^*^r ^z.:^

LIFE AND
PUBLIC SERVICES OF
GROVER CLEVELAND,
Twenty-Second President of the United States and
Democratic Nominee for Re-election, 1888.

AN INTRODUCTORY SKETCH BY THE LATE WM. DORSHEIMER, ENLARGED
AND CONTINUED" THROUGH THE PRESENT- ADMINISTRATION
TO THE DATE OF PUBLICATION.

together with a sketch op

The Life and Public Services of
ALLEN G. THURMAN,
Ex-United States Senator from Ohio and Democratic
Nominee for Vice-Prbsident.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, ST. LOUIS.
1888; STATEMENT OF DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES, AND A HAND
BOOK OF USEFUL POLITICAL INFORMATION.
By W- U. HENSEL,
ASSISTED BY
GEO, B\ PARKER

PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED.

HUBBARD BROTHERS, Publishers,
PHILADELPHIA, CHICAGO, KANSAS CITY;
Guernsey Publishing Co., Boston; Jas. Morris & Co., Cincinnati;
Perry Publishing Co., Denver; A. L. Bancroft & Co.,
San Francisco.

Copyright, 1888, by Hubbard Bros.

PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.

THE following sketches of the Democratic
nominees ' for President and Vice-Presi
dent of the United States in the National
campaign of 1888 are the joint work of several
minds iri harmonious collaboration. In 1884 the
late Hon. William Dorsheimer, of New York, the
friend and acquaintance for many years of Presi
dent Cleveland, wrote for the present publishers
a comprehensive sketch of his career, which
necessarily ended before the beginning of his
notable experience as President. In the prepa
ration of the present work as much as possible of
that biography has been preserved, and in the
main 'it furnished the first four chapters of the
accompanying book. Such portions of it as re
lated to the services of Mr. Cleveland in the
Gubernatorial chair of New York have been con
densed into Chapters V. and VI. Beyond this
point the volume is entirely new and com
prises by far the most interesting period of Presi
dent Cleveland's public life. It presents for the
first time a continuous narrative of his official acts
and personal movements during his Presidential iii

IV PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.
term, together with the many notable addresses
delivered by him upon political and other topics
during the past three years. It will be found to
be especially comprehensive in its statement of
the Tariff Reform Issue of 1888 and the Presi
dent's relation thereto.
This part of the work, together with the biog
raphy of Mr. Thurman, an enlarged statement
of Democratic principles, and an account of the
St. Louis Convention is from the pen of W. U.
Hensel of Lancaster, Pa., assisted at every stage
of its preparation' by George F. Parker, a trained
journalist and thorough student of American
politics. It is confidently believed that this volume, an
ticipating all like publications, will not only take
first place as a " campaign biography," but will
have permanent interest and value as a contri
bution to contemporaneous political history.
The Publishers.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. PAGE
Parentage, Early Life, and Education  21
Chapter ii.
His Career at the Buffalo Bar  32
CHAPTER III.
The Mayoralty and Municipal Reform  40
CHAPTER IV.
The Democratic Canvass for Governor of New York in 1882 52
CHAPTER V.
First Year as Governor  61
CHAPTER VI.
Second Year as Governor  74
CHAPTER VII.
The Canvass and Convention of 1884  91
CHAPTER VIII.
The Cleveland-Blaine Presidential Campaign  99
-CHAPTER IX.
Preparing for the New Administration  121
vii

Vlll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X. page
The Inauguration  132
CHAPTER XI.
ThePresident and Congress  161
CHAPTER XII.
Courtship, Marriage, and Domestic Life  180
CHAPTER XIII.
The President's Tours Through the Country  202
CHAPTER XIV.
The Tour to the South and West  224
CHAPTER XV.
Exercise of the Veto Power  241
CHAPTER XVI.
Democratic Tariff Reform Policy  268
CHAPTER XVII.
Tirsonal Qualities of the President  2Ty

CONTENTS.

Life of Thurman.
chapter i. pagk
The Office of Vice-President  305
CHAPTER II.
The Lineage and Youth of Thurman  313
CHAPTER III.
Mr. Thurman as a Lawyer — At the Bar and on the Bench . 323
CHAPTER IV.
Early Interest in Politics — On the Stump and in Congress
— Elected to the Senate  334
CHAPTER V.
Mr. Thurman in the Senate of United States  345
CHAPTER VI.
Thurman in thu Days of Reconstruction  358
CHAPTER VII.
Notable Speeches — The Elective Franchise — Chinese Immi
gration — Silver Coinage  376
ix

X , CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII. page
Compelling the Pacific Railways to Account  391
CHAPTER IX.
A Plea for Religious Toleration — Perils of the Republic —
Miscellaneous Addresses •  407
CHAPTER X.
Delegate to the International Monetary Conference — ¦
Arbitrator and Counselor — Telephone Suits and
Tally Sheet Forgery Cases  418
'CHAPTER XI.
Some Personal Characteristics — Mr. Thurman at Home . . 429
CHAPTER XII.
The Call from Political Retirement — Nomination for the
Vice-Presidency . . .„  439

CONTENTS.

Record of the Democratic National Convention,
1888.
CHAPTER I. ,AGE
Arranging for the Convention   453
CHAPTER II.
The First Day's Proceedings  ,  456
CHAPTER III.
The Second Day's Proceedings— Chairman Collins's Speech —
Daniel Dougherty's Speech  460
CHAPTER IV.
Tke Third Day's Proceedings — The Platform — Speeches
and Resolutions — Nominating a Vice-Presided — The
National Committee — The President Notified — Noti
fying Mr, Thurman  480

CONTENTS.

Principles of the Democratic Party. .
CHAPTER I.
The Principles of Washington  507
CHAPTER II.
Principles of Jefferson  512
CHAPTER III.
The Principles of Madison  515
CHAPTER IV.
The Principles of j ackson  518
CHAPTER' V.
The Principles of Tilden  525
CHAPTER VI.
The Principles of Tariff Reform  533
xii

CONTENTS.

The Citizen's Hand-Book.

PACE

Tables of Presidential Elections  561
The Presidential Election  564
Qualifications for Voters  565
Presidents of the United States  566
Vice-Presidents of the United States  , . . . 567
Cabinets of the Presidents  567
Army and Navy of the United States  573
Speakers of the House of Representatives  575
Congressional Representation  ,  575
The Supreme Court  577
Representatives Abroad  579
Representatives from Abroad  580
Financial Items  581
Constitution of the United States  587

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

President Cleveland (Steel), Frontispiece.
State Street and Capitol, Albany, N. Y., . 53
The Governor's Mansion, Albany, N. Y., . 67
Executive Chamber of Capitol, Albany, N. Y., 85
The White House, Washington, D. C, . 91
Democratic Nominating Convention of 1884, 109
Capitol at Washington, : . . . 123
Starting for the Inauguration, . . 133
Hon. Thomas A. Bayard, . . . . 1 39
Hon. Augustus H. Garland, . . . .143
Hon. W. C. Whitney,  147
Hon. W. C. Endicott  151
Hon. William F. Vilas,  155
The Late Hon. Samuel J. Tilden,, . . .159
The Late Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, . . 1 59
Hon. L. Q. C. Lamar,  177
Mrs. Cleveland as a Bride, . . . . 185
xv

XVi ILLUSTRATIONS.
President Cleveland's Wedding, , . . . 191
Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, . . . 195
Rev. Byron Sunderland, D. D., . . . 195
Chief Rooms of the White House, . . 199
Greetings at the Railway Station, . . . 225
Mrs. Cleveland (phototype), .... 289
Allfn G. Thurman (steel), . * . . . . 303
Hon. Don M. Dickinson, .... 449
Hon Charles S. Fairchild, .... 449
Hon. Patrick A. Collins  473
Hon. Daniel Dougherty, ..... 473
Hon. Daniel Manning,  503
Hon. Samuel J. Randall,  503
President's Reception Room in the Capitol, 535
State, War. and Navy Departments, . . 559

THE LI KB

OF

Grover Cleveland,

Twenty- Second President of the United States and
Democratic Nominee for Re-election, 1888.

" The Government can never be restored and reformed except from inside, and
by the active, intelligent agency of the Executive. We must hope that Providence
will, in its own good time, raise up a man adapted and qualified for the wise execution
of this great work, and that the people will put him in possession of the executive
administration, through, which alone that noble mission can be accomplished, and the
health and life of our political system be preserved and invigorated.'1 — Samuel %
Tilden to Iroquois Club, Chicago, March nth, 1882.

CHAPTER I.
parentage, early life, and education.
G ROVER CLEVELAND was born at Cald
well, Essex County, N. J., on the 18th
day of March, 1837. His father, Richard
F. Cleveland, was a Presbyterian minister, the
son of William Cleveland, a watchmaker, who
lived at Norwich, Conn. His mother was Anna
Neal, the daughter of an Irishman, a bookseller ¦
and publisher in Baltimore, Md., who had married
Barbara Real, a German Quakeress, of German-
town, Pa. The child who has become President
of the United States was baptized in infancy Ste
phen Grover, the name of his father's predecessor
in the Caldwell pastorate, but early in life young
Cleveland dropped the first name.
In 1 841 the Rev. Richard F. Cleveland moved to
Fayetteville, Onondaga County, N. Y. The fam
ily lived there nine years and then removed to
Clinton, Oneida County, and in 1853 to Holland '
Patent, a small village fifteen miles north of Utica.
Three weeks after he began his ministry here he
died, leaving a widow and nine children, of whom
Grover was the third.
The mother upon whom this sudden responsi
bility had fallen was a woman of dignified appear
ance, with a kindly face and unusual strength of

2 2 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
character. She combined the traits of her Irish and
German ancestors. She lived to rear and educate
her large family and died in April, 1882. Mr.
and Mrs. Cleveland are buried in the cemetery at
Holland Patent. Their children have erected a
monument to mark their graves It bears the
following inscriptions: Rev. R. F. CLEVELAND,
Pastor at
Holland Patent,
Died Oct. I, 1853
Aged 49 years.

ANNA NEAL,
Wife of
R. F. Cleveland,
Died July 10; 1882,
Aged 78 years.
Her children arise up
And call her blessed.
Grover had received such teaching as the
country schools could furnish. But his father's
narrow means compelled him to earn his living as
soon as possible, and when he was fourteen years
of age he became a clerk in a country store at
Fayetteville. His salary the first year was fifty
dollars, and he was to have one hundred dollars
the second year. The removal of the family to
Clinton gave Grover an opportunity to attend the
academy there, and he left Fayetteville before the
end of the second year. At Clinton he pursued
the usual preparatory studies, intending to enter

PARENTAGE, EARLY. LIFE, AND EDUCATION. 23
Hamilton College. But his father's death shut
him out of college and compelled him to begin the
straggle of life. He was then seventeen years
old. '
His elder brother William had found employ
ment as a teacher in the New York Institution for
the Blind, which is situated on Ninth Avenue
between Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth streets.
In October, 1853, William was appointed princi
pal in the male department, and about the same
time Grover was appointed his assistant. The.
pupils were taught orally, there being at that time
few text-books which could be read by the sense
of touch. Grover remained at the institution a
little more than a year. He passed the winter
of 1854-5 at his mother's house in Holland Patent.
This was the last of his home life. A neighbor,
the late Ingham Townsend, who had become
interested in the youth, proposed to him that he
should enter college with a view of making the
ministry his profession, but the young man's mind
was already fixed upon the law, and declining his
friend's offer, he asked him for a loan of twenty-
five dollars, to carry him to Cleveland, Ohio, where
he hoped for employment in a lawyer's office.
On his way west he stopped in Buffalo to visit his
uncle, Lewis F. Allen. Mr. Allen, who is still
living at an advanced age, was one of the most
influential citizens of Buffalo.- He was the owner
of a large farm on Grand Island, in the Niagara

24 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
river, where he had a herd of short-horn cattle,
and lived at Black Rock, formerly a separate
town, but which had been lately annexed to
Buffalo. Mr. Allen's house is pleasantly situated
on the bank of the river, and in the midst of con
siderable grounds. It is an ample old-fashioned
brick building, and was built by General Peter B.
Porter, who lived there for many years. A broad
hall runs from the front door to the western
piazza, which commands a wide view of the
Niagara and the Canadian shore. A mile or two
to the north-west are the ruins of Fort Erie,
the scene of desperate fighting during the War of
1812, in which General Porter had been greatly
distinguished/ At this point the river is an inter
esting sight. It sweeps by with a current of
between six and seven miles an hour and its broad
green surface is flecked with foam and broken by
countless eddies. It is not difficult for one who
looks upon the tumultuous river and listens to its
deep voice to imagine that it feels some premoni
tion of the agony which awaits it below. Grover
was no stranger to his uncle's hospitable roof.
He had made frequent visits there during his
boyhood. He told Mr. Allen of his intention to
go to Cleveland and study law. But his uncle
strongly advised him to remain in Buffalo. The
young man had no acquaintances in Cleveland,
while Mr. Allen knew all the principal people in
Buffalo and held close and friendly relations with

PARENTAGE, EARL Y LIFE, AND EDUCATION. 25
them. Mr. Allen had, not long before, begun the
compilation of the "Short-horn Herd Book," and
he proposed that Grover should assist him, offering
him compensation and a comfortable home.- In
the autumn, on Mr. Allen's application, Grover
entered the law office of Henry W. Rogers and
Denis Bowen, who, under the firm name of Rogers
& Bowen, did a large business at the bar of
Erie County. Thus began Grover Cleveland's
life in Buffalo.
It may be well enough to consider his surround
ings. Buffalo was then a city with about one
hundred thousand inhabitants. It was a com
mercial and manufacturing community, and held
in its control the lake commerce, then growing
into great dimensions. There were many notable
men among its citizens. Mr. Fillmore had two
years before left the Presidency and returned to
live there. His neighbor, Nathan K. Hall, who
had served in his cabinet as Postmaster-General,
was United States Judge of the Northern District
of New York. Solomon G. Haven, a lawyer of
remarkable talent, then a member of Congress,
was the leader of the bar. Retired from his pro
fession and from politics was Albert H. Tracy,
who may be described as the most interesting
and distinguished figure in Buffalo at that time.
He had been chosen to Congress before he was
old enough to take his seat, and had served in
the House of Representatives during the admin-

26 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
istrations of Monroe and John Quincy Adams,
he had been for eight years in the State Senate ;
and in the Court of Errors he had won a judicial
reputation, hardly inferior to any in the history of
the State, He had acted both with the Whig and
the Democratic parties. But it was his misfortune
to be out of relation, in both instances, with the
leader of his parties. He despised Jackson, and
disliked Clay. He had assisted Seward, Weed,
and Fillmore to create the Whig party, and left it
in 1840, in the hour ot its triumph. Mr. Webster
tried to persuade him into Tyler's cabinet with
the offer of the Treasury Department, but he
declined, preferring, doubtless, to retain his Dem
ocratic associations which the acceptance of Mr.
Webster's offer would have broken. Mr. Tracy
never held office afterwards. He devoted so
much of his time as was necessary to the care of
his estate, but gave himself chiefly to reading and
the society of those who interested him. Mr.
Tracy exercised a great influence over all young
men who came within his reach, and it is impos
sible to speak of Buffalo at that time without
recalling his gracious presence, his kindly counsels
and his delightful and instructive conversation.
Mr. Allen was one of Mr. Tracy's intimate
friends and the nephew was soon taken to the
Tracy house.
The gentlemen who made the firm of Rogers
& Bowen were both notable men. ¦> Henry W.

PARENTA GE, EARLY L TFE, AND ED UCA TION. 2 7
Rogers was a large man with a somewhat loud
but hearty manner. He had at command a great
stor e of anecdote, and without being witty he
easily said smart things, and still more easily
bitter ones. Mr. Rogers was the advocate of the
firm, and was a strong jury lawyer.
Denis Bowen was a very different person. He
was quiet and unobtrusive, never went into court,
nor ever sought publicity. He was, a master of
detail, an excellent business lawyer, with a calm
dispassionate judgment to which his clients
trusted implicitly. Beneath a somewhat cold
manner was hidden a most gentle disposition, and
Denis BoWen was not only greatly respected, but
greatly loved by those among whom he lived.
At that time upon the bench of the Superior
Court were Isaac A. Verplanck, Joseph G. Masten
and George W. Clinton. The latter of these is still
extensively known, and I will, therefore, not speak
of him. Judge Verplanck had a. vigorous and
thoroughly unpartial mind, and a huge unwieldy
body. No one could ever find how much he
weighed. He once made a journey to the plains
in the stage-coach days, with Mr. Fargo and a
party of gentlemen. It was arranged that the
coach should be driven on to the scales at the next
station and weighed, passengers and all, and then
Verplanck's weight was to be got by deducting
the weight of the coach and the other passengers.
But no sooner did the driver pull up than the

28 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
Judge, who was as quick of mind as slow of body,
saw what his friends were at, and jumped from
the coach before its weight could be taken. Judge
Verplanck was a good lawyer and an excellent
judge. As a nisi prius judge he could not be
excelled. His dislike of work made him impa
tient of delay, and eager to get through. Busi
ness before him was done rapidly. But it was in
criminal cases that his generous heart showed
itself. There was little danger that injustice
would be done in his court to any criminal, how
ever wretched, friendless, or guilty. Once he
sent for a young lawyer and asked him to defend a
man charged with murder. The youthful advocate
pleaded his inexperience and dread of the respon
sibility. "Have no fear," said the Judge; "I
will see to it that your client does not suffer."
In private Judge Verplanck was the pleasantest
of companions. He was fond of food, of wine
and good company. There was no bitterness in
his temper, but always a genial sunshine which
made him welcome everywhere.
Joseph G Masten was by far the most learned
lawyer in Buffalo. Those who knew him and
others well enough to judge, thought there was
no better lawyer anywhere. Like Verplanck, he
had a great social charm, and was a prominent
figure in a society full of able and interesting
men. After the death of Mr. Haven, which took place

PARENTAGE, EARL Y LIFE, AND EDUCATION. 29
in 1 86 1, John Garison came to be the leader of
the Buffalo bar. He had a clear and vigorous
intellect and untiring industry. He had been
carefully educated and thoroughly trained for his
profession. No one could equal him in the care
with which his causes were prepared, nor .in the
clearness with which, brushing aside all extrane
ous matter, he presented the essential points of
his argument. He had no eloquence, but his
lucidity and conciseness, and his instinct for the
strong points of a case, made him a very success
ful advocate. He served with distinction in Com
gress and in the State Senate, and his sudden
death, in 1874, brought to a close a career which
was full of promise.
The principal person in Buffalo society at that
time was Dr. Walter Cary, a gentleman widely
known in this" country and in Europe; The doc
tor had retired from his profession by reason of -
delicate health. A large estate and a ready dis
position to new enterprises, gave him abundant
occupation. Travel and society were his chief
pleasures, and the influence of his example did
much to give to Buffalo its reputation for hospi
tality. Albert Haller Tracy was the, oldest son of
Albert H. Tracy, mentioned above. He and
Grover Cleveland were about the same age.
After his father's death, by which event he came
into a large, fortune, Tracy retired from the pro-

30 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
fession in which he might easily have won distinc
tion. He had a mind remarkable for judgment i
and moderation. His knowledge of men and
affairs was extensive, his reading considerable,
and his memory most retentive.
I have mentioned the most prominent men in
the city in which Grover Cleveland had made his
home, where his character was to be formed, his
career begun, and where he was to find an
entrance, if he ever did, into the path which
should lead him to fame and greatness. I have,
however, spoken only of the dead. There are
many living persons who should be mentioned, if
it were intended to make a complete description
of the associations in which Cleveland found him
self ; but I am not permitted to speak of the living
with the freedom which would be necessary.
It will thus be seen that before he was twenty
years old, Cleveland had begun the study of his
profession under most favorable circumstances.
He was in the family of an uncle who lived com
fortably and well. He was thrown into associa
tion with men of talent and distinction. He was
in the employ of a firm of able and successful
lawyers, who were entrusted with very important
affairs. Thenceforth there was no element of hardship
in Cleveland's life., He probably never knew
what want was. He had all that it was possible
to have. He had opportunity as full and com-

PARENTAGE, EARLY LIFE, AND EDUCATION. 31
plete as if he had been born to wealth. Indeed,
he had, in the necessity for exertion, a stimulant
and a training which wealth could not have given
him. The transplanted tree had found a con
genial soil.
Grover Cleveland remained with Rogers &
Bowen, as student and clerk, until 1863. At the
outbreak of the war, the question had come to
him as to the duty he owed his country. While
teaching in New York, and while studying in
Buffalo, he had always sent whatever money he
could spare to his mother. He was then earning
enough to make his contributions of importance
to the family. It was therefore decided that the
two younger brothers should go to the army, and
that the bread winner should stay and work- for
the support of his mother and sisters.
In i87"2, these younger brothers, who had rep
resented the family in the army during the Civil
War, were drowned at sea, in the burning of the
Steamship Missouri near the Island of Abaco,
October 2 2d. In that disaster they exhibited un
usual coolness and courage ; they stood by the
boats when they were lowered and helped the
passengers into them, doing the work the fright
ened officers should have done. But when the
boats were lowered there was no room for them
and they went down with' the ship.

CHAPTER II.
HIS CAREER AT THE BUFFALO BAR.
GROVER CLEVELAND had been admit
ted to the bar in 1859, and in January, 1863,
he was appointed Assistant District Attor
ney for the County of Erie. This position brought
young Cleveland into court, and accustomed him to
the trial of causes. Atthattimethe DistrictAttorney
had but one assistant, and upon him fell a large
share of the work of the office. His industry
and evenness of temper fitted him, peculiarly,
for his duties, and he soon held a more important
relation to the public business than it had been
usual for an Assistant District Attorney to have.
This was, perhaps, due, in part, to the fact that
Mr. Torrance, the District Attorney, did not live
in the city, but in a village twenty-five miles dis
tant. He therefore naturally left much to the
capable and industrious assistant, who was con
stantly at' hand. The three years in the District
Attorney's office were of great value to Cleve
land. They gave him confidence in himself,
accustomed him to the trial of causes and to
addressing juries ; enabled him to make a wide
acquaintance among the people in the country
32

HIS CAREER AT THE BUFFALO BAR. 33
towns, as well as in the city, and attracted to him
the attention of clients and the bar.
The Assistant District Attorneyship also
brought him into politics. From the time of his
acceptance of that office, he was known as a
Democratic politician. Mr. Dean Richmond, a
man of singular ability and force of character,
was then the principal Democrat in Western New
York, andjroverned local affairs with a firm hand.
At the expiration of Mr. Torrance's term, Cleve
land received the Democratic nomination for
District Attorney. His nomination to so import
ant an office, when he was only twenty-nine years
old, is the strongest evidence that can be given
of the standing he had obtained in the community
and in his profession. His opponent was Lyman
K. Bass, a young Republican lawyer, afterwards
a member of Congress, and who has been pre
vented by 'ill-health from completely fulfilling the
promise of his youth. After a heated canvass,
Glevelahd was beaten, a result not to be wondered
at, for the county then usually went Republican.
An old political friend well remembers meeting
Cleveland the day after the election, and recalls
the perfect coolness and good humor with which
he took his dejeat.
He at once resumed the practice of his profession,
and soon formed a partnership with the late
Isaac V. Vanderp'ool. In 1867, the late William Dor-
sheimer having been appointed, by President John-

34 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
son, United States Attorney for the Northern
District of New York, offered Cleveland an
appointment as Assistant District Attorney. This
offer he declined, for the reason that the duties of
the office would require frequent absence from
the city, and he preferred to attend to his rapidly7
growing clientage. He soon after became asso
ciated with the late A. P. Lanning and Oscar
Folsom, a young companion of Cleveland, who
had taken the Assistant Attorneyship which the
former had declined. The name of the new firm
was Lanning, Cleveland & Folsom. The daugh
ter of the last named gentleman is now the Pres
ident's wife.
In the autumn of 1870, Cleveland's polit
ical friends offered him the nomination for
sheriff of the county. " Now," said he, to
a friend whose advice, he asked, " I know
that it is not usual for lawyers to be sheriffs.
I do not remember of any lawyer being a sheriff.
But, there are some reasons why I should consider
the matter carefully. I have been compelled to
earn my living since I was seventeen. I have
never had time for reading, nor for thorough pro
fessional study. The sheriff's office would take
me out of practice, but it would keep me about
the courts, and in professional relations. It would
give me considerable leisure, which I could devote.
to self-improvement. Besides, it would enable
me to save a modest competency, and give me

HIS CAREER AT THE BUFFALO BAR. 35
the pecuniary independence which otherwise I
may never have. I have come for your advice.
What would- you do in my place ? "
His friend strongly recommended him to accept
the nomination. He received the same advice from
other friends. He took the nomination and was
elected. Naturally, some of the duties of the
sheriff's office Were grievously distasteful to him,
but he performed them with that strong sense of
duty Which has always characterized him.
He used the opportunities of the position as he
had said he would. He made a considerable
saving, and he gave his leisure time to profes
sional and other studies. As soon as he returned
to the bar the effect was noticeable.' He was a
stronger and a broader man than he had been
before, and he at once 'took a higher place than
he had ever held.
At the close of his term as > sheriff, he formed a
partnership with his old antagonist, Lyman K.
Bass, and Wilson S. Bissell. Failing health com
pelled Mr. Bass to remove to Colorado, and after
wards Mr. George J. Sicard entered the firm,
which was known as Cleveland, Bissell & Sicard.
From this time, 1874, until his election as Mayor,
Cleveland practiced his profession with constantly
increasing success. He came to have great skill
in trying causes, and- his arguments to the court in
')anc were noticeable for lucidity and thorough
ness. Many important matters were entrusted to

7,6 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND,
him, and before he again took office he was
beginning to receive large fees. There can be '
no doubt that, had he remained at the bar, he
would have won as great a success as the theatre ;
in which he acted would permit.
But during these years of professional labor,
Cleveland was not indifferent to politics. Indeed,
he was all the time a counsellor of his party..;
After the death of Dean Richmond, in 1866,
Joseph Warren, the editor of the Courier, became.
the head of the Democratic organization in Buf-;.
falo. He was a native of Vermont, who had,
when a very young man, gone to Albany, and
from there to Buffalo. He found employment in
the editorial office of the Courier, while the late,\
William A. Seaver was its proprietor and editor, -
Upon the retirement of Mr. Seaver, he succeeded
to the control of the paper, and was one of its prin
cipal Owners. Mr. Warren directed party affairs
with great judgment and self-control. He never
aspired to office himself, was very appreciative of
the talents of others, and always ready to aid in '
advancing the fortunes of his friends. He was,; .
besides, a promoter of all the generous enter
prises which promised to add to the prosperity of
the city. All the public institutions were aided by
his wise counsel and unselfish labors. Mr. War- ,
ren was a warm friend of Cleveland's, and was
one of the first to recognize his talents and predict,,
his success, He died in 1876, and thenceforward '

HIS CAREER AT THE BUFFALO BAR. 17
* Cleveland was drawn into more responsible politi
cal relations. He was not willing to take the local
leadership, which he might easily have had, for he
could not give to it the necessary time and atten
tion. "But he served on party committees, and
there was little done in party matters in Buffalo
as to which his advice was not taken. When he
went to Albany, many thought him ignorant of
political methods. But • they were greatly mis
taken. Few men know practical politics better
than he.
During all these years he had been a Democrat
of Democrats. Through good report and evil
report, , he had stood with his party. Neither
success nor defeat had, for an instant,- diminished
his allegiance or his zeal.
During the early period of Cleveland's Buffalo
. life the city had begun a new career. Its wealth
had greatly increased, and a number of young
men with more education than their elders had
become active in affairs. A desire for a higher
civilization began to show itself. The Young
Men's Association, which maintained a small
library and a course of public lectures in the
winter, had long been the principal, and it may be
said the only literary society. But it had lan
guished upon a meagre income. During this time
a movement was set afoot to secure an endow
ment for it. Through the exertion of several
' gentlemen, among whom the late S. V. R. Wat-

38

LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.

son was most prominent, a fund of between^
eighty and ninety thousand dollars was raised by
subscription and the sale of life-memberships. A ¦
valuable property was purchased and the associa- i
tion provided with an abundant income. During
this period the Buffalo Historical Society, of which ,
Mr. Fillmore was the first president, was formed,
and also the Buffalo Academy of Fine Arts. Both '$
of these institutions excited the interest of thS ;
more liberal citizens. It doubtless seemed to
many, an ambitious undertaking to establish an
Academy of Fine Arts in a place so given over to ¦;
business as Buffalo. Once, in those early days,
Ralph Waldo Emerson went through the gallery,
which was then largely made up of pictures on
sale contributed by the artists of New York and
Boston, but which also contained a number of ,
works, the property of the academy, that were
worthy of attention. Said the philosopher : "This ,
has begun well and will come to something in the
course of the ages." Indeed those who began the
work knew as well as any one, how little could be,
done during their life-time, but they thought a
beginning should be made. To this period, also,
belongs the Society of Natural History, which
owes its success chiefly to the scientific zeal of
George W. Clinton.
Any traveler who, to-day, shall visit the institu- ;
tions I have mentioned, and thoroughly examine
their collections, will be surprised to find howji

HIS CAREER AT THE BUFFALO BAR. • 39
much has been accomplished in twenty-five years.
He will see that Buffalo has become the centre of
literary, artistic and scientific activities, and that
forces have been set at work which are sure to
strengthen with time, and to greatly influence
>. the character of the place and the lives of its
people. Grover Cleveland was hardly old enough to
take part in the beginning of these things. But
he has done his share of work in building, them
up to their present prosperous state.

CHAPTER III.
THE MAYORALTY AND MUNICIPAL REFORM.
EIGHT years ago Grover Cleveland was,.!
as has been seen, living quietly in Buffalo.-
and practicing law. Neither he nor any
one foresaw the career which was before him, and
upon which he was soon to enter. This may be
said without disparagement, for if any intelligent!
resident of Buffalo had been asked to name a
citizen who was by nature fit to be Governor and,-
President, he would have been more likely to
mention, Cleveland than any other man in the^
place. The National defeat of 1880 had hot seriously;
impaired Democratic strength in Buffalo, and
when the municipal election of 1881 drew near
there was a strong feeling that a proper person;
could be elected to the Mayoralty by the Demo
crats. City affairs were in an unsatisfactory state,
and there was a general feeling in favor of munici
pal reform. The party leaders urged Cleveland
to take the nomination. At first he refused, but
it was pressed upon him with such urgency, and
with so strong an appeal to his sense of duty,' that
he at last consented. His candidacy led to a,
spirited canvass, and to his election by a majority
40

- MA YORAL TY AND MUNICIPAL REFORM. 4 1
of .3500, the largest ever known in the history of
the city.
He took office as Mayor on the istday of Jan
uary, 1882. He at once called to his side, as his
secretary, Mr. Harmon S. Cutting, a devoted friend,
and a lawyer of excellent standing and great expe
rience, who was unrivalled for his knowledge of
municipal law. Mr. Cleveland entered upon his
office with a strong feeling that the affairs of
the municipality should, so far as possible, be
kept apart from party politics. He could not
see why the paving, lighting, and cleaning of
streets, should depend upon the exigencies of
parties which had been formed upon lines of state
or national policy. His first resolve was to do
what he thought the interests of. the city required,
without reference to the effect his action would
have upon either the Democratic or the Republi- .
^can party. In his speech accepting the nomination
for Mayor, he said : " There is, or there should
be, no reason why the affairs of our city should
not be managed with the same care and the same
economy as private interests-; and when we con
sider that public officials are the trustees of the
people and hold their places and exercise their
powers for the benefit of the people, there should
be no higher inducement to a faithful and honest
discharge of public duty." In his inaugural mes
sage, he used the following language :
"We hold the money of the people in our

42 LIFE OF C ROVER CLEVELAND.
hands, to be used for their purposes and to fur
ther their interests as members of the munici
pality, and it is quite apparent that, when any part '
of the funds which the taxpayers have thus
intrusted to us are diverted to other purposes, or
when, by design or neglect, we allow a greater
sum to be -applied to any municipal purpose than
is necessary, we have, to that extent, violated our
duty. There surely is no difference in his duties
and obligations, whether a person is intrusted
with the money of one man or many."
These two declarations laid down the rule by
Which he meant to be guided. A trust had been
placed in his hands, and as a trust he intended to
administer his office. The public moneys were to
be dealt with as private moneys are dealt with, by
a competent and honest trustee. This rule he at
once rigidly applied tomunicipal affairs. Heapplied
it, in a striking manner, to a resolution which was
passed by the city council appropriating five hun
dred dollars to defray the expenses attending a
proper observance of Decoration Day. It was
proposed, that this sum of money should be paid
Out of what was known as the Fourth of July fund,
and therefore the resolution was obnoxious to a
provision in the charter of the city, which made
it a misdemeanor to appropriate money raised for
one purpose to any other object. Upon this
ground he refused to approve the resolution.
But he also placed his refusal upon broader

MAYORALTY AND MUNICIPAL REFORM. 43
grounds. In his veto message, among other
things, he said:
"I deem the object of this appropriation a most
worthy one. The efforts of our veteran soldiers
- to keep alive the memory of their fallen comrades
certainly deserves the aid and encouragement of '
their fellow-citizens. We should all, I think, feel
it a duty, and a privilege to contribute to the funds
necessary to carry out such a purpose. And I
should be much disappointed if an appeal to our
citizens'for voluntary subscriptions for this patri
otic object should be in vain.
" But the money so contributed should be a free
gift of the citizens and taxpayers, and should not
be extorted from them by taxation. This is so,
because the purpose for which this money is asked
does not involve their protection or interest as
members of the community, and it may or may
not be approved by them.
" The people are forced to pay taxes into the
city treasury only upon the theory that such
money shall be expended for public purposes, or
purposes in which they all have a direct and practi
cal interest. \
" The logic of this position leads directly to the
conclusion that, if the people are forced .to pay
their money into the public fund and it is spent by
their servants and agents for purposes in which the
people as taxpayers have no interest, the exaction
of such taxes from them is oppressive and unjust.

44 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.,
"I cannot rid myself of the idea that this city
government, in its relation to the, taxpayers, is a,
business establishment, and that it is put in our
hands to be Conducted on business principles.
" This theory does not admit of our donating
the public funds in the manner contemplated by
the action of your honorable body.
"I deem it my duty, therefore, to return both
of the resolutions herein referred to without my
approval." This act attracted the attention of the whole1
community. The leading newspapers, without dis
tinction of party, gave it their approval. But in
order that the object for which the money had
been voted should be accomplished, a subscription'
was at once set afoot, which the Mayor headed by
a liberal contribution. He soon had an opportu
nity to. apply his principles to a more important
matter. The City Council had awarded the con
tract for cleaning the streets for five years for the
sum of four hundred and twenty-two thousand; •'
five hundred dollars. Another party had offered ¦
to do the work for one hundred thousand dollars
less, and the person to whom the contract had
been given had himself, a few weeks before, pro
posed to perform the same service for fifty thou
sand less. This scandalous transaction was dealt
with by the Mayor with a commendable directness
and frankness ; he returned the resolution with a
message, which contained the following language :

'' MAYORALTY AND MUNICIPAL REFORM. ' 45
"This is a time for plain speech, and my objec
tion to the action of your honorable body now
under consideration shall be plainly stated; I
withhold my assent from the same, because I regard
it as the culmination of a most barefaced, impudent
and shameless scheme to betray the interests of
the people, and to worse than squander the public
money. " I will not be misunderstood in this matter.
There are those whose votes were given for this
resolution whom I cannot and will not suspect of
a willful neglect of the interests they are Sworn to
protect ; but it has been fully demonstrated that
' there are influences, both in and about your hbn-
orable body, which it behooves every honest man
to. watch and avoid with the greatest care.
"When cool judgment rules the hour, the people
will, I hope and believe, have no reason to com
plain of the action of your honorable body. But
clumsy appeals to prejudice or passion, insinua
tions, with a kind of low, cheap cunning, as to the
motives and purposes of others, and the mock
heroism of brazen effrontery which openly declares
that a wholesome public sentiment is to be set at
naught, sometimes deceives and leads honest men
to aid in the consummation of schemes, which, if
exposed, they would look upon with abhorrence.
" If the scandal in connection with' this street
'cleaning contract, which has so aroused our citi
zens, shall cause them to select and watch with

46 LIFE-OF GROVER CLEVELAND. /
more care those to whom they intrust their inter
ests, and if it serves to make all of us who are
charged with official duties,, more careful in their
performance, it will not be an unmitigated evii. .
" We are fast gaining positions in the grades of
public stewardship. There is no middle ground.
Those who are not for the people, either in or out
of your honorable body, are against them, and
should be treated accordingly."
This bold and honorable act attracted wide at
tention, and laid the foundation of a reputation
which soon extended throughout the State.
: i Mr. Cleveland continued to apply to the affairs
of Buffalo the same inflexible* rule of administering
his office as though it were a trust. There, can
be no doubt that the result was a success greater
than has ever been accomplished upon so narrow
a political field as a single municipality. At home,
the favor which he obtained was quite universal.
All party differences disappeared before a public
officer' who performed his duties with so complete
a reference to the general welfare.
During 'the short term of his mayoralty there
were several occasions which compelled him to
speak upon important topics. But whatever sub
ject he dealt with was presented in the light of
the principle he had from the first declared should
guide his conduct. In speaking at the semi-cen- ¦
tennial celebration of the foundation of the city,
July 3d, 18S2, he said :

MA YORAL TY AND MUNICIPAL REFORM. 47
" We boast of our citizenship to-night. But
this citizenship btingswith it duties not unlike those
we owe our neighbor and our God. There is no
better time than this for self-examination. He
who deems himself too pure and holy to take part
in the affairs of his city, will meet the fact that
better men than he have thought it their duty to
do so. He who cannot spare a moment in his
greed and selfishness' to devote to public con
cerns, will, perhaps, find a well-grounded fear
that he may become the prey of public plun
derers ; arid he who indolently cares not who
administers the government of his city, will find,
that he" is living falsely, and in the neglect of his
highest duty."
When laying the corner-stone of the Young
Men's Christian Association building, on the 7th of
September, 1882, he used the following language :
"We all hope and expect that our city has
entered upon a course of unprecedented pros
perity and growth. But to my mind not all
the sign's about us point more surely to real great
ness than the event which we here celebrate.
Gtfod and pure government lies at the foundation
of the wealth and progress of every community. As
the chief executive of this proud city, I congratu
late all my fellow-citizens that to-day we lay the
foundation stone of an edifice which shall be a
beautiful ornament, and, what is more important,
shall enclose within its Walls such earnest Christian

48, LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
endeavors as must make easier all our efforts to
administer safely and honestly a good municipal -
''-' government." These utterances disclose the high moral pur
pose in which his whole nature seemed to be
absorbed, and which he was, in a measure, com
pelled to profess upon every occasion when he
Was required to address the people. Perhaps
there was no occasion on which he made so clear
a revelation of himself and his character as by the
address which he delivered on the 9th of April,
1882, when taking the chair at a mass meeting to
protest against the treatment of American citizens
imprisoned abroad. This short speech is worthy
of the careful attention of all those who wish to
understand his mind and character:
" Fellow Citizens. — This is the formal mode'.
' of address on occasions of this kind, but I think
we seldom realize fully its meaning or how valu
able a thing it is to be a citizen.
i. " From the earliest civilization to be a citizen
has been to be a free man, endowed with certain
privileges and advantages, and entit)ed to the full
protection of the State. The defense and protec
tion of the personal rights of its citizens has always
been the paramount and most important duty of
a free, enlightened government.
" And perhaps no government has this sacred
trust more in its keeping than this— the best and
freest of them all ; for here the people who are to

MAYORALTY AND MUNICIPAL REFORM. 49
be protected are the source of those powers which
they delegate tipon the express compact that the
citizen shall be protected. For this purpose we
chose those who, for the time being, shall manage
the machinery which we' have set up for our
defense and safety.
" And this protection adheres to us in all lands
and places as an incident of citizenship. Let but
the weight of a sacrilegious hand be put upon this
sacred thing, and a great strong government
springs to its feet to avenge the wrong. Thus it
is that the native born American citizen enjoys his
birthright. But when, in the westward march of
empire, this nation was founded and took root,
we beckoned to the Old World, and invited hither
its immigration, and provided a mode by which,
those who sought a home among us might become
our fellow citizens. They came by thousands and
hundreds of thousands ; they came and
Hewed the dark old woods away,
And gave, the virgin fields to day ;
they came with strong sinews and brawny arms
to aid in the growth and progress of a new coun
try ; they came, and. upon our altars laid their
fealty and submission ; they came to our temples'
of justice, and under the solemnity of an oath
renounced all allegiance to every other State,
potentate- and sovereignty, and surrendered to "us
all, the duty pertaining to such allegiance^ . We

50 LYFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
have accepted their fealty, and invited them to
surrender the protection of their native land.
"And what should be given them in return?
Manifestly, good faith and every dictate of honor
demand that we give them the same liberty and
protection here and elsewhere which we vouchsafe
to our native-born citizens. And that this has
been accorded to them is the crowning glory of
American institutions.
" It needed not the statute, which is now the
law of the land, declaring that all 'naturalized
citizens, while in foreign lands are entitled to and
shall receive from this government the same pro
tection of person and property which is accorded
to native-born- citizens,' to voice the policy of our
nation. uln all lands where the semblance of liberty is
preserved, the right of a person arrested to a
speedy accusation and trial is, or ought to be, a
fundamental law, as it is a rule of civilization.
'¦ At any rate, we hold it to be so, and this is
one of the rights which we undertake to guarantee
to any native-born or naturalized citizen of ours,
.whether he be imprisoned by order of the Czar
of Russia or under the pretext of a law admin
istered for the benefit of the landed aristocracy
of England.
"We do not claim to make laws for other
countries, but we do insist that whatever those
laws may be they shall, in the interests of human

MAYORALTY AND MUNICIPAL REFORM. , 51
freedom and the rights of mankind, so far as they
involve the liberty of our citizens, be speedily
administered. We have a right to say, and do
say, that mere suspicion without examination or
trial, is not sufficient to justify the long imprison
ment of a citizen of America, Other nations
may permit their citizens to be thus imprisoned.
,'Ours will not. And this in effect has been
solemnly declared by statute.
"We have met here to-night to consider this
subject and to inquire into the cause and the'
reasons and the justice of the imprisonment of
certain of our fellow-citizens now held in British
prisons without the semblance of a trial or legal
examination. Our law declares that the govern
ment shall act in such cases. But the people' are
the creators of the government.
, "The undaunted apostle of the Christian relig
ion imprisoned and persecuted, appealing centuries
\ago td the Roman law and the rights of Roman
citizenship, boldly demanded: "Is it -lawful, for
you to scourge a man that is a Roman and
uncondemned? "
"So, too, might we ask, appealing to the law
of our land and the laws of civilization: 'Is it
lawful that these our fellows be- imprisoned who
are American citizens and uncondemned ? '
/ "I deem it an honor to be called upon to pre
side at such a meeting, and I thank you for it
What is your further pleasure ? "

CHAPTER IV.
THE DEMOCRATIC CANVASS FOR GOVERNOR OF NEW
YORK IN J 882.
THE year 1882 was one of political reac
tion and surprising revolution. The
death of Garfield, the succession of Ar
thur, the changes in Cabinet and policy, the with
drawal of Senators Conkling and Piatt and their
failure of re-election, and the defeat of the regfu- '
lar Republican caucus nominee for United States
.Senator in Pennsylvania, convulsed the politics
of the tyvo principal States of the Union. In the
Empire and Keystone States the movements of
leaders controlled the fortunes of the two great
parties in whose councils these Commonwealths
were supreme. Men were everywhere looking
to the Gubernatorial contests of the year to
shape the next Presidential, campaign and to
influence the control of the Federal Administra- • ?
tion, perhaps, for many years to come.
In New York city and Brooklyn, where the,;
contention of the Tammany Society and County
Democracy had distracted their party for years
past and led to its defeat in the Gubernatorial
campaign of 1879, rival candidates were pre
ss

STATB STBKET AND CAPITOL, ALBANY, NEW YORK.

CANVASS FOR GOVERNOR. 55
sented in such well-known personages as Roswell
P. Flower and General Henry W. Slocum. The
former was recognized as having the favor of
Tammany Hall; he had wealth, extended busi
ness reputation, and the experience of a term in
Congress. General Slocum was one of the
worthiest and most popular soldiers in the War
for the Union, and had proved his eminent fitness
for civil duties in Congress. They were pressed
with a zeal that bid fair to lead to intense bitter
ness and possibly to disastrous dissension. Two
influences operated to avert the threatened col
lision. While the local pride of Buffalo was enlisted
to promote to the Chief Magistracy of the State
the Mayor who had served his city so well, and
while his most ardent, supporters there were
found among the Republicans who had contribu
ted to his municipal victory, the eyes of the cool-
headed party managers at Albany had been turned
to the " availability " of a candidate who had. al
ready exhibited marked elements of political
strength, and who was remote from the local dis
traction of the various halls and factions of the
grfeat cities of Eastern New York. Mr. Manning
and others of the discreet and sagacious politi
cians who controlled the party organization fully
satisfied themselves that in the Mayor of Buffalo
were to be found qualities of successful leadership
for the campaign then before the party. The del-

56. LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
egates from Western New York were solidly for
him. The Tammany people gladly espoused his
cause rather than risk defeat. On the third bal
lot in the State Convention their delegates went
to Cleveland and his nomination was secured.
As soon as the canvass opened it was seen that
the choice had been a wise one. The movement
for Cleveland rose in the West to a great height
and ran swiftly through the State. Everywhere
factional differences were swept away. In New
York the adherents of Tammany and of the
County and Irving. Hall organizations united in
support of the State ticket, and upon all other
important nominations.
Meantime, in other States, events were pro
gressing well calculated to inspire the Democrats.
In Connecticut, Thomas M. Waller led the battle
which ended in victory. In Massachusetts, a combi
nation of Democrats and Independents, under the
banner of General B. F. Butler, was wresting the
State from Republican control. In Pennsylvania, the
Independent Republican candidacy of John Stew
art, and the nomination of General James A. Bea
ver by the regular organization, made easy the elec
tion of Robert E. Pattison.
The Republican dissensions were increased. in,
proportion to the growth of Democratic union
,ahd enthusiasm. Those Republicans who were
disposed to vote against their party, were not
deterred by fear of failure. The certainty of

CANVASS FQR [GO VERNOR. 5 7
Cleveland's election increased the temptation to
aid his cause. Thousands were eager to add, to
the weight of the blow which was to fall on the
' Administration and its friends. The Republican
candidate was an eminent citizen. He had shown
high abilities in many public employments. His
character was without a stain. He had been
Chief Justice of the State ; and a long career on
the bench had won for him that general esteem
and public favor which successful judicial service
almost always wins. But the more worthy the
candidate the more impressive the lesson of his
defeat. The murder of Garfield was to be
. avenged ; party chains were to be broken ; the
forgery of a telegram was to be punished, and
Republican independence and manhood were to
be asserted. The party difficulties were very
materially increased also by the attitude of lead
ing men.
Mr. Evarts, who had always been ready to give
his elaborate eloquence to his party, was silent, and
what was of far more importance, Roscoe* Conk-
ling also was silent. For more than a decade he
had been the Republican advocate. His popular
triumphs had been without precedent. In 1872,
when Republican supremacy was threatened by a
revolt, formidable on account of the number and
,the character of the rebels, he excited the Repub
licans who remained faithful to their party to un
exampled efforts ; efforts which created a Demo-

58 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
cratic supineness far more effective at the polls
than the liberal Republican rebellion. In 1876 he
had held his party together amid great 'discour
agements, and upon a lost field. He had after- ,
wards stood aloof from the intrigues by which Mr.
Tilden had been deprived of the office to which
he had been elected. In 1 880, at a time when
Republican defeat seemed to be certain — when
Mr. Blaine had been beaten in , Maine, and the
October elections in Ohio and Indiana were in the
greatest doubt — he reluctantly came forward to
'aid a candidate whom he distrusted and despised.
He threw himself into the canvass with all his
accustomed zeal. Those who have never heard,
Mr. Conkling addressing a great meeting can
have but little idea of the vigor, brilliancy, and
fiery energy of his picturesque eloquence. The
effect of his speeches at the West, and in his
own State, cannot be over-stated. Never, in our
politics, has any one made such a display of per
sonal power. But in 1882 he was silent. It is
not necessary to explain here the causes of his
silence. s Its effects were to be seen plainly
enough by all who watched the events of that
year. The Republican disaffection grew more power
ful every day. Party journals, like the Buffalo
Express, openly advocated Cleveland's election.
The Albany Journal, the New York Times, and
the Tribune gave Judge Folger but a cold sup-

CANVASS FOR GOVERNOR. 59
port. The friends of Garfield wished his defeat.
The. friends of Conkling wished his defeat; and
to these discontents, added to Democratic enthu
siasm, the friends of President Arthur could make
but little resistance. The Republican treasury
was without funds, and had the canvass lasted two
weeks longer, the Republican cause would proba- /
bly have been practically abandoned. The elec
tion resulted in a majority of one hundred and
ninety-two thousand for Grover Cleveland ; iii
the election of twenty-one Democratic members
of the House of Representatives, and of a large
majority in the State Assembly. The wisdom of
those who had advised Mr. Cleveland's nomina
tion Was abundantly vindicated by this overwhelm
ing victory.
In that hour of triumph there was one man
whose mind was filled with anxiety. The Demo
cratic candidate had, during the , canvass, borne
himself modestly, and had passed his time in the
duties of his office. He heard the news of his
success with joy, indeed, but it was a joy tempered
by a sense of the undefined responsibilities which
lay before him. This feeling showed itself in the
speech which he made the night of his* election
at the Manhattan Club, and even more strongly
in the address which he made upon taking the
oath of office.
To many, the governorship thus attained sug
gested the presidency. If this high anticipation

60 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
came to him, as it did to others) it made no change
in his demeanpr. Deliberately and calmly he
began to prepare for his departure, and performed
the. preliminary work in the composition of his
message and the selection of his staff, as "unosten
tatiously as if they were in the ordinary course of
his daily employment.
" It' chance will have one king, why, chance may crown me <
Without my stir."

CHAPTER V.
FIRST YEAR AS GOVERNOR.
THE office of Governor of the State of New
York has long been considered the fit
reward for men of large experience in pub
lic life, great natural parts, and high personal char
acter. It has seldom been filled by a small man
or by a mere seeker after place and power. From
the earliest days of the history of the State- it has
been looked upon, not only in the State of New
York itself, but throughout the Union, as an office
scarcely lower in dignity and importance than the
Presidency of the United States.
During the early political history of New York
as a State in the Union the Presidency was prac
tically monopolized by Virginia and Massachusetts.
During this time, however, the Vice-Presidency,
then deemed of much greater relative importance
than now, and generally representing the second
choice of the electors for President, was filled for
five terms out of a possible six by natives and
residents of 'New York between the' time of the
accession of Thomas. Jefferson and the retirement
of James Monroe. Two of the men so honored,
George Clinton and Daniel D. Tompkins, had
61

g2 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND:
been Governors of their State. With the election
of Martin Van Buren to the Presidency, in 1836,
the Presidency ceased to be the heritage of any
one or two States of the Union,' and since that
time the country has always looked with hope and
expectancy to the Gubernatorial choice of the.i
State of New York for men to honor with the
Presidency of the United States. The names of
Silas Wright, William L. Marcy, William H. Sew-?/;;
ard, Horatio Seymour, and Samuel J. Tilden are
familiar household words in our political history
as aspirants for nomination or election to the high '%
office of President. Of these, only the two latter -
ever received the recognition of nomination, and
the latter was the only Governor of his State
elected to the Presidency after the success of Mr.
Van Buren in 1836.
With all these examples at hand, it should have ''''„
been no occasion for surprise that Grover Cleve
land was looked upon with unusual interest after
his election to the , Governorship by a majority
unprecedented in the history of the politics of
American States. That he was comparatively
little known added to thfe. interest. The element ?
of surprise that a man of such slight experi
ence in the larger politics of the State should
have been nominated and elected was rein
forced by a feeling of anticipation, an eager-;!
demand to know what he would do in the office,
now that he had reached it under such exceptional

FIRST YEAR AS. G 0 VERNOR. g -,
circumstances. He had not come to the office
as the result of political management, of long ser
vice in one or the other branch of the Legislature,
nor of great and widely recognized distinction in his
profession. He was simply known as an honest
man, of good ability, who, in whatever station he
had been called to fill, had done his duty without
fear or favor. While this lack of familiarity with
politics and political movements undoubtedly had
its drawbacks and disadvantages, which raised in
' the mind of the new Governor many doubts and
apprehensions, it had many compensations, ft
left him free-handed and independent. He was
not tied up with obligations to persons, localities,-
or interests. Trained to consider questions on
their merits by the exacting duties of long prac
tice of the law, he could look fairly and fully at
every public question as it came up, and decide as
his judgment and honesty of purpose would direct.
The people of New York were not long in find
ing out that this was the very thingwhich Governor
Cleveland was determined to do. His first mes
sage was something of a disappointment, only
because events had moved so rapidly in bringing
him into unnatural prominence as*to raise extrav
agant expectations. But it was mainly disap
pointing because it lacked the self-assertive dog
matism which the people of New York had long
been trained to expect from a Governor, especially
from a new one.,

64 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
But familiarity with the duties and obligations,
as well as with the power and the rights con
ferred upon the Governorship, came rapidly. Then
the hesitation disappeared, and the people of the \
country, as well as those of New York, found that
Grover Cleveland not only knew how to govern, j
but that he was determined to be Governor.
He early learned to use without mercy the '
weapon of the veto power, almost autocratically
lodged with the Governor of New York by the
new Constitution. Between the 26th of January ;
and the 1st of March he sent to the Legislature
eight veto messages. These documents clearly
disclose his purposes. In one, he refused to per
mit the county of Montgomery to borrow money.
In another he refused his consent to an amend
ment of the charter of Elmira which was intended
to change the liability of the city for injuries re
ceived in consequence of the streets being in an
unsafe and dangerous condition. He refused his
signature to a bill which would have relieved the
library association of Fredonia from the payment^
of local taxes, and to one that authorized the
county of Chautauqua to appropriate money for
a soldiers' monument. He vetoed an act author
izing the village of Fayetteville, where he had lived.:
during his boyhood, to borrow money for the pur
pose of purchasing a steam fire-engine, and also.;;
one authorizing the village of Mechanicsville to
borrow money for the same purpose.

FIRST YEAR AS GOVERNOR. gr
By these vetoes he showed that he was deter
mined to adhere to the rule which had gov-'
erned him while Mayor of Buffalo, and to deal
with the public moneys on the principle that offi-
. _ rials are the trustees of the people.
He did not, however, confine his use of the
1 veto power to bills intended to prevent the ex
penditure of small sums of money by village ' or
town or county authorities. He even dared to
run the risk of unpopularity by the veto of a bill >
1 fixing a uniform rate of five cents as fare on the
- elevated railroads of the city of New York. That
city had suffered severely by the unjust exactions
of the roads in question, and a strong popular
sentiment had been developed which demanded
' that new restrictions should be imposed. But
the form in which the Legislature sought to em
body this sentiment was so unsatisfactory and its
effects would have been so far-reaching that the'
Governor saw danger and injustice ahead. It
was insisted by opponents of the measure, who
had no interest in the roads involved, that for a
Commercial community like New York to disregard
the implied obligation which had arisen between
.the State and its citizens, and between the State
arid citizens of other States and countries, wduld
be, in the judgment of many thoughtful men, a
dangerous and pernicious act. This latter view
was taken by the Governor in the following ex
tract from his veto message:

66 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
"But we have especially in our keeping the
honor and good faith of a great State, and we
should see to it that no suspicion attaches, through
any act of ours, to the fair fame of the Common- -
wealth. , The State should not only be strictly
just, but scrupulously fair, and in its relations to
the Citizen every legal and moral obligation should
be recognized. This can only be done by legis
lating without vindictiveness or prejudice, and'Y
with a firm determination to deal justly and fairly •
with those from whom we exact obedience."
He rejected the advice given in many quarters
to permit the bill to become a law without his
signature, and put himself upon high ground by
saying in his message, " I am convinced, that in
all cases the share which falls upon the Executive
regarding the legislation of the Stale, should be
in no manner evaded, but fairly met by the ex-r
pression of his carefully guarded and unbiased
judgment." This courage challenged admiration even from
those who did not agree with his position and who
differed from him in political opinion. The result
was to give him popularity with people of his
State, because they were convinced that whatever
he did, whatever position he took, their safety and :
their interests, would be consulted.
The same independent position was assumed
in dealing with bills reorganizing the Fire Depart
ment in Buffalo, a measure which would have con--

GOVERNOR'S MANSION. ALBANY, N. \.

FIRST YEAR AS GOVERNOR. gQ
ferred a supposed advantage upon his own party.
Other bills affecting the city of New York and
having 'back of them considerable support in
public sentiment, were subjected to the same re
lentless examination and rejected when it ap
peared to the Governor that they did not accord
with the interests of the people of his State.
During his first year as Governor it fell to his
lot to make a large number of appointments to fill
vacancies in public offices. He undertook cd
apply to this duty the same principles which
governed his conduct in dealing with questions
more strictly financial or business in their scope.
He gave heed to the demands of his party, re
cognizing in general that it is neither possible nor
desirable to separate important or responsible
places from accountability to the sentiment domi
nant among the people of a given locality. But
this devotion to his own party was always accom
panied by the most exacting demands of fitness,
capacity and character in the applicant. Wher
ever it was possible to do so he recognized the
system of merit by which men having special
' .fitness or experience in given lines were promoted.
He made the assistant in the Insurance Depart
ment its chief; he appointed a builder of charac
ter as Commissioner of the Capitol, and made a
business man, whose qualifications he knew,
Superintendent of the same building. The
Superintendency of Public Works, a place wh,ich

JO LIFE OF GRO'VER CLEVELAND.
had often been filled by mere partisans with little
regard to fitness, was given to a man whose long
experience in the management of the canals had
made him practical and thorough. The Railroad
Commission, the appointment of the original
members of which was imposed upon Mr. Cleve
land during his first year's service as Governor,!
was selected with such judgment that the choice
gave general party and public satisfaction. It
justified his confidence and that of the people of
the State by doing its work sO faithfully and well
that there has probably been less irritation or ill-
feeling between the people and the railroads in
New York than in any other State in the Union.
For several years the labor question had been
gradually coming to the front in New York as
one of the most important to be dealt with by .<¦
political parties, Legislatures, and executive
officers. The peculiar character of the working -^
people of New York city had had much to do
with giving the question importance. In addition ¦
to maintaining its supremacy as the first commer
cial city of the Western world, it had recently
become the largest centre for manufacturirigf in-
dustries. This had the effect of introducing a
population which for variety in origin, ideas, and
interests could be found nowhere else. Many
impracticable measures were proposed from time
to time by the accepted representatives of the
labor interests, together with others which were

FIRST YEAR AS COVERNOA. >J I
principally distinguished for crudeness and ineffi
ciency. Some such measures had been permitted
to become laws, perhaps, in some cases, from
an honest desire on the part of Legislators and
Governors, but in most instances to appease what
was supposed to be the demands of a large and
commanding vote.
\ The platform of the Convention by which Mr.
Cleveland had been nominated gave distinct
pledges committing the Democratic party in New
York to the enactment of certain legislation in
the interest of labor. These were accepted by
Mr. Cleveland in his letter of acceptance in the
- following- language :
" The platform of principles adopted by the
Convention meets with my hearty approval. The
doctrines therein enunciated are so distinctly and
explicitly stated- that their amplification seems
scarcely necessitated. If elected to the office for
which I have been nominated, I shall endeavor to
impress them upon my administration and make
them the policy of the State."
Further on, in the same letter, he says :
''The laboring classes constitute the main part
of our population. They should be protected in
their efforts to assert their rights when endangered
by aggregated capital, and all statutes oh this sub
ject should recognize the care of the State for
honest toil, and be framed with a. view of improv
ing the condition of the workingman."

-j 2 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND. r
The Legislature did its part toward redeeming
these promises, and bills for the establishment of
a. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for prohibiting the -
manufacture of cigars in tenement houses, and
forbidding the manufacture of woolen hats in
penitentiaries were passed by the Legislature and
signed by the Governor.
But even in dealing with labor questions he did
not yield his judgment to popular clamor when
convinced that a proposed law affecting interests
of large bodies of men were either impracticable
Or dangerous in principle. For this reason, he
refused to sign a bill which reached him late in the
legislative session, known as the " Car Conductors'
and Drivers' Bill ;" it proposed to prohibit the
exaction of more than twelve hours for a day's
work on street railways. This action was not
taken because of any disapproval of the objects
sought to be accomplished by the proposed law,
but upon purely legal and constitutional grounds.
The bill was defective and unskillfully drawn' in
that the right of contract between street car com
panies and their employes was not interfered;
with. It was clear that the law could never be
enforced, as experience had already shown in
other States.
The session, of the first Legislature under Mr. ,
Cleveland's administration as Governor of the
State of New York closed with credit to himself
He had worked hard and faithfully to redeem the

. FIRST YEAR AS GOVERNOR. 73
promises made by himself and his party, and had
achieved a larger degree of success than gener
ally comes to men under such circumstances.
He had maintained and increased the respect felt
for his honesty and faithfulness throughout the
State, and had become widely known in every
section of the Union. His relations with his own
party were, in general, good, in spite of the fact
; that they had been severely strained with certain
sections of it. Already his name had been very
generally discussed as that of a man who was most
likely to enable his party to regain in the Union
that power which it had lost twenty-three years
before. But he made no avowals, and was not,
apparently, to be turned either to the right or to
the left by this consideration. He simply did his
duty as it came to him, leaving the future to take
care of itself.

CHAPTER VI.
SECOND YEAR AS GOVERNOR.
IN his second annual message Grover Cleve
land showed that he felt easy in the place,
as well as liked it — something which he con
fessed to his friends. He showed nvore and more
confidence in himself and in his ability to satisfy
both the people of his State and himself in carry
ing out its duties. There was no longer uncer
tainty or hesitation. He showed that he knew
what measures the best interests of the State
demanded, and he recommended them with that'
dogmatism so much admired by the people of
New York, and which ever wins for public men
increasing popularity among intelligent people, *'
Among the most important of the questions
with which he came to deal was the relations of
corporations to the State. It had long been ap
parent that many evils were growing up about
these associations of men and money, and earnest
men of intelligence and conscience had sought
some way of meeting what seemed to them a
serious danger. There was general agreement
-to the proposition that if the widest publicity
could be given to the accounts of corporations
74

SECOND YEAR AS GOVERNOR. ' 1$
created by the State'the beginning of the end ot
the evil would be reached. The Governor con
sidered this phase of the question at some lengtn
in his second annual message, from which the fol
lowing views are extracted :
" It would, in my opinion, be a most valuable
protection to the people if other large corpo
rations were obliged to report to some depart
ment their transactions and financial condition.
" The State creates these corporations upon the
theory that some proper thing of benefit can be
better done by them than by private enterprise,
and that the aggregation of the funds of many
individuals may be thus profitably employed.
They are launched upon the public with the seal
of the State, in some sense, upon them. They
are permitted to represent the advantages they
possess and the wealth sure to follow from ad
mission to membership. In one hand is held a
'charter from the State, and in the other is proffered
their stock.
" It is a fact, singular though well established,
that people will pay their money for stock in a
corporation engaged in enterprises in which they
would refuse to invest if in private hands.
" It is a grave question whether the formation
of these artificial bodies ought not to be checked
or better regulated, and in some way supervised.
il At ariy rate, they should always be kept well
in hand, and the funds of its citizens ^should be

76 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.*
protected by the State which has invited their
investment. While the stockholders are the own
ers of the corporate property, notoriously they are
oftentimes completely in the power of the direct-:
, ors and managers, who acquire a majority of the /
stock and by this means perpetuate their control,
using the corporate property and franchises for,
their benefit and profit, regardless of the inter
ests and rights of the minority of stockholders.
Immense salaries are paid to officers ; transactions
are consummated by which the directors make
money, while the rank and file among the stock
holders lose it ; the honest investor waits for
dividends and the directors grow rich. It is
suspected, too, that large sums are spent under
various disguises in efforts to influence legislation; \'
" The State should either refuse to alle-w these
corporations to exist under its authority and
¦ patronage, or, acknowledging their paternity and
its responsibility, should provide a simple, easy .
way for its people, whose money is invested, and
the public generally, to discover how the funds of
these institutions are spent, and how their affairs
are conducted. It should at the same time pro
vide a way by which the squandering or misuse
of corporate funds would be made good to the
parties injured thereby.
" This might well be accomplished by requiring
Corporations to frequently file reports made out
with the utmost detail, and which would not allow

SECOND YEAR AS GOVERNOR.

