lived there until some years
after the War of 1812, when he joined the great western tide and
country.
1638 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
PERIOD vii removed to the country beyond the Ohio River, settling in the re-
TH^NEW g{on now known as Columbiana County, Ohio. There he founded
STATES tne « Buckeye" branch of the McKinley clan. He married Mary
Rose, whose first child was William, father of the subject of this
sketch.
The elder McKinley remained in Eastern Ohio and was one of
The the pioneers of the iron business in that region, with foundries at
McKin- Fairfield, New Wilmington, and other places. To them were born
eight children. The house in which the President first saw the
light is still standing on one of the streets of Niles. It is a frame
structure, two stories high, and the former parlor is now a grocery
store. From the vine-covered porch the statesman has made many
addresses to the proud citizens of his native town.
The parents of William McKinley were neither poor nor rich.
He knew nothing of grinding poverty nor of affluence. He was ob
servant of mind and robust of body, fond of outdoor sports, and a
genial companion. One of the old residents refers to him as a
" black-haired, grave-faced, but robust and manly little chap, " who
attended for a few years the village school at Niles. The parents
moved to Poland, in Mahoning, the county between Trurnbull and
Columbiana, in order that the children might enjoy the advantages
of a high school or academy in that town. William showed himself
a thorough rather than a showy student, with a leaning towards ora
tory and argument. He was president for some time of the debat-
m£ c^uk* ^ *s rented that having purchased a gorgeous carpet for
Icy the floor of the room in which the stirring debates were held, all the
boys sat in their stocking feet at the first meeting, in order not to
soil the precious fabric, President McKinley setting the example.
The boys were afterwards furnished with slippers knit and presented
by the girl members.
McKinley prepared for college, and, at the age of sixteen, was
matriculated at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa., but had no
more than fairly started upon his studies when he fell ill and was
compelled to return home. Then his father's resources were crip
pled, and it became necessary for the son partially to support him
self. He cheerfully took up teaching in a district school near Po
land. His salary was $25 a month, and he was obliged to "board
around." Most of the time, however, he lived at home, walking
several miles daily to and from school. His purpose was to save
CHAP. XCI
McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1639
enough money to complete his college education, but another destiny
awaited him.
He was eighteen years old, and engaged in his school, when Fort
Sumter was fired upon. Among the first to answer the call of Pres
ident Lincoln for volunteers was young McKinley, who never felt
prouder than when General Fremont, after thumping his chest and
looking into his bright eyes, said, " You'll do." He was a member
PKKIOO VII
UNITED
STATES
PRESIDENT McKINLEY
of Company E, of the Twenty-third Ohio Regiment, of which W.
S. Rosecrans was colonel, Stanley Matthews lieutenant-colonel, and McKin-
Rutherford B. Hayes major. Thus that famous fighting regiment
had the honor of producing two Presidents and a Senator of the
United States, afterwards eminent as a Justice of the Supreme Court.
It was genuine patriotism that made a soldier of the boy school
teacher. For fourteen months he carried a musket, attaining the rank
i64o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
PERIOD vii of sergeant, April 15, 1862. Many years afterwards, when governor
THB NEW o£ Ohio, he referred to that period in these words :
STATBB « j always look back with pleasure upon those fourteen months in
which I served in the ranks. They taught me a great deal. I was
but a schoolboy when I went into the army, and that first year was
a formative period of my life, during which I learned much of men
and affairs. I have always been glad that I entered the service as a
private and served those months in that capacity."
There was no more popular or braver man in the regiment than he.
A Brave He was obedient to his superior officers, and a genial and generous
Soldier comrade< Nor did the regiment have any lack of fighting. Within
six weeks after leaving Columbus, the soldiers were in battle at
Carnifex Ferry, where they chased the Confederates back and forth
through the mountains, were drenched by incessant rains, suffered for
food, and met the roughest kind of campaigning. But the fine body
stood it admirably, and was soon ordered to Washington, where it
was made a part of the Army of the Potomac, then under the com
mand of McClellan.
Antietam ranks as the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. It was
there that McKinley conducted himself like a hero, and from which
he emerged with a lieutenant's sword by his side. There was never
a more deserved promotion. After Antietam, the lieutenant had
the hottest and most rapid sort of work in the West Virginia moun
tains, speedily returning to Pennsylvania and then bax:k again. One
day the regiment breakfasted in Pennsylvania, ate dinner in Mary
land, and partook of supper in Virginia. The military career of Mc
Kinley has thus been summarized:
On September 24, 1862, he was commissioned second-lieutenant
of Company D. Five months afterwards he became first-lieutenant
of Company E, and on July 25, 1864, he had risen to be captain of
Company G. Every promotion was well earned. However, no
Services sooner had he been commissioned than his value as an officer was
of Me- recognized, and three months after receiving his first commission he
was detailed as aide-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Rutherford B.
Hayes. From that time until the close of the war he served contin
ually as a staff officer, being at different times on the staffs of Gens.
S. S. Carroll, George Croek, afterwards the famous Indian fighter,
and Winfield S. Hancock, the superb — all of these men famous for
fighting qualities.
CHAP, xci McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1641
He was breveted major on the recommendation of General Sheri- PKUOD vn
dan for distinguished and gallant conduct at Cedar Creek and Fish-
er's Hill.
With his regiment, or while on staff duty, he fought in West Vir
ginia, in the Army of the Potomac under McClellan, and in the
Shenandoah Valley under Sheridan. He was in all the early fights
in West Virginia, at South Mountain and Antietam, receiving his Virginia
shoulder-straps one week after that last-named bloody battle, and
exchanging his musket for the sword. His first battle was at Car-
nifex Ferry, W. Va., September 10, 1861. For four long years he
fought in every battle and skirmish, until the very end, doing his
whole duty, gathering honors and adding to his fame as a soldier,
fearless and without reproach, fighting at Townsend's Ferry, Novem
ber 6th; at Laurel Hill, November I2th; Camp Creek, May I,
1862; New River, May 6th; Pack's Ferry, New River, August
6th; in support of Pope's army, August I5th; battle of South
Mountain, September I4th; Antietam, September 1 6th and I7th;
Cloyd's Mountain, May 9, 1864; Buffalo Gap, June 6th; Lexing
ton, June loth; Otter Creek, June i6th; Lynchburg, June i/th;
Liberty, June iQth; Buford Gap, June 2Oth ; Salem, June 2ist;
Sweet Sulphur Springs, June 25th; in the campaign against Early,
July I4th to November 28th; skirmish at Cabletown, July igth;
fight at Snicker's Ferry, July 2ist; Winchester and Kernstown,
July 230! and 24th; Martinsburg, July 25th; Berryville, August
loth; Halltown, August 22d; Berryville, September 3d, where his
horse was shot under him; battle of Winchester, September iQth;
Fisher's Hill, September 22d; skirmish at New Market, October
7th; Cedar Creek, October I3th; battle of Cedar Creek, October
iQth — in all, more than thirty battles and skirmishes — in the very
front, from the beginning to the end; from the first shot until the
very last — mustered out July 26, 1865, after more than four years
of continuous service, never missing a day's duty or a fight. He A Young
was but twenty- two years of age even then, yet a veteran of thirty
engagements, distinguished among the bravest of the brave in the
greatest war the world has ever seen — as a private soldier, know
ing how to follow and obey; as an officer, how to lead and
command.
Honored and breveted by the fiery Sheridan, when, after his ride
from Winchester town, he came on the field and found Captain Mo
jo6
1642
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP,
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Honored
by His
Supe
riors
McKin-
ley's
Political
Strength
Kinley in the storm of the battle calmly rallying the disordered
troops and facing them to the front.
Gen. George Crook says : " I have the honor to earnestly recom
mend Capt. William McKinley, Twenty-Third Ohio Infantry, for
appointment to a higher grade than his present rank 'for bravery,
gallantry, soldierly conduct, and distinguished services during the
campaigns of West Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley."
Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, " the whirlwind with spurs," as Han
cock so aptly named him, forwarded the recommendation of General
Crook with the following indorsement :
"HEADQUARTERS MIDDLE MILITARY DIVISION, February i, 1865.
— Respectfully forwarded to the Adjutant- General of the Army ap
proved. The appointment recommended is well deserved."
The recommendations of Generals Crook and Sheridan were in
dorsed and approved by Lieutenant-General Grant, and the Private
McKinley of 1861 came home with the leaves of a major on his
shoulder-straps.
Peace had come, and the young veteran had to decide upon his
future course. He would have loved to return to college, but lacked
the means. So he took up the study of law in the office of Judge
Charles E. Glidden, at Canton, and afterwards entered the well-known
law-school at Albany, N. Y. He was graduated from this institu
tion and admitted to the bar in 1867. He began practice in Can
ton, where in due time he reaped the reward of thorough preparation,
brilliant ability, and conscientious devotion to his work. He had
shown great talent as a public speaker, and it was inevitable that he
should become interested in politics. Stark County, where he
opened his office, was considered hopelessly Democratic, so that
when McKinley was nominated by the Republicans for district-
attorney, it was looked upon as an empty honor. But he threw his
whole energies into the canvass, and, to the amazement of everybody
except himself, was successful. He was renominated at the end of
his term of two years, but failed by a slender vote in a county where
the majority had always been overwhelming in the opposite direction.
McKinley's inherent strength was so unquestionable that in 1876
he was nominated and easily elected to Congress. Then the Demo
crats, having possession of the legislature, gerrymandered the
State so that, when he was nominated for a second term, it was in a
district in which the normal Democratic majority was about eighteen
CHAP, xci McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1643
hundred. Nevertheless, he was elected by thirteen hundred ma}or- PERIOD vn
ity, and was returned for a third and a fourth term. The Democrats THK NEW
J ' UNITED
regained possession of the legislature again in 1884, and once more STATES
gerrymandered the State, with the express purpose of keeping Mc-
Kinley at home. His district was set down as certain to give him
an adverse vote by fifteen hundred, but when he ran the fifth time
his majority was over two thousand. Again the State was gerry- „• ,
mandered, and this time his opponents succeeded in defeating him, Defeat
it being the only time such a thing has occurred during his political
career.
McKinley was a member of Congress, therefore, for seven terms
covering fourteen years, during 'which he was noted for his clear
grasp of national questions and his strong sympathies with the peo
ple. He was naturally interested in all matters relating to the tarirT,
and his first speech in Congress was in favor of a protective tariff.
It was during his last year, 1890, that the famous tariff measure
bearing his name was passed.
One of his admirable traits was his loyalty to his friends. Twice
he could have received the presidential nomination, but having
pledged his word to other candidates, nothing could dissuade him to
desert them, even when their candidature was hopeless. It was only
fitting, therefore, that the tide, when it did set in for him, did so
with a might that was resistless.
It was in 1 890 that he met defeat through the gerrymandering of
the State. The Republicans nominated him by acclamation for
governor, and in one of the most hotly contested elections ever
known, he was successful by more than eighty thousand majority.
His administration was worthy of the man. His nomination for the
Presidency in 1 896 has been related in the preceding chapter.
Our notice of President McKinley would be incomplete without a
tribute to him as a man and a husband. It is said that once when a j^an an(j
clergyman was asked whether he believed himself a truly religious Husband
person, he answered: "Ask my wife." On January 25, 1871, Mr.
McKinley was married to Ida Saxton, daughter of James Saxton, a
banker of Canton. Two daughters were born to them, but both died
in their infancy. Since the affliction the mother has been an invalid,
sustained by the untiring devotion of her husband. The two con
tinued as tender lovers as during their honeymoon, the reverence and
affection of the husband for the wife being equalled only by that for
1644 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
PSRIOD vn his mother, who had passed far beyond fourscore when her son was
TUNi?EEiT electe(* to t^ie most exa-lted office in the gift of his countrymen.
STATES Fortunate indeed is that nation who is not forced to elevate at times,
as in Europe, the most vicious, depraved, and incompetent of men
and women as its rulers, but can select such as are models of in
tegrity, manliness, chivalry, patriotism, honor, and all the virtues
that adorn mankind.
The Garret Augustus Hobart was born in Monmouth County, N. J., in
Vice- 1844, and spent his boyhood amid the breezes of the Altantic, ac-
dent quiring a sturdy strength and rugged physique that give him a
youthful appearance and have stood him well in the active work of
his manhood. He received a common-school education, proving
himself by far the brightest boy among his classmates. He was
graduated from Rutgers College at the age of nineteen, and received
the degree of A.M., to which some years later the same college
added that of LL.D.
Mr. Hobart studied law, and was admitted to the bar as an attor
ney in 1864 and as a counsellor in 1869. His brilliant mental qual
ities, his personal magnetism, and his fearless devotion to principle
made him remarkably successful from the first. He had selected
Paterson as his home, and in May, 1871, the board of aldermen of
that city appointed him city counsel, and the following year he be
came counsel of the county board of freeholders. In 1872 he was
elected to the house of assembly, where his ability attracted state
attention. He was returned the following year without the slightest
effort on his part, and was unanimously elected speaker. He pre
sided with rare grace and skill, holding that body, which is some
times disposed to be unruly, in perfect control. He declined a re-
nomination in order to give his attention to his profession, but in
1877 was persuaded to accept the senatorial nomination and was
elected by a large majority.
A Poll- In 1884, Mr. Hobart was the caucus nominee for United States
tical Senator, but his party was in the minority, and the honor went by a
small majority to his opponent. He had become a leader among the
Republicans, with a reputation that was assuming national propor
tions. His j udgment was rarely at fault, and his aggressiveness is
always with him. In 1884 he was selected as a member of the
Republican National Committee from New Jersey.
He continued a powerful factor in the politics of his native State,
CHAP. XCI
McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1645
and did more than any other man to secure the nomination and elec- PERIOD vn
tion of his intimate friend, the able John W. Griggs, as governor of T^^>
the State in 1895, by one of the largest majorities ever given to a STATES
Copyright 2896, by Dams and Sanford
GARRET AUGUSTUS HOBART
gubernatorial candidate. Mr. Hobart assumed the duties of chair
man of the executive committee, and worked unflaggingly until Mr.
Griggs was elected by nearly thirty thousand plurality.
Mr. Hobart was one of the most popular and brilliant Vice-Presi-
dents that ever presided over the United States Senate. He won
the respect of the members of all parties by his impartiality, unvary-
1646 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
PERIOD vii ing courtesy, ability, and fairness. His devotion to his duties told
^m-SfiT seri°uslv uPon his health, which gradually failed until he succumbed
STATES at njs home in Paterson, N. J., November 21, 1899. The President,
between whom and Mr. Hobart there was a strong mutual regard,
issued a proclamation in which, after rendering a touching tribute to
Death of the deceased statesman, he directed that on the day of the funeral
President tne legislative offices of the United States should be closed, the na-
Hobart tional flag displayed at half-mast, and that our foreign representatives
should pay proper tribute to the illustrious dead for a period of thirty
days.
Among the many tributes called forth the following is from
Attorney-General Griggs, Mr. Hobart's intimate friend :
" He had the clearest intellect, the largest business capacity, the
keenest intuition of any man I ever knew - but more remarkable than
these qualities were his traits of modesty, amounting almost to diffi
dence ; of large-handed generosity unostentatiously bestowed ; of un
selfish public spirit in all affairs of town or State or country, and,
finest of all, a great heart that never beat except with love and loy
alty and sympathy for all the world."
Every American must feel an interest in the men that have held
the highest office in the gift of the people. History tells what each
one did for his country, but very little about their private lives. All
were great men, honest and patriotic, and no country in the world
can present a line of rulers of so exalted a character as the men that
have been Presidents of the United States. The readers of this
History will be glad to learn about the personality of the twenty-
four persons that, down to the present time, have sat in the Presi
dential chair.
Interest- First of all we give some isolated but interesting facts concerning
ing them.
Washington was older than any of his successors. John Quincy
Adams was the first to break this rule. Although two years younger
than his successor, Jackson, he was not followed by any other older
man. General Harrison was nine years older than Van Buren, his
predecessor, and no man born before either of them was afterwards
President. General Taylor was six years older than Tyler and
eleven years older than Polk, whom he succeeded. Buchanan was
nine years older than Fillmore and thirteen years older than Pierce,
his predecessors. Lincoln was one year younger than Johnson:
1648
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
PERIOD VII
UNITED
STATES
Presi
dential
Birth
places
Ages
of the
Presi
dents
Grant and Hayes were born in the same year ; Arthur was a year
older than Garfield, and Cleveland was four years younger than
Harrison.
Six Presidents were born in Virginia, two in Massachusetts, two
in North Carolina, three in New York, five in Ohio, and one each
in New Jersey, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania,
and Tennessee. Four died in Virginia, five in New York, four in
Washington city, three in Tennessee, and one each in Massachu
setts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Jersey. Two
are still living.
Four Presidents were named James, three John, two Andrew, two
William, and one George, Thomas, Martin, Zachary, Millard, Frank
lin, Abraham, Ulysses, Rutherford, Chester, Grover, and Benjamin.
Fourteen had no middle names. The only President named in honor
of a President was Andrew Johnson, named for Andrew Jackson.
Two Presidents were born in January, and one each in July, Au
gust, and September; three in February, October, and November,
two in December, four in March and April, and none in May or
June. Three have died in January and two in April ; one in each
of the following months : February, March, September, October,
and December. Four have died in June and seven in July; none
has died in May, August, or November. May is the only month in
which no President has died or was born. Grant and Hayes were
the only two born in the same year, and the elder Adams and Jeffer
son the only two that died in the same year, their deaths occurring
on the same day. Monroe's death and Garfield' s birth took place in
the same year.
As a rule, few ex- Presidents were alive at the conclusion of the
terms of their immediate successors. At the time of Washington's
death, however, the living men that had been President, or were des
tined to become such, were John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Mon
roe, John Quincy Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler,
Polk, Taylor, and Buchanan.
The last President born in the eighteenth century was Buchanan,
while Pierce was the first born in the nineteenth, although he pre
ceded Buchanan in office. Eleven reached or passed threescore and
ten; John Adams (91) attained the most advanced age; Madison
(85), Jefferson (83), and Van Buren (80) were the other fourscore
men ; Monroe, Adams, Jr., Jackson, Tyler, Fillmore, Buchanan, and
CHAP, xci McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1649
Hayes passed the threescore point; Garfield (50) was the youngest PERIOD vn
to die. W. H. Harrison (68) was the oldest at the time of his in- THEN**
UNITED
auguration; Buchanan was 66, and Taylor 65; John Adams and STA™
Jackson were 62, and all the others were m the 50*8, except Pierce
(49), Grant (47), and Cleveland (49), Grant being the youngest man
ever elected President. W. H. Harrison served the shortest time,
one month; Taylor served sixteen months and four days, Lincoln
one month and eleven days of his second term, and Garfield served
six months and fifteen days. Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Terms o<
Lincoln, Grant, and Cleveland were twice elected, Cleveland and
Jefferson making three trials for their two elections. Two Presidents
were assassinated and two died in office. All were married men at
the time of their election excepting Van Buren, Buchanan, and
Cleveland. Van Buren was the only President to die at his birth
place, and none died outside of this country. Three died on the 4th
of July. The son of one President became President, while the
honor fell to the grandson of another. What a unique distinction
was that of John Scott Harrison, whose father and son each became
President !
When John Quincy Adams died in 1 848, he had seen all the pre
ceding Presidents, while every one that succeeded him down to the
close of the nineteenth. century was then living.
Washington was the only President to die in the eighteenth cen
tury. Twenty-six and a half years — the longest interval that has
yet occurred — passed before there was another death, the next long
est interval being between 1849 and 1862.
Washington, during his younger days, was a thorough sportsman,
but seems to have abandoned the rod and gun after the opening of
the Revolution. John Quincy Adams, next to Benjamin Franklin,
was the most famous swimmer among public men. He was fond of
long, brisk walks before the sun rose, rarely omitting them in sum
mer or winter. All the earlier Presidents were horseback riders,
Washington undoubtedly being the most skilful, as he was the most
powerful and best all-round athlete. In his younger days there was
no more enthusiastic fox -rider in the country.
Madison was no sportsman, finding his greatest solace in his
books. Jefferson was a rider, and, besides being a good student, was
always fond of exercise. Monroe was often in the saddle until a
short time before his death. Arthur was a famous fisherman, and
1650
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
fBRIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
The ex-
Presi
dents
Our
Last
Presi
dents
Harrison's skill as a duck-shooter is well known. Cleveland is also
fond of the rod and gun, and like Harrison has proved himself an
expert shot.
Jefferson, like Washington and most of the other Southern Presi
dents, retired from office to his plantation. There he lived long
enough to become bankrupt, chiefly through lavish hospitality, and
to be founder and first rector of the University of Virginia, a matter
he thought worthy to be recorded on his tombstone.
John Quincy Adams was the first ex- President to return to active
participation in national politics, and the only one to serve many
successive terms in Congress, or, indeed, to be chosen to the lower
House. His father never outlived the general unpopularity under
which he retired from office. Andrew ^Johnson was the only ex-
President to be elected to the United States Senate, and he died in
the year of his election. Monroe and Madison both went back to
their plantations, and both were members of the Convention of 1829,
to amend the constitution of Virginia. Jackson lived in retirement
at the Hermitage for eight years, and meanwhile joined the Presby
terian Church.
Van Buren, Fillmore, and Cleveland are the only ex- Presidents to
be nominated for the Presidency, and Cleveland was the only one to
be elected. Van Buren, as Free Soil candidate in 1848, carried no
State, but received nearly three hundred thousand votes, and Fill-
more, as candidate of the American party in 1856, carried the State
of Maryland. Tyler alone of ex-Presidents was an officer of the
Confederate Government. He died at Richmond in 1862 while
serving as a member of the Confederate Congress. Polk lived three
months in retirement at Nashville after leaving the Presidency, and
Buchanan at his farm of Wheatland, near Lancaster, Pa., lived seven
years, wrote a history of his administration, and saw a great deal of
his friends.
General Grant left the Presidency to receive the plaudits of man
kind in a trip around the world, and lived long enough to be drawn
into unfortunate business speculations. Arthur retired from the
Presidency to the practice of law and a speedy death. Mr. Cleve
land went to the practice of law and a third nomination, after which
he made his home at Princeton, N. J. At the commencement of
Princeton University, in June, 1897, Mr. Cleveland was honored witli
the degree of LL. D. President McKinley 'received a similar dis-
CHAP, xci McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1651
nnction from flie Western Reserve University, Ohio, June 23, of the
same year. Mr. Hayes lived the quiet life of a retired farmer until
his death in January, 1893.*
The personality of the ladies who have presided in the White
House is as interesting as that of the Presidents themselves. All,
without exception, have honored their sex and adorned American
womanhood. No whisper of scandal has ever been heard against
those names, and the atmosphere of the " Court of the Republic" has
been as pure as that which cools our mountain-tops. Beauty, virtue,
wit, and all that commands the respect and admiration of mankind
have characterized that line of renowned women whose memory is
among the precious heirlooms of our common country.