¦ 77

lobby expenses to be hidden under the pretext of
legal services and counsel fees, accompanied by
vouchers and sworn to by the officers making
them, showing particularly the debts, liabilities,
expenditures, and property of the corporation.
Let this report be delivered to some appropriate
department or officer, who shall audit and examine
the same ; provide that a false oath to such ac
count shall be perjury, and make the directors
liable to refund to the injured stockholders any
expenditure which shall be determined' improper
by the auditing authority.
"Such requirements might not be favorable to
stock speculation, but they would protect the inno-
,cent investors ; they might make the management
of corporations more troublesome, but this ought
not to be considered when the protection of the
people is the matter in hand. It would prevent
corporate efforts to influence legislation ; the
honestly conducted and strong corporations would
have nothing to fear ; the badly managed and
weak ought to be exposed."
It would be difficult to find in the record of any
of our public men so well-considered a plan as
that here presented, dealing with the glaring evils
of legislative and official corruption.
It was only natural that Grover Cleveland
ishould devote much time, thought, and attention
to the discussion of municipal affairs. His first
political office, and that from which he had taken

jg LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
his way into the higher walks of public life, was
that of Mayor of Buffalo. During the time he
occupied that office he brought to the discharge
of its duties a purpose to do what lay in his
power toward making his city a place where
health, the material independence of its citizens, and
their mental and moral growth might all be pro
moted. In was in the Mayoralty that he insisted
upon a decent economy and the most scrupulous
fidelity to all the trusts imposed by public office.
In his first message to the Legislature he had
1 said :
"They [municipal governments] should be so
organized as to be simple in their details, and to
cast upon the people affected thereby the full
responsibility of their administration. The differ
ent departments should be in such accord as in
their operation to lead toward the same results.
Divided counsels and divided responsibility to the
people, on the part of municipal officers, it is
believed, give rise to much that is objectionable
in the government of cities. If, to remedy this
evjl, the chief executive should be made answer
able to the people for the proper conduct of the
city's affairs, it is quite clear that his power in the
selection of those who manage its different depart
ments should be greatly enlarged."
And again he said:
" It is not only the right of the people to admin
ister their local government, but it should be made

SECOND YEAR AS GOVERNOR. Jg
their duty to do so. Any departure from this
doctrine is an abandonment of the principles upon
which our institutions are founded, and a conces
sion of the infirmity and partial failure of the
theory of a representative form of government.
"If the aid of the Legislature is invoked to
further projects which should be subject to local
control and management, suspicion should be at
once aroused, and the interference sought should
be promptly and sternly refused.
" If local rule is in any instance bad, weak, or
inefficient, those who suffer from maladministra
tion have the remedy within their own control.
If, through their neglect or inattention, it falls into
unworthy hands, or if bad methods and practices
gain a place in its administration, it is neither
harsh nor unjust to remit,- those who are respon
sible for those conditions to their self-invited fate,
until their interest, if no better motive, prompts
them to an earnest and active discharge of the
duties of good citizenship."
The Legislature of/ 1884, accepting this theory
and acting upon what was the drift of discussion
in the city of New York, passed an elaborate bill
depriving the Board of Aldermen of the power
of confirmation of appointments to certain offices
in that city, and lodging this power in the hands
of the Mayor without restriction. In some respects
the new law did not meet the opinions of the Gov
ernor, but he signed it, filing with the newly made

g0 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
law a memorandum of the reasons.which had' led
him to, take this action. Under this law the- im
proved condition of municipal politics in the city
of New York has become apparent. The Board
of Aldermen, shorn of their coveted power of con
firmation, has not been able to maintain the old
and unnatural importance which had been given
to it ; the politics of the city has had opportunity
to lose its old-time reputation for bargains and
bargaining, and there is a very apparent improve
ment in the character, not only of the officials ap
pointed by the Mayor, but of those elected by the
people as well. Much of this is due to Mr. Cleve
land's recognition of the need of a change in
municipal methods, suggested by his own expe
rience and elaborated by his industry and ability.
That much still remains to be done no man will
question, but with the interest which has been ex
cited in such questions and the intelligence which
is being brought to bear upon it there can be no
serious doubt of the result. When this-is assured
history will give due credit for it to the man who
is now President of the United States.
As Governor, Mr. Cleveland recognized the
irhportance of the National Guard of New York,
and did much to revive interest in its citizen sol
diery. He selected his staff not for ornamental
purposes, as is so often the case with the militia
of the several States, but with a view of getting
the most efficient ^practical results. He was carer

SECOND YEAR AS GOVERNOR. g T
ful to promote the itriie interests of the soldiers
who served in the Union army during the Civil
War, approving measures giving soldiers and sail
ors preference for employment upon public works,
and the' provision for completing the records of
New York regiments and other military organiza
tions and for their safe keeping.
The pardoning power, one of the most respon^
sible duties of the Governor, was exercised with
care, and at the same time with greater frequency
than usual. His legal training and practice had
evidently convinced him that the power of trav
ersing the sentences of the vast number and vari
ety of courts in -a State like New York was one
which imposed the most serious responsibilities
upon the Governor. The constant tendency on
the part of a certain class of judges to impose
" cruel and unusual punishments " is one of the
most serious of the time, and one which constantly
needs to be reviewed in order that justice. may be
tempered with that mercy which is its highest
attribute. Among the more important measures passed
was an Act providing for the appointment of a
Commission to select and set apart such lands as
might be found necessary for the preservation of
the scenery at Niagara Falls. All the islands im
mediately above the falls, and the lands upon the
main shore, had early in the century been sold to
private citizens. Some of them have been devoted

g2 LIFE OF-GROVER CLEVELAND.
to manufacturing purposes, the forests upon the
mainland have been cut down, and a process of
deterioration has begun which, if continued, will
soon destroy the charm and interest which Niagara
has had as an object of natural beauty and
sublimity. It had been some time in contemplation to pre
serve Niagara by creating a State reservation, by
removing unsightly constructions, and restoring,
so far as practicable, the scenery to its original'
character. The efforts in this direction had been
thwarted by the action of Governor Cornell, who
had indicated that if the proposed measure was
passed he would refuse to sign it. Governor.
Cleveland, however, showed a generous disposi
tion to the undertaking, and encouraged the pas
sage of the bill. This law has since been carried
into complete effect with the most satisfactory re
sults, and the State Reservation at Niagara Falls
promises in due time to become one of the most
striking of the landscape features of the State.
Already many of the serious abuses which formerly ,
met visitors to that great natural wonder have
been removed. The Dominion of Canada has, on
its part, carried on the work on the opposite side
of the river.*

* Much of the credit for the success of the New York undertaking must
be ascribed to the late William Dorsheimer, who was by appointment one
of the original, as he was the most active, of the Commissioners having the
work in charge.

SECOND YEAR AS GOVERNOR. g.
In brief, every question which, engaged the at
tention or the energies of the people of the great
State of New York found in Mr. Cleveland during
his "service" as Governor the most intelligent and
industrious encouragement. The reform of the
State Civil Service system, the protection and
preservation of the. forests of the Adirondacks,
the promotion of education and industry, found
in the Governor of the State their most active and
intelligent support.
Aspeechwhich theGovernormade at the Albany
High School contains some observations which
must have been derived from his own experience.
It is here given both as an expression of his
opinions upon important subjects, and by reason
of its biographical value. He said:
"I accepted the' invitation of your principal to.
visit your school this morning with pleasure, be
cause I expected to see much that would gratify
and interest me. In this I have not been disap
pointed. But I must confess that if I had known
that my visit here involved my attempting to ad
dress you, I should have hesitated, and quite likejy
have declined the invitation.
" I hasten to assure you now that there is not
the slightest danger of my inflicting a speech upon
you, and that I shall do but little more than to ex
press my pleasure in the proof I have of the
excellence of the methods and management of the
school, and of the opportunities which those who

.g^ LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
,attend have within their reach of obtaining. a
superior education. . >'>
," I never visit a school in these days' without
'contrasting the advantages of the scholar, of to
day with those of a time not many years in the
past. Within my remembrance even, the educa}
tion which is freely offered you was only secured
by those whose parents were able to send them
to academies and colleges. And thus, when, you
entered this school very many of you began where
your parents left off.
"The theory of the State in furnishing more
and better schools for the children, is that it
tends to fit them to better perform their dutiejf
as citizens, and that an educated man or woman
is apt to be more useful as a member of the com
munity. "This leads to the thought that those who avail
themselves of the means thus tendered them, are,
in duty bound to make such use of their advan
tages as that the State shall receive in return the
educated and intelligent citizens and members of
the community which it has the right to expect!
from its schools. You, who will soon be the men1
of the day, should consider that you have assumed :<
an obligation to fit yourselves by the education,
which you may, if you will, receive in this schoojj
for the proper performance of any duty of citizen- l
ship, and to fill any public station to which you
may be called. And it seems to me to be none ,

GOVERNOR'S ROOM IN STATE CAPITOL AT ALBANY, N. Y.

SECOND YEAR AS GOVERNOR. gy
the less important that those who are to be the
wives and mothers should be educated, refined,
and intelligent. To tell the truth, I should be
afraid to trust the men, educated though they'
should be, if they were not surrounded by pure
and true womanhood. Thus it is that you all,
now and here, from the oldest to the youngest,
owe a duty to the State which can only be an
swered by diligent study and the greatest possi
ble improvement. It is too often the case that in
all walks and places the disposition is to render
the least possible return to the State for the favors.
which she bestows.
"If the consideration which I have mentioned
fails to impress you, let me remind you of what,
you have often heard, that you owe it to your
selves and the importantpartof yourselves toseize,
while you may, the opportunities to improve your
minds, and store into them, for your own future
use and advantage, the learning and knowledge
now fairly within your reach. %
'' None of you desire or expect to be less in
telligent or educated than your fellows. But un
less the notions of scholars have changed, there
may be those among you who think that in some
way or manner, after the school day is over, there
will be an opportunity to regain any ground now
lost, and to complete an education without a
present devotion to school requirements. I am
sure this is a mistake. A moment's reflection

gg LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND,. ,'.
ought to convince all of you that When you have
once entered upon the stern, uncompromising,
and unrelenting duties of mature life, there will-
be no time for study. You will have a contest
then forced upon you which will strain every •
nerve and engross every faculty. A good educa
tion, if you have it, ' will aid you, but if you are
without it, you cannot stop to acquire it. When .
you leave the school you are well equipped for'
the van in the army of life, or you are doomed to
be a laggard, aimlessly and listlessly following in
the rear.
" Perhaps a reference to truths so trite is use
less here. I hope it is. But I have not been able
to forego the chance to assure those who are hard
at work that they will surely see their compensa
tion, and those, if any such there are, who find
School duties irksome, and neglect or slightingly,
perform them, that they are trifling with serious
things and treading on dangerous ground."
Before the meeting of the Legislature in 1885
the verdict of the people of the United States, of
"Well done," had been pronounced, and Mr.
Cleveland resigned the Governorship into the
hands of David Bennett Hill, the faithful coadju- -
tor who had entered office with him as Lieutenant-
Governor in January, 1883. With the exception -
of Mr. Tilden, it is doubtful whether such an in
dustrious Governor had ever been seen in
Albany. Mr. Cleveland went to his room in the

SECOND YEAR AS GOVERNOR. gg
Capitol at nine o'clock in the morning, and he
seldom left it, except to take his meals, before
midnight. He examined every bill with a close
and critical attention, and never decided upon one
with whose provisions he was not perfectly fa
miliar. The same care was taken with all other
official acts. The result was not only an excel
lent performance of the public service, but the
Governor himself received a severe discipline and
a wide education from his labors.
After his resignation he retired to a quiet pri
vate residence in Albany, where he devoted him
self to the new duties to which the favor of his
countrymen had called him. He received delega
tions from States and delegations from sections.
He gave patient audience to the friends, of men
who sought, or for whom was asked, admission
into his Cabinet as Presidential advisers. He
heard men who wanted office for themselves or
their friends. He was then, in the hour of tri
umph, the same unobtrusive man, the most
modest member of his party, over the great and
decisive victory achieved with him as its leader.
A few days before the 4th of March, 1885,
he went to Washington as- the guest of the late
President Arthur. He was received with many
demonstrations of respect, joy, and confidence on
his way to begin the new career which fate and
his own merits had marked out for him.
The conduct of the outgoing President toward

90 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
i
his successor was marked by the urbanity and
courtesy which had characterized Mr. Arthur's
demeanor throughout the trying times of his
entire Administration. He had come to the first
office of the country under the most painful and
embarrassing circumstances. Distrusted by the
opposition and by a very strong faction in his own-
party, he bore himself as a gentleman and '¦ a _
patriot. His unselfish purposes and. his intelli
gent policy alike were unappreciated by; the
Blaine wing of the party ; and they had com
passed the defeat of his nomination, only to be
themselves unhorsed in the campaign. :

SOUTH FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE.

CHAPTER VII.
THE CANVASS AND CONVENTION OF 1 884.
THE disputed result of the Presidential
election of 1876, the death of President
Garfield, and the unexpected accession of
President Arthur gave to the political campaign
of 1884 an interest and importance which had not
entered into any preceding political contest since
that of i860. The clean, dignified, and manly ad
ministration of President Arthur, and especially
its tendencies toward tariff reform, had not given
satisfaction to the majority of his party ; and it
¦ early became evident to intelligent and impartial
observers that he could not secure a nomination
to succeed himself. The dominance of Mr. Blaine
in the counsels of his party had long been ac
knowledged ; in the early part of the canvass it was
clear that he had become the commanding force.
He and his followers had had a brief taste of
authority while he was occupying the office of
Secretary of State during the luckless and waver
ing rule of Garfield, and his last desperate effort
to seize the standard of his party was rewarded
with his nomination for President, Senator John
A. Logan being named for second place. 93

94 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
On the other hand, the drift in the Democratic
party toward Mr. Cleveland was scarcely less ap
parent. The reform and progressive elements of
the party represented by Mr. Tilden so; long as
he chose to remain their leader, had begun to
look toward the Governor of New York as his
natural successor. It was generally conceded
that the party, having been so long out of power,
must make a nomination which would not only
prove attractive to the voters directly attached to
its principles, purposes, and leaders, but one which
would appeal to the large and increasing number
of independent, unattached, or semi-detached
voters, always found most numerously in the
great and controlling State of New York, and
who had now clearly become a strong force in the
politics of the United States. Mr. Cleveland's
course as Governor had been such that a con
siderable element of his party in the State of New
York was bitterly opposed to his promotion to the
Presidency of the United States. In spite of
this feeling, the State Convention held at Saratoga
in June, 1884, to select delegates to the Demo
cratic National Convention called to meet at
Chicago on the eighth of July following selected
seventy-two delegates, who were not placed under
instructions as to candidates, but were directed to
vote on all questions as a unit. Each element of
the party then hoped to gain control of the dele
gation.

THE CANVASS AND CONVENTION OF 18S4. 95
Meanwhile the canvass was going on in other
States of the Union, in many of which a strono-
sentiment had developed in favor of the nomi
nation of the New York candidate ; so that when
the Convention met in Chicago party sentiment
had pretty effectually crystallized itself around the
name of Mr. Cleveland as the most available
candidate for the Presidency.
The National Democratic Convention of 1884
met in the Exposition Hall, Chicago, at noon on
Tuesday, July 8th. It was called to order by ex-
Senator William H. Barnum, of Connecticut,
Chairman of the National Committee, who, after
prayer had been offered by the Rev. D. C.
Marquis, of Chicago, congratulated the assembled
delegates upon the sentiment of harmony which
pervaded the body they were about to form and
proceeded at once to business by naming as
Temporary Chairman ex-Governor Richard B.
Hubbard, of Texas, who spoke at some length on
the issues of the day. Frederick O. Prince, of
Massachusetts, was made Temporary Secretary,
Richard J. Bright, of Indiana, Sergeant-at-arms,
with a full list of assistants to each selected with
care from every section of the Union.
Immediately after the temporary organization
had been effected, an attack was made by the
minority of the delegation from the State of New
York, known as the " Tammany wing," upon the
unit rule which had so long governed the action

g6 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND,
of National Democratic Conventions when in
structions had been made by the States from
which delegations were accredited.. A long dis
cussion ensued in which the opposing elements,
from the Empire State were the principal disput- ,
ants, after which, by a vote of 463 to 332, the Con
vention decided in favor of the retention of the,
unit rule. This solidified New York for Cleve-,
land and vastly strengthened his cause in other
States. Committees were appointed on Perma?;
nent Organization, Credentials, and Resolutions,
composed of one delegate from each State.
On the second day a permanent organization
was effected, with William F. Vilas, of Wisconsin,
as President ; the Temporary Secretary, Sergeant-
at-arms, and assistants were declared Permanent,
and Vice-Presidents and Secretaries from each State
were added. The presiding officer in a long and
able speech, that did much to win for him recogni
tion a few months later in his appointment as
Postmaster-General in the Cabinet of the Presi
dent of the United States, laid down the princi
ples upon which he thought the. canvass should be
conducted and predicted the victory which followed.
The Committee on Resolutions not being ready to
report, an animated discussion arose over the
question of naming the candidate for President,
and the Convention decided that this should be
done. The roll of States was called and the
names of Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio ; Thomas F.

THE CANVASS AND CONVENTION OF 1884. 97
Bayard, of Delaware ; Joseph E. McDonald, of
Indiana; John G. Carlisle, of Kentucky ; Samuel J.
Randall, of Pennsylvania, and Grover Cleveland,
of New* York, were formally presented as candi
dates for nomination to the office of President of
the United States. Nearly all the second day,
together with the day session of the third, was con
sumed in speeches. The Committee on Resolu
tions reported at the evening session of the third
day, July ioth, and immediately after the adop
tion of its report the first ballot for President was
taken, with the following result : Cleveland, 392 ;
Bayard, 170; Thurman, 88 ; Randall, 78 ; McDon
ald, 56 ; Carlisle, 27 ; Flower, 4 ; Hoadley, 3 ;
Hendricks, 1 ; Tilden, 1. Necessary to a choice
under the two-thirds rule, 547.
By a close vote adjournment was had until
eleven o'clock on Friday morning, when a remark
able scene occurred in the effort to stampede the
Convention to Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana.
A great tumult was aroused in the galleries for
half an hour, at the end of which time Mr. Voor-
hees, of Indiana, withdrew the name of Joseph E.
McDonald, with announced purpose on the part of
the delegation from that State to cast its vote for
Mr. Hendricks. As the ballot proceeded it be
came apparent that Cleveland was the choice of
the Convention, and with changes in the vote of
many States, the result of the second ballot
was declared as follows : Cleveland, 683 ; Bayard,

Qg LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
8i^£ ; Hendricks, 45^ ; Thurman, 4 ; Randall, 4;
McDonald, 4. Upon the announcement of this
result Mr. Menzies, of Indiana, made a motion,
which was seconded by delegates from a number
of States, that the nomination be made unani
mous. This was passed without dissent, and
Grover Cleveland was declared the candidate of
the National Democratic Convention for the Pres
idency of the United States.
Adjournment was then had until evening, when
nominations for Vice-President were declared to
be in order. Upon the call of States California
presented William S. Rosecrans ; Colorado, Jos
eph E. McDonald ; Georgia, John C. Black, sec
onded by Illinois, and Kansas, George W. Glick.
When Pennsylvania was reached ex-Senator Wil
liam A. Wallace presented the name of Thomas
A. Hendricks, of Indiana, and asked that he be
nominated by acclamation. After some discus
sion the names of all other candidates were with
drawn and the vote of every delegate in the Con
vention was cast for Mr. Hendricks, who was
thus made the candidate of the Democratic party
for the Vice-Presidency of the United States.
The ticket was completed and the nominations
ratified with such an outburst of enthusiasm and
demonstrations of applause as had never before
been seen and heard on the continent. After the
adoption of the customary resolutions of thanks
the Convention adjourned sine die.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE CLEVELAND-BLAINE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN.
THE campaign which followed the nomina
tions was one of the the most exciting
and bitter known to the history of this
country. It was rendered particularly so by the
opposition to Blaine of a large number of indepen
dent voters in everv State of the Union. These
men had been Republicans almost to a man.
Many of them were the leaders of their party and
had been prominent in its counsels from its or
ganization. Others were young men thus early
driven out of their party because of a recognition
of its bad tendencies and the dangerous character
of its candidate for President, Mr. Blaine. Mad
dened by these desertions and rendered desper
ate by the prospective loss of power long held by
the aid of discreditable methods, the National
Committee of the Republican party, aided by the
close friends of its candidate, invented and gave
currency to outrageous charges against the pri
vate character of the Democratic candidate. Hs
met these with a pitiless exposure of their falsity,
and with conscious integrity demanded from his
friends that they should "Tell the truth." This
99

IOO LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
declaration became a Democratic watchword dur
ing the ensuing canvass. Of Cleveland's manly
conduct with relation to this phase of the cam
paign, and in striking contrast with the attitude
of his opponent on questions deeply affecting his
personal integrity, the editor of Harper's Weekly,;
August 1 6th, 1884, said:
" There was no whining about his private bus
iness ; no seizing of letters, and, after a menacing
pressure of public opinion, a theatrical reading of
such parts as he chose and with his own com
ments ; there was no desperate equivocation and
attempted concealment. 'Tell the truth' was
the only reply — a reply which showed a man hon
orably unwilling to receive any public trust under
false pretenses." SPEECH OF ACCEPTANCE.
In due time Governor Cleveland was notified
officially of his nomination by the Committee ap
pointed for that purpose. In reply he made the
following brief and pointed address :
"Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee:
"Your formal announcement does not, of
course, convey to me the first information of the
result of the Convention lately held by the De
mocracy of the Nation, and yet, when, as I listen
to your message, I see about me representatives
• frOm all parts of the land of the great party which,

CLEVELAND BLAINE CAMPAIGN. IOI
claiming to be the party of the people, asks them
to intrust to it the administration of their govern
ment, and when I consider under the influence of
the stern reality which the present surroundings
create, that I have been chosen to represent the
plans, purposes, and the policy of the Democratic
party, I am profoundly impressed by the solemnity
of the occasion and by the responsibility of my
position. Though I gratefully appreciate it, I do
not at this moment congratulate myself upon the
distinguished honor which has been conferred
upon me, because my mind is full of an anxious
desire to perform well the part which has been
assigned to me.
"Nor do I at this moment forget that the rights
and interests of more than fifty millions of my
fellow-citizens are involved in our efforts to gain '
Democratic supremacy. This reflection presents
to. my mind the consideration which more than all
others gives to the action of my party in conven
tion assembled its most sober and serious aspect.
The party and its representatives which ask to be
intrusted at the hands of the people with the
keeping of all that concerns their welfare and
their safety, should only ask it with the full appre
ciation of the sacredness of the trust, and with a
firm resolve to administer it faithfully and well. I
am a Democrat because I believe that this truth
lies at the foundation of true Democracy. I have
kept the faith, because I believe if rightly and fairly

102 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND?
administered and applied, Democratic doctrines
and measures will insure the happiness, content
ment, and prosperity of the people.
" If, in the contest upon which we now enter, we
steadfastly hold to the underlying principles of
our party creed, and at all times keep in view the
people's good, we shall be strong, because we are
true to ourselves, and because the plain and
independent voters of the land will seek by their
suffrages to compass their release from party
tyranny where there should be submission to the
popular will, and their protection from party cor
ruption where there should be devotion to the
people's interests. These thoughts lend a conse
cration to our cause, and we go forth, not merely
to gain a partisan advantage, but pledged to
give to those who trust us the utmost benefits of
a pure and honest administration of National
affairs. No higher purpose or motive can stimu-
. late us to supreme effort, or urge us to continuous
and earnest labor and effective party organization.
Let us not fail in this, and we may confidently
hope to reap the full reward of patriotic services
well performed. I have thus called to mind some
simple truths, and, trite though they are, it seems
to me we do well to dwell upon them at this time.
I shall soon, I hope, signify, in the usual formal
manner, my acceptance of the nomination which has
been tendered to me. In the meantime I gladly
greet you all as co-workers in the noble cause."

CLEVELAND-BLAINE CAMPAIGN. 1 03
FORMAL LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.
Subsequently, Mr. Cleveland wrote and for
warded to the Committee of Notification the fol
lowing letter, which sets forth more in detail his
ideas of the issues of the campaign :
"Albany, N. Y., August 18th, 1884.
" Gentlemen : I have received your communi
cation dated July 28th, 1884, informing me of my
nomination to the office of President of the United
States by the National Democratic Convention
lately assembled at Chicago.
" I accept the nomination with a grateful appre
ciation of the supreme honor conferred, and a
solemn sense of the responsibility which, in its
acceptance, I assume.
" I have carefully considered the platform
adopted by the. Convention and cordially approve
the same. So plain a statement of Democratic faith
and the principles upon which that party appeals
to the suffrages of the people needs no supple
ment or explanation.
" It should be remembered that the office of
President is essentially executive in its nature.
The laws enacted by the legislative branch of the
Government the Chief Executive is bound faith
fully to enforce. And when the wisdom of the
political party which selects- one of its member? as
a nominee for that office has outlined its policy

104 LIFE OF C ROVER CLEVELAND.
and declared its principles, it seems to me that
nothing in the character of the office or the neces-
sities of the case requires more from the candi
date accepting such nomination than the sugges
tion of certain well-known truths so absolutely
vital to the safety and welfare of the nation, that
they cannot be too often recalled or too seriously
enforced. " We proudly call ours a government by the
people. It is not such when a class is tolerated
which arrogates to itself the management of pub
lic affairs, seeking to control the people instead
of representing them.
" Parties are the necessary outgrowth of our in
stitutions ; but a government is not by the people
when one party fastens its control upon the coun
try and perpetuates its power by cajoling and be
traying the people instead of serving them.
"A government is not by the people, when a
result which should represent the intelligent will
of free and thinking men is, or can be, determined
by the shameless corruption of their suffrages. ¦
" When an election to office shall be the selection
by the voters of one of their number to assume
for a time a public trust instead of his dedication
to the profession of politics ; when the holders of
the ballot, quickened by a sense of duty, shall
avenge truth betrayed and pledges broken, and
when the suffrage shall be altogether free and
uncorrupted, the full realization of a government

CLEVELAND-BLAINE CAMPAIGN. 105
by the people will be at hand. And of the means
to this end, not one would, in my judgment, be
more effective than an amendment to the Consti
tution disqualifying the President from re-election.
When we consider the patronage of this great
office, the allurements of power, the temptation .to
retain public place once gained, and, more than
all, the availability a party finds in an incumbent
whom a horde of office-holders, with a zeal born
of benefits received/and fostered by the hopes of
favors yet to come, stand -ready to aid with money
and trained political service, we recognize in the
eligibility of the President for re-election a most
serious danger to that calm, deliberate, and intelli
gent political*: action which must characterize a
government by the people.
"A true American sentiment recognizes the. dig
nity of labor and the fact that honor lies in honest
toil. , Contented labor is an element of national
prosperity. Ability to work constitutes the capi
tal and the wage of labor the income of a vast
number of our population ; and this interest should
be jealously protected. Our workingmeri are
not asking unreasonable indulgence; but as in
telligent and, manly citizens, they seek the same
consideration which those demand who have other
interests at stake. They should receive their full
share of the care and attention of those who make
and execute the laws, to the end that the wants
and needs of the employers and the employed

IO(5 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
shall alike be subserved, and the prosperity of
the country, the common heritage of both, be ad
vanced. As related to this subject, while we
should not discourage the immigration of those
who come to acknowledge allegiance to our gov
ernment and add to our citizen population, yet
as a means of protection to our workingmen, a
different rule should prevail concerning those who,
if they come, or are brought, to our land, do not
intend to become Americans, but will injuriously
compete with those justly entitled to our field of
labor. " In a letter accepting the nomination to the
office of Governor, nearly two years ago, I made
the following statement, to which I have steadily
adhered: " ' The laboring classes constitute the main part
of our population. They should be protected in
their efforts peaceably to assert their rights when
endangered by aggregated capital ; and all stat
utes on this subject should recognize the care of
the State for honest toil and be framed with a
view of improving the condition of the working-
man.' "A proper regard for the welfare of the work-
ingman being inseparably connected with the in
tegrity of our institutions, none of our citizens are
more interested than they in guarding against
any corrupting influences which seek to pervert
the beneficent purposes of our Government; and

CLEVELAND-BLAINE CAMPAIGN. 107
none should be more watchful of the artful machi
nations of those who allure them to self-inflicted
injury. " In a free country, the curtailment of the abso
lute rights of the individual should only be such
as is essential to the peace and good order of the
community. The limit between the proper sub
jects of governmental control, and those which
can be more fittingly left to the moral sense and
self-imposed restraint of the citizen, should be
carefully kept in view. Thus laws unnecessarily
interfering with the habits and customs of any of
our people which are not offensive to jthe moral
sentiments of the civilized world, and which are
consistent with good citizenship and the public
welfare, are unwise and vexatious.
"The commerce of a nation to a great extent de
termines its supremacy. Cheap and easy trans
portation should therefore be liberally fostered.
Within the limits of the Constitution, the General
Government should so improve and protect its
natural water-ways as will enable the producers
of the country to reach a profitable market.
" The people pay the wages of the public em
ployes, and they are entitled to the fair and
honest work which the money thus paid should
command. It is the duty of those intrusted with
the management of their affairs to see that such
public service is forthcoming. The selection and
retention of subordinates in Government employ-

]0g LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
ment should depend upon their ascertained fitness
and the value of their work, and they should be
neither expected nor allowed to do questionable
party service. The interests of the people will be
better protected ; the estimate of public labor and
duty, will be immensely improved ; public employ
ment will be open to all who can demonstrate
their fitness to enter it ; the unseemly scramble
for place under the Government, with the conse
quent importunity which embitters official life, will
cease ; and the public departments will not be
filled with those who conceive it to be their first
duty to aid the party to which they owe their
places, instead of rendering patient and honest
return to the people.
" I believe that the public temper is such that
the voters of the land are prepared to support
the party which gives the best promise of
administering the Government in the honest,
simple, and plain manner which is consistent with
its character and purposes. They' have learned
that mystery and concealment in the management
of their affairs cover tricks and betrayal. The
statesmanship they require consists in honesty
and frugality, a prompt response to the needs of
the people as they arise, and the vigilant pro
tection of all their varied interests.
" If I should be qalled to the Chief Magistracy
of the Nation by the suffrages of my fellow-citi
zens, I will assume the duties of that high office

CLEVELAND-BLAINE CAMPAIGN. Ill
with a solemn determination to dedicate every
effort to the country's good, and with an humble
reliance upon the favor and support of the
Supreme Being, who I believe will always bless
honest human endeavor in the conscientious dis
charge of public duty. "GROVER CLEVELAND.
" To Colonel William F. Vilas, Chairman, and D.
P. Bespor, and others, members of the Notifica
tion Committee of the Democratic National Con
vention!' .
INDEPENDENT SUPPORT OF CLEVELAND.
The serious and earnest tone which pervaded
both of these deliverances commended their author
to the hearty support of a great body of electors
whose votes had «been seldom of late years cast
for Democratic nominees.
Among the prominent Republicans who made
speeches or otherwise took an active part in favor
of the election of Mr . Cleveland were George
William Curtis, editor of Harpers Weekly; Carl
Schurz, ex-Secretary of the Interior ; Rev. Henry
Ward Beecher; Colonel Charles R. Codman, Col
onel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Henry L.
Pierce, the late Rev. James Freeman Clarke, all of
Boston ; ex-Senator Wadleigh, of New Hamp
shire ; ex-Governors Daniel H. Chamberlain, of
South Carolina, Blair, of Michigan, and Pound, of
Wisconsin; Henry C. Lea, of Philadelphia, be-

I I 2 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
sides hundreds of able though less widely known
men in every part of the United States who
were active in the promotion of the principles and
the success of the Republican party so long as they
thought its candidates creditable and honest men.
While the independent candidacy of General
Butler and his support by the New York Sun —
which journal, late a supporter of the Democratic
party, had become the most virulent foe of its'
candidate — distracted what was known as the
" Labor vote " in some quarters, the candidacy of
Governor St. John on the Prohibition ticket in
equal degree weakened the Republican party, and
diverted from it a considerable part of its strength
in close States where it was not easily spared:
Influential independent and Republican journals,
like the Boston Herald and Transcript, the New
York Herald, Times, Evening Post, and Harper's
Weekly, the Philadelphia Times, Indianapolis News,
and the powerful and effective cartoons and cari-„
catur.es of Puck, gave to the Cleveland campaign
a journalistic support which his party had not
enjoyed for a generation ; and they were a tre
mendous factor in achieving the successful result.
Throughout the campaign Governor Cleveland
bore himself with great dignity, composure, and
self-reliance. He exercised with his usual dili
gence and efficiency the functions of the Guber
natorial office in Albany ; he seldom went beyond
the borders of his own State, and never neglected

CLEVELAND-BLAINE CAMPAIGN. II3
the duties of its Chief Magistracy to promote
his election or to serve the purposes of the party
managers. His few speeches were characterized
by the same seriousness and sincerity which
pervaded all the utterances of his official career,
and one of the effects of the popular confidence
thus gained was seen in the steady increase of his
support in business and financial circles ; the
Commercial Exchanges of New York and other
centres of trade manifested a great preponderance
of sentiment in his favor.
In contrast with his campaign and his personal
conduct was the wild pageantry with which Blaine
was conducted over the country, culminating in a
series of ovations, dinners, and receptions in
New York city. One of these, a select assem
blage of millionaires to do honor to the Republican
candidate, created a strong feeling that his election
was chiefly desired by the plutocrats and monopo
lists; at another a misfit preacher named Bur-
chard dropped an ill-timed remark, aspersing the
Democracy as the party of "Rum, Romanism, and
Rebellion," and to these two incidents many of
Mr. Blaine's admirers lay the accountability for the
slender adverse plurality which lost to him. New
York and the Presidency. AMONG OLD FRIENDS.
In the course of this campaign, and when the
fiercest attacks upon his private character were
being made, Mr. Cleveland made a visit to his old-

I 14 LIFE OF GROVF.R CLEVELAND.
home and to the friends of his youth and manhood
in Buffalo. On October 2d, 1 884, after the longest
interval of absence during his thirty years resi
dence there, he was received with such an ovation
of enthusiasm as testified that his hold upon the
affections and esteem of his fellow-townsmen had
not weakened. For the people of that great city,
Henry Martin, President of the Manufacturers'
and Tradesmen's Bank, welcomed him, and, in a
speech of reply, Governor Cleveland, referring to
the significance of the greeting, said with great
pathos :
"It tells me that my neighbors are still my
friends. It assures me that I have not been alto
gether unsuccessful in my efforts to deserve their
confidence and attachment. In years to come, I
shall deem myself not far wrong if I still retain
their good opinion ; and if surrounding cares and
perplexities bring but anxiety and vexation, I
shall find solace and comfort in the memory of the
days spent here, and in recalling the kindness of
my Buffalo friends."
To the great business men's meeting in New
York, to which Mr. Tilden sent a letter of char
acteristic strength, Mr. Cleveland spoke with
entire acceptability, and in his Newark, N. J.,
speech, near the close of the campaign, he thus
foreshadowed what has come to be the supreme
issue of political discussion in the closing years
of his first term :
" It is quite olain. too. that the people have a

CLEVELAND-BLAINE CAMPAIGN. 1 1 5
right to demand that no more money should be
taken from them directly or indirectly for public
uses, than is1 necessary for an honest and econom
ical administration of public affairs. Indeed, the
right of the Government to exact tribute from the
icitizens is limited to its actual necessities, and
every cent taken from the people beyond that re
quired for their protection by the Government is
no better than robbery. We surely must con
demn, then, a system which takes from the pock
ets of the people millions of dollars not needed
for the support of the Government, and which
tends to the inauguration of corrupt schemes
and extravagant expenditures.
" The Democratic party has declared that all
taxation shall be limited by the requirements of
an economical Government. This is plain and
direct ; and it distinctly recognizes the value of
I labor and its right to governmental care when it
further declares that the necessary reduction in
taxation and limitation thereof to the country's
needs should be effected without destroying
American labor, or the ability to compete success
fully with foreign labor, and without injuring the
interests of our laboring population."
In the last speech of the 1884 campaign, at.
Bridgeport, Connecticut, he said:
" The world does not present a more sublime
spectacle than a nation of freemen determining
their own cause, and the leader whom they follow
at such a time may well feel a sober, solemn sense

Il6 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
of responsibility. The plaudits of his fellows he
should feel, but Only to feel more intensely what
a serious thing it is to have in keeping their hopes
and" their confidence."

Two years before, when there opened to him
the wide prospect of election to the Gubernatorial
chair of New York, he had, in the privacy of his
own family circle, written the following letter,
which accidentally came to light in the campaign
of 1884, only to disclose his modest and yet self-
reliant character, his consecration to public duty,
and utter disregard of any other consideration
than the conscientious exercise of solemn trust:
Mayor's Office, Buffalo, N. Y.,
November 7th, 1883.
My Dear Brother : — I have just voted. I sit
here in the Mayor's office alone, with the excep
tion of an artist from Frank Leslie's newspaper,
who is sketching the office. If mother were here
I should be writing to her, and I feel as if it were
time for me to write to some one who will believe
what I write. I have been for some time in the
atmosphere of certain success, so that I have
been sure that I should assume the duties of the
high office for which I have been named. I have
tried hard in the light of this fact to properly
appreciate the responsibilities that will rest upon
me, and they are much — too. much — underesti-

CLE VELAND BLAINE CAMPAIGN. 1 1 7
mated. But the thought that has troubled me is:
Can I well perform my duties, and in such a
manner as to do some good to the people of the
State ? I know there is room for it, and I know
that I am honest and sincere in my desire to do
well, but the question is whether I know enough
to accomplish what I desire.
The social life which seems to await me has
also been a subject of much anxious thought. I
have a notion that I can regulate that A'ery much
as I desire, and if I can I shall spend very little
in the purely ornamental part of the office. In
point of fact, I will tell you, first of all others, the
policy I intend to adopt, and that is to make the
matter a business engagement between the
people of the State and myself, in which the
obligation on my side is to perform the duties
assigned me with an eye single to the interest of
my employers. I shall have no idea of re-election
or of any higher political preferment in my head,
but be very thankful and happy if I can well
serve one term as the people's Governor. Do
you know that if mother were alive I should feel
so much safer? I have always thought her
prayers had much to do with my success. I shall
expect you to help me in that way.
Give my love to  and to  , if she is
with you, and believe me,
Your affectionate brother,
GROVER CLEVELAND.

n8

LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.

The State election in Ohio took place in Octo
ber and was carried by the Republican candidates
for State offices. Mr. Blaine made an election
eering tour through that State during the latter
part of September, and the most active efforts were
put forth to secure a favorable result. The Demo
crats carried Georgia and West Virginia, so that
the State elections which had long been supposed
to influence the general result at the Presidential
election, were deemed an offset to each other, Indi
ana having ceased to be an October State.
The election was held on November 4th, 1884,
resulting in the choice of electors as follows :

FOR CLEVELAND.
Alabama  IO
Arkansas  7
Connecticut  6
Delaware,  3
Florida,  4
Georgia,  12
Indiana  15
Kentucky,  13
Louisiana  8
Maryland,  8
Mississippi  9
Missouri,  16
New Jersey,  9
New York,  36
North Carolina  1 r
South Carolina,  9
Tennessee  . 12
Texas  13
Virginia,  12
West Virginia  6

FOR BLAINE.
California,  8
Colorado,  3
Illinois,  22
Iowa,  13
Kansas,  9
Maine  6
Massachusetts,  14
Michigan,  13
Minnesota,  7
Nebraska  5
Nevada  3
New Hampshire,  4
Ohio  23
Oregon  3
Pennsylvania  30
Rhode Island, .  4
Vermont,  4
Wisconsin  ; n

Total,

182

Total,

219

CLEVELAND-BLAINE CAMPAIGN. I 19
The popular vote aggregated as follows:
Cleveland,  4,874,986 Butler  173.370
Blaine, ;  4,851,981 St. John,  150369
For some days after the election an attempt
was made to represent the result as doubtful be
cause the plurality in the State of New York was
small. But the effort was so decidedly the last
expiring hope of a defeated party that it produced
no other feeling stronger than disgust and a de-
termination that no such fraudulent result as that
of 1876 should be declared. In four days after
the election the result was universally accepted.
The managers of the defeated party, in their
intense disappointment, vented their rage partly
upon the Prohibitionists, and to some degree upon
the luckless Speech of Rev. Dr. Burchard ; their
deepest resentment, however, was exhibited
' against the so-called " Mugwumps," for whom no
terms of reproach were deemed too violent. The
Independent Republicans, who had vainly pro
tested against Blaine's nomination and had con
tributed to his defeat at the polls, received the
abuse now heaped upon them with great com
placency and hopefully looked to the new Admin
istration for their vindication.
The Democrats over the whole country cele
brated their victory with jubilees, barbecues,
parades, and varied methods of popular rejoicing.
The Celebration of 1876 had been premature;
but now the triumphant party gave vent to dem-

120 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
onstrations of unqualified and unrestrained joy.
Amid all this, in many quarters, were heard the
warning voices of discreet leaders, pointing out
that the victory should be interpreted as a tri
umph of the better elements of all parties, and a
narrow escape of the Government from threatened
perils rather than a mere partisan achievement.
Speculation was rife as to how a comparatively
untried man would meet and deal with the great
responsibilities of an office coming to him under
the peculiar circumstances of the campaign of
1884.

CHAPTER IX.
PREPARING FOR THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM — THE SILVER QUESTION.
THE interval between the retirement of
Governor Cleveland from the Executive
chair of New York, which David B. Hill,
the Lieutenant-Governor, was now called upon to
fill, and the inauguration of a Democratic Ad
ministration at the Federal capital, was busily
occupied with consultations and plans for the re
organization in Federal power of a party virtually
excluded from it for nearly a quarter of a cen
tury. Chief in all such councils and first among
all counselors of the President-elect, then and
ever since, was and has been Colonel Daniel S.
Lamont, who was soon to be translated from the
position of Private Secretary to the Governor of
New York to that of Private Secretary to the
President of the United States. A young man,
trained in the best school of New York politics,
experienced in journalism, quick to perceive the
value and character of men, discreet in speech,
and efficient in commanding the largest share of
information from any visitor, whether he has an
axe to grind or comes merely as an interested
i_i

122 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
i
observer of the action and character of others
— he has shown himself the most intelligent, as he
has become the best known of all the men who
in the arduous and difficult post of Private Secre
tary have contributed to increase the interest and
the pleasure or to lighten the labor of men in the
public life of the United States.
To most men the lack of all experience in pub
lic life in a Federal office would have been a seri
ous drawback on the threshold of an Administra
tion which was to bring back to the country" the
policy of a party long excluded. But it was rather
an advantage to Grover Cleveland. He had none
of those prejudices, those likes and dislikes, which
incessantly surround the men who have had many
years experience in the somewhat artificial and
insincere life of Washington. He did not know
personally any large number of those with whom
he was destined to deal. But he had patience,
the faculty of investigating everything with care,
and of deciding it on its merits, and he had an
insight into men and their characters which is rare.
There were more things to do in the interval
between the election in November, 1884, and the
inauguration of March 4th, 1885, than the mere
choosing of men to carry out the policy of the new
President and the party behind him. Delegations
with ideas of various kinds, which they were anx
ious to force upon the attention of : the powers
that were to be, had to be received and answered.

EAST FRONT OF THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON.

THE PREPARATION. I 25
Eccentric men and women must be received and
treated with a politeness which such persons at
times do much to strain. The admonition of many
well-meaning persons without ideas or mission,
but with a capacity for curiosity, had to be accepted
in a spirit as meek as was consonant with the fail
ings of humanity. Most important, and most dif
ficult of all, the man who was to take upon him
self such a burden was compelled continually to
enunciate anew the principles upon which he
would seek to shape his policy. His election had
been promoted by the support of a large, and
growing class of men in politics formerly denom
inated by the somewhat indefinite name of " inde
pendent voters," but known during the campaign
and since by the title of " Mugwumps " — a distinct
ive addition to the nomenclature of politics.
CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM LETTER.
Before his retirement from the Governorship,
under date of December 25th, 1*884, Mr. Cleve
land wrote a letter to Mr. George William Curtis,
President of the National Civil Service Reform
Association, in which he laid down with great dis
tinctness the general policy which he wished to
pursue in the matter of removals from office and
appointments. In this letter the President-elect
said :
" That a practical reform in the civil service is
abundantly established by the fact that a statute

I 25. LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
referred to in your communication to secure such
a result has been passed in Congress with the
assent of both political parties, and by the further
fact that a sentiment is generally prevalent among
patriotic people calling for the fair and honest
enforcement of the law which has thus been en
acted. I regard myself pledged to this, because
my conception of true Democratic faith and pub
lic duty requires that this and all other statutes
should be in good faith and without evasion en
forced, and because in many utterances made
prior to my election as President, approved " by
the party to which I belong, and which I have no
disposition to disclaim, I have in effect promised
the people that this should be done.
"I am not unmindful of the fact, to which you
refer, that many of our citizens fear that the recent
party changes in the national Executive may
demonstrate that the abuses which have grown
up in the civil service are ineradicable. I know
that they are deeply rooted, and that the spoils
system has been supposed to be intimately related
to success in the maintenance of party organiza
tion, and I am not sure that all those who profess
to be the friends of this reform will stand firmly
among its advocates when they find it obstructing
their way to patronage an'd place.
" But fully appreciating the trust committed to
my charge, no such consideration shall cause a
relaxation on my part of an earnest effort to en
force the law.
"There is a class of Government positions which
are not within the letter of the civil-service statute,
but which are so disconnected with the policy of
an Administration that the removal therefrom

THE PREPARATION. I 27
of present incumbents, in my opinion, should
not be made during the term for which they
were appointed solely on partisan grounds, and
for the purpose of putting in their places those
who are in political accord with the appointing
power. " But many now holding such positions have
forfeited all just claim to retention because they
have used their places for party purposes, in dis
regard of their duty to the people, and because,
instead of being decent public servants, they have
proved themselves offensive partisans and un
scrupulous manipulators of local party manage
ment. "The lessons of the past should be unlearned,
and such officials, as well as their successors,
should be taught that efficiency and fitness and
devotion to public duty are the conditions of their
, Continuance in public place, and that the quiet
and unobtrusive exercise of individual political
rights is the reasonable measure of their party
service. "If I were addressing none but party friends, I
should deem it entirely proper to remind them
that, though the coming Administration is to be
Democratic, a due regard for the people's interest
does not permit faithful party work to be always
-rewarded by appointment to office, and to say to
them that, while Democrats may expect all proper
consideration, selections for office not embraced
within the civil-service rules will be based upon
sufficient inquiry as to fitness instituted by those
charged with that duty, rather than persistent
importunity or self-solicited recommendations on
behalf of .candidates for appointment."

128 LIFE OF GROVER ^CLEVELAND.
t
THE SILVER LETTER OF 1 885.
Another element of strength to Mr. Cleveland
in the exciting campaign which had just closed Was
the general impression of his substantial sound
ness on all financial questions, measured by the
standards of Jefferson, Jackson, and Tilden, and
by the general acceptance by the people of the
country after many years of agitation of the dan
ger of inflation of a currency worth less than its,
face. At the time under discussion there was a
general fear on the part of thoughtful students of
financial questions that disaster would finally re
sult from the compulsory coinage under the law
of 1878 of a minimum of two millions of silver
dollars each month. Mr. Cleveland, a short time.
before his inauguration, in a letter under date of
February 28th, 1885, and addressed to Mr. War
ner, a representative from the State of Ohio, and
others, set forth his views upon this question at
considerable length and with much positiveness.
Besides other things, he said :
" To the Hon. A. J. Warner and others, Members
of the Forty-eighth Congress. <.<
" Gentlemen : The letter which I have had the
honor to receive from you invites, and indeed,
obliges, me to give expression to some grave
public necessities, although in advance of the-;
moment when they would become the objects of
my official care and partial responsibility. Your

• , THE PREPARATION. I2Q
solicitude that my judgment shall have been care
fully and deliberately formed is entirely just, and
I accept the suggestion in the same friendly spirit
in which it has been made. It is also fully justi
fied by the nature of the financial crisis which,
under the operation of the act of Congress of
February 28th, 1878, is now close at hand.
*' By a compliance with the requirements of
that law all the vaults of the Federal Treasury
have been and are heaped full of silver coins,
.which are now worth less than eighty-five per
cent, of the gold dollar prescribed as the unit of
value in section 16 of the aCt of February 12th,
1873, and which, with the silver certificates repre
senting such coin, are receivable for all public
dues. Being thus receivable, while also constantly
increasing in quantity at the rate of $28,000,000
a'year, it has followed of necessity that the flow
of gold into the Treasury has steadily diminished.
Silver and silver certificates have displaced and are
now displacing the gold in the Federal Treasury
now available for the gold obligations of the United
States and for redemption of the United States
notes called ' greenbacks,' if not already en-,
: broached upon, is perilously near such encroach
ment. " These are facts which, as they do not admit of
difference of opinion, call for no argument. They
haye been forewarned to us in the official reports
of every Secretary of the Treasury, from 1878 till
now. They are plainly affirmed in the last De
cember report of the present Secretary of the
Treasury to the Speaker of the present House of
Representatives. They appear in the official doc
uments of this Congress, and in the records of the

I^O ' LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
New York, Clearing-house, of which the Treasury
is a member, and through which the bulk of the
receipts and payments of the Federal Government
and country pass.
" These being the facts of our present condk
tion, our danger, and our duty to avert that dan
ger, would seem to be plain. I hope that you
concur with me and with the great majority of our
fellow-citizens, in deeming it most desirable at the
present juncture to maintain and continue in use
the mass of our gold coin, as well as the mass of
silver already coined. This is possible by a pres
ent suspension of the purchase and coinage of
silver. I am not aware that by any other method
it is possible. It is of momentous importance
to prevent the two metals from parting company ;
to prevent the increasing displacement of gold by '
the increasing coinage of silver ; to prevent the
disuse of gold in the custom-houses of the United
States in the daily business of the people; to pre
vent the ultimate expulsion of gold by silvers-
Such a financial crisis as these events would cer
tainly precipitate, were it now to follow upon so
long a period of commercial depression, would
involve the people of every city and every State
in the Union in a prolonged and disastrous trou
ble. The revival of business enterprise and pros
perity so ardently desired, and apparently so near,
would be hopelessly postponed. Gold would be
withdrawn to its hoarding places, and an unpre
cedented contraction in the actual volume of our
currency would speedily take place.
" Saddest of all, in every workshop, mill, factory,
store, and on every railroad and farm the wages
of labor, already depressed, would suffer still fur-

THE PREPARATION. ' 131
ther depression by a scaling down of the purchas
ing power of every so-called dollar paid into the
hands of toil. From these impending calamities,
it is surely a most patriotic and grateful duty of
the representatives of the people to deliver them.
"I am, gentlemen, with sincere respect, your
fellow-citizen,
" GROVER CLEVELAND.
"Albany, February 24^1885."

CHAPTER X.
THE INAUGURATION.
ORGANIZATION OF THE NEW ADMINISTRATION — THE CABINET OFFICERS
AND HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS.
S the day for the inauguration of the Presi
dent drew near, public interest in the men
who would be chosen as his constitutional
advisers became more and more aroused. At a
-comparatively early day Mr. Cleveland adopted a
policy, which he has since carried out with much
success, of giving out informally and unofficially
indications of any important appointment, messages
or policy upon which he had determined. In this
way it was generally known that Senator Bayard,
of Delaware, would be tendered the office of Sec
retary of State, nominally considered the leading
place in the Cabinet because first created and sur
rounded by traditions which gave it this rank^by
Thomas Jefferson, the first incumbent of the
office under President Washington. From time
to time hints were let fall as to other members of
the Cabinet, although no official announcement
was made until the day following the inauguration, ^
when their names were sent to the Senate.
Ip2 ,V z

STARTING FOR THE INAUGURATION.

THE INAUGURATION: I 35 -
' The day fixed by law for the. inauguration of
the new President, March 4th, 1885, was the most
perfect, from an atmospheric point of view, that
Washington had seen for months. The President
elect, accompanied by the Vice-President-elect,
Mr. Hendricks, and members of the Senate Com
mittee appointed to escort them to the Capitol,
went at about half-past ten o'clock to the White'
House, where President Arthur and the Marshal
of the district were in waiting. A start was made
at once, the carriages falling into line in the place
arranged for them by the Chief Marshal, General
Henry W. Slocum, of New York. The Regular
Army, the Marines, the Navy, the Artillery, the
Marine Band and detachments from the militia'of
several States contributed to swell the procession
to something like twenty-five thousand men. As
usual, the ceremonies of inauguration were per"-^
formed at the east front of the Capitol, and in
this case before an audience estimated to number
"one hundred and fifty thousand. Mr. Cleveland
was dressed in the regulation Prince Albert suit.
In speaking he held his left hand closed behind
his back, using his right hand for making the cus-
tomary gestures of the public: speaker. He spoke
without manuscript, as is his wont, and in a clear,
resonant voice. His self-confidence and compo
sure were as marvelous to the hundreds of more
experienced public men who surrounded him as
they were novel and yet reassuring to the people

136

L IFF OF GROVER CLE VELAND.

of the country. The most important utterances
of his inaugural address were as follows :
EXTRACTS FROM THE INAUGURAL
" Amid the din of party strife the people's
choice was made, but its attendant circumstances-
demonstrated anew the strength and safety of a
government by the people.
" In each succeeding year it more clearly ap
pears that our Democratic principle needs no
apology, and that in its fearless and faithful ap
plication is to be found the surest guaranty of
good government. But the best results in the
operation of a government wherein every citizen*
has a share largely depend upon a proper limita
tion of purely partisan zeal and effort, and a cor-..
rect appreciation of the time when the heat of the
partisan should be merged in thz patriotism of
the citizen.
"To-day the Executive branch of the govern
ment is transferred to new keeping, but this is
still the government of all the people, and it
should be none the, less an object of affectionate
solicitude. At this hour the animosities of polit-_
ical strife, the bitterness of partisan defeat, and;
the exultation of partisan triumph should be sup
planted by an ungrudging aquiescence in the f.
popular will, and a sober, conscientious concern
for the general weal.
" Moreover, if from this hour we cheerfully and
honestly abandon all sectional prejudice and dis
trust, and determine with manly confidence in one
another to work out harmoniously the achieve
ments of our national destiny, we shall deserve to

THE IN AUG OR A TION. I 3 7
realize all the benefits which our happy form of
government can bestow; on, this conspicuous oc
casion we may well renew the pledge of devotion
to the Constitution, which, launched by the found
ers of the Republic and consecrated by their
prayers and patriotic devotion, has for almost a
century borne the hopes and the aspirations of a
great people through prosperity and peace, and
through the foreign conflicts and the perils of do
mestic strife and vicissitudes.
"By the Father of his'Country^ur Constitution
was commended for adoption, as ' the result of
a spirit of amity and mutual concession.' In that
same spirit it should be administered, in order to
promote the lasting welfare of the country, and to
secure the full measure of its priceless benefits to
us and to those who will succeed to the ble'ssings
of Our national life. The large variety of diverse
and competing interests subject to Federal
control, persistently seeking the recognition of
their claims, need give us no fear that the great
est good to the greatest number will fail to beac-
complished, if in the halls of the National Legis1-
lature that spirit of amity and mutual concession
shall prevail in which the Constitution had its
birth. • " If this involves the surrender or postpone
ment of private interests, the sacrifice of local van
tages, compensation will be found in assurance
that thus the minor interest is subserved and
the general welfare advanced."
ADVISERS OF THE EXECUTIVE.
It was not until the next day after the inaugu
ration ceremonies that the curiosity of the country

1 2% LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND. ' ',
concerning the Cabinet was officially gratified.
Thomas F. Bayard, Secretary of State, had seen
long service in the Senate from the State of Dela
ware, and had attained such prominence that he
had been voted for in three National Conventions
as a' candidate for President. His nature was
conservative ; his mind was trained to politics from
early manhood by a close study of our system of
government. He had. taken high rank as a law- '
yer, both in the practice of his profession and in
legal arguments before that august body, the
Senate of the United States. His appointment
as Secretary of State gave general satisfaction
because of the known dignity of his character,
his conservatism, and his lack of those fiery and
impractical qualities which distinguish demagogues
and men of so-called " magnetism." His career
in the State Department has justified the hopes of
his friends and confounded his enemies.
The man selected for that most important and
difficult office, Secretary of the Treasury, was
Daniel Manning, of the State of New York. He
was a man whose career illustrated the genius of:
our institutions better, perhaps, than that of any-;
one who ever occupied that office. A memberof-a
worthy family in his native State of New York,
' he was early apprenticed to learn the trade of
printer in the office of the Argus at Albany. Here.
his industry, his unfailing good sense, and his
energy gave him the opportunities he needed.

THOMAS F. BAYARD, SECRETARY OF STATE.

THE INAUGURATION. , 141
As a result he rose rapidly through different
grades of the business and editorial departments
of the paper until he became its editor and,
owner. With business prosperity he had also
entered into the banking business, and thus turned
his attention to the study of financial questions.
Always active in politics, he rose with each step
of his business and professional advancement in
the councils of his party, until, as Chairman of the
State Committee, in the first Democratic State of
the, Union, he became the Warwick who made
Governors and Presidents without subjecting
himself to the charge of being a " boss " — that
great bugbear of the modern prudes of politics.
He had early recognized the qualities of Mr.
Cleveland, both practical and available, and he
was the earnest and successful leader in direct
ing his nomination for President, as well as a
potent factor in securing his election. His
career as Secretary of the Treasury was, taking
its brevity into consideration, the most brilliant,
in the history of the United States ; and when,
after less than two years service, he was com
pelled to resign because of impaired health, he
retired with universal respect and admiration of
his countrymen, and when he died, early in the
present year, he was as sincerely mourned as a
loss to our politics as if he had been for many
years one of the leading figures in shaping the
policies of a great nation.

142 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
For Attorney-General the President selected
Augustus H. Garland, of Arkansas. One of the-
.a blest lawyers of his State, he had been its Gover
nor in the troublous times of the carpet-baggers,
which so tried the souls of honest men, and' he
had rendered conspicuous service in ridding his
State and section of these human pests. His
service in the Senate of the United States had de
monstrated his attainments as a lawyer, his
patriotism and honesty as a man, and his useful
ness as a legislator.
To William C. Whitney, of the State of New
York, was confided the difficult task of taking
the Navy Department and of redeeming it from
reproach. He was the youngest man in the
Cabinet, but he had done conspicuous work for
the cause of good government in the State and
city of New York ; and as corporation counsel
of that great municipality he had shown the energy
and executive efficiency which in his present
larger sphere have made his department clean?
and respectable. The success attending his
efforts to restore the navy on sound business
principles has justified the confidence reposed' in
him by President Cleveland ; and the present
political " solidity " of New York vindicates the
wisdom of the daring experiment of taking two
Cabinet officers irom a single State.
For Secretary of War, William C. Endicott,
who had seen judicial service in his native State

AUGUSTUS H. GARLAND.

THE IN A UGURA TION: - 1 4 5:

1

of Massachusetts, was selected. He was the ,
least known of the members of the new Cabinet :
but the absence of scandal and the preservation
of discipline in his department show his honesty
and ability.
The Post-Office Department is in many re
spects the most important and most difficult port-.
folio in the Cabinet of the President. Its subor
dinates greatly outnumber those of all others
combined, its efficiency is tested even in the re
motest hamlet, and its revenues give it second
place in rank. Wm. F. Vilas, of Wisconsin, had
the training of a lawyer who had always been an
apt and ardent student of politics. He gave close
attention to every detail of the work in his De
partment and rendered excellent service in it
until his transfer to the head of the Interior De
partment in December, 1887.
L. Q. C. Lamar, then a Senator of the United
States from Mississippi, was chosen as Secretary
of the Interior. Under his direction, the many
and serious abuses in his Department were cor
rected. He carried out a wise policy of dealing
with the Indians under which peaceful relations
have been uniformly maintained since March, 1885 ;
he inaugurated reforms in the affairs of the Patent
Office ; he selected careful and honest men to
manage the Pension Office and the Agricultural
Department; he took firm measures to bring the
delinquent Pacific Railroads to account, and carried

j^6 ' LIFE, OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
out in the most conscientious way the policy
of reclaiming land grants to railroads after '
they had lapsed because of a failure to perform
the condition of the grants. His course in office
fully justified the choice of the President, and his
appointment as a Justice of the Supreme Court
of the United States was only regretted because
it took him out of an executive office which he
had managed faithfully and well.
The first vacancy in the Cabinet was caused by
the retirement of Daniel Manning from the office
of Secretary of the Treasury. He was succeeded
by Charles S. Fairchild, who was promoted from
the position of First Assistant Secretary. He had
had a careful training in the larger politics of
the State of New York, where he had rendered
conspicuous service as Attorney-General in pros
ecution of the canal frauds unearthed by Mr.
Tilden while Governor. He has shown himselfa
worthy successor of Mr. Manning, of whose policy
he himself has always been a faithful pupil and,,
follower. By the appointment of Mr. Lamar to a judge
ship of the Supreme Court, and the ensuing trans
fer of Mr. Vilas from the Post-Office Department
to the Interior, Don M. Dickinson, of Michigan,
became Postmaster-General. During his brief
term of service he has shown the industry, hon
esty, and executive capacity, as well as political
good sense, which long distinguished him as_ the

W. C WHITNEY, SF.CRETARY OF THE NAVY.

THE INAUGURATION. 149
1
head of his profession and the leader of his party
in Michigan. HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS.
Scarcely less important than the selection of a„
Cabinet of constitutional advisers was the choice"
of men to fill those offices popularly recognized
as of the second grade, the duties of whose posi
tions compel them none the less to study and
learn the details of their various departments, and
upon whom the President and the heads of de
partments must in a large measure depend.'
Among the men thus chosen, and chosen with
out mistake, were John Goode, of Virginia, as
Solicitor-General of the United States. His
nomination was defeated in a partisan Senate by
the petty malice of William Mahone, whose ne
farious and disgraceful schemes Mr. Goode had
exposed at every turn, and with just, unsparing
severity. Another was the lamented and gifted
Malcolm - Hay, of Pennsylvania, whose illness,
soon after proving fatal, compelled his early res
ignation as First Assistant Postmaster-General.
His successor, A. E. Stevenson, of Illinois, charged
especially with the selection of fourth-class post
masters, by far the most numerous class of public
servants, has carried out with conspicuous) fidelity
the policy, the necessity of which became early
apparent, of making the postal service effective
by removing the men whose only desire was to

150 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
obstruct its operations in order to embarrass the
new Administration. George A. Jenks, one of
the foremost lawyers of Pennsylvania, who, as
counsel for Tilden before the Electoral Commission,,
achieved more reputation in one Congressional
term than comes to most public men in a lifetime,
became Assistant Secretary of the Interior, and
was a terror to the violators of the land and
other laws with the execution of which he was
charged. He was finally promoted to be Solici
tor-General of the United States.' Charles S.
Fairchild and Judge Isaac H. Maynard, of New
York, together with ex-Governor Hugh J. Thomp
son, of South Carolina, have done good work as
Assistant Secretaries of the Treasury; while Gen
eral William S. Rosecrans, of California, as Reg
ister of the Treasury; Conrad N. Jordan, of New
York, as Treasurer of the United States ; Judge
McCue, of New York, as Solicitor of the Treasury,"
and Milton J. Durham, of Kentucky, as First Comp
troller, have rendered service1 to the Treasury-
and the country in the various positions of trust
to which they have been called. In the Interior
Departmentthe veteran soldier, General Joseph E.
Johnston, of Virginia, has been conspicuous as
Commissioner of Railroads ; John D. C. Atkins,
as Indian Commissioner, and Norman J. Coleman,
as Commissioner of Agriculture, have adminis
tered their important offices, so large as to be of
the magnitude of and to be called " departments,"

ENDICOTT, SECRETARY OF WAR.

.-' ' THE INAUGURATION ^53
with honesty and efficiency. Scarcely second in
importance to a Cabinet office is the great Bureau
of Pensions, which, under the Commissionership
of General John C. Black, the veteran soldier and
maimed hero of the Union cause, has been ad-'
ministered with a promptitude, efficiency, econo
my of expenditure, and liberality of construction
unprecedented under Republican administrations.
Next in the amount of receipts to the customs
service itself is the system of Internal Revenue,
which constitutes a department; to the head of
it the President, with his characteristic sagacity in
•the selection of men, called a vigorous, clear-
1 headed, and able executive officer in the person of
Joseph S. Miller, an ex-Representative in Con
gress from West Virginia.
To the wisdom and fitness of choice displayed.
in these and many other worthy and no less im
portant Executive appointments, and to the sin
gleness of purpose with which the appointees
have carried out the President's policies, have
been largely due the cohesion and success of Mr.
Cleveland's Administration.
In the diplomatic service, Edward J. Phelps,
of Vermont, as Minister to England ; Robert M.
McLane, of Maryland, as Minister to France;.
George H. Pendleton, of Ohio, as Minister to
Germany; George V. N. Lothrop, of Michigan,
as Minister to Russia ; J. B. Stallo, of Ohio, as
Minister to Italy ; Richard B. Hubbard, as Minis-

154 LIFE 0F 'ORO.VER CLEVELAND.
ter to Japan ; and Thomas M. Waller, of Connect
icut, as Consul-General to London, are only some
of the principal appointments to a branch of the
service of which not a single member has reflected
discredit or dishonor upon his country or the
Administration. During the first year of his administration Pres
ident Cleveland was subjected to considerable
criticism in his own party, and to malignant mis
representation from without, because of his rigid'
adherence to the civil-service reform policy which
he had set out to establish and maintain. Many
of the less thoughtful members of his own party
made the complaint that he did not proceed rap
idly enough in the work of making removals. On
the other hand, some of his independent support
ers were inclined to forget that he was confronted
by " a condition, not a theory," and made loud
outcry each time some cringing incumbent of an
office was removed that the President was forget
ting his pledges. Still another class of complaints
came from Republicans, both in office and out.
There was general resentment on the part of;
these people at the audacity which would deprive
them of what they had come to believe was a
vested right to hold office ; consequently, early in
the session of the Forty- ninth Congress, the
Senate, under the lead of Mr. Edmunds, of Ver
mont, set up the claim, hitherto never advanced,
that that body was entitled to the " papers ' upon

WILLIAM F. VILAS, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

THE INAUGURATION.

'* 5 7

which removals and appointments had been made.
The President refused to comply with this request,
holding that such documents affected considera
tions private to himself. After some little delay
the Senate found that its position was indefensible,,
and quietly receded from it, by confirming the men
appointed to the offices in question.
On the whole, however, the people of the coun
try sustained the President in his position. There
was general recognition of the fact that many
unfriendly incumbents of office had impeded the
service in order; to discredit the new Administra
tion ; that others had truckled to the new powers
in the hope that their sudden zeal might hide
their cowardice and inefficiency; and that still
others had all of a sudden become great reformers
when they could no longer prostitute the public
service to party and selfish ends. The desire of
'the people to see fair play finally triumphed over
the impatient friends of the President, his imprac
ticable supporters who had expected so much, and
his unscrupulous enemies in the Senate and in
the minor offices. It was then seen" that the
standard of public service fixed by the new Ad
ministration was such a lofty one that no scandal
had come from the actions of any of the new
officials, whether in the departments or in the sub
ordinate offices ; that the minor places in the de
partments at Washington and in the large custom
houses and post-offices were filled strictly in obe-

I jS LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND..
dience to the Civil-service law; that there were no
glaring instances in which officials had used their
places to do political wrongs, and that, as a whole,
the public service of the United States had never
been in better condition. For the first time, a
substantial advance had been made in genuine
civil-service reform, and the President's victory'
was secured without the alienation of any influen
tial element of his own party, and without violating
any obligation, express or implied, which he took
upon himself in becoming its candidate. In the
years to follow, the wisdom of his policy was to
be more fully tested and more emphatically ap
proved. In the death, on the 25th of November, 1885, of
thehonoredstatesman.ThomasA. Hendricks, Vice-
President of the United States, the new Demo
cratic circle was first broken. From his earliest
manhood, even before he reached his majority, he
had upheld the standard of his party, and incul*
1 cated such a lofty patriotism that he had never
done aught which could be construed as inimical
to the interests of his country. The highest
honors were paid to his memory. The President,
immediately upon the receipt of the sad tidings
of his death, issued a proclamation to the country,
recounting his services and directing that the
various branches of the Government should pay'
the customary tributes of respect to his memory.