Martha Washington never presided at the White House, because
the building bearing that name was not erected until after her
husband's death. The present executive mansion, however, was
named in honor of her private residence, so that in a figurative sense
she was the first lady to grace the White House. She was born in
the same year with her illustrious husband, her name being Martha
Dandridge, of Virginia. At the age of nineteen she married Daniel
Parke Custis, by whom she had four children. She inherited the
vast estates of her husband, and was one of the wealthiest women in
the Old Dominion. She was a widow of rare beauty and accom
plishments, when in 1759 she became the wife of Washington. Her
wealth and fine taste enabled her to entertain in magnificent style in
New York, the capital of the country, during her husband's adminis
tration. She fully shared that great man's fervent patriotism and
PERIOD VII
THB~NBW
UNITED
STATUS
The
Ladies
of the
White
House
Martha
Wash
ington
* Among the nicknames applied to the Presidents were the following; Washington,
the Father of his Country, Americus Fabius, the Cincinnatus of the West, Atlas of
America, Deliverer of America, Savior of his Country, and by his political opponents,
Stepfather of his Country ; John Adams, Colossus of Independence ; Jefferson, Sage of
Monticello, and Long Tom ; Madison, Father of the Constitution ; Monroe, Last
Cocked Hat ; J. Q. Adams, Old Man Eloquent ; Jackson, Sharp Knife, Ok* Hickory,
Hero of New Orleans ; Van Buren, Little Magician, Wizard of Kinderhook, King
Martin the First, Whiskey Van ; W. H. Harrison, Old Tippecanoe, Old Tip, Wash
ington of the West; Tyler, Young Hickory, Accidental President; Polk, Young
Hickory; Taylor, Rough and Ready, Old Zach, Old Buena Vista; Fillmore, the American
Louis Philippe : Pierce, Purse , Buchanan, Old Public Functionary, Old Buck ; Lincoln.
Honest Old Abe, Uncle Abe, Father Abraham, Railsplitter ; Johnson, Sir Veto ; Grant,
Unconditional Surrender, Hero of Appomattox, American Caesar ; Hayes, President de
Facto ; Garfield, the Martyr President ; Arthur, Our Chet ; Cleveland, the Man of
Destiny. Grover ; B. Harrison, Son of his Grandfather ; McKinley, Advance Agent of
Prosperity-
1652 HISTORY OF THE UNI1ED STATES CHAP, xa
PERIOD vii entered into all his feelings during the days that tried men's souls,
THE NEW undergoing many hardships and privations for the cause of independ-
STATES ence. Both she and Washington were fond of pomp and ceremony,
and their stately receptions were as enjoyable to the one as to the
other. Mount Vernon was noted even on the other side of the At
lantic for its splendid hospitality, and many of the most distinguished
men and women were entertained there. Martha Washington was
an excellent housekeeper, and gave her husband great assistance in
the management of their immense estate. She died in 1802.
Abigail Abigail Adams was the daughter of Rev. William Smith, of Wey-
Adams mouth, Mass., and was born in 1744 At the age of twenty she
became the wife of John Adams, the second President of the United
States. She possessed great strength of character, strong sense, and
fervid patriotism. While her husband was President, the capital was
removed to Washington, which was then a straggling town, mostly
built in a swamp. The White House was only half finished, and she
held her receptions in the room afterwards used as the library. She
was as fond of ceremony as Martha Washington, and was an invalu
able companion to her husband. Her letters to him, published in
1848, are of historic importance, and attest her remarkable mental
powers. She died in 1 8 1 8, eight years before her husband.
Martha Wayles Jefferson, born in Virginia, was the widow of
Wayles Bathurst Skelton, when she became the wife of Thomas Jefferson in
Jefferson 1772. She was highly educated, very beautiful, and a devoted wife,
but she died in 1782, twenty years before Jefferson became Presi
dent. During his two terms it may be said the White House was
without a lady. His daughters, Mrs. Randolph and Mrs. Eppes,
visited it only twice, though occasionally Mrs. Madison officiated.
Mrs. Eppes was at the White House when her child was born, it
being the first birth in that historical structure. Mrs. Randolph
was fitted in every respect to preside as the hostess of the executive
mansion, but the demands of her family forbade.
Paine Dorothy Paine Madison was born in 1772 and became the wife of
Madi- John Todd, a Quaker lawyer of Philadelphia. She married Madison
in 1794, and was one of the most popular ladies that have presided
in the White House. She may not have been as elegant in some
respects as her predecessors, but she possessed great tact and wit, and
seemed never to forget a face. She bubbled over with good nature,
cared little for ceremony, was fond of the society of young peoj* le,
CHAP, xci McKltfJ;EY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1653
and " Dolly Madison" was well liked by every one. She died in
1849.
Elizabeth Kortright Monroe was born in 1768 and married Mon
roe in 1786. She was tall, dignified, highly educated, and the oppo
site in manner to Mrs. Madison. A great deal of her life had been
spent abroad, and she was ceremonious and severe in her social prin
ciples. She returned no calls and required full dress. It was said
of her that she was " an elegant and accomplished woman, with a
dignity of manner that peculiarly fitted her for her station." She
died suddenly in 1830, one year before the death of her husband.
Louisa Catherine, wife of John Quincy Adams, was born and edu
cated in London, where she was married at the age of twenty-two.
She was very accomplished, and possessed considerable beauty. She
spent the first part of her married life with her husband at the court
of Berlin and afterwards at the Russian court. Her health was de
clining when she entered the White House, and her life there was
quiet and uneventful.
The wife of Andrew Jackson died just before his inauguration,
and her nieces, Mrs. Andrew Donelson and Mrs. Andrew Jackson,
Jr., wife of the general's adopted son, acted in the place of the de
parted one. The four children of Mrs. Donelson were all born in
the White House.
Like Jefferson, Van Buren had been a widower for twenty years
when he became President. During his term, Angelica, wife of
John, his eldest son, presided with tact and good taste at the White
House. William Henry Harrison died within one month after his
inauguration, and before his wife had completed her preparations for
occupying the executive mansion.
Letitia C. Tyler was born in 1790 and married President Tyler in
1813. Her health became delicate and she died in 1842, soon after
coming to Washington. For some time afterwards, Mrs. Robert
Tyler, the daughter-in-law, presided at the White House. In 1844
President Tyler married Miss Julia Gardner, who was born in 1824
and died in 1888. She reigned brilliantly for eight months, when
the term of her husband came to an end.
Sarah Childress Polk was born in 1 803 and married James K.
Polk in 1824. She was a favorite in Washington society, very
graceful and accomplished. She was a strict member of the Presby
terian Church, banished dancing from the White House, and allowed
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Mrs.
Monroe
Mrs.
dams
Mrs.
Donelson
and
Jackson
Mrs.
Van
Buren
Mrs.
Tyler
Mrs.
Polk
1654
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
TMENEW
UKITED
STATES
Mrs.
Bliss and
Fillmore
no refreshments at the Presidential receptions, but retained her pop
ularity to the end. She lived to a great age, not passing away until
1891.
The wife of President Taylor went to the White House with ex
treme reluctance. The stormy military life of her husband had kept
them apart for so many years that her dearest wish was that what
remained to them of life should be spent together in the quiet of
their home. The election of General Taylor destroyed this dream,
and she gave over to Mrs. Major Bliss the charge of the receptions,
dinners, and ceremonies expected from the wife of the President,
whose death brought Mrs. Abigail Powers Fillmore to the White
House, She had been a teacher for several years before and after
her marriage to Mr. Fillmore, which took place when she was
twenty-seven years old. She was social and accomplished, but suf
fered so much from lameness that she resigned her place, so far as
she could, to her young daughter.
When President Pierce and his wife were on their way to Wash
ington, their little boy was killed before their eyes in a railway acci
dent. The mother never recovered from the shock. She was the
daughter of President Appleton, of Bowdoin College, and had poetic
tastes, with slight interest in social and political affair Her pro
found grief commanded the sympathy of every one, and she was pro
nounced one of the most perfect ladies of all that had graced the
White House.
James Buchanan was the first and only bachelor President thus far
of the United States. His niece, Harriet Lane, presided as hostess
during his term. - She was tall, finely featured, with a commanding
presence and beautiful complexion, and was greatly admired. Her
reign was a gay and vivacious one, though, when it ended, the fires
of the great civil war had already been kindled.
Mary Todd Lincoln, born in 1818, was twenty-four years old when
she married Abraham Lincoln in 1842. She was a cheerful, kind-
hearted lady, but the awful death of her husband and the loss of her
three sons unsettled her mind. She peacefully passed away in 1882.
Miss Eliza McCardle was born in 1810, and when sixteen years
old married Andrew Johnson, who himself was barely eighteen years
of age, and still a tailor's apprentice. He could hardly write his
name, but he studied hard under her instruction until his knowledge
surpassed hers. No wife could have been more helpful than she
Mrs.
Pierce
Miss
Lane
Mrs.
Lincoln
Mrs.
Johnson
1656
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Mrs.
Grant
Mrs.
Hayes
Mrs.
Garfield
Mrs.
McElroy
Mrs.
Cleve
land
When the strange mutations of politics placed her in the White
House, her health was so broken that she was unequal to the task of
acting as hostess. Consequently, the duties devolved upon her
daughters, Mrs. Martha Patterson, wife of Senator Patterson, of
Tennessee, and Mrs. Stover, a widow, both of whom displayed tact,
dignity, and ability. Mrs. Johnson died in 1876, one year after her
husband.
Julia Dent Grant was born in 1826 and married General Grant in
1848. She was well educated, and proved an admirable wife and
hostess of the White House, which became the scene of many mag
nificent entertainments. One of the most memorable occasions was
the marriage, May 21, 1874, of General Grant's only daughter,
Nellie, to Algernon Sartoris, of Hampshire, England, who has since
died. The wedding was the most brilliant ever seen in Washington.
Lucy Ware Webb Hayes married President Hayes in 1852, and
was widely known for her devotion to the soldiers wounded in the
Civil War. Her experience during her husband's three terms as
governor of Ohio qualified her perfectly to preside at the White
House, which she did with great grace and dignity. She was gentle,
refined, and a devout Christian, laboring untiringly in behalf of tem
perance and other good causes.
Miss Lucretia Rudolph was born in 1832 and married James A.
Garfield in 1858, when he became president of Hiram College, in
which both had been students. She possessed fine accomplishments,
but hardly was she called to preside at the White House when her
life was darkened by the tragedy that shocked the civilized world.
During the President's long suffering from his mortal wound, she
was the most untiring of all the attendants at his bedside.
President Arthur was a widower when elected President, and the
duties of hostess were never 'performed more gracefully than by his
sister, Mrs. McElroy.
From 1885 to 1886 of President Cleveland's first term, his sister,
Miss Rose Cleveland, was the lady of the White House. She was a
teacher and author, born in 1 846, and her brief reign was worthy of
her predecessors. The President was married June 2, 1886, to Fran-
ces Folsom, born in 1864. Excepting Dolly Madison, she was
the youngest mistress of the White House, whose hospitalities
she dispensed with a sweetness, grace, and tact that could not be
surpassed.
CHAP, xci McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1657
Mrs.
McKin-
ley
Caroline Lavinia Scott married Benjamin Harrison in 1854, and PERIODVII
was his companion and helper in adversity, as well as the sharer of THE NEW
1 L J UNITED
his prosperity. She was highly educated, and devoted her life to STATES.
charitable and church work. None was more respected for her grace
and true womanliness. Her health failed, and after a lingering illness
she died, November i, 1892.
Ida Saxton is the daughter of James A. Saxton, who was a promi
nent business man and banker of Canton, Ohio. She was educated
at Cleveland and at Media, Pa. At the close of her school days
she made an extended tour in Europe, returning home in 1869.
She and Mr. McKinley were married, January 15, 1871, in the
Presbyterian church of Canton, of which she is a member. The
baby born to them on Christmas Day, 1871, died a few months
before the birth of her second child, followed soon by the death of
Mrs. McKinley's mother. This affliction, coupled with a physical
ailment, made Mrs. McKinley a permanent invalid, and tinged her
life with a sorrow which will never be entirely lifted.
When Mr. McKinley was in Congress, he and his wife lived
quietly at a hotel. Their life was an ideal one of mutual faith and
tender affection. They were as devoted lovers to the end as when
the Canton beauty was won by the manly young war veteran, rising
politician and statesman of the Buckeye State.
Until their removal to Washington, the couple occupied the old
Saxton homestead at Canton. Mrs. McKinley was very attractive
in appearance, with her deep blue eyes, transparent complexion,
oval face, surmounted by brown, wavy curls, and her youthful and
benignant expression. She was her husband's inspiration and had
always been throughout their married life, and he had unbounded
faith in her judgment. When he was first elected governor, the
small daughter of a family who knew him very well, and to whom he
had always been known as "Major McKinley," asked: "And what
will Mrs. McKinley be — governess?" Upon this being told to the
Major and his wife, they laughed heartily, and he said: "It reminds
me of the old story of that other governor, whose notoriously ill-
tempered wife, upon hearing of her husband's election, wanted to
know what she would be. 'Just the same old termagant that you've
always been,' said the governor." "But," cried Mrs. McKinley,
"surely you don't mean " "Yes, my dear, I do," interrupted
the Major, turning to her affectionately. "For you'll be just what
1658
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
The
Inaugu
ration
The
Presi
dential
Cabinet
you always have been, too — the dearest, sweetest, truest helpmate a
man could have to comfort him."
Thursday, March 4, 1897, was clear, sunshiny, with a blue sky —
an ideal day in every respect. The scene at Washington was as
brilliant as any that had attended preceding inaugurations. The
.apital was crowded with tens of thousands of cheering visitors, and
the ceremonies were of the most striking character. There were
more regular army men in the parade than at any previous inaugura
tion, and it was, therefore, superior to all others. Every branch of
the army was represented. The scene in the Senate was of dazzling
splendor, the distinguished representatives of foreign countries ap
pearing in gorgeous raiment, while the ceremonies as a whole were
not lacking in a single feature that could add to their impressiveness.
The President's address was comparatively brief, and announced
as his guiding principles a rigid economy in government expendi
tures, a debt-paying instead of a debt-contracting management of our
finances, a revenue sufficient to the public needs and mainly from a
protective tariff on imports, the revival of Secretary Elaine's reci
procity policy, the building up of American commerce, the protec
tion of American citizens, and the cultivation of good feeling between
the North and the South.
President McKinley selected an able and representative Cabinet,
consisting of Senator John Sherman, of Ohio, Secretary of State;
Lyman J. Gage, of Illinois, Secretary of the Treasury ; Gen. Russell
A. Alger, of Michigan, Secretary of War ; Judge Joseph McKenna, of
California, Attorney- General ; Ex-Gov. John D. Long, of Massa
chusetts, Secretary of the Navy; Ex- Congressman James Wilson,
of Iowa, Secretary of Agriculture; James A. Gary, of Maryland,
Postmaster- General, and Cornelius Bliss, of New York, Secretary of
the Interior.
In the history of the Venezuelan dispute more than one reference
was made to the general movement in Great Britain and this coun
try in favor of international arbitration. The current has set so
strongly in that direction that the perfection of such a scheme may
be considered one of the certainties of the near future.
The correspondence between the British premier and Secretary
Olney leaves no doubt that both agreed as to the necessity for some
understanding by which war between the nations is rendered impos
sible except when the differences concern territorial integrity or
1660 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
PERIOD vii national honor. Naturally, there were differences of views between
THE NEW the Marquis of Salisbury and Secretary Olney as to the scope of the
STATES proposed treaty, but when two such men are united in the attainment
of one great object, they are certain to find common ground upon
which to stand. On the nth of January, 1897, the Anglo-Ameri
can General Arbitration Treaty was signed by Richard Olney, Secre-
Th tary of State, representing the United States, and Sir Julian
Arbitra- Pauncefote, British ambassador at Washington. It was immediately
Treaty transmitted to the Senate, accompanied by the following message :
"To THE SENATE: I transmit herewith a treaty for the arbitra
tion of all matters in difference between the United States and Great
Britain. The provisions of the treaty are the result of long and
patient deliberation, and represent concessions made Toy each party,
for the sake of agreement upon the general scheme. Though the
result reached may not meet the views of the advocates of immedi
ate, unlimited, and irrevocable arbitration of all international contro
versies, it is, nevertheless, confidently believed that the treaty cannot
fail to be everywhere recognized as making a long step in the right
direction, and as embodying a practical working plan by which dis
putes between the two countries will reach a peaceful adjustment
as matter of course and in ordinary routine. In the initiation of
such an important movement it must be expected that some of its
features will assume a tentative character, looking to a further ad
vance ; and yet it is apparent that the treaty which has been formu
lated not only makes war between the parties to it a remote pos
sibility, but precludes those fears and rumors of war which of
themselves too often assume the proportions of a national disaster.
" It is eminently fitting as well as fortunate that the attempt to
accomplish results so beneficial should be initiated by kindred peo
ples, speaking the same tongue, and joined together by all the ties
of common traditions, common institutions, and common aspirations.1
The experiment of substituting civilized methods for brute force as
the means of settling international questions of right will thus be
tried under the happiest auspices. The success ought not to be
doubtful, and the fact that its ultimate ensuing benefits are not
likely to be limited to the two countries immediately concerned
should cause it to be promoted all the more eagerly. The example
set and the lesson furnished by the successful operation of this
CHAP, xci McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1661
UNITED
STATES
treaty are sure to be felt and taken to heart sooner or later by other PERIOD vw
nations, and will thus mark the beginning of a new epoch in civi- TT«« NE*
lization.
" Profoundly impressed as I am, therefore, by the promise of tran
scendent good which this treaty affords, I do not hesitate to accom
pany its transmission with an expression of my earnest hope that it
may commend itself to the favorable consideration of the Senate.
" GROVER CLEVELAND.
"EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 11, 1897."
The following is a summary of the provisions of the treaty :
The preamble expresses the desire of the Government of Great
Britain and the United States to consolidate the relations of amity
happily existing between them, and to consecrate by treaty the prin
ciple of international arbitration.
The parties agree to arbitrate, subject to the treaty, all questions
in difference which they may fail to adjust themselves by diplomatic
negotiations.
All pecuniary claims or groups of claims which in the aggregate
do not exceed .£100,000 in amount, and do not involve the deter
mination of territorial claims, shall be dealt with by an arbitral tri
bunal consisting of three persons. Two of them shall be jurists of
repute, one being selected by each Government. The third shall be
an umpire, and shall be selected by these two within two months of
their nomination. If they fail to agree upon the umpire within the
allotted time, he shall be selected by agreement between the mem
bers of the Supreme Court of the United States and of the privy
council of Great Britain, each acting by a majority. In case they
do not nominate within three months, King Oscar of Sweden and
Norway shall select the third arbitrator. The person so selected
shall be president of the tribunal. A majority vote shall decide
questions.
If, however, pecuniary claims exceeding .£100,000 in amount are
involved, the decision of this court must be unanimous in order to
be final. In case it is not unanimous, either party may demand
within six months a review of the award. In such a case a new tri
bunal is to be selected consisting of five members. Two of them
shall be selected by each Government ; and the fifth, who is to be
president of the tribunal, shall be chosen in the manner prescribed
Prori-
sions of
the
Treaty
1 662
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
PERIOD vn for the selection of an umpire of the smaller tribunal. A majority
THE NEW vote of this tribunal shall be final.
UNITED . ' ^ .
STATES When a controversy involving territorial claims arises, the ques
tion shall be submitted to a tribunal of six members. Three of them
shall be judges of the Supreme Court or the circuit courts of the
United States, and they shall be selected by the President of the
United States. Three of them shall be members of the Supreme
Court of justice, or of the judicial committee of the Privy Council of
Great Britain, and shall be selected by the Queen. Their award by
a majority of not less than five to one shall be final. If there is
GREATER NEW YORK.— VIEW FROM THE HARBOR SHOWING THE BATTERY AND LOWER PART OF THE CITY
less than the prescribed majority, the award shall also be final unless
protested within three months. In such case, or when the vote is
evenly divided, no recourse shall be had to hostile measures until
the mediation of one or more friendly powers shall have been invited
by one or the other party.
If the question involved concerns a State or Territory of the United
States, the President may appoint a judicial officer of that State or
Territory as one of the arbitrators. Similarly, her Majesty may
appoint a colonial judicial officer when the question involves one of
her colonies.
Territorial claims shall include all claims to territory, and all
other claims involving questions of servitude, rights of navigation,
access to fisheries, and all rights and interests necessary to control
the enjoyment of cither's territory.
1664
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
PERIOD vii A decision shall be rendered, if possible, within three months of
THE NEW the close of the arguments.
UNITED
STATES The treaty shall remain in force for five years from the date it
becomes operative, and for one year from the date when either party
shall have notified the other of its wish to terminate it.
The treaty shall be ratified by the President and the Queen.
This important step towards international arbitration was welcomed
with the utmost pleasure on both sides of the Atlantic. Diplomacy,
Amend
ments
to the
Treaty
GREATER NEW YORK. — VIEW FROM STATEN ISLAND, SHOWING THE NARROWS AND LONG ISLAND BEYOND
however, is the deepest of all games, and there was misgiving among
many of our statesmen that England's real aim was to secure the
moral if not material aid of the United States in the ever-present
danger of complications with Continental powers. The Senate Com
mittee on Foreign Relations met on January 3Oth, and agreed upon
a report for submission to the Senate.
The most important amendment was that which added the follow
ing words to Article I. : " But no question which affects the foreign
or domestic policy of either of the high contracting parties or the
relations of either with any other state or power, by treaty or other
wise, shall be subject to arbitration under this treaty except by a
CHAP, xci McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1665
special agreement." This amendment it was believed covered the PERIOD
Monroe Doctrine and the Nicaragua Canal, for the completion of / Tii7N
which steps have recently been taken. STAT
A second amendment strikes out all reference to his Majesty, the
King of Sweden and Norway, as the umpire in case the court fails
to agree upon an umpire in accordance with the provisions of Article
III. and Article V. Another provided that if at any time before
the close of a hearing on any matter, except territorial claims, either
party declares that the decision of a disputed question excluded ex-
COPYRIGHT, 1896, BY G.W. i C.B. COLTON 4 CO., N.Y.
GREATER NEW YORK AND VICINITY*
cept by special agreement is involved, the jurisdiction of the tribu
nal shall cease. The feeling grew that the utmost care and deliber
ation should precede the ratification of this treaty by the Senate, and
it remained officially unacted upon at the close of Cleveland's admin
istration. Meanwhile, as an evidence of the widespread favor with
which international arbitration is regarded, Senator Knute Nelson,
on the 6th of April, presented a memorable petition to the Senate
for its favorable action upon the treaty. The mayors of fifty cities,
more than four hundred presidents of colleges, nearly four hundred
* The area covered by Greater New York is indicated by the heavy dotted lines.
Senti
ment in
Favor
of the
Treaty
1666 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xci
newspapers, the presidents of chambers of commerce of fifty-four
\JNITBDW lading cities, bishops and archbishops, and leading men joined in
STATES ^he appeal for the Senate's support of the measure. Notwithstand
ing these indications of popular approval, the Committee on Foreign
Relations so amended it as to destroy its value, and the Senate re
jected it on May 5, 1897.
An event of national importance was the creation in 1897 of what
of the is popularly known as " Greater New York." The question of un;it-
Treaty jng unc[er one government the metropolis and the neighboring outly
ing cities had been one of interest for a number of years previous.