CHAPTER XL
THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS.
MESSAGES TO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE — TARIFF REVISION
AND OTHER REFORMS.
ON the first Monday in December, 1885,
the Forty-ninth Congress met, and
President Cleveland transmitted his first
annual message. He adverted feelingly in its
Opening sentences to the death of Vice-President
Hendricks, and paid a warm tribute to his mem-*
ory. He discussed with much fullness all the
leading questions which affected the country, and
with general public acceptance. Among the
issues which have since become of great import
ance were the enactment of laws to prevent the
collection of a surplus revenue, the retention of
the public lands for actual settlers, and the reform
of the abuses which had crept into the civil
service. On the reduction of taxation his views
were so clear and conscientious upon the one
issue, which he has since projected into import
ance, that his conclusions are given at length:
"The fact that our revenues are in excess of
the actual needs of an economical administration
of the Government/ justifies a reduction in the
161

1 52 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND. ,
amount exacted from the people for its support.
Our Government is but the means established by
the will of a free people by which certain princi
ples are applied which they have adopted for their
benefit and protection ; and it is never better ad
ministered and its true spirit is never better ob
served than when the people's taxation for its
support is scrupulously limited to the actuar
necessity of expenditure, and distributed accord
ing to a just and equitable plan.
" The proposition with which we have to deal
is the reduction of the revenue received by the
Government, and indirectly paid by the people
from customs duties. The question of free trade
is not involved, nor is there now any occasion for the
general discussion of the wisdom or expediency
of a protective system. Justice and fairness dic
tate that in any modification of our present laws
relating to revenue, the industries and interests
which have been encouraged by such laws, and in
which our citizens have large investments,' should
not be ruthlessly injured or destroyed. We should
also deal with the subject in such a manner as to
protect the interests of American labor, which is
the capital of our workingmen ; its stability and
proper remuneration furnish the most justifiable
pretext for a protective policy.
"Within these limitations a certain reduction
should be made in our customs revenue. The
amount of such reduction having been determined,
the inquiry follows, where can it best be remitted
and what articles can best be released from duty,
in the interests of our citizens? I think the re
duction, should be made in the revenue derived
from a tax upon the imported necessaries of life.

' . THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS. jg.
We thus directly lessen the cost of living in every
family of the land, and release to ^the< people in
every humble home a larger measure of the re
wards of frugal industry."
CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM.
Having announced his devotion to a genuine
reform of the civil-service abuses in his letter of
. acceptance, in various letters and speeches during
the campaign, and in his first inaugural address,
he took occasion to emphasize anew his position
in the following language :
" I am inclined to think that there is no senti
ment more general in the minds of the people of
our country, than a conviction of the correctness
of the principle upon which the law enforcing civil-
service reform is based. * * * * Experience in
its administration will probably suggest amend
ment of the methods of its execution, but I venture
to hope that we shall never again be remitted to the
„ system which* distributes public positions purely
as rewards for partisan service. Doubts may well
be entertained whether our Government could
survive the strain of a continuance of this system,
which upon every change of Administration in
spires an- immense army of claimants for office to
lay siege to the patronage of Government, en
grossing the time of public officers with their im
portunities, spreading abroad the contagion of
their disappointment, and filling the air with the
tumult of their discontent.
"The allurements of an immense number of
offices and places^ exhibited to the voters of the

L64 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
land, and the promise of their bestowal in recog
nition of partisan activity, debauch the suffrage
and rob political action of its thoughtful and" de
liberative character. The evil would increase
with the multiplication of offices consequent upon
our extension, and the mania for office-holding,
growing from its indulgence, would pervade our
population so generally that patriotic purpose, the
support of principle, the desire for the public good;
and solicitude for the nation's welfare, would be
nearly banished from the activity of our party
contests and cause them to degenerate into igno
ble, selfish, and disgraceful struggles for the pos
session of office and public place. Civil-service'
reform enforced by law came none too soon to
check the progress of demoralization. One of its
effects, not enough regarded, is the freedom it
brings to the political action of those conservative '
and sober men who, in fear of the confusion and-
risk attending an arbitrary and sudden change in
all the public offices with a change of party rule,
cast their ballots against such a chance.
" Parties seem to be necessary, and will Jong ,
continue to exist ; nor can it be now denied that
there are legitimate advantages, not disconnected
with office-holding, which follow party supremacy.
While partisanship continues bitter and pro
nounced, and supplies so much of motive lo senti
ment and action, it is not fair to hold public offi
cials, in charge of important trusts, responsible for
the best results in the performance of their duties,
and yet insist that they shall rely, in confidential
and important places, upon the work of those not
only opposed to them in political affiliation, but so
steeped in partisan prejudice and rancor that they

THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS. j gi-
have no loyalty to their chiefs and no desire for
their success. Civil-service reform does not ex
act this, nor does it require that those in subor
dinate positions who fail in yielding their best ser
vice, or who are incompetent, should be retained
Simply because they are in place. The whining of
a clerk discharged for indolence or incompetency,
who, though he gained his place by the worst pos
sible operation of the spoils system, suddenly
discovers that he is entitled to protection under
the sanction of civil-service reform, represents
an idea no less absurd than the clamor of the
applicant who claims the vacant position as his
compensation for the most questionable party
work. "The civil-service law does not prevent the dis
charge of the indolent or incompetent clerk, but
it does prevent supplying his place with the
unfit party worker. Thus, in both these phases,
is seen benefit to the public service. And the
people who desire good government having se
cured this statute, will not relinquish its benefits
without protest. Nor are they unmindful of the
fact that its full advantages can only be gained
through the complete good faith of those having
its execution in charge. And this they will insist
upon." THE PUBLIC LANDS.
Since the advent of the present Administration
the policy of preserving the public lands for actual
settlers ,has been consistently carried out. Closely
.allied, with this policy has been the restoration Of
i unearned lands granted to railroads to the public

J56 LIFE OF. GROVER CLEVELAND."
domain. The President had given careful atten
tion to the question and thus announced his con
clusions :
"It is not for the 'common benefit of the^
United States ' that a large area of the public
lands should be acquired, directly or through
fraud, in the hands of a single individual. The
Nation's strength is in the people. The Nation's
prosperity is in their prosperity. The Nation's
glory is in the equality of her justice. The
•Nation's perpetuity is in the patriotism of all her
people. Hence, as far as practicable, the plan-
adopted in the disposal of the public lands should
have in view the original policy, which encouraged
many purchasers of these lands for homes, and
discouraged the massing of large areas. Exclu-
sive of Alaska, about ,three-fifths of the national
domain has been sold or subjected to contract or
grant. Of the remaining two-fifths a consider-.-
able portion is either mountain or desert. A
rapidly increasing population creates a growing
demand for homes, and the accumulation of
wealth inspires an eager competition to obtain
the public land for speculative purposes. In the
future this collision of interests will be more
marked than in the past, and the execution of
the Nation's trust in behalf of our settlers will be
more difficult. I therefore commend to your
attention the recommendations contained in the
report of the Secretary of the Interior with refer
ence to the repeal and modification of certain of
our land laws.
"The nation has made princely grants and
subsidies to a system of railroads projected, as

THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS. iQj
great national highways to connect the Pacific
States with the East. It has been charged that
these donations from the people have been di
verted to private gain and corrupt uses, and thus
public indignation has been aroused and suspi
cion engendered. Our great nation does not
begrudge its generosity, but it abhors peculation
arid fraud; and the favorable regard of our
people for the great corporations to which these
grants were made can only be revived by a
restoration of confidence, to be secured by their
constant, unequivocal, and clearly manifested
integrity. A faithful application of the undimin
ished proceeds of the grants to the construction
and perfecting of their roads, an honest discharge
of their obligations, and entire justice to all the
people in the enjoyment of their rights on these
highways of travel, are all the public asks, and, it
will be content with no less. To secure these
things should be the ' common purpose of the
officers of the Government, , as well as of the
corporations. With this accomplishment, pros
perity would be permanently secured to the roads,
and national pride would take the place of na
tional complaint."
' With the same object in view, he interposed his
veto to maintain the. lands of the Indian tribes free
from invasion by railroads without the consent of
the tribes, thus protecting the wards of the nation
from the exactions of corporations.
Wherever an attempt has been made by Con
gress to surrender any of the rights of Indian
tribes by giving away privileges to their lands,

jgg LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND: '/
President Cleveland has interposed his veto to
prevent, or has suggested the insertion of new and
additional safeguards for the better* protection of
their rights. PROTECTING THE SETTLERS,
During the early part of the year 1887, the
Northern Pacific Railroad Company undertook to
enforce with much severity certain litigation with
men who had settled on certain lands afterward
found to lie within the limits of indemnity lands
to be selected by the Company for making up any
deficiencies in the lands granted to it by Congress.
Among these cases was that of Guilford Miller.
He claimed that he had settled upon the land in
1878, and that he had cultivated the same under
the homestead law until 1884, when he claimed
title. The case was referred to the Attorney-
General, who, upon its strictly technical and legal
aspects, decided against the settler. All the
papers were, at his request, turned over to the
President, who examined them with the great;
care and comprehensive industry which has usually
distinguished his examination of such cases, both
as Governor and President. On April 25th, 1887,
he addressed a notable letter to the Secretary of
1 the Interior, suggesting a method of settlement,
which, while not interfering with the rights of- Mil
ler, would also permit the railroad to select an
equa] amount of land from some contiguous pof-

' >•. , THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS. j gg
tion of the public domain to indemnify it for this
loss. In other words, the President sought a way
to decide the matter upon the equities of the case,
in such a way, as he expressed it, "as to protect
this settler from hardship and loss."
In the course of his letter he laid down the io\-
lpwing as settling the policy he would pursue :
"There seems to be no evidence presented
showing how much, if any, of this vast tract is ne
cessary for the fulfillment of the grant to the rail
road company, nor does there appear to be any
limitation of the time within which this fact should
be made known and the corporation obliged to
make its selection. After a lapse of fifteen years
this large body of the public domain is still held
in reserve, to the exclusion of settlers, for the
convenience of a corporate beneficiary of the
Government, and awaiting its selection, though it
is entirely certain that much of this reserved land
can never be honestly claimed by said corpora
tion. Such a condition of the public lands should
no longer continue. So far as it is the result of
executive rules and methods, these should be
abandoned, and so far as it is a consequence of
improvident "laws, these should be repealed or
amended. "Our public domain is our national wealth, the
earnest of our growth and the heritage of our
people. It should promise limitless development
and riches, relief to a crowding population, and
homes to thrift and industry. These inestimable
advantages should be jealously guarded, and a
careful and enlightened policy pn the part of the

17° LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND. ¦ • v',\
Government should secure them to the pebple.
In the case under consideration I assume that
there is an abundance of land within the area
which has been reserved for indemnity, in which
no citizen or settler has a legal or equitable inter
est, for all purposes of such indemnification to
this railroad company, if its grant has not already
been satisfied."
During the year 1886 an executive proclama
tion was issued, directing the removal of the fences
by which large sections of the public domain in the
i ranch sections of the country were inclosed. This
had become one of the most serious of abuses.
Men who had gained the personal or the party favor
of men in power had been permitted to fence in
great tracts of public land, and they had success
fully defied all attempts at their removal. But
from the day that President Cleveland issued his
order the fences began to come down, and since
that time thousands of acres of land have thus
been thrown open for the actual settler.
By the action of the President and Secretary of
the Interior, about 20,000,000 acres of land not
granted to railroads by Congress, but withdrawn
from settlement as indemnity lands to await , the
convenience of railroad companies, were restored
to the public domain and thrown open to settle
ment. Thousands of homes are being made by
settlers on these lands. In the Forty-severith
Congress the Republicans were in full possession

, s -THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS. I 7 1
of both branches of Congress, and not one rail
road land grant was forfeited. In the Forty-
eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses the Demo
cratic party controlled the House of Representa
tives, and these Congresses passed laws restoring
50,000,000 acres of unearned railroad land grants -
to the public domain. With scarcely an exception
these bills passed the House before the Senate
considered them. The Republican Senate passed -
no forfeiture bill that the House did not pass, but
the House passed bills forfeiting 38,000,000 acres
of grants that the Republican Senate did not pass,
and the House Committee on Public Lands made ¦
/favorable reports on bills to forfeit grants amount
ing to 1 2,000,000 or 1 3,000,000 more.
VETOING LOG-ROLLING SCHEME*.
Another class of questions which early attracted
President Cleveland's attention was that of appro
priations for public buildings. It has long been
a recognized scandal to the name of Congress
that such measures are passed by a system known
as log-rolling, or members of Congress or State
delegations voting for an appropriation for a like
favor to be given in return. The President early
in his administration set his face consistently
, against this policy, and has carried it out to its
logical results by interposing his veto of such ap
propriations where the interest or the sum pro
posed to be expended largely exceeded the rent

172 LIFE OF GRO VER CLE VELAND.
paid for public buildings, always taking into con
sideration all the elements of the case, such as
the presence or absence of Federal courts, of
internal revenue offices, and of such conditions
as would profnote the best interests of the local
ity in question. By judicious adherence to this
policy he has saved large sums of money, and
saved the country from the dangers which would
follow the bad precedent otherwise set to future
legislators and Presidents.
v He has also interposed the veto power in the
matter of the private claims so persistently lobbied
through Congress, insisting that the laws as ad
ministered by the courts are generally ample to
protect the rights of individuals when dealing
with the Government. He has done much by
this course to promote the growth of a healthy
public sentiment which shall demand the reference
of all such claims to the regular Federal courts
and to the Court of Claims for adjudication and
settlement. During the second session of the Forty-ninth
Congress a bill was passed creating an Inter-
. State Commerce Commission, and granting it
certain powers to prohibit discrimination in rates
of carrying of passengers and freight. The bill
was at once signed by the President and a most'
efficient Commission appointed for the purpose
of carrying its provisions into effect. Of this
Commission Thomas M. Cooley, of Michigan, one

THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS. 173
of the ablest jurists in the country, was elected
Chairman. The law was universally accepted by
both the people and the railroads with good re
sults. The Pacific Railroads having asked for an ex
tension of the time granted them by the Thur
man Act for making settlement with the, Govern
ment, an act was passed authorizing the appoint
ment of a Commission vested with full power to
investigate the question in all its bearings. This
Commission was appointed by President Cleve
land, and the majority reported in favor of certain
rigid assertions of right on the part of the Gov
ernment as well as in favor of granting cer
tain concessions. Under this report the money
advanced by the Government would be secured,
and at the same time the companies would be
granted such a reasonable extension of time as
would enable them to fully carry out their ob
ligations to the Government, without undue im
pairment of their resources or injury to the section
of country dependent upon them for the promo
tion of its interests. The President sent this re
port to Congress with favorable recommendations,
but insisted that the rights of the Government
should be protected by adequate safeguards.
Thus at every turn have President Cleveland
and his advisers shown a careful regard for the
interests of the people, and a determination to
carry out the laws enacted to secure those inter-

174 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
ests. No demagoguery has disfigured these whole
some efforts to promote the public welfare. No
crusade against property of any kind has been in
dulged in, and no attempt has been made to array
one class of men against another.
OUR FOREIGN RELATIONS.
At the first session of the Fiftieth Congress
the President sent to the Senate a treaty just con
cluded with the Emperor of China, by which all
classes of Chinese excluded from this country
under our laws were upon a complete and full
understanding with China to be excluded during
a term of twenty years. The Administration had
been able to negotiate this most desirable treaty
because of its liberal policy in dealing with com
pensations paid to the Government of China as
damages for certain outrages perpetrated upon a
number of inoffending Chinese in the Territory
of Wyoming. But partisan feeling was so strong
in the Senate that a change of a single word was
made in the treaty, thus rendering it necessary to
return it to China for ratification. The treaty se
cured everything which the Government of the
United States had sought to accomplish by law,
and made the term of exclusion long enough to
turn the tide of Chinese immigration permanently
away from our shores.
In his first annual message the President -di
rected attention sharply to the condition of the

THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS. ,175
law relating to the Presidential succession, with
the result that bills which had long been pending
without ability to command support in both
houses of Congress were taken up and passed
into a law which was eminently satisfactory to
public sentiment, and under the operation of which
the Presidential succession descends from the
elected Vice-President to the Cabinet officers, be
ginning with the Secretary of State, and not to
the President pro tem. of the Senate.
Approval was given to a law designed to check
the manufacture and sale of products fraudulently
sold as butter, known as the Oleomargarine Bill,^
the President going extensively into his reasons
for signing the bill.
During the first session of the Forty-ninth
Congress President Cleveland sent a special mes
sage to Congress recommending legislation look
ing toward a peaceful settlement by arbitration of
disputes between laboring men and their em
ployers. His recommendations were carefully
drawn, and the narrow constitutional authority of
Congress over the question was enforced ; but it
showed the President's interest in such questions
and his anxiety to do whatever lay in his power
to promote an object so worthy the attention of all
thoughtful and philanthropic men.
This review of the principal acts of the Ad
ministration, brief as it is, is still sufficient to show
that every question has been approached with a

lyS , L1PE 0F GROVER CLEVELAND.
desire and determination to act with promptness,
intelligence, and vigor on all questions affecting
the interests of the public. There has been no
cringing to corporations on the one hand and no
injustice has been done to them, on the other,
having purely partisan ,or political ends in view.
The rights of our people in foreign countries and
in commerce have been upheld in a manly and
straightforward manner, with determination to
exact what was right, but without bluster or
bravado. The public service has been clean and
honest, so that " public office " has indeed been
deemed a "public trust." Whether from the
standpoint of the patriot or the partisan of the
President, his Administration has fairly justified
itself, and it has a right to appeal with confidence
to the country.
In nothing has the Administration served its
party and the country better than in demon
strating the utter groundlessness of the fears — :
honestly felt in some quarters and pretended in
others — that a change of parties in control of the
Government threatened disaster to the business
interests of the country. The conservative but
firm policy of the President and his Cabinet in
all matters touching the relations of the Govern
ment with business have inspired confidence in
the Administration and disarmed those who have
been wont to " indict a whole party" for cherish
ing destructive purposes. The great commercial

L. Q. C LAMAR.

THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS. 1 79
centres of the land have been quick to respond
to every occasion with expressions of their con
fidence in the President and his party. The
Democracy enters upon the Presidential cam
paign of 1888 without any of the distrust attaching
to it as an organization by which so many of the
independent voters in former years seem to have
been affected ; and every promise is given in the
situation, as it stands, of accessions to the sup
port of Cleveland and Thurman from elements
which have hitherto withheld themselves from the
Democracy.

CHAPTER XII.
COURTSHIP, MARRIAGE, AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
WHILE there has never been any ten
dency in the United States to imitate
the court customs of European coun
tries, interest has always been strong in the
domestic life of our public men, and especially of
those called to the Presidency. While the majority
of these have been drawn from the average plain
life of the plain people of the country, our history
does not present a single case in which the men
elected President, or who succeeded as Vice-
Presidents, were not of gentlemanly social aspect,
and their families, if they had them, did not do the
honors of the White House with credit to them
selves and to their country.
Only twice in the history of the country have
our Presidents been bachelors, and, curiously
enough, these were James Buchanan, the last
Democratic President chosen before the fatal di
vision which sundered the party in i860, and
Grover Cleveland, the first with whom it was to
regain power in 1884, after twenty-four years of
exclusion. Jackson's wife died a few months be
fore his accession to office. Tyler, Johnson, and
180

CO UR TSHIP AND MARRIA GE. x g {
Arthur were widowers when they entered the
White House from the Vice-Presidency in suc
cession to their superiors, who had died or had
been assassinated in office. Tyler was the only
one who had remarried while in office, though not
in the White House itself. So that while there
had been marrying and giving in marriage in the
Executive residence, they had been of the sons
and grandsons, or the daughters and grand
daughters, of Presidents or their friends, and not
of the actual occupants of that historic mansion as
the Chief Magistrates of the Union.
When Grover Cleveland was elected President
he had reached the somewhat mature age of
forty-seven, and having thus far lived the life of a
bachelor, he was, not unnaturally, looked upon as
a confirmed specimen of this class of men, about
whom their friends are always so deeply and so
interestingly concerned. /Nevertheless, the same
universal interest attached itself to him and his
social movements as if he had been a Benedict of
many years experience. The new President's
youngest sister, Rose Elizabeth Cleveland, was,
like himself, unmarried. She was, therefore,
naturally called to take the position of mistress
of the White House, in which a vacancy had ex
isted for some time, because of the fact that Pres
ident Arthur had also been compelled to rely upon
his sister, Mrs. McElroy, to fill this place. Miss
Cleveland filled the duties of this somewhat diffi-

xg2 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
cult place with great tact and with general accept
ance. She was a cultured woman of the most de
cided opinions, whose experience as a teacher and
writer had led her to rely upon herself in the race of
life. But almost from the beginning it was consid
ered, although the President had never given
any indication that he was a marrying man, he had
certainly not passed "the marrying age," that some
what movable quality which nobody has ever yet
been able to define with accuracy and acceptation.
It soon began to be noised about that the Pres
ident had entered upon a career of love-making,
and it was not long before he blushingly and bash
fully admitted the impeachment. From that time
public interest, on the old principle enunciated
by Emerson, that " all the world loves a lover,"
was concentrated upon the domestic affairs and
' advantages of the man who occupied such an ex
alted position. He did not appear to cease from
filing vetoes of bad measures, nor from putting
an occasional political opponent out and a political
supporter into a desirable office, which had some
thing to do with fixing political responsibility upon
his administration. Nor did he seem to lose any
sleep, as it is sometimes alleged that lovers of the
masculine persuasion are wont to do. He did
nothing foolish or gushing, as no doubt many
other accepted lovers of both sexes expected him
to do ; but in the meantime preparations proceeded
for the wedding.

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. jg?
The gossips were not given much of a chance
to suggest doubts as to the name and personality
of the woman who was to become a bride in the
White House. Miss Frances Folsom, the only
child and daughter of Oscar Folsom, was an
nounced as the young woman who had accepted
the suit of the President of the United States.
She had been a friend and intimate of her future
husband from the earliest years of her childhood.
Her father was a partner in the practice of his
profession and a close personal friend and ad
viser. He had been killed in an accident with a
runaway horse i'n the year 1875, just as his powers
were at their ripest and his prospects of the best.
He was a man of genial good nature, generous
and open-hearted in his impulses and his life, and
a devoted husband and father.
Miss Frances Folsom, called " Frank "- before
her marriage, was born in Buffalo; New York,
July 2 1 st, 1 864. As a child she attended the French
Kindergarten of Mme. Brecker, and the quickness
of apprehension which she then displayed received
a fuller exemplification when, upon the return of
the family to Buffalo, she entered the Central
School, and almost immediately became the pro
nounced favorite of both teachers and her fellow-
pupils. She threw her energies into her studies
in a way which augured well for her future success
in whatever field she should elect to occupy, and
earnest application joined with natural ability to

1 84

LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.

develop character and instill culture. At this
period Mrs. Folsom boarded in the city of Buffalofl
and the daughter availed herself of her Central
School certificate, which admitted her to the
sophomore class at Wells College without prelinw|s
nary examination. Here again she became a
prime favorite, and it was during her sojourn at
this institution that the flowers sent her from)
Albany, and the many evidences of regard whichl
the Governor bestowed, began to cause a whisper f
that his attachment amounted to something more|
than mere friendly kindliness. The whisper grew
into a much more definite utterance when Miss
Folsom was graduated and was the recipient of;
beautiful floral tributes from the White House
conservatories. Governor Cleveland had become
President of the United States, and the fact that
he was a bachelor, coupled with the other fact that|
his exalted position kept him ever in the bright1
light of public scrutiny, conspired to set many?;
tongues wagging as to the possible outcome of
his acquaintance with the fair graduate, who, in
June, 1885, said farewell to Alma Mater and went
to spend the summer, or apart of it, at the residence
of her grandfather, the late Colonel John B. Fol
som, of Folsomdale, Wyoming County, N. Y., two
miles out of Cowlesville. The old place is a typi
cal homestead, possessing all the homely charac-1
teristics of farm-life cornbined with much of solid
comfort and refinement.

BRIDE OF THE WHITE HOUSE.

CO UR TSHIP AND MARRIA GE. j g h
Exactly what understanding existed between
the President and Miss Folsom at the time she
went abroad may not be definitely known outside
of the circle immediately interested, but it is
likely they were betrothed ere her departure.
Both partiA maintained a guarded silence, and
their engagement escaped parade in the news
papers until a date near the time fixed for the
wedding. Little was heard from Miss Folsom until, on
the 27th of May, 1886, the Red Star steamer
Noordland, from Antwerp, sailed into the port of
New York, having just transferred to a United
States revenue cutter Miss Folsom, her mother,
and her cousin, Mr. Benjamin Folsom. The
party came comparatively unannounced. Colonel
Lamont was present as the President's represen
tative. At the pier the bride-elect was welcomed
by Miss Cleveland, and the party was speedily
installed at the Gilsey House, where the ladies
of the Cabinet joined in a reception and kindly
welcome to the modest and beautiful young
woman who was soon to make such a stir in
American society. On Sunday, May 30th, the
President visited his betrothed in New York.
Miss Folsom kept herself secluded during her
stay in the metropolis, but as the wedding day
had been fixed for the 2d of June, there was much
social sensation over the event. A wedding in
the White House was decided upon, and elab-

i88

LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.

orate preparations were set on foot. The Execu
tive Mansion became a scene of hasty labors on
the part of upholsterers, decorators, and florists;
there were crowds of callers, most of whom were
unsuccessful in seeing the President, who escaped
much annoyance by driving out to his country
place, " Pretty Prospect," and turning his visitors
over to the tender mercies of the doorkeepers.
By Wednesday, June 2d, the Blue Room, in
which the ceremony was to take place, had been
converted into a bower of loveliness. The south
side was a solid bank of dark-green foliage, against
which stood out the red and pink and white of
azaleas and camelias. The fire-places were filled
with potted plants, while the mantels were nearly
concealed beneath banks of flowers. The east
mantel was covered with purple pansies, bor
dered with a line of yellow, and fringed with ferns.
On this purple bed appeared the inscription,
"June 2d, 1886," in white pansies. On the west
mantel was a bank of crimson roses, bordered
with maiden's-hair fern, and bearing the monogram
" C. F." in white moss roses. The mirrors were
bordered by parti-colored garlands composed of
roses and other rare flowers. Great palms stood
on either side of the doorway leading to the main
hall, and a scroll, composed of pinks and bearing
the national motto, " E Pluribus Unum," was
fixed immediately above the centre doorway.
The East Parlor was decorated differently,,

CO UR TSHIP AND MARRIA GE. 1 g q
but* with like elegance and taste ; there were
fewer flowers, but the display of foliage, especially
rare palms, was exceedingly fine. The Green
Parlor was comparatively devoid of ornament,
but the decoration there was in excellent taste
and in pleasing contrast with the greater elabora
tion bestowed upon . the other apartments. In
the dining-room the ornamentation was in general
similar to that of the East Parlor. Potted plants,
arranged in pyramids, filled the corners, and roses
festooned the mirrors. The sideboards were
covered with rare plants, and a floral piece in the
centre of the table represented a ship under full
sail, the national colors flying from her mast-head,
with a pennant bearing the monogram " C. F."
It was nearly seven o'clock in the evening when
the wedding guests assembled in the Blue Room.
Owing to the President's desire that the affair
should be as private as possible, the Diplomatic
Corps had not been invited, and the following
guests were the only persons present: Mrs.
Folsom, the mother of the bride ; Rev. W. N.
Cleveland, the President's brother ; Mrs. Hoyt
and Miss Cleveland, the President's sisters ; Mr.
Bayard, Secretary of State; Mr. Manning, Secre
tary of the Treasury, with Mrs. Manning ; Mr.
Endicott, Secretary of War, with Mrs. Endicott ;
Mr. Whitney, Secretary of the Navy, with Mrs.
Whitney; Mr. Vilas, Postmaster-General, with
Mrs. Vilas ; Mr. Lamar, Secretary of the Interior;

I90 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
Colonel Lamont, Private Secretary, with Mrs.
Lamont ; Benjamin Folsom, Esq. ; Mr. and Mrs.
Rogers, of Seneca Falls, N. Y. ; Mrs. Cadman
and Miss Huddleston, of Detroit ; Mr. and Mrs.
Harmon, of Boston ; Miss Nelson, of New York;
VV. S. Bissell, Esq., of Buffalo, and Rev. Dr. and
Mrs. Byron Sunderland. The Attorney-General,
though invited, was not present, being disinclined
to society.
The guests placed themselves in the form of a
semicircle, Mr. Bayard being at the extreme left
and Rev. Mr. Cleveland at the extreme right..
The Marine Band, stationed in- the anteropm,
played the wedding march of Mendelssohn, as
Rev. Dr. Sunderland took his position at the
south end of the room, and immediately after the
bridal party entered. Miss Folsom leaned upon
the President's arm, looking exceedingly pretty in
her wedding dress of cream white satin, with high,
.plain corsage, elbow sleeves, and very long train.
The front breadth just below the waist was draped
from side to side with soft silk India muslin, at
tached on the left side, and nearly joining the
court train. The muslin was bordered with a
narrow band of orange flowers and leaves that
outlined the draping. The train, which was at
tached to the plain bodice just below the waist,
measured over four yards in length, was slightly
rounded, and fell in full plaits on the floor, with no
trimming but its own richness. Two scarfs of the

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S WEDDING.

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.

r93

muslin, starting from the shoulder seams, crossed
the bosom in Grecian folds and were bordered
with a narrow band of orange flowers to corres
pond with the skirt. The scarfs disappeared
under a girdle of satin, crossing the bodice from
left to right. The sleeves were trimmed with folds
of the mull and two or three orange buds and
blossoms. The tulle veil, six yards in lerigth.was
fastened with a coronet of myrtle and orange
blossoms above the high coiffure, its folds lightly
covering the entire train. The general effect was
that of exquisite simplicity, suited to the beauty
of the bride. She wore no jewelry and carried
no hand-bouquet, but lightly held a beautiful white
fan. The President wore full evening dress, and
their bearing was dignified and impressive. They
were followed by the few guests who were closely
related to the contracting parties, and as soon as
the usual hush had fallen upon the assemblage
Dr. Sunderland offered prayer and followed it
with the impressive marriage ceremony, the bride
and groom making response in clear tones. The
ring was then passed and placed upon the bride's
finger, and the two were pronounced man and
wife. The benediction was spoken by Rev. Mr.
Cleveland. The ceremony occupied ten minutes.
Rev. Mr. Cleveland came forward first to offer his
congratulations, and kissed the bride. Upon
Colonel Lamont's invitation the guests then en
tered the dining-room, where a collation was

194 IJFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
served. Very elegant white satin boxes contain
ing pieces of the wedding cake were distributed
as souvenirs, the date, June 2d, 1886,. being em
broidered in colors on the covers.
Within an hour the President and his wife were
on their way to the station of the Baltimore and
Ohio Railway to start for Deer Park, Md., where
the honeymoon was passed.' The time from the
3d until the 8th of June was spent at this pretty
resort on the summit of the Alleghenies. On the
8th the couple returned to Washington and to
life in the White House.
One week later, on Tuesday, June 15th, the
first State reception of the President and Mrs.
Cleveland took place;' and it was the beginning
of a series of social engagements, which fully tested
the ability of the young mistress of the White
House to do the arduous duties of her new
place. Amid blazing lights and blooming flowers,
to the soft music of orchestra and all the elegant
accompaniments of society entertainments, Cabi
net and diplomatic corps, judiciary, Congress,
army and navy, the most distinguished men and
a great array of beautiful and critical women
were received by the winsome bride and her hus
band. Popular receptions followed, when the
great crowds poured through the White House
in democratic fashion and greeted her whom all
were willing to own the first lady of the land ;
dinners of state arid society dinners followed;

ROSE ELIZABETH CLEVELAND

REV. BYRON SUNDERLAND, D. D.

courtship and Marriage. 197
guests were entertained at the White House, and
its spacious chambers and hospitable board week
after week welcomed the highest society of the
capital and of the country at large ; the Cabinet
ministers and their wives entertained the Presi
dential couple, and a season of such social bril
liancy was ushered in as Washington had never
known. In every position and under all circum
stances Mrs. Cleveland proved herself a woman
of as noble mind as she was acknowledged to be
of eminent personal beauty and graceful accom
plishments-. Her courtesy and tact won the hearts
of men and disarmed the criticism of women. A
stranger to Washington society, she captivated it
from the start, and her reign has never ceased
nor has the influence of her charnls waned.
In appearance, Mrs. Cleveland is tall and grace
ful, with soft, dark-brown hair worn loosely drawn
back from the forehead. Her eyes are violet
blue, her nose rather large and prominent ; her
mouth is mobile and of singular. beauty, and a dis
tinct individuality is imparted to the face by heavy
eyebrows which nearly meet.
Mrs. Cleveland has, since her marriage, become
the most popular, as she is certainly the best-
known woman, in the United States. In all the
varied domestic, social, and semi-political duties
which devolve upon one placed in her position,
she - has never failed to show the instincts, the
training, and the qualities, which especially fitted

IQg LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
her for her rank and position.. There has never
been any desire for display. She has gone freely
into society with the President and on her own
account wherever she has been, but this has .
always been done with a modesty and a woman
liness which do herself, her sex, and the country
infinite credit. She has traveled much, generally.
with the President, in his summer jaunts to the
Adirqndacks, and on his revisits to his childhood
home in Central New York, on his trips to
Harvard College, throughout the West and South,
to the Constitutional Centennial Celebration atPhil-
adelphia, to the joint meeting of the Presbyterian
General Assemblies of the Northern and Southern
Churches at Philadelphia, and upon almost every*
other visit of* importance which he has made to
different cities, or to meetings of organizations of
one kind or another. She is always willing to
lend her presence to assemblies or meetings- for
religious or moral objects, so that she has' shown
a willingness and a determination to do her duty
in the station to which she has been temporarily
called. In every way she has proved herself an
efficient helpmeet, and remains now what she
became upon her marriage in June, i88>6, a faithful
wife of an .American citizen, called by the will of
the people of his country to its highest office.
Occupying such a position, and doing her duty thus
faithfully, it is not surprising that she has gained
a popularity quite as universal, as was eVer ac-

THE STATE DINING ROOM.

THE EAST ROOM.

' COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 201
corded to any mistress of the White House ; and
our social history has never been illustrated by
a better example of the true American girl, grow
ing at a single step into the highest type of Amer
ican womanhood, measuring up to its most sacred
duties, and realizing the consecrated joys of our
ourest domestic life.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE PRESIDENT'S TOURS THROUGH THE COUNTRY-^-
TRIP TO RICHMOND — VISIT TO HARVARD COLLEGE—
THE GARFIELD ORATION — THE CLINTON CENTEN
NIAL.
ONE of the most forcible and effective argu
ments used against the election of
Cleveland in 1884 was his lack of ac
quaintance with the country at large — his little ex
perience in meeting with the people of the dif
ferent sections, his want of sympathy with the
varied elements which make the composite citizen
ship and the vast material greatness of a nation
of thirty-eight States and of magnificent territorial
possessions. Devoted to his official duties and
the arduous concerns of a law practice circum
scribed by the boundaries of his own State, he
had before his inauguration visited Washington
but once, a casual and unnoticed visitor. He knew
nothing by personal observation of the great
physical resources of the rich empire of Pennsyl
vania, with its mountains of mineral wealth, its
blooming fields of agricultural development, its
blazing coke ovens, and the rich yielding oil and
gas fields. To the academic halls of New Eng-
, land he was a like stranger. In the South, whose
plantations were just recovering from the wasting
202 >:

THE PRESIDENT'S TOURS. 203
ravages of war, he had never visited a single
State. Nor had he ever stood in the busy marts
of the Great West, each striving for supremacy
of trade. In that magnificent domain of the
Mississippi Valley, mostly gained for the country
by the foresight of the first Democratic President;
toward the middle of which the centre of popu
lation has been with each decennial census
steadily pressing forward, the foot of the twenty-
second President had never trod. A natural
sympathy with the sovereign people — whose ser
vant and not their ruler he always avowed him
self — and a willingness to gratify the unceasing
demand that he should come among them, im
pelled Mr. Cleveland to arrange a series of visits
to the different parts of the country. He aimed
only at those which could be reached without any
serious interruption of his official duties and in a
manner that added to and did not detract from
the invariable dignity which attended his exercise
of the magisterial functions. During a part of the
summer of 1886, in that heated term when life is
rendered uncomfortable in the capital, when Con
gressional proceedings are ended and department
work limited to the merest routine, he betook him
self with his bride to the cool fastnesses and the
fishing grounds of the Adirondacks. Thither this
. narrative need not follpw him, though wherever
they went they were the cynosure of public at
tention and the object of journalistic enterprise, if
not of occasional impertinence.

20.4 ' LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
On October 21st, 1886, the President, accom
panied by Secretaries Bayard, Endicott, and Vilas,*
for the first time visited Richmond, the qapital of
the " Old Dominion " State, and in historic import
ance the first city of the South. All along the
'way to his destination and upon his arrival there
he was greeted' with enthusiastic demonstrations,
and with the courtesy characteristic of a hospit
able and well-bred people. He was welcomed by '
Governor Fitz Hugh Lee in a speech of friendly
salutation, and upon the grounds of the State
Fair Mr. Cleveland made felicitous reply. After.
recounting the historic achievements of Virginia
he said :
" In our sisterhood of States the leading and
most commanding place must be gained and kept
by that Commonwealth which by the labor and in
telligence of her citizens can produce most of
those things which meet the necessities and de
sires of mankind. But the full advantage of that
which may be yielded a State by the toil and
ingenuity of her people is not measured alone by
'the money value of the product. The efforts and
the struggles of her farmers and her artisans not
only create new values in the field of agriculture .
and in the arts and manufactures, but they at the
same time produce rugged, self-reliant, and inde
pendent men, and cultivate that product which
more than all others ennobles a State-r— a patriotic,
earnest American citizenship.
" This will flourish in every part of the Ameri
can clomajp ; neither drought nor rain can injure
it, for it takes root in true hearts enriched by love

- , THE PRESIDENT'S TOURS. , 205
of country. There are no new varieties in this
production ; it must be the same wherever seen,
and its quality is neither sound nor genuine, unless
it grows to deck and beautify an entire and united
nation, nor unless it support and sustain the in
stitutions and the Government founded to protect
American liberty and happiness.
" The present Administration of the Government
is pledged to return for such husbandry not only
promises but actual tenders of fairness and, justice,
with equal protection and a full participation in
national achievements.
" If in the past we have been estranged, and
the cultivation of American citizenship has been
interrupted, your enthusiastic welcome of to-day
demonstrates that there is an end of such estrange
ment, and that the time of suspicion and fear is
succeeded by an era of faith and confidence.
" In such a kindly atmosphere and beneath such
cheering skies I greet the people of Virginia as
co-laborers in the field where grows the , love of
our united country.
" God grant that in the years to come Virginia,
the Old Dominion, the Mother of Presidents,' she
who looked upon the nation at its birth, may not
only increase her trophies of growth in agricul
ture and manufactures, but that she may be
among the first of all the States in the cultivation
of true American citizenship."
AT THE HARVARD CELEBRATION.
In November, 1886, Harvard College, the old
est and most famous seat of the higher learning
in America, celebrated with fit ceremony the twq

206 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
•hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its founding.
Among those upon whom it would have conferred
the degree of LL. D. was the President, but he
declined it. Accompanied by Mrs. Cleveland
and a number of the members of his official staff,
he visited Boston and Cambridge upon this occa
sion. They were welcomed. to the metropolis of
New England by the Governor of its principal
Commonwealth and a brilliant street pageant. '
In the halls of learning at Cambridge they lis
tened to the poem by that most honored of Ameri
can men of letters, Oliver Wendell Holmes ; and
the splendid oration of his co-worker, who has
helped so signally to give American literature
its due recognition the world over, James Rus
sell Lowell, concluded with this fine tribute to
the Chief Magistrate of sixty millions of free
people :
'' Brethren of the Alumni, it now becomes my
duty to welcome in your name the guests who
have come, some of them so far, to share our
congratulations and hopes to-day. I cannot name
them' all and give to each his fitting phrase. * * *
There is also one other name of which it would
be .indecorous not to make an exception. You
all know that I can mean only the President of
our Republic. His presence is a signal honor to
us all, and to us all I may say a personal gratifi
cation. We have no politics here, but the sons of
Harvard all belong to the party which admires
courage, strength of purpose, and fidelity to duty,

THE PRESIDENT'S TOURS:

207

and which respects, wherever he may be found,
the
'Juslum ac tenacem propositi virum, '
who knows how to withstand
' Civium ardor prava jubentium. '
He has left the helm of State to be with us here,
and so long as it is intrusted to his hands we are
sure that, should the storm come, he will say with
Seneca's Pilot, 'O Neptune! you may save me if
you will; you may sink me if you will; but what^
ever happen, I shall keep my rudder true.' "
At the Alumni banquet, where ex-Attorney-
General Charles Devens presided, Mr. Cleveland
made the following address :
" Mr. President and Gentlemen :
" I find myself to-day in a company to which I
am much unused, and when I see the alumni of
the oldest college in the land surrounding in
their right of sonship the maternal board at
which I am but an invited guest, the reflection
that for me there exists no alma mater gives rise
to a feeling of regret which is kindly tempered
only by the cordiality of your welcome and your
reassuring kindness. If the fact is recalled that
only twelve of my twenty-one predecessors in
office had the advantage of a collegiate or uni
versity education, proof is presented of the
democratic sense of our people rather than an •
argument against the supreme value of the best
and most liberal education in high public position.
There , certainly can be no sufficient reason for

20g . LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
any space or distance between the walks of the
most classical education and the way that leads '
to political place. Any disinclination on the part
of the most learned and cultured of our citizens to
mingle in public affairs, and the consequent aban
donment of political activity to those who have
but little regard for the student and scholar in
. politics, are not favorable conditions under a
government such as ours, and if they have existed ,
to a damaging extent very recent events appear
to indicate that education and conservatism of the
land are to be hereafter more plainly heard in ex
pression of the popular will. Surely the splendid
destiny which awaits patriotic effort in behalf of
our country will be sooner reached if the best of
our thinkers and educated men shall deem it a
solemn duty of citizenship to actively and practi
cally engage in political affairs, and if the force and
power of their thought and learning shall be
willingly or unwillingly acknowledged in party
management. If I am to speak of the President
of the United States, I desire to mention the
most pleasant and characteristic feature of our
system of government, the nearness of the
people to their President and other high officials.
The close view afforded our citizens of the acts*
and conduct of those to whom they have in
trusted their interests serves as a regulator and '
check upon the temptation and pressure of office,
and is a constant reminder that diligence and
faithfulness are the measure of public duty, and
such relations between the President and people
ought to leave but little room in the popular
judgment and conscience for unjust and false,
accusations, and for malicious slanders invented

THE PRESIDENT'S TOURS. 2dg
for the purpose of undermining the people's trust
and confidence in the administration of their gov
ernment. No public officer should desire to check
. the utmost freedom of criticism as to all official
acts, but every right-thinking man must concede
that the President of the United States should not
be put beyond the protection which America's
love of fair play and decency accords to every
¦ American citizen.
" This trait' of our national character would not
encourage, if their extent and tendency were
'fully appreciated, the silly, mean, and cowardly
lies that every day are found in the columns 'of
certain newspapers which violate every instinct of
> American manliness, and in ghoulish glee dese
crate every sacred relation of private life. There
is nothing in the highest office that the American
people can confer which necessarily makes their
President altogether selfish, scheming, and un
trustworthy. On the contrary, the solemn duties
which confront him tending to a sober sense of the
responsibility, trust of the American people and
appreciation of their mission among nations of
the earth, should make him a patriotic man, and
tales of distress which reach him from the hum
ble and lowly and needy and afflicted in every
corner of the land cannot fail to quicken within
him every kind impulse and tender sensibility.
After all it comes to this. The people of the
United States have one and all a sacred mission
to perform, and your President, not more surely
than any other citizen who loves his country, must
assume a part of the responsibility of demonstrat
ing to the world the success of popular govern
ment. No man can hide his talent in a napkin

2IO LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
and escape condemnation. His slothfulness de
serves not to evade the stern sentence which his
faithlessness invites.
" Be assured, my friends, that the privileges of
this day, so full of improvement and enjoyments,
of this hour, so full of pleasure and cheerful en- .
couragements, will never be forgotten, and in
parting with you now let me express an earnest
hope that Harvard's Alumni may always honor.
the venerable institution which has honored them,
and that no man who forgets or neglects his duty
to American citizenship shall find his Alma Mater
here." The stamp of thorough appreciation of high
culture upon this address ; its graceful recognition
of the uses of the higher education, and its dig
nified apology for his own deficiencies, won for its
author approval and commendation in quarters
where just recpgnition of his intellectual qualities
had hitherto been withheld. If the single discor
dant note, which detracted somewhat from the art
of this otherwise masterful speech, excited slight
resentment, it was universally conceded that the
President was smarting under deep provocation,
and spoke with a warmth that was justified by
every manly impulse. Mankind thinks none the
less of the impetuous disciple, Simon Peter, be
cause he cut off the servant's ear.
After the college festivities there was accorded
to him a popular reception at Faneuil Hall and at
the hotel, and in the evening the University
students had a great procession.

THE PRESIDENT'S TOURS. 211
THE GARFIELD ORATION. >
Another felicitous address of Mr. Cleveland
was that delivered at the dedication of the monu
ment to President Garfield, erected by the Society
of the Army of the Cumberland, at the foot of
the Capitol grounds, on May 12th, 1887. After
the oration by J. Warren Keifer and other exer
cises, the President said :
" Fellow-Citizens :
" In performance of the duty assigned to me on
this occasion, I hereby accept, on behalf of the
people of the United States, this completed and
beautiful statue.
"Amid the interchange of fraternal greetings be
tween the survivors of the Army of the Cumber
land and their former foes upon the battlefield,
and while the Union General and the people's
President awaited burial, the common grief of
these magnanimoussoldiersand mourning citizens
found expression in the determination to erect
this tribute to American greatness, ; and thus to
day in its symmetry and beauty, it presents a sign
of animosities forgotten, an emblem of a brother
hood redeemed, and a token of a nation restored.
" Monuments and statues multiply throughout
the land, fittingly illustrative of the love and affec
tion of our grateful people and commemorating
brave and patriotic sacrifices in war, fame in
peaceful pursuits, or honor in public station.
"But from this day forth, there shall stand at our
seat of Government this statue of a distinguished
citizen, who in his life and services combined all

212 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
those' things and more, which challenge admira
tion in American character— ^loving tenderness in
every domestic relation, bravery on the field of
battle, fame and distinction in our halls of legis
lation, and the highest honor and dignity in the
Chief Magistracy of the nation.
" This stately effigy shall not fail to teach every
beholder that the source of American greatness
is confined to no condition, nor dependent alone
for its growth and development upon favorable
surroundings. The genius of our national life
beckons to usefulness and honor those in every
sphere, and offers the highest preferment to manly
ambition and sturdy, honest effort chastened and
consecrated by patriotic hopes and aspirations.
As long as this statue stands, let it be proudly re
membered that to every American citizen the way
is open to fame and station, until he —
" ' Moving up from high to higher,
Becomes on Fortune's crowning slope
The pillar of a People's hope,
The centre of a World's desire.'
"Nor can we forget that it also teaches our
people a sad and distressing lesson; and the
thoughtful citizen who views its fair proportions
cannot fail to recall the tragedy of a death which
brought grief and mourning to every houshold in
the land. But while American citizenship stands '
aghast and affrighted that murder and assassina
tion should lurk in the midst of a free people
and strike down the head of their Government, a
fearless search and the discovery of the origin and
hiding-place of these hateful and unnatural things,
should be followed by a solemn resolve to purge
forever from our political methods arid from the

THE PRESIDENT'S TOURS. 2l,
operation of our Government, the perversions and
misconceptions which give birth to passionate and
bloody thoughts.
"If from this hour our admiration for the
bravery and nobility of American manhood and
our faith in the possibilities and opportunities of
American citizenship be renewed, if our apprecia
tion of the blessing of a restored Union and love
for our Government be strengthened,, and if- our
watchfulness against the dangers of a mad chase
after partisan spoils be quickened, the dedication
of this statue to the people' of the United States
will not be in vain."

AMID THE ASSOCIATIONS OF HIS YOUTH. ¦'
In May, 1887, the short term of the Forty-ninth;
Congress having terminated March 4th, President
and Mrs. Cleveland set out for the Adirondacks,
and spent the greater part of the month of June
at Upper Saranac Lake and other points of inter
est in that attractive region. After a return to
Washington and official duties, Mr. Cleveland re
joined his wife about the middle of July, and with
Secretary and Mrs. Fairchild and other friends
they began a series of visits to points in Central
and Western New York, which had been familiar
to his boyhood associations and to which his re
turn at this time was of peculiar interest because
of certain historical celebrations then in progress.
* At Fayetteville, N. Y., where . he had lived ,
eleven of the first fourteen years of his life, in

214 LIFE VF GROVER CLEVELAND.
an address upon the village green to two thousand
persons gathered to greet him, he spoke most
tenderly and feelingly of the schoolmates and
childhood pranks of his early days. At Holland
Patent, on July 12th; at the Clinton Centennial,
July 13th; at Forest Port, July 1 5th, where he re
ceived the citizens at the home of his brother,
Rev. Wm. N. Cleveland, and at Cazenovia, July
1 8th, where he was the guest of the Fairchild
household, he was deeply touched by the gracious
hospitality and fervent greeting of the family
friends who had watched his sudden rise to ex
alted position and enlarged usefulness with pecu
liar local and personal pride. Of all the ad
dresses delivered upon this trip the most notable
was that made at Clinton, than which none of his
public utterances more clearly reveals the pro
found sentiment and domestic traits of the Presi
dent. He said :
" I am by no means certain of my standing here
among those who celebrate the centennial of
Clinton's existence as a village. My recollections
of the place reach backward but about thirty-six
years, and my residence here covered a very brief
period. But these recollections are fresh and
distinct to-day, and pleasant, too, though not en
tirely free from sombre coloring.
" It was here in the school, at the foot of
College Hill, that I began my preparation for col-

THE PRESIDENT'S TOURS. 2 1 5
lege life and enjoyed the anticipation of a collegiate
education. We had but two teachers in our school.
One became afterward a judge in Chicago and the
other passed through the legal profession to the
ministry, and within the last two years was living
further West. I read a little Latin with two other
boys in the class. I think I floundered through
four books of the '^Eneid.' The other boys had
nice, large, modern editions of Virgil, with big
print and plenty of notes to help one over the
hard places. Mine was a little, old-fashioned copy,
which my father used before me, with no notes,
and which was only translated by hard knocks. I
believe I have forgiven those other boys for their
persistent refusal to allow me the use of the notes
in their books. At any rate, they do not seem to
have been overtaken by any dire retribution, for
one of them is now a rich and prosperous lawyer
in Buffalo, and the other is a professor in your
college and the orator of to-day's celebration.
The Struggles with ten lines of Virgil, which at
first made up my daily task, are amusing as re
membered now ; but with them I am also forced
to remember that instead of being the beginning
of the higher education for which I honestly
longed, they occurred near the end of my school
advantages. This suggests a disappointment
which no lapse of time can alleviate, and a de
privation I have sadly felt with every passing
year.

2l6 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
" I remember Benoni Butler and his store. I
don't know whether he was an habitual poet or not,
but I heard him recite one poem of his own man
ufacture which embodied an account of a travel
to or from Clinton in the early days. I can recall
but two lines of this poem, as follows :
" ' Paris Hill next came in sight,
And there we tarried over night.'
" I remember the next-door neighbors, Drs.
Bissell and Scollard, and good, kind neighbors
they were, too, not your cross, erabbed kind, who
could not bear to see a boy about. It always
seemed to me that they drove very fine horses ;
and for that reason I thought they must be ex
tremely rich.
" I don't know that I should indulge further rec
ollections that must seem very little like centen
nial history, but I want to establish as well as I
can my right to be here. I might speak of the
College Faculty, who cast such a pleasing though
sober shade of dignity over the place, and who,
with other educated and substantial citizens, made
up the best of social life. I was a boy then, and
slightly felt the atmosphere of this condition, but,
notwithstanding, I believe I absorbed a lasting ap
preciation of the intelligence and refinement which
made this a delightful home.
" I know that you will bear with me, my friends,
if I yield to the impulse which the mention of

THE PRESIDENT'S TOURS.

217

hpme creates and speak of my own home here,
and how through the memories which cluster about
it I may claim a tender relationship to your vil
lage. Here it was that our family circle entire,
parents and children, lived day after day in loving
and affectionate converse, and here for the last
time we met around the family altar and thanked
God that our household was unbroken by death
or separation. We never met together in any
other home after leaving this, and death followed
closely our departure. And thus it is that as with
advancing years I survey the havoc death has
made, and the thoughts of my early home become
more sacred, the remembrance of this pleasant
spot, so related, is revived and chastened. I can
only add my thanks for the privilege of being
with you to-day, and wish for the village of Clin
ton in the future a continuation and increase of
the blessings of the past."
THE CENTENNIAL AND THE CONSTITUTION.
On September 15th, 16th, and 17th, 1887, the
people of the country celebrated with a magnifi
cent pageant and eminently fit public exercises
the centennial of the making of their Federal Con
stitution in Philadelphia. In that city, a hundred
years before, had sat the Congress which fash
ioned this great charter, pronounced by Mr. Glad
stone to be " the most wonderful work ever struck
'off at a given time by the brain and purpose of

2l8 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
man." The first day's spectacle was an industrial
parade, with twenty thousand men in line, and an
almost endless train of devices to illustrate the
progress of a hundred years in the arts and
sciences. The President and his wife, with a party
of Cabinet officers and other friends, reached the
city on the evening of that day. Mr. Cleveland
attended the reception of the Catholic Club to
Cardinal Gibbons, and the reception to the visiting
Governors of the States at the Academy of Fine
Arts; next morning he was welcomed to the- Com
mercial Exchange, and made an address to the
business men of Philadelphia, which was received
with much favor ; later in the day, he reviewed
the parade of twenty thousand soldiers, and in the
evening the President and Mrs. Cleveland re
ceived the people in the Academy of Music, where
ten thousand persons paid their respects. The
same evening, the President visited the dinner of
the Clover Club, a Bohemian dining organization,
at whose board some of the most brilliant wits of
the country are to be found, and he bravely held
his own in light badinage and ready repartee;
The literary and musical exercises were held Sat
urday, September 17th, 1887, in Independence
Square, and, before the delivery of the oration
by Justice Miller, of the United States Supreme
Court, the President made the following address:
" I deem it a very great honor and pleasure to
participate in these impressive exercises. Every

THE PRESIDENT'S TOURS. 219
American citizen should on this centennial day
rejoice in his citizenship. He will not find the
cause of his rejoicing in the antiquity of his
country, for among the nations of the earth his
stands with the youngest. He will not find it in
the glitter and the pomp that bedeck a monarch
and dazzle abject and servile subjects, for in this
country the people themselves are the rulers. He
will not find it in the story of bloody foreign con
quests, for his Government has been content to
care for its own domain and people. He should
rejoice because the work of framing our Constitu
tion was completed one hundred years ago to
day, and because when completed it established a
free Government. He should rejoice because
this Constitution and Government have survived
with so many blessings and have demonstrated so
fully the strength and value of popular rule. He
should rejoice in the wondrous growth and
achievements of the past one hundred years aiid
also in the glorious promise of the Constitution
through centuries to come. We shall fail to be
duly thankful for all that was done for us one
hundred years ago unless we realize the difficul
ties of the work then in hand, and the dangers
avoided in the task of forming ' a more perfect
Union ' between disjointed and inharmonious
States, with interests and opinions radically diverse
and stubbornly maintained. The perplexities of
the Convention which undertook the labor of pre-

2 20 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
paring our Constitution are apparent in these
earnest words of one of the most illustrious of
its members : ' The small progress we have made
after four or five weeks of close attendance and
continued reasoning with each other, our different
sentiments on almost every question — several of
the last producing as many noes as yeas — is,
methinks, a melancholy proof of the imperfection
of the human understanding. We indeed seem
to feel our want of political wisdom, since we have
been running about in search of it. We have
gone back to ancient history for models of gov
ernment and examined the different forms of
those republics which, having been formed with
the seeds of their own dissolution, now no longer
exist. In this situation of this assembly, groping
as it were in the dark to find political truth, and
scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us,
how has it happened, sir, that we have heretofore
not once thought of humbly applying to the Father
of Light to illuminate our.understanding?'
" And this wise man, proposing to his fellows
that the aid and blessing of God should be in
voked in their extremity, declared : ' I have lived,
sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more
convincing proof I see of the truth that God gov
erns in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow can
not fall to the ground without His notice, is it
probable that an empire can rise without His no
tice ? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred

THE PRESIDENT'S TOURS. 221
writings, that except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe
this, and I also believe that without His concur
ring aid we shall succeed in this political building
no better than the building of Babylon. We shall
be divided by our little partial interests, our pro
jects shall be confounded, and we ourselves shall
become a reproach and byword down to future
ages ; and, what is worse, mankind may hereafter
from this unfortunate instance despair of estab
lishing governments by human wisdom and leave
it to chance, war, and conquest.'
" In the face of all discouragements the fathers
of the Republic labored on for four weary, long
months in alternate- hope' and fear, but always
with rugged resolve, never faltering in a sturdy
endeavor sanctified by a prophetic sense of the
value to posterity of their success and always
with unflinching faith in the principles which make
the foundation of a government by the people.
At last their task was done. It is related that
upon the back of the chair occupied by Washing
ton as President of the Convention a sun was
painted, and that as the delegates were signing
the completed Constitution one of them said : 'I
have often and often, in the course of the session
and in the solicitude of my hopes and fears as to
its issue, looked at that sun behind the President
without being able to tell whether it was rising or
setting. But now at length I know that it is a ris-

22 2 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
ing and not a setting sun.' We stand to-day on the
spot where this rising sun emerged from political
night and darkness, and in its own bright meridian
light we mark its glorious way. Clouds have
sometimes obscured its rays and dreadful storms
have made us fear, but God has held it on its
course, and through its life-giving warmth has
performed His latest miracle in the creation of
this wondrous land and people. As we look
down that past century to the origin of our Con
stitution ; as we contemplate its trials and its tri
umphs ; as we realize how completely the princi
ples upon which it is based have met every
national peril and every national deed, how de
voutly should we confess with Franklin, ' God
governs in the affairs of men,' and how solemn
should be the reflection that to our hands is com
mitted this ark of the people's covenant, and that
ours is the duty to shield it from impious hands.
We receive it sealed with the tests of a century.
It has been found sufficient in the past, and in all
the future years it will be found sufficient if the
American people are true to their sacred trust.
" Another centennial day will come, and millions
yet unborn will inquire concerning our steward- '
ship and the safety of their Constitution. God
grant that they may find it unimpaired ; and as we
rejoice in the patriotism and devotion, of those
who lived a hundred years ago, so may others
who follow us rejoice in our fidelity and in our
jealous love for constitutional liberty."

THE PRESIDENT'S TOURS. 223
In the evening a great banquet was given
jointly by the learned and scientific societies of
Philadelphia in the Academy of Music. Six
hundred of the most distinguished men of the
country sat down to it, and the President made
another felicitous address, after having also,
earlier in the evening, made a happy after-
dinner speech at the quarterly feast of the
Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. Philadelphia so
ciety, critical, exclusive, and intensely Republican,
was stirred to its depths with enthusiasm for the
President, and only divided the lavish honors paid
him with his winsome and popular helpmeet.
On October 28th, 1886, President Cleveland
bore a conspicuous part in the ceremonies of un
veiling the Bartholdi Statue of " Liberty " on
Bedloe Island in New York Harbor. This mag
nificent work was the gift to America of the
sculptor and the French people ; the enterprise
of the New York World secured the necessary
fund to erect the pedestal. The dedication of it
was the occasion of a great civic, military, and
naval demonstration ; and Mr. Cleveland's brief
address was graceful and appropriate.

CHAPTER XIV.
THE TOUR TO THE SOUTH AND WEST.
THE greatest popular ovation and personal
triumph awaited his journey to the West,
the Northwest, and the South. A hun
dred years before the chief executive of the Re-
' public, the father of his country, had set the well-
approved fashion of a President becoming per
sonally acquainted with the land whose affairs he
is expected to administer. In 1791 Washington
visited New England and went as far south as
Augusta, Ga., traveling one thotisand seven hun
dred miles in sixty-six days.
On the morning of September 30th, 1887, a train
of three magnificently appointed Pullman palace
cars, furnished with all the appliances and comforts
of modern travel, drew out from the Baltimore and
Potomac Station in Washington, bearing the Presi
dent, his wife, Secretary Lamont and wife, and
other political associates and personal friends,
ladies and gentlemen, the party being some
what changed at different points of the route. At
Baltimore, York, Harrisburg, Altoona, Pittsburgh,
224

GREETING AT THE RAILWAY STATION.

TOUR TO THE SOUTH AND WEST.

227

and other stopping places, great crowds of people
¦thronged the railway stations and gave vent to
their enthusiasm by every conceivable variety of
demonstration. Beyond Pittsburgh the shooting of a gas well,
especially arranged for the Presidential party by
Mr. James M. Guffey, was a novel spectacle, illus
trative of the peculiar natural features and mar
velous resources of Western Pennsylvania. The
State of Ohio was traversed at nighttime, and
the first stop was made in Indianapolis. There a
general decoration of the city, a great procession
of people, booming cannon, pealing bells, and
bands of music welcomed the distinguished party.
In responding to Governor Gray's address the
President paid a feeling tribute to Indiana's great
statesman, who had been associated with him on
the ticket in 1884, and Mrs. Hendricks entertained
the visitors at lunch. Resuming their journey, the
party reached St. Louis at midnight of the second
and third days ; and attendance upon Divine
worship on Sunday was followed next day with
visits to the Fair, then in progress, receptions at
the hands of the Commercial Exchanges, general
assemblages of the people to do honor to their
civil head, and the pomp of immense parades.
Chicago was reached on October 5th, and like
scenes of popular enthusiasm were witnessed
there. In a public address in that city the Presi
dent gave expression to h;s idea of the duty of

228 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
the people in relation to the responsibilities of
their officials :
"You have said the President ought to see
Chicago. I am here to see it and its hospitable,
large-hearted people. But because your city is so
great, and your interests so large and important,
I know you will allow me to suggest that I have
left at home a city you ought to see and know
more about. In point of fact, it would be well for
you to keep your eyes closely upon it all the
time. Your servants and agents are there. They
are there to protect your interests and to aid
your efforts to advance your prosperity and well-
being. Your bustling trade, and your wearing,
ceaseless activity of hand and brain, will not yield
the results you deserve unless wisdom guides the
policy of your Government, and unless your needs
are regarded at the Capitol of the nation. It will
be well for you not to forget that in the perform
ance of your political duties with calm thoughtful-
ness and broad patriotism there lies not only a
safeguard against business disaster, but an im-i-
portant obligation of citizenship."
From Chicago the tourists went to Milwaukee,
thence to Madison, where the Sabbath was quietly
spent with the family of Postmaster-General Vilas.
In a speech at the banquet given by the people of
Milwaukee, Mr. Cleveland, speaking of the Pres
idency, used this language :
" And because it belongs to all the people, the

TOUR TO THE SOUTH AND WEST. 229
obligation is manifest on their part to maintain a
constant and continuous watchfulness and interest
concerning its care and operation. Their duty is
not entirely done when they have exercised their
suffrage and indicated their choice of the incum
bent. Nor is their duty performed by settling
down to bjtter, malignant, and senseless abuse of
all that is done or attempted to be done by the
incumbent selected. The acts of an Administra
tion should not be approved as a matter of course,
and for no better reason than that it represents a
political party. But more unpatriotic than all others
are those who, having neither party discontent
nor fair ground of criticism to excuse or justify
their conduct, rail because of personal disappoint
ments, who misrepresent for sensational purposes,
and who profess to see swift destruction in the
rejection of their plans of governmental manage
ment. After all, we need have no fear that the
American people will permit this high office to
suffer. There is a patriotic sentiment abroad which,
in the midst of all party feeling and all party dis
appointment, will assert itself, and will insist that
the office which stands for the people's will, shall,
in all its vigor, minister to their prosperity and
welfare." From Madison, by way of La Crosse, the Pres
idential company proceeded to St. Paul and Min
neapolis, the two marvelous cities of the great
Northwest. To the people of St. Paul the Presi
dent pleasantly said :

23O LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
" My visit to you being a social one, and trusting
that we have a sort of friendly feeling for each
other, I want to suggest to you why I am particu
larly and personally interested in St. Paul and
its people. Some years ago a young girl dwelt
among you and went to school. She has grown
up to be a woman, and is now my wife. If any
one thinks a President ought not to mention things
of this sort in public, I hope he or she does not
live in St. Paul, for I do not want to shock any
body when I thank the good people of this city
because they neither married nor spoiled my
wife, and when I tell them they are related to that
in my life better than all earthly honors and dis
tinctions. Hereafter, you may be sure that her
pleasant recollections of her school days will be
reinforced by the no less pleasant memory of our
present visit, and thus will our present interest in
St. Paul and its kind citizens be increased and
perpetuated." The train left Minneapolis for Omaha early on
the morning of October 12th, and as progress
westward was made the demonstrations of wel
come took on a more novel aspect. At Chaska
tar barrels stacked high were burned, balloons
set off, and brass bands drowned the locomotive
whistle. At Sioux City baskets of flowers were
showered upon the guests of the people ; and in
Omaha a great concourse welcomed them. Thence
the trip was directed to Kansas City, where a

TOUR TO THE SOUTH AND WEST. 23 I
longer stay had been arranged. While there the
President laid the corner-stone of the new build
ing for the Young Men's Christian Association,
and the following is an extract from his address
upon that occasion :
" In the busy activities of our daily life we are
apt to neglect instrumentalities which are quietly
but effectually doing most important service in
molding our national character. Among these,
and challenging but little notice compared with
their valuable results, are the Young Men's Chris
tian Associations scattered throughout the country.
All will admit the supreme importance of that
honesty and fixed principle which rest upon
Christian motives and purposes, and all will ac
knowledge the sad and increasing temptations
which beset our young men and lure them to their
destruction. "To save these young men, oftentimes de
prived of the restraints of home, from degrada
tion ind ruin, and to fit them for usefulness
and . honor, these associations have entered
the field of Christian effort and are pushing
their noble work. When it is considered that the
objects of their efforts are to be the active men
for good or evil in the next generation, mere
human prudence dictates that these associations
should be aided and encouraged. Their increase
and flourishing condition reflect the highest honor
upon the good men who have devoted themselves

232 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
to this work, and demonstrate that the American
people "are not entirely lacking in appreciation of
its value. Twenty years ago but one of these
associations owned a building, and that was valued
at eleven thousand dollars. To-day more than
one hundred such buildings, valued at more than
five million dollars, beautify the different cities of
our land and beckon our young men to lives of
usefulness. " I am especially pleased to be able to participate
to-day in laying the corner-stone of another of
these edifices in this active and growing city ; and
I trust that the encouragement given the Young
Men's Christian Association located here may be
commensurate with its assured usefulness and in
keeping with the generosity and intelligence which
are characteristic of the people of Kansas City."
Turning southward from Kansas City, the next
important stop was made at Memphis, Tenn. On
the way thither, what might have proved a terri
ble disaster was averted by the providential dis
covery in good time that a trestle, over ^vhich the
train must pass had been fired. A sad accident
which clouded the celebration at Memphis was the
sudden death of Judge John T. Ellett, who expired
on the platform just after the President had replied
to the address of welcome' delivered by Judge
Ellett for his fellow-citizens. Sunday was spent
at the beautiful Belle Meade farm of General W.
H. Jackson, and on Monday, October 17th, Nash-

TOUR TO "THE SOUTH AND WEST. 233 '
ville and Chattanooga received the visitors with
true Southern hospitality, x^tlarita, Georgia, and
Montgomery, Alabama, were reserved for the
close of the tour, which had £een from the begin
ning a perfect success, and was attended with such
demonstrations of popular good feeling as no
event since the close of the war had excited. At
Montgomery, the President, his heart filled with
joy at the sure signs he saw everywhere of a re
stored Union and a subsidence of sectionalism,
said :
"Your fellow-countrymen appreciate the value
of intimate and profitable business relations with
you, and there need be no fear that they will per
mit them to be destroyed or endangered by de^
signing demagogues. The wickedness of those
, partisans who seek to aid their ambitious schemes
by engendering hate among a generous people is
fast meeting exposure ; and yet there is and should
be an insistence upon a strict adherence to the
settlement which has been made of disputed
questions and upon the unreserved acceptance of
such settlement. As against this I believe no
business considerations should prevail, and I
'firmly believe that there is American fairness
enough abroad in the land to insure a proper and
substantial recognition of the good faith which
you have exhibited. We know that you still have
problems to solve involving considerations con-
- cerning you alone, questions beyond the reach of

234 tlFF ¦ 0F GR rfVER CLE I 'ELAND.
Federal law or interference, and with which none
but you should deal. I have no fear that you
will fail to do your manful duty in these matters,
but may I not, in the extension of the thoughts
which I have before suggested, say to you that
the educational advantages and the care which
may be accorded to every class of your citizens
have a relation to the general character of the
entire country as intimate and potential as your
production and the development of your mineral
resources have to its material prosperity ?" •
The tone of this address reflected the feelings
awakened not only in the President, but in the
minds of his fellow-countrymen, who were deeply.
impressed by the pervading and enthusiastic pa
triotism of a section so lately estranged; and when
Mr. Cleveland returned to Washington on Octo
ber 2 2d, his movements for the past three weeks
had done much to strengthen the popular senti
ment in behalf of obliterating from American pol
itics the baleful issues of race and sectional strife.
AT THE PRESBYTERIAN REUNION.
On February 21st, 1888, the President and his
wife, accompanied by some of his Cabinet, made a
brief trip to a part of the South not visited before;
They spent a day or two in Jacksonville, Florida,
being received there and at all the stations on the
way with extravagant putbursts of enthusiasm.
Returning, a few days later, they were greeted in

"OUR TO THE: SOUTH AND WEST. 235
* _
Charleston, S. C, with like cordiality and heart
iness. In May, 1888, the two General Assemblies
of the Presbyterian Church, North and South,
being then in session in Philadelphia and Balti
more, respectively, the notion was conceived by
some of the good people desiring the closer
union and the final reconciliation of these bodies
to bring them into a social conference. Arrange
ments were made for public meetings and for the
private entertainment of the delegates ; the Pres
ident, himself the son of a Presbyterian clergyman,
was urgently invited to participate in the exer
cises, and he visited Philadelphia for that purpose.
At a reception to the members of the two As
semblies, given by Mr. Wistar Morris at his home
in Overbrook, a suburb of Philadelphia, on May
2 1st, the President spoke as follows :
" I am very much gratified by the opportunity
here afforded me to meet the representatives of
the Presbyterian Church.
"Surely a man never should lose his interest in
the welfare of the Church in which he was reared ;
and yet I will not find fault with any of you who
deem it a sad confession made when I acknowledge
that I must recall the days now long past to find
my closest relations to the grand and noble de
nomination which you represent. I say this be
cause those of us who inherit fealty to our Church,
as, I did, begin. early to learn those things which

2 1 6 L IFF ,0F GRO VER CLE VELAND.

-J

make us Presbyterians all the days of our lives ;
and thus it is that the rigors of our earliest teach
ing, by which we are grounded in our lasting
allegiances, are especially vivid and perhaps the
best remembered. The attendance upon church
services three times each Sunday, and upon Sab
bath-school during noon intermission, may be
irksome enough to a boy of ten or twelve years
of age to be well fixed in his memory ; but I have
never known a man who regretted these things
rin the years of his maturity. The Shorter Cate:
chism, though thoroughly studied and learned^
was not, perhaps, at the time perfectly understood;'
and yet in the stern duties and labors of after life
those are not apt to be the worst citizens who ¦
were early taught, ' What is the chief end of
man?' " Speaking of these, things and in the presence
of those here assembled, the most tender thoughts
crowd upon my mind — all connected with Presby-'-
terianism and its teachings. There are present
with me now memories of a kind and affectionate
father, consecrated to the cause, and called to his
rest and his reward in the midday of his useful
ness ; a sacred recollection of the prayers and
pious love of a sainted mother and a family circle
hallowed and sanctified by the spirit of Presbyte-
rianism. '
"I certainly cannot but express the wish and
hope that the Presbyterian Church will always be

,i' TOUR TO THE SOUTH- AND WEST. , 237
at, the front in every movement which promises
the temporal as well as the spiritual advancement
of mankind. In the turmoil and the bustle of
eyery-day life few men are foolish enough to
ignore tiie practical value to our people and our
country of the church organizations established
among us and the advantage of Christian exam
ple and teaching. (
" The field is vast and the work sufficient to en
gage the efforts of every sect and denomination ;
but I am inclined to believe that the Church which
is most tolerant and conservative without loss of
spiritual strength will soonest find the way to the
hearts and affections of the people. While we
may be pardoned for insisting that our denomina
tion is the best, we may, I think, safely concede
much that is good to all other Churches that seek
to make men better.
"I am here to greet the delegates of two Gen
eral Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church. One
is called ' Northland the other ' South.' The subject
is too deep and intricate for me, but I cannot help
wondering why this should be. These words, so
far, as they denote separation and estrangement,
should be obsolete. In the counsels of the nation
. and in the business of the country they no longer
mean reproach and antagonism. Even the sol
diers who fought for the North and for the South
are restored to fraternity and unity. This frater
nity and unity is taught and enjoined by our

2ig LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
Church. When shall she herself be . united with
all the added strength and usefulness that har
mony and union insure ?"
TO THE CATHOLIC CLUB.
The frankness and self-assertion of this expres
sion, coupled with a true spirit of religious tolera
tion, recall Mr. Cleveland's letter to the Catholic
Club, of Philadelphia, to which, under date of
February ioth; 1887, he wrote: ¦
" The thoughtfulness which prompted this invi
tation is gratefully appreciated, and I regret 'that
my public duties here will prevent its acceptance:
I should be glad to join the contemplated expres- ,
sion of respect to be tendered to the distinguished
head of the Catholic Church in the United States;
Whose personal acquaintance I very much enjoy,
and who is so worthily entitled to the esteem of
, all his fellow-citizens.
"I thank you for the admirable letter which ac
companied my invitation, in which you announce
as one of the doctrines of your Club ' that a good .
and exemplary Catholic must, ex necessitate rei,
be a good and exemplary citizen,' and ' that the
teachings of both human and divine law, thus
merging in the one word duty, form the only •
union of Church and State that'a civil and religious
Government can recognize.'
" I know you will permit me as a Protestant to
supplement this noble sentiment by the expres-

TOUR TO THE SOUTH AND. WEST. 239
sion of my conviction that the same influence and
result follow a sincere and consistent devotion to
the teachings of every religious creed which is
based upon Divine sanction. A wholesome relig
ious faith thus inures to the perpetuity, the safety,
and .prosperity of our Republic, by exacting the
due observance of civil law, the preservation of
public order, and a proper regard for the rights
of alf; and thus are its adherents better fitted for
good citizenship and confirmed in a sure and
steadfast patriotism. It seems to me, too, that
the conception of duty to the State, which is
derived from religious precept, involves a sense of
personal responsibility which is of the greatest
value in the operation of the Government by the
people. It will be a fortunate day for our country
when every citizen feels that he has an ever
present duty to perform to the State which he
cannot escape from or neglect without being false
to his religious as well as his civil allegiance^"
VERSATILITY OF GENIUS.
On June 27th, 1888, the President attended the
commencement exercises of the University of
Virginia, at Charlottesville, conferred the degrees
upon the graduates, received many thousands of
visitors, and responded to a sentiment at the
alumni dinner, after which he visited the house
and the grave of Jefferson, founder of the Univer
sity.

24O LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
On July 3d, 1888, the German singing societies
of the country, holding their national Saengerfest
in Baltimore, Md., gave the President and his wife
an urgent invitation to attend one of their grand
concerts in the Academy of Music. The invita
tion was accepted, and the visit was the occasion
of a magnificent ovation to the Presidential party,
not only from his enthusiastic German admirers,
but from the Democratic clubs of the country,
then assembling in their great Fourth of July Con
vention. The foregoing narrative recalls visits of the
President to every section of the country except
ing the Pacific slope and the extreme Southwest,
touching three-fourths of the States and many of
the chief cities ; demanding from him attention to
the widest variety of interests, moral and material,
anddrawingupon him for frequent public speeches.;
These many occasions found him ready, apt, and
versatile; -and nothing could better illustrate the
profound earnestness, the lefty patriotism and
the keen intelligence of the President, than the
elevated bearing and the easy yet dignified de
meanor which have marked his commingling with
his fellow-countrymen at their homes and amid
their familiar associations.

CHAPTER XV.
EXERCISE OF THE VETO POWER* — THE BATTLE-FLAG
INCIDENT  FRAUDULENT PENSION BILLS.
/
ALTHOUGH the Constitution of the Uni
ted States requires the assent of the Pres
ident to every bill before it -becomes a law,
unless both Houses determine by a two-thirds
aye-and-no vote to pass it over his veto, this
power of disapproval has been, on the whole,
sparingly used, by the Executives of the United
States. "Until 1830 there were but nine vetoes— '-
two by Washington, none by Adams, none by
Jefferson, six by Madison, and one by Monroe.
Jackson exercised the veto nine times, besides
pocketing several bills presented just prior to the
final adjournment.
So infrequent was the exercise of this power
that Jackson and the prerogative itself were
* ,F6r many of the facts cited in this chapter, and for some views ex
pressed, the authors have drawn upon a review stvled " The Presidents
Vetoes," in the publicatidn of which the writer's name is modestly wiih-
held. It will be1 very generally recognized, however, as a revision of the ad
mirable address on this subject made before the Iroqudis Club, of Chicapn,
Illinois, by Melville W. Fuller,' Esq., leader of the bar of that city and
State, and the nominee of the President for the Chief Justiceship of the
¦ United States, recently made vacant by the death of Chief Justice Waite.
.-,,.' 241

242 - LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND. -
fiercely attacked, and Tyler had a stormy time
because he had the temerity to vetc six bills. H
"Polk vetoed three and Pierce nine, bills;
Buchanan and Lincoln but few; Grant more, one
of his forty-two vetoes being of a bill to in
crease the amount of greenbacks to $400,000,0.00
and authorize the issue of $46,000,0^0 in national
bank notes ; Johnson, in his controversy with
Congress, a great many. And so of President
Hayes, when it was attempted to repeal general
legislation by riders on appropriation bills, though
his most important veto was of the silver bill of
1878. President Arthur exercised the power but
rarely. " It has devolved upon the present incumbent
of the Presidential office to exercise the veto
power in more instances than all the other Presi
dents put together ; a clear indication of the in
crease in legislation and of carelessness in the
enactment of special laws, requiring greater care
in examination and the application of closer busi
ness scrutiny, as well, doubtless, of a different
view of the functions of government than that in
dulged in by some of the leading politicians in the
period just preceding Mr. Cleveland's inaugura
tion. </
" * * * His view in taking office seems to
have been that free institutions are inconsistent
with a paternal government; that governmental
administration is a business matter, to be carried

EXERCISE OF THE VETO POWER. 243
forward on business principles ; that it is the duty
of the Executive to examine all bills presented
to him for his approval, and to require a recon
sideration of those which he thinks improper to
be passed into laws. There is not a particle of
doubt that it was the intention of the framers of
the Constitution, and of those who adopted it, that
this should be the attitude of the Executive in re
lation to the enactment of laws; and it is clear that
the danger was that the power would be exer-^
cised too little, rather than too often or too much.
It is vastly easier to say yes than no ; to yield to
importunity rather than resist it."* _^
To Mr. Cleveland's conscientious care and
unflagging personal industry in the detailed ex
amination of legislative enactments, as much as to
the considerations advanced . in the foregoing
extracts, have been due the unexampled fre
quency and vigor with which he has wielded the
veto power. That he has not gone far wrong*
upon the whole, is shown by the fact that the two
.Houses of Congress have almost invariably
acquiesced, in the wisdom of his decisions and the
cogency of his reasons.
APPROPRIATIONS FOR FEDERAL BUILDINGS.
' While individual members, intent upon making
capital for themselves at home, and special locali-
* The President's Vetoes, pp. ,7, 8. ;

244 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
i *
ties, eager, to serve their own interests at the
general expense, have bewailed the disapproval
of their bills for public building appropriations,
the average common sense of the great body of
the people has heartily approved the -stand taken
by the President, and has recognized the consist
ency of his cause in measuring such bills by con
siderations like these, announced in his various
messages :
"The necessities of the Government should
control the question, and it should be decided as
a business proposition, depending upon the needs
of a Government building at the points proposed,
in order to do the Government work."
" While a fine Government building is a desir
able ornament to any town or city, and while the
securing of an appropriation therefor is often
considered as an illustration of zeal and activity '
in the interests of a constituency, I am of the
opinion that the expenditure of public money for
such a purpose should depend upon the necessity
of such a building for public uses."
" The care and protection which the Govern
ment owes to the people do not embrace the
grant of public buildings to decorate thriving and
prosperous cities and villages, nor should such
buildings be erected upon any principle of fair
distribution among localities. The Government
is not an almoner of gifts among the people, but
an instrumentality by which the people's affairs

EXERCISE OF THE VETO POWER. 245
should be conducted upon business principles,
regulated by the public needs."
Upon another occasion, in disposing of a bill
for the relief of a stricken community, he assumed
this statesmanlike position :
" I do not believe that the power and duty of
the General Government ought to be extended to
the relief of individual suffering which is in, no
manner related to the public service or benefit.
A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited
mission of this power and duty should, I think,
be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson
should be co7istantly enforced that though the people
supp07't the Government, the Government shottld not '
support the people. The friendliness and charity
of our countrymen can always be relied upon to
relieve their fellow-citizens in misfortune. This
has been repeatedly arid quite lately demonstrated.
Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation
of paternal care on the part of the Government, and,
weakens the sturdiness of our national character,
while it prevents the indulgence among our people >
of the kindly sentiment and conduct which
strengthen the bond of a common . brother
hood." THE PENSION VETOES.
His most numerous class of vetoes has included
a large . number of the cases of private pension
bills, whose beneficiaries or their agents, unwilling

246 < \ LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
to depend upon the ordinary operation of the ex
tremely liberal existing pension laws and their
present prompt execution, resort to Congress for
special action on their cases. In that body they
are, acted upon without general investigation of"
their merits and without any of the deliberation
and care which characterize department work.
The President, as all members of Congress well
know, did not overstate the case when, in his
message of June 21st, 1886, he said: " A large
proportion of these bills have never been submit
ted .to a majority of either branch of Congress,
but are the results of nominal sessions, held for
the express purpose of their consideration, and
attended by a small minority of the members of
the respective Houses of the legislative branch of
Government. Thus, in considering these bills I
have not felt that I was aided by the deliberate
judgment of the Congress; and when I have
deemed it my duty to disapprove many of the bills
presented, I have hardly regarded my action as a
djssent from the conclusions of the people's rep
resentatives." An uncontradicted description of a recent scene
in the Senate, with the President's most relentless
and abusive antagonist, Senator Ingalls, in the
chair, illustrates how necessary to save the pub
lic treasury is the careful and judicious examina^
tion by the Executive of bills thus passed :
" The Senate yesterday considered pension

EXERCISE: OF THE 'VETO POWER', 247
bills on the calendar and in a short space of time
passed about ninety of them. The mode of pro
cedure in this rapid passage of the bills is rather
interesting. Usually, when such a measure is to
be considered, the bill is reported by its number and
the presiding officer says : ' In Committee of the
Whole and the bill will he read at length.' This is
done, and then he says : ' The bill is open to
amendment : if there be no amendment it will be
reported to the Senate. The Committee has had
under consideration bill numbered  . The bill
is still open to amendment. If there be no amend
ment the question is upon ordering the bill to be
engrossed and read a third time. Senators in the
affirmative will say " aye ;" negative, " no." The
ayes appear to have it ; the bill- will be engrossed
and read the third time.' The bill is then read
by its title, when the presiding officer says: 'The
question is upon the passage of the bill,' and the
question is then put.
" But when the Senate is considering these bills
hastily upon the calendar a different method is
adopted. It is understood that no objection will
be made to them, and it is desirable to get them
out of the way as quickly as possible. Yesterday
Mr. Ingalls stood up in front of his desk marking
the place on the calendar. He would call for a
bill by its number on the order of business and
the clerk would report its number as a bill.
Then Mr. Ingalls. says: 'In Committee of the

248 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
Whole.' The clerk reads the bill rapidly, and as
he finishes Mr. Ingalls says: 'Reported to the
Senate, engrossed, read third time, and passed.
No. — ,' calling out the next measure. No vote
is taken ; no one listened to the bill ; in fact, the
whole business was transacted by the President
pro tempore and the Clerk. There were less than
a dozen Senators in the chamber, all engaged in
\ '0.0
something else than giving attention to the busi
ness being transacted, as, in fact, their attention
was not required."
The frequency with which private bills have
had to be vetoed therefore illustrates the careless
ness of Congress and not the existence of any
hostility on Mr. Clevc land's part to this special
class of legislation. On the contrary, with proper
qualification against frauds and impostures upon
the Government's bounty, Mr. Cleveland has
shown himself consistently in favor of its most
liberal extension to deserving subjects of it. In
his annual message, December 6th, 1886, he pre
sents this succinct and striking statement:
"The report of the Commissioner of Pensions
contains a detailed and most satisfactory exhibit
of the operations of the Pension Bureau during
the last fiscal year. The amount of work done
was the largest in any year since the organisa
tion of the Bureau ; and it has been done at
less cost than during the previous year in every
division. ¦

EXERCISE OF THE VETO POWER. 249
"On the thirtieth day of June, 1886, there were
365,783 pensioners on the rolls of the Bureau.
"Since 1861 there have been 1,018,732 appli
cations for pensions filed, of which 78,834 were
based upon service in the War of 1812. There
were 621,754 of these applications allowed, includ
ing 60,178 to the soldiers of 181 2 and their
widows. "The total amount paid for pensions since 1861
is $808,624,811.57.
"The number of new pensions allowed during
the year ended June 30th, 1886, is 40,857 — alarger
number than has been allowed in any year save
one since 1861 ; the names of 2,229 pensioners
which had been previously dropped from the rolls,
were restored during the year, and after deduct
ing those dropped within the same time for va
rious causes, a net increase remains for the year
of 20,658 names.
"From January 1st, 1 861, to December 1 st, 1885,
1,967 private pension acts had been passed. Since
the last-mentioned date, and during the last ses
sion of the Congress, 644 such acts became laws.
"It seems to me that no one can examine our
pension establishment and its operations without
being convinced that through its instrumentality
justice can be very nearly done to all who are en
titled under present laws to the pension bounty
of the Government.
"But it is undeniable that cases exist, well en-

25O LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
titled to relief, in which the Pension Bureau is
powerless to aid. The really worthy cases of this
class are such as only lack by misfortune the kind
or quantity of proof which the law and regu
lations of the Bureau require, or which, though
their merit is apparent, for some other reason
cannot be justly dealt with through general laws.
These conditions fully justify application to the
Congress and special enactments. But resort to
the Congress for a special pension act to overrule
the deliberate and careful determination of the
Pension Bureau on the merits or to secure favor
able action when it could not be expected under
the most liberal execution of general laws, it
must be admitted, opens the door to the allow
ance of questionable claims and presents to the
legislative and executive branches of the Gov
ernment applications concededly not within the
law and plainly devoid of merit, but so sur
rounded by sentiment and patriotic feeling that
they are hard to resist. I suppose it will not be
denied that many claims for pensions are made
without merit and that many have been allowed
upon fraudulent representations. This has been
declared from the Pension Bureau, not only in
this, but in prior Administrations.
"The usefulness and the justice of any system
for the distribution of pensions depend upon the
equality and uniformity of its operation.
"It will be seen from the report of the Commis-

EXERCISE OF THE VETO POWER. 25 I
sioner that there are now paid by the Govern
ment one hundred and thirty-one different rates
of pension.
"He estimates from the bestinformationhecan
obtain that nine thousand of those who have
served in the Army and Navy of the United States
are now supported, in whole or in part, from pub
lic funds or by organized charities, exclusive of
those in soldiers' homes under the direction and
control of the Government. Only 1 3 per cent, of
these are pensioners, while of the entire number
of men furnished for the late war something like
26 per cent., including their widows and relatives,
have been or are now in receipt of pensions.
"The American people, with a patriotic and
grateful regard for our ex-soldiers — too broad
and too sacred to be monopolized by any special
advocates — are not only willing but anxious that
equal and exact justice should be done to all hon
est claimants for pensions. In their sight the
friendless and destitute soldier, dependent on
public charity, if otherwise entitled, has precisely
the same right to share in the provision made for
those who fought their country's battles as those
better able, through friends and influence, to push
their claims. Every pension that is granted under
our present plan upon any other grounds than
actual service, and injury or disease incurred in
such service, and every instance of the many in
Tvhich pensions are increased on other grounds

252 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
than the merits of the claim, work an injustice to
the brave and crippled, but poor and friendless
soldier, who is entirely neglected or who must be
content with the smallest sum allowed under gen
eral laws.
"There are far too many neighborhoods in which
are found glaring cases of inequality of treatment
in the matter of pensions ; and they are largely
due to a yielding in the Pension Bureau to impor
tunity on the part of those, other than the pen
sioner, who are especially interested, or they arise
from special acts passed for the benefit of indi
viduals. "The men who fought side by side should stand
side by side when . they participate in a grateful
nation's kind remembrance.
" Every consideration of fairness and justice to
our ex-soldiers, and the protection of the patriotic
instinct of our citizens from perversion and viola
tion, point to the adoption of a pension system
broad and comprehensive enough to cover every
contingency, and which shall make unnecessary
an objectionable volume of special legislation.
"As long as we adhere to the principle of grant
ing pensions for service, and disability as the re
sult of service, the allowance of pensions should
be restricted to cases presenting these features.
"Every patriotic heart responds to a tender con
sideration for those who, having served their
country long and well, are reduced to destitution

EXERCISE OF THE VETO POWER.

253

and dependence, not as an incident of their ser
vice, but with advancing age or through sickness
or misfortune. We are all tempted by the con
templation of such a condition to supply relief,
and are often impatient of the limitations of pub
lic duty. Yielding to no one in the desire to in
dulge this feeling of consideration, I cannot
rid myself of the conviction that if these ex-
soldiers are to be relieved, they and their
cause are entitled to the benefit of an enact
ment, under which relief may be claimed as a
right, and that such relief should be granted
under the sanction of law, not in evasion of
it; nor should such worthy objects of care, all
equally entitled, be remitted to the unequal opera
tion of sympathy, or the tender mercies of social and
political influence, with their unjust discriminations.
"The discharged soldiers and sailorsof the coun
try are our fellow-citizens, and interested with us
in the passage and faithful execution of wholesome
laws. They cannot be swerved from their duty
of citizenship by artful appeals to their spirit of
brotherhood born of common peril and suffering,
:ior will they exact as a test of devotion to their
welfare a willingness to neglect public duty in their
behalf." VETO OF THE DEPENDENT PENSION BILL.
Early in 1887 Congress passed the first general
bill "since the close of the late civil war, permitting

2 54 L/FE 0F GROVER CLEVELAND.
a pension to the soldiers and sailors who served in
that war upon the ground of service and present
disability alone, and in the entire absence of any
injuries, received by the casualties or incidents of
such service!' It was, as the President expressed
it, " an avowed departure from the principle thus
far -adhered to respecting Union soldiers, that the
bounty of the Government in the way of pen
sions is generously bestowed when granted to
those who in their military service, and in the line
of military duty, have, to a greater or less extent,
been disabled." In view of this fact ; of the annual
expenditure already of over $75,000,000 a. year
for pensions; of nearly 400,000 now borne on the
pension rolls, and a steady increase of the number*
the further away the war period becomes, — the Pres
ident vetoed the bill, and it did not become a law.
The force of his reasons for disapproval was rec
ognized by conservative men all over the country ;
and the most intelligent representatives of a sound
public judgment gave hearty indorsement to
* In the New York Nation of February 3d, 1887, will be found the
annual cost of the European military establishments with the numbers
which compose them, as compared with our present and the proposed pen
sion list, as follows : ANNUAL COST. NUMBERS.
Great Britain,  $102,477,010 209,480 v
Austria-Hungary  51,307,602 286,423
Germany  91,522,495 449>342
France,  126,366,086 523,283
U. S. present pension list, .... 75,000,000 365,783
As proposed,  147,000,000 865,783

EXERCISE OF THE VETO POWER.

255

such considerations as these, advanced in his
message :
" I am of the opinion that it may fairly be con
tended that under the provisions of this section
any soldier, whose faculties of mind or body have
become impaired by accident, disease, or age,
irrespective of his service in the army as a cause,
and who by his labor only is left incapable of gain
ing the fair support he might with unimpaired
powers have provided for himself, and who is not
so well endowed with this world's goods as to
live without work, may claim to participate in its
bounty; that it is not required that he should be
without property, but only that labor should be
necessary to his support in some degree ; nor is
it required that he should be now receiving sup
port from others.
" Believing this to be the proper interpretation
of the bill, I cannot but remember that the sol
diers of our civil war, in their pay and bounty,
received such compensation for military service
as has never been received by soldiers before,
since mankind first went to war ; that never
before, on behalf of any soldiery, have so many
and such generous laws been passed to relieve
against the incidents of war ; that statutes have
been passed giving them a preference in all pub
lic employments; that the really needy aryi
homeless Union soldiers of the Rebellion have
been, to a large extent, provided for at soldiers'

256 LIFE OF GR 0 VER CLE VELAND.
homes, instituted and supported by the Govern
ment, where they are maintained together, free
from the sense of degradation which attaches to
the usual support of charity; -and that never
before in the history of the country has it been
proposed to render Government aid toward the
support of any of its soldiers based alone upon a
military service so recent, and where age and
circumstances appeared so little to demand such
aid. " Hitherto such relief has been granted to sur
viving soldiers few in number, venerable in age,
after a long lapse of time since their military ser
vice, and as a parting benefaction tendered by a
grateful people.
" I cannot believe that the vast peaceful army
of Union soldiers, who, having contentedly re
sumed their places in the ordinary avocations of
life, cherish as sacred the memory of patriotic
service, or who, having been disabled by the casu
alties of war, justly regard the present pension-
roll, on which appear their names, as a roll of
honor, desire at this time and in the present ex
igency, to be confounded with those who through
such a bill as this are willing to be objects of
simple charity and to gain a place upon the pen
sion-roll through alleged dependence.
t " Recent personal observation and experience
constrain me to refer to another result which will
inevitably follow the passage of this bill. It is

EXERCISE OF THE VETO POWER.

257

sad but nevertheless true, that already in the
matter of procuring pensions there exists a wide
spread disregard of truth and good faith, stimu
lated by those who as agents undertake to estab
lish claims for pensions, heedlessly entered upon
by the expectant beneficiary, and encouraged or
at least not condemned by those unwilling to
obstruct a neighbor's plans.
" In the execution of this proposed law under
any interpretation, a w?de field of inquiry would
be opened for the establishment of facts largely
within the knowledge of the claimants alone ; and
there can be no doubt that the race after the pen
sions offered by this bill would not only stimulate
weakness and pretended incapacity for labor, but
put a further premium on dishonesty and men
dacity. "The effect of new invitations to apply for
pensions, or of new advantages added to causes
for pensions already existing, is sometimes start
ling. "Thus in March, 1879, large arrearages of
pensions were allowed to be added to all claims
filed prior to July 1st, 1880. For the year from
July 1st, 1879, to July 1st, 1880, there were filed
110,673 claims, though in the year immediately
previous there were but 36,832 filed, and. in the
year following but 18,455.
" While cost should hot be set against a patri
otic duty or the recognition of a right, still, when

258 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.'
a measure proposed is based upon generosity or
motives of charity, it is not amiss to meditate
somewhat upon the expense which it involves.
Experience has demonstrated, I believe, that all
estimates concerning the probable future cost of
a pension list are uncertain and unreliable, and
always fall far below actual realization.
"The chairman of the House Committee on
Pensions calculates that the number of pensioners
under this bill would be 33,105, and the increased
cost $4,767,120 ; this is upon the theory that only
those who are entirely unable to work would be
its beneficiaries. Such was the principle of the
Revolutionary pension law of 1818, much more
clearly stated, it seems to me, than in this bill.
When the law of 18 18 was upon its passage in
Congress the number of pensioners to be bene
fited thereby was thought to be 374; but the
number of applicants under the act was 22,297,
and the number of pensions actually allowed
20,485, costing, it is reported, for the first year,
$1,847,900, instead of $40,000, the estimated ex
pense for that period."
PRIVATE PENSION VETOES.
Upon such grounds as these the President, while
signing far more private pension bills* than any of
* " The Democracy has held sacred and has far advanced the claims of
the pensioner as the common debt of the common people, to be sacredly,
honestly, and munificently paid. Never since the tender hand of peace

EXERCISE OF THE VETO POWER. 259
his predecessors, has felt impelled to puncture a
vast number of frauds attempted in the name of
charity, and to correct gross carelessness and im
providence on the part of Congress in passing
them. For this he has been subject to malignant
misrepresentation, and the abuse of rancorous"
partisans and of some narrow-minded people
who think they are patriots simply because they
were soldiers.
Few if any of these complainants have ever had
the fairness or taken the trouble to actually read
the vetoes or weigh their merits ; and from such
no honest judgment can be reasonably expected.
Even the great body of people will, no doubt, be
agreeably surprised to find that these much
maligned vetoes rest on impregnable grounds; and
Mr. Cleveland could not better afford to invite dis
cussion of any phase of his Presidential policy than
of the reasons which have induced his disap
proval of many of the private pension jobs. They
are thus summarized in the pamphlet from which
previous extracts have been made :*
Some of these bills were vetoed because the

first bound up the wounds of rugged war; never since the awful fruit of
battle cumbered the red earth ; never since men died and women wept
and children sorrowed, has greater munificence or more eager willingness
been manifest than has been shown to the pensioners by the triumphant
Democracy — which, God willing, shall for many years pour the nation's
reviving streams by the stricken and desolate."— General John C. Black,
Commissioner of Pensions.
* " The Vetoes of the President," pages 13, -14, 15, 16,

260 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
claims named in them had already been allowed,
and the effect of permitting them to become laws
would be to deprive the claimants of several
months' pay. Some were disapproved because
the claims were still pending in the Pension Office ;
some, because disability existed before, and some,
because it was occasioned after service. Most of
the bills disapproved were in respect of claims
which had already been minutely, and, in many
instances, frequently examined and rejected in the
Pension Office ; but in each instance, where time
was afforded, the President made a careful exam
ination for himself, being compelled to let, how
ever, a large number become laws for want of
time to make such examination, of itself a com
mentary on the objectionable manner in which
this business is conducted. Among those vetoed
we find a claim on behalf of the widow of a per
son who, sixteen years after the close of the war,
fell backward from a ladder and fractured his
skull ; another, predicated upon the ground that
the claimant's husband was deaf, and being
drowned in crossing a river could not hear the
ferryman call out that the boat was sinking, al
though, as the President says, " How he could
have saved his life if he had heard the warning, is
not stated;" another of an old gentleman of sev
enty-five, who claimed that he contracted chronic
diarrhoea in the Blackhawk War. The President
said : " I am inclined to think it would have been

EXER C1SE OF THE VETO PO WER. 2 6 1
a fortunate thing if, in this case, it could have been
demonstrated that a man could thrive so well with
a chronic diarrhoea for fifty-two years, as its exist
ence in the case of this good old gentleman would
prove. We should then, perhaps, have less of
it in claims for pensions." The examination in
that case showed that the applicant did not claim
to have had diarrhcca for many years just preced
ing the application.
In another instance, the claim attributed " death
from apoplexy to a wound in the knee received
nineteen years before the apoplectic attack." In
another case the man was discharged from the
hospital with a certificate : " We do not believe
him sick, or that he has been sick, but completely
worthless. He is obese, and a malingerer to such
an extent that he is almost an imbecile."
In another instance the beneficiary's husband
died in a street fight from the blow of a fist ; in
another the son was killed in 1862, and his father
was not aware of it until 1864. The boy had been
in charge of an uncle, and afterward of. other
persons, ever since he was nine years old. The
President says : " After the exhibition of heart-
lessness and abandonment on the part of a father,
which is a prominent feature in this case, I should
be sorry to be a party to a scheme permitting him
to profit by the death of his patriotic son. The
claimant relinquished the care of his son, and
should be held to have relinquished all claim to

262 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
his assistance, and the benefit so indecently
claimed, as the result of his death.''
In another case of a fisticuff, the Presi
dent says: "The Governrnent ought not to be
called upon to insure against the quarrel
some propensities of its individual soldiers,
nor to compensate one who is worsted in a fight,
or even in an unprovoked attack, when the cause
of injury is in no way connected with or related to
any requirement or incident of military service.''
In another case a widow applied for a pension and
did not claim that the death resulted from military
service. The President says : " This presents the
question whether a gift in such a case is a proper
disposition of money appropriated for the pur
pose of paying pensions. The passage of this
law, would, in my opinion, establish a precedent
so far-reaching, and open the door to such a vast
multitude of claims not on principle within our
present pension laws, that I am constrained to dis
approve the bill under consideration." In another
instance the decedent was addicted to periodical
sprees and died in the city lock-up, where he had
been taken by an officer while on a drunken spree.
In another case the death was from yellow fever
in 1878. In another the claimant was enrolled as
a substitute March 25th, 1865, when high boun
ties were paid, and remained in the army one
month and seventeen days, during which time he
had the measles. " Fifteen years after this bril-

EXERCISE- OF THE VETO POWER. 26

O

liant service and this terrific encounter with the
measles, and on the 28th day of June, 1 880, the
claimant discovered that his attack of the measles
had some relation to his army enrollment, and
that this disease had settled in his eyes , also af
fecting his spinal column." Another case was
this, as stated by the President: This man " was
mustered into the service October 26th, 1861 ; he
never did a day's service, so far as his name ap
pears, and the muster-out roll of his company re
ports him as having deserted at Camp Cameron,
Pennsylvania, November 14th, 1861. He visited
his family about the first day of December, 1861,
and was found December 30th, 1861, drowned in
a canal about six miles from his home. Those
who prosecute claims for pensions have grown
very bold when cases of this description are pre-
sentedfor consideration." In another instance the
Committee reported favorably, " in view of the
long and faithful service and high character of the
claimant." The President states the facts and
continues : " Thus it quite plainly appears that
this claimant spent most of his term of enlistment
in desertion or in imprisonment as a punishment
for that offense, and thus is exhibited 'the long
and faithful service and the high character of the
claimant,' mentioned as entitling him1 to. consid
eration by the Committee who reported favorably
upon this bill. I withhold my assent from this
bill because if the facts before me, derived from

264 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
the army records and the statements of the claim
ant, are true, the allowance of this claim would,
in my opinion, be a travesty upon our whole
scheme of pensions and an insult to every decent .
veteran soldier."
Yet another case was this: The mother of the
decedent, her husband, the father, having aban
doned her, was allowed a pension as dependent
mother from 1862 to 1884, when she died. The
father applied in 1877, alleging the death of his
wife, but the claim was rejected by the Pension
Office because she was living, and after her death
again rejected because of the abandonment. The
President says : " The allegation in 1877 of the
man who now poses as the aged and dependent
father of a dead soldier, that the mother died in
1872, when at that time her claim was pending
for pension largely based upon his abandonment;
the affidavit of the man who testified that he saw
her die in 1872 ; the effrontery of this unworthy
* father renewing his claim after the detection of
his fraud and the actual death of the mother, and
the allegation of the, mother that she was a widow
when in fact she was an abandoned wife, show
the processes which enter into these claims for
pensions, and the boldness with which plans are
sometimes concocted to rob the Government by
actually trafficking in death, and imposing upon
the sacred sentiments of patriotism and national
gratitude."

EXERCISE OF THE VETO POWER. , 2,65
THE BATTLE-FLAG INCIDENT.
,s In the summer of 1887 occurred the popular
sensation growing out of an alleged executive order
for the return to the Confederates of the battle
flags which had been captured from them by the
Union forces during the late Civil War. Frothy
party orators worked themselves and some mis
guided people into a state of intense excitement ;
virulent newspapers seized eagerly an opportunity
to misrepresent the President and his party ; while
a few Governors, like Foraker, of Ohio, pranced
to the front with most vehement declarations that
they would resist all attempts to tear from the
custody of the States the flags, captured by their
troops — a proceeding which had, of course, never
been contemplated except in their own imagina
tions. The simple facts of the matter were that for
years past, with a growing feeling of friendliness
between the North and South, and frequent ex
change of visits on the part of military organiza
tions that had faced each other with hostile front
on the field, the return of captured battle flags
had come into vogue. A number of these trophies
in custody of the War Department at Washing
ton had been allowed under Republican Adminis
trations to be stowed away in a room in the sub-
basement and were decaying rapidly when in
1882 they were transferred to the Ordnance

266 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
Museum. Adjutant-General Drum, noticing their
increasing dilapidation, suggested that they be re
turned to the States from which the organizations
carrying them had come. The President, without
much reflection, assented to the idea, which, at
most, was by no means so advanced a measure of
reconciliation as many that had been urged by
Sumner, Greeley, Lincoln, Grant, and other leading
Republicans. As soon as it was recognized that
the matter was to be made the subject of malig
nant representation the country over, the Presi
dent quietly gave the following direction revoking
the order, of Adjutant-General Drum: "I have
considered it with morecare, and finding the return
of the flags not authorized by existing law nor
justified by any existing act, request nothing fur
ther be done except to inventory and take mea
sures to preserve them."
Sufficient pretext, however, had been afforded
such men as Fairchild, of Wisconsin ; Foraker, of
Ohio ; Tuttle, of Iowa, and others of their stripe to
insult the President; and when, shortly after the
flag episode, it was announced that he had been
invited to visit St. Louis on the occasion of the
National Encampment of the Grand Army of the
Republic there, it was proclaimed by Tuttle and
others that if Mr. Cleveland went he would be
publicly insulted. This declaration of an offensive
purpose injured only the authors of it, and Gen
eral Sherman publicly rebuked it in a letter June

exercise of the veto power. 267
1 2th, in which he declared that the President
was the Commander-in-chief of all the armies,
free to go anywhere, and the idea of his being
insulted by any true soldier was monstrous. The
President himself in a letter of characteristic
dignity declined to visit St. Louis on this occasion ;
but the citizens of Missouri, shamed by the con
duct of the Tuttles, Fairchilds, and Forakers,
urged him to make another opportunity for them
to show their respect for his high office and him
self. This invitation resulted in the tour and re
ception which have been previously described in
these pages.

CHAPTER XVI.
DEMOCRATIC TARIFF REFORM POLICY — THE GREAT
ISSUE OF 1888.
PRESIDENT CLEVELAND and his Ad
ministration had thus, during the first two
years and a half of his term, inaugurated
every minor reform that had been promised in
the platform of the Convention which had nomi
nated him or in his own letters and speeches.
But there was still a great work to be done. This
was the lightening of the burden of that taxation
which had been borne by the country since the
close of the war. Republican Administrations
had tied up the' debt still remaining unpaid in long
time bonds, none of which were payable before
the year 1892, and the most of which run at an
exorbitant rate of interest until the year 1907.
This had been done when there was nothing in
the material condition of the country to demand
the payment of four or four and a half per cent.
interest on the debt about to be refunded.
For many years even the party in power had ,
perceived that the time would come when, while
the money must continue to flow into the Treas
ury in undiminished volume, it could not, be taken.
268

,DEM0CRA TIC TARIFF REFORM FOLIC Y. 2 69
out for any of the legitimate objects of govern
ment. So that during all of the Presidential term
•filled by Chester A. Arthur his Secretaries of the
Treasury had insisted that a wise and discreet
reduction of the tariff duties was imperative. In
1883 a Tariff Commission was appointed, but its
members turned out to be either interested manu
facturers themselves or their willing dupes. The
result was a report which, while it recommended
a reduction on certain lines of manufactured
goods and enlarged the free list on some articles
of almost no importance, really proposed a con
siderable increase on other articles necessary for
the life and comfort of every element of our pop
ulation. Even this incongruous report was not
accepted, but Congress proceeded to make from
it a compromise scheme, the average reduction of
which was less than four per cent., while the ine-
' qualities of classification and of tax were not
removed. On some classes of goods these ine
qualities even became greater, experience soon
proved, while the opportunities for fraud were in
creased. It was apparent after a trial of less than
a year that the tariff must be revised on entirely
different lines if taxes were to be reduced, and
labor and capital relieved of the heavy load they
had carried so long. The party in power, though
mainly made up of men who were in favor of the
theory called protection, i. e., the laying of a tax
on importations for the benefit of the domestic

270

LIFE OF GR.OVER CLEVELAND.

manufacturer and the alleged interest of the lab-
orer. -with incidental reference to the revenue
needed for the Government, was not wholly com
posed of persons professing allegiance to this
school of political economy.
This had nominally been the dominant idea in
the Whig party, of whose effects the Republican
party became the legatee, but even its leaders
„ never for a moment contemplated a tax on im
ports averaging nearly fifty per cent, on the entire
' list. A good proportion of the membership of the
party had, however, been drawn from the young
and independent men, who from the years 1850
to i860, had not been satisfied with the policy of
the then existing political parties. The majority
of these men were not attached to the idea'of pro
tection which has since become so popular with
its beneficiaries as to acquire a sort of sacredness.
So that in 1857, when the further reduction of the
revenue tariff of 1846 was under discussion, in
Congress, two-thirds of the Representatives., and
nearly all the Senators from New England, most
of whom were adherents of the Republican party,
voted in favor of the bill. Among these, was
Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, who had raised
himself from the humblest surroundings and was
to live to become Vice-President of the United
States ; in a long speech in which he expressed the
sentiments of his colleague, Mr. Sumner, as well as
his own, he said :

DEMOCRATIC TARIFF REFORM POLICY.

271

HENRY WILSON ON , THE* TARIFF IN 1857.
" The manufacturers, Mr. Chairman, make no
war upon the wool-growers. They assume that t
the reduction of the duty on wool, or repeal of the
duty altogether, will infuse vigor into that droop
ing interest, stimulate home production, and dim
inish the importation of foreign woolen manufac
turers, and afford.a steady and increasing demand
for American wool. They believe this policy will
be more beneficial to the wool-growers, to the
agricultural interests, than the present policy.
The manufacturers of woolen fabrics, many of
them men of large experience and extensive
knowledge, entertain these views, and they are
sustained in these opinions by the experience
of the great manufacturing nations of the Old
World. "Since the reductions of duties on raw mate
rials in England, since wool was admitted free, her
woolen manufactures have so increased, so pros
pered, that the production of native wool has in
creased more than ioo percent. The experience
of England, France, and Belgium demonstrates
the wisdom of that policy which makes' the raw
material duty free. Let us profit by their example.
"If our manufactures are to increase, to keep
-pace with the population and the growing wants
of our people; if we are to have the control of
the markets of our own country ; if we are to

272 L IF£ OF GR O VER CLE VELAND.
meet witli and compete with the manufacturers of
England and other nations of Western Europe in-
the markets of the world, we must have our raw
materials admitted duty free or at a mere nomi
nal rate. % * * * * * * *
"We of New England believe that wool, es
pecially the cheap wools, manila, hemp, flax, raw
silk, lead, tin, brass, hides, linseed, and many other
articles used in our manufactories can be admit
ted dutyfree, or for a mere nominal duty, without
injuring to any extent any considerable interest
of the country."
, 'Further ori he said :
"In closing, Mr. Chairman, the remarks I have
felt it my duty to submit to' the Senate and the
country, that the Commonwealth I represent on
this floor — I say in part, for my colleague, Mr.
Sumner, after an enforced absence of more than
nine months, is here to-night to give his vote if he
can raise his voice for the interest of his State —
has a deep interest in the modification of the tariff
of 1846 by this Congress. Her merchants, man
ufacturers, mechanics, and business men in all de
partments of a varied industry want action now
before the Thirty-fourth Congress passes away.
"They are for the reduction of the revenue to
the actual wants of an economical administration
of the Government; for the depletion of the,
Treasury, now full with millions of hoarded gold;

DEMOCRATIC TARIFF REFORM POLICY.

27:

for a free-list embracing articles of prime neces
sity we do not produce ; for mere nominal duties
on articles which make up alargeportion of our do-.
mestic industry, and for such an adjustment of the
duties on the productions of other nations that
come in direct competition with the product of
American capital, labor, and skill as shall im
pose the least burdens on that capital, labor, and
skill." Mr. Morrill, of Vermont, then a member of the.
House, now the patriarch of the Senate, expressed
the opinion that the proposed duty of 20 per cent.
on cutlery, edged tools, etc., was ample in spite
of the fact that he has now announced his oppo
sition to a bill which makes a slight reduction in
the present duty of 50 per cent, on the same class
of goods ! JOHN SHERMAN IN 1 867.
In 1867 John Sherman, of Ohio, in the course
of a speech discussing the revenue question, said:
"Every law imposing a duty on imported goods
is necessarily a restraint on trade. It imposes a
burden upon the purchase and sale of imported
goods and tends to prevent their importation.
The expression 'a free-trade tariff,' involves an
absurdity." * * * "Every duty on imported mer
chandise gives to the domestic manufacturer, an*
advantage equal to the duty, and to that extent

274 L1FE 0F GROVER CLEVELAND.
every tariff is a protective tariff." * * * "If you
converse with intelligent men engaged in the
business of manufacturing they will tell you that
they are willing to compete with England, France,
Germany, and all the countries of Europe at the
old rates of duty. If you reduce their products
to a specie basis, and put them upon the same
footing they were on before the war, the present
rates of duty would be too high. It would not be
necessary for scarce any branch of industry to be
protected to the extent of your present tariff law.'
They do not ask protection against the pauper
labor of Europe, but they ask protection against
the creation of your own laws."
In March, 1872, in a speech discussing this ever
present question, Mr. Sherman said: "I have
listened with patience, day by day, to the state
ments of gentlemen who are interested in our
domestic productions. I am a firm believer in
the general idea of protectingtheir industries, but
I assure them, as I. assure their representatives
here, that if the present high rates of duty, unex
ampled in our country, and higher by nearly 50
percent, than they were in. 1 861, are maintained
on metallic and textile fabrics after we have re
pealed the very internal taxes which gave rise to
them, and after we have substantially given them
"their raw materials free of duties, we shall have a
feeling of dissatisfaction among other interests

DEMOCRA TIC TARIFF REFORM POLICY. 275
in the country that will overthrow the whole system,
and do greater harm than can possibly be done
by a moderate reduction of the present rates of
duty. And I am quite sure that intelligent men
engaged in the production of various forms of
textile and metallic fabrics feel as I do, that it is
wiser and better to do what is just and right, to
make a reduction on their products, at least to the
extent of the reduction in this bill on the raw
materials, rather than to invite a controversy in
which I believe they will be in the wrong." * * *
'' The public mind is not yet prepared to apply
the .key to a genuine revenue reform. A few
years of further experience will convince the
whole body of our people that a system of
national taxes, which, rests the whole burden, of
taxation on consumption, and not one cent on
property or income, is intrinsically unjust. While
the expenses of the National Government are
largely caused by the protection of property, it is
but right to require property to contribute to
their payment. It will not do to say that each
person consumes in proportion to his means. This
is not true. Every one must see that the con
sumption of the rich does not bear the. same re
lation to the consumption of the poor as the in
come of the one does to the wages of the other.
As wealth accumulates this injustice in the funda
mental basis of our system will be felt and forced
upon the attention of Congress."

276

LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND

PRESIDENT ARTHURS VIEWS.

President Arthur, in his annual message trans
mitted to Congress in December, 1882, used the.
following language : " I recommend an enlarge-
ment of the free list so as to include the numerous
articles which yield inconsiderable revenue, a
simplification of the complex and inconsistent
schedule of duties upon certain manufactures,
particularly cotton, iron, and steel, and a sub
stantial reduction of duties on those articles and
on sugar, molasses, silk, wool, and woolen goods."
Charles J. Folger, Secretary of the Treasury,
in his report to President Arthur, made at the
same time, said : " The classes of merchandise
paying the largest amount of duties from customs
are the following: Sugar and molasses, wool
and manufactures from it, iron and steel and the
manufactures from them, manufactures of silk,
manufactures of cotton. A substantial reduction
upon each of the class of articles named is rec
ommended. And it is believed that the time has
arrived when a reduction of duties on nearly all the
articles in the tariff is demanded and is feasible."
In his annual report for 1884, Hugh McCulloch,
President Arthur's last Secretary of the Treasury,
concluded a long discussion of the revenue de
rived for customs duty with the following recom
mendations : —
"First — That the existing duties upon raw

DEMOCRATIC TARIF/' REFORM POLICY. 2~J
material which are used in manufactures should
be removed. This can be done in the interest of
our foreign trade.
" Second — That the duties upon the articles
used or consumed by those who are least able to
bear the burden of taxation should be reduced.
This also can be effected without prejudice to our
export trade."
The Republican tariff platform of 1884 de
clared :
" The Democratic party has failed completely
to relieve the people of the burden of unneces
sary taxation by a wise reduction of the surplus.
The Republican party pledges itself to correct the
inequalities of the tariff and to reduce the sur
plus." CLEVELAND ON THE TARIFF.
In his first annual message President Cleveland
gave due attention to this question without con
ferring upon it that prominence it attained in late
messages when the gravity of the case demanded
more extended and more heroic treatment.
He said : " A due regard for the interests and
prosperity of all the people demands that our1
finance shall be established upon such a sound and
sensible basis as shall secure the safety and con
fidence of business interests and make the wages
of labor sure and steady ;. and that our system of
revenue shall be so adjusted as to relipve the

278 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
people from unnecessary taxation, having a due
regard to the interests of Capital invested and of
workingmen employed in American industries,
and preventing the accumulation of a surplus' rin
the Treasury to tempt extravagance and waste."
In his second annual message, transmitted to
Congress in December, 1886, the President en
larged upon the issue which was then assuming
the first importance. His views are fairly re
flected in the following extracts:
"Good government, and especially the govern
ment of which every American citizen boasts, has
for its objects the protection of every person
within its care in the greatest liberty consistent
with the good order of society, and his perfect
security in the enjoyment of his earnings, with the
least possible diminution for public needs. When
more of the people's substance is exacted through
the forrh of taxation than is necessary to meet the
just obligations of the Government and the ex
pense of its economical administration, such ex
action becomes ruthless extortion and a violation
of the fundamental principles of a free Govern
ment. " Those .who toil for daily wages are beginning
to understand that capital, though sometimes
vaunting its importance and clamoring for the
protection and favor of the Government, is dull
and sluggish, till, touched by the magical hand of
labor, it springs into activity, furnishing an occa-

DEMOCRATIC TARIFF REFORM POLICY. 2-9
sion for Federal taxation and gaining the. value
which enables it to bear its burden. Aud the la
boring man is thoughtfully inquiring whether in
these circumstances, and considering the tribute
he constantly pays into the public Treasury as he
supplies his daily wants, he receives his fair share
of advantages.
" There is also a suspicion abroad, that the sur
plus of our revenues indicates abnormal and ex
ceptional business profits, which, under the system
which -produces such surplus, increase, without
corresponding benefit to the people at large,, the
vast accumulations of a few among our citizens
whose fortunes, rivaling the wealth of the most
favored in anti-democratic nations, are not the
natural growth of a steady, plain, and industrious
republic. "It has been the policy of the Government to
collect the principal part of its revenues by a tax
upon imports ; and no change in this policy is de
sirable. But the present condition of affairs con
strains our people to demand that by a 'revision
of our revenue laws the receipts of the Govern
ment shall be reduced to the necessary expense
of its economical administration ; and this demand
should be recognized and obeyed by the people's
representatives in the legislative branch of the
Government. " In readjustipg the burdens of Federal taxation,
a sound public policy, requires that such of, our

2 Co LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
citizens as have built up large and important
industries under present conditions should not
be suddenly and to their injury, deprived Of ad-
. vantages to which they have adapted their business ;.
but if the public good requires it, they should be
content with such consideration as shall deal
fairly and cautiously with their interests, while
the just demand of the peop'le for relief from
needless taxation is honestly answered. A reason
able and timely submission to such a demand'
should certainly be possible without disastrous
shock to any interest ; and a cheerful concession
. sometimes averts abrupt and heedless action, often
the outgrowth of impatience and delayed justice.
"Due regard should be also accorded, ih any
proposed readjustment, to the interests of
' American labor so far as they are involved. We
congratulate ourselves that there is among us no
laboring class, fixed within unyielding bounds and
doomed, under all conditions to the inexorable
fate of daily toil. We recognize in labor a chief
factor in" the wealth of the Republic, and we treat
those who have it in their keeping as citizens en
titled to the most careful regard and thoughtful
attention. This regard and attention should be
awarded them, not only because labor is the
capital of our workingmen, justly entitled to its
share\of Government favor, but for the further'
and not less important reason, that the laboring
man, surrounded by his family in his humble home,

DEMOCRATIC TARIFF REFORM POLICY. 28 I
as a consumer is vitally interested in all that
cheapens the cost of living and enables him to
bring within his domestic circle additional com
forts and advantages.
" This relation of the workingman to the reve
nue laws of the country, and the manner in which
it palpably influences the question of wages,
should not be forgotten in the justifiable promi
nence given to the proper maintenance of the
supply and protection of well-paid labor. And
these considerations suggest such an arrangement
of Government revenues as shall reduce the ex
pense of living, while it does not curtail the. op
portunity for work nor reduce the compensation
of American labor, and injuriously affect its con
dition and the dignified place it holds in the esti
mation of our people.
" But our farmers and agriculturists — those who
from the soil produce the things consumed by
all — are perhaps more directly and plainly con
cerned than any other of our citizens in a just
and Careful system of Federal taxation. Those
actually engaged in and more remotely connected
with this kind of work number nearly one-half of
our population. None labor harder or more con
tinuously than they. No enactments limit their
hours of toil, and no interposition of the Govern
ment enhances to any great extent the value of
their products. And yet for many of the neces
saries and comforts of life, which the most scru-

282 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
pulous economy enables them to bring into their
homes, and for their implements of husbandry,
they are obliged to pay a price largely increased
by an unnatural profit which, by the action of the
Government, is given to the more favored manu
facturer. " I recommend that, keeping in view all these
considerations, the increasing and unnecessary
surplus of national income annually accumulating
be released to the people by an amendment to
our revenue laws which shall cheapen the price of
the necessaries of life and give freer entrance to
such imported materials as by American labor
may be manufactured into marketable commodi
ties. Nothing can be accomplished, however, in
the direction of this much-needed reform unless
the subject is approached in a patriotic spirit of
devotion to the interests of the entire country and
with a willingness to yield something for the pub
lic good." SOUNDING A BATTLE CRY.
But all that had gone before was the merest
child's play compared with the courage, the mag
nificent audacity of statesmanship, which the Pres
ident displayed in his third annual message, trans
mitted to the opening session of the Fiftieth Con
gress, in December, 1887. Rising to the occasion
by casting all other issues aside, as unimportant
in comparison with the reduction of revenues in

DEMOCRATIC TARIFF REFORM POLICY. 283
order to rid the country of a dangerous surplus,
he devoted all his annual message to the consid
eration of this one question.* This document
was brief to a degree which was comforting
when the long, prosy messages usually sent to
Congress by Presidents are considered. For
once the people of the United States had a mes
sage they could read and did read. The effect
was immediate. Public attention was focused
upon this one great question as it had not been
similarly directed to any issue since the absorbing
days of the war. Young men not accustomed to
such direct and pointed appeals were surprised,
but their attention and their intelligence were
aroused. Politicians who had been accustomed
to discuss only the war and its cognate questions
were amazed at the awful audacity of a President
who did not so much as intimate anything about
the various sections of the country. Some timid
members of the President's own party were
alarmed at his seeming willingness to intrust all
his political eggs to one basket. The protected
manufacturers who had fattened on a tariff were
naturally alarmed. But the general feeling in
* It has not been thought necessary or desirable in such a book as this
to attempt to make extracts from the President's annual message of 1887.
Every word would be essential to a knowledge of it. A complete appre
ciation of the leading issues of the present campaign can only be gained
by a thorough study of this document, and of the speeches made in the
House in support of it, all of which documents are supplied on application
to the Democratic National Committee.

284 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
the country was one of relief. Its politics had
been drifting into a condition of torpidity, and
the country, as was so well shown by the Presi
dent, was plunging into the most serious of
perils. Great satisfaction was expressed among
men of every avocation and party at the feeling
that something more than a mere commonplace
struggle over the offices was now to begin.
The message at once attracted the attention of
the leaders of the Republican party, now in the
minority and opposition. Mr. Blaine, ever eager
to direct attention to himself, submitted himself to
a newspaper interview in Paris. Senator Sher
man took occasion to make such reply from his
place on, the floor of the Senate as showed that
he had forgotten his conservative and progressive
words of former days. The press discussed the
question from every point of view, and in every
circle, from one end of the country to the other,
the President's message became the one subject
for conversation and discussion.
The, effect upon the lower House of Congress
was no less important. The Committee on Ways
and Means was selected with unusual care, and
at once went to work to prepare a careful, conser-/
vative bill in line with the message. Such a bill
was reported in due time, and the most extended
and interesting discussion of the tariff issue heard
in this country since the enactment of the Walker
tariff was entered upon. The debate was opened

DEMOCRATIC TARIFF REFORM POLICY. 285
with a speech by Roger Q. Mills, of Texas, Chair
man of the Committee of Ways and Means,
which was one of the clearest and most luminous
arguments ever presented before the Congress of
the United States. Other members of the major
ity of the Committee, Messrs. Scott, Breckenridge,
Wilson, and Bynum, together with the Speaker, Mr.
Carlisle, and Messrs. Cox, Russell, Buckalew, and
many of the Democratic members, Mr. Fitch, of
New York, Mr. Nelson, of Minnesota; Republi
cans, spoke in favor of the principle of the
bill. On the Republican side, the brunt of the debate
was borne by Messrs. Kelley, McKinley, Reed, Bur
leigh, Boutelle, Butterworth, and Grosvenor. The
only Democrat who arrayed himself against the
bill was Mr. Randall, of Pennsylvania, whose
speech was temperate in tone.
In the meantime, this general discussion of the
principles of the message spread into the State
Conventions of the Democratic party, then just
meeting to select delegates to the National Conven
tion called to meet at St. Louis on the fifth of June.
Every such body in every State of the Union in
dorsed substantially the President's position, chose
delegates in favor of his renomination, and in the
majority of States commended the bill of the
Ways and Means Committee to Democratic mem
bers of Congress. Even in Pennsylvania, which
had been for nearly a century coddled and cos-

286 LIFE OF SR 0 VER CLE VELAND.
seted on a protective tariff, until its people had
come to look upon themselves as the beneficiaries
of the Government, the party broke away from the
narrow trammels which had bound it and kept it
out of harmony with the organization in the rest of
the country, and a strong platform was adopted, in
wh'ich the action of the President was commended.
The Temporary Chairman of the Convention,
W. U. Hensel, and the Permanent Chairman, Ex-
Senator William A. Wallace, both insisted upon
the most outspoken utterance possible, and their
advice was followed to the letter.
The credit for this condition of the public mind
must be awarded to the President. Seeing clearly
the danger, appreciating the necessity for some
bold utterance from one who could speak as with
authority, he had the courage to do what he deemed
his duty, and the result promises to be a better
and more intelligent knowledge of the subject and
the ultimate triumph of conservative ideas.*
*At this writing, July loth, the Mills bill, it seems almost certain, will
pass the House by a nearly solid Democratic vote. It is not impossible
that even a majority pf the Senate will agree to a modified form of it. It
is manifest the Republicans in Congress are divided in their views of
tariff reform, and that a very respectable minority of them will not join in
the obstruction of every effort to reduce duties.