In 1890, the legislature appointed a commission to consider the sub
ject and report to that body. In 1 894, after a discussion extending over
three years, the legislature provided for a referendum, the verdict of
which was strongly in favor of the union of the various cities namod.
Accordingly, after much consideration, a bill was framed, pass-ed
both branches of the legislature by large majorities in February,
1897^ and promptly received the signatures of Mayors Wurster of
Brooklyn and Gleason of Long Island City. Mayor Strong of New
York vetoed the bill, whereupon the legislature repassed it, and it
was signed by Governor Black.
The enlarged metropolis began its official existence January I,
1898. The government is now vested in a mayor and a municipal
assembly, consisting of two houses, elected by the people. The
area of the city is 317.77 square miles, and its population, according
to official estimates, will, on January i, 1898, be 3,400,000, the daily
increase being 400. If this rate is preserved, the population in fifty
years will be 20,000^000, which will surpass that of London, should
that city also maintain its present ratio of growth.
Within the limits of this great city are the cities of New York,
Greater Brooklyn, Long Island City, Jamaica, all of Staten Island, the west-
York" ern enc* of Long Island, Coney Island, Rockaway, Valley Stream,
Flushing, Whitestone, College Point, Willets' Point, Fort Schuyler,
Throgg's Neck, Westchester, Bay Chester, Pelham Manor, Van Cort-
landt, Riverdale, and Spuyten Duyvil. The extreme length of the
city from the southern end of Staten Island to the northern limits
at Yonkers on the Hudson is thirty-two miles. Its greatest width
from the Hudson River to the boundary line across Long Island,
beyond Creedmoor, is sixteen miles, the municipality forming an iio-
pressive illustratiori of American growth and grandeur.
^^-=^. -
CHAPTER XCII
McKIN LEY'S FIRST A D MINIS TRA TION— 1897-1901
[Authorities: When the Monitor and the Merrimac encountered each other in Hamp
ton Roads, it was a fateful conflict. The naval authorities and experts throughout the
world were confronted by conditions new, and, until then, unexpected. A readjustment
to those conditions became a necessity. The immense wooden navies of European na
tions had become useless. An iron monster like the Merrimac could have steamed up
the Thames, destroyed the vessels she might have met, and burned the city of London.
All this was realized, and at once was inaugurated an age of improvement in naval ord
nance and ship-building. Soon iron was discarded, on account of the improvement in
artillery, and steel was substituted. Then came the " Harvey Process" and nickel steel,
and with them, increased thickness of steel armor. Finally, the question has come
whether a vessel can be armored so effectively as to resist successfully the terrible steel
shot of 13-inch steel guns. All this time England has been straining every nerve to re
main mistress of the seas. The advent of the perfected torpedo-boat, and the early so
lution of the problem, will probably soon render useless the steel navies of the world.
Then will come arbitration, in which equity, and not diplomatic trickery and over-reach
ing, will have to be the primary consideration.
Authorities are Hon. Hilary A. Herbert, Secretary of the Navy from 1893 to 1897,
and Chief Constructor Philip Hichborn.]
|HE glorious history of the American navy has been
partly given in the. preceding pages. It is a
record that must thrill every patriotic heart, and
since during the last few years the Government
has taken steps to make our navy the finest in the
world, a connected account of the growth of this
"national bulwark" should be interesting and
important.
Five years after the adoption of the Constitution, Congress author
ized the construction of six powerful frigates, which were at once
laid down by Joshua Reynolds, among them being the Constitution,
the most famous vessel connected with the navy, she and her sisters
1668
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcn
PERIOD vii winning most of the glory that was won by Americans in the War of
1812. Our pride
in our navy was
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
A Period
of De-
Cadence
"ATLANTA," U. S.
intensified. We
were among the
first to introduce
steam as a motive
power on the
ocean, and w e
constructed the
finest ships in the
world.
Necessity
compelled a
mushro o m
growth of the
navy during the
War for the Union, and the battle between the Merrimac and Moni
tor in 1862 wrought a revolution in naval warfare. In 1861 we
were the fifth among naval powers, and the ship-yards rang with
hammers night and day in the effort to supply the national need of
vessels for blockading and other purposes. Many of these were
completed in a few
weeks, and were
necessarily of so
frail a character
that they speedily
became valueless
after the close of
hostilities.
A period of de
cadence succeeded
the war. Waste
and extravagance
followed, and the
work of investiga
ting committees
' CHARLESTON," U. S. N.
proved maladministration in the Navy Department. Congress re
duced appropriations, and our warships dwindled, though the utmost
i6;o HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcn
PERIOD vii activity prevailed among other nations. In November, 1881, the
Tv£rrSi? Secretary of the Navy, in vigorous language, called the attention of
STATES Congress to the fact that our navy was crumbling to pieces, and was
in pitiful contrast to the vessels of war of the inferior powers.
The marvellous progress made by other nations in the construction
of projectiles, torpedoes, guns, engines, and vessels, and the grow-
ing sense of our own neglect in these respects, soon produced good
results. The First Advisory Board, convened by Secretary Hunt
in 1 88 1, made modest but valuable suggestions, which have been
followed in the main to the present time. Secretary Chandler in
1882 called together the Second Advisory Board (composed, like the
The Ad- former, of naval officers and experts), and, as a result of their recom-
Boards mendations, Congress took action, March 3, 1883, which gave us the
first four steel ships of the navy. They were the Chicago, 4,300
tons ; the Boston and Atlanta, each 3,000 tons, and the despatch-boat
Dolphin of 1,500 tons. The Dolphin was completed, December 3,
1885; the Atlanta, July 19, 1886; the Boston, May 7, 1887, and
the Chicago, April 17, 1889.
On March 3, 1885, Congress authorized the construction of two
cruisers of not less than 3,000 nor more than 5,000 tons displace
ment, a heavily armored gunboat of about 1,600 tons, and a light
gunboat of about 800 tons. The small gunboat was the Petrel, the
large gunboat the Yorktown, and the cruisers the Charleston and the
Newark.
On August 3, 1886, Congress authorized the construction of two
armored vessels of about 6,000 tons displacement, a cruiser of
between 3,500 and 5,000 tons, and a first-class torpedo-boat. The
first two were the Maine and Texas, the third the Baltimore, and
the torpedo-boat the Cushing. At the same time the completion
of the four double-turret ed monitors, Ptiritan, Amphitrite, Monad-
nock, and Terror, and the construction of the Vesuvius were author-
The ized.
fJomes- *n X886, Congress provided that these ships should be of domestic
tic manufacture, and under such authorization Secretary Whitney con-
facture tracted with the Bethlehem Iron Company, of Pennsylvania, for
armor and great-gun forgings. The delivery of armor by this com
pany was tardy, though in the main satisfactory. The Carnegie
Company, of Pittsburg, began making similar deliveries at about the
same time to the Government. The only other full-armored cruiser
CHAP, xcn McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1671
BALTIMORE," U. S. N.
authorized during Mr. Whitney's term was the Monterey. On Sep- PERIOD VH
tember 7, 1888, Congress provided for the armored cruiser New York. THE NEW
UNITED
During the administration of Hilary A. Herbert (to whom we are STATE*
much indebted for
the facts in this
article), President
Cleveland's Secre
tary of the Navy,
from 1893 to 1897,
the construction of
the following pro
tected cruisers was
begun : Newark,
Baltimore, Phila
delphia, San Fran-
Cisco, Cincinnati,
Raleigh, Olympia,
Detroit, Montgom
ery, and Marblekead; the four gunboats Petrel, Yorktown, Bennington,
and Concord ; the Vesuvius, a ship designed to experiment in throw
ing dynamite with pneumatic guns, and the Bancroft, a practice vessel
. , for the cadets at the
Naval Academy.
A comparison
between the Chica
go and the Olympia
shows the rapid
advance made be
tween the times of
their construction.
The former had a
speed of fifteen
knots, while that of
the latter was twen-
1 COLUMBIA," u. s. N. ty-one and three-
quarters. In every respect the Olympia is an up-to-date cruiser, and
is so much the superior of the Chicago that material changes and im
provements are to be made in the latter vessel.
On June 30, 1 890, Congress authorized the construction of three
Rapid
Improve
ments
1 672
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcn
* IOWA," U. S. N.
first-class battleships, the Indiana, Massachusetts^ and Oregon, and a
first-class, swift, protected cruiser, the Columbia. At the same time
the "Harvey"
process was intro
duced in manufac
turing the armor,
which is without
a superior in the
world. Thus it
may be said the
foundations of the
new American
navy have been
laid, and our rank
at the front of naval
powers is assured.
The act of March
3, 1893, authorized the laying down of three gunboats, the Nashville,
Helena, and Wilmington. The act of March 2, 1895, authorized
six others, the Annapolis, Vicksburg, Newport, Princeton, Wheeling, and
Marietta. These
are known as " un-
armored compos
ite" vessels. Two
battleships also,
the Kearsarge and
the Kentucky, were
, authorized, and by
act of June 10,
1896, three battle
ships, the Alabama,
Illinois, and Wis-
consin, are to be
brought into being.
The general law
prescribes that bat
tleships shall be named for States, the single exception being made
for the purpose of fitly preserving the name of the Kearsarge, the
destroyer of the Alabama, lost on Roncador reef in 1894. It is a
How
Battle-
Ships arc
Named
'MINNEAPOLIS." u. s. N.
1674 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcii
PERIOD vii notable coincidence that one of the battleships authorized by the
THE NEW next acj- js the Alabama.
U NITKD
STATES Provision was also made for the perpetuation of Admiral Farragut's
flagship, the Hartford, which, after the completion of her repairs at
the Mare Island Navy- Yard, will take her place among the cruisers
of our navy. Congress has also been urged to preserve for coming
generations the old Constitution, though only a few remnants of that
gallant ship remain.
Recent Our government is steadily adding to its navy, which has become
to the one of the most powerful in the world. In 1904, we had (completed
or contracted for) 24 battleships, of which the Texas, of 6,315 tons,
was the only one whose displacement was not 10,000 tons or more.
The Connecticut, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota and Vermont have
16,500 tons displacement respectively. The building of each, with
the exception of the Louisiana, cost more than $4,000,000. The
smallest expense was for the Kearsarge, Kentucky and Texas
($2,250,000 each), from which a general idea of the immense total
value of our modern navy may be formed. The late war between
Russia and Japan has raised the momentous question whether these
colossal warships after all will not prove helpless before the assaults
of the modern torpedo destroyers and mines, which played such
startling havoc with the mightiest members of the fleets.
The armored cruisers are ten in number, of which the Washington
is of 14,518 tons displacement, the Tennessee of 14,500, and the
California, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Western Virgina,
13,680 tons each. We have a single-armored ram, the Kahtahdin, of
2,155 tons> and capable of a speed of 17 knots. The double-turret
monitors are six in number, the largest and most powerful being the
Puritan of 6,060 tons. There are also nine single-turret monitors, of
which the Arkansas, Florida, Nevada and Wyoming are each of 3,200
tons displacement. They are not swift vessels, the speed varying
from five . to twelve or slightly more knots. This, however, is suffi
cient for harbor defense purposes.
There are 27 unarmored steel vessels, the largest being the St. Louis
and Milwaukee of 9,700 tons. The fastest is the Minneapolis, 7,375
tons, of a little more than 23 knots, with the Columbia, 22.8, the
Milwaukee, St. Louis and Charleston , 22 knots, and the others very
little behind.
Included with the 23 gunboats are 4 captured from Spain. The
CHAP, xcn McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1675
"INDIANA," U. S. N.
but its
ment is
tons, that of the
Dolphin, the larg
est, being 1,486
tons. The auxili
ary cruisers are the
Buffalo, Dixie,
Panther, Prairie
and Yankee, the
largest being the Prairie of 6,620 tons.
The torpedo boats, built or building, are 37 in number. Amazing
speed has been shown by several of them. The Rowan and Thornton
have made 27
knots; the Biddle,
Du Pont and Porter
28 knots; the
Bagley and Barney
29 knots; and the
Bailey, Dahlgren,
Fa rrag u t , Golds-
borough, Stringham
andT.A. M. Cra ven ,
30 knots. There
are eight sub
marine boats, each
capable of eight
knots an hour.
Of the sixteen
torpedo boat destroyers, the lowest speed is 28 knots, while the
Whipple and Warden have developed 30 knots.
STATBS
largest of the gunboats are the Bennington, Concord and Yorktown, PERIOD vn
each of 1,710 tons, and with a speed of 16 knots. In the special
class are the Chesa
peake, Cumberland,
Dolphin , Vesuvius ,
Intrepid and Boxer.
The Vesuvius has
attained 21 knots,
displace-
only 929
"MAINE," U. S. N.
1676
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, x-n
PKRIODVII The forty-one unarmored cruisers are made of steel and iron, and
THE NEW each carries a battery of from two to ten guns, the largest having a
STATES displacement of 975 tons, and the smallest 42 tons. Their speed
varies from 8 to 19 knots. We have, in addition, a number of old
iron and wooden steam vessels, and the following sailing vessels:
training ships, Constellation and Monongahela / school ships, St. Mary
and Saratoga, and training ship Alliance. The total number of vessels
(1904) is 320, of which 45 are authorized or under construction, 23
NEWARK," U. 8. N.
are unfit for service, and 252, including those undergoing repair, fit
for service.
No description can give an adequate idea of the wonderful corn-
Graphic plexity of one of the ocean battleships, but the following extract
CtionP" *rom a PaPer by Mr. Hichborn may serve as an outline picture of
one of those marvellous creations:
"Take, for instance, a battleship of the type of the Indiana,
Massachusetts, and Oregon. She is the home of about five hundred
men, and carries 44 guns, varying from the 1 3-inch, with its pro
jectile of 1,150 pounds, to the 6-millimetre Catling, which fires a
CHAP, xcn McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1677
STATES-
bullet of .0186 pound. Ammunition for all these guns is carried in PERIOD vi>
sufficient quantity to enable her to fight a prolonged action, and still
have some left. The heavy guns and their crews, the propelling
machinery, the principal auxiliary machinery, and the buoyancy and
stability of the ship are protected by armor varying from eighteen
inches to four inches in thickness.
"The structure of the ship must be absolutely seaworthy, must
support all of the above weights without being unduly strained, and
CHICAGO," U. S. N.
must, moreover, be minutely subdivided into small compartments.
Fresh air must be supplied all over the ship and foul air^ removed.
All of the above qualities are possessed by a structure some 350
feet" long, 69 feet wide, and 43 feet deep, displacing normally 10,200
tons of sea-water, whose cubic contents are the same as those of
a cube whose edge is 85.7 feet."
CHAPTER XCIII
Me KIN LEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION—}
(CONTINUED)
Arctic Exploration
[Authorities: The " Divine Unrest " that prompts man to great endeavor and high
achievement has impelled him to invade the eternally frozen solitudes about the North
Pole. That men have perished in the attempt to reach the pole, and that each attempt
has failed of accomplishing the ultimate object, have served only to stimulate others to
make the same trial. We hear much about the gain to geographical science that is the
result of these expeditions, but it is doubtful whether the gain is not more fictitious than
real. Pope says :
"To know contents our natural desire."
It is this universal desire to know that which is hidden from us that wins the world to
countenance such enterprises ; and the intensity of this desire increases as the obstacles
to our knowledge are multiplied. Our explorers in every domain may confidently count
upon the applause of the world if they come back with news of the hitherto unknown.
They may be equally confident, too, that it will not occur to many to start the question
of cui bono ? — what is the good of it ? Then again, no one can assert, with any degree of
certainty, that a particular discovery will not, sooner or later, be of practical value, and
enhance the happiness and accelerate the progress of the race.
Authorities are R. E. Peary, C. E., U. S. N. ; General A. W. Greely ; papers of the
American Geographical Society, and other publications.]
"E achievement of Lieutenant Lockwood and Ser
geant Brainard, who in 1882 reached the most
northern point ever attained up to that time by
man, marked an era in Arctic exploration. The
work of Lieut. R. E. Peary, C. E., U. S. N., ranks
next in importance, for, although he did not go so
far north as the members of Greely's party, he
penetrated far enough to discover the secret of
the northern boundary of Greenland.
The ^Qth parallel is the highest point previously attained on the
United JS talcs
i68o
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
CHAP. XCIII
PERIOD vii eastern coast of Greenland. Lieutenant Peary's aim was to learn
how far north Greenland extends, and whether it offers the best basis
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES for future effort s to reach the North Pole.
Furthest
Points
Attained
Indepen
dence
Bay
As we have already learned, the highest point as yet attained was
by the Norwegian explorer, Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, who on April 7,
1895, reached latitude 86° 15', which is two hundred miles nearer
the North Pole than any preceding expedition has ever gone. The
following table of latitudes reached by Arctic explorers during the
past three hundred years has been compiled by Gen. A. W. Greely :
Eastern Hemisphere.
Year Explorer latitude
1594. William Barents 77° 20'
1596. Ryp and Heemskerck 79° 49'
1607. Henry Hudson 80° 23'
1773. J. C. Phipps 80° 48'
1806. William Scoresby 81° 30'
1827. W. E. Parry 82° 45'
1868. Nordenskjold and Otter 81° 42'
1874. Weyprecht and Payer 82° 05'
1895. Dr. Nansen 86° 15'
Western Hemisphere.
Year Explorer latitude
1587. John Davis 72° 12*
1607. Henry Hudson 73°
1616. William Baffin 77° 45'
1852. E. A. Inglefield 78° 21'
1854. E. K. Kane 80° ic/
1870. C. F. Hall 82° u'
1871. C. F. Hall 82° o/
1875.0. S. Nares 82° 48*
1876. G. S. Nares 83° 20'
1882. A. W. Greely 83° 24'
With the aid of the National Academy of Science of Philadelphia,
Lieutenant Peary sailed in the steamer Kite, June 6, 1891. He was
accompanied by eight men, whose purpose was to study the geology,
botany, and zoology of Western Greenland.
In one respect this Arctic expedition differed from all others : it
had a female member in the person of the wife of Lieutenant Peary,
to whom he had been recently married.
Before landing at McCormick Bay, Lieutenant Peary's leg was
broken by a piece of ice that was flung over the vessel. Quarters
were erected and the following winter passed comfortably, the sur
rounding country being thoroughly explored. On the 3d of May
the lieutenant bade good-by for a time to his wife, and, accompanied by
Mr. Astrup, a Norwegian, started on a journey northward and inland.
The couple were gone some three months, during which no mishap
befell them. They travelled over an unbroken expanse of snow and
ice, which gradually reached an elevation of eight thousand feet.
On the 26th of June the limit of land confronted them to the north
and northeast. Still farther, it deflected to the southeast. On July
4th, they reached a large bay opening east and northeast, in latitude
81° 37' and longitude 34°. To this body of water they gave the
name of Independence Bay.
CHAP, xcm McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1681
THENBW
UNITED
STATES
They arrived at McCormick Bay, August 6th, having journeyed PERIOD vn
more than thirteen hundred miles. They found the steamer Kite
awaiting them, and, embarking, arrived at St. John, Newfoundland,
on the I ith of September, 1892.
This successful expedition was marred by only one sad incident.
Mr. Verhoeff, of Kentucky, a geologist, and one of the most enthusi
astic members of the party, started off on a two days' scientific trip
and never returned. His
footsteps were traced to
the edge of a glacier, into
one of whose crevasses he
must have fallen.
Lieutenant Peary was
convinced that his expedi
tion proved Greenland to
be an island, whose most
northerly point lies a
short way above the 82d
parallel, the two coasts
rapidly approaching each
other above the 7/th
parallel.
Another expedition
sailed from St. John in
July, 1893, in the Falcon>
the destination being Bou-
douin Bay in Inglefield
Gulf, thirty-five miles
north o f McCormick's
harbor. The intention was to push on to Independence Bay, the
highest point attained by Peary in 1 892, to map the coast between
that and Cape Bismarck, and to penetrate the archipelago to the
north, of which nothing was known. The expedition included twelve
men and two women, one of them again being Mrs. Peary, to whom
a daughter was born, September 12, 1893, at Falcon Harbor,
ice was so heavy and general that little was accomplished by this
-expedition.
In September, 1894, the Falcon reached St. John with all the
members of the party, excepting Lieutenant Peary, Hugh J. Lee,
LIEUTENANT PEARY
Expedi-
tioh of
the
Falcoo
CHAP, xcm McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
8TAT118
and Peary's colored servant, Matthew Henson, who stayed behind to Promo vu
attempt the northward journey alone the following year. The next
news from the little party was that the relief steamer Kite had arrived
at St. John, Newfoundland, with the three men safe and well on
board.
Their experience had been of the most trying character. They
REGION AROUND THE NORTH POLE
left Anniversary Lodge, April ist, with five sledges, forty-nine dogs,
and a party of Eskimos. One hundred and thirty-five miles inland
they expected to find a cache of provisions, but the snow had buried
it out of sight. All the Eskimos deserted, but the three men pushed
on, hoping to supply themselves with food by shooting game. Be
fore Independence Bay was reached, Lee succumbed and had to be
hauled on a sledge by the others. Several musk oxen were shot, and
Experi
ence
CHAP, xcm McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1685
saved the explorers from starvation. On the return the dogs began PERIOD vn
dying until only one remained. Lee again gave out, and for days THE~NE*
was dragged on one of the sleds. For three weeks the men lived on STAT*S
a single meal a day, and for twenty-six hours before reaching camp
not one had a morsel of food. The relief expedition walked thirty
five miles to Boudouin Bay, where they found Peary and his com
panions, and the parties returned to the ship, August 4th.
It was mainly through the liberality of Morris K. Jesup and the valuable
directors of the American Museum of Natural History that the Kite Speci-
was fitted out and this expedition undertaken. The steamer brought
the most valuable collection ever obtained in the Arctic regions,
secured chiefly through Prof. L. L. Dyche, of the Kansas State Uni
versity, representing the American Museum, who made his head
quarters at Holstenberg. It included four thousand specimens of
birds' eggs, and animals, such as walrus, narwhal, bear, seal, fishes,
lichens, etc., besides two large meteorites, one of which weighs
three tons. A meteorite weighing forty tons was also discovered
near Cape York, where it was seen and reported by Sir John Ross
in 1 8 1 8. The photographs, covering nearly every point of interest,
numbered thousands.
The sixth expedition, whose inception was Peary's, sailed from
Sydney, Cape Breton, July 15, 1896, one of its purposes being to
secure and bring home the great Ross meteor. Two independent
scientific parties accompanied the expedition, one from the Massa
chusetts Institute of Technology, and the other from Cornell Univer
sity. The former, in charge of Prof. Alfred Burton, was landed at
Gmenak Fiord, Baffin Bay, while the latter, under charge of Prof, sixth
Ralph S. Tarr, was put ashore near the southern end of Melville Bay. Expedi-
Both parties made careful studies and obtained valuable botanical
collections. A mountain was discovered and named Mount Schur
man, in honor of the president of Cornell University.