CHAPTER XVII.
PERSONAL QUALITIES OF THE PRESIDENT — A STRONG
WILL — GENIALITY OF DISPOSITION — SOME STRIK
ING CHARACTERISTICS.
THE unanimous renomination of President
Cleveland by the National Convention of
his party — the proceedings of which as
semblage are narrated in full in succeeding pages
of this volume* — was a fit acknowledgment of his
strong leadership, and his victory over and sup
pression of all factional feeling. The platform of
principles upon which his candidacy for a second
term has been launched is a reflection of the sub
jects for popular attention that he had kept to
the fore during his administration. Despite the
loud murmurs of discontent that were for a
time heard in the ranks of his own party, every
element of opposition subsided before the Con
vention met ; and no other name, however loudly
proclaimed before as that of a possible competitor,
was whispered in the proceedings of the Conven
tion nor in the preliminaries which led up to it.
This result was achieved without any interposition
on the President's own part, and, indeed, without
* See "Record of the Convention." 2S7

288 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
any abandonment of the grounds which he took
in his campaign of 1 884 against a second term.
For the principles of a genuine civil-service re
form which he espoused he gained substantial
victory. He had under every circumstance and
at all times declared himself a partisan and a
Democrat. He said : " I believe in an open and
sturdy partisanship which secures the legitimate
advantages of party supremacy," and for his party
he secured these. But he never wavered from
the qualifying words with which he accompanied
this, declaration ; and the great body of independ
ent voters who had come to his support in 1 884
remain steadfast with him, and with largely in
creased numbers, because they have learned that
he was sincere when he added, at the same time :
" Parties were made for the people, and I am
unwilling, knowingly, to give my assent to meas
ures purely partisan which will sacrifice or en
danger their interests." He complained bitterly,
and sometimes impatiently, at the unreasonable
ness of his partisan adherents, who could not bide
their time and the exercise of his own good judg^
ment as to changes in office. He resented with
hot indignation the impositions practiced and
others attempted upon him in the zeal of parti
sans to reward their friends or to rid themselves
of importunate office-hunters. The literature of
our politics contains no more scorching correspon
dence, than these two letters, respectively ad-

SI

PERSONAL QUALITIES. 29 1
dressed to and written by the Presldent^from and
to whom matters nothing to the moral they point :
INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE.
"Cincinnati, July 24th, 1885.
"To the President, Washington, D-. C.
"Dear Sir: — This community read the an
nouncement of  to the  judgeship
with astonishment and regret, if not pain, and none
were more astonished than those who had signed
his petition, and I regret to say that my name is
to be found upon it. I have refused several whom
I knew to be unfit, but I signed this one, thinking
it would never be considered, and not for one
moment believing the appointment was possible.
When first presented to me I put him off and
hoped to escape, but he came again with it, and,
with others, I signed it, thinking there was no
chance of its reaching even a consideration. It
was signed by many prominent men who hated to
refuse and hoped and thought it would result in
nothing. " Yours, very respectfully,

" Washington, August 1st, 1885.
" Dear Sir : — I have read your letter with
amazement and indignation. There is one — but
One — mitigation to the perfidy which your letter
discloses, and that is found in the fact you confess

292 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
your share in it. I don't know whether you are
a Democrat or not, but if you are the crime which K
you confess is the more unpardonable. The idea
that this Administration, pledged to ¦ give people
better officers and engaged in a hand-to-hand
fight with the bad elements of both parties, should
be betrayed by those who ought to be worthy of
implicit trust, is atrocious, and such treason to the
people and to the party ought to be punished by '
imprisonment. Your confession comes too late
to be of immediate use to the public service, and
I can only say that while this is not the first time
I have been deceived and misled by lying and
treacherous representations, you are the first one
that has so frankly owned his grievous fault. If
any comfort is to be extracted from this assur
ance you are welcome to it.
"GROVER CLEVELAND.'
Something of the same tone of resentment at
the exaction of unreasonable professed friends of
his policies is to be found in other letters of the
President and not unfrequently in his State papers.
In his Civil-Service reform letter to Dorman B.
Eaton, upon the retirement of that gentleman
from the Civil-Service Commission, Sept. nth,
1885, Mr. Cleveland said: " Of course, there
should be no surrender of principle, no backward
step ; and all laws for the enforcement of the re
form should be rigidly enforced ; but the benefits

PERSONAL QUALITIES. 293
which its principles promise will not be fully pro
duced unless the acquiescence of the people is
added to the stern assertion of doctrine and the
vigorous execution of the laws. It is a source of
congratulation that there are so many friends of
Civil-Service reform marshaled on the principal
side of the question, and that the number is not
greater of those who profess friendliness for the
cause and yet mischievously and with supercilious
air discredit every effort not in exact accord with
their attenuated ideas, decry with carping criticism
the labor of those actually in the field of reform,
and, ignoring the conditions which bind and qualify
every struggle for a radical improvement in the
affairs of government, demand complete perfec
tion." A strong and self-reliant MAN. '
If these and like expressions lay him open to
the charge of querulousness, it must be remem
bered they are the natural outgivings of a "strong,
independent, brave, industrious, and honest man.
Strength of will-power, inflexible courage, inde
fatigable industry and unquestionable, honesty are
his characteristics, not unmixed with a keen sense
of the humorous, sly sarcasm, and a generous,
sympathetic heart. Untiring himself, he expects
of his subordinates official industry, without shirk
ing. His habit is to stay up late at nights if ne
cessary for the completion of his tasks. He took

294 LIFE 0F GROVER CLEVELAND.
with him from Albany — where his close exami
nation of details was the marvel of those about
him — to the sphere of his enlarged labors at
Washington this habit of thorough examination
into the entire aspect of every case. It has hap
pened, not rarely, that a member of his Cabinet,
after submitting to him a matter in general, found
his chief next day more familiar with all the details
of it than he himself, although it may have required
the, better hours of the night to master them.
Withal, early rising and regular hours aid him to
the dispatch of enormous quantities of business,
without rendering himself inaccessible to the con
stantly increasing demands of personal visitors,
and without neglect of those numerous social
duties which have been discharged so graciously
by the present occupants of the White House as
to make their period one of the most brilliant ever
known in the history of the Presidential household.
A FRIEND OF LABOR.
A laborer himself, in the broadest significance
of the term, he has always been a faithful friend
and zealous, ally of every effort to improve the
condition of those who, by the toil of their hands,
have come to be regarded as the laboring men of
the country. In a special message, April 2 2d,
1886, he paid this tribute to their rights:
" Under our form of government the value of
labor as an element of national prosperity should

PERSONAL QUALITIES. 295
be , distinctly recognized, and the welfare of the
laboring man should be regarded as especially
entitled to legislative care'. In a country which
offers to all its citizens the highest attainment of
social and political distinction its workingmen
cannot justly or safely be considered as irre
vocably consigned to the , limits of a class and
entitled to no attention and allowed no protest
against neglect.
" The laboring man, bearing in his hand an in
dispensable contribution to our growth and pro
gress, may well insist, with manly courage and as
a right, upon the same recognition from those who
make our laws as is accorded to any other citizen
having a valuable interest in charge ; and his
reasonable demands should be met in such a spirit
of appreciation and fairness as to induce a con
tented and patriotic co-operation in the achieve
ment of a grand national destiny.
" While the real interests of labor are not pro
moted by a resort to threats and violent manifes
tations, and while those who, under the pretexts
of an advocacy of the claims of labor, wantonly
attack che rights of capital, and for selfish pur
poses or the love of disorder sow seeds of vio
lence and discontent, should neither be encouraged
nor conciliated, all legislation on the subject should
be calmly and deliberately undertaken, with no
purpose of satisfying unreasonable demands or
gaining partisan advantage."

296 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
THE DOMESTIC VIRTUES.
Appreciative of the necessity of preserving the
purity of the family as the unit of our social sys
tem, Mr. Cleveland early set his face against the
polygamous practices of the Mormon Society in
Utah, and in one of his messages he said :
"The strength, the perpetuity, and the destiny
of the Nation rest upon our homes, established
by the law of God, guarded by parental care, reg
ulated by parental authority, and sanctified by
parental love.
• " These are not the homes' of polygamy.
" The mothers of our land, who rule the Nation
as they mold the characters and guide the actions
of their sons, live according to God's holy ordi
nances, and each, secure and happy in the exclu
sive love of the father of her children, sheds the
warm light of true womanhood, unperverted and
unpolluted, upon all within her pure and whole
some family circle.
" These are not the cheerless, crushed, and un
womanly mothers of polygamy.
" The fathers of our families are the best citi
zens of the Republic. Wife and children are the
sources of patriotism, and conjugal and parental
affection beget devotion to the country. The man
who, undefiled with plural marriage, is surrounded
in his single home with his wife and children, has
a stake in the country which inspires him with re
spect for its laws and courage for its defense.

PERSONAL QUALITIES. 297
" These are not the fathers of polygamous fam
ilies. "There is no feature of this practice, or the
system which sanctions it, which is not opposed to
all that is of value in our institutions."
At the same time he regarded with scrupulous
care the political rights which every citizen of the
Republic possesses, and he never countenanced
against the deluded people of the Utah theocracy
the proscriptive campaign of persecution with fire
' and blood that has been so often recommended by
impracticable reformers, and so eagerly awaited by
hungry spoilsmen. The consequence is that af
ter twenty-five years of thunder in the index on
the part of the Republican party, without any cure
of the constantly increasing social evils in Utah,
within three years of the firm, resolute, and con
siderate Cleveland Administration there has been
accomplished in Salt Lake City a social revolu
tion which has already well-nigh eradicated polyg
amy, without the destruction of vested rights and
without assault upon the lawful accumulations of
a system of thrift and industry that no decent hu
man instincts could have desired to steal and de
spoil. CHARACTER AND CHARACTERISTICS.
With a high and even stern sense of official
duty, the sympathies of the President are easily
aroused. In the circles where he is most intimately

298 LIFE OF GR 0 VER CLE VELAND. '
known are current many incidents testifying to
the warmth of his generosity, his fidelity to friends,
and his sincere appreciation of the fireside virtues
which alike adorn citizen and ruler.
Plain and unpretentious in dress and, manner,
bred and accustomed to the courtesies of an
elevated social life, his walk and conversation
illustrate the character of an American gentleman,
and in the regulation of his private affairs he sets
the example which is so forcibly recommended in
these lines from his inaugural message :
" It is the duty of those serving the people in
public place to closely limit public expenditure to
the actual needs of the Government, economically
administered ; because this bounds the right of
the Government to exact tribute from the earnings
of labor or the property of the citizen and be
cause public extravagance begets extravagance
among the people. We should never be ashamed
of the simplicity and prudential economies which
are best suited to the operation of a republican
form of government and most compatible with
the mission of the American people. Those who
are selected for a limited time to manage public
affairs are still of the people and may do much
by their example to encourage, consistently with
the dignity of their official functions, that plain
way of life which among their fellow-citizens aids
integrity and propounds thrift."
In personal appearance Mr. Cleveland is little

rxKSONAL QUALITIES. 299
under six feet in height, though he is heavily built
and scarcely looks to be of his full stature. He
weighs about two hundred and fifty pounds ; his
hair is scant ; he wears a light mustache ; the lines
of his face are deeply graven and his ordinary
aspect is that of a grave and serious man, easily
lighted by a gleam of humor or a kindly feeling.
He generally dresses in a Prince Albert frock
coat, but on informal occasions wears a gray busi
ness suit, with cutaway or sack coat. His prin
cipal exercise is driving, especially since he has
taken a private residence at " Oak View," in the
suburbs of Washington. In conversation Mr.
Cleveland is a good listener, quiet, dignified, and
self-possessed, but not without a positive and
when necessary a dogmatic and resolute manner.
In public speech he is easy, self-contained, fluent,
and impressive. He holds to the Presbyterian
faith of his father, and attends Rev. Dr. Sunder
land's church.
Of the President's great-great-grandfather, who
died at Benjamin Franklin's house, August,
1757, that most illustrous man of his time and
greatest American of any age said :
" He is a gentleman easy and affable in' his con
versation, open and sincere in his friendship, and
above any species of meanness and dissimu
lation." These qualities have not been lost in the family
inheritance.

A Biographical Sketch

ALLEN CRANBERRY THURMAN,
EX-SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF OHIO,
AND
DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR VICE-PRESIDENT OF
' THE UNITED STATES, 1888..

" Rich in saving common sense."

" O good, gray head which all men knew,
O voice from which their omens all men drew,
O iron nerve to true occasion true."'

" His rank in the Senate was established from the day he took his seat,
and was never lowered during the period of his service." — Elaine's
Twenty Years of Congress,

^d?

cSs&v+sn^*.

Ervgr-oved. £.y- HL & C. Koevoet-s,
New YoT-k:.

CHAPTER I.
THE OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT.
IN the Federal Convention of " our wise an
cestors," who framed that Constitution under
which, with slight changes, the Government
has been administered successfully for more than
a century, the office of President, as it now exists,
and the mode of filling it, were not created and
adopted without serious variances of opinion and
repeated changes of plan.
In the article on President and Vice-President,
as finally adopted, it was provided that each elec
tor could vote for two persons as his choice for
President without expressing any preference or
distinction. The failure of any candidate to
receive a clear majority of all the votes cast, or a
tie resulting between the highest two candidates,
each with a majority — events not unlikely to occur
in the manifold political divisions of that day — was
provided for by the regulation that the House of
Representatives, voting by States, should make
choice between the two tied, or among the high
est five of whom none had received a majority.
The same article provided, however, that after
the choice of President, the next highest electoral
3°5

306 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
vote should designate the Vice-President ; and
only in the event of' a tie should the election to
that office be referred to Congress, and then to
the Senate, voting individually, and not to the pop
ular branch nor to a vote by States.
To the office of Vice-President itself, created
rather grudgingly, objection was made. " Such
an officer as Vice-President," said Williamson, "is
not wanted." Says Bancroft: "To make an ex
cuse for his existence the Convention decreed that
he should be President of the Senate." The
peculiar powers, duties, and significance of it have
always been more or less the subject of conten
tion. John Adams, the first Vice-President, said to
the Senate : " Gentlemen, I do not know whether
the framers of the Constitution had in view the two
Kings of Sparta, the two Consuls of Rome, or the
two Suffetes of Carthage when they formed it — the
one to have all the power while he held it, and the
other to be' nothing. Gentlemen, I feel great
difficulty how to act. I am possessed of two
separate powers — the one in esse, the other in posse.
I am Vice-President. In this Lam nothing, but I
may be everything. But I am President also of
the Senate. When the President comes into the
Senate what shall I be? I wish, gentlemen, to
think what I shall be." Years ago the Senate
took away from the Vice-President and assumed
for itself the power to appoint the working com
mittees of that body ; and except to preside in the

OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT. 307
Senate, and cast the deciding vote in case of a tie
it has been left to the Vice-President only to
await the contingency pointed out by that section
of the Federal Constitution which says : " In case
of the removal of the President from office, or of
his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the
powers and duties of the said office, the same
shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the
Congress may by law provide* for the case of re
moval, death, resignation or inability, both of the
President and Vice-President, declaring what
officer shall then act as President, and such officer
shall act accordingly, until the disability be re
moved, or a President shall be elected."
Under the original scheme of the Constitution
as framed by its authors, John Adams being the
second choice of a majority of the Electoral
College for President, both at the first and sec
ond elections of Washington, became the Vice-
President, although George Clinton, Republican,
received fifty electoral votes in 1792 to seventy-
seven for Adams. In the sharply contested strug
gle of 1796, Thomas Jefferson came within two
votes of the Presidency, and, receiving more votes
than the Federalist candidate for Vice-President,
he was chosen to the second place in an Admin
istration of which the Chief was his political antag
onist. * Congress has recently provided that in such cases the Secretary of
State shall act as President pending the new election.

308. LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURmaN.
It was not until after the treachery of Aaron
Burr in 1801, forcing a tie vote between him and
his Chief in the Electoral College, had opened the
eyes of the people to the danger of their real
choice being obstructed by the uncertain machin
ery of that cumbersome device, that such change
was made in the plan of electing the President
and Vice-President as tended to more directly se
cure the real expression of the popular will. By
the Twelfth Amendment, proposed by Congress
in 1803 and promptly ratified by the States, it was
prescribed that henceforth electors should desig
nate distinctly their one choice for President and
for Vice-President ; that " the person having the
greatest number of votes as Vice-President shall
be the Vice-President, if such number be a, ma
jority of the whole number of electors appointed;
and if no person have a majority, then from the
two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall
choose the Vice-President ; a quorum for the pur
pose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole num
ber of Senators, and a majority of the whole num
ber shall be necessary to a choice." By the same
Amendment an oversight of the original instru
ment was corrected in the enactment that "no
person Constitutionally ineligible to the office of
President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President
of the United States."
Burr, of course, failed of re-election to the
Vice-Presidency ; under Jefferson's second Ad-

1 OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT. 309
ministration and in the first of Madison's terms
George Clinton brought to the Vice-Presidency
an honored name, worth, and fit dignity. Elbridge
Gerry, elected Vice-President to Madison, died
suddenly in the second year of his term ; Daniel
D. Tompkins, who went into office and out of it
with Monroe, in the uneventful era of good feel
ing, was a more conspicuous statesman before
than after he became Vice-President; John C.
Calhoun, previously distinguished as a Represen
tative and by brilliant Cabinet service, became
Vice-President by the mutual consent of the fierce-
Adams and Jackson factions in the electoral strug
gle of 1824, but differed almost throughout
his Administration from President John Quincy
Adams, and was an active party to the combina
tion which defeated him.
Personal and political alienation and a revival
of the old troubles between Monroe's War Secre
tary and the chief captain of the Seminole War
soon produced a far more violent rupture between
Jackson and Calhoun than had ever occurred
. between Adams and Calhoun, ensuing in the lat-
ter's resignation of the Vice-Presidency and his
antagonism of Van Buren. Then followed Van
Buren's own political ascendency, first as Vice-
President, then as President, to be succeeded by
his defeat, even after Calhoun had become recon
ciled to his support.
Richard M. Johnson, the Van Buren candidate

3IO LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
for Vice-President, failed of election in the Elect
oral College ; he only received 147 electoral votes,
while his Chief had 1 70, the number necessary to
a choice being 148.
The election being referred to the Senate,
Johnson was chosen by 33 votes to 16 for Francis
Granger, the highest Whig candidate.
During the first thirteen Presidential terms,
covering the period from 1789 to 1841, none of
the eight Presidents died, resigned, or had been
impeached, and no one of the twelve persons who
within that period had acted as Vice-Presidents
had ever succeeded to the higher place. That
experience came to the 'country early in the Ad
ministration of Harrison, who died after a month
in office, and John Tyler became his successor.
His choice as a candidate on the Whig ticket of
1840 had been directed by a desire to secure the
support of an element different from that which
was rallied by Harrison's name ; and Tyler's de
fection from Whig principles and policies, which
might have been reasonably expected, called forth
for him bitter denunciation from his late sup
porters and added the word "Tylerize" to our
political nomenclature. John Tyler's estrange
ment from the party which made Harrison Presi
dent ought to have taught the politicians that they
had not, by the policy pursued in the selections
they made for Vice-President, avoided the dangers
which it had been sought to obviate by the con-

OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT. 3 1 1
stitutional amendment of 1803. But the lesson
has not always been heeded. Since 1841 it hap
pened, within a period no longer than the space
of a generation, that three Vice-Presidents suc
ceeded to vacancies caused by death ; none of
them united his party in support of his Adminis
tration, nor attained by election the office to
which he came by accident, though all aspired to
it. Fillmore was chosen Vice-President by the same
electors who made Taylor President, but his
signature to the Fugitive Slave Law, approved
by a vote of 227 to 60 in the next National Con
vention of his party, lost him a renomination.
William R. King's long career of usefulness and
distinction was crowned with election to the Vice-
Presidency ; and a graceful grant by Congress
gave him permission to take the oath of office in
Cuba, where, on March 4th, 1853, he was sojourn
ing for his health.
John C. Breckenridge's name was a fit one to
be associated with any Democratic candidate
and to be honored by election in 1856. He
was the nominee of one wing of his party,
in its fatal dissensions of i860, for the1 highest
place. Hamlin's defeat for renomination, in 1864,
was due to a spirit of concession to the Southern
Loyalists, and resulted in the Johnson succession
to the murdered Lincoln, with all the train of
political complications that followed. Colfax's de-

3 1 2 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
feat for renomination as Vice-President with
Grant is ascribed to the hostility of the newspaper
correspondents, whose righteous wrath he had
provoked. Mr. Wheeler " glided through the
official routine " of Hayes' term to be submerged
by the obscurity which settled upon the whole of
that Administration ; while Arthur shared the fate
of Fillmore — in seeing his policy almost unan
imously indorsed by his party and himself rejected
by that dominant faction which had chosen the
head of the ticket in 1880, and completed it with
a view to reconcile the disappointed elements of
the Convention, having no thought to the re
mote contingency of the Presidential succession.
Since John C. Calhoun's day no Vice-President
has ever been re-elected, and no man who became
President by succession has been subsequently
elected to the office

CHAPTER II.
THE LINEAGE AND YOUTH OF THURMAN.

A

LTHOUGH the name of Allen Granberry
Thurman has been a household word
with the Democracy of the whole coun
try for twenty years, arid during all that period
he has stood in the front rank among its leaders,
the nomination to the Vice- Presidency in 1888
came to him as the result of no seeking nor soli
citation on his part, and with no thought as to the
effect of his election upon a political career al
ready well rounded out. Twice before his name
had been greeted with loud acclaim in the National
Conventions, when mentioned in connection with
the highest place, and of late years he had
shunned rather than sought political distinction.
He had come to prefer the ease and seclusion of
private life, with only occasional sallies into the
fields where he had won the highest professional
and political honors, to the turmoil of the battle
in whose fiercest passages he had so often by
stubborn resistance or brilliant onset turned de
feat to victory for his party.
This present sketch will deal with his career,
therefore, as that of one whose fame is already
3'3

3 1 4 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
established, whose name is familiarly known, and
whose career is the possession and the pride of a
large portion of his fellow-countrymen.
A citizen of Ohio during the three decades in
which that Commonwealth has achieved and kept
its place as of third importance in the sisterhood
of the Union, his name illustrates a very large
part of its history and combines the surnames of
two families who have given lustre to Ohio's
escutcheon. In the Federal Capitol, in that hall
where, by the invitation of the nation, each State
places the statues of two of its most distinguished
sons, -Ohio has set side by side with the figure of
Garfield, the last President from that State, the
commanding statue of William Allen. That
brilliant lawyer, strong-minded statesman, and
powerful orator was the brother of Allen G.
Thurman's mother and the companion and pre
ceptor of the son.
THE THURMANS AND ALLENS.
On both sides, through the strain alike of his
paternal and of his maternal ancestors, Allen
Granberry Thurman inherits that " good blood "
which it is the just pride of every democratic
American citizen to trace through forerunners
who were honest, industrious, and intelligent men
and women, from whatever land they came and
in whatever vocation they worked and walked
upright. Nathan Thurman, a Virginia planter

LINEAGE AND YOUTH OF THURMAN. 315
and Baptist preacher, born in Prince Edward
County, January 1 7th, 1 743, was a son of Richard
and Sarah Thurman ; his ancestors came of good
Saxon stock ; their character fits a name that in
every language where its root is found signifies
the true, strong, manly qualities which have ever
characterized the race. He was a volunteer in
the Indian Wars which preceded the Revolution,
and he bore arms and a patriotic part in the larger
struggle for our independence and self-govern
ment. August 5th, 1760, Nathan Thurman mar
ried Rebecca Jennings, of Virginia family, and
Heaven blessed them with twelve children, nearly
all of whom lived to advanced ages. Of these,
Pleasant was born in Pittsylvania County, Vir
ginia, October 23d, 1783, and died at Chillicothe,
Ohio, February 13th, 1856. He was the father of
Allen G., and early in life he devoted himself to
the ministry of the divine gospel. He was or
dained a deacon of the Methodist Episcopal
Church February 3d, 1808 ; an elder February
14th, 1 810, and he traveled the circuit as an
itinerant preacher for seven years. He was
pastor at Edenton, N. C, in 181 1, and on the
2 1 st of May, that year, he was married to Mary
G. Allen, the daughter of a prominent citizen of
that State.
Nathaniel Allen and family emigrated from
England in the ship that brought hither William
Penn, founder of the liberal and progressive

31 6 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, late in the
seventeenth century. The family lived in Phila
delphia for many years, and a great-grandson,
Nathaniel again, married Sarah Hewes, who was a
sister of Joseph Hewes, one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence. Of the children of
this union the eldest two sons, Joseph and Aaron,
were sent to Oxford, England, to be educated.
Aaron died there, and the illness of Joseph ter
minated fatally on his homeward ocean voyage.
Hannah, the eldest daughter, married Robert
Gill, a sea captain in the East India trade, and
subsequently Washington's appointee as Naval
Agent at Philadelphia. Three daughters remained
unmarried, and Mary, the youngest, became the
wife of Captain Davis, of Alexandria, Va. Na
thaniel Allen, the youngest son, born in Philadel
phia April ioth, 1755, died in North Carolina in
1805, at the age of nine was adopted by his
uncle, the Signer, and his career was achieved in
North Carolina. He did gallant service for Inde
pendence during the Revolution, served in the
Legislature, and had honorable success as a mer
chant. Mary Dawson was his first wife ; she
died young, and in 1781 he married Mary, daugh
ter of Joseph and Christianna Granberry. His
second wife died at the early age of thirty-two,
and of her two children, Joseph Henry and
Mary Granberry, the latter became the mother of
Allen G. Thurman. She was born in Edenton,

LINEAGE AND YOUTH OF THURMAN. 3 1 7
North Carolina, October 20th, 1789, and died in
Chillicothe, Ohio, in 185 1, just about the time her
son attained the highest judicial honors of his
adopted State. Nathaniel Allen contracted a
third marriage, and fqur other sons were born to
him, of whom the youngest,; William, born De
cember, 1803, afterward removed from Virginia
to Ohio and became United States Senator and
Governor. ALLEN G. THURMAN'S BOYHOOD.
In the course of his ministrations as an itiner
ant, Pleasant Thurman moved to Lynchburg, Vir
ginia, in the neighborhood of his family estates,
and there his eldest son, Allen Granberry, was
born at 3.30 p. m., November 13th, 181 3. He was
baptized by Bishop McKendree January 30th,
1 81 4, when the holy man conferred upon him the
two honorable names which his mother bore.
Of the other children of that marriage, two sons
and five daughters, none survived except the
youngest sister of Allen, Henrietta Jennings, the
wife of Rev. C. Riemensnyder, of Lancaster, Pa.,
to whom and her family the great ex-Senator
makes frequent fraternal visits.
When Pleasant Thurman's father grew older
and an increasing feeling of dissatisfaction with
the slavery system, as well as inability to manage
his negroes, strongly induced him to make a change
of life, he prevailed upon his# son to cease his active

3i8

LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN^

ministry and remove to Madison, Amherst Comity,
Virginia, across the James River from Lynchburg;
there these early emancipators set about the
practical operation of freeing their bondsmen, and
yet they sought to care for their moral and spirit
ual welfare to a degree uncommon among the
slaveholders. It was only to be expected from the
self-denying spirit of those whose desire to man
umit their slaves had induced them to yield their
property as a sacrifice to humanity and freedom.
Beyond the Ohio River, to the Northwest, lay not
only the greatest future development of the coun
try but the land of liberty, where to free the
bondsman from his chains was to open to him
opportunity. The elder Mrs. Thurman then being dead, the
family, their, personal effects, stock, and negroes,
numbering eighteen grown males, wives and
children, were transported by wagon, pack-horse,
and on foot, through wilderness, over mountains,
by bridle path and forest road, to the borders of
the Ohio River, and there ferried across. Once
landed on the other side, the negroes were set
free. They danced with joy at being declared no
longer slaves. But in whatever humane spirit
conceived, their emancipation was of doubtful
advantage to the males, unused to and unfitted
for judicious exercise of their new privileges, and
many of them became idle and vicious; one "Black
Sam," the smartest and worst of the lot, for whom

LINEAGE AND YOUTH OF THURMAN.

319

his late master had been offered $1,000, served
several terms in the State prison, where he met a
number of his companions of greater or less
offending. The women, as a rule, turned out bet
ter, and by industry supported their families.
On November 29th, 1819, when his father set
out for Ohio, young Allen G. Thurman was barely
six years old, and almost his first well remembered
experiences of life were in a State to which his
ancestors had been strangers, and which was itself
then in only a formative condition. He could
have had no recollection of that memorable day
not long after the battle of New Orleans, when,
m his native town of Lynchburg, Thomas Jeffer
son, walking side by side with Andrew Jackson,
amid all the demonstrations of popular rejoicing,
presented a spectacle calculated to impress a child
with Democratic tendencies that wouldlast through
life. The Thurman family settled in Chillicothe, then,
a flourishing town of the new Commonwealth, and
the father, a man of culture and scholarship, bore
his part in the moral and material development of
the neighborhood by teaching in the village schools
and by attention to his business interests, which
consisted of two-thirds ownership in a woolen
mill. He was not without honor in his community
and was elected Burgess and Justice of the Peace
for two terms.
The lad's education was largely directed, and

320 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
in him were planted the seeds of self-reliant
character and refined culture, by his mother, a
woman of strength and nobility of mind. Young
Allen attended the High School, and subsequently
the Academy — one of those admirable training
schools of Liberal education and classical culture
that have been, . alas ! too generally uprooted by
what we are pleased to call more "popular"
schemes of instruction. Out of that institution,
which, like others of its kind the country over, was
the nursery of many brilliant intellects, the boy
Thurman saw, with grievous disappointment, many
of his companions go to the larger advantages of
college life, and it is related that when they
mounted the stage to leave, his disappointment
was so grievous that he lay down on a flat grave
stone in the Presbyterian graveyard and poured
out his lamentations in passionate, tears for hours.
INTELLECTUAL AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.
Youthful as he was, he had undaunted spirit,
and speedily recovered from his passing grief.
He determined with the books and chance he had
to outstrip even his more fortunate fellows, and
applied himself to every study with a resolute
purpose to master it. The light was often burn
ing in his room, as he pored over his books, until
the coming dawn chased .his weary head to its
pillow. As early as at fourteen years* of age he

LINEAGE AND YOUTH OF THURMAN. 32 I
taught school, walking three miles into the coun
try to do his daily task. He worked at surveying
to help his father and to contribute to larger edu
cational advantages for himself. He returned to
the Academy after having made of himself a thor
ough mathematician and skilled surveyor, and
acquired thorough knowledge of Latin, though
never taking kindly to Greek. Close application
had worn him down bodily, and he spent, to great
physical profit, a year in surveying lands for
owners and occupants in the Virginia military
district, that section of Ohio lying between the
Scioto and Miami Rivers, over which Ohio had ju
risdiction but which Virginia had reserved for the
benefit of her Revolutionary soldiers. Many of
these beneficiaries sold their warrants to specu
lators, and for extensive locators like Governor
McArthur, Wallace, Latham, and others, young
Thurman did a great deal of work in running lines
and designating grants. Besides this occupation,
he served as a clerk in the town post-office, and
with his earnings then, as ever since, he was gen
erous in filial and fraternal attention.
To the accomplishments which years of hard
study, crowned by early graduation from the
Academy with high honors gave him, Thurman
in early life added a knowledge of French that was
rare in his day and is not frequent even among
public men of distinction in this generation. This
circumstance he owed somewhat to the watchful

12 2 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
care and culture of his mother, and to the addi
tional fact of his association with Professor Gre
goire, a Frenchman, who, disappointed in land
speculations, came to Chillicothe as a teacher of
French, and whose motherless little daughter be
came, at the instance of the kind-hearted Mrs.
Thurman, an inmate of her household and a com
panion to her boy.
Besides his exercise in the fields and woods as
a surveyor, an occasional indulgence in a deer
hunt, a ride with the hounds, and two months ser
vices as assistant tax collector aided to rebuild
his physical constitution and to strengthen him
for the arduous duties which in the great career
that lay before him were to tax and try extraor
dinary powers of bodily endurance.

CHAPTER III.
MR. THURMAN AS A LAWYER  AT THE BAR AND ON
THE BENCH.
THE Chillicothe Bar fifty years ago was a
strong one. William Allen had walked
over the mountains from Virginia to the
new Commonwealth, trusting his fortunes to the
never failing aid of his half-sister, Allen G. Thur-
man's mother, and her husband, who had settled
in Chillicothe. Under their wise direction, and
with their generous help, Allen had completed his
academic and legal studies and attained a high
place at the bar. The elder Thomas Ewing,
Judge Scott, Colonel King, Henry Stanberry,
William Creighton, Benjamin F. Leonard, and H.
H. Hunter are the names of some others whose
eloquence, wit, and learning were at once the ad
miration and the fear of the ambitious young law
student of that day in Ross County, Ohio. The
mother of young Thurman and his uncle were
agreed in their counsel that he should study law,
and a place as student was given to him in the
office of William Allen. He applied himself with
the assiduity that marked his school experience
and which has been the foundation of nearly every
great success in the legal profession. 323

324 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
Meantime his preceptor had been elected to
Congress. Governor Lucas was then the Chief
Executive of Ohio — subsequently he became
Governor of Iowa Territory. He knew young
Thurman as an active Democrat already, and in
the winter of 1834 the Governor wrote to him
that his private secretary was going to Cincinnati
and he wanted Thurman to take his place. He ac
cepted it and went to Columbus, but in connection
with his official duties continued his law studies
with Judge Swayne, afterward Justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States. In May,
1835, he found himself prepared for examination
for admission to the bar. The Judges of the
court were then sitting at Washington, Fayette
County, and would not get to Chillicothe before
November. He went down to Washington,
stood the public examination then in vogue .with
credit to himself and with satisfaction to the Com
mittee of the bar and to the bench, and was ad
mitted to practice in the courts of Ohio.
AT THE BAR.
He returned to Chillicothe and very soon formed
a partnership with his distinguished uncle. Mr.
Allen being elected to the United States Senate
in 1836, virtually quit the practice of law, and
the work of the office fell almost entirely upon
young Thurman. His shoulders bore it well.
The judicial district in which Chillicothe was lo-

MR. THURMAN AS A LA WYER. ¦, 2 -
cated comprised the four counties of Ross, Pike,
Jackson, and Fayette, and in these four lay the
young lawyer's practice. He rode from one
county seat to the other on horseback, and in ten
years practice he never missed a court in any one
of the counties on the circuit. No lawyer ever
worked harder ; he was alike at h®me in every
branch of practice, although he early became dis
inclined to and gradually abandoned' the petty
criminal business.
His first case came to him in this fashion : He
was about setting out for the Jackson County
Court when Colonel William T. Murphy, one of
the older lawyers of Chillicothe, hailed him with a
request that he take charge of a suit for him
there. In the Congressional contest between
William Allen, Democrat, and Duncan McArthur,
Whig, who had abandoned the attempt to be re
elected Governor to make this fight, William
Allen had been elected by one vote. Murphy had
run as a "bolting" Independent Democratic can
didate, mainly to beat Allen. Chagrined at his
failure by so close a shave, he was not in a partic
ularly amiable mood with his Jackson County
client, o'ne Wilber, a Yankee, who, though a de
voted friend professionally, was too ardent a Dem
ocrat to vote for a " bolter," and had stuck to Al
len in the canvass just closed. He especially ag
gravated Murphy by claiming that his own single
vote had elected Allen ; and, whether from "this or

326 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
some other cause, Murphy was unwilling to go
over and try his case. Young Thurman felt diffi
dent about undertaking it. Being pressed, how
ever, he took Murphy's brief and devoted himself
to close study of it as he rode horseback to Jack
son. He soon discovered that the action had
been brought* erroneously in trover when it should
have been in assumpsit.
Wilber's disappointment at the failure of his
counsel to come was not allayed by the unprom
ising substitute he had sent in the fledgling Thur
man. When the young lawyer told Wilber that
the suit was wrongly brought, they would be non
suited, and he declined to take the responsibility
of going on with the case, his new client declared
that Murphy, " the  rascal, did that on purpose
to punish me for voting for Bill' Allen ;" but no
diffidence on Thurman's part discouraged him.
He insisted that the case should proceed, and the
youthful counsel who had discovered Murphy's
error was warmly commended to him by his quick
perception and frankness. Thurman contented
himself by reading Murphy's brief, and suffered a
non-suit. Nothing daunted by the result, Wilbrr
took to sounding his praises, became his client
and influential friend, and, being a litigious person
and subsequently gaining many lawsuits with his
young attorney, the association so unpropitiously
begun turned out to be of great advantage to
Thurman.

MR. THURMAN AS A LA WYER.

IN GENERAL PRACTICE.

327

In the trial of disputed land titles, his experi
ence in the field, and his thorough knowledge of
surveying, served him well. Water-rights and mill-
dam, powers were frequent subjects of contention
in the courts of that day, and collections, con
tracts, ejectments, and all the elements of a mis
cellaneous practice in a country town made up
his regular professional work. A one-hundred
dollar fee in that day was an unusual event. Mr.
Allen retiring from practice, Thurman associated
with him Theodore Sherer, who remained a law
partner until his senior was chosen to the Ohio
Supreme Bench in 1851.
During all this time he was active in politics,
consistent in his Democracy, and as unceasing as
he was fearless in his labors to promote the suc
cess of his party in its local, State, and National
campaigns. But he refused/ to be diverted from
the path of professional application in which he
had set his feet to any office of political honor or
emolument. He declined candidacy for all official
place, except the single term of Congress for
which he was nominated, against his will, in his
absence from the State in 1844 — an event which,
with its results, will be considered hereafter in a
review of his political career.
As a lawyer he was studious, prompt, pains
taking in his preparation, logical, quick to discern

328 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
the weak points of the opposition, and aggressive
in attack at the opportune time. He practiced
largely in the Supreme Court of Ohio and of the
United States, and as early as 185 1 he was known
and recognized throughout the State as one of its
foremost lawyers. ,
ELECTED TO THE SUPREME BENCH.
Under the new Constitution of Ohio its Su
preme Court was to be reorganized in 1851 by
the election of five new judges on a single ticket.
Thurman was the unanimous choice of his party
for one of the places. The Democrats were suc
cessful in the election of all their nominees in the
fall of 1 85 1, and the Judges elect drew lots for
their terms, the chief-justiceship to go in turn to
those whose terms first expired. Mr. Thurman
went upon the bench in February, 1852, and
drew the four-year term, but Judge Corwin, who
drew the three-year term, res'igned, and the chief
place on the bench went to Judge Thurman for
more than one year (December 4th, 1854-Feb-
ruary 9th, 1856.)
The same qualities of mind, thorough knowl
edge, keen discernment and positive, direct as
sertion which had distinguished him as a lawyer
characterized his labors on the bench. Asso
ciated with men who then ranked high, and some
of whom afterward gained larger fame, Chief-
Justice Thurman easily led the court while he was

MR. THURMAN AS A LAWYER.

329

a member of it. Charged with the construction
of the new Constitution and the duty of adjusting
it to the conditions under which the State's juris
prudence had been developed, his term of service
was a most important one in the constitutional
and judicial history of Ohio. The State Reports
(Volumes I-V) of this time are enriched with
many opinions exhibitinghislearning, perspicacity,
and cogent reasoning. Among these, and be-
sides many others of no^less importance, was that
in Bloom v. Richards (2 Ohio St., 387), in which
case the point in issue was whether or not specific
performance could be enforced of a contract which
was made on Sunday for the sale of lands. The
syllabus of the opinion in this case is as follows :
A contract, entered into on a Sunday, was not
for that reason void at common law.
With perhaps a single exception, all the cases,
English and American, in which contracts have
been declared void because made on a Sunday,
rest upon the ground of a statutory prohibition.
But even were such a contract void by the
common law, it would not necessarily follow that
it is void in Ohio.
The English common law, so far as it is reason
able in itself, suitable to the condition and business
of our people, and consistent with the letter and
spirit of our Federal and State Constitutions and
statutes, has been and is followed by our courts,
and may be said to constitute a part of the com
mon law of Ohio. But whenever it has been
found wanting in either of these requisites, our

330 life of allen g. thurman.
courts have not hesitated to modify it to suit our
circumstances, or, if necessary, wholly to depart
from it.
Christianity is a part of the common law of
England, but, under the provisions of our Consti
tution, neither Christianity nor any other system
of religion is a part of the law of this State.
We have no union of Church and State, nor
has our Government ever been vested with au
thority to enforce any religious observance simply
because it is religious. Of course, it is no objec
tion, but, on the contrary, it is a high recommen
dation to a legislative enactment, based upon jus
tice or public policy, that is found to coincide with
the precepts of a pure religion : nevertheless, the
power to make the law rests in the legislative
control over things temporal, and not over things
spiritual. The statute, prohibiting common labor on the
Sabbath, could not stand for a moment as the
law of this State, if its sole foundation was the
Christian duty of keeping that day holy, and its
sole motive to enforce the observance of that duty.
It is to be regarded as a mere municipal or police
regulation, whose validity ,is neither strengthened
nor weakened by the fact that the day of rest it
enjoins is the Sabbath day.
Numerous cases may be found in which con
tracts entered into uppn a Sunday, have been
declared invalid, but it will be seen, by an exami
nation of the statutes, under which these decisions
were made, that they are, in every instance, much
more comprehensive than the Ohio enactment.
Their prohibition is not, like that of the Ohio
law, of common labor simply, but of any manner

MR. THURMAN AS A LAWYER. 331
of worldly business, save acts of necessity or
charity. It seems to be the common expression of the
courts, that the making of a contract is business,
within the meaning of the acts they are construing.
Neither in common parlance, nor in its strict
philological sense, does the expression, " common
labor," embrace the simple making of a bargain.
It is not to be understood, that because a Sun
day contract may be valid, therefore business may
be transacted upon that as upon other days — as
for instance, by a merchant, not of the excepted
' class. To wait upon his customers and receive
and sell his wares, is the common labor of a mer
chant, and there is a broad distinction between
pursuing this avocation, and the case of a single
sale out of the ordinary course of business. But
the mere making of a contract on Sunday is nqt
prohibited by the statute of Ohio.
The opinion in Bloom v. Richards, in which the
entire court concurred, is a m°st comprehensive
and learned review of the subject to which it re
lates. It is especially clear in its distinction be
tween the provisions of the Ohio Constitution and
the law of other Commonwealths that had been
less liberal in framing their fundamental provi
sions. It has long stood as high authority over
the whole country. RETURN TO THE BAR.
The salary of a Judge of the Supreme Court of
Ohio was not commensurate with the earnings of

332 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
a lawyer of the highest ability and greatest repu
tation, and at the close of his term Judge Thur
man declined to be a candidate for re-election.
He returned to his practice, and, unlike many
judges whom an experience on the bench rather
disables for general practice, he came back to it
with renewed strength and fitness, and at once
leaped into a far more lucrative business than he
had ever before enjoyed.
During his term as Judge of the Supreme
Bench he had removed his residence from Chilli
cothe to Columbus, the capital of the State, where
he has lived ever since. There he located his law
office, and henceforth his practice dealt with the
largest concerns. In the State and Federal .
courts he was known equally well as a 'sagacious
counselor, a most ingenious and forcible attorney
before the court in banc, and a persuasive and
subtle advocate in jury trials. His business re
lations and undiminished political activity gave
him wide acquaintance throughout the State.
While Chase, Sherman, Wade, and other leading
men of Ohio, whom more favorable political con
ditions brought into national prominence, were
better known to the country at large, close devo
tion to the law was gaining for Thurman advan
tages which, when his time came to profit by them
in a Senatorial career, equipped him to take a
front rank from the start in a chamber then well
filled with brilliant and distinguished men.

MR. THURMAN AS A LAWYER. 333
After his election to the Senate and during his
service in Washington, Mr. Thurman gave little
attention to law practice, save in about a dozen
important cases with which his relations could not .
be violently sundered. His political distinction
and eminent public services are, however, chiefly
due to his character as a great lawyer; on the
Judiciary Committee or the floor of the Senate, as
a member of the International Monetary Confer
ence, as arbiter between the Trunk Line Railroad
Companies, as counsel for the Government in the
telephone cases, as an arbitrator between the
operators and miners in the Hocking Valley, and
finally in his last professional service as associate
counsel for the prosecution of the accused of his
own political party in the tally-sheet forgery cases,
he has held his place and justified his reputation as
one of the first lawyers of the United States. His
eminence and success he owes in large measure
to natural endowment. God gave to him an in
herent love of justice, and he cultivated his genius
with that singleness of purpose'which makes much
for greatness. " If therefore thine eye be single,
thy whole body shall be full of light."

CHAPTER IV.
EARLY INTEREST IN POLITICS  ON THE STUMP AND
IN CONGRESS  ELECTED TO THE SENATE.
FROM his ancestry and family connections it
was quite natural that the boy Thurman
should manifest early political inclinations
toward the Jacksonian Democracy. He took an
active interest in the violent discussions of the
period when he was growing to manhood and
when politics absorbed far more of serious popu
lar attention than now. He first mounted the
stump before he was of age, at Piketon, Pike
County, where enthusiastic friends forced him,
reluctant, to assume the rights of an elector to
harangue the_ crowd. He had " peddled" tickets
for Jackson in 1828, the ballots for the entire
State being then printed in Cincinnati and sent to
the county-seats. Young Thurman spent as much
as two weeks time taking them from house to
house in Ross, Scioto, and Pike Counties. His
personal acquaintances and his work as a sur
veyor brought him into association with many
of the prominent men of his party in the State ;
and when Governor Lucas sent for him to come
to Columbus as his Secretary he had already
surveyed through the hills with that statesman.
In his uncle's campaigns he participated with
334

EARLY INTEREST IN POLITICS. 335
much energy, and his party found in.him a willing
and indefatigable worker. t
It was not until 1844 tnat ne allowed himself to
be nominated for any office, his energies being
chiefly directed to building up his practice and to
aiding in the support of his father's family, espe
cially the education of his sisters. In the midst of
the famous Polk-Clay campaign of 1844, and
during his absence from the State, in Kentucky,
he was nominated for Congress in the district com
posed of Ross, Adams, Jackson, Pike, and Hocking
Counties. At the election previous Ex-Governor
Lucas (who had come back to the State from
Iowa) lost the district as the Democratic candi
date, being beaten by John I. Van Meter, Whig,
by 250 majority. The Democrats in their neces
sity turned to their strongest man to recover
their prestige and their Congressional repre
sentation. A spirited contest ensued, marked,
however, as all Thurman's political controversies
haye been, by personal courtesy and good feeling.
Thurman spent a week on the stump in each
county of the district. His opponent was a fine
gentleman but not a public speaker, and he was
beaten by over four hundred.
IN CONGRESS, I 845-47.
Mr. Thurman went to Washington in Decem
ber, 1845. at the opening of the term of Congress,
and he recalls that he entered, public life there

336 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
on the same day as Simon Cameron, who had
been elected Senator from Pennsylvania for the,
first time. They boarded at the same house,
Young Gadsby's.
These were great days in Washington. The
Senatorial giants were in the maturity of their
powers. The tariff of 1846, the Mexican War,
and the Oregon question were some of ,the sub
jects of disputation during his single Congres
sional term. He served on the Judiciary Com
mittee in the House, of which body Dr. John W.
Davis, of Indiana, was Speaker.
He supported the Administration and its con
duct of the Mexican War. He made a speech
on the Oregon issue, and stood firm with Stephen
A. Douglas, Andrew Johnson, and Howell Cobb
against the abandonment by most of his Demo
cratic colleagues of the bold position they had
before taken for " Fifty-four Forty or Fight.''
In the division of the Northern Democrats over
the " Wilmot Proviso " he voted with Hannibal
Hamlin, Preston King, Simon Cameron, and
John Wentworth, of his party, in favor of that
momentous amendment to the proposed execu

tive grant.

Remotely removed from his law practice, in the
days of slow communication between the East
and West, with very moderate accumulation of
fortune, and having assumed new responsibili
ties by his recent marriage, Mr. Thurman recog-

EARL Y INTEREST IN POLITICS.

337

nized that he could not afford to remain in Con
gress at a salary of eight dollars per day and
heavy personal expenses. He declined re
nomination and renewed his attention to his law
practice. He abated none of his active interest in politics
and shirked no task that it imposed upon him.
Having withheld himself from partisan interfer
ence while on the bench, upon re-entering politi
cal life he resolutely resisted the arrogance of the
slave power, and in the Douglas-Buchanan party
differences he opposed the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise and advocated non-interference of
the Federal Government for slavery in the Ter
ritories. He was against the Lecompton Con
stitution for Kansas, and supported Douglas for
President in i860, though never accepting his
doctrine of " squatter sovereignty." He strenu
ously antagonized the doctrine of secession and
loyally supported the Union cause. He believed
in the vigorous prosecution of the war, though he
never justified the resort to unconstitutional
means nor recognized the necessity of imperiling
the Union to save it. He had but two logical al
ternatives as to the relation of the seceded States
to the General Government : If they were out of
the Union the North was at war with them and
every loyal man must stand by the flag ; if they
were in the Union, they were in a state of insur
rection that must be suppressed.

338 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN. ,
THE CANVASS OF 1 867.
In 1867 a Legislature was to be chosen in Ohio
to name a successor to Ben Wade, then United
States Senator ; a Governor Was to be elected,
and, in advance of the ratification of the Fifteenth
Amendment to the Federal Constitution, negro
suffrage was to be imposed upon this Common
wealth by the popular adoption of a State consti
tutional amendment. To the leadership of the
Democratic party in the field its ablest champion,
in the person of Allen G. Thurman, was called by
unanimous nomination for Governor. Ruther
ford B. Hayes was the Republican candidate.
Then, ensued a remarkable campaign, which at
tracted attention throughout the country. Mainly
through Mr. Thurman'sown efforts and direction
a close and thorough organization of his party was
effected. He led the fight himself, and for sixty-
five consecutive working days he was on the
stump, saving only two days . which he spent in
Columbus in council with the Executive Com
mittee. He made over one hundred speeches.
The negro suffrage amendment was beaten by
fifty thousand. Hayes was barely elected by
three thousand plurality, and the House and Sen
ate were Democratic. For the United States
Senatorship the people of his party named him
with loud acclaim, and in the legislative caucus he
was chosen by a vote nearly double that received

EARL Y INTEREST IN POLITICS. ^yg
by his only opponent, the late Clement L. Vallan-
digham. Men of all parties recognized the fitness
of bestowing upon him the highest honors of a
campaign which he organized and directed with
unequaled sagacity and skill. The new Legis
lature chose him as the successor of Benjamin F.
Wade, United States Senator from Ohio.
AS A CAMPAIGN SPEAKER.
In this campaign Mr. Thurman exhibited- the
widest range of his powers as a public speaker,
an organizer, and a far-sighted statesman ; no
less did he display a remarkable physical vigor
and adaptation to all the conditions to which an
active campaigning candidate is exposed. Popu
lar and effective as he has always been on the
stump, he never abandons his logic, never sacri
fices directness of address to rhetorical flights,
nor supplants argument with abuse of his op
ponents. In a speech in the campaign of 1868,
at Sandusky, Ohio, he said what he might, with
justice, have said of his speeches generally on the
hustings or in the Senate :
" I am profoundly grateful, I assure you, for the
cordiality and warmth of your welcome. I shall
endeavor to repay it by speaking on subjects
worthy of your attention, and in the language of
soberness and truth befitting the occasion. I am
not here to declaim, however pardonable declama
tion might be — I am not here to indulge in abuse,

34Q

LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.

however justifiable might be strong terms of con
demnation. For that style and mode Of speak
ing, in which rhetoric is preferred to reason, hard
names to argument, and unfounded assertions to
incontestable facts, I have neither capacity, incli
nation, nor taste. What I desire is, to present to
my fellow-citizens, who honor me with their at
tention, undeniable facts and sound arguments
upon matters that deeply concern them, and to do
this in the plainest and clearest language that I
am capable of using."
ON THE TARIFF TWENTY YEARS AGO.
From the same speech may fitly be made at
this time an extract on the tariff issue, to show
how clearly he foreshadowed the issue of the cam
paign in which he has come to be one of the
standard-bearers in 1888.
On September 7th, 1868, he said :
" I desire to call your attention, first, to the sub
ject of the tariff. What is the tariff? It is a duty
or tax levied by the Government upon goods
imported into the United States. When no higher
than was required for the purposes of revenue, it
has always been cheerfully acquiesced in by the
people. They have generally preferred it to any
other mode of taxation, and they have not objected
to so arranging a revenue tariff as to afford inci-
dental protection or benefit to our own manufac
turers. But when a tariff, like that now in force,

EARL Y INTEREST IN POLITICS.

341

is framed, not for revenue purposes, but to give
one class of capitalists a monopoly of the market,
or, at least, to enhance the price of everything
they make, and thus burden the consumers, it
becomes seriously oppressive. It is a tax that
benefits no one but the favored capitalist. It does
not benefit the Government, for a greater revenue
would be produced by a lower tax. When a tariff
is exorbitant, importations fall off, the revenue
fails, and the Government loses. But the favored
monopolist, having the market substantially to
himself, adds to the price of his commodities, and
the consumers suffer. Whether they buy im
ported or domestic goods, in the price they pay
for them they pay the tax levied by the Govern
ment. If the goods be imported, the importer
pays the tax, and adds it, with a per cent, of inter
est or profit, to the price when he sells to the retail
-merchant, and the latter adds to that his per cent.
of interest or profit when he sells to the consumer,
who is the man that in the end pays the tax, and
the profits or interest thereon. If the goods
be not imported, yet the domestic manufacturer
raises the price of his goods to that of the im
portations, and so the consumer pays the amount
of the tax, while the Government gets ndt one
cent of it. Now, that is precisely what is going
on every day. There is not an article you wear,
the price of which is not enhanced by the enor
mous tariff duties levied by our Government."

342 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
THE IMPOVERISHMENT OF THE SOUTH.
In the same speech he depicted with vivid effect
the impoverished condition of the South, owing
to the misdirected system of reconstruction im
posed upon it ; and he pointed out the economic
loss occasioned to the North by this miserable pol
icy of sectional hate and partisan greed.
He said:
" My friends, have you any idea of the impov
erishment of the South ? If you have not, let me
give one fact from the official records of the
Treasury Department, about which there can be
no mistake, and which reveals it in a startling.
light. You know that our Radical rulers have
established the most inquisitorial and searching
system of taxation the world ever saw. It fol
lows a man wherever he goes, and directly or in
directly taxes him on all he eats or drinks or
wears ; it attends him in sickness as well as in
health, and, reluctant to give up its grasp, it ac
companies him to the grave ; and when, at last, he
is laid in his mother earth, it demands of his heirs
or legatees a further tribute before they can en
joy his estate. And yet with all this searching
inquisition, the taxes paid by the ten Southern
States are less, by $5,000,000 a year, than those
paid by Ohio alone. So poverty-stricken is that
portion of the Republic, that the tax officials of
the Government cannot find in all those ten

EARLY INTEREST IN POLITICS. 34.3
States as much property to tax as is found in
Ohio alone. Nay, the single county of Hamilton,
in our State, paid in the fiscal year of 1866-67,
$ i, 1 00,000 more taxes to the Federal Governriient
than did eight of the Southern States. Could
anything more completely demonstrate the im
poverished condition of those States, or more
completely show how that poverty increases our
burden ?
" Now, my friends, I repeat that all this is in a
great degree owing to the Radical policy toward
those States since the war closed. Had the right
policy been pursued, had the Southern people,
after they laid down their arms, been treated as
American citizens and not as enemies, had they
been permitted to peaceably resume the benefits
of civil government and the avocations of peace,
had they not been placed under military domi
nation and negro rule, and had no threats of
sweeping confiscation been made, long before this
their ancient prosperity, would have begun to re
vive, the marks of war's desolation would have
become fainter every day, and in a few short
years hardly a trace of them would have been
found." ALWAYS TO THE FRONT.
In all the campaigns of his party, while he was
Senator and since, Mr. Thurman has been a con
spicuously effective advocate of the candidates

344 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
and principles of the Democracy. Loyal in his
devotion to the organization of his own State and
steadfast in an affection for his party everywhere,
which is heartily reciprocated, to him again and
again has it been left to strike a " keynote " which
should reverberate from ocean to ocean.
Mr. Thurman figured in the Democratic Na
tional Convention of 1864. He was on the floor
of the Convention in 1868 which nominated Sey
mour for President in New York. He was not
present at the " fusion " of the Liberal Republi
can and Democratic parties in 1872, and reluct
antly assented to the fatal policy of that year.
Tilden in 1876, Hancock in 1880, and Cleveland
in 1884 had his earnest support. Though his
own name had been favorably mentioned and en
thusiastically received "at Chicago in the last-
named year, his was one of the first of the leaders'
voices heard for the successful candidate. His
speeches in the last national canvass of his party
in Brooklyn, Tammany Hall, and throughout the
whole of Southern Indiana were among the mem
orable influences that contributed to Democratic
victory.

CHAPTER V.
MR. THURMAN IN THE SENATE OF UNITED STATES.
NEARLY thirty years before he went to
Washington to take a seat in the highest
legislative body of the country Mr. Thur
man had made a journey to the Capital City,
partly to recruit his health, impaired by severe
-labors, and partly to visit his uncle, Senator Allen^
and to have a sight of his famous contemporaries.
He listened with delight to the familiar conversa
tion of Calhoun, heard the fiery debates of the
great orators of that day, and spent nearly two
months of time amid those scenes and person
ages with great interest and profit. Subsequently
he had visited Washington rarely, except during
his one term in Congress, and upon the legal
business which required his attention in the courts
and at the departments. But now, elected to
represent his State and the weightiest concerns
of the people, regarded with pride and attention
by his party throughout the country as one of its
most eminent leaders, placed in a position of
greatest responsibility, he made every interest
secondary to the duties of a faithful public servant,
a fearless tribunal of the right. 345

346 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
He came into office with the new Administra
tion of President Grant, following that stormy
period in which the obstinacy of Andrew John
son had pushed the Congressional chieftain of
his late party into the most violent excesses. A
very serious loss the Democratic party in the
Senate sustained was the retirement at this time
by the expiration of his term of that lamented
statesman, Thomas A. Hendricks, who had for
six years maintained leadership on his side of the
Chamber and had resisted with courageous effort
the wrongs and oppressions of the dominant
party in the reconstruction period. Happily for
the Democracy, whose Senators then numbered
so few, the same day that marked the retirement
of Hendricks was the date of Thurman's admis
sion to the Senate.
When he took his seat there were besides him
only eleven colleagues of his own faith : Stockton,
of New Jersey ; Garrett Davis and McCreery, of
Kentucky; Eugene Casserly, of California; Vick-
ers and Hamilton, of Maryland ; Willard Sauls-
bury and Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware; John
ston, of Virginia ; Miller, of Georgia, and Norton,
of Minnesota. Of these Bayard and Stockton
were, like himself, untried in this field of public
service. Among the Republicans of distinction
who entered the Senate for the first time with him
were the brilliant and impulsive Carpenter, Schurz,
and Fenton, so soon to break with the organiza-

MR. THURMAN IN THE SENATE. 347
tion that elected them, and William A. Bucking
ham, to whose memory Thurman has paid tender
and touching tribute. But of the trained leaders
in the opposition with whom Thurman was to
cross swords were Fessenden, who did not long
survive the obloquy cast upon him by his party
for his independent vote on the Johnson impeach
ment, Edmunds and Morrell, Turner and Wilson,
Conkling, Anthony, Cameron, Sherman, Morton,
Trumbull, Chandler, and Howe. The Republican
representation from the South was largely made
up of the class now relegated to obscurity as
" carpet-baggers," or the fit representatives of
that unsavory element.
One of the first moves of the Republicans in
both Houses was to repeal for President Grant's
convenience the Tenure-of-Office Act, for the
alleged violation of which they had sought to de
pose Johnson. The Senate, less shameless than
the House, gagged at the proposition to so
promptly uncover its own inconsistency, and its
Judiciary Committee tried to palter with the issue
by proposing to " suspend " the act. Mr. Thur
man, the ripeness of whose powers as a jurist had
designated him for the Judiciary Committee,
derided the offer " to enforce the act when it will
have no practical effect and to suspend it when it
would have practical effect." He made his
single speech of the session on this point, and the
report was recommitted. After some contention

348 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
between the Houses a substitute for the act was
passed. BRILLIANT SERVICE IN THE SENATE.
The most brilliant services of the new Senator
from Ohio were, of course, rendered to his party
and his country at this period, in connection with
the questions that arose out of the so-called
" reconstruction " .by Congress of the States
recently in rebellion. The murder of Mr. Lincoln
at a time when his great qualities of head and
heart were most needed to restore the Union he
had helped to save, the perverse and impracti
cable, though sincere, purpose of his successor,
and the desperate party zeal of the Radicals in
Congress had united to produce political condi
tions as disgraceful as they were disastrous to
both sections of the country. Mr. Thurman's
undisturbed equanimity of temper, his unfailing,
courtesy to opponents, his readiness in debate,
and his profound knowledge of Constitutional law,
stood his party well in this time of its scant num
bers and few leaders.
One of his early opportunities to show the stuff
that was in. him came with the contest in the
Senate over the right of the Federal Congress
to "reconstruct" the Georgia Legislature because,
it was alleged, negroes chosen to it were excluded
from their seats. Georgia had adopted a Consti
tution in which the colored man was given the

MR. THURMAN IN THE SENATE. 349
right of suffrage, but not expressly the privilege
of holding office. Joseph E. Brown had been
elected Governor on the Republican ticket in a
canvass in which he distinctly held that the pro
posed fundamental law did not confer the right to
hold office upon the negro, and upon that assur
ance the people ratified it. Nevertheless, the
Republicans elected a Legislature largely made
up of negroes. The lawfully chosen members,
exercising the ordinary rights of representative
bodies to judge of the qualifications of their own
members, barred out the negroes. The Republi
cans introduced into the Senate a resolution of
inquiry and investigation, aimed at dislodging the
whites and putting in the negroes.
Representatives and Senators elect were ex
cluded from Congress pending the successful
efforts of the Radicals to alter the Legislature and
compel the ratification of the Fifteenth Amend
ment. Against this most revolutionary and ex
traordinary conduct on the part of Congress, even
Republicans like Carpenter in the Senate and
Brigham in the House protested, as an unpre
cedented assumption of Federal power. Thurman
led the fight for his party in the Senate, and for
five days and nights,- during which it is said he
never went to bed, he made hopeless parliamen
tary battle against overwhelming odds. But
high above the defeat of the hour rang out his
bugle note of alarm to the country that Congres-

350 * IFF OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
sional powers were being- stretched to the last
limit of safety for the Republic.
A SUCCESSFUL CONTEST.
Upon another occasion, like in the early ex
periences related, he succeeded in arresting the
partisan zeal of the Senate and in securing for
his own side substantial gain, while at the same
time he served the cause of justice.
Joseph C. Abbott, a "carpet-bag" Senator from
North Carolina, now justly forgotten, had been
succeeded by Zebulon B. Vance, elect of the
Legislature. Vance's disabilities had not been
removed and, of course, the Republican Congress
would not vote them off. The Democratic Sena
tors wrote to him uniting in a request that he
make no obstruction or delay in having some
eligible Democrat chosen to Abbott's place.
Vance manfully withdrew and M. W. Ransom was
chosen. Then Abbott, fortified by . an opinion
from Caleb Cushing, set up the ridiculous plea
that at the first election the votes cast for Vance
counted as blanks, and that he himself, having
received the others, had a majority of the legal
votes cast and was the lawful Senator-elect.
Cushing's cunningargument captivated Carpenter
and he fought viciously for Abbott's admission.
Morton was Chairman of the Committee on Priv
ileges and Elections. Thurman made for Ransom
what he is pleased to recall as the best legal

MR. THURMAN IN THE SENATE. 35 1
argument of his career. To the surprise and de
light of the Democrats, Logan voted with them,
and Morton broke the tie by casting his vote also
for Ransom. He assigned to Thurman the prepa
ration of the majority report, but the Ohio Sena
tor insisted that Logan should make it and aided
him with his brief. The question gave rise to a
vigorous debate on the floor, in which Thurman
gained new laurels, and the admission of Ransom
was an additional sign of returning reason in
politics. A POPULAR SENATOR.
The defection of the Liberal Republican Sen
ators in 1872 intensified the political dissensions
and personal differences which seemed to begin
when the party was at its strongest, and were ag
gravated under the Grant Administration. Per
sonal friendships crossed party lines at right an
gles, and no man on either side grew more steadily
in the respect and affections of his colleagues than
Thurman. In 1873 his re-election was one of the chief
issues of the Ohio campaign. It was rendered
memorable, too, by the recall of the venerable
William Allen to the active leadership of his party
by making him its candidate for Governor. The
two great family names that had so long been
emblazoned on the banners of the Ohio Democ
racy were irresistible. Allen was elected Gov-

352 LIFE OF ALLEN G. TIWRMaN.
ernor, and a Legislature was chosen which made
Thurman United States Senator for a second
term. During -all his twelve years service in the
Senate Mr. Thurman kept close to his constitu
ents. He made and revised lists of the leading
men of his party in the State, kept in correspon
dence and communication with the local organiza
tions everywhere, and entered vigorously into all
the campaigns. He never sympathized with the
extreme inflation notions of the Ohio idea, al
though its illustrious author " overwhelmed him
with words," and when in 1873, at Thurman Hall,
in Columbus, General Thomas Ewing and others
seriously proposed to merge the Ohio Democracy
into a new "popular" party Thurman indignantly
left the conference, declaring, " If you are going to
bury the Democratic party don't ask me to be
one of the pall-bearers." His vigorous protest
saved the party from disorganization.
EMINENT PUBLIC SERVICES.
In the debates on financial policies, the Pacific
Railroad bills, Chinese immigration, and other
leading issues — of some of which more extended
notice will furnish the body of subsequent chap
ters — he took a leading part in his twelve years
of Senatorial experience. For the trial of Belk
nap he was appointed and served as one of the
Senate Committee of Arrangements. On the joint
Committee appointed in 1876 respecting the

MR. THURMAN IN THE SENATE. 353
mode of counting the electoral votes he was one
of the three Democratic Senators. In the organ
ization of the electoral campaign he was origi
nally selected as one of the members, and when
ill health prevented his regular attendance and a
successor was chosen at his request, Senator Ker-
nan, of New York, took his seat. Thurman's for
cible argument against counting the vote of Louis
iana was one of the most notable contributions to
the controversy.
In the executive sessions of the Senate Mr.
Thurman consistently opposed and frequently
succeeded in defeating the nominations of broken-
down politicians and other unfit persons from the
East for Federal Territorial offices, and much of
the popularity he has so long enjoyed in what are/
known as " the Pacific States " has been due to
these features of his public record. He has be
lieved in the recognition of the bright and brainy
young men who to a large extent have peopled
the Territories, and the resolution of the Chicago
platform of 1884, looking to this policy, was
adopted at his instance.
In the Forty-sixth Congress, Mr. Thurman's
party having advanced from the feeble numbers
which gathered about his banner when he entered
the Chamber to a majority of the whole body, he
was chosen President pro tem., and in the ab
sence of Vice-President Wheeler he occupied the
Chair with that great, acceptability that always at-

354 L1FE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
tended his Senatorial relations. Of these and
of the characteristics always attaching to men of
great intellectual power — and often exaggerated
in popular narration — many amusing and pictur
esque anecdotes are told which do not fall within
the scope of this present sketch. If any quality
more than another distinguished his service it was
the readiness and directness of his remarks upon
pending questions, attributable to his great
breadth of information and to the singleness of
purpose which always induced him to confine his
efforts to the matter in issue. In a speech Jan
uary 8th, 1875, he frankly spoke of himself in
these words, the force and truth of which are
readily recognized by those acquainted with his
Senatorial habits :
" If I know myself, I never have occupied the
time of the Senate for any purpose of personal
ambition, to be admired or applauded for what I
might say. I have spoken, and spoken frequently,
and, as I think the Senate will bear me witness,
spoken always directly to the point under consid
eration, and, as I know, with an earnest and sin
cere desire to be of some service to the Senate,
however humble in its consideration of whatever
subject might be under discussion."
SOME CONTEMPORARY CRITICISM.
A not over-friendly critic of his own party in a
contemporary review of Mr. Thurman's Sena-

MR. THURMAN IN THE SENATE. 355
torial career said : " A Virginian by birth, brought
up among plain Ohio folks, a judge and a lawyer
deep read in the principles and versed in all the
practical rules of his profession, an ardent politi
cian of the Jacksonian school, with amendments
made to conform systems to his own original
thought, Senator Thurman came to the Senate
fortified with a store of unusual resources, which
he is always willing and even eager to draw upon
at sight in an unlimited way. Critical as Edmunds,
he has that sort of constructive ability in which
Edmunds is conspicuously lacking. His services
on the Judiciary Committee have beenamportant
and valuable, and his power of work is simply
prodigious. Edmunds can pick to pieces a bill,
a charter, or a proposition, but Thurman can
amend it so as to remove its evils, and give vital
ity and usefulness to what was before noxious
and injurious. * * * The Democratic party and
the country owe a debt of recognizance to Judge
Thurman which it will not be easy to forget! His
acumen, his logic, his learning, his quickness and
intrepidity in debate, have all availed him to stand
in the breach and defend the Constitution. He
has done yeoman's service in showing up radical
Republicanism upon its desperate course, in bring
ing it to its senses, and in awakening the whole
country to its fatal designs. He has found out
how to arrest and put Constitutional checks upon
the great corporations and monopolies, and has

356 life of Allen g. thurman.
brought the insolence of land-grant companies to
swift punishment."
Mr. James G. Blaine, in his Twenty Years of
Congress, in which no one has accused him of
over-estimating his political antagonists, thus sums
up the Senatorial character of Mr. Thurman :
" When he came to the Senate he was entitled to
be considered the foremost man of his party in
the nation. His rank in the Senate was estab
lished from the day he took his seat, and was
never lowered during the period of his service.
He was an admirably disciplined debater, wasfair
in his method of statement, logical in his argu
ment, honest in his conclusions. He had no tricks
in discussion, no catch phrases to secure attention,
but was always direct and manly. His mind was
not preoccupied and engrossed with political con
tests or with affairs of State He had natural
and cultivated tastes outside of those fields. He
was a discriminating reader, and enjoyed not only
serious books, but inclined also to the lighter in
dulgence of romance and poetry. He was espe
cially fond of the best French writers. He loved
Moliere and Racine, and could quote with rare
enjoyment the humorous scenes depicted by Bal
zac. He took pleasure in the drama, and was
devoted to music. In Washington he could
usually be found in the best seat of the theatre
when a good play was to be presented or an
opera was to be given. These tastes illustrate

MR. THURMAN IN THE SENATE.

357

the genial side of his nature, and were a fitting
complement to the stronger and sterner elements
of the man. His retirement from the Senate was
a serious loss to his party, a loss indeed to the
body. He left behind him pleasant memories,
and carried with him the respect of all with whom
^e had been associated during his twelve years of
honorable service"

CHAPTER VI.
THURMAN IN THE DAYS OF RECONSTRUCTION.
DURING nearly all of that gloomy period,
politically, for the Democracy in which
the Republicans were exercising their nu
merical power in the Southern States and in
Congress to prevent any scheme of reconstruction
that would not perpetuate their party oligarchy,
Thurman remained steadfastly the exponent
of Constitutional doctrine. He was the friend,
not particularly of the South, nor of any one sec
tion, but of the whole country, of the tranquillity
of the Union, and of the restored material pros
perity that could only come and stay with" the estab
lishment and maintenance of home rule and local
self-government. For these he waged continual
struggle, and he lived to see his views vind?cated
again and again by the sober decisions of the
Supreme Court, as well as justified by the irre
sistible conviction of an enlightened popular sense
of fairness. One by one the Republican leaders,
with a lingering sense of justice, abandoned the
pretensions of the radical element to treat the
South as a subjugated province. Gradually the
more respectable organs of public -opinion re-
358

IN THE DAYS OF RECONSTRUCTION. 359
volted at the attempted subversion of the Consti
tution and the frequent attacks upon the integrity
of the Union, more jnsidious and yet scarcely
less dangerous than the blows of armed rebellion
itself. Little by little the substantial business
interests of the North came to see that a policy
which prolonged prostration of the South's mate
rial interests worked disaster to that free inter-
State trade which is the life-blood of our National
prosperity. Finally, the withdrawal of Federal
interference from Louisiana and South Carolina,
and the ' grant to the people of those States to
exercise their legitimate political functions com
pleted the victory for which Mr. Thurman and his
colleagues in Congress had made such devoted
effort through more than a decade of portentous
political unrest. CHASING AWAY RADICAL BOGIES.
An extract from one of his speeches at that
time illustrates very well his plain, direct mode of
expression, and shows how forcibly he met some
of the spectral issues with which for years the
Republican politicians sought to delude the people
of thecountry. Speaking on the subject of po
litical disabilities and amnesty in the Senate, Janu
ary 23d, 1872, he said in reply to Senator Mor
ton :
"It has come to be the custom, I am inclined to
think, for the Senator from Indiana, at the begin-

360 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
ning of each political campaign, to make a speech
which the lesser lights ' of the Republican party
and the Republican press generally announce as
the key-note of that campaign ; and it seems that
he is looked to to sound the key-note of each
campaign — that that function has been devolved
upon him or assumed by him until it has passed
into a part of the common law of the Radical
party. And now at the beginning of this great-
campaign of 1872 the Senator has sounded his
note again, and I only regret that in all the long
years that he has been studying this music he has
found no new tune, nor even a single new note. It
is the same old note again ; it is the same old tune
again ; it is the same old horrors of the Rebellion ;
it is the same old wickedness of the instigators of
that Rebellion ; it is the same old terrible suffering
that that Rebellion entailed on the country; anditis
the same frightful array of ghosts, found nowhere
except in the Senator's imagination, portending
misery, nay destruction, to the country should the
Democratic party ever get into power.
" It is the same old cry of payment of the rebel
debt ; payment of pensions to rebel soldiers ; re-
institution of slavery ; refusal to pay our own
debt ; refusal to pay pensions to our own soldiers;
and so on to the end of the tune. These are
charges that certainly the Senator believes, or he
would not make them ; for no one is authorized to
charge a Senator, especially when speaking from

IN THE DA YS OF RECONSTR UCTION. 3 6 1
his place in this Chamber, with asserting what he
does not believe. Theseare charges which un
doubtedly the Senator believes; apprehensions
which his lively imagination conjures up in his
fertile brain, but which I venture to say no other
human being, in the whole length and breadth of
the Republic, in his senses, and intelligent enough
to form an opinion, does believe for one single in
stant. "Why, how is it ? Payment of the rebel debt?
How is it to be paid in the face of your Fourteenth
Amendment, which prohibits even a State from
making any payment of it? Payment of pensions
to rebel soldiers ! Positively prohibited by your
Fourteenth Amendment. Repudiation of your own
debt ! Its payment is solemnly guarantied by your
own Constitution. Reinstitution of slavery! It
is positively prohibited by your Constitution and
by the Constitution of every State in the Union.
And yet a Senator, a distinguished Senator, a
Senator who is looked upon, perhaps, as the leader
of his party and the particular mouthpiece of the
Administration, has the boldness to get up in the
American Senate, before it and the American
people, and, sounding the key-note of the cam
paign, to hold up these preposterous pictures to
frighten the credulous out of their propriety ! Sir,
it may do very well on the stump in some swamp
of Indiana ; it may do very well before an igno
rant audience who do not know or have not ability

362 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
to comprehend what is reasonable and what is not,
and who are accustomed to take the assertions of
the Senator from Indiana as a part of the law of
the land, as sacred and as truthful as Holy Writ ;
but with men accustomed to reflect and deal fairly
with a subject, it is not too much to say — and I
speak without disrespect to the Senator — that all
the apprehensions he has expressed are simply
preposterous— nay, more, simply ridiculous."
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL POWERS.
, In the same admirable speech he gave very
lucid exposition of the modern Democratic idea
of the Constitutional relation of -State Rights to
Federal powers, when he said :
" Mr. President, I once more say that, although
I have never gone to any such length as some
State-rights men have gone in deducing the doc
trine of the right of secession, and have never be
lieved and do not believe in that doctrine, yet I
am, and hope I shall die, a State-rights man. I
am so because I believe that the existence of the
States and the existence of local self-government
are essential to freedom and to prosperity in this
country. " Why, sir, if there is no such thing as State
rights, how comes it that the two distinguished
Senators from Vermont are here, coming from a
State with not one-tenth, not one-twelfth, very
little more than one-thirteenth, of the population

IN THE DA YS OF RECONSTRUCTION. 363
of the State of New York ? How comes it that
with three hundred thousand inhabitants only,
there are two Senators on this floor from Ver
mont, while New York, with more than four mil
lions, has but two ? How comes that, sir, if there
be no such thing as State rights ? What right
have they to make local law for Ohio ? Why
should New York, with her four millions of peo
ple and only two Senators on this floor, have her
local law made here by the votes of twelve Sena
tors from New England, when all New England
has not a population equal to hers ? How is it
that twelve votes shall be received here from New
England to make local law for Missouri ? In that
local law New England has no interest whatso
ever, while that great State, soon to have a popu
lation equal to that of all of New England, and
now with a population half as great, has but two
Senators on this floor. What is it that gives this
unequal representation in the Senate but the doc
trine of State rights ; nay, sir, to go further, but
the doctrine of the original sovereignty of the
States ? I am not complaining of this. I am
willing to stand by this inequality in the Senate of
the United States so long as you stand by the
Constitution as its framers intended it to be. So
long as you do not trample State governments
out of existence, so long as you let local legisla
tion be the subject of local State law alone, so
long as you do not interfere and usurp the powers

364 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
that properly belong to the States, I greet with
arms wide open the Senators from the smallest
State of this Union ; nay, I will take the Senators
from Nevada into my embrace, although their
whole State does not contain as many people as
the little city in which I live ; I will take them and
welcome them here so long as you leave to the
State governments that power which the framers
of the Constitution intended they should have,
and which, in my judgment, is essential to the very
existence of free institutions at all. But if you
will strike down that power, if you will abolish
local legislation, if you will annihilate the States,
if you will make them mere departments of a cen
tralized Government, if you will make them the
mere counties of a great State, then I say to Sen
ators the time will come when that inequality in
the Senate will not be submitted to longer. I do
not want to see that time. I want to see no such
question raised. I want to see the Constitution
administered in the spirit in which it was framed.
I want the General Government sufficiently strong
to protect us against all foreign aggression. I
want it to be sufficiently strong to protect us in
the enjoyment of peace in this country so far as
that function is devolved upon it by the Constitu
tion. I want to believe that, with all its blessings,
it will endure for all time to come, if anything of
earthly institution can so long endure. But I do
firmly believe that it is precisely the institution of

IN 7 HE DAYS OF RECONSTRUCTION. 365
State governments, it is precisely the allotment of
local legislation to a local power, which enables
this Republic to spread itself from ocean to Ocean,
and from the arctic zone down to the torrid.
Strike that out of it, strike its local self-govern
ment out of the system, and it will go the way
that all consolidated centralized Governments
have gone in all time past ; first a despotism un
endurable, and next a rending into fragments
more numerous far than the States of this Union
now are." OBJECTIONS TO CENTRALIZATION.
In a previous campaign speech he had thus for
cibly set forth the dangers of the centralizing
tendencies which were at this period controlling
the legislation of the country:
" I am opposed to the centralization of all pow
ers in the Federal Government, for reasons that
can be but briefly and imperfectly stated in the
proper limits of a speech.
" First. I am opposed to it because it would be
destructive of the existence of the Republic. The
Republic could not, in my judgment, long endure
under such a system. It would break down under
its own weight. There never was a greater mis
take than to suppose that a government of des
potic powers is alone able to govern a great
extent of territory. The very reverse of the
proposition is nearer the truth. Vast monarchies.

366 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
have existed, covering great portions of the earth,
and seeming for a time to be indestructible, yet
how few of them remain ? And where they yet
exist, how miserable, comparatively, is the condi^
tion of the people ! I am not speaking of com
pact countries of limited extent, in which central
ized power is possible and may long endure. Nor
am I speaking of people who have no aspiration
for freedom or for a better state of mental, mate
rial, and social well-being. What I speak of is a
territory similar to our own, and a people loving
freedom and seeking prosperity. And it is in ref
erence to such a territory with such a people, that
I affirm it to be an impossibility that a great cen
tralized Government can long rule over it. Either
the Government will undergo a change, or the
territory will be rent into pieces and "separate and
independent governments be set up on the frag
ments. " This, then, is my first objection to such a cen
tralized government as I have supposed. Its inev
itable result would be, in my opinion, the disinte
gration of the Republic at no very distant day.
" Secondly. But were it possible for such a
government to rule this country, what would be
its effects ? We have a territory of vast extent,
stretching from ocean to ocean, with a great
diversity of climate, soils, productions, arts, indus
tries, occupations, capital, and wages. The diver
sity of peoples is not less remarkable. And then

IN THE DA YS OF RECONSTRUCTION. 367
the people of each State have grown up under
their own State laws, to which their affections are
bound by the force of .abit, and because they are
the enactments of their own free will. Add to
these considerations the difference in social ob
servances and customs, and conceive, if you can,
of a country in which local self-government is
more indispensable to the interest or happiness of
the people, or in which it would be more impos
sible, without a crushing tyranny, to subject the
whole community to an uniform, iron rule."
BAYONET GOVERNMENT IN LOUISIANA.
On January 5th, 1875, Mr. Thurman offered a
resolution in the Senate requesting the President
to inform the Senate if any portion of the Army
had been used to interfere with the organization
of the Legislature in Louisiana. Mr. Schurz had
also introduced a resolution, " That the Committee
on the Judiciary be instructed to inquire what leg
islation by Congress is necessary to secure to the
people of the State of Louisiana their rights of
self-government under the Constitution, and to
report with the least possible delay by bill or
otherwise." Upon the question involved in these
inquiries Senator Thurman made one of the most
elaborate and exhaustive speeches of his Sena
torial career, on January 25th, 1872. He traced
the beginning and continuation of the Louisiana
troubles with keen, careful, and firm hand, and

368 life of allen g. thurman.
diagnosed the whole case with the ability of a
lawyer and statesman. With vivid truthfulness
he said :
" But the men who have exercised supreme
power in Louisiana for the last two years have
held their offices and exercised their powers, ac
cording to the finding of your own Committee on
Privileges and Elections, by means of a void mid
night order made by a Federal judge without
authority and enforced by the bayonets of the
Army of the United States, and upheld by the
Chief Magistrate of the Republic ; and the sole
title to-day of William P. Kellogg to be Gov
ernor of Louisiana is the sanction bv the Presi-
dent of the United States of these unconstitu
tional proceedings, and the sole foundation upon
which he stands, the sole thing that upholds him
in his usurpation, are the glittering bayonets of
the Federal Army."
" Why, sir, to say nothing about the corruption
that exists, just think of one thing — just think of this
fact : ' The securities of the State have fallen in two
years ' — that is, since Kellogg was inaugurated —
' from 70 or 80 to 25 ; of the city of New Orleans,
from 80 or 90 to 30 or 40, while the fall in bank
shares, railway shares, city and other corporate
companies, have in a degree corresponded.
Throughout the rural districts of the State the
negroes, reared in habits of reliance upon their

IN HIE DAYS OF RECONSTRUCTION. 369
masters for support, and in a community in which
the members are always ready to divide the ne
cessaries of life with each other, not regarding
such action as very evil, and having immunity
from punishment from the nature of the local
officials, had come to filching and stealing fruit,
vegetables, and poultry so generally — as Bishop
Wilmarth stated without contradiction from any
source — that the raising of these articles' had to
be entirely abandoned, to the great distress of
the white people, while within the parishes, as
well as in New Orleans, the taxation had been
carried almost literally to the extent of confisca
tion. In New Orleans the assessors' are paid a
commission for the amount assessed, and houses
and stores are to be had there for the taxes.'
" That is, you can have among the best of the
dwelling-houses in New Orleans, among the best
of the stores, without any other rent than the
payment of the taxes. But that is not all.
"'In Natchitoches the taxation reached about
eight per cent, of the assessed value of the
property.' " Eight per cent, of the assessed value, . and
yet the people of Natchitoches are expected to
be very quiet and contented ! With a taxation
more than five times the average taxation in the
State of Ohio bearing upon that depressed people,
they are expected to be quiet and contented ; and
if they are not quiet and contented, a Lieutenant-

370 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
General of the Army of the United States pro
poses that the President shall proclaim that they
are 'banditti,' and then nothing more will be
necessary than the duty that will devolve on' him !
Ah, sir, I never expected to live to see the day, in
what was once called free America, in what was
once called a republic, when such things as these
could take place, and any man, who called himself
a freeman or a lover of liberty and of free insti
tutions, could stand up to defend or even to pal
liate them.
" Sir, have the rights of the States become of
so little consequence, has the supremacy of the
civil over the military power become so absolute,
that a soldier of the Federal Government can in
vade a State Legislature and eject persons claim
ing seats therein, and make no report of his pro
ceedings and of the reasons that induced them ?
Have our generals stationed in "the States become
irresponsible satraps, ruling over prostrate prov
inces according to their own supreme will and
pleasure ? Where, I repeat, is the report of De
Trobriand? What account does he give of his
acts on that memorable day ? What defense does
he make for a deed that the President himself is
forced to admit was without legal justification ?
What order of his superior, General Emory, does
he produce in his defense ; and, if any, what ex
cuse has Emory to allege for issuing the order?
And, order or no order, what step has the Presi-

IN THE DAYS OF RECONSTRUCTION.

371

dent taken to bring these offenders against the
Constitution and the laws to an account for their
misconduct? Upon all these points the message
is as silent as the grave. Except inferentially,
and by a reference to Sheridan's telegram, it does
not even admit that there was military interfer
ence at all. But thus admitting it, while it de
clines to justify, it seeks to palliate and excuse it.
We are told that ' the Army is not composed of
lawyers,' and that ' there are circumstances con
nected with the late legislative imbroglio in Louisi-
ana which seem to exempt the military from any
intentional wrong in that matter.'
" Ah, Mr. President, are we yet to learn that it
is no defense for the humblest and most ignorant
man in the land, accused of crime, that he was
ignorant of the law, and that his intentions in vio
lating it were not willfully wrong, nay, were praise
worthy ? In no civilized country, in no country
where law prevails, is that defense allowed. But
when one of the greatest of crimes against free
institutions has been committed in this Republic —
when, in' plain violation of bur fundamental law
and of the underlying principle of all free gov
ernment, the military has set itself above the civil
power, then the brigadier-general who acted, the
major-general who ordered, and the Lieuten-
ant-General who approves, are exempted from
censure by the Commander-in-Chief, the President,
on the plea that they are not lawyers, and. that no

372 LlIE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
intentional wrong was designed. It is of no con
sequence that the military assumed to decide who
were members of a State Legislature ; it is of no
consequence that they expelled members duly
elected, and that in consequence of that expulsion
the seats of those members are now held by de
feated candidates ; it is of no consequence that by
these high-handed proceedings the will of the
people of Louisiana has been overthrown and a
government not of their choice imposed on them
by force — all these things are of no consequence,
it would seem, in the eyes of the President ; for
none of these things has he a word of censure or
rebuke ; for is it not true, he exclaims, that Army
people are not lawyers ? and whatever may have
been their offenses they were guiltless of intentional
wrong. " Senators, if you wish free institutions to be
preserved, it is time to teach the Army, from the
highest to the lowest man in it, that there is such
a thing as law, and that the absence of intentional
' wrong does not justify its violation. It is time to
teach it that in every free country the military is
subordinate to the civil power. It is time to teach
it that in this Republic the States as well as the
Federal Government have rights that are sacred
and must be respected."
* * * * * * *
" General Sheridan telegraphs that there have
been thirty-five hundred murders in the State of

IN THE DA YS OF RECONSTRUCTION. 373
Louisiana since 1866. How does he know it?
He had been in New Orleans four days. How
did he learn that there had been thirty-five hun
dred murders there ? From rumor, or the state
ments of persons interested in libeling the people
of Louisiana. Furthermore, it was said yesterday
on this floor that not one single case of murder
in Louisiana had been punished, if I understood
the remarks of the Senator who spoke. Why,
sir, I have in my desk a list of no less than thir
teen pardons by Kellogg of persons convicted of
homicide, and most of them of murder in the first
degree, in the single year 1874. No convictions;,
forsooth !
" It has been said again and -again that white
men are not arrested who commit murder ; that
nobody but black men are arrested. I have be
fore me a statement of the committals to one of
the largest prisons in that State of homicides ; and
let us see what is the color of the persons arrested
and committed for that offense. This covers the
time spoken of by Sheridan, and of the arrests
for homicide fifty-eight were white and forty-four
blacks. Does that look as if white men are al
lowed to go acquit ? More white men were
arrested, more white men charged with homicide
there than blacks, and yet the number is so nearly
equal that one is at a loss to know which class of
the community is most to be condemned.
"But why undertake to convey the idea that all

374 LJFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
the homicides in Louisiana or Arkansas or Mis
sissippi are homicides for political purposes, when
the fact is notorious that the majority of the
homicides committed in those States are by blacks
upon blacks, and it could not well be otherwise.
You set free that vast population of colored men,
the most of them being in profound ignorance.
That was all right enough. . I am glad they are
free and have always been glad to see them free.
But when you have set them free and banded
•them together as you did in loyal leagues, and set
their faces in opposition to the whites, and drawn
the race line as plain as a sunbeam ; when you did
that through your Freedman's Bureau and the
expenditure of public money — when that was
done and those negroes had arms in their hands,
somebody was bound to be hurt. You could not
put arms in the hands of those men in their semi-
barbarous condition without their feeling a dispo
sition to use them. It is in their instincts ; it is in
their nature ; and although they do improve, as I
have every reason to believe they do, in civiliza
tion, year by year, yet it was inevitable that if you
put into the hands of seven or eight hundred
thousand semi-barbarians instruments of destruc
tion they would use them ; and they destroy each
other far more than the whites destroy them. Yet
every murder that takes place is exaggerated —
for it is swelled to ten before you get through
with it — and is said to be a murder for political
purposes. Ah, Mr. President, the waning fortunes

IN THE DAYS OF RECONSTRUCTION. 375
of no political party can be sustained by any such
clamor as this. No, sir ; the people of the United
States are too wise, are too just, and know too
well how to sift testimony, to be imposed upon by
any such statements. *****
" Mr. President, one word more and I have
done. These outrages, if they exist, are very
much to be deplored; but there is something
more deplorable than even violence. When you
sap the foundation of Constitutional Government,
when you overthrow the free institutions of Amer
ica, you do an evil, you perpetrate a wrong,
fraright with a thousand times more mischief to
your fellow-men now and in the future than even
the prevalence of crime. You cannot accustom
the people of this country to see the military place
itself above the civil power ; you cannot accustom
the people of this country to see armed men
intrude themselves into the halls of legislation
and decide questions of membership there with
the bayonet ; you cannot see that done and pass
it by even in silence, much less with approbation,
much longer without finding that everything like
respect for Constitutional Government and free
institutions has vanished from the land. Ah, Mr.
President, it is a terrible crime to assassinate a
man, but it is worse crime to assassinate the Con
stitution of a free people. These acts of military
interference have driven a dagger to the heart of
free institutions, and the question now to be set
tled is whether thev can survive the blow."

CHAPTER VII.
OTHER NOTABLE SPEECHES  THE ELECTIVE FRAN
CHISE  CHINESE IMMIGRATION  SILVER COINAGE.
IN the United States Senate, Mr. Thurman
spoke at length, and repeatedly, in favor of
the expulsion of Caldwell, of Kansas, for
bribery. He opposed the admission of Pinchbeck,
the Senatorial pretender from Louisiana ; he bore
a conspicuous part in the debate over the Geneva
Award bill — in which most of the lawyers of the
Senate antagonized Blaine ; and, indeed, his voice
was heard upon nearly every leading topic that
engaged the attention of the Senate while he was
a member of it.
Upon the entrance of Mr. Blaine into the Sen
ate, and the introduction of new methods of
address which that rather boisterous publicist
brought with him, Mr. Thurman found a subject
for frequent castigations ; iii December, 1878,
when Mr. Blaine introduced a resolution inquir
ing into interferences with the free exercise of
the elective franchise, Mr. Thurman, with most
unsparing severity, pointed out that the object
of the inquiry was not to vindicate the right of
suffrage throughout the Union, but to revive sec-
376

NOTABLE SPEECHES. 377
tionalism, to arouse hatred in one portion of the
country against the defenseless people of another.
On the broad, subject of the elective franchise,
Mr. Thurman said:
" I am not here to-day to justify the violation of
the rights of any man, however humble he may
be, whatever may be the color of his skin, what
ever may be the poverty of his situation. I am
here for no such purpose as that. If I know my
own heart, I am as much in favor of respecting
the rights of every man under the Constitution
as the Senator from Maine or any other Senator
on this floor ; but I do know that property, intel
ligence, education will assert their influence
everywhere on the face of this globe.
"Now, Mr. President, let me say one word more
on this subject. Who was it that drew the color
line between the whites and the negroes in the
South ? Let me tell you, sir, that millions of
money, of the money of the people of the United
States, were expended by your agents, the Freed-
man's Bureau agents, in getting every colored
man in the South into loyal leagues and swearing
him never to vote for a Democrat. That is where
the color line began to be drawn. That institu
tion which took charge of the negro at the ballot-
box, took charge of him in the cotton field, took
charge of him everywhere, supervised every con
tract that he made, allowed no contract to be
made unless it had the approval of the agents of

^j8 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
the Freedman's Bureau, and spent the money
and property called ' captured and abandoned
property' that was surrendered to it, and many
millions of money directly appropriated out of the
Treasury of the United States — it was that Bu
reau and its agents who first drew the color line.
And yet when the white people of the South,
when the men owning the property and having
the intelligence and the education at the South,
saw their very social system menaced with de
struction, saw their very households threatened
with ruin under an inundation of barbarism
directed by the most unscrupulous of men, and
when they naturally came together, when they
naturally united, as people menaced with danger
ever will unite, then a cry is raised against 'the
solid South !' Ah, Mr. President, it will not do.
This system of legislation toward the South that
began more than ten years ago is reaping
its fruit ; and it is not by additional penal laws
that you can better the condition of this country.
What does the Senator want more penal laws
for ? Let him look into the statute-book on this
very subject; let him read the statutes in regard
to the enforcement of the rights of citizens to vote,
and I defy him to find in the statute-books of any
civilized country on this globe a body of laws so
minute, so searching, and bristling all over with
fines and forfeitures as do these laws.
" But that is not all. In addition to that you

NOTABLE SPEECHES.

379

have a vast machinery of superintendents of elec
tion, Federal supervisors, marshals, deputy mar
shals, paid electioneerers out of the Treasury of the
United States, under the guise of vbeing men to
preserve the freedom of suffrage and peace at
elections. You have a whole army of them pro
vided for by your statutes. What more does the
Senator want ? I think I see, Mr. President, what
is wanted. I think this is a note which is sounded
to the people of the North that they must retrace
their steps ; and this very party which required
two amendments to the Constitution to be made
in the interest, it was said, of the colored popula
tion of the South, is now preparing to face about,
retrace its steps, and undo what it did only a few
years ago. Either directly or by indirection that
is to be done. Indeed, I thought, while the Sen
ator from Maine was making his speech, how
much reason this country, and especially the
Southern part of the country, had to congratulate
itself that the next House of Representatives will
not have a majority of gentlemen thinking like the
Senator from Maine, for if he is right in what he
said, if his threats are not mere idle wind — and I
certainly do not attribute any such thing to him —
if they are deep-seated and permanent thoughts
of those with whom he acts, then I should be pre
pared to see a House of Representatives in which
there was a Republican majority exclude Southern
members by the score ; then I should be prepared

380 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
to see them decide themselves that the rignt of
suffrage was prohibited down there to the negro,
and then to see them in their supreme authority,
as they would construe it, vote out the chosen
Representatives of the South, not by ones, not by
twos, but by the score. It is a fortunate thing for
this country, it is a fortunate thing for our free in
stitutions, that there is not in the present House
of Representatives, and will not be in the next, a
majority thinking as the Senator from Maine
thinks, and willing to act as I fear he is willing to
act. "Mr. President, one word on the amendment I
have offered. My own belief is that there is a far
greater danger that menaces our institutions and
menaces the right of suffrage in this country than
that to which the Senator from Maine has alluded.
Sir, the most disheartening thing to an American
wholoves free institutions is to see thatyear by year
the corrupt use of money in elections is making its
way until the time may come, and that within the
observation of even the oldest man here, when
elections in the United States will be as debauched
^as ever they were in the worst days of the old
borough parliamentary elections in the mother
land. " Mr. President, there is the great danger. The
question is whether this country shall be governed
with a view to the rights of every man, the poor
man as well as the rich man, or whether the long-

NOTABLE SPEECHES. 381
est purse shall carry the elections and this be a
mere plutocracy instead of a democratic repub
lic. That is the danger ; and that danger, let me
tell my friend, exists far more in the North than
it does in the South. Sir, if he wants to preserve
the purity of elections, if he wants to have this
Government perpetuated as a system that can be
honestly administered from the primary election
to the signature of a bill by the President of the
United States, let him set his face and exercise
his great ability in stopping the flood-gates of
corruption that threaten to deluge the whole land
and bring republican institutions into utter ruin
and disgrace."

ON THE CHINESE QUESTION.
Before the importation, of Chinese servile
laborers in great hordes upon the Pacific coast
had become a subject of general attention and
discussion throughout the country, Mr. Thur
man had expressed his views and taken a decided
position. As early as September roth, 1870, in a
campaign speech at Cincinnati, more than five
years before the Legislature of California memo
rialized Congress on the subject, Mr. Thurman,
addressing his constituents, said :
" I do not think that a large Chinese immigra
tion to this country is desirable. I do not think
it would be a valuable acquisition. On the con-

382 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
^trary, I think it would be a seriously disturbing
element. In race, civilization, habits, education,
and religion the Chinese are widely different from
our people — so different as to form a very strik
ing contrast. The European immigrants are of
the same race, religion, and civilization as our
selves, and while they add immensely to the
power and wealth of the Republic, they do not
seriously disturb the substantial homogeneity of
our white population. Their migration, therefore,
benefits the country and deserves encouragement.
Not so with the Chinese. They will never be
come one people with us. Were they to dwell
here for centuries they would probably be as dis
tinct from the white race as are gypsies in Spain
from the pure-blooded Spaniard. We are destined
to have a great commerce with Asia, and the
natural result will be the voluntary migration from
that continent of a limited number of business
men. I see no objection to that. It will not in
terfere with our mechanics or laborers, will not
disturb our social or political system, while it will
tend, by an increase of ourcommercial connections,
to add to our commerce and wealth. But that is
ri wholly different thing from the Coolie immigra
tion that is now going on, and which, if not stopped,
must alarmingly increase. This immigration is
in no proper sense of the word voluntary. It is
a kind of Chinese slave trade. Instead of an in
dependent, self-reliant body of freemen, it intro-

NOTABLE SPEECHES. 383
duces a horde of quasi slaves, working at half
wages by the command of a taskmaster.
" And this leads me to notice a statement I
have seen, that this country needs cheap labor ;
in other words, men who will work for low wages ;
that there is a scarcity of laborers here, and,
therefore, Chinese laborers should be imported
to supply the deficiency.
•'I do not. concur in this view. My opinion is
that we, or rather our posterity, are much more
likely to suffer from a redundancy of population
than from a dearth of it. In thirty years from
now we will have one hundred millions of people,
without counting a Chinese immigrant, in' sixty
years two hundred millions, in one hundred years
probably four hundred millions. We are in no
danger of a scarcity of laborers.
" Nor do I think that low wages are a blessing
to any country. In the opinion of an eminent
thinker, Buckle, low wages and despotism are in
separable. It will be found, I think, that the
freer the institutions of a country are, the greater
will be the tendency to fair wages for labor. Low
wages are mainly owing to an unequal and unfair
distribution of the annual production of wealth.
This annual production, which is nearly all the
result of labor, is being constantly divided into
four parts, rents to the landlord, interest to the
money lender, profits to the business man, and
wages to the laborer. Now, if the wages be low

384 L1FE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
it must be because the annual product is small
and all classes suffer, or because that product is
unfairly distributed. In general, the latter is the
cause, and when wages are very low the laborer
gets but a bare subsistence, while the other classes,
or some of them, accumulate enormous wealth.
And thus society becomes divided into the very
rich and the very poor. That this is an unfortu
nate condition for a country is too obvious to need
remark, and that its tendency is hostile to free
institutions, as well as to the material comfort of
the people, is undoubtedly true. I have therefore
no sympathy with the cry for cheap labor and-
low wages. They may give rise, it is true, to
great public works and magnificent structures, but
the benefit is gained at the expense of a suffering
people. The Pyramids are striking monuments
of the pride and ostentation of kings, but they
are more striking evidences of a degraded condi-
tion of the laboring class. That country is likely
to be most free and happy where the annual pro
duction of wealth being jia-stly distributed, labor
obtains a fair reward."
Six years later, when Senator Sargent pre
sented the grievances of the people of his State
and section against the evils of Chinese immigra
tion ; and after the report of a Committee of In
quiry on the subject, the bill to restrict the immi
gration of the Chinese, which passed the House
by 155 to 72, found Mr. Thurman one of its fore-

NOTABLE SPEECHES. 385
most champions in the Senate. Hayes vetoed
the bill. Future restrictive legislation had Thur
man's support, and this is one of the reasons why
he has always been enthusiastically favored by
the people of the Pacific States.
A BIMETALLISM
The position he has consistently maintained
upon the coinage of silver and the retention of
both metals as .the basis of our currency is one
about which parties have been divided, and the
lines that mark the division are geographical
rather than political. Mr. Thurman never be
lieved in an irredeemable paper currency, and
never abandoned the Jacksonian Democratic hard-
money idea. To his view, gold and silver, metals
of intrinsic value, international exchanges the
world over, ought both to be maintained in circu
lation as currency and as the basis of the paper
money of the country. He supported the Act of
the Forty-fifth Congress for the coinage of silver
dollars ; he thought that the contract provided for
the payment of public debts in coin of the stand
ard of 1870, when the dollar of 4-izyi grains was
full legal tender, and that such dollars would
approximate to gold in value.
He made a strong speech in the Senate on
February 6th, 1878, on the proposition to author
ize the free coinage of the standard silver dollar,

386 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
and to restore its legal tender character ; and in
the course of it he said : " Mr. President, silver and
gold have been the metallic money of the world
for thousands of years. They are also the money
of our Constitution. They were the metallic
money of the colonies, and afterward of the Uni
ted States, from the Declaration of Independence
until silver was demonetized, by mistake and
without the knowledge of the people or Congress,
by the enactment of the Revised Statutes in 1874.
Both metals are suited to perform the functions
of money, and silver does perform that function
among a large majority of the human race. Sil
ver is especially suited for small transactions, and
may therefore be properly called the money of
people in humble circumstances. It follows from
these premises that the burden of proof rests on
those who insist that silver should be demone
tized." He then proceeded with much cogency, and in
logical order, to answer all the objections to the
remonetization of silver, and to advance a series
of arguments in favor of it. A further extract
will convey some idea of his line of reasoning :
" It is by no means certain that the standard of
value is less variable in monometallic than it is in
bimetallic countries. An absolutely unvarying
standard of value is an impossibility ; and the
thinkers who have endeavored to discover such a
standard have never been able to find it in any

NOTABLE SPEECHES. ¦ 387
one thing. Neither gold nor silver, nor any annual
product of the earth or of human industry, nor
the wages of labor (once insisted upon as the best
standard), have been found to solve the problem.
And hence it has been argued, with no little zeal,
that the average price, or the average cost of pro
duction, of a number of commodities, some say
as many as twenty, must be taken to find a stand
ard of value even approximatively correct.
" I merely glance at these speculations of in
genious men and rely upon the judgment and ex
perience of mankind, who for thousands of years
have considered and found gold and silver to
furnish the nearest possible approach to an un
varying standard, and the safest though not the
most convenient instrument of exchange. I am
content to rest upon this experience, which has
been full, ample, enduring, until something better
shall be discovered, should that event ever take
place. But now, in answer to the gloomy fore
bodings we have heard, the predictions of ruin
should this bill become a law, I wish to appeal for
a moment to the teachings of history.
" Mr. President, has there ever been, so far as
we know, a more prosperous country than were
the United States from 1789 to 1861 ? Did any
nation ever exceed the progress we made in popu
lation, wealth, education, refinement, and the gen
eral well-being of the people, in those seventy-
two years ? And yet, during all that period we

388 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
had bimetallism ; for we gave no preference to
gold over silver, or to silver over gold. Those
metals fluctuated then as they have done since,
and probably ever will do, but no American states
man of that period thought of demonetizing
either. Great Britain had set the example of
demonetizing silver as early as .1816, and adopted
the single gold standard, but neither the American
people nor the American Congress thought of
following that example.
" And now, Mr. President, let us turn to Europe
for a moment, and what do we hear ? The wait
ings of thousands of laboring men, women, and
children thrown out of employment ; the cries of
anguish of thousands of other men who but a
year ago were rich but now are bankrupts ; in a
word, the same notes of sorrow that so afflict our
ears in our own distressed land. But from what
countries do they mainly come ? From two, sir
— from two — from gold, monometallic England,
and gold, monometallic Germany ; while bimetal
lic France, the land of silver as well as gold, en
joys a prosperity hardly exceeded by that of any
people on the earth.
" Among the gloomy predictions that have been
uttered in this debate is the assertion that if this
bill pass our foreign commerce will be disjointed
and the national credit be destroyed.
" Our foreign commerce disjointed ! Why, sir,
have we not carried on the business of this coun-

NOTABLE SPEECHES. 389
try for the last sixteen years upon an inconvertible
paper currency, and has our foreign commerce
been destroyed or disjointed? Do we not import
all we need ? Do we not export more than We
ever before exported ? Is not the balance of trade
in our favor ? And if all this be true with a home
currency of inconvertible paper money, how can
any man who has the faculty of thought seriously
believe that our. condition would be worse with an
ample basis of metallic money to support our
paper issues ?
" The national credit destroyed ! How de
stroyed ? By complying to the letter with our
national obligations ; by paying precisely as we
promised to pay ? Sir, when silver was demone
tized it was worth more than gold. We seemed
to- have elected to pay our obligations in the
cheaper metal. Did that destroy the national
Credit ?
"England, in 1816, adopted the single gold
standard when gold was cheaper than silver. Did
that destroy her credit, did that humiliate and de
grade her in the eyes of the civilized world ?
" No, Mr. President, the United States need no
such prop as the single gold standard to support
their credit. The resources of this country are too
great and too well known, her fidelity to her obli
gations has been too well proved, for her credit to
suffer by her return to her ancient, constitutional,
and well-approved policy. And, for one, I long for

.390 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
the day, which I am too old ever to see, but
which will come, when our obligations, National,
State, municipal, and corporate, will be held at
home and not abroad ; when there will' be no
annual drain of the resources of America to im
poverish our people and enrich foreign nations.
" ' Our bonds will be returned from Europe if
we pass this bill,' cries an alarmist. No, sir, they
will not be returned ; or if they be to some small
extent, or even in great amounts, they will soon
be ' recalled. The telegraph says this morning
that $6,000,000 are on their way from England.
They will be getting back there very soon, whether
this bill pass or not ; for were every one of them
payable in silver coin, and were the depreciation
of silver to continue, the interest upon them would
be greater than any equally safe European public
stock affords. But, again, they will not be returned
unless they can find purchasers in the United
States. Suppose they do find such purchasers,
will not every one of you, Senators, congratulate
yourself that our public debt is held at home ?
Will not every one of you remember that a prin
cipal reason why England can endure her im
mense indebtedness, why France can live under
hers, is that English debts are held by Englishmen
and French debts by Frenchmen ? And will you
not hail the day when American debts shall be
held by .Americans and by Americans alone ?"

CHAPTER VIII.
COMPELLING THE PACIFIC RAILWAYS TO ACCOUNT.
SENATOR THURMAN'S natural Demo
cratic instinct led him early to see the
dangers which threatened the country and
the people in the vast accumulations of wealth and
power by great corporations. Before he entered
the Senate the subsidies and land grants given to
the monopolies who received their charters from
the Federal Government — and proposed to cross
State lines and traverse the Territorial dominions
in their construction— had been the fruitful source
of political demoralization and personal corruption.
The greedy " Give ! give !" of those whose hands
and pockets had been already well filled was ring
ing through the halls of Congress ; corporate
power, having obtained valuable franchises upon
conditions never fulfilled, defied the Government
to enforce the obligations which it held.
As early as 1870, in a speech in Cincinnati,
Senator Thurman had shown his disposition to
warn his countrymen against the encroachment
of these powers. Faithful guardian as he was of
the rights of the Government and of the interests
of the people, the nice sense of justice which en-
391

392 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
dowed him for the legal profession withheld him
from any destructive crusade upon the vested
privileges of the objects of his denunciation. He
said :
" Look at the astounding subsidies to railroad
companies — mere private corporations. To say
nothing of the fifty-eight million acres granted to
States for purposes of internal improvement, most
of which have gone into the hands of railroad
companies, there had been granted by Congress
before its last session directly to four railroad
companies, the Union Pacific and branches, Cen
tral Pacific, Northern Pacific, and Atlantic and
Pacific, 124,000,000 acres — more land than is
contained in the Middle States, stretching from
the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River — that
is to say, the seven States of New Jersey, Dela
ware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana,
and Illinois. Besides this, a subsidy of over $6o,-
000,000 in bonds was granted to the two first-
named roads — every dollar of which, though in
name a loan, will, it can hardly be doubted, have
to be paid by the United States.
********
" Not only this, the wealth, power, and dominion
thus conferred upon these great and favored cor
porations will make them the overshadowing and
ruling power in at least a dozen States. In reality,
they and not the State Legislatures, will choose
Senators in Congress; they, and not the unbiased

COMPELLING RAILWAYS TO ACCOUNT.

393

voice of the people, will elect Representatives ;
they, and not free States, will speak in the choice
of Presidents.
" Think of a road stretching from Lake Superior
to the Pacific Ocean, embracing within its branches
more than two thousand miles of line, the prop
erty of a single corporation, and that corporation
owning every alternate section of land, or its pro
ceeds, in a belt of eighty miles wide for nearly the
whole length of its line — 40 sections, or 25,600
acres to the mile — 53,000,000 acres in all, or the
proceeds of their sale at such prices as the cor
poration may see fit to exact — with towns and
cities owned by the corporation or a favored ring
of its stockholders, scattered along the road, and
the.great stockholders, those owning nearly all its
stock and ruling its affairs, residing in Boston,
New York, and Philadelphia, and you will have
some idea what the Northern Pacific Railroad' is
to be, and what chance for political promotion any
man within the limits of its influence would have,
should he dare seek to restrict its monopoly,
restrain its exactions, or otherwise oppose its
will. " Much is being now said about the relative
rights of capital and labor ; much complaint is
uttered at what is said to be the exactions of
capital and the depression of labor. The working
men are everywhere forming unions, holding con
gresses, and issuing books, pamphlets, and news-

394 LIFE 0F ALLEN G. THURMAN.
papers, to advocate their claims, and protest
against the unequal distribution of wealth, which
they assert is resulting from existing laws, and
especially from their tendency to aggregate
capital. But what aggregation of capital and
privilege was ever seen equal to that created by
Congress, by the charters it has granted and the
donations it has made to the four railroad com
panies I have named ? What other corporations
have ever become the owners in fee of a territory,
equal to seven States of this Union, greater than
the area of Germany; and in addition to this
wealth, been clothed with a corporate existence,
and immense corporate privileges of perpetual
duration ? I am certainly not so absurd as to be
an enemy of railroads. No man acknowledges
more fully than I do, the immense advantage
they are to a country ; no man honors more
than I do the men who wisely project,- and
honestly build and manage them. I could men
tion names — some of the dead, some of the
living — to whom Ohio owes a great debt of gra
titude for the construction, and liberal, wise, and
successful management of her railways. But
there is a vast difference between roads built under
State authority, with capital furnished by the
stockholders, supervised by the State, controlled
and managed by her citizens, and limited in extent,
and roads chartered bv Congress, built with dona-
tions of the public domain, spauning more than

COMPELLING RAILWAYS TO ACCOUNT. 395
half the continent, and owned and controlled by
a few rich men in the great cities of the East.
" Before I leave this topic, I must call your
attention to an alarming step taken at the last
session of Congress in the matter of these land
grants. Before then Congress had never granted
any but the alternate sections, designated by odd
numbers, and in defense of these grants it was
said that the construction of the railroads would
double the value of the even-numbered sections
retained by the Government, and hence there
would be no loss of money, and accordingly the
price of the retained sections was raised from
$1.25 to $2.50 per acre. This defense never had '
any weight with me, for it treated the Govern
ment as a speculator in lands, seeking to extort
the highest price from the settler ; whereas I
thought, and yet think, that it is not as a specu
lator, but as a beneficent parent that the Govern
ment ought to regard and administer these lands.
But that was the defense, and with those who look
at nothing but dollars and cents it sufficed. But
at the last session, the Senate threw even this
defense away. For, in face of the most deter
mined opposition, and after full discussion, it
deliberately passed a bill granting to the Central
branch of 'the Union Pacific Railroad the evdn-
numbered sections, the odd numbered having
been already given to other railroad companies.
And so, for a distance of about three hundred

396 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
miles, lying partly in Kansas, partly in Nebraska,
and partly in the Territory of Wyoming, every foot
of land belonging to the Government was granted,
so far as the Senate could do it, to railroad cor
porations. And this leads me to observe that you
must not suppose that because all the land-grab
bing bills that passed the Senate did not go
through the House, therefore they are dead. In
view of the approaching Congressional elections,
and fearful of.the people, the House laid some of
them aside ; but they are still upon its calendar, to
be acted upon next winter ; and should the Radi
cal party triumph in the fall elections, you may
rest assured that every one of them will pass."

PROTECTING THE GOVERNMENT S RIGHTS.
- The disclosures of the Credit Mobilier scandal
had called public attention to the fact that the
liberal grants of the United -States Government,
in good faith, for the building of transcontinental
lines of railway had been grossly misappropriated
for the enrichment of the few favored members
of the " inside rings." They had built the road
on second mortgage bonds, which had by some
legerdemain supplanted the security that the
Government had taken for its subsidies, and the
United States became holder of a precarious sub
ordinate lien for the money it had advanced.
Although the original act required the railroads

COMPELLING RAILWAYS TO ACCOUNT. 397
to pay their debts to the Government at maturity,
and allowed it to retain only one-half of the sums
arising from transportation, it seemed likely that
before the principal of these obligations fell due
the railroad managers would find their profit in
abandoning their mortgaged property and in
letting their Federal creditor collect its lien from
what Mr. Thurman once said would be "a streak"
of dust across the continent. ,An Act of 1873,
the outcome of public indignation at the prospect,
instructed the Attorney-General to sue the stock
holders for the Government's rights under the
contract ; and the Government was empowered
to retain all of the moneys which it otherwise
would pay for mail service and transportation to
the Pacific railroads until the interest in default
by these corporations was met. The railroad
companies brought suit to recover half of the
withheld pay for these services, the other half
being retained under the original contract. It
was ruled by the courts that under the terms of
the contract between the Government and the
companies the interest on the bonds was not due
until the principal matured. The Act of March,
1873, was then rendered ineffective ; and the suit
of the Government against Oakes Ames and
other Credit Mobilier stockholders who had
profited by the advantage taken of the Govern
ment was dismissed on the ground that the United
States was an intermeddler in that issue between

398 life of allen g. thurman.
the stockholders of the road and the men who
cheated them; being a creditor whose claim. was
not yet due, it had no concern in the suit it had
raised up. The result of the litigation between
1873 and 1878 was favorable to the companies,
and the prospect of the Government ever getting
its just dues was gloomy indeed.

A BRILLIANT FIGHT BRAVELY WON.
It was then Mr. Thurman shifted the line of his
attack, and aided by Mr. Edmunds and opposed
by Mr. Blaine and other friends of the corporate
interests, he began the battle for the recovery of
the plunder which the Pacific Railways were daily
making away with in full sight of the executive,
legislative, and judicial .branches of the Govern
ment. He laid down the principle that a creditor
whose debt, though not due, is in danger has a
right to ask a court of equity to restrain the debtor
from squandering his assets. He contended
for an act which would create a sinking fund
into which should be paid five per cent, of the
net earnings and all the money that the Govern
ment was asked to pay the railway companies for
service rendered ; that sinking fund, swelled thus
annually by about $1,200,000, would graduallyin-
crease to. meet at maturity, in part, at least, the
interest and principal of the - debt of the railway
companies, For such a measure he and Mr.' Ed-

COMPELLING RAILWAYS TO ACCOUNT 399
munds made gallant and successful struggle,
Q OO 7
though opposed at every stage of it by some of
the ablest debaters of both parties.
No higher service was rendered the country
at this time than by the result of this measure,
which checked and prevented an impudent attempt
of defaulting corporations to evade their just
debts. Not only were many millions actually saved
and thus gained to the public Treasury, but an
example was set of strict accountability that was
needed to repress a growing tendency on the
part of Congress to deal liberally and loosely with
the contracts of corporations. Mr. Thurman's
speeches in the various phases of this legislation,
far too numerous and lengthy to be quoted here,
were in his usual vigorous style, and he never ap
peared to better advantage than when the gad
flies of parliamentary interruption swarmed about
him. In attacking a proposed amendment to his
bill, offered by Mr. Blaine, who thus sought to-se
cure for the railroad companies a provision re
pealing in part the reserved powers of the Gov
ernment in the charters to alter, amend, or repeal
them, Mr. Thurman said :
"Mr. President, one of the things for which these
railroad companies have been striving these many
long years has been to get rid of that very re
served power ; but this is the first time that they
have ventured — no, not they; I beg pardon for
saying fhat — this is the first time that any one in

400 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
the Senate of the United States or, 'I believe, in
the House of Representatives, has ventured to
champion such an idea. Their officers and law
yers, in their arguments before the Judiciary Com
mittee last November and December, urged upon
us strenuously enough that we should make some
kind of bargain with the companies, and they
would be extremely liberal if we would only give
up the right to alter, amend, or repeal their char
ters. Those arguments, taken in short-hand, will
show that it is the cherished object of these cor
porations to get rid of that power of control which
Congress possesses over them. They would give
for that far more than the Senator from Maine
asks from them. They would give far more than
the Judiciary Committee bill asks from them, upon
any interpretation, if Congress would surrender
that power to alter, amend, or repeal. That,
therefore, is involved in the amendment which is
now under consideration. Congress, for good
and sufficient reasons, I am willing to admit for
the purposes of this argument, saw fit in 1862 to
pass an act chartering railroad companies whose
roads should extend over one-half of this conti
nent, and chartering them in perpetuity, charter
ing them with an existence that should endure as
long as the Republic itself should endure, charter
ing them with powers such as never were con
ferred on any other railroad corporations on the
face of this globe, endowing them as no other cor-

COMPELLING RAILWAYS TO ACCOUNT. 40 1
porations ever were endowed. And then, in 1864,
it saw fit to nearly double the endowment, and to
increase their powers and their privileges im
mensely beyond what they had been before. But
in view of that fact, in view of the immense power
and extent and wealth that these corporations
would have, in view of the fact which human ex
perience has shown and nowhere more than in
the United States, the power of concentrated
capital, wielded in the employment of thousands
and tens of thousands of men, the Congress
wisely retained the power to alter, add to, amend,
or repeal those charters. It did it for the very
purpose for which such reservations are made, in
the language of the Supreme Court of the United
States. It did it because, in the language of that
court— "'The .object of the reservation, and of similar
reservations in other charters, is to prevent a
grant of corporate rights and privileges in a form
which will preclude legislative interference with
.their exercise, if the public interest ' — not the pri
vate interest of these corporations, as my friend
from Connecticut [Mr. Eaton] suggests, but
against their^nterest if necessary and against their
will — 'if the public interest should at any time re
quire such interference. It is a provision, intended
to preserve to the State control over its contract
with the corporators.'
"That is the language of the Supreme Court,

402 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
and that was the law of this land when the Con
gress of the United States in 1862, and again
in 1864, said the Congress of the United States
shall have control over this contract with these
corporations. And now, sir, it is to get rid of
that control, to fritter it away, to overthrow and
destroy it, to annihilate the very thing for which
the people of this country for thirty years have
been contending, and which they have put into
nearly thirty Constitutions of the States — it is
to get rid of that,- to trample it under foot, to
render it a nullity, to construe it away, to make
it not worth the paper on which the words are
printed, that amendments like that now under
consideration are offered." * * * " Mr. Pres
ident, I have said, and I repeat it, that, rather
than see Congress give up that power of con
trol over these two great corporations, I would
see every dollar of the debt they owe the Gov
ernment lost forever. I would rather see this
bill sunk into the depths of the sea, never to be
resurrected, than to see Congress yield for one
day its power over these two corporations or
any others over which it has the power."
ENORMOUS FIGURES.
With reference to the effect of the bill gener
ally, in the same speech, he said :
"At the maturity of the debt the companies
will still owe under present laws, that is, if they

COMPELLING RAILWAYS TO ACCOUNT

403

should not be changed, according to the best esti
mate that can be made of the product of the five
per cent, and the product of the half transporta
tion, $109,000,000. The estimate of the Judiciary
Committee was $120,000,000, and of the Railroad
Committee $122,000,000. The chief of accounts
estimated it at $109,000,000, because, as I have
said, he estimates the five per cent, of net earnings
and the half-transportation account higher than
the estimate of the Committees under the Judiciary
Committee bill, upon the Committee's estimate of
$1,166,000, or in round numbers $1,200,000, as
the amount of the five per cent, and the half-
transportation, the sum that would be due to the
Government at the maturity of the bonds, the
average time of which is October 1st, 1897, would
be $75,000,000. That is what the two companies
would owe to the Government at that time upon
the estimate made by the Judiciary Committee of
the five per cent, and of the half-transportation,
if the bill should pass ; but upon the estimate
made by this expert, this chief of accounts, allow
ing for the increased business in the future at the
ratio at which it has increased in the past, or
something like that, the amount that would remain
due would be $36,000,000. Under Senate bill
No. 812, the bill of the Railroad Committee, the
Government would sponge out fifty-three million
and odd, losing that by mere computation of in
terest, and the companies would still owe at the
maturity of the bonds $67,000,000,

404 ' LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN. .
" Mr. President, it seems to me that this state
ment of itself shows that this is not a subject
upon which the hands of Congress ought to be
tied, so that, no matter what may be the conse
quences in the future, no matter how these com
panies may mismanage their affairs, no matter, on
the other hand, how prosperous they may be; we
shall be -so tied up that we can do nothing for the
protection of their creditors."
A DISINTERESTED STATESMAN.
In concluding his remarks upon the Blaine
amendment he said : " Having this bill in charge,
having bestowed great care upon it, having be
stowed long study and much labor upon it, I
thought it my duty to make some remarks in the
"close of the discussion. I wish, I repeat, to say
in conclusion that I have no feeling on this subject
and can have no feeling but that which becomes
a Senator. My judgment is not in the least de
gree swayed by interest. There is no interest in
Ohio adverse to these companies that does not
exist in Georgia or Maine or any other State in
the Union, and there is no interest adverse to
them, unless to make them discharge their duties
and pay their debts is an adverse interest. I do
not know a citizen of Ohio who owns a dollar of
stock in either one of these companies ; I do ,not
know a citizen of Ohio who owns a bond of one
of these companies; I do not know a citizen of
that State who is a creditor of one of these com-

COMPELLING . RAIL WA YS TO A CCO UNT. 405
panies in any way ; I do not know a citizen of my
State who is a stockholder or creditor of any rival
company to these companies. If there could be
a constituency that stands perfectly impartial be
tween the Government and these corporations, it
is the constituency that I have the honor in part to
represent. All they ask of them, all they ask of
their Representatives in Congress, is to see that
justice is done. And in order that justice may be
done they ask that their cherished principles, for
which they long contended and which they carried
by triumphant majorities arid crystallized in the
Constitution of the State, that , every charter
granted by the Legislature shall be subject to
alteration, amendment, or repeal, in the discretion
of the Legislature — they do ask that this great
principle which they think essential to the preser
vation of liberty, essential to the preservation of
purity in legislation; essential to the rights and
prosperity of the people, essential to guard against
the dangers that history taught them had so often
befallen a people from the existence of monopolies,
shall be maintained. They are unwilling that this
great principle shall be frittered away and reduced
to nothing, shall become a shadow instead of a
living and potent reality. That they are unwilling
to do. In all that I sympathize fully with them.
And if I have expressed myself warmly on this
subject, it is because I do so sympathize, and this it
is that has led me to say again and again, not by

406 * LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
way of bravado, not as my friend from Connecti
cut seems- to think, by way of dictating the bill
of the Judiciary Committee as the ultimate result
of human wisdom (for I have never intimated any
such thing, nor do I know any other member of
the Committee who has done so), but it is that
sentiment as well as the/ sentiment of justice and
of our duty to the people of the United States
that have made me speak perhaps somewhat
warmly on the1 subject, and to declare as I did
declare, and now repeat, that rather than see that
power of Congress, reserved to it over these cor
porations, suspended for one day I would see this
bill defeated and every dollar of the Government
debt forever lost."
Senator Thurman might well rest his fame as a
lawyer and Senator upon the framing and push
ing to passage this act, which bears his name; it
secures to the Federal Treasury many millions
that were imperiled, if not lost.- His part in it
required not only the honesty as a public repre
sentative which has always been conceded to his
character, but a degree of industry, ability, cour
age, and zeal which are too often lacking in the
Senate.

CHAPTER IX.
A PLEA FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERATION — PERILS OF THE
REPUBLIC  MISCELLANEOUS ADDRESSES.

MR. THURMAN'S habit, it has before
been intimated, is to speak rather when
he has something to say, than because
he seeks a pretext to say something. Having
devoted himself closely to his duties as a Senator,
without diversion therefrom to outside business,
professional or literary engagements, his utter
ances on public questions are to be found chiefly
in the many volumes of the Congressional Record,
issued during the period of his public service.
Occasionally, however, at these and other times, he
delivered at various places public addresses on
many subjects, which bear impress of the same
tlioughtfulness and breadth of view that charac-
terized his speeches on the floor of the Senate. He
made an address before the literary societies of the
University of Virginia, at Charlottesville June 26th,
1872, in which he depicted to the young men
attending that institution the dangers likely to
menace the existence of the Republic, and the
means of averting them. Some of these perils
he found in the territorial magnitude and enor
mously increasing population of the country, the
407

408 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
diversity of races and languages, the proneness
of mankind to war and the love of military glory,
and the tendency to centralization. The tone of
the address is by no means pessimistic, however,
and for the evils which might result from prevail
ing perilous tendencies he offered practicable
relief and saw hopeful remedies. Some striking
facts were called to public attention in this speech r
" Only fifty years hence our population will
probably exceed 160,000,000, or four times the
present population of France. At the end of a
century, in 1972, if it increase in the same ratio
that has hitherto marked its growth, the United
States will contain more than twice as many peo
ple as now inhabit the continent of Europe. If
it be inadmissible to suppose that this ratio of in
crease will continue, it is not irrational to affirm,
that within the lifetime of a child now born, our
population will equal that of the five Great Powers
of Europe combined. Such an aggregation of man
kind, for the most part homogeneous, belonging
to the most intellectual and energetic portion of
the human race, speaking the same language, all
more or less educated, occupying one of the fair
est and most fruitful portions of the earth in that
North Temperate Zone that seems to be the
chosen habitation of civilization and progress,
united under one government, and that a govern
ment of free institutions, will present a phenome
non such as never yet has been seen in the world.

A PLEA FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. 409
History exhibits nothing like it, nothing that bears
any close analogy to it. It strikes the imagina
tion like the dawn of a millennium, and even the
most sanguine and hopeful can scarcely regard it
as more than a dream."
•i» *j^ ¦** *x» *t' »H -i>
" Of the thirty-eight and a-half millions of our
people in 1870, but five arid a-half millions were
foreign born, and they were scattered throughout
every State and,Territory of the Union. And for
the most part they, are intelligent, industrious,
thriving, and sincerely attached to free institu
tions. With the increase of population, the pro-,
portion of foreign born to native citizens will de
crease each year. The various elements of white
population will become more and more blended,
until a homogeneous whole will be the result. The
American of a century hence may differ from the
American of the past or the present century, but
yet, whatever his origin, he will be an American.
What people are more homogeneous than the
French? And yet, in their veins runs the blood
of Celt, Roman, Goth, Teuton, to say nothing of
lesser subdivisions of the human race. What
more composite in his origin than an English
man, to whose blood the Celt, the Roman, the
Dane, the Angle, the Saxon, the Norman all con
tributed? Yet, what unification more complete
than than that of the English people of to-day ?
We have nothing then to fear, as it seems to me,

4IO LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
from the diversity of race among our white popula
tion." *t- *1» *t» ¦;* .^* •% *£.
" It has been said that orators govern Repub
lics, but if the remark were ever true, it is true no
longer. Had every member of Congress the
eloquence of Demosthenes, they could not mold
public sentiment against a press whose daily
issues exceed 1,300,000, and furnish daily mental
food to millions of readers. But of these 1,300,000
daily sheets, about 1,170,000, or nearly eight-
ninths of the whole number, are published in the
¦ three cities of New York, Philadelphia, and Bos
ton. More than one-half of the whole number
issue from the press of New York alone.
" If we turn from the dailies to the weeklies, -
tri- and semi-weeklies, reviews, and magazines we
find the same striking fact, that these three cities
are the great centres of publication. There is
scarcely an art or industry that has not its organ
in the city of New York. So too of the books
published in the United States. More than three-
fourths — probably nearer nine-tenths — issue from
the press of these three cities. The effect is that
they have become the great centres from which
the facts, the fictions, and the opinions that are
molding the American mind emanate."
o
*******
"The last census shows that in some of the
States there was within the last decade no increase

A PLEA FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERATION: 41 1
at all of the rural population, or one too insignif
icant to be noticed. The whole increase was in
the cities and towns. And with the exception of
some of the new States, the same census shows
everywhere in the Republic an increase in the
cities and towns altogether disproportionate to
that outside of them. What will be the ultimate
effect of this fact, if prolonged, upon our institu
tions, I do not venture to predict. I merely note
it as a fact very striking in itself, and worthy of
the profoundest consideration."
A PLEA FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERATION.
In the Ohio State campaign of 1875 the Republi
cans attempted to create a sectarian issue by charg
ing that there was a combination between the Dem
ocratic party and the Catholic Church to abolish
the common-school system, or, at least, divide the
school fund among the various religious denomi
nations, or to exempt Catholics from all taxation
for the support of the schools. As Mr. Thurman
said in an address at Cleveland, opening the cam
paign, " A more unfounded pretense, a more false,
¦hollow, and hypocritical assertion, was never ut
tered by mortal man. It would be a sufficient answer
to say that no combination between the Demo
cratic party and the Catholic Church exists or has
ever existed. There never has been a public
measure adopted or advocated by the Democratic
party that gave to the Catholic, or any other

412 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN
Church, any preference or advantage over any
other sect or body of men. It has been the boast
of the party, arid a just and proper boast, too, that
from its very foundation it has defended the rights
of conscience of every man, opposed every scheme
for a union of Church and State, and maintained
the perfect equality of right of every sect and de-'
nomination of mankind. Its great founder, the
immortal Jefferson, was one of the first of men to
advocate this equality, and to give to it the sanc
tion of law in the Legislature of his native State.
For his maintenance of this principle he was un
sparingly denounced by his enemies, and held up
to the public gaze as an infidel seeking to destroy
the very foundations of religion. But the. Demo
cratic party rallied to his support, and so firmly
established the principle that it has become a part
and parcel of our free institutions, as inseparable
from them as our blood is from our lives, and
destined to endure as long as they shall exist."
The issue thus raised gave Senator Thurman
cause to make a clear deliverance on the subject
of the relation of the Church and State, and upon
religious toleration in general. In the speech
above quoted he also said :
"There are many people yet who think that a
Unitarian denies the truths of Scripture, and de
serves the frowns and condemnation of all true
Christians. There are others who regard the
Quakers as enemies of government, because they

A PLEA FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. 41 3
insist upon the gospel of peace and deny the law
fulness of war. There are others who regard the
O'
Episcopal Church as a sort of adjunct to Rome.
And so of all the sects, there is not one against
whom, in the minds of other sectaries, prejudice
may pot be excited ; and if that prejudice is to
take the form of political warfare, there is no sect
that will be. secure from its baleful influence.
The Radical managers now assail the Catholics
knowing them to be in a minority. Were the
Protestants in a minority, I dare say some of these
same managers would be found assailing them.
No, my friends, the ,'only safe ground to stand
upon is the Democratic principle of equal rights
and perfect freedom of conscience, embodied in-
our Federal and State Constitutions. The
Churches are powerful and efficient instrumen
talities for good, and whatever may be a man's
belief, or disbelief, in theological tenets, he cannot
truthfully deny their conservative power over the
morals and peace of society. But whenever they
shall be dragged into the mire of politics, when
ever warfare upon a Church shall become a high
road to political preferment, you may rest assured
that a blow at their usefulness will have been dealt
that will require many years of pain and suffering
before its evil effects will cease to be felt.
" To hear a Radical stumper talk of the Catholic
Church, you would think, if you knew no better,
that all the members of that Church are under the

414 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
absolute dominion of their priests ; that the priest
has but to point his finger, and his whole flock
vote for the party to which he points. There
never was a more unfounded assertion, never a
greater libel pronounced against a body of Ameri
can freemen. In matters of religion the Catholic
reverently receives the instructions of his spiritual
guide ; in secular matters he acts, as other men
act, upon the dictates of his own judgment. There
are tens of thousands of Catholics who vote, and
have always voted, the Republican ticket ; .and if
the number of such votes is diminishing, it is not
because of priestly domination, but because the
spirit of Know-Nothingism again stalks abroad^
and threatens to obtain complete possession of
the Republican party.
" It is not many years since Archbishop Hughes,
of New York, and Archbishop Purcell, of Cincin
nati, were open supporters of Lincoln's Adminis
tration, and were much applauded by the Repub
lican leaders for that support. Then not one of
those leaders was heard to utter a word about
priestly interference in politics, or priestly domir.
nation. On the contrary, these venerable prelates
were lauded to the skies by the Republican party,
and their example everywhere cited as an induce-.
ment to Catholics to vote the Republican ticket.
Nay, further, President Lincoln manifested his
high regard for the Archbishop of New York by
sending him on a mission to Europe, and the

-,A PLEA FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. 415
whole Republican party applauded the act. But
did the course taken by these eminent prelates —
none more eminent or better entitled to the
regard of their flocks and of mankind — control
the Catholic vote ? Every man of you is ready to
say, no, for it is as notorious as that the sun gives
light to the earth, that the great body of Catholics
continued to vote as they had been accustomed
to vote — the Democrats continued to be Demo
crats, and the Republicans continued to be Re
publicans. "It is a little curious to hear Republican speak
ers denounce what they call the interference of
the Catholic priesthood in politics, and then turn
over a few pages of history and see what the
Protestant priesthood have done, not only with
the approbation but encouraged by the loud plau
dits of these same Republicans. Have you for
gotten the petition to Congress of three thousand
(I think that was the number) Protestant minis- r
ters, denouncing the policy of a Democratic
Administration, and with what a flourish of trum
pets it was presented and applauded ?
" Fellow-citizens, you will much misunderstand
me if you suppose that, in anything I have said, I
mean to censure, much less condemn, any Prot
estant Church or any Protestant priest. On the
contrary, I stand here to defend the rights of
every Church, and to maintain that every man, be
he Christian or Jew, Protestant or Catholic, priest

41 6 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
or layman, believer or unbeliever, shall enjoy to
the fullest extent his rights as a citizen ; that he
shall have the rights guaranteed by our Constitu
tions — Federal and State — the right of free
speech, the right to petition the law-making power,
the right to vote as he sees fit, the right to hold
office, and, most sacred of all, the right to wor
ship Almighty God according to the dictates of
his own conscience. I stand here to maintain
that he shall not be traduced and proscribed
because he exercises these rights ; that a vindic
tive prejudice shall not be excited against him
because he exercises them:, that he shall be, to
all intents and purposes, what the Constitution
makes him, a free man. I stand here to denounce
the agitators who would practically deprive any
man of these rights, to denounce the Know-Noth-
ing spirit that seeks to reduce Catholics and
foreign-born citizens to the status of a degraded
class in the community, to denounce the hypocrisy
that pretends that our schools are in danger, or
that our legislation is controlled by any priest
hood whatever ; and I stand here to appeal to
you, whatever may be your religious belief or dis
belief, whatever are or may have been your polit
ical affiliations, whatever may be your calling or
occupation, whatever may be the land in which
your eyes first beheld the sun, to set the seal of
your condemnation upon the most heartless, insin
cere, illiberal, anti-American, and dangerous at-

A PLEA FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. 41 7
tack upon freedom of conscience, the rights of
the citizen, the peace of society, and the welfare
of your Government ever made in America since
the Know-Nothing banner, twenty years ago,
went down in the dust."