It was found impossible with the appliances at command to remove
the great meteor, and the ice forced the party to withdraw, on Sep
tember 4th.*
Lieutenant Peary furnishes another proof of the strange fascina-
* The American Geographical Society, through its president, Charles P. Daly, pre
sented a gold medal to Mr. Peary on the evening of January 12, 1897, at Chickering
Hall, New York city, in recognition of the fact that Mr. Peary had established the in-
Hilarity of Greenland. The late General G. W. Cullora left $100,000 to the society for
1686
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcm
D vil tion that the Arctic solitudes exert over the explorers that have once
THE NEW undergone the terrible perils and sufferings in those regions of deso-
STATES lation. His purpose now is to persevere until he reaches the North
Pole. His plan is a systematic and comprehensive one, which may
be extended over a period of ten years, though it is hoped that suc
cess will be attained in a fourth of that time.
The sum needed to carry out this ambitious project is $i5O,ooa
SKINNING A BEAR ON THE ICE
When this was virtually secured, the Secretary of the Navy, to the
dismay of Peary and his friends, ordered him to the Mare Island
Navy- Yard at San Francisco. Charles A. Moore, of Brooklyn, pre
sented the case so strongly to Secretary Long that in April, 1 897,
he revoked the order, and the preparations for the preliminary jour
ney were soon afterwards made.
This first journey is to be for the purpose of completing arrange
ments with the Eskimos of the Whale Sound country to meet Peary
a building, and a further sum to be known as the Cullom Geographical Fund to be given
to those — particularly to American citizens — who should render most distinguished ser-
vices to geographical science.
CHAP, xcm McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1687
at some point in the summer of 1898. These migratory Arctic PERIOD vn
Highlanders number about two hundred and fifty men, women, and THE NEW
0 J UNITED
children. They are all acquaintances and friends of Peary, and have STATES
received so many presents and kindnesses from him that they will
eagerly serve him and go wherever he wishes. Mr. Peary's plan, as
outlined by himself, is to select ten families of these Arctic High
landers, who are best fitted to assist in the intended expedition.
" I want to engage them this coming summer, and have them pre
pare the walrus meat and fur clothes, canoes, and sledges, and train
the dogs between that time and the following summer, when they
will be prepared to meet me at some point fixed upon, ready to sail Peary'a
as far north as we can get the ship. By arranging with them in this R^J.
way to meet me at an appointed time, all the loss of time that would i!Jg
follow upon having to work along the coast to pick them up in 1 898 North
will be avoided.
" After making these necessary arrangements with the Eskimos
this summer, my plan is to come back with the ship, and in the
summer of 1898 sail to the rendezvous on Whale Sound with the
ship fully supplied with concentrated provisions and all the neces
sary stores for a protracted siege of life in the Arctic regions.
There we shall take on the Eskimos and push as far north as we can
go with the ship, through Robeson's Channel and on to the head of
Sherard Osborne Fjord, if possible. It is possible for an experi
enced hand to put a ship in at almost any point on Smith Sound,
but when it comes to sailing north of that one can only say where he
wants to go, and then take advantage of the conditions as they pre
sent themselves. At any rate, we shall go in the ship to the farthest
north point it is possible to reach with her, and there unload her sup
plies and establish the Eskimos in a colony. If it be possible to
sail beyond Sherard Osborne Fjord, we shall do so. My plan is to
take both the men and their wives from Whale Sound, so that they
shall be contented in this northern colony. Greely's trouble with
his Eskimos was all due to the fact that he had only men. They
started back home to their families, three hundred or four hundred
miles over the ice. It was a mild species of insanity that afflicted
them.
" After unloading, the ship will be sent back to New York, to
come up again the next year, 1899, to the point where she left the
colony, or if she fails to reach it the next year, then to come again
1688
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcm
STATES
PERIOD vii in the year after. After the colony is settled, my plan is to take
advantage of such daylight as remains in that summer and of the
moons during the winter night to push out overland northward, first
reconnoitring, and then, when the way is marked out, moving our
provisions forward and establishing the settlement at each remove
nearer our objective point, leaving caches at every stopping-place
and prominent headland as we go. In this way the progress ik to
be kept up until the farthest northern land is reached, a plan easily
A LONELY HOME IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS
workable, as we shall live in the regular Eskimo snow-house. From
this farthest northern land, where the settlement will be fixed tem
porarily, will be made the last spurt for the pole. The talk about an
open polar sea or polar crystal sea is all nonsense. There is no
special weather made for the pole, nor are special conditions ap
pointed for that particular locality. Either there is land there, or
there is a sea, and a sea like that with which we are familiar in that
region, wholly frozen over, all the time — the ice mass moving
somewhat with the winds, however— or frozen solid for nine
or ten months and then intermittently open and closed as the wind
listeth.
CHAP, xcm McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1680
" The colony will remain at the point fixed upon and only the PERIOD vii
chosen party go on. Numbers are fatal to Arctic explorations, the ^KKN**
entire animus of the region being set against them. The ideal STATBS
party is two, as Nansen and I have shown, and I shall have what
Nansen lacked, Eskimos to drive the dogs. His experience shows
that this is necessary. I tell you, just as only a negro can drive a*
mule, only an Eskimo can drive a dog. The natives will put a
sledge over a place where no white man could think of getting it.
They are brought up to the business. If our end should be achieved
in one expedition from this settlement, all well ; if not, we could he
over until the following summer,
tUver.
CHAPTER XCIV
McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION— 1897-1901
(CONTINUED}.
[Authorities: It has been said that our purchase of Alaska was really a
recognition of the friendship of Russia to us during the great Civil War. Je
that as it may, the Territory has proved one of the most valuable acquisition.
The story of the development of the seal industry, and the efforts of our Govern
ment to protect the herds from extinction is an interesting narrative. None the
less instructive is it to recall the early history of the States, whose centennial
anniversaries now begin to claim attention. Our authorities are the official
correspondence between Great Britain and the United States, Ramsay's "History
of America," and various other histories and contemporary publications.]
T was some years after the purchase of Alaska t y
the United States from Russia, the Pribyhv
Islands, which are the breeding-grounds of the
fur seal, were leased to the Alaska Commerc ?.l
Company, which was granted a monopoly of se; -1
killing under stringent regulations intended o
prevent the extermination of the animals.
This industry was so valuable that no vigilance
of the Government in guarding the islands could prevent wholesale
poaching by American and Canadian vessels, which pursued the seals
upon the open sea. To stop this, our Government in 1886 set up the
claim that Bering Sea was mare dausum (a closed sea), and asserted
its jurisdiction over the eastern half. When Russia ceded the country
to us in 1867 sne claimed to grant such rights of jurisdiction, bu;,
unfortunately for us, we protested in 1822 against Russia's claim
of the right of sovereignty outside the usual three-mile limit cf
territorial jurisdiction.
COPYRIGHT 1898.
Andrew Johnson
James A. Garfield
Grover Cleveland
Ulysses S. Grant
William McKinley
Rutherford B. Hayes
Chester A. Arthur
Benjamin Harrison
PRESIDENTS OF THE. UNITED STATES-1865 TO 1901
1692
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xciv
PERIOD vii
STATES,
This new doctrine led to the governmental seizure of many
Canadian and American sealers, for which Great Britain claimed
damages. Considerable negotiation followed, when it was agreed to
submit the question to arbitration, which was also to decide upon the
best methods for preserving the seals from extinction. The United
States appointed as its two arbitrators Justice John M. Harlan, of
the Supreme Court, and Senator John T. Morgan; Great Britain,
Lord Hannen and Sir John S. D. Thompson; France, Baron de
Courcel; Italy, the Marquis Emilio Visconti-Venosta, and Sweden
and Norway, Gregers W. W. Gram.
m ' : ,. _ _ r-^^smi^
WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER OF SEALS
Decision The tribunal began its sessions in Paris, March 23, 1893, and
AghhenSt rendered its decision on the I5th of the following August. This
decision was against the American claim to exclusive jurisdiction
of any sort over the waters of Bering Sea outside the three-mile
territorial limit, established a close season for seals in those waters
from May 1st to July 3ist, and forbade pelagic sealing within sixty
miles of the Pribylov Islands, sealing in steam vessels or with fire
arms, the regulations to be carried out by the British and American
governments concurrently.
Ameri
can
Claim
CHAP, xciv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1693
The regulations equally bound Great Britain with the United PERIODVII
States to forbid her subjects to kill, capture, or pursue at any time or THE NEW
* UNITED
in any manner fur seals within a zone of sixty miles around the STATES
Pribylov Islands, or during the breeding season in any part of the
Pacific, inclusive of Bering Sea, situated north of the 35th degree of
north latitude, or eastward of the iSoth degree of longitude.
Great Britain was dissatisfied with the award, and the Canadian
sealers thought the proposed close season too long, the extent of the
prohibited zone too great, and the regulations too severe. There
was delay in the necessary legislation in England, which was not
effected there nor in the United States until April, 1894. The
question left for adjudication was that concerning the compensation
due to sealers whose vessels were illegally seized by United States
cutters prior to the establishment of a close season in 1 890.
The American bill passed Congress and received the President's congre?-
signature on April 6th, and was put into effect by proclamation sional
four days later. There was some criticism upon the British bill,
as not being in exact accordance with the agreement, but it
became operative on the 23d of April. By these measures the
close season was made legally binding only upon British, American,
and Russian subjects. Vessels of other nations were left free to
enter and fish in Bering Sea, but the United States determined
to seize all poachers, taking the risk of the suits for damages that
might follow.
President Cleveland in his message to Congress recommended the presj
payment of the sum of $425,000 to Great Britain for damages done dent
to British subjects by the action of the United States cruisers in land's
Bering Sea, adding that these claims of the Canadian sealers had
received thorough examination by both governments "upon the tion
principles as well as the facts involved."
Investigation proved that more than one-half of the damages
claimed were of the consequential kind. In other words, they con
sisted of constructive losses in the form of seals that would or might
have been taken had not such vessels been warned to keep out of
Bering Sea. The tribunal of arbitration had not passed upon this
question, and justice required therefore that we should be governed
by precedent. The most authoritative precedent was set by the
Alabama tribunal at Geneva in 1871, which ruled out all considera
tion of constructive and consequential damages
1694 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xciv
PERIOD vii Eighteen vessels claimed damages, but it was proven that ten of
TUNiS>w tnem belonged to American citizens, the firm of Warren & Boscovitz,
STATES of gan Francisco, who made a fictitious transfer of their property to
an English blacksmith named Cooper. For these reasons Congress
refused to vote the payment of a sum that was nearly ten times as
large as it should have been.
By this time it had become apparent to experts that the regulations
recommended by the tribunal of 1893, and subsequently put in force
in both Great Britain and the United States, were wholly inadequate
to accomplish the purpose intended. Unless more stringent laws
are enacted and enforced, the seals in a few years will become as
scarce as the bison. Commander C. E. Clark, in his report to the
Navy Department, said :
Danger "Upward of 30,000 seals were captured this year (1894) in Bering
to the Sea after the 3ist of July, and of these nearly 25,000 were females.
A careful estimate, made early in September, showed that 9,300
pups had already died of starvation on the rookeries, and that about
an equal number would later perish in the same miserable manner,
half of them being females. About 33,000 were lost, and the repro
ductive power of the herd has been lowered from 10 to 20 per cent.
The success that has attended pelagic sealing this year, and the
knowledge that has. been obtained of methods that can be followed
and of grounds that may be resorted to advantageously, will probably
double the number of vessels engaged, and increase the catch propor
tionately the coming season. The loss as before will fall where it
is most to be dreaded, i. <?., upon the females. While the disparity
in the number of each sex taken has been determined, the reasons
for it are not known. In my opinion, the male seals who are not
able to fight their way on the rookeries retire as far as they are
compelled to by the bulls in possession, and no farther; while the
females, who have young to suckle, leave, when impregnated, for the
feeding-grounds, which seem, most unfortunately, to be well outside
of the prohibited zone."
Although an extensive patrol was maintained, the pelagic catch in
mous the North Pacific in 1894, including Bering Sea, reached the enor-
Catch mous totai Of from j 30,000 to 142,000 seals. For 1895, the United
States decided to entrust the work of patrol to vessels in the revenue-
cutter service exclusively, four of which were promptly selected. On
March 3, 1895, the house passed a bill authorizing the President to
CHAP, xciv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1695
conclude and proclaim a modus vivendi with the governments of Great PERIOD vii
Britain, Russia, and Japan providing for new regulations for the THE NEW
preservation of the seal herd, and in case of failure to arrange such STATES
modus vivendi on or before May I, 1896, all the seals, male and
female, to be found on Pribylov Islands were to be destroyed. In
other words, the United States determined to kill the entire seal herd
as the only way of preventing the Canadian poachers from stealing it.
The failure of Congress to vote a settlement of the claims for
damages made by the British sealers that had been seized, delayed sion for
joint action by the two governments for the protection of the seals
that were threatened with extermination. Finally, it was reported sion
OP November 13, 1895, that a convention looking towards the
settlement of the claims of Canadian sealers had been negotiated by
Sir Julian Pauncefote, the British ambassador at Washington, and
Secretary of State Olney, after consultation with Premier Sir
Mackenzie Bowell and Minister of Justice Sir C. Hibbert Tupper,
representing the Canadian Government. The provision was for a
joint commission consisting of one representative each from Great
Britain and the United States to meet at Victoria, B. C., to assess
the damages suffered by the Canadians. In case of a failure to agree
by the two commissioners, a third was to be chosen. If such umpire
could not be agreed upon, he should be named by the President of
the Swiss republic.
It was reported that about 40,000 seal-skins, of which So per cent.
were from females, were taken in Bering Sea in 1895, after July
3 ist, when the close season ended, and that 27,000 dead pups were
counted, all of which had perished from starvation at the rookeries.
On April 15, 1896, the treaty between the United States and
Great Britain, providing for the appointment of a commission to
assess damages arising out of illegal seizures of British sealing
vessels, was ratified by the Senate. On June 3d, ratifications of the
convention were exchanged in London, and several days later the
full text was made public. The place of meeting was changed from
Vancouver, B. C., to San Francisco, CaL, and a bill appropriating
$75,000 to defray the expenses of the United States in the joint
commission was passed and approved by President Cleveland, May
8th. The two commissioners provided for in the treaty were selected
in July. They were Judge George E. King, of Canada, and Judge
William L. Putnam, of the First United States Judicial Court.
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xciv
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES.
Early
History
of
Tennes
see
Tennes
see .
during
the
Civil
War
The counsel for the United States include Hon. Don M. Dickinson,
Robert Lansing, and Charles B. Warren, of Detroit, Mich. The British
counsel are Hon. F. Peters, Q. C., Premier of Prince Edward Island,
F. L. Beique, Q.C., of Montreal, Quebec, Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper,
K.C.M.G., and E. V. Bodwell, of Victoria. On December 17, 1897,
the commissioners awarded $473,151.26 against the United States.
It will be recalled that the first State admitted into the Union was
Vermont, on March 4, 1791, followed by Kentucky on June i, 1792,
and by Tennessee on June I, 1796. Since the last-named State
celebrated its centennial from May ist to November I, 1897, it is
well to refer in this place to the leading incidents in its history, which
have already been given a record in these pages.
Tennessee at first was a part of North Carolina, and the first
settlements were made on the Wautaga in the eastern part of the
State in 1769 by a company of hunters. North Carolina proposed
to surrender the territory to the United States Government, but
the settlers protested s.id formed a separate State under the
name of Franklin or Frankland, in honor of Benjamin Franklin.
John Sevier, the hero of King's Mountain, was elected governor,
and the legislature requested its admission as a State. So many
of the inhabitants were favorable to North Carolina that they over
threw the Government, the North Carolina legislature passed an act
of amnesty, and Sevier was admitted as a Senator. A territorial
government was organized, under provisions like those of the
ordinance of 1787, except that slavery was permitted. Then
followed its admission into the Union as already stated.
Knoxville was the capital until 1802, when it was changed to
Nashville, which was first settled by James Robertson in 1780. In
January, 1861, the State decided by vote not to secede from the
Union, but on June 8th the secessionists overcame this vote, and
the State was declared a member of the Southern Confederacy.
East Tennessee, however, remained stanchly loyal throughout the
war. Some of the fiercest battles in that fateful struggle were
fought upon its soil, among which were Island No. 10, Nashville,
Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Shiloh, Stone
River, Fort Donelson, and Franklin. It was restored to the Union
July 24, 1866, and the present constitution was adopted in 1870.
When the State was originally admitted its population was 77,202,
which had increased in 1890 to 1,767,518.
1698
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xciv
PERIODVH
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES.
Opening
of the
Exposi
tion
Although the third State to be admitted, Tennessee was the first
to celebrate its centennial. This was done by holding at Nashville,
the capital, from May i to November i, 1897, a great Centennial
and International Exposition. The place where the Exposition was
held is in the western suburbs of Nashville, previously known as
West Side Park, which contains two hundred acres of beautiful and
fertile land, whose trees, shrubbery, and flowers, lakes and rivulets,
harbors and pavilions,' walks and terraces, including a reproduction
of the famous Rialto of Venice, made the scene like a picture from
fairyland.
NASHVILLE EXPOSITION— VIEW ON COMMERCE AVENUE
At noon, President McKinley in Washington touched the button
which set in motion the machinery of the Exposition, and congratu
lated the Tennesseans who were present to witness the proceedings.
When the wheels began revolving, the boom of a cannon announced
the formal opening. Tremendous applause followed, the audience in
the auditorium rising and cheering again and again, while every
steam whistle in the city added to the din.
The sun was shining bright on the outside, and the exercises were
simple and appropriate. After a prayer by Bishop Gaylor, brief ad
dresses were delivered by Governor Taylor, Director-General Lewis,
and other state, city, and exposition officers, the entire programme
CHAP, xciv McKINLEY'S- FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1699
consuming little more than an hour. The attendance during the day PEKIODVII
and night was estimated at 50,000. THE NEW
& . . UNITED
The buildings were numerous and striking. In addition to the STATES
great Auditorium, with seats for 6,000 people, there were buildings
for commerce, agriculture, machinery, textiles, minerals, forestry,
and the arts. The Woman's Building was in the colonial style,
and was an elaboration of the " Hermitage," the home of General The
Andrew Jackson, near Nashville, and was designed by a woman. The
History Building was an adaptation of the Erechtheum of ancient
Athens. The Negro Building was a massive and imposing structure
containing specimens of work done by negroes in all walks of life.
The Art Building is a reproduction of that masterpiece of Greek
genius, the Parthenon, and all the structures are attractive and admir
ably adapted to their intended uses.
President McKinley, accompanied by Mrs. McKinley and a party
of friends, visited the Exposition, June nth. Half the population
of the city turned out to do honor to the guests, and thousands came
from all parts of the State to join in the welcome. At about 10
o'clock, Governor Taylor, of Tennessee, and Governer Bushnell, of
Ohio, and their staffs, called on the President, and shortly after a
detachment of ex-Confederates in full uniform drew up in front of
the hotel, and escorted the presidential party to the Exposition
grounds, the journey being in the nature of a triumphal march.
Major J. W. Thomas, president of the Exposition, delivered an
address of welcome, and was followed by Governor Taylor, who also
welcomed the guests. Mayor McCarthy spoke cordial words for the
city, to which responses were made by Senator Clarke, of Ohio, and
Governor Bushnell. President McKinley replied :
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: — American nationality, compared Address
with that of Europe and the East, is still very young; and yet of Presi-
already we are beginning to have age enough for centennial anni- Kinley
versaries in States other than the original thirteen. Such occasions
are always interesting, and when celebrated in a practical way are
useful and instructive. Combining retrospect and review, they re
call what has been done by State and nation, and point out what yet
remains for both to accomplish in order to fulfill their highest
destiny.
"This celebration is of general interest to the whole country and of
special significance to the people of the South and West. It marks
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xciv
STATES
PERIOD vii the end of the first century of the State of Tennessee and the close
°^ tne ^rst year °^ *ts second century.
"One hundred and one years ago this State was admitted into the
Union as the sixteenth member in the great family of American
commonwealths. It was a welcome addition to the national house
hold — a community young, strong and sturdy, with an honored and
NASHVILLE EXPOSITION— VIEW SHOWING ENTRANCE
The
Pioneers
heroic ancestry, with fond anticipations not only of its founders, but
faith in its success on the part of far-seeing and sagacious statesmen
in all parts of the country. I am justified in saying that these
anticipations have been grandly realized, that the present of this
community of sterling worth is even brighter than prophets of the
past had dared to forecast it.
"The builders of the State, who had forced their way through the
trackless forests of this splendid domain, brought with them the
same high ideals and fearless devotion to home and country, founded
on resistance to oppression, which have everywhere made illustrious
the Anglo-American name. Whether it was the territory of Virginia
or that of North Carolina, mattered little to them. They came
willing and eager to fight for independence and liberty, and in the
CHAP, xciv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1701
war of the Revolution were ever loyal to the standard of Washington. PERIOD vn
When their representatives served in the Colonial Assembly of North THE NK^
Carolina they chose — for the first time in our country, so far as I STATB»
know — the great name of Washington for the district in which they
lived, and at the close of the Revolution sought to organize their
territory into a State, to be known as the State of Franklin, in
grateful homage to the name of another of its most distinguished
patriot commoners.
NASHVILLE EXPOSITION-THE PARTHENON
" Spain had sought to possess their territory by right of discovery
as a part of Florida. France claimed it by right of cession as a part
of Louisiana, and England as hers by conquest. But neither con
tention could for an instant be recognized. Moved by the highest
instincts of self-government and the loftiest motives of patriotism,
under gallant old John Sevier, at Kind's Mountain, your fore
fathers bravely vindicated their honor and gloriously won their
independence.
"Thus came the new State, second only then of the now mighty
West and Southwest. And it has made a wonderful history for
itself. Tennessee has sometimes been called the 'mother of South
western statesmen.' It furnished us the immortal Jackson, whose
I/O2
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xciv
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES.
Bravery
of Ten-
nesseans
Lessons
of the
Exposi
tion
record in war and whose administration in peace as the head of the
great republic shines on with the advancing years. The century
has only added to the lustre of his name, increased the obligations
of his countrymen, and exalted him in their affection. Polk and
Johnson also were products of this great State, and many more
heroes of distinguished deeds whose names will come unbidden to
your memories while I speak.
" Tennesseans have ever been volunteer, not drafted, patriots. In
1846, when 2,400 soldiers were called for, 30,000 loyal Tennesseans
offered their services; and amid the trials and terrors of the great
civil war, under conditions of peculiar distress and embarrassment,
her people divided on contending sides. But upon whichever side
found, they fought fearlessly to death and gallant sacrifice. Now
happily there are no contending sides in this glorious Common
wealth or in any part of our common country. The men who
opposed each other in dreadful battle a third of a century ago are
once more and forever united together under one flag in a never-to-
be-broken Union.
"The glory of Tennessee is not alone in the brilliant names it
has contributed to history or the heroic patriotism displayed by the
people in so many crises of our national life, but its material and
industrial wealth, social advancement, and population are striking
and significant in their growth and development. Thirty-five thou
sand settlers in this State in 1790 had increased to 1,109,000 in
1 860, and to-day it has a population closely approximating 2,000,000.