CHAPTER X.
DELEGATE TO THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY CON
FERENCE  ARBITRATOR AND COUNSELOR  TELE
PHONE SUITS AND TALLY-SHEET FORGERY CASES.
IN 1879 the Republicans elected a majority of
the Ohio Legislature and chose James A.
Garfield United States Senator to succeed
Mr. Thurman. There is not much doubt that with
the expiration of his Senatorial term Senator Thur
man felt that his official life had ended. Although
his name had been mentioned for the highestoffice
in the Republic, fit object of any citizen's ambition,
he had never let himself be led off by ambitious
dreams. He had not been supplanted in the es
teem of his countrymen, nor had the affectionate
regard of his party for him weakened in any de
gree, but national politics had come to be so
largely a contest for a few close States that no
body realized more clearly than Mr. Thurman
that the Democratic nominee for President would
not likely be chosen from Ohio during the years
of his availability. On March 4th, 1881, with the
inauguration of President Garfield, he retired from
the Senate, and an incident* related at this time

* Howard Carroll's Twelve Americans, page 166.
418

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY CONFERENCE. 419
shows how welcome" was the relief from responsi
bility and how complacently he viewed what he
felt to be his final exit from the stage :
On the 3d of March, 1881, at the close of his
own term as Senator, Hannibal' Hamlin, of Maine,
sitting in his chair in the Senate Chamber, wrote
a letter to his son expressing his sense of freedom
at his approaching permanent release from all
official duties. After finishing the letter he handed
it to Mr. Thurman, who wrote on a blank page
of the paper the following :
"My Dear Mr. Hamlin : — I have not the pleas
ure of your acquaintance, but I have known your
father for over twenty-five years. Like him, I
can say this is the last day of my political life, and
I am rejoiced to go out of it in such good com
pany and with my personal friend of a generation.
My sincere wish is that you may do honor to a
father so illustrious. " Truly yours, etc.,
"A. G. Thurman."
A DELEGATE TO PARIS.
When Mr. Garfield was elected Senator, he
indulged in some polite poetic fancies about the
flowers that hung over the garden walls of party
politics in Ohio, in token of the amenities always
existing between him and Mr. Thurman, and one
of the first appointments which the new President

420 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
of 1801 made, was a graceful recognition of his
Senatorial predecessor and the leader of the
opposition party in his own State. Together with =
ex-Secretary of State William M. Evarts, and
ex-Senator Timothy O. Howe, President Garfield
appointed Allen G. Thurman one of the three,
American delegates to meet the representatives
of nearly all the European nations at the Interna
tional Monetary Conference of 1 88 1, which as
sembled in Paris on the 19th of April, 1881.
Conferences of this kind had assembled before; .:
the first in 1867, and another in 1878. To the
last, the American delegates were Reuben E.
Fenton, William S. Groesbeck, and Francis A.
Horton, with S. Dana Horton as Secretary.
Although its proceedings disclosed progress
toward a general adoption of silver remonetiza- -:.
tion, it came to no definite result.
Mr. Thurman, accompanied by his wife, faithful
companion of all his journeyings, sailed for Europe
on April 5th, 1881, and reached the Conference'!
with his colleagues and Mr. Dana Horton, their
Secretary — but admitted also as a member, having -.
been a delegate to the conference of 1878 — in-
time for the opening of the session. Austria, Hun
gary, Belgium, . Denmark, Germany, Greece, The :\i
Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Spain, :
Switzerland, and France were represented from thee;
outset, an J the English delegates never appeared.
Thirteen sessions in all were held, during April,

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY CONFERENCE. 421
May, June,- and July; the discussions were inter
esting and^the exhibits valuable; the proceedings
were marked by the highest courtesy and profound
international consideration. The news of Pres-
ident Garfield's assassination was received during
the sittings, and the Conference transmitted
through our delegates warm sentiments of sym
pathy. The draft of a Convention was framed by
which the different Governments were to bind
themselves till January 1 st, 1 900, to admit gold
and silver to mintage without any limitation of
quantity, and at the ratio of i to 15^ ; but the
disinclination of the English and German dele
gates prevented definite action. A number of the
delegates had simply the power to report to their
Governments, and, though the Convention sepa
rated on July 12th, to reassemble in April, 1882,
there has been no further session. Socially and
officially, Mr. Thurman was a conspicuous figure
and general favorite in the Conference. During
the tenth session he made an address on the
effect upon commerce of oscillations of the value
of silver, and upon a desirability of a stable rela
tion in the value of the two metals.
Between the sessions and after the adjourn
ment of the conference Mr. and Mrs. Thur
man visited Geneva, Berne, Basle, Stras
bourg, Heidelberg, Frankfort-on-Main, Mayence,
Cologne, Brussels, and other. German cities ;
they spent w a week at Versailles, another in

42 2 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN. '
London, and made the tour of England, arid
Scotland. He was an interested spectator and
student of European affairs, though he returned
even a better American than before.
BACK TO BUSINESS.
Scarcely had he returned to his own country,
his home and his office, when professional en
gagements claimed his attention. In 1882 the
great trunk line railroad companies, the Pennsyl
vania, New York Central, Erie, and Baltimore
and Ohio became involved in a war of rates ; and
they agreed on Mr. Thurman, with Thomas M.
Cooley, the Michigan jurist, and Elihu B. Wash
burne, ex-Minister to France, to arbitrate their
differences about differential rates.
Many other matters of large concern, besides
an active interest in national politics, claimed his
time and engaged his services. In the winter of
o o
1886-87 the miners in the Hocking Valley de
manded higher wages ; the employing operators
refused to grant the advance, declaring that the
condition of their business and the profits then
making would not afford it. Serious troubles
arose and worse portended. Finally both sides
agreed on ex-Senator Thurman as sole arbitrator
to hear the allegations and proofs and to de"
termine whether the advance should be paid. He
heard the case fully, decided in favor of the
miners, the increase demanded was granted, and

BACK TO BUSINESS.

423

nothing has developed to discredit the wisdom of
his judgment.
In 1885 the United States Government began
what came to be known as the Telephone suits,
to annul the Bell patents on the ground of prior
discovery. The immense money interests at stake
and the ensuing political recrimination attracted
wide popular attention to the cases, which was
intensified when ex-Senator Thurman was re
tained to assist the Government. The suits —
began in the Circuit Court of the Southern Dis
trict of Ohio, where Mr. Thurman made an elab
orate argument against the motion to quash the
marshal's return — were dismissed on the ground
of no jurisdiction, on the point that the Bell
Company was a Massachusetts corporation and
that service On its subordinate companies in Ohio
was not sufficient. Mr. .Thurman, in the course
of an elaborate argument, said :
'• Here is a supposed invention made by Alex
ander Graham Bell, and patents obtained for it,
and those, patents sold to a corporation created
in the State of Massachusetts for the express
purpose of holding those patents, and of doing
the business which those patents give the paten
tee a right to do, and restrain all other people
from doing. Here is this corporation thus created
to hold this great invention, it is said, and ulti
mately to do a business that almost appalls the
Understanding when you come to think of it ; a

424 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
business that was well said by my frierid here ori
my right exceeds all the transactions and all
the revenues of some of the nations of the
earth — -a business that' ultimates in $70,000,000
or $80,000,000 of stock and in a revenue
or more than $10,000,000 a year. Here is
this corporation to carry on this great business
and to carry it on with a skill and an intellect
that I never can think of without being lost in
admiration. And, I have said again and again,
and I repeat it now, if Alexander Graham Bell
had ever manifested one-twentieth part of the in
ventive genius in science that William H. Forbes
and his associates have exemplified in the build
ing up of a mighty commercial monopoly, Bell
would be the greatest scientist, or have the rep
utation of being the greatest scientist, " stand
ing upon the top of this globe. Why, it is
marvelous to see what it is. Here is a patent
that stretches over this whole Republic, from
ocean to ocean, and from lake to gulf, that grasps
within its provisions more than 60,000,000 of peo
ple now, and it will have more than 100,000,000
within its embrace, if it shall be maintained, before
it expires; which has these immense agencies
throughout the whole country — not a little fellow
here or there with a pen stuck behind his ear —
some clerk at a desk — not some fellow with a
wheelbarrow — not some fellow driving a dray;
nothing of that kind, but it has a whole series of

i i

BACA' TO BUSINESS. 425
great corporations at its bid as the" agencies or in
strumentalities by which it carries on this mighty
business. Now, sir, you are not to look at the
mere fact that it owns stock in these corporations
and then say, ' What is that ? Owning stock in
a foreign corporation don't make the holder an
inhabitant of the locality of that foreign corpora
tion or make him found there.' When these
local corporations are the mere agencies, the mere
instrumentalities of the great mother corporation ;
when the mother corporation could not do its
business without them ; when they are absolutely
essential to this extended and grand business
which it carries on, and when it has them within
its grasp so completely that there is not one of
them in which it has not a majority of stock ; in
which itcannotturn out every functionary on a mo
ment's notice; in which it cannot dissolve the
corporation and surrender its charter if it see fit
to do it ; in which it cannot dictate every contract
that it makes, and govern it in every step that it
takes — when that is the case, what are these
corporations but its servants ? What are they
but its instrumentalities? Why, your Honors
want tp do a business, and you want to extend it
over several States, and you get — I do not care
whether "you get a charter here in Ohio or not,
but it will be convenient, if nothing more, that for
the conduct of this business in Kentucky, in Ten
nessee, in Illinois, and in Pennsylvania, that you

426 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
should act by corporations there ; you might riot
be able to do otherwise, and to do your business
with any sort of success. If you had to employ
mere human agents, with the imperfect control
you would have over them, with the liability to
have your agency destroyed by the death at any
time of your agent, or by disability, or by dishon
esty, or the like, you might be wholly unable to
carry on your business. This American Bell Tel
ephone Company therefore wisely sets up these
subordinate companies, these licensee companies, '
as it calls them ; these chickens of the same hen;"
it sets them up and it governs them, and rules
them, and to be perfectly sure that they shall not
get from under its domination, not content with
all the provisions that have been read to your
Honors from the contracts, it gets a majority of
the stock, as in this case of the Central Union
and of some other companies. What is this Cen
tral Union Company? It stretches over three
States. It embraces Illinois, including the great
city of Chicago ; it embraces Indiana, and it em
braces a great portion of the State of Ohio.
What is the Central Union Company ? Why, !
this Bell Telephone Company in its corporate
capacity — mark that — not the individuals of the
American Bell Telephone Company, but the Bell:
Telephone Company, in its corporate capacity,
owns the majority of the stock of that company
and can to morrow, if it see fit, take out every

BACA TO BUSINESS. 427
telephone that is in existence from here to Rock
Island. " Now, sir, when it employs such agencies as
that to do its business, and could not do its busi
ness without them, are they not 'its managing
agents? If not, what are they, I would like to
know ? Are they not its managing agents with
the powers that are given to them by what are
called here these licenses and by the power which
it has over them by the grasp that it has upon
their throats ? Who can say that it does not do
business in Ohio by means of these subordinate
corporations, and that they are not its managing
agents ?"
The point was decided against the Government;
new suits were then begun in Massachusetts, and
upon adjudication of these the Circuit Court de
cided against the right of the Government to
o o -
award the patents. The Supreme Court, by a
very close division, affirmed the judgment ; the
motion for a rehearing before a somewhat changed
o o
court is set down for September, when Mr.
Thurman is expected to open the argument for the
Government. One of Mr. Thurman's colleagues
in this case speaks in the highest terms of his
legal acumen, and declares that in his analytical
power to cut loose from the consideration of an
issue all irrelevant matter he is unexcelled at the
American bar.
His most recent appearance as a lawyer has

428 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
been as associate counsel for the prosecution in
the cases in the Criminal Court at Columbia
against some members of his own party charged
with forging tally papers and making false and
fraudulent returns at ageneral election. Regularly
retained, and making no objection that the de
fendants called themselves Democrats, he went
into the trial of the first case called, and during
the two months that it lasted conducted it with a
vigor and skill that showed him to be at the very
rhaturity of his powers. The jury disagreed, and
it is understood to have hung at eleven for con
viction to one for acquittal.

CHAPTER XI.

SOME PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS  MR. THURMAN
AT HOME.

T

"^HAT veteran correspondent and observer
of men and things at Washington, the
late Ben: Perley Poore, *in his remin
iscences of the Federal capital, thus refers to
Senator Allen G. Thurman and some of his
striking personal characteristics as they appeared
to the galleries :
" Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio, was recognized
by the Democrats in the Senate as their leader.
He was a broad-shouldered, sturdily built man,
with a large, square head and ruddy complexion,
gray hair and beard, and a positive manner that
commanded respect. Earnest, outspoken, and
free in his criticisms of men and manners, he
would wave his red bandana pocket handkerchief
like a guidon, give his nose a trumpet-blast, take
a fresh pinch of snuff, and dash into the debate,
dealing rough blows, and scattering the carefully
prepared arguments of his adversaries like chaff."
Mr. Thurman's bandana handkerchief and his
snuff-box have been made so prominent in all the
personal accounts of him which have appeared in
the prints, especially since his nomination for Vice-
429

430 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
President,' that the public attach more importance
to them as points of his marked personality than
the facts warrant. Like the appellation, " Old
Roman," Senator Thurman ascribes the frequency
of notice given his handkerchief and his snuff
box to the active newspaper correspondents of
the capital, who, always his friends, are alert to
seize upon the picturesque features of a public
man's habit, and often to exaggerate if not to in
vent idiosyncrasies. Mr. Thurman acquired the
habit of taking snuff not infrequent fifty years
ago, from his old French teacher, Professor
Gregoire ; and when he first went to Washington
he found it to be a prevailing practice there. He
does not, however, use snuff to any excess, and
his moderate-sized box, supplied with the finest
quality, will easily last him a fortnight without re
filling. He naturally took to the use of the ban
dana handkerchief in vogue in his younger days,
and has simply never abandoned an article of
dress that has popularly been supplanted by more
modern forms. Neither of these nor any other
feature of his personal attire or habit is an affec
tation, and no man is less self-conscious than he
in these matters of minor concern.
In early manhood Mr. Thurman eschewed to
bacco and all manner of stimulants ; until he was
twenty-nine years of age he had never smoked a
cigar. Frequent out-door speaking had induced
bronchitis, and intense application to study and work

SOME PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 431
had worn him down physically. It was then upon
the reiterated advice of one trusted physician after
another that he adopted a more generous mode
of life ; he acquired a taste for a good cigar, which
has never failed him, an appreciation of a glass
of old Madeira which he has never abused nor
forsaken. His trip to Washington and the South,
and moderate changes toward a diet upon which
exhaustive work could make stronger drafts, im
proved his health and prolonged his years and
usefulness. MR. THURMAN AT HOME.
-¦¦¦ For the first nine years of his practice Mr.
Thurman devoted his attention and his earnings
largely to the aid of his father's family. He was
married soon after his first election to Congress,
and to this happy union have been owing in large
degree the success which has attended his public
and professional career and the peace and joy
that have brightened his domestic life. Mrs.
Mary A. Tompkins, daughter of Judge Walter
Dun, of Kentucky, later of Ohio, was a widow
with one daughter, now deceased, when, on No
vember 14th, 1844, she became the wife of Allen
G. Thurman. With congenial tastes in literature,
politics, and social affairs, their life together has
been one of unbroken harmony and mutual help
fulness. After the late nomination at St. Louis,
Governor Foraker, in his partisan zeal to belittle

432 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THUkMAN.
not only his distinguished townsman, but Mr.
Thurman's beloved wife, denounced the one as a
"copperhead" during the war, and the other as a
" rebel sympathizer," because when, the captured
Confederates were imprisoned near Columbus
Mrs. Thurman's goodness of heart prompted her
to give motherly attention to some of the sick in
their confinement. The good couple noticed the
attempted insult with the utmost complacency,
and Mr. Thurman quietly remarked that he did
recall how Governors Dennison and Todd — both
Republicans, " used to praise Mary for her kindness
in carrying delicacies to the sick and forlorn in
the prison camp." The stinging rebuke was pro
bably appreciated by every citizen of Columbus
except the occupant of the Gubernatorial chair.
Mr. Thurman never removed his residenae
from Columbus after he went to the capital city
as Judge of the Supreme Court. For a long time
his home adjoined his office on South High Street,
in the central and more crowded portions of the
city ; but a few years ago he removed to the new
double stone front and brick house erected for his
own and his son Allen W.'s family, at the corner
of Rich Street and Washington Avenue. His res
idence is a commodious, comfortable, and unpre
tentious mansion, where he and his wife live in
Democratic simplicity, at peace with themselves,
their neighbors, and all mankind. No liveried
flunkies attend their door, no crests are emblaz-

SOME PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 433
oned on the panels of their carriage ; indeed, they
keep no horses, and they entertain with genuine
hospitality rather tha/i lavish expenditure. The
ex-Senator's library is a comfortable, well-lighted
room on the second floor, in which are arranged,
in a sort of orderly confusion that suits him, a
.rftiscellaneous collection of books, by no means
extensive, nor restricted to any special subject.
Although he has had large correspondence, he
has retained few letters received ; he has no col
lection whatever of his many speeches in Congress
and miscellaneous addresses, and neither he nor
any one for him has riiade the ordinary " scrap-
book," or any gathering of the thousands of col
umns of newspaper matter that have recorded his
movements and sayings, and have commented
upon the " old Roman " and his characteristics.
Mr. Thurman reads French as fluently and as
understandingly as the language of his mother
i tongue ; he does not pretend, chiefly from disuse,
to speak the foreign language as readily as his
own, but he continues with renewed pleasure his
•long time recreation in Racine, Moliere, and the
French novelists, and when the news of the St.
Louis nomination reached him he had just com
pleted thirty volumes of the Histoire des Francais
¦par Simonde de Sismonde. He delights in local
history and was the first President of the Ohio
States Archaeological and Historical Society.
Adjoining his house on the east, and down
28

434 LIFE 0F ALLEN G. THURMAN.
under the window where the morning light never
greets him — for it is his present habit to stay with
his books until after midnight, and to breakfast at
noon — stretches a beautiful lawn. Cherry trees
stand along its borders ; tennis courts are marked
out in the centre of it, and several huge Ohio
boulders help to give it a striking aspect. Here
the amiable statesman loves to gather about him
at the close of the day a score or more of the
little folk of the neighborhood, playfellows of his
own grandchildren ; he is never averse to those
who come in ragged or even soiled garments, but
he insists that every one of them whom he toler
ates shall have a " clean tongue " in his or her
head. His only son, Allen W., his wife, and four chil
dren live in the double house which comprises the
Thurman homestead. His daughters, one the
wife of ex-Governor R. C. McCormick, and the
other the wife of a lieutenant in the United States
Navy, live on Staten Island, where their father
makes frequent journeys to indulge his parental
fondness. Mr. Thurman is in no wise enfeebled in body
nor in impaired physical health. For twenty years
he has suffered more or less from rheumatic affec
tion, impeding the free exercise of his legs At
times this is increased by long disuse and close
retirement day after day in his library. But with
exercise the stiffness passes away, and it was

SOME PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 435
noticed during the late trials of the tally-sheet for
gery cases that each day he walked to his work with
lighter step and mounted the stairs with easier
exertion. His brain has never been clearer nor
his mind more active, as his public deliverances
since his nomination plainly show.
Years ago Mr. Thurman invested in a large
o o
tract of land, two hundred acres in all, near
Columbus. He himself surveyed and laid it out in
town lots and he has profited by its natural in
crease in value. This foresight and like enter
prises, with a steady application to business, thrift,
and good management, have secured for him a,
handsome competency, and he dispenses charity
with ungrudging hand,
o 00
Mr. Thurman is literally orthodox in his re
ligious belief, and the family attend the Episcopal
Church. In common with most men of general
culture and of a wide range of reading in the
o o
classics, ancient and modern, he is a student of
the truths and beauties of the Holy Scriptures.
A few days after his nomination for Vice-President
he addressed, at the request of Bishop Watterson,
the picnic of St. Vincent's orphans, near Colum
bus ; taking for his text " arid the greatest of
these is charity," he made an address that would
have fallen fitly from the lips of a clergyman in
the sanctuary, his exposition of the Sermon on
the Mount being marvelously eloquent and
beautiful.

436 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
In society Mr. Thurman neither seeks nor shuns
attention. His large experience, unfailing good
humor, rich fund of anecdote, direct and forcible
narration, make him much sought for in company.
He is a representative American ; he has traveled
widely and observed closely ; he has nursed hay
fever at the Isle of Shoals and caught fish in Bear
Lake, Minnesota ; he is at home in the galleries of
Versailles or the cottage of the frontiersman;
he is loved by his neighbors and trusted by those
who know him best. One of the leading Repub
licans of Columbus, upon leaving for Europe re
cently, said : "I have handed Judge Thurman a
blank power of attorney and said : ' If I should
meet with any accident I want you to have the
settling up of my estate.' There is no other man
living, Democrat or Republican, whom I would
trust to that extent, but I know that in Judge
Thurman's hands my property would be perfectly
safe. I am a Republican, and expect to vote
against Judge Thurman, but no human being can
successfully assail his honor or his integrity."
RELATIONS WITH SENATORIAL COLLEAGUES.
Mr. Thurman's frankness and freedom from
every sort of affectation permitted to his personal
characteristics free play in the Senate, and estab
lished and kept for him the most agreeable relar
tions with his colleagues in that body. He has
said, "I have always kept a civil tongue in my

SOME PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 437
head, and recognized the right of everybody to
think for himself." He stated the case fairly. The.
speeches of 'no conspicuous man in Congress,
who had so long filled such large space in the public
eye, will be found so frequently, broken into by
the interruptions and queries of his colleagues.
Equally notable are the good temper with which
¦ these were invariably received, the encyclopaedic
knowledge and acute readiness with which they
-were answered.
For instance, upon one occasion, after many in
terruptions, Mr. Thurman was asked through the
Chair if he would allow himself to be interrogated
by the Senator from Vermont, Mr. Edmunds. His
quick answer was: " He looks so inviting that I
cannot help it."
Upon another, and like occasion, he said : "I am
tired. Senators do me too much honor. They
seem to think I am able to explain everything, and
L confess I am not."
Again, concluding a long address, in which he
had been helped and hindered by the frequent aid
of friends and foes, he said : "I have occupied far
more time than I expected, and far more than I
Should have done but for these pleasant little
questions and interruptions that have taken place,
arid which so enliven a dull speech,, that I am
always happy to be interrupted in order that I
may not wear out the patience of the Senate."
7 Mr. Conkling was one day making a speech,

43*

LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.

during which he repeatedly turned to Judge
Thurman and addressed remarks to him. They
were not always free from irritating purpose, and
Judge Thurman, with unwonted fierceness, finally
said :
" Does the Senator from New York expect me
to answer him every time he turns to me ?"
For a moment Mr. Conkling hesitated. Then,
with an air of exquisite courtesy, he replied :
" When I speak of the law I turn to the Senator
from Ohio as the Mussulman turns toward Mecca.
I turn to him as I do to the English common law,
as the world's most copious fountain of human
•jurisprudence."

CHAPTER XII.
THE CALL FROM POLITICAL RETIREMENT  NOMINA
TION FOR THE VICE-PRESIDENCY.
SENATOR THURMAN was undoubtedly
sincere in his purpose to retire from official
life with the end of his Senatorial term. He
believed that no summons of his party to future
candidacy for. office worthy of his regard would
reach him. In response to a serenade from the
Thurman Club, of Cincinnati, last year, he made
this touching address :
" My Young Friends : When I was a boy at
school many years ago, one of the text-books I
studied was a Latin one, Cicero on Old Age, and
I remember well when I read that beautiful treat
ise, in which the author sets forth in the most
beautiful and impressive manner that consumma
tion in old age which would in some degree be a
o o
-compensation for the trials of youth, I wondered
if that lot would ever be mine. Now, when I
look down upon your heads and see your bright
faces and know who you are and what you are, I
feel something of regret that the old author never
o o
had a Ciceronian Club to honor and console him
in his old age, as you have mine. I thank you,
first, for the honor you have, done an old man in
439

44O LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
taking his name for your Club ; and, second, for
the kindness you have manifested toward me by
your attendance to-night and your beautiful
serenade. My friends, no one can say you are
worshiping a rising sun. No, it is a setting sun,
low down in the horizon, and fast disappearing
forever. I shall never hold another office, nor
shall I ever be a candidate for office, hence it will
not be in my power to reward my friends or to
punish my foes. You come without hope or fear
in that respect, merely to honor an old fellow,
who from boyhood has been a Democrat, and who
until his dying day will be a Democrat, and who
is pleased not to be forgotten while he still lives.
It is my pride and boast that I have always been
a strong and steadfast adherent of the principles
of Democracy, and when my dying day comes, as
soon it must, and my eyes are turned to behold
the sun in the heavens for the last time, it will be
the eyes of a Democrat that will look upon that
orb. And when I am under the sod, and some
one stumbles over my grave, there will he find
the epitaph, ' Here lies a man who was an honest
Democrat his whole life long.' "
IN NATIONAL CONVENTIONS.
He had won and worn the highest honors of his
party in the field of its most eminent legislative
service, as President pro tem. of the United States
Senate. In 1880, when the National Convention

THE CALL FROM POLITICAL RETIREMENT. 441
of the Democracy met in Cincinnati, he had the
support of the delegation from his own and other
States for President. He was sent to the Chicago
Convention of 1884 as a delegate at large. He
went with no thought of his own nomination, but
every time he made his appearance on the floor
was received with such demonstrations of en
thusiasm and good-will that it became impossible
to fairly count him out of the list of possible
nominees. Mr. Thurman, recognizing as in
evitable that his name would be placed before the
Convention, withdrew as a delegate. When Cali-
' O
fornia was called John W. Breckinridge, a son of
the Vice-President, 1857-61, on behalf of that
State, nominated Thurman for President ; General
Durbin Ward seconded the nomination for Ohio,
' though the Hoadley- McLean influence in the dele
gation was hostile to him, and W. Bourke
Cockran, of New York, zealous to direct the
Cleveland opposition to the most effective place,
wound up a long speech with the suggestion of
Mr. Thurman's name. Next day General Maisur,
ofiMissouri, spoke in his behalf and declared that
one thousand telegrams had been received by the
Ohio delegates encouraging Thurman's nomina-
o 0-0
tion. Upon the first ballot he received 88 votes:
Alabama, i ; California, 1 6 ; Colorado, i ; Illinois,
I ; Iowa, i ; Kansas, 2 ; Louisiana, 1 ; Massachu
setts, 2 ; Michigan, 1 1 ; Mississippi, 1 ; Missouri,
3; Nebraska, 1 ; Nevada, 6 ; Ohio, 23 ; Tennessee,

442 , ' LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
9 ; Texas, 4 ; Virginia, 1 ; West Virginia, 2 ; Wis
consin, 2. On the second ballot next day and
after the attempt to stampede the Convention
to Hendricks 60 votes were cast for Thurman.
The changes then made soon increased Mr. Cleve
land's 475 to the required two-thirds. In the en
suing campaign Mr. Cleveland had no more
effective supporter than the ex-Senator from
Ohio. AT ST. LOUIS.
The first mention of Mr. Thurman's name for
association with the ticket of 1888, to be head
of which Mr. Cleveland's renomination was early
apparent, came from California in Ma$r. The
idea met with quick response in the East, the
only doubts expressed having reference to the
condition of his health and his possible willing
ness to accept. The movement for his nomina
tion, which had steady growth, met with no en
couragement from Mr. Thurman. Again and
again he declared that he had no such idea nor
expectation ; with each disclaimer the demand
from the party became more vociferous, and a
week before the Convention met the feeling for
such a nomination as his was so intense as to.
leave no doubt that it would be effected. The
faintest intimation that if a practically unanimous
call was made upon him he would respect it was
enough to confirm the delegates in their purpose',

THE CALL FROM POLITICAL RETIREMENT. 443
and when the delegation from his own State of
Ohio proclaimed him as the choice of its Democ
racy the other States fell . in with the movement
and its success was assured.
Elsewhere in this volume* is told the story of
the Convention and of the scenes which attended
both nominations. Throughout the entire sessions
the fluttering of thousands of bandanas gave color
o o
to the scene and zest to the proceedings, and
when the invincible name of Thurman was coupled
with that of the victorious Cleveland the Democ
racy of the country had a thrill of confidence that
gave a mighty impetus to the campaign.
A VIGOROUS OLD MAN.
The first trumpet notes from Columbus assured
the waiting millions that the old Senator's eye was
not dimmed rior his natural forceabated. He heard
the news of his nomination with composure ; he
received the congratulations of his neighbors in
o o
person and of his friends by telegraph with his
usual undisturbed good humor ; and when the
o '
Randall Club, of Philadelphia, bound homeward
from the Convention, stopped at Columbus and
serenaded him he made a most vigorous speech
to the great concourse that assembled in and
about the grounds of his residence. All felt that
*See " RecorJ of the Convention."

444 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
he spoke sincerely, and all rejoiced that he spoke
so bravely when he said :
" My friends, I should be the most insensible
and cold blooded man in the world if I did not feel
grateful for the kindness that you have manifested
toward me to-night — yes, and I may say that you
have manifested toward me before to-night ; and
yet I do not know about that quite. I was living
in my own quiet home with my good old wife and
my children and grandchildren and friends around
me, wishing for nothing in this world but peace
and quiet, when you and others like you force me
once more into the political arena. Whether that
was kind or not, time will tell ; whether it was
well advised or not, time will disclose. But one
thing I need not wait for time to disclose, and that.
is that I owe you the deepest and profoundest grat
itude from the very bottom of my heart. * * *
You will not expect me to make a political speech
to-night. When the two parties shall have been
fully marshaled iu the field, when the issues, as
the lawyers call them, shall have been distinctly
declared, when a-11 the candidates have their har
ness on and are ready for the tilt, then it will be
for me to bear my humble part in the fray. Then
I give, you my word that I shall be heard from ac
cording to my feeble abilities. I think there is
life enough in me yet. I think that there is still
in this old head some remnant of brains to enable
me to tell the people why it is that all my life long

THE CALL FROM POLITICAL RETIREMENT. 445
I have been a Democrat and mean to die one, and
I think I shall be able to give them one' reason
why they should be Democrats from now until
they are laid in their grave.
. "My friends, it is not my purpose to say harsh
things of our political opponents. That never
has been my style of speaking. Even when I
was a very young man — I might say not a man
at all, for the first stump speech I ever made I
was nothing but a boy — even then I always
endeavored to keep a civil tongue in my head.
I always recognized the right of every man to
his own thinking, and if he would only think
honestly and be as tolerant of me as I was to
him there would be no harsh words fall from my
lips in respect to him, and so in the contests that
happened in our own party it never has been my
habit to quarrel with those who did not think
just as I thought. I have been before your Con
vention at St. Louis without my will — against ¦
my will — as a candidate for a great office. I was
warmly, nobly, generously supported in that Con
vention. I was also warmly and earnestly opposed.
Toward those who opposed me I have nothing in
the -world but feelings of kindness. It was their
right if they thought some other man was
better — a better man to be nominated. If they
thought it more politic or advisable, however
well they might think of me, to nominate some-
¦ body else, it was their right to think so. They

446 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
were sent there to exercise their judgment, and
God knows they have created not a single ruffle
in my bosom nor the least symptom of ill-will
toward them. No, my friends, I am here to advo
cate the right of every free American citizen to
think for himself. I believe in it, and always have
believed in it, as the very essence of Democracy
and of free government.
•t* H' !(• »!¦ *j5 ¦ *I» ¦? Si»
"I tell you, my friends, that the St. Louis Conven
tion did one thing that of itself should immortal
ize it; it did one thing which of itself should
command the esteem and respect and gratitude
of the American people ; it did one thing which
set a magnificent example for all time to the
American people, and, indeed, to all other people
who have anything to do in the choice of their
rulers, and that thing was to renominate Grover
Cleveland by the unanimous voice of the Conven
tion." NOT TOO OLD FOR ACTION.
Telegrams poured in upon him from every
quarter, visiting clubs gathered to serenade and
greet him. To the Newark, O., Club, which came
over several hundred strong, he made a speech
of thanks in his own behalf, and extolled Cleve
land as a brave, honest, and able President. The
newspaper correspondents, returning from the
Convention, stopped off to do him honor in a

THE CALL FROM POLITICAL RETIREMENT. 447
body, and he made felicitous reply to their com
pliments and congratulations. The Ohio Dele
gation, flying his colors, came to Columbus and
rningled their cheers with those of his visitors from
other States. The Democratic press throughout
the country greeted his nomination with the
warmest approval, and even the Independent Re
publican journals, which are supposed to support
Mr. Cleveland exclusive of any sympathy with
his party, had only words of praise for Thurman
and commendation for the political strategy which
compassed his nomination. Harper's Weekly
said: " Mr. Thurman is universally respected as an
upright and able man, and there is no Democrat
in the country who enjoys higher regard among
his political opponents. The sturdy honesty of
the two Democratic candidates, and the freedom
of the ticket from all taint of boodle, will compel
the Republicans to take care that no suggestive
contrast shall be offered by their ticket."
The New York Sun, regarded by the Democ
racy with suspicion for years past, began to give
support to the ticket from the time it was com
pleted with Thurman's name.
¦The single qualification in all the acclaim which
has greeted his name is in the expression of some
doubt or fear, here and there, that the advanced
age of Mr. Thurman may interfere in some degree
with the discharge of his official duties. It has

448 LIFE OF ALLEN G. THURMAN.
been said with sufficient clearness and emphasis
that at no time in the past decade did he show
more vigorous powers than now ; and they who
think that lapse of time and measurement of
years alone brings decrepitude and unfitness for
official duty need only be reminded that Allen G.
Thurman is younger than was Kaiser Wilhelm
when he grasped the sword of Europe by the hilt
and effected the consolidation of the German
Empire ; younger than Gortschakoff when he
dominated the Imperial Government of Russia;
of the age of Disraeli when he turned the sov-
ereigns of Europe to his own purposes, went
home to England with the cry of " Peace with
honor," and made Victoria Empress of the Indias;
younger than Thiers when he was chosen first
President of the French Republic, the most mag
nificent event of Continental politics in the nine
teenth century; younger tha:i John Marshall when,
full of years and of honors, he renewed, at nearly
four score, the intellectual strength and vigor
which made so much for the enlightened con-
struction of our Federal Constitution, a covenant
that, in these latter days, has had no abler advocate
and no more patriotic defender than Allen G.
Thurman.

RECORD
OF THE
Democratic National Convention,
ST. LOUIS, MO.,
JUNE 6th, 6th, and 7th, 1888.

CHAS. S. FAIRCHILD,
SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.

CHAPTER I.
ARRANGING FOR THE CONVENTION.
WHEN the National Democratic Con
vention met in .Washington, in 1888,
as usual in Presidential years, on
February 2 2d, it began the work ©f the cam
paign under auspices more favorable than had
appeared under an Administration of its party for
fifty-six years. The course of President Cleveland
had been such as not only to command party
favor, but the admiration and enthusiastic support
of conservative men of every party. No other
name was mentioned or thought of for the nom-
ination as a candidate for President in any State
or section of the Union. Never before in the
history of National Conventions, except in 1832,
when Andrew Jackson was the unanimous choice
of the Democratic party for renomination, and in
1872, when Ulysses S. Grant was chosen as the
unanimous nominee of the Republican party, had
there been an instance wherein no other candi
date was thought of or mentioned ; and in the
case of Grant's renomination the assurance of it
drove many of the ablest Republican leaders and
newspapers into open revolt, and created dissen
sions which were never healed. 453

454 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
When the Committee met the only contest to
settle was the meeting place of the Convention.
New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and
San Francisco were competitors for this honor,
all except the first named being represented by
large and enthusiastic delegations of citizens and
politicians. When it was decided for the second
time in the history of the party to hold the Con
vention in St. Louis there was general acquies
cence in the result. Some little contest was also
developed over the time for holding the Conven
tion, but the 5th of June was finally selected with
out difficulty, and with quite universal satisfaction.
It was thought that as the party was now dominant
in Federal politics, it should boldly take the lead in
naming its candidates and laying down its princi
ples. When the time for the meeting of the Conven
tion arrived, the Democratic Conventions of every
State in the Union had not only unanimously
demanded the renomination of President Cleve
land, but had indorsed his position on the tariff as
logical, safe, and Democratic. The work of the
Convention when it met at St. Louis was there
fore mapped out.for it. But this did not have any
serious effect in reducing the enthusiasm or the
attendance upon the Convention. All the dele
gates and alternates appointed from every State,
accompanied by thousands of friends, made their
way to St. Louis. The weather was pleasant for

ARRANGING FOR THE CONVENTION. 455
the season, the welcome hospitable and agreeable,
the feeling of harmony all-pervading, and the
determination to deserve to win as strong as the
confidence which the party felt in its success.
The National Committee met the day before
the time fixed for the meeting of the Convention
and designated the following as its temporary
officers :
Chairman, Stephen M. White, of California ;
Secretary, Frederick O. Prince, of Massachusetts;
Assistant /Secretaries, Alfred Orendorf, of Illinois;
W. L. Stott, of Virginia ; T. E. Barrett, of St.
Louis; Leopold Strauss, of Alabama; O. M. Hall,
of Minnesota; John Triplett, of Georgia; L. E.
Rowley, of Michigan ; Oliver Newell, of Color
ado ; T. J. Tingle, of Missouri ; T. L. Merrill, of
Nebraska. Reading Secretary, Thomas Pettit,
House of Representatives. Official Stenogra
pher, Edward B. Dickinson, of New York. Ser-
geant-at-arms, Richard J. Bright, of Indiana.

CHAPTER II.
THE FIRST DAY'S PROCEEDINGS.
THE Convention was called to order at 12
o'clock on Tuesday, June 5th, by William
H. Barnum, of Connecticut, Chairman of
the National Committee, and was opened with
prayer by Bishop Granberry, of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South. The. Temporary Chair
man, Stephen M. White, Lieutenant-Governor, of
California, made the first extended address of the
Convention. In the course of his speech, upon
taking the Chair, he said :
" The present Administration has realized its
promises made by the Democratic Convention
of 1884. It has sought to reduce and lighten the
burdens of the people and to reduce the revenue
so as to prevent undue accumulation in the
Treasury, and has at the same time taken the
requisite steps to foster and protect domestic in
dustries. It has discouraged the centralization of
wealth, and has enabled, as far as the circum
stances would permit, those in the less favored
walks of life to- enjoy the benefits of their exer
tions. In other words, the Democratic Adminis
tration has used its utmost endeavors to faithfully
456

THE FIRST DA Y'S PROCEEDINGS. 45 7
carry out the platform upon which our great re
form victory was. achieved. If the tariff has not
been modified, it is because of Republican ob
struction. " The existence of an enormous surplus in the
Treasury threatens the industries of the country,
is a constant source of injury to the consumer
and the man of moderate means, who finds it diffi
cult to procure monetary assistance because of
the withdrawal of a large portion of the circulat
ing medium. This unfortunate situation is di
rectly attributable to the policy of the Republican
party, whose aim has ever been to encourage and
enrich the monopolies and ignore the interests of
the masses.
"During the Republican dominancy many mil
lions of acres of the public domain passed into the
hands of corporate and foreign syndicates. The
obligations imposed as conditions precedent to
investiture of title were persistently violated by
the beneficiaries, and these violations passed un
heeded until a Democratic Administration, in
conformity with the doctrines of the party, declared N
the forfeiture, thus tendering to those seeking
homes in good faith more than ,40,000,000 acres,
which had been withheld by the Republican party
for the benefit of the selfish few. In accordance
with the views of the President, a statute has been
enacted preventing the acquisition of lands by
those not citizens of the United States, and re-

453

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.

stricting the power of corporations to obtain titles
to realty in the Territories. If preceding Repub
lican Administrations had adopted the present
Democratic policy, there would have been pre
served as homes for settlers locating in good faith
o o
an immense amount of fertile soil now in the
hands of corporations and foreign speculators.
" For years universal attention has been directed
to the dangers of Chinese immigration. The ad-
o o
vent of hordes of pagan slaves, disciplined to
starvation and inured to unremunerative wages,
has rightly been considered destructive to the in
terests of laborers and a menace to the Republic.
The Democracy, unlike its political adversaries,
has always been with all the people upon this issue.
The Administration has entered into a treaty with
the Chinese which must result in excluding the
Mongolian from our shores, and for the first time
makes it possible to prevent the perpetration of
the frauds upon our immigration laws now prac
ticed by that race, and to preserve us from the
evils of competition. Thus, after repeated Re
publican failures, we have reached a successful
settlement of a question which justly agitated a
vast number of our citizens and with which Re
publican leaders have proved themselves incom
petent to deal.
" The re-election of Grover Cleveland is de
manded by the patriotic sentiment of the land.
The Republican party is struggling for life. It

THE FIRST DAY'S PROCEEDINGS, 459
cannot long survive. Its extended incumbency
was due to the fears and doubts succeeding the
civil conflict. These forebodings have been re
moved by time and thought ; and honest opinion,
in spite of illegal force openly used, notwithstand
ing criminal efforts defeating the public will as
expressed at the ballot-box, has driven unworthy
servants from office, and has summoned to power
an Administration to which no stain or suspicion
has ever attached. * * * The honest intel
ligent electors, whose judgment is untainted by
prejudice, are prepared to again intrust this Gov
ernment to the Democratic party. That that or
ganization has accomplished so much, notwith
standing the continued opposition of its foes, is
ample evidence that during the next four years its
policy will be finally and completely adopted.
The coming contest will result in the triumph of
Democracy. The nominees of this Convention
will be the chosen of the people, and if we do
our duty the Republican party will be unable to
retard the progress of our country."
After the appointment of Committees on Res
olutions, Credentials, and Permanent Organiza
tion, of one delegate from each State, the election
of a Vice-Chairman and Secretary from each State,
and the choice of a member of the National Com
mittee by each delegation, the Convention ad
journed until 10 o'clock Wednesday morning.

CHAPTER III.
THE SECOND DAY'S PROCEEDINGS.
IN the meantime the Committees organized
without contest, except that on Resolutions,
of which Henry Watterson, of Kentucky,
was elected Chairman Over Arthur P. Gorman, of
Maryland, by a vote of twenty-two to twenty.
The second day's session of the Convention
was opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. J. P. Green,
of Missouri, after which Lewis C. Cassidy, of
Pennsylvania* Chairman of the Committee on Per
manent Organization, reported the name of Pat
rick A. Collins, Representative in Congress from
Massachusetts, as President of the Convention.
Mr. Collins was escorted to the chair by William
H. Barnum, of Connecticut ; Roswell P. Flower,
of New York, and John O. Day, of Missouri, and
made the following address, which was frequently
interrupted by applause:
CHAIRMAN COLLINS'S SPEECH.
" To stand by your favor in this place, so often
filled by the foremost men in our great party, is
a distinction of the highest character and an honor
for which I am profoundly grateful. In perform
ing the delicate and difficult service to which you
460

THE SECOND DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. 46 1
have assigned me, I can scarcely hope to justify
the wisdom of your choice. I shall at all times
need a continuance of your indulgence and cour
tesy, as well as your full co-operation to promote
order, decorum, and good-will until these pro
ceedings are brought to a happy close.
-." We represent in this Convention more than'
30*000,000 of the American people ; we bear the
commission to act for them and their injunction
to act with all the wisdom that God has given us,
to protect and safeguard the institutions of the
Republic as the fathers founded them.
" In a time when the world was king-ridden and
pauperized by the privileged few, when men
scarcely dared to breathe the word ' Liberty,' even
if they understood its meaning, the people scat
tered along our eastern . coast, with a sublime
heroism never equaled, broke from all traditions,
rejected all known systems, and established, to
the amazement of the world, the political wonder
of the ages, the American Republic, the child of
revolution nursed by philosophy. The hand that
framed the immortal Declaration of Independence
is the hand that guided the emancipated country
to progress and glory. It is the hand that guides
us still in our onward march as a free and pro
gressive people, The principles upon which our
Government can securely rest, upon which the
peace, prosperity., and liberties of the people de
pend, are the principles of the founder of our

462

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.

party, the apostle of Democracy, Thomas Jeffer
son. " Our young men under thirty have heard more
in their time of the clash of arms and the echoes
of war than of the principles of government. It
has been a period of passion, force, impulse, and
emotional politics. So that we need not wonder
that now and then we hear the question asked
and scarcely answered, ' What difference is there
between the two parties ?' Every Democrat
knows the difference. The Democratic creed was
not penned by Jefferson for a section or a class
of the people, but for all time. /
"These principles conserved and expanded the
Republic in all its better days. A strict adher
ence to them will preserve it to the end, so the
Democracy of to-day, as in the past, believe with
Jefferson in (1) equal and exact justice to all men
of Whatever state or persuasion, religious or polit
ical ; (2) peace, commerce, and honest friend
ship with all nations, entangling alliances with
none ; (3) support of the State Governments in
all their rights as the most competent administra
tors of our domestic concerns, and the surest bul
warks against anti-republican tendencies ; (4)
the preservation of the General Government in its
whole Constitutional vigor as the sheet-anchor of
our peace at home and safety abroad ; (5) a jealous
care of the right of election by the people, a mild
and safe corrective of abuses, which are lopped off

THE SECOND DAY'S PROCEEDINGS.

463

by the sword of revolution where peaceable means
are Unprovided ; (6) absolute acquiescence in the
decisions of the majority, the vital principle' of
republics, from which there is no appeal but to.
force, the vital principle and immediate parent of
despotism ; (7) a well-disciplined militia, our best
reliance in peace and for the first moments in
war ; (8) the supremacy of the civil over the mil
itary authority; (9) economy in the public ex
penses, that labor may be lightly burdened ; (10)
the honest payment of our debts and the preser
vation of our public faith ; (ii) encouragement of
agriculture and of commerce as its handmaid;
(12) the diffusion of information and arraignment
of all abuses at the bar of public reason; (13)
freedom of religion ; (14) freedom of the press ;
(15) freedom of the person under the protection
of the habeas corpus ; (16) trial by juries impar
tially selected. Add to these the golden eco
nomic rule that no more taxes should be levied
upon the people in any way than are necessary to
meet the honest expenses of Government, and
you have a body of principles to sin against which
has been political death to every party hitherto,
to sin against which in the future will be political'
suicide. " True to these principles, the Democratic party
fought successfully our foreign wars, protected
our citizens in every clime, compelled the respect
of all nations for our flag, added imperial domain

464 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
to bur territory, and insured peace, prosperity,
and happiness to all our people. False to these
principles, the great Federal, Whig, and Know-
Nothing parties went down, never to rise ; and we
are here to-day, representatives of the party that
has survived all others, the united, triumphant,
invincible Democracy, prepared to strike down
forever the last surviving foe in November.
"Our standard must be the rallying-point now
and in the future for all good citizens who love
and cherish republican institutions, who love lib
erty regulated by the Constitution and law, who
believe in a Government not for a class or for a
few, but a Government of all the people, by all
the people, and for all the people. This has been
the asylum for all good men from over the earth
who flee from want and oppression, and mean to
become Americans. But we invite and welcome
only 'friends to this ground and liegemen' to the
Republic. Our institutions cannot change to meet
hostile wishes, nor be so much as sensibly modi
fied save by the peaceful and deliberate action of
the mass of our people in accordance with the
Constitution and the laws of the land. Whatever
problems the present has or the future may pre
sent, so far as political action can effect them, will
be dealt with by the American people within the
law. And in the future, as in the past, the people
will find security for their liberty and property,
encouragement and protection for their industries,

THE SECOND DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. 45 e
peace and prosperity following the party of the
American masses, which will ever shield them
against the aggressions of power and monopoly
on the one side, and on the other the surgings of
chaos. While almost all the rest of the civilized
world is darkened by armies, crushed by Kings,
or nightmared by conspiracies, we alone enjoy a
healthy peace, a rational liberty, a progressive
prosperity. We owe it to our political institutions,
to Democratic teachings, at least as much as to the
exuberant soil. The man is not a good American
who, knowing what we are, by act or by word, ex
periment or thought, in any way, will attempt to
weaken the foundation of this splendid political
structure — the Republic of the United States.
"We meet to-day under conditions new to the
Democrats of this generation. How often we
' stood in conventions in the past when to others it
seemed as if the shadows of death closed about
us, when the day of victory seemed almost as far
away as the day of general judgment. It could
not then be said that we met for spoils or personal
\ advantage. We met to keep the fires of Demo
cratic liberty alive till the dawn of a better day. If
we were a party of misfortune, it must also be
agreed that we were a party of undaunted courage
and inflexible principles. Twenty-eight years ago,
the Democratic party, rent in fragments, ¦ heated
by feuds that only time could allay or punishment
destroy, met, as it looks now, merely to settle in

466

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.

angry mood the terms upon which they should
become exiled from power. By their mad dissen
sions they elected to go to defeat rather than
wait for the sobering influence of time to
close the breach. To the younger men of that
day the act seemed suicide, mitigated by insanity.
Their madness transferred to a minority of the
American people the political government of
all. That party, whatever the honesty and
respectability of its members, however patriotic
its motives, was not broad or national at its base.
It had almost but one central idea, and when that
idea was set in the Constitution and crystallized
into law it ran a career of riot that appalled all
men. The history of that period of political de
bauchery is too sad and familiar to Americans to
be recited anew. The Republican party, sometimes
peacefully and sometimes by force, sometimes fairly
and sometimes by fraud, succeeded in holding
power twenty-four years, till at last the American
people, no longer condoning its faults or forgiving
its sins, hurled it from power and again committed
to the historic party of the Constitution and the
whole Union the administration of our political
affairs. We won by the well-earned confidence
of the country in the rectitude of our purpose, by
the aid of chivalrous and conscientious men -who
could no longer brook the corruptions of the Re
publican party. It was a great, deserved, neces
sary victory.

THE SECOND DAY'S PROCEEDINGS.

467

" The day on which Grover Cleveland, the plain,
straightforward, typical American citizen chosen'
at the election, took the oath of office in the pre
sence of the multitude — a day so lovely and so
perfect that all nature seemed exuberantly to
sanction and to celebrate the • victory — that day
marked the close of an old era and the beginning
of a new one. It closed the era of usurpation of
power by the Federal authority, of illegal force, of
general contempt for constitutional limitations and
plain law, of glaring scandals, profligate waste and
unspeakable corruption, of narrow sectionalism
and class strife, of the reign of a party whose
good work had long been done. It began the
era of perfect peace and perfect union. The
States fused in all their sovereignty into a Fed
eral Republic with limited but ample powers, of a
public service conducted with absolute integrity
and strict economy ; "of reforms pushed to their
extreme limit ; of comprehensive, sound, and safe
financial policy ; giving security and confidence to
all enterprise and endeavor, a Democratic Ad
ministration faithful to its mighty trust, loyal to
its pledges, true to the Constitution, safe-guard
ing the interests and liberties of the people. And
now we stand on the edge of another era, perhaps
a greater contest, with a relation to the electors
that we have not held for a generation — that of
responsibility for the great trust of Government.
We are no longer auditors, but accountants ; no

46S DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
longer critics, but the criticised. The responsi
bility is ours, and if we have not taken all the
power necessary to make that responsibility good
the fault is ours, not that of the people.
" We are confronted by a wily, unscrupulous,
and desperate foe. There will be no speck on
the record that they will not magnify into a blot ;
no circumstance that they will not torture and
misrepresent ; no disappointment that they will
not exaggerate into a revolt ; no class or creed
that they will not seek to inflame ; no passion
that they will not attempt to rouse ; no fraud that
they will not willingly perpetrate. They fancy,
indeed, that there is no imposture too monstrous
for the popular credulity, no crime that will not
be condoned. But we stand at guard, full armed
at every point to meet them. Our appeal is not
to passion nor to prejudice, to class or faction, tc
race or creed, but to the sound common sense,
the interest, the intelligence, and patriotism of the
American people.
" The Administration of President Cleveland
has triumphantly justified his election. It com
pels the respect, confidence, and approval of the
country. The prophets of evil and disaster are
dumb. What the people see is the Government
of the Union restored to its ancient footing of
justice, peace, honesty, and impartial enforcement
of law. They see the demands of labor and
agriculture met so far as Government can meet

THE SECOND DA Y'S PROCEEDINGS. .gQ
them by the legislative enactments for their en
couragement and protection. They see the vete
rans of the Civil War granted pensions long due
them to the amount of more than twice in number
and nearly three times in value of those granted
under any previous Administration. They see
more than 32,000,000 acres of land recklessly
and illegally held by the grantees of the corrupt
Republican regime restored to the public domain
for the benefit, of honest settlers. They see the
negro, whose fears of Democratic rule were
played upon by demagogues four, years ago, not
only more fully protected than by his pretended
friends, but honored as his race was never hon
ored before. They see a financial policy under
which reckless speculation has practically ceased
and capital is freed from distrust. They see for
the first time an honest observance of the law
governing the civil establishment, and the em
ployes of the people rid at last of the political
highwaymen with a demand for tribute in one
hand and a letter of dismissal in the other. They
see useless offices abolished and expenses of ad
ministration reduced, while improved methods
have lifted the public service to high efficiency.
They see tranquillity, order, security, and equal
justice restored in the land ; a watchful, steady,
safe, and patriotic Administration — the solemn
promises made by the Democracy faithfully kept.
'It is an honest Government by honest men/ If

4/0 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
this record seems prosaic, if it lacks the blood-
thrilling element, if it is not lit with lurid fires, if •
it cannot be illustrated by a pyrotechnic display,
if it is merely the plain record of a constitutional
party in a time of peace, engaged in administra
tive reforms, it is because the people of the
country four years ago elected not to trust to
sensation and experiment, however brilliant and
alluring, but preferred to place, the helm in a
steady hand, with a fearless, trustworthy, patriotic
man behind it. Upon that record and upon our
earnest efforts, as yet incomplete, to reduce and
equalize the burdens of taxation, we enter the
canvass and go to the polls,confident that the free
and intelligent people of this great country will
say, 'Well done, good and faithful servants.'
" To the patriotic, independent citizens who,
four years ago, forsook their old allegiance and
came to our support; and who since that time
have nobly sustained the Administration, the
Democratic party owes a deep debt of gratitude.
That they have been reviled and insulted by their
former associates is not only a signal compliment
to their character and influence, but another evi
dence of the decadence of the Republican party.
Blind worship of the machine — the political Jug
gernaut — is exacted from every man who will take
even standing room in that party. The Demo
cratic temple is open to all, and if in council we
cannot agree in all things, our motto is : 'In es-

THE SECOND DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. 47 I
sentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all
things, charity.' To all good men we say, 'Come
in.' ' Good-will ne'er halted at the door-stone.'
As four years ago you voted with us to reform
the Administration, to conserve our institutions
for the well-being of our common country, so
join with us again in approval of the work so well
accomplished to complete what remains undone.
We ask you to remember that it is a ' fatal error
to weaken the hands of a political organization by
which great reforms have been achieved and risk
them in the hands of their known adversaries.'
Four years ago you trusted tentatively the Dem
ocratic party, and supported with zeal and vigor
its candidate for President. You thought him
strong in all the sturdy qualities requisite for the
great task of reform. Behold your splendid jus
tification. No President in time of peace had so
difficult and laborious a duty to perform. His
party had been out of power for twenty-four
years. Every member of it had been almost ven
omously excluded from the smallest post where
administration could be studied. Every place
was filled by men whose interest it was to
thwart inquiry and belittle the new Administra
tion ; but the master hand came to the helm,
and the true course has been kept from the be
ginning. "We need not wait for time to do justice to
the character and services of President' Cleveland.

472 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
Honest, clear-sighted, patient, grounded in re
spect for law and justice ; with a thorough grasp
of principles and situations ; with marvelous and
conscientious industry; the very incarnation of
firmness — he has nobly fulfilled the promise of
his party, nobly met the expectations of his coun
try, and written his name high on the scroll where
future Americans will read the names of men who
have been supremely useful to the Republic.
" Fellow-Democrats : This is but the initial
meeting in a political campaign destined to be
memorable. It will be a clashing of nearly even
forces. Let no man here or elsewhere belittle or
underestimate the strength or resources of the
opposition. But great as they are, the old Dem
ocratic party, in conscious strength and perfect
union, faces the issue fearlessly."
DANIEL DOUGHERTY NOMINATES CLEVELAND.
When all the necessary routine business had
been transacted, it was proposed that, as the Com
mittee on Resolutions was not yet ready to report,
the Convention should adjourn until evening.
This motion was resisted and the rules were -sus
pended in order that the roll of States might be
called for naming candidates for President. There-
upon the State of Alabama when called sur
rendered its right to name a candidate to Daniel
Dougherty, of New York, who made the following

o ao
>g5ra
occ K
H»

oOrr
5
in

THE SECOND DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. 475
speech presenting the name of Grover Cleve
land: - " I greet you, my countrymen, with fraternal
regard. In your presence I bow to the majesty
of the people. The sight itself is inspiring, the
thought sublime. You come from every State
and Territory, from every nook and corner of our
ocean-bound, continent- covering country. You
are about to discharge a more than imperial duty.
With simplest ceremonials, you, as representatives
of the people, are to choose a magistrate with
power mightier than a monarch, yet checked and
controlled by the supreme law of a written Con
stitution. Thus impressed, I ascend the rostrum
to name the next President of the United States.
New York presents him to the Convention and
pledges her electoral vote. Delegations from the
thirty-eight States and all the Territories are here
assembled without caucus or consultation, ready
simultaneously to take up the cry and make the
vote unanimous. We are here not indeed to
choose a candidate, but to name the one the people
have already chosen.
" He is the man for the people. His career
illustrates the glory of , our institutions. Eight
years ago unknown, save in his own locality, he
for the last four years has stood in the gaze of
the world, discharging the most exalted duties
that can be confided to a mortal. To-day de
termines that not of his own choice, but by the

476 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
mandate of his countrymen and with the sanction
of heaven, he shall fill the Presidency for four
years more. He has met and mastered every
question as if from youth trained to statesman
ship. The promises of his letter of acceptance
and inaugural address have been fulfilled. His
fidelity in the past inspires faith in the future.
He is not a hope. He is a realization. Scorning
subterfuge, disdaining re-election by concealing
convictions, mindful of his oath of office to defend
the Constitution, he courageously declares to
Congress, dropping minor matters, that the su
preme issue is reform, revision, reduction of
national taxation ; that the Treasury of the United
States, glutted with unneeded gold, oppresses in
dustry, embarrasses business, endangers financial
tranquillity, and breeds extravagance, centraliza
tion, and corruption ; that high taxation, vital for the
expenditures of an unparalleled war, is robbery in
years of prosperous peace ; that the millions that
pour into the Treasury come from the hard-earned
savings of the American people ; that in violation
of equality of rights the present tariff has created
a privileged class, who, shaping legislation for
their personal gain, levy by law contributions for
the necessaries of life from every man, woman, and
child in the land ; that to lower the tariff is not
free trade — it is to reduce the unjust profits of
monopolists and boss manufacturers and allow
consumers to retain the rest.

THE SECOND DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. 477
"The man who asserts that to lower the tariff
means free trade, insults intelligence. We brand
him as a falsifier. It is furthest from our thoughts
to imperil capital or disturb enterprises. The
aim is to uphold wages and protect the rights of
all. This Administration has rescued the public
domain from would-be barons and cormorant cor
porations, faithless to obligations, and reserved it
for free homes, for this and coming, generations.
There is no pilfering. There are no jobs under
this Administration. Public office is a public trust.
Integrity stands guard at every post of our vast
empire. While he has been the medium through
which has flowed the undying gratitude of the
Republic for her soldiers, he has not hesitated to
withhold approval from special legislation if strict
est inquiry revealed a want of truth and justice.
, " Above all, sectional strife, as never before, is
at an end, and 60,000,000 of freemen in the ties
of brotherhood are prosperous and happy. These
are the achievements of this Administration.
Under the same illustrious leader we are ready
to meet our political opponents in high and hon
orable debate and stake our triumph on the intel
ligence, virtue, and patriotism of the people.
Adhering to the Constitution, its every line and
letter, ever remembering that ' powers ' not del
egated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to
the States respectively, or to the people, by the

^yg DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
authority of the Democracy of New York and by
the Democracy of the entire Union, I give you
a name entwined with victory. I nominate Gro
ver Cleveland, of New York."
Immediately upon the name of the President
being pronounced there ensued a scene which
baffles all attempts at description. The like of it
is to be seen only at a National political conven
tion, but such a fervent and prolonged outburst
of enthusiasm as took place upon this occasion
was without a precedent in American political
history. A contemporary account of.it says:
"The delegates were standing on their chairs
waving their hats, handkerchiefs, and canes, and
cheering like mad. Some of them opened their
umbrellas and waved them. The uproar was
deafening. Somebody pressed an electric button
upon the platform and the band at the far end of
the Convention struck up. Just what the air was
nobody could distinguish from the reporters' gal
lery. The spectators in the galleries were more
wildly enthusiastic than the occupants of the floor.
The bronzed eagles were torn from their fasten
ings and hoisted to view by eager hands. The
delegates upon the floor below were bombarded
with wads of morning newspapers. One of the
Vice-Presidents crowned the bust of President
Cleveland with a wreath of laurel. By means of
an ingenious contrivance a life-size figure repre-

THE SECOND DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. 479
senting the President appeared upon the screen
that covered the end of the hall and disappeared
within the doors of the Capitol thereon depicted.
The standards were snatched from their sockets,
and the banners of the States and Territories were
massed above the New York delegation. It was
a demonstration that lasted twenty-five minutes,
and then, as the din died away, the strains of The
Star-Spangled Banner and Yankee Doodle filled
the air."
After the enthusiasm had somewhat subsided,
James A. McKenzie made a humorous speech
seconding the nomination ; and other addresses
to the same purpose were made by H. D. D.
Twiggs, of Georgia; Byron J. Stout, of Michigan;
F. W. Dawson, of South Carolina, and H. W.
Lightfoot, of Texas. The question of nominating
Cleveland by acclamation was then put to the
Convention, and without a call of the roll or a
dissenting vote he was declared to be the candi-
date of the Democratic party for President of the
United States. Exactly one hour and a quarter
had been consumed in reaching this unanimous
and harmonious result, when the Convention
adjourned until ten o'clock the following morn
ing.

CHAPTER IV.
THE THIRD DAY'S PROCEEDINGS.
Ur PON the assembling of the Convention oh
Thursday, prayer was offered by Rev.
Dr. Bronk, of the Central Presbyterian
Church, St. Louis. The Chairman then announced
that the Committee on Resolutions was ready to
make a report, which was presented as the unan
imous agreement of the Committee. The plat
form was as follows :
THE PLATFORM.
The Democratic party, of the United States in
National Convention assembled renews the pledge
of its fidelity to Democratic faith, and reaffirms
the platform adopted by its representatives in the
Convention of 1884 and indorses the views ex
pressed by President Cleveland in his last annual
message to Congress as the correct interpretation
of that platform upon the question of tariff reduc
tion ; and also indorses the efforts of our Demo
cratic representatives in Congress to secure a
reduction of excessive taxation.
Chief among its principles of party faith are the
maintenance of an indissoluble Union of free and
indestructible States, now about to enter upon its
second century of unexampled progress and re
nown ; devotion to a plan of government regula-
480

7 HE THIRD DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. ,gx
ted by a written Constitution strictly specifying
every granted power, and expressly reserving to
the States or people the entire ungranted residue
of power; the encouragement of a jealous, pop
ular vigilance directed to all who have been chosen
for brief terms to enact and execute the laws
and are charged with the duty of preserving
peace, insuring equality, and establishing justice.
The Democratic party welcomes an exacting
scrutiny of the administration of the executive
power, which four years a-go was committed to its
trust in the election of Grover Cleveland as
President of the United States, but it challenges
the most searching inquiry concerning its fidelity
and devotion to the pledges which then invited
the suffrages of the people. During a most crit
ical period of our financial affairs, resulting from
over-taxation, the anomalous condition of our
currency, and a public debt unmatured, it has, by
the adoption of a wise and conservative course,
not only averted disaster, but greatly promoted
the prosperity of the people.
It has reversed the improvident and unwise
policy of the Republican party touching the pub
lic domain, and has reclaimed from corporations
and syndicates, alien and domestic, and restored
to the people nearly one hundred millions of
acres of valuable land, to be sacredly held as
homesteads for our citizens.
While carefully guarding the interests of the
taxpayers and conforming strictly to the princi
ples of justice and equity, it has paid out more for
pensions and bounties to the soldiers and sailors
of the Republic than was ever paid before during
an equal period.