Its manufactures, which in 1860 were small and unimportant, in
1890 had reached $72,000,000 in value, while its farm products now
aggregate more than $62,000,000 annually. Its river commerce on
three great waterways, its splendid railways operating nearly 3,000
miles of road, its mineral wealth of incalculable value, form a splendid
augury for the future. I am sure no better workmen could be found
than the people of Tennessee to turn these confident promises into
grand realities.
" Your Exposition shows better than any words of mine can. tell
the details of your wealth of resources and power of production.
You have done wisely in exhibiting these to your own people and to
your sister States, and at no time could the display be more effective
than now, when what the country needs more than all else is re
stored confidence in itself. This Exposition demonstrates directly
xciv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1703
your own faith and purpose and signifies in the widest sense your PERIOD vii
true and unfailing belief in the irrepressible pluck of the American *£*£**
people, and ,is a promising indication of the return of American- STATES
prosperity. The knowledge which this beautiful and novel Exposition
gives will surely stimulate competition, develop your trade, increase
your output, enlarge your fields of employment, extend your markets,
and so eventually pay for all it cost, as well as justify local sentiment
and encourage state pride.
"Men and women I see about me from all parts of the country,
and thousands more will assemble here before the Exposition is
closed. Let ourselves and let them always remember that what
ever differences ' about politics may have existed, or still exist, we
are all Americans before we are partisans, and value the welfare of
all the people above party or section. Citizens of different States,
we yet love all the States. The lesson of the hour, then, is this —
that whatever adverse conditions may temporarily impede the path
way of our national progress, nothing can permanently defeat it."
At the conclusion of the President's speech, Major Thomas intro
duced Judge J. M. Dickinson, who, in behalf of the Ladies' Hermitage
Association, presented Major McKinley with a hickory cane cut from
the Hermitage grounds. After the speaking in the auditorium the
President and party inspected the different buildings, and returned
to the city late in the evening.
The following day was spent in attending the dedication of the
Cincinnati Building and inspecting the exhibits of the various build
ings, the party leaving in the evening for Washington.
The officers of the Exposition Company were: John W. Thomas, officers
president; director -general, E. C. Lewis; commissioner -general, v?{t^*-m
A. W. Willis; chief of the Fine Arts and History Department, tion
Theodore Cooley; chief of the Machinery Department, H. C. White;
chief of the Bureau of Promotion and Publicity, Herman Justi.
COPYRIGHT 189B
THE UNSEEN HEROES ON A WARSHIP
FROM THE ORIGINAL DRAWING BY VICTOR P. PERARl.
CHAPTER XCV
McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION— 1897-1901
(CONTINUED)
LITERATURE AND INVENTION
[Authorities: It is an interesting question in casuistry to decide whether the world
owes more for all that makes life worth living and progress possible to its authors of
genius, or to its great inventors and organizers. Sir William Hamilton insists that man
should be educated not so much as an instrument for the benefit of others, as with the
object of making the most of his faculties — in short, as '*an end unto himself." Soc
rates taught tnat a man's principal object should be to become "beautiful and good,"
There is, on the ot.ner hand, a utilitarian view of life that is held by many. The Ger
mans have divided the various^ studies that men pursue in their search for self-culture
into two great classes. One of these they call the Brotwissenschaften — the bread-and-
butter sciences. In this country particularly, we are prone to put more stress upon emi
nence in science and invention than upon literary triumphs. We hear the names of Edi
son and Tesla *nore frequently than those of Longfellow and Lowell. We have a strong
suspicion that vhe nint of culture and refinement involved in our praise of an author tempts
many to utter tneir encomiums upon the work of literary men. Besides, it is easier to
read and understand their works than to prepare ourselves to talk intelligently about the
scientific principles involved in inventions and discoveries.
Authorities ure the various accepted biographies of the men that are mentioned.]
[UR country has made advances in literature and in
vention corresponding with its progress in science,
discovery, and art. There was a time within the
memory of those now living, when the remark was
made by an English critic that no one read an
American book, but the slur, if partly true in the
early years of the Republic, has long since lost all
force. American authors are read as widely to
day in Europe as are foreign writers read on this side of the At
lantic. The number at the present time is too vast for enumera-
ionjf cUoui) "Housr
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIODVII tion in these pages, while every decade brings to the front a
TUNi?!iT multitude to charm, delight, and instruct in all the varied branches
STATES of literature.
There are a few names, however, so interwoven with the early
development of American letters that justice requires a reference to
them. William Cullen Bryant, born in 1798, died in 1878, won dis-
Bryant tinction at the early age of thirteen years by his spirited poem " The
Embargo." This was followed by many others, his most famous
short poem being " Thanatopsis," written in his teens, all of which
displayed high poetic ability, and extended his reputation in every
civilized country. He was editor-in-chief of The New York Evening
Post from 1828 until his death a half-century later. His paper
was noted for its virility, elevated tone, and thoroughly democratic
spirit. Mr. Bryant was an ardent supporter of the Government dur
ing the Civil War, aided in forming the Republican Party, and was
a zealous participant in all public questions. His death was due to
an accidental fall, while his mind was in its full vigor, and he was
as active physically as many men of half his years.
Long- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, born in 1807 and died in 1882,
first became popular through his "Psalm of Life," written in 1838.
This was followed by "Hyperion," "Hiawatha," "Tales of a Way.
side Inn," " The Courtship of Miles Standish," and a translation of
Dante. His amiable qualities made him popular with all, and in
England he divides honors with Lord Tennyson, poet laureate.
Longfellow is probably the most widely read of any poet in his
own country.
Holmes Oliver Wendell Holmes, born in 1809, and died in 1894, was an
eminent physician whose great distinction was won in literature.
Many of his minor poems are- gems, and his genial wit and humor
are of the most delightful nature. He was one of the founders of
The Atlantic Monthly in 1857, in which appeared his "Autocrat of
the Breakfast Table," "Professor at the Breakfast Table," "Elsie
Venner," and other works. In addition, he wrote the memoirs of
John Lothrop Motley and of Ralph Waldo Emerson. As a wit,
Holmes outranks all other American poets, and his sparkling, grace
ful humor is a source of constant delight.
Whittier john Greenleaf Whittier, the "good Quaker poet," born in 1807
and died in 1892, was a member of the Massachusetts legislature
from 1835 to 1836. It may be said that he was born with an inex-
CHAP, xcv McKiNLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1707
tinguishable dislike of slavery, some of his most vigorous poems
being aimed at that institution. He was made secretary of the
American Anti-Slavery Society in 1836, edited The Pennsylvania
Freeman from 1838 to 1839, and furnished editorials to The National
Era, a Washington anti-slavery paper, from 1847 to 1859. Whittier
UNITED
STATES
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT
was a man of broad, philanthropic spirit, greatly beloved and second
only to Longfellow in popularity. Among his best-known works are
" Legends of New England" and " Snow-Bound," while some of his
single poems are ranked as classics.
James Russell Lowell, born in 1819 and died in 1891, was grad
uated at Harvard and gave his attention to belles-lettres, finally
becoming professor of that department and of modern languages at
his university. He was a man of great genius, who served with
Lowell
I7o8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD vii marked honor as editor of The Atlantic Monthly and of The North
THE NEW American Review. His essays, "Among My Books," etc., his
UNITED J ' J
STATES pOems, "Cathedral," "Fable for. Critics," "Commemoration Ode,"
and many others, are masterpieces. He was among the sturdiest
opponents of slavery, and his " Biglow Papers," 1846-1848, did a
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
great deal in organizing the opposition to that institution. A second
series were published during the war. Mr. Lowell was United
States Minister to Spain, 1877-1880, and to England, 1880-1885.
In both of these exalted stations he won general respect and esteem.
A number of his papers on political philosophy are contained in
"Democracy and Other Essays."
Ralph Waldo Emerson, born in 1803, died in 1882, was ordained
Emerson as a clergyman in 1829, but resigned his pastorate three years later,
because he could not accept the formalities practised in the church.
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1709
He then entered upon his notable career as a lecturer, mostly upon PERIOD vn
biographical and philosophical subjects, besides contributing largely
to periodicals and publishing works on philosophy and literature.
His profound learning and majestic genius have left him thus far
•UNITED
STATES
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES
rival
in
influence upon the
thoughtful
minds of our
without a
country.
William Hickling Prescott, born in 1796, died in 1859, was the
grandson of William Prescott, who commanded at Bunker Hill. He
was graduated from Harvard in 1814, but while at sport with some
fellow students he received an injury to his eyes that rendered him
partially blind for the remainder of his life. His wealth enabled
him to pursue his prolonged historical researches, with the result
that he produced a number of works of great value and possessing
Prescott
1710
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD vii marked attractiveness of style. " Ferdinand and Isabella" appeared
THE NEW in 1838; " Conquest of Mexico" in 1843; "Conquest of Peru" in
1847; "Philip the Second" in 1855-1858, while he also continued
Robertson's " Charles V."
Jared Sparks, born in 1789, died in 1866, was graduated from
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER
Sparks Harvard in 1815. He was a Unitarian clergyman for a short time
and was appointed editor of The North American Review in 1824,
filling the place for seven years. He became professor in Harvard
and was president of the college from 1849 to 1853. He was the-
author of many valuable historical works, including the " Diplomatic
Correspondence of the American Republic, " in twelve volumes, the
" Life and Writings of Washington," the " Library of American
Biography," a biography of Gouverneur Morris, and an edition of
Franklin's works.
CHAP. XCV
McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1711
John Lothrop Motley, born in 1814 and died in 1877, was a PERIOD vn
student at Harvard and Gottingen, and afterwards secretary of the '^^7
United States legation at St. Petersburg in 1841. His "Rise of the STATES
'Dutch Republic" appeared in 1856 and displayed brilliant research
and scholarship. From 1861 to 1868 he produced "The History of
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
the United Netherlands," a work of great value, and in 1874 ap
peared his "Life of John Barneveld." Mr. Motley was Minister to
Austria from 1861 to 1867, and to England from 1869 to 1875.
Francis Parkman, born in 1823, died in 1893, was at the time of Parkman
his death the foremost American historian. His works relate
chiefly to the rise and fall of French power in America, and are
characterized by a graphic, picturesque style and thorough impar
tiality. The 'most important are "The Conspiracy of Pontiac,"
in
1712
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
STATES
vn "Pioneers of France in the New World," "The Discovery of the
Great West," "The Jesuits in North America," "The Old Regime
in Canada," " Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV.,"
"Montcalm and Wolfe," and "A Half-Century Conflict."
George Bancroft, born in 1800, died in 1891, was the greatest o/
all American historians. Possessing abundant means, he was grad
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
Bancroft uated at Harvard, studied in Germany, and upon his return to this
country became prominent as a Democratic politician. The first
volume of his history of the United States appeared in 1834 and
quickly attained great popularity. The remaining volumes of this
monumental work were regularly published until 1882. Although it
stops before reaching our modern stage of development, it forms a
magnificent library of itself of incalculable value' to all students of
the history of our country.
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1713
STATKS
Mr. Bancroft was Secretary of the Navy under President Polk, PERIOD vn
1845-46, established the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1845,
and in 1846 caused the seizure of California by Commodore Sloat.
From 1846 to 1849 ne was Minister to Great Britain, and from 1867
to 1874 Minister to Germany.
William L. Stone, born in New York State, 1792, died in 1844.
WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT
After editing a number of newspapers, he took charge in 1821, of the
N. Y. Commercial Advertiser. In 1832, he published a series of letters
advocating the abandonment of Free Masonry, this advocacy being
due to the excitement caused by the Morgan incident. He was the first
superintendent of schools of New York City. He wrote and published
extensively, his productions including "Border Wars of the American
Revolution," "Life of Joseph Brant," "Life of Red Jacket," "Poetry,
and History of Wyoming," "Uncas and Miantonomah," "Maria
Monk," and "Ups and Downs in the Life of a Distressed Gentleman."
W.L.
Stone,
the
Elder
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD vn Washington Irving, born in 1783, died in 1859, issued in 1807,
TUNi?BDr *n partnership with his brother, the publication Salmagundit whose
STATES vivacity roused general curiosity and admiration. In 1808 ap
peared his "Knickerbocker History of New York," one of the most
humorous works that has ever appeared in any language. His
WASHINGTON IRVING
Irving "Sketch-Book," published in 1819, achieved a marked success.
Then followed "Tales of a Traveller," "Life of Columbus," "The
Conquest of Granada," and " The Alhambra," all of which added to
and strengthened his reputation. His " Life of Washington," pub
lished in five volumes in 1855, is his most ambitious work. As an
historian Irving lacks originality, but the smooth, exquisite grace of
his style is a continual delight, fully the equal of Goldsmith, and
surpassing perhaps that of any other American writer. The great
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1715
popularity of Irving irt Europe and his native country was not wholly PERIODVII
due to the charm of his writings, but partly to his genial person- ^WED
ality, which left him at his death without an enemy. He was secre- STATES
tary of legation in London from 1829 to 1832, and Minister to
Spain from 1842 to 1846.
Fitz-Greene Halleck, born in 1790, died in 1867, was one of the
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
most graceful and polished of our minor poets. He served as Halleck
counting-room clerk for John Jacob Astor from 1811 to 1849. He
was associated in 1819 with Joseph Rodman Drake in publishing
the Croakers. His most widely-known poems are "Marco Bozzaris,"
"Twilight," "Fanny," "Address to Red Jacket," and " Young
America."
Edgar Allan Poe, born in 1809, died in 1849, was a remarkable
and erratic genius. He was a cadet for a time at the Military
Po*
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP,
Academy at West Point, but became a wanderer, subject to varying
rnoods and addicted at times to the wildest excesses. His death in
a Baltimore hospital was due to his unfortunate weakness for strong
drink, which seemed at times uncontrollable. As a critic he was
incisive, sarcastic, and merciless. Many of his sketches displayed a
Haw
thorne
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
gloomy, weird power united with wonderful grace and ingenuity
His most widely-known poems are "The Raven" and "Annabel
Lee."
Nathaniel Hawthorne, born in 1804, died in 1864, was the most
gifted of all American writers of romance. His perfect style ren
ders his works classics that may well serve as models for those who
come after him. He wrote at first for various periodicals, but his
•'Twice-Told Tales," published in 1837, and his "Scarlet Letter"
in 1849, elevated his name beyond rivalry. He was a classmate and
CHAP.XCV McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1717
intimate friend of President Pierce, who appointed him Consul to PERIOPVI1
Liverpool in 1853, he retaining the office until the close of the Pres
idential term. It is a fact not generally known that Hawthorne was
the author of the educational and juvenile works which appeared un
der the pen name of "Peter Parley" (S. G. Goodrich). Hawthorne
Copyright
THOMAS A. EDISON
wrote them when a young man, but never made any claim to their
authorship.
James Fenimore Cooper, born in 1789, died in 1851, became
famous through his romances of American history. He entered the
navy in 1801 and resigned in 1811. He was thirty years of age
before he seemed to suspect his latent powers. Then, it is said, he
was so wearied one day with a novel he was reading, that he ex-
pressed the belief that he could do better work himself. The result
was "The Spy," one of the finest of all historical romances. This
Feni
more
Cooper
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES.
was followed in time by the " Leatherstocking Tales," with others
of less merit, some of which did not add to his reputation. His
"Leatherstocking Tales," however, glow with the very poetry of the
woods. One seems to scent the fragrance of the wild flowers, the
cdor of 'the bark, and to hear the sighing of the wind among the
branches, the plash of the mountain streams, the cry of the wolf, the
honk of the goose high in air, and the stealthy signals of the red
men. His Indians and "Leatherstocking" himself are idealized, but
they are none the less fascinating on that account, while his admirable
style and purity of sentiment give his works a place in American
literature which they will hold for generations to come.
Simms William Gilmore Simms, born in 1806, died in 1870, was the
most prominent author of the South during the first half of the
nineteenth century. He was an intense South Carolinian, though
strongly opposed to nullification in 1832, and an ardent disunionist
in 1860. The best of his poems is "Atlantis, a Tale of the Sea."
He wrote a large number of romances, chiefly illustrative of Southern
life, contributed many vigorous editorials to leading papers of his
State, and was diligent with his pen to the last. Some of his work
shows haste, but he possessed great virility and earned a creditable
place in literature. Mr. Simms had the finest library in the South,
but General Sherman, on his way from Atlanta to the sea, burned
every volume, as well as the mansion and its furniture. "All that I
saved," said Simms to the writer, "was a barrel of papers that
happened to be at a neighbor's house."
Henry R. Schoolcraft, born near Albany, 1793, died 1864, was a
distinguished ethnologist and scientific writer. In 1818, he made a
geological survey of Missouri and Arkansas. In 1820, he accom
panied General Cass on' his expedition to the Lake Superior copper
region, of which he published a narrative in 1821. He married the
daughter of a Chippewa chieftain in 1823, and while acting as Indian
agent, in 1832, discovered the sources of the Mississippi river in
Itasca Lake. In 1828, he founded the Michigan Historical Society.
His ethnological writings, which were numerous, are among the most
important contributions to American literature.
Gayarr6 Charles A. Gayarre, born in Louisiana, 1805, died 1895, published
in 1847, "Histoire dela Louisiane," and later, "Louisiana: its History
as a French Colony."
Hildreth Richard Hildreth, born in Massachusetts, 1807, died 1865,15 best
School-
craft
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1719
Lossing
Fiske
known by his "History of the United States," but also published PERIOD vn
"Despotism in America," and "Theory of Politics," and contributed r£%£*™
many able articles to the Boston Atlas, a noted W7hig publication of STATES
which he was long associate editor.
Benson J. Lossing, born in New York State, 1813, died 1891. He
learned wood engraving, was an editor, and in 1850-52 produced
"The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution," in thirty illustrated
parts. This was followed by "The Hudson from the Wilderness to
the Sea," "Life and Times of Philip Schuyler," "Pictorial Field Book
of the Civil War in the United States," and "Pictorial Field Book of
the War of 1812." In addition, he published a large number of
works, mostly of a biographical and historical character, relating to the
United States. He also edited and annotated a number of volumes.
John Fiske, born in Hartford, Conn., 1842, died 1901, was an
indefatigable worker and hardly knew the meaning of a vacation. He
stood pre-eminently for the best Boston traditions in moral or social
life, as essayist, philosopher, historian and lecturer. The late Herbert
Spencer said of him: "Beyond all question, he did an important
service in diffusing, popularizing and elucidating the doctrine of
evolution, while giving new illustrations and extension special to him
self." When he entered Harvard at the age of eighteen, he not only
possessed an excellent knowledge of the classics, but read Portuguese,
Italian, German, Spanish and French, and knew considerable of
Swedish, Danish, Dutch and other languages. His first book, "Myths
and Myth-Makers," appeared in 1872, and his "Outlines of Cosmic
Philosophy" two years later, being based upon a series of lectures
delivered in 1869 and 1871. The work attracted marked attention
on both sides of the Atlantic, and Mr. Fiske was launched upon his
long career. "The Unseen World and Other Essays," "Darwinism
and Other Essays," and "The Excursions of an Evolutionist"
•followed, and were succeeded by "The Destiny of Man" and "The
Idea of God." His later years were devoted mainly to works on
different epochs of American history. Physically he was of great
bulk, and his death was due to exhaustion from extreme heat. Had
he lived longer, he would have written a complete history of the
United States, and the life of Christ, the Man, in the light of
archaeological discovery and modern thought.
John Clark Ridpath, born in Indiana, 1841, died 1900, took first
honors at DePauw University in 1863, and six years later was called
Ridpath
1/20
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD viz to the chair of English literature in that institution, and was trans
ferred later to the chair of history and political philosophy. He
displayed ability to think clearly, speak fluently and to write with
charming and graphic power. His first book, "Academic History of
the United States," was published in 1,874 and 1875, and proved
STATES
JOHN CLARK RIDPATH
highly popular. He abridged it into a "Grammar School History,"
which was widely used as a text book in schools. His. "Popular
History of the United States" appeared in 1876, and quickly
attained a large circulation, being translated . and published in
German. His " Cyclopedia of Universal History," a work in four
large octavo volumes, had an immense sale. His success as #n
author by this time (1885) was so assured that he made writing
his life work. Ten years were spent in gathering the material for
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1721
"The Great Races of Mankind," his most important production, and
four more years in moulding it into shape. Dr. Ridpath published
the "Life and Times of Gladstone" in 1898, and a supplement to
the " History of all Nations" for Webster's Dictionary. He was one
of the editors of "The People's Cyclopedia," wrote numerous mono
graphs, and spent the latter years of his life in preparing a complete
and elaborate history of the United States.
Hubert Howe Bancroft, born in Ohio, 1832, and a resident of
California, made his life-work the collection of a library of 60,000
volumes as materials for Pacific Coast history, and the publication of
thirty-nine volumes covering the western part of North America, in
which he had the aid of a large staff of collaborators.
Samuel Adams Drake, born in Boston, 1833, wrote many books
descriptive of New England scenery, history and legend, such as
"Historic Mansions and Highways Around Boston," "Heart of the
White Mountains," "New England -Legends and Folk Lore," "The
Making of New England," "The Border Wars of New England,"
"Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast." He also wrote,
"The Making of the Ohio Valley States," "The Campaign of
Trenton," "The Making of Virginia," and other standard volumes.
William L. Stone, the younger, born in New York, 1835, was the
Centennial historian for the State of New York, at Philadelphia in 1876.
Among his historical works are "Burgoyne's Campaign and St. Leger's
Expedition," "History of New York City," "Third Supplement to
Bowling's History of Romanism," and about ninety sketches in Apple-
ton's General Cyclopedia and Appleton's Biographical Cyclopedia.
James K. Hosmer, born in Massachusetts, 1834, was professor of
English and German literature in Washington University, St. Louis,
from 1874 to 1892, since which time he has been librarian of the
Minneapolis Public Library. His most important books are, "Short
History of German Literature," "Story of the Jews," "Short History
of Anglo-Saxon Freedom," "Short History of the Mississippi Valley,"
"History of the Louisiana Purchase," and "Life of Samuel Adams,"
in the "American Statesmen" series. He edited, in 1902, "The
Expedition of Lewis and Clark," and acted in that year as president
of the American Library Association.
James Schouler, born at Arlington, Massachusetts, 1839, has been
professor in the law school of Boston University, and lecturer at
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. He is the author of "The Law
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
H. H.
Bancroft
Drake
Wm. L.
Stone,
the
Younger
Hosmer
SchouJer
1722
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD vii of Domestic Relations," "The Law of Bailments," "The Law of
TUNi?EBiT Personal Property," "The Law of Husband and Wife," "The Law
STATES of Executors and Administrators," "The Law of Wills," "Life of
Thomas Jefferson," "Historical Briefs," "History of the United
States," in six volumes, and "Alexander Hamilton."
Mahan
ALFRED T. MAHAN
Alfred T. Mahan, Captain U. S. N., retired, born at West Point,
N. Y., 1840, was graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy at
Annapolis. He served through the Civil War, and afterward in the
Atlantic, Pacific, Asiatic and European squadrons; was President of
the Naval War College, Newport, R. I., 1886-88 and 1892-93; and
member of the Naval Advisory Board during the war with Spain.
He has been President of the American Historical Institution, and is
a life member of the Royal United Service Institution, England. He
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1723
is acknowledged on both sides of the Atlantic as an expert on naval
subjects. Among his valuable works are, "The Gulf and Inland ^Jf™
Waters," "Influence of Sea Power Upon History," "Life of Admiral STATK*
Farragut," "Life of Nelson," "The Interest of the United States in
Sea Power," "Lessons of the Spanish War," "The Problem of
Asia," and "Types of Naval Officers."
Edward Eggleston, born in Indiana, 1837, died 1902, wrote novels Eggles-
which have been translated into several languages, but he regarded ton
them only as an aid to his preparations for historical work. He
wrote a number of school histories, and, in 1896 and 1900, published
two volumes in what was intended to be an elaborate history of our
country. These were entitled, "The Beginners of a Nation," and
"The Transit of Civilization."
Elisha B. Andrews, born in New Hampshire, 1844, has written Andrews
"Institutes of Constitutional History, English and American,"
" Institutes of General History," "Institutes of Economics," "An
Honest Dollar," "Wealth and Moral Law," "History of the United
States," and "History of the Last Quarter Century in the United
States." He has served as President of Denison University ; Pro
fessor of Homiletics, Newton Theological Institution ; Professor
of History and Political Economy, Brown University ; Professor of
Political Economy and Finance, Cornell University ; President of
Brown University ; and Superintendent of Schools, in Chicago.
Since 1900, he has been Chancellor of the University of Nebraska.
Moses Coit Tyler, an educator born in Connecticut, 1835, was
appointed Professor of American History at Cornell University in j0hns"0'n
1881, and wrote "A History of American Literature," etc. He died and
Winsor
in 1901. Alexander Johnston, born in Brooklyn, 1849, was *n J^3
Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Economy at Princeton. He
wrote a history of the United States, and "History of American
Politics," and died in 1901. Justin Winsor, born in Massachusetts,
1831, died in 1897, was Superintendent of the Boston Public
Library, 1868-77, an(^ tnen became librarian of Harvard. He wrote
a history of Duxbury, Mass., "Songs of Unity," " Bibliography of
the Original Quartos and Folios of Shakspeare," "Reader's Hand
Book of the Revolution," and a number of manuscripts on historical
subjects, his greatest work being the " Narrative and Critical His
tory of America," which is accepted as an authority on the subject.
Henry Cabot Lodge, born in Boston, 1850, has represented Lodge
1724 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD vn Massachusetts in the United States Senate since 1893, and has
w"tten noteworthy books, such as " Essays on Anglo-Saxon Land
Law," " Studies in History," "History of Boston," "Story of the
American Revolution," " Short History of the English Colonies in
America," and several volumes in the " American Statesmen" series.
McMas- John Bach McMaster, born in Brooklyn, 1852, has been Professor
of American History in the University of Pennsylvania since 1883.
His " History of the People of the United States," in five volumes,.
is a masterly work. Other publications are, "Origin, Meaning and
Application of the Monroe Doctrine," "Benjamin Franklin as a
Man of Letters," "Daniel Webster," and "With the Fathers."
Wilson Woodrow Wilson, born in Virginia, 1856, became Professor of
History and Political Economy at Bryn Mawr College in 1885, and
from 1888-90, acted in a similar capacity at Wesley an University.
In the latter year he accepted the chair of Jurisprudence and Politics
at Princeton, and has been president of the University since 1902.
His contributions to the magazines on the serious topics of the day,
his talent as a lecturer, his high collegiate office, and his thoughtful
and finished authorship, make him one of the foremost educators of
the country. Among his works are, "Congressional Government, a
Study in American Politics," "The State: Elements of Historical
and Practical Politics," "Division and Reunion," "Mere Literature
and Other Essays," "George Washington," and "A History of the
American People."
Roose- Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, has written-
several books that entitle him to mention in this chapter. They are,,
"Winning of the West," "History of the Naval War of 1812,"
"Ranch Life and Hunting Trail," "History of New York,""
"American Ideals and Othep- Essays," "Life of Oliver Cromwell,"
"Life of Thos. H. Benton," and "The Strenuous Life."
When we come to speak of the American songsters who have-
delighted and charmed their readers during and since the days of
Bryant, Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes and Lowell, the list is long
and of necessity incomplete ; for, in many instances, the poet has-
uttered only one or two songs, and then remained mute. Some of the
fugitive pieces, which appeared in obscure publications, displayed
true poetic feeling, but they are so numerous that it is impossible to
name even a majority of the productions. The following, there
fore, is only a partial record, to which additions are continually
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1725
being made, with the certainty that, sooner or later, more than one of PERIOD vn
the authors will take rank beside the master poets of the past century. THE~NEW
Philip Freneau, born in New York City, 1752, died 1832, wrote STATES
poems while in college. President Jefferson appointed him trans
lator for the Department of State. At the same time he assumed
the editorship of the National Gazette, and greatly offended Hamilton Freneau
by his attacks on the Federalists. "A Voyage to Boston" attracted
general attention, in addition to which he wrote many pieces of a
miscellaneous nature.
Nathaniel P. Willis, born in Portland, Maine, 1807, died in 1870, Willis
was a brilliant and graceful writer of prose and poetry, and was very Mand-
popular in the middle of the last century. George Pope Morris is
remembered as one of the greatest American writers of songs.
Though not the most ambitious of his efforts, the poem "Woodman,
Spare that Tree," and others of simple sentiments, will live the
longest. He was born in Philadelphia, 1802, and died in 1864.
Bayard Taylor came of Quaker stock, and was born in Penn-
sylvania, 1825, and died 1878. He was a great traveler. His various
journeys included visits to California, Egypt, Palestine, Japan,
China, India, Sweden, Denmark, Lapland, Greece, Russia, Crete,
etc., descriptions of which were written with admirable power and
skill. During these busy years his most spirited writings were in
verse. These included "Rhymes of Travel," "Californian Ballads,"
"A Book of Romances," and "Poems of the Orient." He tried
novel writing also, pleasing the popular taste, and produced several
dramas.
Walt Whitman, born on Long Island in 1819, died 1892, was Whit.
called "The Good Gray Poet" by his friends among the critics. man
He traveled much over the country on foot, and chose the forces of
nature for his principal themes in poetry. Disregarding the technical
requirements of versification, he was startlingly original and he
sometimes shocked by the directness of his language. His pro
ductions are "Leaves of Grass," "Drum Taps," "Passage to
India," "After All Not to Create Only," "As Strong as a Bird on
Pinions Free," etc. R. W. Emerson said of "Leaves of Grass,"
" I find it the most extraordinary wit and wisdom that America has
yet contributed." Whitman's final poem was " Sands of Seventy."
Albert Pike, born in Boston, 1809, died 1891, was a teacher in pike
early life, and removing to Arkansas, edited the Arkansas Advocate
1726
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
until 1834, when he became its owner and two years later sold the
property. He served as a captain of cavalry in the war with Mexico,
studied law, and made a large .amount of money in advocating
Indian claims before the Government. His best known poems are
"Hymns to the Gods," "Ode to the Mocking Bird," "Ariel,"
THE NEW
STATES
ALBERT PIKE
"Lines Written on the Rocky Mountains," "To Spring," and "To
Jupiter." He attained the r&nk of brigadier-general in the service
of the Confederacy, but at Pea Ridge, the Indians under his com
mand became uncontrollable and scalped friends and foes impar
tially. Pike's military career came to an inglorious ending. He
was one of the most prominent Free Masons in the world, being
33rd M. P. Sovereign Commander of the Supreme Council for the
Southern Jurisdiction of the United States.
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1727
Alice Gary, born near Cincinnati, 1820, wrote poems of exquisite
delicacy and sweetness, collaborating with her sister Phoebe, who
was one of the wittiest women in the country. Phrebe was the
author of the hymn, "One Sweetly Solemn Thought," treasured by
all the English-speaking world, and their joint volume, " Poems of
Faith, Hope and Love," has comforted and cheered many hearts.
The sisters were never separated, and died in the same year, 1871.
Julia Ward Howe, born in New York, 1819, is the author of the
famous "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Passion Flowers,"
"Later Lyrics," and prose works, including her "Reminiscences,"
published in 1899. She has been an active worker for woman
suffrage, prison reform, international peace, etc., both as a lecturer
and a writer.
Alfred B. Street, born in New York State, 1811, died 1881, wrote
poetry at an early age and attained a creditable rank, some of his
productions being translated into German. He contributed sixteen
poems to "Forest Pictures in the Adirondacks," and in 1866 his
poetical works were collected and published in two volumes. From
1848 until his death he was State Librarian of New York.
Wm. Ross Wallace, born in Kentucky, 1819, wrote many vigorous
poems for the leading periodicals of the day, often choosing patriotic
themes, as " Of Thine Own Country Sing." He died in 1881.
Richard Henry Stoddard, poet and essayist, was born in Massa
chusetts, 1825, and died in 1903. He began writing early, and
printed privately a collection of his poems. In 1880 he became
literary editor of the Mail and Express. Among his noteworthy
books are, "Adventures in Fairyland," "Songs of Summer,"
"Town and Country Life," "Life and Travels of Alexander von
Humboldt," "The King's Bell," "Abraham Lincoln; a Horatian
Ode," and others. He edited numerous works and annuals, and
made several translations.
Edmund Clarence Stedman, born in Connecticut, 1833, is the
author of "Poets of America," and "Victorian Poets," and is
himself a poet of no mean order. After the disastrous battle of
Manassas, Lincoln read to his Cabinet Stedman's war ballad,
"Wanted — a Man," which rings with sincerity and passion. His
critical and poetical writings since 1860 fill many volumes. He has
also edited the "Library of American Literature," "A Victorian
Anthology," "An American Anthology," and the poems of Austin
PERIOD vn
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
The Gary
Sisters
Howe
Street
Wallace
Stoddard
Stedman
1728
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Aldrich
Trow-
bridge
Southern
Poets
Miller
Dobson and Edgar Allan Poe. In the preparation of the latter
work, which is in eleven volumes, he collaborated with Prof. Geo.
E. Woodberry.
Thomas Bailey Aldrich, born in Portsmouth, N. H., 1.836, is one
of the most skilled American writers. He began his literary career
by doing editorial work in New York. From 1865 to 1874 he con
ducted "Every Saturday " in Boston, and edited the Atlantic Monthly
from 1881 to 1890, since which time he has devoted himself to
authorship. His poems are most delicately conceived and executed,
and his "Story of a Bad Boy," "Queen of Sheba," " Stillwater
Tragedy," and other prose works are additions to the best in lit
erature.
J. T. Trowbridge, born in New York State, 1827, but a resident
of Boston since 1848, has done excellent work in both prose and
poetry, having published one or more books each year since 1853,
besides attending to his editorial duties. He handles homely sub
jects in his poems, with a genial humor and tender pathos. His
novels, "Neighbor Jackwood," and "Cudjo's Cave," were widely
circulated during and after the Civil War, and "Jack Hazard" and
many other boys' books attained great popularity.
Paul Hamilton Hayne, was a highly-talented writer, born in
Charleston, S. C., 1830. He published several volumes of poems,
comprising war lyrics, quiet thoughts inspired by the study of nature,
and domestic sketches. He died in 1886. Sidney Lanier, a
Georgian poet, had a large nature and a sense of harmony of sound
which is lacking iri some of our noted poets. He suffered for years
from an illness which ended his life in 1881, at the age of 39, but
despite this handicap he produced work of a high order of merit.
Abr.aham Joseph Ryan, known as " Father Ryan," was a beloved
Southern poet, born in Virginia, 1839, died 1886. He was a Cath
olic priest and served as a Confederate chaplain during the Civil
War. "The Conquered Banner" is a touching tribute to "The
Lost Cause," while all his work breathes resignation, peace, and
hope for troubled hearts.
Cincinnatus Heine, better known by his pen name "Joaquin
Miller," stands at the head of Pacific Coast poets, and indeed his
work has a glowing color hardly equaled by any other American.
He was born in Indiana, 1841, but removed with his parents to
Oregon when a boy. After a checkered life as miner, express mes-
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1729
senger, editor and lawyer in Oregon and Idaho, he went to London PERIODVII
and there published his first volume of poems It was favorably THE~NEW
111-1- i- UNITED
received and his literary standing has ever since been assured. He STATES
has resided on the heights near Oakland, overlooking the Bay of
San Francisco, since 1887, and from this ideal environment has
sent forth, " Songs of the Sierras," "Songs of the Sunland,"
"Memorie and Rime," "Songs of Far- Away Lands," "Chants for
the Boer," "The Building of the City Beautiful," and other volumes.
Miss Ina D. Coolbrith, for many years librarian of the Oakland Cooibrith
Public Library, displays the qualities of a genuine artist in her two ^p^^
collections of poems, "Songs from the Golden Gate," and "A Per
fect Day and Other Poems. " Herbert Bashford, born in Iowa, 187 1 ,
and Mrs. Ella Higginson, born in Kansas, 1862, have given us
notable songs from the Northwest. Mr. Bashford contributes verse
to the magazines, and has published "Songs from Puget Sea."
Mrs. Higginson's books include two collections of poems, several
volumes of short stories, and a novel, "Mariella of Out West,"
A career of remarkable promise was cut short in 1903 by the sudden
death of Miss Virna Woods, of Sacramenco, Cal. Of her lyrical
drama, "The Amazons," Gladstone said, "I admire its poetic force
and its Hellenic spirit." Her tragedies in blank verse were accepted
by prominent actors for stage use, and it was during a visit to San
Francisco to witness the first performance of one of her plays that
she contracted her fatal illness. She was the author of several novels.
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, born in Massachusetts, 1844, is an phelps
inspiring and spiritual writer who first gained fame as the author d
of "Gates Ajar," "The Gates Wide Open," and "The Gates
Between." Numerous books followed, including "Poetic Studies,"
'Songs of the Silent World," and other poems of high order.
A leading place among literati is occupied by Mrs. Louise Chandler
Moulton, who, born in Connecticut, 1835, has published books since
1854, and is still a contributor to the magazines. Her winters are
spent in Boston and her summers in London. In both cities her
weekly receptions have long been the centre of attraction for authors
and artists, and form the nearest approach to a salon now in exist
ence. Her poems are exquisite, and as a critic she has settled the
fate of many a book with her kindly, but keen and just opinions.
Among her works are "Swallow Flights," "In the Garden of
Dreams," "A* the Wind's Will," and some graceful stories.
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES.
Prof.
Wood-
berry
Riley
and
Field
Gilder
and
Cheney
Mark-
ham
Knowles
In the opinion of many scholars, the poems of Professor Geo. E.
Woodberry rank with the productions of James Russell Lowell.
He was born in Massachusetts, 1855. After his graduation from
Harvard, lie was first Professor of English in the University of
Nebraska, and a member of the editorial staff of The Nation. In
1891 he accepted the chair of Comparative Literature in' Columbia
University, resigning in 1904 to assume editorial duties with a pub
lishing firm of New York City. His "North Shore Watch and
Other Poems" was published in 1890, 'after ward came "Studies in
Letters and Life," "Heart of Man/' "Makers of Literature,"
"Nathaniel Hawthorne," "America in Literature," and a new col
lection ot poems issued in 1904. He has edited "The Complete
Poems of Shelley," also the Essays of Bacon and of Lamb, and
is the editor of The Journal of Comparative Literature.
James Whitcomb Riley, born in Indiana, 1853, is known as "The
Hoosier Poet," much of his verse being in the Western dialect.
It has been collected in some eighteen volumes, the first of which is
"The Old Swimmin' Hole and 'Leven More Poems." He has a
strong hold on the hearts of the people. Essentially a poet of the
children was Eugene Field, born in Missouri, 1850, but during most
of his life a member of the staff on various Chicago newspapers.
His deservedly popular works include "A Little Book of Western
Verse," "A Little Book of Profitable Tales," "With Trumpet and
Drum," etc. He died in 1895.
Richard Watson Gilder, editor of the Century, and born in New
Jersey, 1844, has published several volumes of verse. They are
characterized by a fine receptiveness and a boldness of expression.
John Vance Cheney, born in New York State, 1848, has a dainty
art, evidenced in "Thistle-Drift," "Wood-Blooms," and "Out of
the Silence." He is librarian of the Newberry Library, Chicago.
Edwin Markham,born in Oregon, 1852, was principal of a school
in Oakland, Cal., when his poem, "The Man with the Hoe," first
printed in the San Francisco Examiner, attracted general notice.
After deciding to give his whole attention to literature, he removed
to the State of New York. In his most recent volumes, "Lincoln
and Other Poems" and "Field Folk," he shows power, fine imagery
and poetic fervor. Frederick L. Knowles, born in Massachusetts^
1869, is a new poet of marked promise. His first book, "On Life's
Stairway," was fresh and original, and the lyrics and sonnets of
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1731
"Love Triumphant," issued in 1904, reveal a definite advance in PERIOD vn
mastery of his art. TH^NEW
Clinton Scollard, born in New York State, 1860, is a graceful STATES)
poet whose work finds ready acceptance in the magazines and has Scollard
been issued in a number of volumes. Hezekiah Butterworth, born and
in Rhode Island, 1839, nas composed some fine poems, which have worth"
been collected in two volumes. His work all counts for good and
consists of more than fifty books, mostly for the young.
Paul Laurence Dunbar, born in Ohio, 1872, is the best represent- Dunbar
ative of the African race in the poetic field. His poems have been
published in a dozen or more volumes, the principal of which are
"Lyrics of Lowly Life," "Folks from Dixie," "Lyrics of the
Hearthside," "Poems of Cabin and Field," and "Lyrics of Love
and Laughter." In addition, he is the author of the novels, " The
Sport of the Gods" and "The Fanatics," and at this writing is
busily engaged upon a play.
The plantation melodies, words and music, of Stephen C. Foster Foster
stamped him as a genius in his chosen field. In their peculiar
sweetness they have never been surpassed. For "Old Folks At
Home" he received $15,000. He was born in Pennsylvania, 1826,
and died in 1864.
Louise Imogen Guiney, born in Boston, 1861, has attained high
rank as a poet, besides doing excellent work in prose. Ella Wheeler
Wilcox's work is voluminous, and shows a steady improvement with Other
the passing years. She was born in Wisconsin, 1855. Harriet
Prescott Spofford, born in Maine, 1835, has published several
volumes of excellent verse, and a dozen or so books of fiction.
Lilian Whiting is an accomplished critic of literature and art, and
the author of refined and uplifting thoughts in her eleven volumes of
prose and poetry. Lucy Larcom (died 1893), Edna Dean Proctor,
Julia C. R. Dorr, Celia Thaxter (died 1894), Rose Terry Cooke
(died 1892), Mary Mapes Dodge, Louise B. Edwards, and other
women of talent and insight have contributed to American poesy.
The names of American story writers are legion. Although it is
asserted that our representative novelist has not yet appeared, more
than one have established their claims to a high place in imagina
tive literature.
Charles rJrockden Brown, born in Philadelphia, 1771, died in Brown
1 8 10, was the first American novelist who devoted his lite to litera-
1732
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES.
ture. His earliest publication was "Alcuin, a Dialogue on the
Rights of Women," followed by "Wieland, or the Transformation,"
and "Ormond, or the Secret Witness." His " Arthur Mervyn"
was a graphic picture of the desolation and ravages caused by yel
low fever in Philadelphia in 1793. He wrote other novels, did
editorial work, and issued a number of political pamphlets. Brown
wrote too much, and his romances are not of a high order, though
they were popular in their time. His imagination was powerful but
sometimes morbid, his descriptive ability good, and his conceptions
often intense.
Hale Edward Everett Hale, born in Boston, 1822, has been an editorial
writer on numerous journals, and is the author of " The Man With
out a Country," " Ten Times One is Ten," "My Double, and How
He Undid Me," and other well-known stories. In 1856, he became
pastor of the South Congregational (Unitarian) Church, Boston, and
is still the pastor emeritus. He has been the promoter of Chautau-
qua Circles and "Lend a Hand" clubs, and a strong advocate of
peace between nations. In 1902, he published " Memories of a
Hundred Years," rich in reminiscence. He was appointed Chaplain
of the United States Senate in 1903.
Mitchell Donald G. Mitchell, born in Connecticut, 1822, wrote delightful
books under the pseudonym of "Ik Marvel." Among them are:
"Reveries of a Bachelor," " Dream Life," "Rural Studies," "About
Old Story-Tellers, " "English Lands, Letters and Kings," " Amer
ican Lands and Letters," and descriptions of life and scenes at
Edgewood.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, born in Cambridge, Mass., 1823,
has published many books, including essays, biographies, histories,
poems and tales, notwithstanding the fact that he did not begin
literary work until he was forty years of age. After serving as a
Colonel in the Civil War, he was long a leader in philanthropic and
reformatory work, leaving the ministry for this purpose.
Howells William Dean Howells, born in Ohio, 1837, learned printing and
did newspaper work in early life. Before he was appointed U. S.
Consul to Venice, 1861, he had contributed poems to the Atlantic
Monthly. He held editorial positions on the N. Y. Nation from 1865
to 1872, and for the next nine years was editor of the Atlantic. He
was afterward connected with Harper's Magazine and the Cosmopoli
tan. Although his poems are graceful, his reputation rests mainly
Higgin
son
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1733
PER ion VI I
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Harte
Jackson
upon his novels. He is the foremost of American authors in the
field of realistic fiction. His works are numerous and include several
minor dramas which are much admired for their humorous situations
and cleverly managed dialogue.
Francis Bret Harte, born in New York State, 1839, died in 1902,
went to California in 1854 anc^ engaged in newspaper work, before
becoming the founder and editor of the Overland Monthly •, in which
some of his most famous stories and poems appeared. He was
appointed U. S. Consul at Crefeld in 1878, and transferred to Glas
gow in 1880. The last years of his life were spent in London. His
stories were of marked originality and depicted life in the mining
camps of the Sierra Nevadas. Among them were: -'The Luck of
Roaring Camp," "The Outcasts of Poker Flat," "Story of A
Mine," and "Tales of the Argonauts." His poem "The Heathen
Chinee" did much toward establishing his literary reputation.
Helen Hunt Jackson, born in Massachusetts, 1831, died 1885,
was the accredited author of the " Saxe Holm " stories and poems,
and also published, under the initials of " H. H.," "Mercy Phil-
brick's Choice," "Bits of Travel," and "Verses, Sonnets and
Lyrics." After her second marriage, she traveled through the Ter
ritories and became interested in the Indian question. She was ap
pointed by the Government to report on the condition and needs of the
Mission Indians, and wrote, on this topic, "A Century of Dishonor"
and "Ramona," one of the best known romances of California.
Francis R. Stockton, born in Philadelphia, 1834, died I9O2> began Stockton
life as an engraver, but became a journalist and the author of
quaintly humorous and original stories. The "Rudder Grange"
tjdes were his first success. His most noted short story is "The
Lady or the Tiger."
Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell, born in Philadelphia, 1830, writes excel
lent poetry and is the author of " Hugh Wynne," " Dr. North and
His Friends," etc. A volume of unique interest, published in 1904,
is "The 'Youth of Washington, Told in the form of an Autobiog
raphy." He is a prominent neurologist, and member of many
scientific societies, including the British Medical Association.
One of the most popular authors of the day and an artist as well,
is F. Hopkinson Smith, born in Baltimore, 1838. He was educated
as a mechanical engineer, and built the Government sea wall around
Governor's Island, the Race Rock lighthouse, and the foundation
for the Bartholdi Statue of Liberty. He has done much landscape
Mitchell
Smith
1734 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD vii work, and lectured on art subjects. He excels in the portrayal of
TH^EW fine Southern character of the "old school," as described in "Col.
UNITED
STATES Carter of Cartersville, " "A Gentleman Vagabond," "Caleb West,"
and "The Fortunes of Oliver Horn."
George Cary Eggleston, born in Indiana, 1839, is the author of
many books and has served as editor of the N. Y. Evening Post,
Eggtes- Commercial Advertiser, and other papers. Some of his later books
are: "A Carolina Cavalier," "Dorothy South," "The Master of
Warlock," and "History of the Confederate War." He edited
Hayden's "History of Dates," and compiled "American War
Ballads."
George W. Cable, born in New Orleans, 1844, ^as devoted him
self entirely to literature since 1879, making a specialty of Creole
life and character. Among his books are: "Old Creole Days,"
"The Grandissimes," "The Creoles of Louisiana," "The Silent
Ivritcre South," "The Negro Question," "John March, Southerner," and
"The Cavalier." Joel Chandler Harris, born in Georgia, 1848,
was for twenty-five years editor of the Atlanta Constitution. He
created the quaint character "Uncle Remus," whose sayings and
doings fill several books, and also wrote "Stories of Georgia."
"Stories of Home Folks," "The Making of a Statesman," and
"Gabriel Tolliver." Thomas Nelson Page, born in Virginia, 1853,
is the author of the character sketches "Meh Lady," "Marse
Chan," etc., and the novels, "Red Rock," "The Old Gentleman in
the Black Stock," "Social Life in Old Virginia," "Gordon Keith,"
and other volumes of local color. Ellen Glasgow, born 1874, *s a
Virginia author who has done strong work for her years, in the
novels, "The Voice of the People," "The Battleground," and
"The Deliverance." Mary Johnston, born in Virginia, 1870, has
an assured place among the romancers of the present generation,
her works being: "Prisoners of Hope," "To Have and to Hold,"
"Audrey," and "Sir Mortimer." John Esten Cooke, a native of
Virginia who was born in 1830 and died in 1886, in addition to
meritorious poetical work, wrote a "History of Virginia," "Life of
Stonewall Jackson," "Life of Robert E. Lee," and several novels.
Mrs. Burton Harrison, born in Virginia, 1846, completed her edu
cation abroad and has spent much time in Europe, although her
residence is in New York. She has written many pleasing tales,
among which are: "Bar Harbor Days," "The Anglomaniacs,"
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1735
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES.
James
Murfree
"Sweet Bells Out of Tune," "A Daughter of the South," and "A
Princess of the Hills."
One of the most prominent names in the literature of the last
twenty years is that of Henry James. He was born in New York,
1843, and educated abroad, early contributing to American journals
from European cities. Since 1869 he has lived in England. He is
a brother of Professor Wm. James, of Harvard. His fiction is
realistic and embraces analytical character study. Among his num
erous books are : "The Americans," "The Europeans," "Daisy
Miller," "The Portrait of a Lady," "French Poets and Novelists,"
"The Bostonians," "The Better Sort," and "The Golden Bowl."
Miss Mary N. Murfree is the exponent of mountain life in Ten
nessee. She was born in that State, in 1850. For years, during
which her serials appeared in the Atlantic Monthly and afterward in
book form, she concealed her identity and sex under the pen name
of "Charles Egbert Craddock." Some of her works are: "In the
Tennessee Mountains," "The Prophet of the Great Smoky Moun
tains," "The Despot of Broomsedge Cove," "In the Stranger
People's Country," "The Mystery of Witchface Mountain," and
"A Spectre of Power."
What Miss Murfree has done in her delineations of the Tennessee
mountaineer, John Fox, Jr. is doing in the Kentucky field. Born
in Kentucky in "the sixties," his first book, "A Mountain Europa,"
appeared in 1894. It was followed by, "A Cumberland Vendetta,"
" Hell-for-Sartain," and "The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come,"
all showing great fidelity to nature in a strange mountain region
where tragedy, pathos and simplicity are a part of everyday life.
The books of Mrs. Edith Wharton treat of the intense feelings of
the human heart and in this field she is unsurpassed. She was born
in New York, 1862. Her books are "Crucial Instances," "The
Touchstone," "The Valley of Decision," and "The Descent of
Man." Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman, born in Massachusetts, 1862,
writes with finished art of odd characters in the rural communities
of New England, usually selecting a minor key. Among her novels
are: "A New England Nun," "Jane Field," "Giles Corey," and
"The Portion of Labor." Her short stories fill several volumes.
Sarah Orne Jewett, born in Maine, 1849, writes New England
idyls, choosing cheerful country people and pleasant incidents for
such books as, "Deephaven," "A Country Doctor," "The Country
of the Pointed Firs," "The Tory Lover," etc. Miss Alice Brown,
Fox
Other
Female
Writers
1736 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD vn born in New Hamphire, 1857,. charmingly describes the stern but
^UMTiS* griraly humorous characters of her native State in "Meadow
STATES QrasSj» "Tiverton Tales," and other volumes. Gertrude F. Ather-
ton, though a resident of London, is an American author, a .native
of San Francisco. She deplores the commonplace in literature and
fearlessly touches upon the seamy side of human nature in some of
her novels. "The Doomswoman," her first publication, was a
thrilling story of early days in California. This was soon followed
by "A Whirl Asunder," "Patience Sparhawk and Her Times,"
"The Californians," "Senator North," "The Conqueror," "The
Splendid Idle Forties," and others. "Rulers of Kings" was pub
lished in 1904. Louisa M. Alcott, born in Massachusetts, 1832, was
widely known and beloved as the author of " Little Women," "An
Old Fashioned Girl," "Little Men," "Aunt Jo's Scrap- Bag, "etc.
Kate Douglas Wiggin (Mrs. George C. Riggs), born in Philadelphia,
1857, has been a popular writer for children ever since her first
delightful books, "The Birds' Christmas Carol," and "The Story of
Patsy' ' were published, in 1 888 and 1 889. She is also the author of "A
Cathedral Courtship," "Penelope's Progress," and other adult stories.
Alice French (" Octave Thanet"), born in Massachusetts in 1859,.
has given the public many graphic delineations of life in the South
and West.
Irving Bacheller, born in New York State, 1859, was connected
Novel- with the press of New York City for years, as contributor and editor.
k*8 He made his greatest literary success with the novel "Eben Hoi den,"
which was followed by "D'ri and I." He has a frank simplicity of
style. "Vergilius," published in 1904, is a radical departure from his
earlier work, treating of incidents prior to the birth of Christ.
Robert W. Chambers, born in Brooklyn, 1865, received an art
education in Paris, and is an illustrator for Life, Truth and Vogue,
besides being a successful author. He shows a fertile fancy in his-
novels, "Cardigan," "The Conspirators,"' "The Maid-at- Arms," and
"The Maids of Paradise." Charles Major, born in Indiana, 1856,
wrote "When Knighthood Was in Flower," which had a wide circu
lation and was successfully dramatized. A later production was
"Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall." Booth Tarkington, another
Indiana author, born 1869, added to the laurels of his State by the
production of the novels, "A Gentleman from Indiana," "Monsieur
Beaucaire," and "The Two Vanrevels."
John Hay, born in Indiana in 1838, is gifted with rare literary
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1737
, — • , . .
taste and ability, and is the author of many admirable works, lie PERIOPVI1
was private secretary of President Lincoln, secretary to Paris, ^iS?™
Madrid, Vienna, charge d'affaires, Vienna, first assistant secretary
of state, ambassador to England and secretary of state under
Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt. Among his productions are
"Castiliar, Days," "Pike County Ballads," "Abraham Lincoln,
a History" (with John G. Nicolay), "Poems," "Sir Walter Scott," Hay
and various addresses. So far as known, he has not denied the
authorship of the popular novel, ''The Bread Winners." As secre
tary of state Mr. Hay is conceded to be the equal in statesmanship
to any of his predecessors in that exalted office.
Winston Churchill, born in St. Louis, 1871, possesses the narrative
gift, and is a careful workman. He has chosen the line of historical
fiction, for which he is specially qualified by his thorough knowledge
of the history of our nation's growth, his broad sympathies, and his Church
freedom from sectional prejudice. His leading works are, " Richard hill and
Carvel," "The Crisis," and "The Crossing." Stewart Edward White,
born in Michigan, 1873, has drawn vivid word-pictures of the vast
lumber regions of the North, and the phases of life in those isolated
regions. His books are, "The Blazed Trail," "Conjuror's House,"
"The Silent Places," etc. Owen Wister, although a Philadelphian,
born 1860, has located his character sketches on the great cattle
ranges of the Western plains, giving us "Red Men and White," "Lin
McLean," "The Virginian," and other stories that charm by their
unconventionally. Frank Norris was a writer of serious purpose,
born in 1870, who died in 1902, just as his place among the great
writers of the day was beginning to be acknowledged. He was a war
correspondent in South Africa and in Cuba before he began what he in
tended to be a trilogy on the industrial questions incident to the culti
vation and marketing of the wheat of the world. He finished two
powerful novels, "The Octopus " and "The Pit," with a realism that is
epic ; the third and concluding volume was destined to be unwritten.
Jack London, born in San Francisco, 1876, has come rapidly into
notice through his literary work in various fields. Whether picturing London
the dreary scenes of Alaska, as in "The Children of the Frost,"
"A Daughter of the Snows," and "The Son of the Wolf;" or the life
of a sagacious dog, as in "The Call of the Wild;" or the slums of a
great city, as in " The People of the Abyss,' ' -he writes with marked
directness and power, and an artistic handling of the subject.
Cyrus Townsend Brady, born in Pennsylvania, 1861, took orders Brady
1738
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIODVII
THK NEW
UNITED
STATES.
Garland
Conway
Tarbell
Whipple,
Warner,
Mabie
and
Lloyd
and was for some time an Episcopalian clergyman, but resigned to
engage in literary work. He has a long list of books to his credit,
the following having been published in 1903 alone: "The South
erners," "The Bishop," "The Conquest of the South West," "The
Buccaneer," and "The Doctor of Philosophy."
Hamlin Garland, born in Wisconsin, 1860, began story-writing in
Boston, but returned to the West in 1893. He is a strong and realistic
writer. His leading books are: "Main Traveled Roads," "Prairie Folks,"
"A Spoil of Office," "Rose of Dutchers Coolly," "Wayside Courtships,"
"Prairie Songs," and "The Captain of the Gray Horse Troop."
Moncure D. Conway, born in Virginia, 1832, became a Unitarian
minister after his graduation from Harvard. He edited The Dial,
Cincinnati, and afterward the Boston Commonwealth. According to
Charles Sumner, the influence of his pamphlet, "The Rejected
Stone," was greater than any other published work toward hastening
•the emancipation of slaves. He lectured in England, and 1863-84
preached in South Place Chapel, London. His books include: "The
Earthward Pilgrimage," "Idols and Ideals," "The Wandering Jew,"
"The Sacred Anthology," Lives of Edmund Randolph, Thomas Paine,
Hawthorne and Carlyle, "Emerson at Home and Abroad," "Solomon
and Solomonic Literature," etc. Much of interest regarding eminent
men of letters in Europe and America is contained in his "Auto
biography, Memoirs and Experiences," published in 1904.
Ida M. T,arbell, born in Pennsylvania, 1857, has accomplished
remarkable work in her "Short Life of Napoleon Bonaparte," " Life of
Abraham Lincoln," and "History of the Standard Oil Company," be
sides writing numerous magazine articles on history and current topics.
She has been associate editor of a leading magazine since 1884.
Among the distinguished essayists and critics of the century was
E. P. Whipple, born in Massachusetts, 1819, died 1886. He published
two volumes of essays and reviews in 1849, an^ ne acquired a high
reputation as a lecturer on subjects connected with literature and life,
many of the addresses being collected in book form. Charles Dudley
Warner, born in Massachusetts, 1829, died 1900, conducted the
"Editor's Drawer" and afterward tlie "Editor's Study" in Harper's
Magazine, 1884-92. In 1896, he began the editorship of "Library
of the World's Best Literature," a work in thirty volumes. Among
his books are : " Backlog Studies," " In the Levant," " In the Wilder,
ness," and "The Golden House." Hamilton W. Mabie, born in New
York State, 1846, is associate editor of The Outlook, and the author
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1739
of "My Study Fire," " Short Studies in Literature," "Under the
Trees and Elsewhere," "Essays in Literary Interpretation," "Books
and Culture," "The Life of the Spirit," and "Parables of Life."
Henry Demarest Lloyd, born in New York, 1847, m addition to
writing numerous essays has given special attention to political
economy. His "Wealth Against Commonwealth," Edward E. Hale
declared to be as much an epoch-making book as "Uncle Tom's
Cabin;" and R. L. Stevenson said, "He writes the most workman.
like article of any man known to me in America."
Jeannette L. Gilder, born in New York State, 1849, *s a leading Gilder
critic. At eighteen she began newspaper work, showing such ability
that she became editorially connected with Scribner's Monthly and the
N. Y. Herald. She assisted her brother, Joseph B. Gilder, in starting
The Critic, which she has since most ably edited. Besides newspaper
correspondence, stories for magazines and plays, she has written,
"Taken by Siege" and "Autobiography of a Tomboy," and edited a
number of collections of essays, poems and sketches.
Agnes Repplier, born in Philadelphia, 1855, *s prominent as an Repplier
essayist. She is the author of "Books and Men," "Points of View,"
"Essays in Idleness," "In the Dozy Hours," "The Fireside Sphinx,"
"Compromises," etc.
Brander Matthews, born in New Orleans, 1852, has been Professor
Mat-
of Dramatic Literature at Columbia University since 1892. He was thews
one of the founders of the Authors' Club and also The Players, and
one of the organizers of the American Copyright League. He wrote
of the French theatres and dramatists, and published "The Home
Library," also "With My Friends," "Americanisms and Briticisms,"
" Introduction to the Study of American Literature," "The Historical
Novel," "Parts of Speech," and other volumes of a critical nature.
He wrote a number of comedies and edited several works.
The books of "New Thought" writers,— Ralph Waldo Trine, Q^^
Charles Brodie Patterson, Henry Wood and Horatio W. Dresser,— Authors
express a philosophy that is eagerly read by tens of thousands.
Such naturalists as John Burroughs, Bradford Torrey and Ernest
Thompson-Seton produce magazine articles and volumes which are
enjoyable to old and young. Our college presidents and professors,
among whom are Benjamin Ide Wheeler, William James, Nathaniel
S. Shaler, Felix Adler, William J. Rolfe, James H. Hyslop, Josiah
Royce and Andrew D. White, have published valuable additions to
literature and science. Although America has not yet produced the
1740
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
Fields
Clemens
PBRIODVII highest class of plays, David Belasco, Clyde Fitch, George Ade and
THE NEW others are writing successful dramas and comedies.
UNITED
STATES The great newspaper editors of the land, like Murat Halstead,
Whitelaw Reid and Henry Watterson, have taken time from their
journalistic duties to write books of value ; and religious works are
innumerable.
Probably the best known litterateur in the country was James T.
Fields, the Boston publisher, who for many years acted as the con
necting link between author and public, having a personal acquaint
ance with most of the famous literary men. Himself a poet, he
edited, in conjunction with E. P. Whipple, "A Family Library of
English Poetry," and wrote " Yesterdays with Authors." He was
born in 1817 and died in 1881.
The Americans have always been noted for their humor and wit.
Brightness and cleverness are characteristics of many of our poets
and novelists, while a number of writers have given their whole
attention to that field. Samuel L. Clemens ("Mark Twain") ranks
far above the ostensible humorists, for he is a master of serious prose
and has produced literature that will live. His humorous works
contain many passages of the finest workmanship, and in contro
versy, his logic, repartee and satire are of the keenest nature. Born
in Missouri, in 1835, he learned the printer's trade, and at twenty
was a Mississippi pilot. He roughed it in California, has lived
abroad, has, traveled extensively and is an industrious toiler with his
pen. His laughable skit, "The Jumping Frog," drew attention to
him, and he soon established his reputation as one of the most humor
ous of writers. His best known books are, ' * The Innocents Abroad, "
"Roughing It," "The Gilded Age" (written jointly with Charles
Dudley Warner) , ' 'The Prince and the Pauper, " " Life on the Missis
sippi," "Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "A Tramp Abroad," "Joan of
Arc," "Adventuresof Huckleberry Finn," and "Pudd'nhead Wilson."
A popular humorist and satirical writer, during the times of
President Jackson, was Seba Smith, whose pen-name was "Major
Jack Downing." He was born in Maine, in 1792, and after a career
as editor in Portland, removed to New York in 1842 and died in 1868.
His "New Elements of Geometry" was a whimsical attempt to over
turn geometrical truths. He also wrote " Powhatan," a metrical
romance, and "Way Down East." But his chief fame is as the rein-
ventor (after Defoe) of that style of satire which consists of pretending
to be one of the enemy in order to burlesque his opinions ; this was far
Smith
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1741
more effectively carried out in the Civil War by4 'Petroleum V. Nasby" PERIOD vn
(David R. Locke). Seba Smith's wife, Elizabeth Oakes, aided him in T£^™
editorial work and was the first woman in this country to appear as a ^^
public lecturer. She wrote a number of religious works, two tragedies,
and was the pastor of an independent church in Canastota, N. Y.
Among the distinctly humorous writers of recent years were : other
James Montgomery Bailey (" The Danbury News Man"), who was I1Hmor'
a genuine wit; Edgar William Nye ("Bill Nye"), who wrote some
clever articles, but wrote too much; Henry W. Shaw ("Josh Bill
ings"), who uttered some of the truest philosophy, as when he said :
"The best way for a father to train up his son in the way he should
go is to go that way himself;" Charles F. Browne ("Artemus
Ward"), who beside possessing a quaint wit was able to make his
spelling funny, — something that no American humorist before or
since has been able to do ; Robert H. Newell ("Orpheus C. Kerr"),
a punster, parodist, and mocker of real force ; and Henry C.
Bunner, long editor of Puck, in the foremost rank of American
story-tellers and graceful poets.
The most popular humorous writers living at this time (1904) are :
Robert J. Burdette, born in 1844, a Baptist preacher, and a genius
in his way ; and Charles B. Lewis, whose resources seem to be
inexhaustible. He was born in 1842 and is the creator of "The
Lime Kiln Club," "Uncle Bijah," "The Arizona Kicker," and
"Mr. Bowser." Finley Peter Dunne, born in 1867, says many
bright things under the pen-name of "Mr. Dooley." Besides this
list, there is hardly a community in the Union which has not one
or more persons with a local, but none the less deserved reputation
for wit. Chauncey Depew and Joseph H. Choate are famous after-
dinner speakers, while Simeon Ford has no superior in that line.
Turning from literature to the field of invention, it may be said
that we enter upon a domain that Is boundless. Vast fortunes have
been made, and equally vast fortunes await the men and women able
to evolve successful and practical ideas. The Americans are a
nation of inventors, as is proved by the fact that, since the establish
ment of the Patent Office in 1836, the number of patents granted
is fast approaching the million mark.
Peter Cooper, born in 1791, and died in 1883, was noted as a
philanthopist, but he greatly aided in the industrial development of cooper
the United States, being identified, as has been shown, with the
introduction of the locomotive in this country. In 1854-59, ne
1742 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD vii erected the " Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and
THE NEW Art," in which the working-people receive free instruction. Mr.
UNITED
STATES Cooper was the Presidential nominee of the National Independent
Party in 1876. His quaint figure was familiar for years in the city
of New York, where his integrity of character and his liberal, prac
tical charity made him loved by the poor and respected by all.
Good- Charles Goodyear, born in 1800, died in 1860, succeeded, after
long experimenting, in discovering the vulcanizing process by which
india-rubber is rendered useful — an invention that has proved worth
many millions.
Morse Samuel F. B. Morse, born in 1791, died in 1872, was the inventor,
as related elsewhere, of the electromagnetic telegraph, an invention
so important that it marked an era in the progress of civilization.
Whitney Eli Whitney, born in 1765, died in 1825, produced the cotton-
gin, which wrought an industrial revolution in the South. In 1791
the exportation of cotton was 189,500 pounds, but under the impulse
of the cotton-gin it increased in twelve years to 41,000,000 pounds.
It has been said that but for the cotton-gin there never would have
been a Civil War, since the South otherwise could not have gained
the wealth and power to enter upon that mighty struggle. Whit
ney's patents were so enormously valuable that several States re
fused to pay him his just royalties, and Congress would not grant the
patents to which he was entitled. He established near New Haven,
in 1798, the first arms factory in the United States, and furnished
the Government with a superior quality of firearms. He was the
first manufacturer to construct the parts of guns after one unvarying
model, so that any damaged part could be replaced from the general
stock.
Colt Samuel Colt, born in 1814, died in 1862, ran away to sea when
a boy, and when fifteen years old whittled out a model of his cele
brated revolver. This was the germ of his vast enterprise and
wealth, and made him famous the world over. His immense armories
for the manufacture of revolvers were erected at Hartford in 1852.
Hoe Richard M. Hoe, born in 1812, died in 1866, made improvements
and inventions in perfecting printing-presses that approach the
marvellous. His most striking achievement is a press that will
print, cut, and fold a sheet of paper a sixth of a mile long in the
space of a single minute.
Cyrus West Field, born in 1819, died in 1892, was a business man
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1743
in New York until 1853. His success in carrying out his idea of
laying a submarine cable across the Atlantic in 1858 has been told
elsewhere. The New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph
Company that he formed consisted of Peter Cooper, Moses Taylor,
Marshall Roberts, and Chandler White. Messages passed back and
forth, but the cable utterly failed at the end of a few weeks. Un
daunted, Mr. Field organized the Atlantic Telegraph Company, and
in 1866 the submarine cable triumphed. Mr. Field received the
honors due him both at home and abroad, and afterwards greatly aided
in improving the rapid-transit system of New York.
The sewing-machine is one of the most useful inventions of the
age. There were crude attempts at the construction of such a
machine during the early years of the century, but the first success
ful machine was made in 1846 by Elias Howe, who was born in
1819 and died in 1867. Like Professor Morse, Howe almost suf
fered the pangs of starvation while working at his invention, but he
persevered and became a multi-millionaire who loaned large sums
of money to the Government during the Civil War. He served in a
Connecticut regiment, and, as told elsewhere, it was he who advanced
funds sufficient to pay several months' arrears to all the members of
his regiment.
Cyrus H. McCormick, born in 1809, died in 1884, invented the
reaping-machine in 1831. This, after a number of improvements,
proved so far-reaching in its benefits that it gave a distinct impulse
to agricultural development and added untold value to hundreds of
thousands of acres of waste land.
The history of the steamboat and the connection of Robert Fulton
therewith has been fully given. While yielding Fulton full credit
for his work, there can be no question that John Fitch, born in 1743
and died in 1 798, was much earlier than he in the field, one of his
boats on the Delaware being propelled by steam in 1785, while
James Rumsey, born in the same year in Maryland, invented a
steamboat in 1786, but died in 1792, before his experiments were
completed.
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was born
in Scotland in 1847, and first exhibited his invention in Philadelphia
in 1876.
Thomas Alvin Edison, born in 1847, is perhaps the most wonder
ful inventor and discoverer of the age. A poor newsboy on a rail-
PERIOD VII
THB~NEW
UNITED
STATES
Field
Howe
mick
The
Steam
boat
Bell
Edison
1744 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD vn way train, rendered partially deaf by the cufrmgs received from an
THE NEW employee made indignant by the lad's persistent experimenting with
STATES chemicals in the baggage-car, he still persisted until he astonished
the world by electrical inventions which a few years ago would have
been considered as among the fancies of the wildest dreamers.
Some of his astounding achievements include the quadruplex system
of telegraphy, the carbon telephone, the phonograph, the microphone,
the vinetoscope, the microtasimeter, and the kinetoscope. Mr.
Edison is a tireless student and worker, constantly delving into the
mysterious recesses of nature, and certain, if his life is spared, to
Tesla make still more" amazing discoveries and inventions. In this great
field he has the help of the Servian professor, Nikola Tesla, whose
inventive genius is scarcely second to that of Edison himself. Tesla's
most astounding discovery was announced in June, 1897. It was
that after years of study and experimentation he had solved the
problem of telegraphing without wires. Although making slow but
steady progress, and hopeful from the first, Tesla modestly withheld
any positive announcement until he had actually sent and received
signals through the earth at a distance of twenty miles. Mr. Tesla
believes that a result of immeasurable importance will follow this
achievement: that is, the ability to transmit power from place to
place. If ever the marvelous dream of communicating with the
inhabitants of other worlds is realized, it will be through this wonder
ful discovery.
In 1904, a wireless telephone was proved practical, and the announce
ment was made about the same time that the origin of the elements
is certain soon to be discovered, or at least carried far back of the
present tables of elementary substances.
Some of the greatest discoveries in the fields of science have been
made by foreigners; but the belief that our scientists are to have a
share in bringing more marvelous truths to light, in these and in
other lines of scientific research, which indeed they help largely to
develop, is our excuse for citing such foreign labors in this place.
One of these discoveries is the Roentgen Electrical Ray, the result
The"X" in 1896 of the labors of Dr. W. C. Roentgen, of the Physical Institute
of the University of Wiirzburg. This town is one of the most ancient
in Germany, dating from the seventh century, before Charlemagne.
As every one knows, it is the practice, in solving algebraical prob
lems, to represent the unknown quantity by the symbol X. Uncertain
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1745
as to the exact nature of the rays which he was investigating, PERICDVII
Dr. Roentgen, for the sake of brevity, called them "the X ravs." The TnlTxEw
J UNITED
eminent discoverer evolved the hypothesis and provisionally adopted
it of "longitudinal vibrations in the ether," in contrast with the trans
verse vibrations which are regarded as the cause of light. The
efficiency of these rays in photography, in taking a picture of the
bones, ossified tumors, or of foreign substances like bullets or bits of
metal, through the flesh, because the flesh is transparent to the peculiar
rays, is one of the most amazing revelations of science, and can net
fail to have a beneficial effect in surgery.
Previous to this remarkable discovery, Henry Hertz, the distin
guished German physicist, at Bonn, had been experimenting, before
his death in 1894, with electric waves, and demonstrated that they of Hertz,
Lenard
act in all circumstances precisely as do those that produce light. and
This fact was accepted as final proof that light waves themselves are Crookes
electric, or at least that the names "light "and "electricity" do not
denote independent forms of force or matter. P. Lenard, the pupil
and successor of Hertz, investigated certain electric waves, whose
character had been demonstrated by Professor William Crookes.
Professor Crookes experimented with the action of electricity inside
a glass tube or bulb, whose interior was almost an absolute vacuum.
The results of these investigations were presented to the British
Association at its annual meeting in Sheffield, in August 1879. In
his experiments, Professor Crookes succeeded in reducing the air in
the bulbs to one-millionth of what it would naturally contain.
An interesting discovery in 1895 was that atmospheric air, which
had been supposed the most assuredly analyzed of any substance in
creation, contains in fact nearly one per cent, of a gas which has
been named argon ("inert"), on account of the impossibility of Argon
making it combine with any other substance. This element was
isolated by Lord Rayleigh (formerly Mr.Strutt), a physicist, and Prof.
William Ramsay, a chemist ; and then it was found that che great
English chemist, Cavendish, had discovered it over a century before.
Since then several other constituents of air have been revealed:
helion ("of the sun/' because found by the spectroscope in the sun's
rays), krypton ("concealed"), neon ("new"), and others.
Radium is the most wonderful of all known substances. The Radium
astounding fact regarding this new element is, that it does not fit
into our present chemical system; disregards all our elaborately
1746 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIODVII framed laws, and threatens to overturn the scientific teachings of
^vSiTE™ centuries. It must be said, however, that the latest investigations
STATES cas£ grave doubt on its being an element ; but this only increases its
mystery, since if it is a quality or a force it is far more inexplicable.
To M. Henri Becquerel, a French chemist, was due the discovery
of the uranium rays, which resembled the X rays in their power to
Uranium penetrate opaque objects. Uranium is gained from pitchblende, an
ore found in Bohemia, Saxony and Cornwall, also in Colorado and
probably other sections of our own country, since new discoveries of
its existence are reported from time to time. Its use had hitherto
been solely, through its salts, in making a rich dark pigment much
used in pottery, but not indispensable; but the extraordinary interest
of its new contents has led to an eager search for it by spectro-
scopic investigation. Becquerel was interested only in uranium, and
gave no attention to the residue of pitchblende. Meanwhile, Madame
Sklodowska- Curie, a Polish woman of remarkable scientific attain
ments, in her investigations of luminous substances, added two new
New elements to the severity-odd in the known list. The outlook was so
promising that her husband, Professor Pierre Curie, of the Ecole
Polytechnique at Paris, collaborated with her. Their labors were
beset with the greatest difficulties, but they were never discouraged,
and persevered until the grandest of rewards came to them. Two
new elements, as stated, were brought to light. Madame Curie
named one "polonium" after the land of her birth, and the other
"radium." Each was radio-active. Radium is obtained from pitch
blende, only in infinitesimal quantities and after the most laborious,
careful and extended processes. It is believed that there is not at
the present time, two ounces of radium in existence. The tiny pellet
in the possession of Professor Curie is worth twenty thousand dollars,
though it weighs only half a drachm. It is hoped, however, that the
price will soon be reduced to one or two million dollars a pound.
Radium in appearance resembles table salt.
Among the unexplainable properties of this wonderful substance,
which have thus far baffled the profoundest scientists, are the follow
ing : In its photographic action, it penetrates opaque objects as readily
as sunlight passes through glass; it transforms oxygen into ozone;
brought in contact with the temples of a blind man,, it will produce
the sensation of light on the retina; applied too long to normal per
sons, it paralyzes the optic nerve; applied to the unprotected nerve-
centers of small animals, it kills; two or three pounds reposed in a
UNITED
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1747
room would probably blind or cause the death of every person present ; PERIOD vn
it destroys the germinating power of seeds, and is certain to prove THE NE
. .
highly useful in curing certain skin diseases ; it causes some normally
inactive substances to glow; and it maintains a heat two or three
degrees above the surrounding atmosphere (the last two properties
were never seen before). More incomprehensible than all these,
perhaps, is the fact that radium maintains its temperature, and gives
out heat, seemingly without the slightest diminution of energy, and
without combustion or chemical change of any nature whatever. It is Myste-
as if Christopher Columbus had set fire to one of his caravels, in mid- Proper-
Atlantic, and that it had remained burning fiercely ever since, with ^es
the certainty that it would do so for many centuries to come. It looks
as if the law of the conservation of energy is shattered, though it is
incomprehensible how that can be; more likely it indicates a source of
replenishment of energy in the universe which is beyond our present
theories. Atoms, as the indivisible and unalterable particles of
all substances, discovered and accepted a hundred years ago, now give
place to "electrons," of which the emanations from radium are partly
composed, and which are minute electrified masses. If the atom is
retained, — and the chemical facts of which it is the basis remain un
affected, — it must be accepted as composed of an entire stellar system
of ''electrons," all in orbital motion; in other words, "atom" becomes
the name not of the ultimate components of matter, but of complexes
which play the part of indissoluble unities in the world as we know it.
The field of investigation thus opened is profoundly fascinating.
The Constitution gives to Congress the power to issue patents for Patents
useful inventions. Previous to the adoption of the Constitution
several patents had been issued by the States. The first patent law
was passed in 1/90, and applied equally to foreigners and citizens,
the duration of the patent being fourteen years. In 1793 the act
was restricted to citizens only, the fee was m?de thirty dollars, and
no State was allowed to grant patents. In 1836 .he Patent Office or
Bureau was created, the chief officer being the commissioner of
patents. The Patent Office was transferred to the Department of
the Interior in 1849, wnen tne latter was created. A law was passed
in 1836 requiring a preliminary examination to determine the nov
elty and patentability of inventions. The law of 1842 made the
term of a patent seven years, afterward extended to seventeen years.
In 1870 a law was enacted granting patents to any person who can
prove the newness and usefulness of his invention, upon the payment
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD VII
THE NEW
UNITED
STATES
Copy
rights
Wash
ington
Monu
ment in
Philadel
phia
of a stated fee. Models are no longer required. The total cost of
securing a patent is from $60 to $70.
The history of the copyright laws is somewhat similar to that of
patents, the States having issued copyright privileges previous to
the adoption of the Constitution. The first law, 1790, gave to
authors exclusive rights to their works for fourteen years, with the
right of renewal for the same term. In 1831 the term was made
twenty-eight years, with the right of renewal for fourteen years, this
law being still in force. A publisher to whom an author sells his
work can copyright it for twenty-eight years, but at the end of that
period the right of renewal reverts to the author or his heirs, the
production becoming his or their exclusive property. At the end of
forty-two years from the date of the first copyright all copyrights
lapse and the works become public property.
In 1891 Congress gave the privileges of copyright to foreigners
of nations whose governments accord American citizens similar priv
ileges, the reciprocity being determined by proclamation of the
President. It was immediately extended to Great Britain, France,
Belgium, and Switzerland, and afterwards to Germany and Italy.
The need of a direct, plainly expressed international copyright law
has long been recognized, and action looking to that end has been
under way for many years.
The monument which was unveiled to the memory of Washington,
in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, May 15, 1897, is the most impor
tant group of sculpture ever raised in America. Upon a platform,
six feet six inches in height, and reached from four sides by thir
teen steps, symbolical of the thirteen original States, stands a pedes
tal bearing an equestrian statue of the Father of his Country. He
is represented in the colonial uniform of the American army, with a
large military cloak enveloping his superb figure. In his left hand
he holds the reins of his horse, one of the animal's fore-feet being
raised in the act of moving. The massive figure is dignified, artistic,
and impressive.
The fountains at the four corners of the platform, served by alle
gorical figures of American Indians, represent four rivers, the Dela
ware, Hudson, Potomac, and the Mississippi. Each of these foun
tains is guarded on the sides by typical American animals, eight in
all. Two allegorical figures are at the front and back of the pedes
tal. The one on the front represents America seated, and holding
Copyright f#97, h W. ff. Rau
THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT, FAIRMOUNT PARK, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
PERIOD VII
THE~NEW
UNITED
STATES
History
of the
Monu
ment
Unveiled
by Presi
dent Mc-
Kinley
in one hand a cornucopia; in the other a trident and having at her
feet chains just cast off, while she is in the act of receiving from her
victorious sons the trophies of her conquest. Below the group is an
eagle supporting the arms of the United States. The group in the
back depicts America arousing her sons to a sense of their slavery.
The arms of Pennsylvania are below. On the sides of the pedestal
are two bas-reliefs, one representing the march of the American
army, the other a Western-bound emigrant train. The pedestal
bears on one side the inscription, " Sic Semper Tyrannis," and " Per
Aspera ad Astra" ; on the other, " Westward the Star of Empire
Takes Its Way." Surrounding the upper portion of the pedestal are
the words: "Erected by the State Society of the Cincinnati of
Pennsylvania." The statue, the figures and the bas-relief, and all
the ornamentations are of bronze, and the platform, pedestal, etc., of
Swedish granite.
The ground plan of the monument is 61 feet by 74 feet, the ped
estal 1 7 feet by 30 feet, and the total height of the monument 44
feet. The design is by Prof. Rudolph Siemering, the renowned
sculptor of Berlin. The names engraved on the monument are:
Lincoln, Irvine, Jay, Dickinson, Miihlenberg, Jefferson, Franklin,
Hamilton, Clinton, Knox, Pinckney, Hazen, Putnam, Wayne, Steu-
ben, Butler, Lafayette, St. Clair, Greene, Morgan, Kosciusko,
Schuyler, Jones, Dale, and Barry (the last three representing the
navy), Biddle, Montgomery, Haslett, Kirkwood, Mifflin, Rocham-
beau, Varnum, Sullivan, Cadwalader, Mercer, Smallwood, Sterling,
Nash, Warren, De Kalb, and Moultrie.
The collection of subscriptions for this monument was begun in
181 1 by soldiers who had fought under Washington. On the 4th of
July of that year, the Society of the Cincinnati met in the State
House and took steps to set on foot the erection of a monument
which should fittingly commemorate the character and virtues of
Washington. In response to their appeal, $2,000 was subscribed.
This by careful handling, investment, and additions grew to the
handsome sum of $280,000.
On Saturday, May 1 5th, amid an imposing military display, the
monument was unveiled by President McKinley. At two o'clock
Bishop Whitaker, of Pennsylvania, opened the ceremonies with
prayer. An address followed by Major William Wayne, president
of the state and general societies of the Cincinnati. President
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
McKinley then pulled the cord which unveiled the figure of Wash- P«UOD vii
ington. Immediately the national salute was fired by the war-ves- TH!~NBW
J UNITED
sels in the Delaware and the artillery. President McKinley then STATE»
said:
"FELLOW-CITIZENS: There is a peculiar and tender sentiment
connected with this memorial. It expresses not only the gratitude
and reverence of the living, but is a testimonial of affection and
homage from the dead.
" The comrades of Washington projected this monument. Their
love inspired it. Their contributions helped to build it. Past and
present share in its completion, and future generations will profit by
its lessons.
" To participate in the dedication of such a monument is a rare
and precious privilege. Every monument to Washington is a tribute
to patriotism. Every statute and shaft to his memory helps to in
culcate love of country, encourage loyalty, and establish a better
citizenship. God bless every undertaking which revives patriotism
and rebukes the indifferent and lawless ! A critical study of Wash
ington's career only enhances our estimation of his vast and varied
abilities.
" As commander-in-chief of the Colonial Armies from the begin- speech
ning of the war to the proclamation of peace, as President of the p^esit
convention which framed the Constitution of the United States, and dent
as the first President of the United States under that Constitution,
Washington has a distinction differing from that of all other illus
trious Americans. No other name bears or can bear such a relation
to the Government. Not only by his military genius — his patience,
his sagacity, his courage, and his skill — was our national independ
ence won, but he helped in largest measure to draft the chart by
which the nation was guided, and he was the first chosen of the
people to put in motion the new Government.
" His was not the boldness of martial display or the charm of
captivating oratory, but his calm and steady judgment won men's
support and commanded their confidence by appealing to their best
and noblest aspirations. And .withal Washington was ever so
modest that at no time in his career did his personality seem in the
least intrusive. He was above the temptation of power. He
spumed the suggested crown. He would have no honor which the
people did not bestow.
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1753
" An interesting fact — and one which I love to recall — is that the PERIOD vn
only time Washington formally addressed the Constitutional Con- '^""JST
vention during all its sessions over which he presided in this city, STATES
he appealed for a larger representation of the people in the national
House of Representatives, and his appeal was instantly heeded
Thus was he ever keenly watchful of the rights of the people in
whose hands was the destiny of our Government then and now.
" Masterful as were his military campaigns, his civil administra-
tion commands equal admiration. His foresight was marvellous;
his conception of the philosophy of government, his insistence upon manship
the necessity of education, morality, and enlightened citizenship
to the progress and permanence of the republic, cannot be contem
plated even at this period without filling us with astonishment at
the breadth of his comprehension and the sweep of his vision.
" His was no narrow view of government. The immediate pres
ent was not his sole concern, but our future good his constant theme
of study. He blazed the path of liberty. He laid the foundation
upon which we have grown from weak and scattered colonial govern
ments to a united republic whose domains and power, as well as
whose liberty and freedom, have become the admiration of the
world. Distance and time have not detracted from the fame and
force of his achievements or diminished the grandeur of his life and
work. Great deeds do not stop in their growth, and those of
Washington will expand in their influence in all the centuries to
follow.
" The bequest Washington has made to civilization is rich beyond
computation. The obligations under which he has placed mankind
are sacred and commanding. The responsibility he has left for the
American people to preserve and perfect what he accomplished is
exacting and solemn. Let us rejoice in every new evidence that
the people realize what they enjoy and cherish with affection the
illustrious heroes of Revolutionary story, whose valor and sacrifices
made us a nation. They live in us and their memory will help us
keep the covenant entered into for the maintenance of the freest
government of earth.
" The nation and the name of Washington are inseparable. One OurJRe-
is linked indissolubly with the other. Both are glorious, both tri- bility
umphant. Washington lives, and will live, because what he did was
for the exaltation of man, the enthronement of conscience, and the
i?54
HISTORY OF THE ' UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
UNITED
STATES
PERIOD vil establishment of a government which recognizes all the governed.
And so, too, will the nation live victorious over all obstacles, adher-
jng to the immortal principles which Washington taught and Lincoln
sustained."
An impressive illustration of American genius is the new Con
gressional Library Building recently completed in Washington. It
is of New Hampshire granite and stands on the eastern heights of
THE NEW CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY— ROTUNDA
the city, opposite the east front of the Capitol. The great structure
covers nearly four acres, and within its vast interior is room for
twice as many books as are contained in the largest library in the
world.
The main entrance is by three arched doorways, leading into a
magnificent entrance hall, lined with polished marble. Two flights
of marble stairs lead upward to the right and left, the balustrades, in
high relief, representing a series of cherubs, depicting science, art,
industry, and the various pursuits of man. Opposite the entrance
doors, between the two flights of stairs, is a portal of marble, lead
ing to the rotunda or reading-room. The beautiful sculptured fig
ures of a youth and an old man are the work of Olin L. Warner, of
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 1755
New York. The library is planned as a central circular reading- PERIO VH
room, flanked on the north and south by two halls, in each of which
is a book-stack of iron and marble extending upward nine stories,
and capable of holding a million volumes each. On the eastern side
a smaller book-stack will hold a quarter of a million volumes, with
room for as many more in alcoves around the rotunda. The building
will answer all the needs of our country for more than a hundred
years, to come.
The cost of the structure was limited to $6,000,000, and none but
American artists were employed to decorate the walls. The octago
nal reading-room is a hundred feet in diameter, with the richly orna
mented dome one hundred and twenty-five feet above the mosaic
pavement.
The Congressional Library contains about seven hundred thousand Number
volumes, and ranks fifth among the great libraries of the world. It Volufmes
was established during the Presidency of Jefferson, but the modest
collection went up in smoke when the British burned Washington in
the summer of 1814. Congress promptly voted money for the pur
chase of new books, and for rebuilding. In 1851 a second fire de
stroyed a part of the library and thirty-five thousand volumes.
The work of carrying out the plan of the building came under the
charge of General Casey, chief of engineers, in October, 1888, and
in December, 1896, Mr. Green, his successor, reported the structure
as "very nearly completed in all particulars." For ages to come
the Congressional Library will form one of the grandest educational
landmarks in the history of our country.
A pleasing incident of the closing days of Ambassador Bayard in The
England was the return to him of the famous log of the Mayflower,
which interesting document was delivered by Mr. Bayard to Gov-
ernor Wolcott in Boston, on May 26, 1897, the ceremonies taking
place before a distinguished gathering in the House of Representa
tives, including both branches of the legislature and the executive
council. Senator Bradford, of Hampden, a lineal descendant of the
author of the manuscript history, offered a resolution of thanks to
the Bishop of London, the English Consistorial Court, and the Queen
of Great Britain for restoring the manuscript, which resolution was
unanimously adopted.
The title of this historical document is a misnomer, for in truth,
so far as known, there has never been a log of the Mayflower. The
1756
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAP, xcv
UNITED
STATES
PERIOD vn manuscript in the original numbers two hundred and seventy pages,
and the only title which it bears is "Of Plimouth Plantation." It,
J
was written by William Bradford, one of the passengers on the May-
flower, and the second governor of the colony of Massachusetts. Cot
ton Mather says of him : " He was a person for study as well as
action; and hence, notwithstanding the difficulties through which he
passed in his youth, he attained unto a notable skill in languages;
Period
Covered
THE NEW CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY— ENTRANCE HALL
the Dutch tongue was almost as vernacular to him as the English ;
the French tongue he could also manage ; the Latin and Greek he
had mastered, but the Hebrew he most of all studied. But the
crown of all was his holy, prayerful, watchful, and fruitful walk with
God, wherein he was very exemplary." He was born on March 19,
1588, and died on May 9, 1657.
The " History of the Plymouth Plantation" covers the period from
1602 to 1646, and Bradford's work, as will be noted, is improperly
called the " Log of the Mayflower." He thus opens his history:
"And first of ye occasion and indusments thereunto : the which
that I may truly unfold, I must begine at ye very roote & rise of ye
CHAP, xcv McKINLEY'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION
1757
UNITRO
STATUS
same The which I shall endevor to manefest in a plaine stile, with PBRU.» vn
singuler regard unto ye simple trueth in all things, at least as near
as my slender judgements can attaine the same."
Following this is an account of the rise and religious ideas of the
people with whom Bradford cast his lot, their removal to Holland,
their stay there, and their decision to seek a home in the New
World. He tells of the start of the Speedwell and the Mayflower,
the return of the former and the voyage of the latter. The ninth
chapter describes " their voyage and how they passed ye sea & of
their safe arrivale at Cape Codd." Only a few pages are devoted to
an account of the voyage of the Mayflower.
Another common error is the impression that the " Log" was
almost unknown. The New England historians drew freely upon it,
Hutchinson having used it as late as 1767. While in the hands of
Prince, another historian, in 1758, it was deposited in the New Eng
land Library in the tower of the Old South Church, which was used
by the British soldiers as a riding-school during their occupancy of
Boston. When they left they took the manuscript with them, and
also Governor Bradford's letter-book, most of which was destroyed.
It was believed that " Bradford's History of the Plymouth Planta
tion" had shared this fate; but when, in 1846, Dr. Samuel Wilber-
force then Lord Bishop of Oxford, published his history of the Prot
estant Episcopal Church in America, a number of New England
scholars recognized certain portions as extracts from the Bradford
manuscripts. A correspondence with the bishop of London fol
lowed, and the long-lost " Log of the Mayflower' was once more
brought to light. It was copied by permission, and the whole his
tory published in 1856, with copious annotations.
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