' 4g2 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
It has adopted and consistently pursued a firm
and prudent foreign policy, preserving peace with
all nations while scrupulously maintaining all the
rights and interests of our own Government and
people at home and abroad. The exclusion from
our shores of Chinese laborers has been effectu
ally secured under the provision of a treaty, the
operation of which has been postponed by the
action of a Republican majority in the Senate.
Honest reform in the civil service has been in
augurated and maintained by President Cleve
land, and he has brought the public service to the
highest standard of efficiency, not only by rule
and precept, but by the example of his own un
tiring and unselfish administration of public af
fairs. ,
In every branch and department of the Gov
ernment under Democratic control the rights and
the welfare of all the people have been guarded
and defended, every public interest has been pro
tected, and the equality of all our citizens before
the law, without regard to race or color, has been
steadfastly maintained.
Upon its record thus exhibited, and upon the
pledge of a continuance to the people of the ben
efits of Democracy, the Democracy invoke a re
newal of popular trust by the re-election of a
Chief Magistrate who has been faithful, able, and
•prudent. We invoke in addition to that trust
the transfer also to the Democracy of the entire
legislative, power.
The Republican party, controlling the Senate
and resisting in both Houses of Congress a re
formation of unjust and unequal tax laws, which
have outlasted the necessities of war and are now

THE THIRD DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. *%->
undermining the abundance of a long peace, deny
to the people equality before the law and the fair
ness and the justice which are their right. Then
the cry of American labor for a better share in
, the rewards of industry is stifled with false pre
tences, enterprise is fettered and bound down
to home markets, capital is discouraged with
doubt, and unequal, unjust laws can neither be
properly amended, nor repealed. The • Demo
cratic party will continue with all the power con
fided to it the struggle to reform these laws in
accordance with the pledges of its last platform,
indorsed at the ballot-box by the suffrages of the
people. Of all the industrious freemen of our land, the
immense majority, including every tiller of the
soil, gain no advantage from excessive tax laws,
but the price of nearly everything they buy is in
creased by the favoritism of an unequal system
of tax legislation. All unnecessary taxation is
unjust taxation." It is repugnant to the creed of
Democracy that by such taxation the cost of the
necessaries of life should be unjustifiably increased
to all our people. Judged by Democratic prin
ciples, the interests of the people are betrayed
when, by unnecessary taxation, trusts and combi
nations are permitted to exist which, while unduly
enriching the few that combine, rob the body of
our citizens by depriving them of the benefits of
natural competition. Every Democratic rule of
governmental action is violated when, through
unnecessary taxation, a vast sum of money, far
beyond the needs of an economical administration,
is drawn from the people and the channels' of
trade, and accumulated as a demoralizing surplus

a* a DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
in the Treasury. The money now lying idle in
the Federal Treasury, resulting from superfluous
taxation, amounts to more than one hundred and
twenty-five millions, and the surplus collected is
reaching the sum of more than sixty millions
annually. Debauched by this immense temp
tation, the remedy of the Republican party is to
meet and exhaust by extravagant appropriation
and expenses, whether constitutional or not, the
accumulation of extravagant taxation. The
Democratic policy is to enforce frugality in public
expense and abolish unnecessary taxation. Our
established domestic industries and enterprises
should not and need not be endangered by the
reduction and correction of the burdens of tax
ation. On the contrary, a fair and careful revision
of our tax laws, with due allowance for the differ-'
ence between the wages of American and foreign
labor, must promote and encourage every branch
of such industries and enterprises, by giving them
assurance of an extended market and steady and
continuous operations. In the interests of Ameri
can labor, which should in no event be neglected,
the revision of our tax laws contemplated by the
Democratic party should promote the advantage
of such labor, by cheapening the cost of neces
saries of life in the home of every workingman,
and at the same time securing to him steady and
remunerative employment.
Upon this question of tariff reform, so closely
concerning every phase of our national life, and
upon every question involved in the problem of
good government, the Democratic party submits
its principles and professions to the intelligent
suffrages of the American people.

THE THIRD DA Y'S PROCEEDINGS.

MORE SPEECHES AND RESOLUTIONS.

485

Mr. Watterson, reporting the platform, made
the following short speech of explanation and
advocacy :
" Mr. Chairman and Fellow - Democrats :
We bring to you a platform upon which Demo
crats may stand without v feeling that they are
away. from home. It embraces a declaration of
principles to which Democrats may subscribe
without looking around the corner. It embodies
a statement of facts incontrovertible. It delocal-
izes the cause of reform and gives to it a language
which may be spoken alike "in New Jersey and
Iowa, in Massachusetts and in Texas. Its face is
set in the right direction, and its' eyes look upon
the rising, not the setting sun.
" Gentlemen, the language of agitation is one
thing, the hand of construction is another thing.
Thanks to Grover Cleveland, the attention of the
country, wooed by others so long in vain, is fixed
at last upon a remedy of real instead of the im
aginary evils arising out of a state of war ; and
henceforward the Democratic party, which has
been the voice, will become the hand, of the people.
But its hands will be the hands of the builder, not
the destroyer, and it will remove the occupants
before it takes the roof off the house.
" Fellow-Democrats, I bid you be of cheer
touching the future of t;he party and the country.

^8 6 DEM OCR A TIC NA TIONAL CONVENTION.
Democracy at least is one with itself, and though
we may sometimes contend among ourselves, our
contests shall be like those of the Romans of old,
only resulting in more Romans. It is now 'the
time of the Republicans to know what it is to have
only half the country and no leader at all.
" Gentlemen, two good Democrats can only
understand one another thoroughly and love one
another entirely when they have had some fun
together, and this will be sufficient reason, if any
reason were needed, why I should present to you
Senator Gorman, of Maryland."
senator .gorman's speech.
Upon this introduction by the Chairman of the
Committee Senator Gorman spoke as follows :
" Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Conven
tion, and Democrats all: I would be out of place
were I found elsewhere than in a Democratic
Convention and standing upon the Democratic
principles as written by Jefferson and now being
enforced by the Democratic party under the lead
of Grover Cleveland. Four years ago, at
Chicago, the Democratic party, restating its dec
laration of principles, promised that, if intrusted
with power, sectionalism should be wiped out
forever, that the finances of your Government
should be so controlled and its tariff directed not
to impair the business industries of the land, but
that extravagant expenditures should be reduced

THE THIRD DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. Agy
until we should have a Government economically
administered, and that the war taxes placed upon
us by the Republican party should be reduced
according to the requirements.of the Government.
Upon the declaration of principles thus made at
Chicago we went before the people, and the result
was the election of Grover Cleveland. In the
matter of the reduction Of taxation he has been
thus honest and earnest and with a desire to carry
out to the letter the promises of his party ; and
when he declared that we were now to face the
fact of the reduction of taxation and wipe out
this hundred million of surplus, it was no longer
a question, nor could it be controlled by clap-trap
phrases of the opposition charging us with free
trade, but we stood pledged as honest men, as
honest reformers, to reduce this immense taxation
one hundred millions per annum.
, " Differ as you will about the phrases, we have
presented a platform in strict accord with all the
Democratic declarations that have preceded us.
As Mr. Watterson has well said, it is a platform
upon which every Democrat in this broad land
can stand. And if, in the discussion of the great
questions where local interests play so sharp a
part, there is during the campaign and during
future campaigns some difference, there will be
the same spirit of toleration. We will hold every
Democrat to the cardinal principles of the party,
but we will give him liberty of conscience and

483 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
action on non-essentials. With such a declara
tion and such a candidate we will go forth to bat
tle against a party which is yet well . organized,
holding' advantage of a position of criticising
without making themselves responsible for any
particular measure. We will not underrate them,
but I say to you, with an opportunity that I have
had of communication with our fellow-Democrats
in every State of the Union, comparing it with
the great contest we had in 1884, we are better
organized, united, and, I think, more certain of
victory." supplementing the platform.
Mr. Watterson moved that the report of the
Committee be adopted, which was agreed to by
a unanimous vote. Mr. Watterson then an
nounced that the Committee would present three
resolutions, the passage of which they recom
mended without discussion. The first of these,
which was presented by William L. Scott, was :
"Resolved, That this Convention hereby in
dorses and recommends the early passage of.the
bill for the reduction of the revenue now pending
in the House of Representatives."
The resolution was adopted amid applause,.
and then Fred. W. Lehman, of Iowa, offered and
the Convention adopted a resolution declaring

THE THIRD 'DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. 489
for the admission of Washington Territory, Da
kota, Montana, and New Mexico into the Union.
On motion of Ex-GOvernor Abbett, of New Jer
sey, the following resolution was also adopted :
"Resolved, That we express our cordial sympa
thy with struggling people of all nations in their
efforts to secure for themselves the inestimable
blessings of self-government and civil and relig
ious liberty ; and we especially declare our sym
pathy with the efforts of those noble patriots who,
led by Gladstone and Parnell, have conducted
their grand and peaceful contest for Home Rule
in Ireland." »
Mr. Baker, of Ohio, asked unanimous consent,
as a delegate from the State which loved and hon
ored Thomas A. Hendricks, to present and have
adopted a resolution of respect to the late Vice-
President and of regret at his death. The reso
lution, which was adopted by a rising vote, was as
follows :
" The Democracy of the nation, in Convention
assembled, re'member with pride the distinguished
services of Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks to his
party and his country. He was a fearless leader,
a distinguished statesman, a pure patriot. In
the administration of all public trusts he acted
with honor and with fidelity. We tender to Mrs.
Hendricks in her bereavement the affectionate
respect and sympathy of the Democracy of the
United States."

49O DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL' CONVENTION.
The Chair announced that there had been a
slight mistake in the report of the Committee on
Platform in the statement that the Committee had
been unanimous in its adoption of the resolutions
presented to the Committee. Mr. Edward Cooper,
of New York, dissented from a portion of the
tariff plank. With this exception the Committee
was unanimous. NOMINATING A VICE-PRESIDENT.
The next business in order under the rules was
the calling of the roll of States for nominations
for Vice-President. When California was reached
M. F. Tarpey presented the name of Allen G.
Thurman, of Ohio, in a speech of considerable
length, which aroused great enthusiasm. Thomas
M. Patterson, of Colorado, nominated General
John C. Black, of Illinois, only to withdraw his
name by reason of a letter from General Black.
United States Senator Daniel W. Vorhees named
Isaac P. Gray, of Indiana. The nomination of
Thurman was seconded in speeches by James P.
Pigott, of Connecticut; M. C. Dryden, of Mis
souri ; Governor Robert S. Green, of New Jersey ;
J. W. Dorsey, of Nevada ; George Raines, of
New York ; Thomas E. Powell, of Ohio ; F. W.
Dawson, of South Carolina ; J. W. Throckmorton,
of Texas ; John W. Daniel, of Virginia, and
Martin Maginnis, of Montana. Speeches second
ing the nomination of Gray were made by Albert

THE THIRD DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. 49 1
H. Cox, of Georgia, and Evan C. Little, of Ken
tucky. Upon a call of the roll of States, it was found
that Allen G. Thurman had received 687 votes;
Isaac P. Gray, 104 ; and John C. Black, 31. The
States that cast their votes solidly for Thurman
were: Arkansas, 14; California, 1 6 ; Connecticut,
12; Florida, 8; Louisiana, 16; Maine, 12; Mary
land, 16; Mississippi, 18; Nevada, 6; New
Hampshire, 8 ; New Jersey, 18; New York, 72;
North Carolina, 22; Oregon, 6; Ohio, 46; Penn
sylvania, 60; Rhode Island, 6 ; South Carolina, 18 ;
Tennessee, 24; Texas, 26; Vermont, 8; Virginia,
24 ; Iowa, 26, and two votes were cast by each
of the Territories for Thurman.
The States that divided their votes were : Ala
bama, with 15 for Thurman, 4 for Gray, and 1 for
Black ; Delaware, with 3 for Thurman and 3 for
Gray ; Illinois, with 1 7 each for Black and Gray,
and 10 for Thurman ; Kansas, with 2 for Black,
2 for Gray, and J4 for Thurman ; Kentucky, with
17 for Gray, 1 for Black, and 8 for Thurman ;
Massachusetts, . with 1 for Black, 7 for Gray, and
19 for Thurman ; Michigan, with 3 for Black and
23 for Thurman ; Minnesota, with 1 for Gray, and
13 for Thurman ; Nebraska, 2 for Gray, and 8 for
Thurman. Only one State voted solidly for Gray.
That was his own — Indiana. Only one State voted
solidly for Black — Colorado.
Before the vote was announced, the certainty

49 2 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
of Thurman's nomination being manifest, the Con
vention again broke out into a storm of uncon
trollable applause, repeating the scenes of the
day previous. It was only checked after fifteen
minutes of wild cheering, and the nomination was
made unanimous. A TRIBUTE TO THE DEAD.
The following resolution, offered by Colonel
John R. Fellow's, of New York, was unanimously
adopted :
"Resolved, That this Convention, having com
pleted the business for which it assembled, cannot
separate without an expression of its deep sense of
the irreparable loss which, since the great triumph
in 1884, when the people restored to the Dem
ocratic party the administration of the General
Government, for twenty-four vears confided to its
opponent, has been sustained by that party in the
death of the four most distinguished of its mem
bers, who during those years had been its candi
dates for the Presidency of the United States,
Winfield Scott Hancock, the superb soldier in war
and the fearless asserter of the supremacy of the
law in peace ; Samuel J. Tilden, the leader and
able exponent Of the immortal principles of Jef
ferson, and the sagacious and triumphant political
leader, who refused to right by force the great
wrong which had defrauded him of the high office
to which he had been elected ; Horatio Seymour,
the gifted orator and matchless leader of men,
who held through all his life the boundless confi-

THE THIRD DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. 493
dence of his party ; and George B. McClellan, the
brilliant organizer of the armies of the Union, as
sound in hispolitical principles as he, was faithful
in the performance of his official duties — the
great and noble sons who in so brief a period it
has had to yield to the cold embrace of the grave ;
and, though we have parted with their mortal re
mains, they will live forever in the grateful hearts
of the party they honored and served, and their
generous-minded countrymen of every party will
cherish all through their time the sacred and beau
tiful memoriesof their useful and illustrious lives."
The Convention then adjourned sine die.
THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE.
The following members constitute the National
Democratic Committee for the next four years :
Alabama— HENRY C. CLAYTON.
Arkansas— -S. W. FORDYCE, JR.
California— -M. F. TARPEY.
Colorado— C. S. THOMAS.
Connecticut— -W" '. H. BARNUM (Ch'n).
Delaware— DR. JAMES A. DRAPER.
Florida— SAMUEL PASCO.
Georgia— 1 AMES H. ESTELL.
Illinois— ERSKINE M. PHELPS.*
Indiana— -S. P. SHEERIN.
• Iowa—]. J. RICHARDSON.
Kansas— C. W. BLAIR.
Kentucky— -H. D. McHENRY.
Louisiana— JAMES JEFFERIES.
Maine— ARTHUR SEWELL*
Maryland— A. P. GORMAN.*
* Executive Committee,

494

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.

Massachusetts— CHARLES D. LEWIS.
Michigan— -O. M. BARNES.
Minnesota— MICHAEL DORAN.
Mississippi— -G. A. JOHNSTON.
Missouri—]. G. PRATHER.
Nebraska— JAMES E. BOYD
Nevada— R. P. KEITING.
itf?ze> Hampshire— A. W. SULLOWAY.
New Jersey— MILES ROSS.*
iteze/ K^— HERMAN OELRICHS*
iW//fc Carolina— MATTHEW W. RANSOM.*
Oto— CALVIN S. BRICE.*
Oregon— A. NOLTNER.
Pennsylvania— WILLIAM L. SCOTT.*
Rhode Island— H. B. BARNABY.
.W.A Carolina— -F. W. DAWSON.
Tennessee— Ik. F. LOONEY.
Texas— -O. T. HOLT.
Vermont— HIRAM ATKINS.
Virginia— JOHN S. BARBOUR.*
Wisconsin— JOHN L. MITCHELL.
0^* Virginia— -W. L. CLEMENTS.
THE PRESIDENT NOTIFIED.
On the 26th of June, 1888, the members of the
National Committee met in Washington, D. C,
and organized for the campaign by the re-election
of W. H. Barnum as Chairman.* On the same
day the Committee upon Notification, appointed
by the St. Louis Convention, assembled in the
Capital City, and at 2 p. m. were received by the
President, his family, and Cabinet in the Executive
* Executive Committee.

THE PRESIDENT NOTIFIED. 495
Mansion. Chairman P. A. Collins presented Mr.
Charles D. Jacob, of Kentucky, who read the
formal letter of notification, to which the President
made reply as follows :
"I cannot but be profoundly impressed when I
see about me the messengers of the National De
mocracy bearing its summons to duty. The political
party to which I owe allegiance both honors and
commands me. It places in my hand its proud
standard and bids me bear it high at the front in
a battle which it wages, bravely because conscious
of right, confidently because its trust is in the
people, and soberly because it comprehends the
obligations which success imposes.
" The message which you bring awakens within
me the liveliest sense of personal gratitude and
satisfaction, and the honor which you tender me
is in itself so great that there might well be no
room for any other sentiment. And yet I cannot
rid myself of grave and serious thoughts when I
remember that party supremacy is not alone in
volved in the conflict which presses upon us, but
that we struggle to secure and save the cherished
institutions, the welfare and the happiness of a
nation of freemen.
" Familiarity with the great office which I hold
has but added to my apprehension of its sacred
character and the consecration demanded of him
who assumes its immense responsibilities. It is
the repository of the people's will and power.

496 democratic National convention
Within its vision should be the protection and
welfare of the humblest citizen ; and with quick
ear it should catch from the remotest corner of
the land the plea of the people for justice and for
right. For the sake of the people, he who holds
this office of theirs should resist every encroach
ment upon its legitimate functions ; and for the
sake of the integrity and usefulness of the office,
it should be kept near to the people and be admin
istered in full sympathy with their wants and needs.
" This occasion reminds me most vividly of the
scene when, four years ago, I received a message
from my party similar to that which you now
deliver. With all that has passed since that day
I can truly say that the feeling of awe with which
I heard the summons then is intensified many fold
when it is repeated now.
"Four years ago I knew that our Chief Execu
tive office, if not carefully guarded, might drift lit
tle by little away from the people to whom it be
longed and become a perversion of all it ought to
be; but I did not know how much its moorings
had already been loosened. I knew four years
ago how well devised were the principles of true
Democracy for the successful operation of a gov
ernment by the people and for the people ; but I
did not know how absolutely necessary their ap
plication then was for the restoration to the peo
ple of their safety and prosperity. I knew then^
that abuses and extravagances had crept into the

THE PRESIDENT NOTIFIED.

497

management of public affairs, but I did not know
their numerous forms nor the tenacity of their
grasp. I knew then something of the bitterness
of partisan obstruction, but I did not know how
bitter, how reckless, and how shameless it could
be. I knew, too, that the American people vwere
patriotic and just, but I did not know how grandly
they loved their country nor how noble and gen
erous they were.
" I shall not dwell upon the acts and the policy
of the Administration now drawing to its close.
Its record is open to every citizen in the land.
'¦ And yet I will not be denied the privilege of
asserting at this time that in the exercise of the
functions of the high trust confided to me, I have
yielded obedience only to the Constitution and
the solemn obligation of my oath of office. I have
done those things which, in the light of the under
standing God has given me, seemed most condu
cive to the welfare of my countrymen and the
promotion of good government.
" I would not if I could, for myself nor for you,
avoid a single consequence of a fair interpretation
of my course.
"It but remains for me to say to you, and
through you to the Democracy of the nation, that
I accept the nomination with which they have hon
ored me, and that I will in due time signify such
acceptance in the usual formal manner."

498

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.

A FOURTH OF JULY LETTER. *
To the Tammany Society of New York, cele
brating the Fourth of July, 1888, the President
wrote as follows :
" I regret that I am obliged to decline the cour
teous invitation which I have received to attend
the celebration by the Tammany Society on the
birthday of our Republic, on the fourth day of
July next. The zeal and enthusiasm with which
your Society celebrates this day afford proof of its
steadfast patriotism as well as its care for all that
pertains to the advantage and prosperity of the
people. I cannot doubt that the renewal of a
' love and devotion to a pure Jeffersonian Demo
cratic form of Government ' which you contem
plate will suggest the inquiry whether the people
are receiving all the benefits that are due them
under such a form of government. These bene
fits are not fully enjoyed when our citizens are
unnecessarily burdened, and their earnings and
incomes are uselessly diminished under the pre
text of Government support.
" Our Government belongs to the people. They
have decreed its purposes, and it is their clear
right to demand that its cost shall be limited by
frugality, and that its burden of expense shall be
carefully limited by its actual needs. And yet a
useless and dangerous surplus in the National
Treasury tells no other tale but extortion on the

A FOURTH OF JUL Y LETTER. 499
part of the Government and a perversion of the
people's intention.
" In the midst of our impetuous enterprise and
blind confidence in our destiny, it is time to pause
and study our condition. It is no sooner appre
ciated than the conviction must follow that the
tribute exacted from the people should be dimin
ished. The theories which cloud the subject, mis
leading honest men, and the appeals to selfish
interests which deceive the understanding make
the reform, which should be easy, a difficult task.
" Although those who propose a remedy for the
present evils have always been the friends of Amer
ican labor, and though they declare their purposes
to further its interests in all their efforts, yet those
who oppose reform attempt to disturb our work-
ingmen by the cfy that their wages and their em
ployment are threatened. They advocate a sys
tem which benefits certain classes of our citizens
at the expense of every householder in the land —
a system which breeds discontent, because it per
mits the duplication of wealth without correspond
ing, additional recompense to labor; which pre
vents the opportunity to work by stifling production
and limiting the area of our markets, and which
enhances the cost of living beyond the laborer's
hard-earned wages.
" The attempt is made to divert the attention of
the people from the evils of such a scheme of tax
ation by branding those who seek to correct these

•5 CO DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
evils as free traders and enemies of our working-
men and our industrial enterprises: This is sc
far from the truth that there should be no chance
for such deception to succeed. It behooves the
American people while' they rejoice in the anni
versary of the day when their free Government
was declared to also reason together and deter
mine that they will not be deprived of the bless
ings and the benefits which their Government
should afford." NOTIFYING MR. THURMAN.
After the Committee had been fitly entertained
in Washington its members journeyed by special
train to Columbus, Ohio. In that city, on June
28th, they visited Allen G. Thurman, the nominee
for Vice-President, in a body at his home. Upon
the presentation of the formal notification to him
he said :
" Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Com
mittee : — I pray you to accept my very sincere
thanks for the kind and courteous manner in
which you have communicated to me the official
information of my nomination by the St. Louis
Convention. You know without saying it that I
am profoundly grateful' to the Convention and to
the Democratic party for the honor conferred
upon me, and the more so that it was wholly un
sought and undesired by me ; not that I under
valued a distinction which any man of our party

NOTIFYING MR. THURMAN.

501

however eminent might highly prize, but simply
because I had ceased to be ambitious of public
life. But when I am told in so earnest and im
pressive a manner that I can still render service
to the good cause to which I have ever been de
voted — a cause to which I am bound by the ties
of affection, by the dictates of judgment, by a
sense of obligation for favors so often conferred
upon me — what can I under such circumstances
do but yield my private wishes to the demand of
those whose opinions I am bound to respect ?
" Gentlemen, with an unfeigned diffidence in my
ability to fulfill the expectations that led to my
nomination, I yet feel it to be my duty to accept
it and do all that it may be in my power to do to
merit so marked a distinction.
" Gentlemen.'the country is blessed by an able
and honest administration of the General Govern
ment. We have a President who wisely, bravely,
diligently, and patriotically discharges the duties
of his high office. I fully believe that the best
interests of the country require his re-election,
and the hope that I may be able to contribute
somewhat to bring about the result is one of my
motives for accepting a place on our ticket. I
also feel it my duty to labor for a reduction of
taxes and to put a stop to that accumulation of a
surplus in. the Treasury that, in my judgment, is
not only prejudicial to our financial welfare, but
is, in a high degree, dangerous to honest and con-

502 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
stitufional government. I suppose, gentlemen,
that I need say no more to-day. In due time and
in accordance with established usage I will trans
mit to your Chairman a written acceptance of my
nomination, with such observations upon public
questions as may seem to me to be proper."

SAMUEL J. RANDALL.

DANIEL MANNING,
Ex-Secrhtaky of the Treasury.

PRINCIPLES

OF THE

DEMOCRATIC PARTY

PRINCIPLES
OF THE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

CHAPTER I.
THE PRINCIPLES OF WASHINGTON.
WASHINGTON lived before the days
of party politics. He exemplified his
principles by his conduct, whether at
the head of the army or of the civil Administra
tion. He had studied well the principles of free <
governments in former ages and was well
grounded in the faith. In his Farewell Address to
the American people he left a legacy any party
might well be proud of. Not because he was at
the head of a so-called Democratic or Republican
or any party, but because the few fundamental
principles upon which rested the perpetuity of the
Union which he announced have always been a
part of the faith of the Democracy, does it become
appropriate here to insert those principles. No
person can be a sound Democrat who cannot give
unqualified assent to them. In substance he
announced the following principles : —
1 507

5 08 DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
"The union of the government is the main
pillar in the edifice of our real independence:
the support of our tranquillity at home, our peace
abroad ; of our safety and our prosperity, yea, of
the very liberty all so highly prize."
He warned his countrymen that from different
causes and from different quarters great pains
would be taken (as was the case three-quarters of
a century after that), and many artifices would be
employed, to weaken in the minds of , the people
the conviction of this great truth. He told them
that this was a point in their political fortress
against which the batteries of internal and exter
nal enemies would most constantly and most
actively, though covertly and insidiously, direct
their assaults.
He entreated them to cherish a cordial, habitual,
and immovable attachment to the Union, accus
toming them to think and speak of it as the pal
ladium of their political safety and prosperity,
watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety,
discountenancing whatever might even suggest a
suspicion that it could in any event be abandoned,
and indignantly frown upon the first dawning of
every attempt to alienate any portion of our coun
trymen from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred
ties which link together the various parts of our
common country.
Whether he called himself a Democrat or not
makes no difference, this principle of cherishing

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. 509
an absolute devotion to the existence of the Union
under one form of government is a sacred Demo
cratic principle that must be subscribed to by
every citizen of this great Republic who aspires
to be called an American Democrat. It is be
cause Democrats have ever entertained the same
convictions and (save by the men who called
themselves Democrats, but had forgotten or dis
regarded the warning voice of Washington, and
went into a rebellion against the Government,
thereby seeking to destroy the Union) have ever
been true to these principles, and above all other
parties most profoundly impressed with the truth
pf this doctrine, that many of the most thought
ful men have ever been Democrats.
Washington sought by most cogent arguments
to impress upon his countrymen that all parts of
the country, North, South, East and West, had a
common destiny and a common interest in the
general welfare of every other section, and be
cause each added strength and security to the
other, and in this sense the Union was the main
prop of our liberties, so that the love for one
should endear to the people the preservation of
the other, and thus become the primary object of.
patriotic desire.
Democrats believe all this ; and though the party
itself became distracted and many of its adher
ents were dragged into a rebellion, still, so soon
as military force was overcome and the conviction

5 1 0 DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
of the mind could be freely exercised, even those
again became as ardently attached to the Union
as any other portion of our people, and since the,
close of the war have sought, by every means
within their power, to bring together and bind
more closely the whole people of this Union in
the bonds of a fraternal brotherhood of States.
Washington warned his countrymen against sec
tionalism. He cautioned them that designing
men, as they ever have, would endeavor to excite
a belief that there was a real difference of local
interests and views. He said one of the expedi
ents of partyisms would be to acquire influence
in one particular section by misrepresenting the
opinions and aims of another section, and that
they could not shield themselves too much against
the jealousies ' and heart-burnings aroused by
these misrepresentations, tending to alienate the
sections from each other instead of binding them
more closely together with fraternal regard and
affection, bringing about the opposite result. It
is because we have seen the Democratic party en
deavoring by every possible means in its power
to inculcate these same great truths, while its op
ponents have conducted themselves toward one
section precisely in the way and manner suggested
by Washington men would, that they are forced
to be Democrats when true to their convictions
of right.
He cautioned his countrymen against heaping

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.

5U

up public debts for posterity to pay, thus ungen
erously throwing upon them burdens which we
ourselves should pay. This whole business, of
bonded indebtedness is undemocratic and ought
not to be indulged in if by any means it can be
avoided. It is true that men calling themselves
Democrats have been led astray by the plausible
arguments of those who regarded " public debts
as public blessings," still the Democratic party, as
such, has ever denounced the practice, and be
cause they have always coincided with him in this
particular they are Democrats.
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence,
he conjured his fellow-citizens, their jealousy
ought to be constantly awake. Numerous oppor
tunities would be offered, he said, to tamper with
domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction,
to mislead public opinion, to influence public coun
cils. No attachment, therefore, for one nation to the
exclusion of another should be tolerated.
Such conduct would lead to concessions to one
nation' and denials of privileges to others, and
would invite a multitude of evils upon us.
: It is because this has been a fundamental prin
ciple of the Democratic party, who most heartily
believe in the doctrine, hence they are Democrats.
Washington also advised his countrymen to re
sist with care the spirit of innovation upon the
principles on which the Government was founded,

512 , DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
however specious the pretext might be. One
method of assault would be, he said, to effect
under the forms of the Constitution alterations
which would impair the whole system. It is be
cause the Democratic party, impressed by the
truth of these teachings of Washington, has op
posed the numerous amendments constantly being
proposed that they are Democrats, believing that
in this they adhere more, strictly to the teachings
of Washington than any other party.

A

CHAPTER II.
THE PRINCIPLES OF JEFFERSON.
LTHOUGH in his time not called "a
Democrat," yet the leader of what was
then known as the Republican party, con
tending against the Federal or strong govern
ment party, Thomas Jefferson was perhaps one
pf the best expounders of those principles now
held by the Democratic party among all of those
Revolutionary sages.
In his writings and official messages as Presi
dent we find the most frequent allusions to and
rigid application of them in the administration of
public affairs, so that he has been called " the
father of the Democratic party." It was pecu-

DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.

5*3

liarly appropriate that he should do so, because,
though early in the history of our Government
yet, anti-democratic principles were already slowly
creeping into the administration of public affairs
under the Administration of the elder Adams, so
that it required vigorous opposition and deter
mined application to bring the Government back
once more to be administered in accordance with
those pure principles of a representative demo
cratic government.
In his inaugural address, delivered to Congress
on March 4th, 1801, the commencement as well
of a new century as of a new era in our govern
ment, President Jefferson announced the follow
ing fundamental doctrines of democracy, which,
he said, he deemed essential principles of our
Government, which should guide him in its admin
istration. He compressed them within the smallest
possible compass, stating only the general prin
ciples, but not all their limitations : —
First. Equal and exact justice to all men of what
ever State or persuasion, religious or political.
Second. Peace, commerce, and honest friend
ship with all nations ; entangling alliance with
none. Third. The support of the State govern
ments in all their rights as the most competent
administrators of our domestic concerns and the
surest bulwarks against anti-republican tenden
cies.

5H ' DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
I
Fourth. The preservation of the General Gov
ernment in its whole constitutional vigor as the
sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety
abroad. Fifth. A jealous care of the right of election
by the people, a mild and safe corrective of
abuses, which are lopped by the sword of revolu
tion where peaceable means are unprovided.
Sixth. Absolute acquiescence in the decisions
of the majority, the vital principles of republics,
from which is no appeal but to force, the vital
principle and immediate parent of despotism.
Seventh. A well-disciplined militia, our best
reliance in peace, and for the first moments of
war, till regulars may relieve them.
Eighth. The supremacy of the civil over the
military authority.
Ninth. Economy in the public expenses, that
labor may be lightly burdened.
Tenth. The honest payment of our debts and
the sacred preservation of the public faith.
Eleventh. Encouragement of agriculture and
of commerce as its' handmaid.
Twelfth. The diffusion of information and
arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public
reason. Thirteenth. Freedom of religion.
Fourteenth. Freedom of the press.
Fifteenth. Freedom of the person under the
protection of the habeas corpus.

DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES. 5 1 5
Sixteenth. Trial by juries impartially selected.
"These principles," said- Jefferson, "form the
bright constellation which has gone before us and
guided our steps through the age of revolution
and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and
the blood of our heroes have been devoted to
their attainment. They should be the creed of
our political faith, the text of civic instruction,
the touchstone by which to try the services of
those we trust ; and should we wander from them
in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to
retrace our steps and to regain the road which
alone leads to peace, liberty and safety."
It is because Democrats believe every one of
those fundamental principles to be true that they
are Democrats.

CHAPTER III.
THE PRINCIPLES OF MADISON.
DEMOCRATS believe in a full, unequivocal
and hearty support of the Cpnstitution, in
a strict construction of it, and in the spirit
and the purpose for which it was formed, and in
Madison, also, who took such a deep interest in
its formation as to be called " the father of the
Constitution," they have another exponent of
sound Democratic principles.

5 I 6 DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
He knew well the principles on which that Con
stitution was founded. He had studied the rise,
progress, decay and fall of every free govern
ment which had gone before, and, profiting by the
very misfortunes of other nations, he had secured
in the adoption of our Constitution such principles
as he fondly believed would prevent us as a people
from falling into similar errors. Standing upon
the threshold of his great office as President of
the United States, succeeding Jefferson, he an
nounced the following as additional principles
vital to the welfare of the American people in
their intercourse with foreign nations. They were
in part but the echoes which came from the lips
of Washington and Jefferson, and became the
policy of the Democratic party ever since. He
announced them as follows : —
First. To cherish peace and friendly intercourse
with all nations having a corresponding disposi
tion. Second. To maintain sincere neutrality toward
belligerent nations.
Third. To prefer in all cases amicable discus
sions and reasonable accommodation of differences
to a decision of them by an appeal to arms.
Fourth. To exclude foreign intrigues and for
eign partialities, so degrading to all countries and
so baneful to free ones.
Fifth. To foster a spirit of independence, too
just to invade the rights of others, too proud to

DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES. 5 1 7
surrender our own, too liberal to indulge unworthy
prejudices ourselves, and too elevated not to look
down upon them in others.
Sixth. To hold the Union of the States as' the
basis of their peace and happiness.
Seventh. To support the Constitution, which is
the cement of the Union, as well in its limitations
as in its authorities.
Eighth. To respect the rights and authorities
reserved to the States and the people as equally
incorporated with and essential to the success of
the general system.
Ninth. To avoid the slightest interferences with
the rights of conscience or the functions of reli
gion, so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction.
Tenth. To preserve in their full energy the
salutary provisions in behalf of private and per
sonal rights and the freedom of the press.
Eleventh. To observe economy in public ex
penditures. Twelfth. To liberate public resources by an
honorable discharge of the public debts.
Thirteenth. To keep within the requisite limits
a standing military force, always remembering
that an armed and trained militia is the firmest
bulwark of republics.
Fourteenth. That without standing armies, their
liberties can never be in danger, nor with large
ones, safe.
Fifteenth. To promote, by authorized means,

5 1 8 DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
improvements friendly to agriculture, to commerce,
to manufactures, and to external as well as inter
nal commerce.
Sixteenth. To favor, in like manner, the ad
vancement of science and diffusion of information
as the best aliment of true liberty.
Seventeenth. To carry on benevolent plans for
the conversion of our aboriginal neighbors from
the degradation and wretchedness of savage life to
a participation of the improvements of which the
human mind and manners are susceptible in a
civilized state.
In one of his messages he also laid down the
principle that a well-instructed people alone can
be permanently free, all of which Democrats de
voutly believe.

CHAPTER IV.
k THE PRINCIPLES OF JACKSON.
IN the principles of Andrew Jackson the De
mocracy take great pride. From his inaugu
ral address,, on March 4th, a. d. 1829, to the
close of his Administration of eight years, in every
message to Congress he uttered Democratic sen
timents in a terse, vigorous style, which, on ac
count of their self-evident truth, deeply rooted
themselves in American hearts and became the

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.

5*9

principles of the Democratic party, which during
his Administration first took that name and which
it has held ever since. They are found scattered
all through his messages, and were his guide in
deciding all questions of national policy, so many
.of which pressed themselves upon him during his
term of office. From these the following may be
selected and placed in order, which should be
thoroughly studied and applied to all questions
which may even now arise.
First. He said: "Regard should be had for the
rights of the several States, taking care not to
confound the powers reserved to them with those
they had in the Constitution granted to the Gen
eral Government.
Second. In every aspect of the case advantage
must result from strict and faithful economy in the
administration of public affairs.
Third. He declared the unnecessary duration
of the public debt incompatible with real inde
pendence. Fourth. In the adjustment of a tariff for reve
nue, he insisted that a spirit of equity, caution and
compromise requires the great interests of agri
culture, manufactures and commerce to be equally
favored. Fifth. He admitted the policy of internal im
provements to be wise only in so far as they could
be promoted by constitutional aqts of the General
Government. *

5 2 O DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
Sixth. He declared standing armies to be dan
gerous to free government, and that the military
should be in strict subordination to the civil power.
Seventh. He declared the national militia to be
the bulwark of our national defense. In enforcing
this principle, he declared that so long as the
Government was administered for the good of the
people and regulated by their will ; so long as it
secured to the people the rights of person and of
property, liberty of conscience and of the press,
the Government would be worth defending, and
so long as it was worth defending the patriotic
militia would cover it with an impenetrable eegis.
Eighth. He pledged himself to the work of
reform in the Administration, so that the patronage
of the General Government, which had been
brought into conflict with the freedom of elections
and had disturbed the rightful course of appoint
ments by continuing in power unfaithful and in
competent public servants, should no longer be
used for that purpose.
Ninth. He declared his belief in the principle
that the integrity and zeal of public officers would
advance the interests of the public service more
than mere numbers.
Tenth. He declared the right of the people to
elect a President, and that it was never designed
that their choice should in any case be defeated
by the intervention of agents, enforcing this
principle by saying, what experience had amply

DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES. 5 2 1
proved, that in proportion as agents were multi
plied to execute the will of the people, there was
the danger increased that their wishes would
be frustrated. Some may be unfaithful — all liable
to err. So far, then, as the people were con
cerned, it was better for them to express their own
will. Eleventh. The majority should govern. No
President elected by a minority could so success
fully discharge his duties as he who knew he was
supported by the majority of the people.
Twelfth. He advocated rotation in office. Cor
ruption, he said, would spring up among those in
power, and, therefore, he thought appointments
should not be made for a longer period than four
years. Everybody had equal right to office, and
he favored removals as a leading principle which
would give healthful action to the political system.
Thirteenth. He advocated unfettered com
merce, free from restrictive tariff laws, leaving it
to flow into those natural channels in which indi
vidual enterprise, . always the surest and safest
guide, might direct it.
Fourteenth. He opposed specific tariffs, be
cause subject to frequent changes, generally pro
duced by selfish motives, and under such influ
ences could never be just and equal.
Fifteenth. The proper fostering of manufac
tures and commerce tended to increase the value
of agricultural products.

522 DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
Sixteenth. In cases of real doubt as to matters
of mere public policy he advocated a direct ap
peal to the people, the source of all power, as the
most sacred of all obligations and the wisest and
most safe course to pursue.
Seventeenth. He advocated a just and equita
ble bankrupt law as beneficial to the country at
large, because after the means to discharge debts
had entirely been exhausted, not to discharge
them only served to dispirit the debtor, sink him
into a state of apathy, make him a useless drone
in society, or a vicious member of it, if not a feel
ing witness of the rigor and inhumanity of his
country. Oppressive debt being the bane of en
terprise, it should be the care of the Republic not
to exert a grinding power over misfortune and
poverty. Eighteenth. He declared in favor of the prin
ciple that no money should be expended until first
appropriated for the purpose by the Legislature.
The people paid the taxes, and their direct repre
sentatives should alone have the right to say what
they should be taxed for, in what sums, and how
and when it should be paid.
Nineteenth. He utterly opposed the system of
Government aiding private corporations in mak
ing internal improvements. It was deceptive and
conducive of improvidence in the expenditure of
public moneys. For this purpose appropriations
could be obtained with greater facilities, granted

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. '523
with inadequate security, and frequently compli
cated the administration of Government.
Twentieth. The operations of the General Gov
ernment should be strictly confined to the few
simple but important objects for which it was origi
nally designed.
Twenty -first. He favored the veto power in the
Executive, but only to be exercised in cases of at
tempted violation of the Constitution, or in cases
next to it in importance.
Twenty-second. He advocated State rights as
far as consistent with the rightful action of the
General Government as the very best means of
preserving harmony * between them ; and pro
nounced this the true faith, and the one to which
might be mainly attributed the success of the en
tire system, and to which alone we must look for
stability in it.
Twenty-third. He advocated "a uniform and,
sound currency," but doubted the constitutionality
and expediency of a National Bank ; and after
ward made his Administration famous by suc
cessfully opposing the renewal of its charter.
Twenty-fourth. Precious metals as the only cur
rency known to the Constitution. Their peculiar
properties rendered them the standard of values
in other countries, and had been adopted in this.
The experience of the evils of paper money had
made it so obnoxious in the past that the framers
of the Constitution had forbidden its adoption as
the legal-tender currency of the country.

524 DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
Variableness must ever be the characteristic of
a currency not based upon those metals. Expan
sion and contraction, without regard to principles
which regulate the value of those metals as a
standard in the general trade of the world, were,
he said, extremely pernicious.
Where these properties are not infused into the
circulation, and do not control it, prices must vary
according to the tide of the issue ; the value and
stability of property exposed, uncertainty attend
the administration of institutions constantly liable
to temptations of an interest distinct from that of
the community at large, all this attended by loss
to the laboring class, who have neither time nor
opportunity to watch the ebb and flow of the
money market.
Twenty-fifth. He renews his advocacy of a
cheerful compliance with the will of the majority ;
and the exercise of the power as expressed in a
spirit of moderation, justice and brotherly kind
ness as the best means to cement and forever pre
serve the Union. Those, he closes, who advocate
sentiments adverse to those expressed, however
honest, are, in effect, the worst enemies of their
country.

CHAPTER V.
THE PRINCIPLES OF TILDEN.
THE fundamental principles of liberty
adapted to a republican form of govern
ment were thus laid down by Washington,
Jefferson, Madison, and Jackson, and carried out
by a long line of public men in legislation and
the concerns of government. Among the men
who did much to preserve and maintain these
principles of popular government, in which the
relations of the General Government to the States
and the relation of both to the people were pre
served in true adjustment, was Samuel J. Tilden,
elected President in 1876 by the people and by
a majority of the honestly chosen electors, and
defrauded of the office as the successful result of
a dastardly conspiracy.
Mr. Tilden began to take an active part in the
discussion of serious political questions as early
as 1833, when the question of the right of a State
to nullify the laws of the United States was the
dominant one. He had early been brought into
close personal and political association with Mar
tin Van Buren, Silas Wright, and other leaders of
the Democratic party in the State of New York,
and by their advice contributed to the discussion
of the issues then uppermost in the public mind.
525

r26 LIFE 0F GROVER CLEVELAND.
From that time, when he contributed to the local
newspapers of his native county, until his death
in 1886, his letters, speeches, and legal arguments
form a body of constitutional interpretation which,
in both quantity and value, are of the highest im
portance to the student of political history. It is
difficult to make any selection from all this body
of Tilden's writings which will fairly represent
him, but the following extracts give a fair idea of
his devotion to his country and to Democratic
principles :
" It is no part of the duty of the State to coerce
the individual man, except so far as his conduct
may affect others, not remotely and consequen
tially, but by violating rights which legislation can
recognize and undertake to protect."

" The reason why self-government is better
than government by any one man, or by a foreign
people, is that the policy evolved by this process
is generally better adapted to the actual condition
of the society on which it is to operate."

" Every business, every industrial interest, is
paralyzed under excessive taxation, false systems
of finance, extravagant, cost of production,
diminished ability to consume."

" These taxes,, when laid on imports in the man
ner in which they were laid in the Congressional

THE PRINCIPLES OF TILDEN.

527

carnival of manufacturers which framed our
present tariff, cause a misapplication of industry
that charges on the consumer what neither the
Government is able to collect as taxes, nor the
manufacturer to appropriate as profits. They
lessen the productive power of human labor as if
God had cursed it with ungenial climate or sterile
soil."

" There is no royal road for a government more
than for an individual or a corporation. What
you want to do is to cut down your expenses and
live within your income. I would give all the
legerdemain of finance and financiering — I would
give the whole of it/ — for the old homely maxim,
'Live within your income.' "

" Disunion and centralization are equally fatal
to good government."

"When the two ideas of personal gain and the
bestowal of office are allowed to be in our mind
at the same time they will become associated, and
it is but a step to the sale of the, greatest trusts.
Intellect, training, and virtue will soon succumb to
wealth. Vulgar millionaires will grasp the highest
seats of honor and power as they would put a
new emblazonment on their carriages or a gaudy
livery on their servants."

e,0 LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
" Principles are the test of political character.
The Democracy always made fidelity to official
trust and justice to the toiling masses who earn
their bread by the sweat of their brow a funda
mental article in their party creed."

" I myself never lost courage, never lost my
belief that the element of human society which
seeks for what is good is more powerful, if we
will trust it, than all those selfish combinations
that would obtain unjust advantage over the
masses of the people."

"Whoever obstructs the means of payment ob
structs also the facilities of sale. We must relax
our barbarous revenue system so as not to retard
the natural processes of trade. We must no
longer legislate against the wants of humanity
and the beneficence of God."

"The pecuniary sacrifices of the people are not
to be measured by the receipts into the Treasury.
They are vastly greater. A tax that starts in its
career by disturbing the productive power of la
bor, and then comes to the consumer distended
by profits of successive intermediaries and by in
surance against the risks of a fickle or uncertain
governmental policy and of a fluctuating govern
mental standard of value, blights human well-being
at every step. When it reaches the hapless child

THE PRINCIPLES OF TILDEN. 529
of toil who buys his bread by the single oaf and
his fuel by the basket, it devours his earnings and
inflicts starvation."

"The Constitution of the United States is by
its own terms declared to be perpetual. The
government created by it acts, within the sphere
of its powers, directly upon each individual citizen.
No State is authorized, in any contingency, to
suspend or obstruct that action, or to exempt any
citizen from the obligation to obedience. Any
pretended act of nullification Or secession where
by such effect is attempted to be produced is ab
solutely void."
" * * Our wise ancestors warned us against
standing armies and all those false systems of
government which require standing armies. They
formed the Union of the States that we might be
free from the jealousies of coterminous countries,
which has been the usual pretext of tyrants for
maintaining costly military establishments. They
founded that Union on the principles of local
self-government, to be everywhere carried on by
the voluntary co-operation of the governed. They
did not intend that one part of our country should
govern another part."

" * *' The destruction of all local self-govern
ment in a country so extensive as ours, and em-

530 LIFE. OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
bracing such elements of diversity in habits, man
ners, opinions, and interests, and the exercise by
a single centralized authority of all the powers ot
society over so vast a region and over such pop
ulation would entail upon us an indefinite series
of civic commotions, and repeat here the worst
crimes and worst calamities of history."

" Our wise ancestors warned us that this grand
experiment in self-government would turn on the
intelligence and virtue of the people, and that
our efforts to cultivate and elevate must be com
mensurate with our diffusion of political rights
and political powers. It is a great partnership -in
self-government. Every man yields a share in
the government of himself to every other man,
and acquires ^a share in the government over that
other man." i -
" The immigrants who have contributed so much
to swell the population of our Northern States
spring from the same parent stocks with ourselves.
They come to rejoin their kindred. Races have
a growth and culture as well as individuals. What
a race has been many centuries in accumulating
is often appropriated and developed in an indi
vidual life, in the ascent from the humblest origin
•to the highest attainments of the species. Our
accessions are drawn from races which have lived
under essentially the same climatic influences

THE PRINCIPLES OF TILDEN. 531
with ourselves, which have attained the highest
civilization and made the largest progress in the
arts and industries of mankind. They are at
tracted here by their aspirations for civil liberty,
or for the improvement of their personal, condi
tion ; and every aspiration ennobles. '1 hey are
well represented in all- our occupations which call
for intellect and culture, and even the portion
which come to fill the ranks of raw labor, made
vacant by the ascent to more skilled and more
remunerative employments, which our universal
education opens to all, show a capacity quickly to
follow in the noble competition for improvement."

" There is no instrumentality in human society
so potential in its influence upon mankind, for
good or evil, as the governmental machinery for
administering justice and for making and execu
ting laws. Not all the eleemosynary institutions
of private benevolence to which philanthropists
may devote their lives, are so fruitful in benefits
as the rescue and preservation of this machinery
from the perversions that make it the instrument
of conspiracy, fraud, and crime against the most
sacred rights and interests of the people."

"Every power is a trust and involves a duty."

"All history shows that reform in Government
must not be expected from those who sit serenely

CJ32 , LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND.
on the social mountain tops, enjoying the benefits
of the existing order of things. Even the Divine
Author of our religion found His followers, not
among the self-complacent Pharisees, but among
lowly minded fishermen."

"The Republican, party is largely made up of
those who live by their wits, and who aspire.in
politics to advantages over the rest of mankind
similar to those which their daily lives are devoted
to securing in private business.
" The Democratic party consists largely of those
who live by the work of their hands, and whose
political action is governed by their sentiments or

imagination.

"It results thatthe Democratic party, more read
ily than the Republican party, can be molded to
the support of reform measures which involve a-
sacrifice of selfish interests."

F

CHAPTER VI.
THE PRINCIPLES OF TARIFF REFORM.
OLLOWING is the famous message of
December, 1887, sent by President Cleve
land to the first session of the Fiftieth Con

gress : —
To the Congress of the United States: —
You are confronted at the threshold of your
legislative duties with a condition of the national
finances which imperatively demands immediate
and careful consideration.
The amount of money annually exacted, through
the operation of present laws, from the industries
and necessities of the people, largely exceeds the
sum necessary to meet the expenses of the Gov
ernment. When we consider that the theory of our insti
tutions guarantees to every citizen the full enjoy
ment of all the fruits of his industry and enter
prise, with only such deduction as may be his
share toward the careful and economical main
tenance of the Government which protects him, it
is plain that the exaction of more than this is in
defensible extortion, and a culpable betrayal of
American fairness and justice. This wrong in
flicted upon those who bear the burden of national
533

534 democratic Principles.
i
taxation, like other wrongs, multiplies a brood of
evil consequences. The public treasury, which
should only exist as a conduit conveying the
people's tribute to its legitimate objects of expend
iture, becomes a hoarding-place for money need
lessly withdrawn from trade and the people's use,
thus crippling our national energies, suspending
our country's development, preventing investment
in productive enterprise, threatening financial dis
turbance, and inviting schemes of public plunder.
This condition of our treasury is not altogether
new ; and it has more than once of late been sub
mitted to the people's representatives in the Con
gress, who alone can apply a remedy. And yet
the situation still continues, with aggravated inci
dents, more than ever presaging financial convul
sion and widespread disaster.
It will not do to neglect this situation because
its dangers are not now palpably imminent and
apparent. They exist none the less certainly, and
await the unforeseen and unexpected occasion
when suddenly they will be precipitated upon us.
On the 30th day of June, 1885, tne excess of
revenues over public expenditures after comply
ing with the annual requirement of the sinking-
fund act, was $17,859,735.84; during the year
ended June 30th, 1886, such excess amounted to
$49,405,545.20; and during the year ended June
30th, 1887, it reached the sum of $55,567,849.54.
The annual contributions to the sinking fund

THE PRESIDENT'S ROOM IN THE CAPITOL.

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. 537
during the three years above specified, amounting
in the aggregate to $138,058,320.94, and deducted
from the surplus as stated, were made by calling
in for that purpose outstanding three per cent.
bonds of the Government. During the six months
prior to June 30th, 1887, the surplus revenue had
j grown so large by repeated accumulations, and it
was feared the withdrawal of this great sum of
money needed by the people, would so affect the
business of the country, that the sum of $79,864,-
100 of such surplus was applied to the payment
of the principal and interest of the three per cent.
bonds still outstanding, and which were then pay
able at the option of the Government. The pre
carious condition of financial affairs among the
people still needing relief, immediately after the
30th day of June, 1887, the remainder of the three
per cent, bonds then outstanding, amounting with
principal and interest to the sum of $18,877,500,
were called in and applied to the sinking-fund con
tribution for the current fiscal year. Notwith
standing these operations of the Treasury De
partment, representations of distress in business
circles not only continued but increased, and
absolute peril seemed at hand. In these circum
stances the contribution to the sinking fund for
the current fiscal year was at once completed by
the expenditure of $27,684,283.55 in the purchase
of Government bonds not yet due bearing four
and four and a half per cent, interest, the pre-

538 DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
mium paid thereon averaging about twenty-four
per cent, for the former and eight per cent, for
the latter. In addition to this the interest accru
ing during the current year upon the outstanding
bonded indebtedness of the Government was to
some extent anticipated, and banks selected as
depositories of public money were permitted to
somewhat increase their deposits.
While the expedients thus employed to release
to the people the money lying idle in the Treasury
served to avert immediate danger, our surplus
revenues have continued to accumulate, the excess
for the present year amounting on the first day of
December to $55,258,701.19, and estimated to
reach the sum of $1 1 3,000,000 on the 30th of June
next, at which date it is expected that this sum,
added to prior accumulations, will swell the sur
plus in the Treasury to $140,000,000.
There seems to be no assurance that, with such
a withdrawal from use of the people's circula
ting medium, our business community may not in
the near future be subjected to the same distress.
which was quite lately produced from the same
cause. And while the functions of' our National
Treasury should be few and simple, and while its
best condition would be reached, I believe, by its
entire disconnection with private business inter
ests, yet when, by a perversion of its purposes, it
idly holds money uselessly subtracted from the
channels of trade, there seems to be reaspn for the

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. 539
claim that some legitimate means should be de
vised by the Government to restore in an emer
gency, without waste or extravagance,' such money
to its place among the people.
If such an emergency arises there now exists
no clear and undoubted executive power of relief.
Heretofore the redemption of three per cent, bonds,
which were payable at the option of the Govern
ment, has afforded a means for the disbursement
of the excess of our revenues ; but these bonds
have all been retired, and there are no bonds out
standing the payment of which we have the right to
insist upon. The contribution to the sinking fund
which furnishes the occasion for expenditure in
the purchase of bonds has been already made for
the current year, so that there is no outlet in that
direction. In the present state of legislation the only pre
tense of any existing executive power to restore,
at this time, any part of our surplus revenues to
the people by its expenditure, consists in the suppo
sition that the Secretary of the Treasury may enter
the market and purchase the bonds of the Govern
ment not yet due, at a rate of premium to be
agreed upon. The only provision Of law from
which such a power could be derived is found in
an appropriation bill passed a number of years
ago ; and it is subject to the suspicion that it was
intended as temporary and limited in its applica
tion, instead of conferring a continuing discretion

54°

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.

and authority. No condition ought to exist which
would justify the grant of power to a single offi
cial, upon his judgment of its necessity, to withhold
from or release to the business of the people, in an
unusual manner, money held in the Treasury, and
thus affect, at his will, the financial situation of the
country ; and if it is deemed wise to lodge in the
Secretary of the Treasury the authority in the
present juncture to purchase bonds, it should be
plainly vested, and provided, as far as possible, .
with such checks and limitations as will define this
official's right and discretion, and at the same
time relieve him from undue responsibility.
In considering the question of purchasing bonds
as a means of restoring to circulation the surplus
money accumulating in the Treasury, it should be
borne in mind that premiums must of course be
paid upon such purchase, that there may be a
large part of these bonds held as investments
which cannot be purchased at any price, and that
combinations among holders who are willing to
sell, may unreasonably enhance the cost of such
bonds to the Government.
It has been suggested that the present bonded
debt might be refunded at a less rate of interest,
and the difference between the old and new se
curity paid in cash, thus finding use for the surplus
in the Treasury. The success of this plan, it is
apparent, must depend upon the volition of the
holders of the present bonds ; and it is not entirely

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. 541
"certain that the inducement which must be offered
them would result in more financial benefit to the
Government than the purchase of bonds, while the
latter proposition would reduce the principal of the
debt by actual payment, instead of extending it.
The proposition to deposit the money held by
the Government in banks throughout the country,
for use by the people, is, it seems to me, exceed
ingly objectionable in principle, as establishing too
close a relationship between the operations of the
Government Treasury and the business of the
country, and too extensive a commingling of their
money, thus fostering an unnatural reliance in
•private business upon public funds. If this scheme
should be adopted, it should only be done as a
temporary expedient to meet an urgent neces
sity. Legislative and executive effort should gen
erally be in the opposite direction, and should have
a tendency to divorce, as much and as fast as can
safely be done, the Treasury Department from
private enterprise.
Of course it is not expected that unnecessary
and extravagant appropriations will be rnade for
the purpose of avoiding the accumulation of an
excess of revenue. Such expenditure, beside the
demoralization of all just conceptions of public
duty which it entails, stimulates a habit of reckless
improvidence not in the least consistent with the
mission of our people or the high and beneficent
purposes of our Government.

542 DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
I have deemed it my duty to thus bring to the
knowledge of my countrymen, as well as to the
attention of their representatives charged-with the
responsibility of legislative relief, the gravity of
our financial situation. The failure of the Congress
heretofore to provide against the dangers Which
it was quite evident the very nature of the diffi
culty must necessarily produce, caused a condition
of financial distress and apprehension since your
last adjournment, which taxed to the utmost all
the authority and expedients within executive
control ; and these appear now to be exhausted.
If disaster results from the continued inaction of
Congress, the responsibility must rest where it
belongs. Though the situation thus far considered is
fraught with danger which should be fully realized,
and though it presents features of wrong to the
people as well as peril to the country, it is but a
result growing out of a perfectly palpable and
apparent cause, constantly reproducing the same
alarming circumstances — a congested national
treasury and a depleted morfetary condition in the
business of the country. It need hardly be stated
that while the present situation demands a remedy,
we can only be saved from a like predicament in
the future by the removal of its cause.
Our scheme of taxation, by means of which
this needless surplus is taken from the people and
put into the public treasury, consists of a tariff or

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. 543
duty levied upon importations from abroad, and
internal revenue taxes levied upon the consump^
tion of tobacco and spirituous and malt liquors.
It must be conceded that none of the things sub
jected to internal revenue taxation are, strictly
speaking, necessaries ;. there appears, to be no just
complaint of this taxation by the consumers of
these articles, and there seems to be nothing so
well able to bear the burden without hardship to
any portion of the people.
But our present tariff* laws, the vicious, inequi
table and illogical source of unnecessary taxation,
ought to be at once revised and amended. These
laws, as their primary and plain effect, raise the
price to consumers of all articles imported and
subject to duty, by precisely the sum paid for such
duties. Thus the amount of the duty measures the
tax paid by those who purchase for use these im
ported articles. Many of these things, however,
are raised or manufactured in our own country,
and the duties now levied upon foreign goods and
products are called protection to these home
manufactures, because they render it possible for
those of our people who are manufacturers, to
make these taxed articles and sell them for a price
equal to that demanded for the imported goods
that have paid customs duty. So it happens that
while comparatively a few use the imported articles,
millions of our people, who never use and never
saw any of the foreign products, purchase and use

544 ¦ DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
things of the same kind made in this country, and
pay therefor nearly or quite the same enhanced
price which the duty adds to the imported articles.
Those who buy imports pay the duty charged there
on into the public treasury, but the great majority
of our citizens, who buy domestic articles of the
same class, pay a sum at least approximately equal
to this duty to the home manufacturer. . This ref
erence to the operation of our tariff laws is not
made by w&y of instruction, but in order that we
may be constantly reminded of the manner in
which they impose a burden upon those who con
sume domestic products as well as those who con
sume imported articles, and thus create a tax upon
all our people.
It is not proposed to entirely relieve the country
of this taxation. It must be extensively continued
as the source of the Government's income ; and
in a readjustment of our tariff the interests of
American labor engaged in manufacture should
be carefully considered, as well as the preservation
of our manufacturers. It may be called protection,
or by any other name, but relief from the hard
ships and dangers of our present tariff laws should
be devised with especial precaution agamM: imperil
ing the existence of our manufacturing interests.
But this existence should not mean a condition
which, without regard to the public welfare or a
national exigency, must always insure the realiza
tion of immense profits instead of moderately

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. 545
profitable returns. As the volume and diversity
of pur national activities increase, new recruits are
added to those who desire a continuation of the
advantages which they conceive the present system
of tariff taxation directly affords them. So stub
bornly have all efforts to reform the present con
dition been resisted by those of our fellow-citizens
thus engaged, that they can hardly complain of the
suspicion, entertained to a certain extent, that
there exists an organized combination all along
the line to maintain their advantage.
, We are in the midst of centennial celebrations,
and with becoming pride we rejoice in American
skill and ingenuity, in American energy and en
terprise, and in the wonderful natural advantages
and resources developed by a century's national
growth.. Yet when an attempt is made to justify a
i scheme which permits a tax to, be laid upon every
consumer in the land for the benefit of our manu-
facturers, quite beyond a reasonable demand for
i 'governmental regard, it suits the purposes of ad
vocacy to call our manufactures infant industries,
still needing the- highest and greatest degree of
' favor and fostering care that can be wrung from
Federal legislation.
,-• It is also said that the increase in the price of
.-domestic manufactures resulting, from the present
tariff is necessary in order that higher wages may
be paid to our workingmen employed in manufac
tories, than are paid for what is called the pauper

545 DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
labor Of Europe. All will acknowledge the force
of an argument which involves the welfare and
liberal compensation of our laboring people. Our
labor is honorable in the eyes of every Ameri
can citizen ; and as it lies at the foundation of our
development and progress, it is entitled, without
affectation or hypocrisy, to the utmost regard.
The standard of our laborers' life should not be
measured by that of any other country less fa
vored, and they are entitled to their full share of
all our advantages.
By the last census it is made to appear that of
the 17,392,099 of our population engaged in all
kinds of industries 7,670,493 are employed in
agriculture, 4,074,238 in professional and personal
service (2,934,876 of whom are domestic servants
and laborers), while 1,810,256 are employed in
trade and transportation, and 3,837,1 1 2 are classed
as employed in manufacturing ,and mining.
For present purposes, however, the' last number
given should be considerably reduced. Without
attempting to enumerate all, it will be conceded
that there should be deducted from those which it
includes 375,143 carpenters and joiners, 285,401
milliners, dressmakers and seamstresses, 172,726
blacksmiths, 1 33, 756 tailors and tailoresses, 102,473
masons,76,24i butchers, 4 1,309 bakers, 22,o83plas-
terers, and 4891 engaged in manufacturing agri
cultural implements, amounting in the aggregate to
1,214,023, leaving 2,623,089 persons employed in

DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPI. I.S. 547
such manufacturing industries as are claimed to be
benefited by a high tariff.
To these the appeal is made to save their em
ployment and maintain their wages by resisting a
change. There should be no disposition to answer
such suggestions by the allegation that they are in
a minority among those who labor, and therefore
should forego an advantage, in the interest' of low
prices for the majority ; their compensation, as it
maybe affected by the operation of tariff laws,
should at all times be scrupulously kept in view ;
and yet with. slight reflection they will not overlook
the fact that they are consumers with the rest;
that they, too, have their own wants and those of
their families, to supply from their earnings, and
that the price of the necessaries of life, as well as
the amount of their wages, will regulate the meas
ure of their welfare and comfort.
But the reduction of taxation demanded should
be so measured as not to necessitate or justify-
either the loss of employment by the working-
man nor the lessening of his wages ; and the
profits still remaining to the manufacturer, after a
necessary readjustment, should furnish no excuse
for the sacrifice of the interests of his employes
either in their opportunity to work or in the dimi
nution of their compensation. Nor can the worker
in manufactures fail to understand that while a
high tariff is claimed to be necessary to allow the

548 DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPL ES.
payment of remunerative wages, it certainly re
sults in a very large increase in the price of nearly
all sorts of manufactures, which, in almost count
less forms, he heeds for the use of himself and his
family. He receives at the desk of his employer
his wages, and perhaps before he reaches his
home is obliged, in a purchase for family use of
an article which embraces his own labor, to return
in the payment of the increase in price which the
tariff permits, the hard-earned compensation of
many days of toil.
The farmer and the agriculturist who manufac
ture nothing, but who pay the increased price which
the tariff imposes, upon every agricultural imple
ment, upon all he wears and upon all he uses and
owns, except the increase of his flocks and herds,
and such things as his husbandry produces from
the soil, is invited to aid in maintaining the pres
ent situation ; and he is told that a high duty on
imported wool is necessary for the benefit of those
who have sheep to shear, in order that the price
of their wool may be increased. They of course
are not reminded that the farmer who has no sheep
is by this scheme obliged, in his purchases of cloth
ing and woolen goods, to pay a tribute to his
fellow farmer as well as to the manufacturer and
merchant ; nor is any mention made of the fact
that the sheep owners themselves and their house
holds must wear clothing and use other articles

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. 549
manufactured from the wool they sell at tariff,
prices, and thus as consumers must return their
share of this increased price to the tradesman.
I think it may be fairly assumed that a large
proportion of the sheep owned by the farmers
throughout the country are found in small flocks
numbering from twenty-five to fifty. The duty on
the grade of imported wool which these sheep
yield is ten cents each pound if of the value of
thirty cents or less, and twelve cents if of the value
of more than thirty cents. If the liberal estimate
of six pounds be allowed for each fleece, the duty
thereon would be sixty or seventy-two cents, and
this may be taken as the utmost enhancement of
its price to the farmer by reason of this duty.
Eighteen dollars would thus represent the in
creased price of the wool from twenty-five sheep
and thirty-six dollars that from the wool of fifty-
sheep ; and at present values this addition
would amount to about one-third of its price. If
upon its sale the farmer receives this or a less
tariff profit, the wool leaves his hands charged
with precisely that sum, which in all its changes
will adhere to it, until it reaches the consumer.
When manufactured into cloth and other goods
and material for use, its cost is not only increased
to the extent of the farmer's tariff profit, but a fur
ther sum has been added for the benefit of the
manufacturer under the operation of other tariff
laws. In the meantime the day arrives when the

5-5° DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
farmer finds it necessary to purchase woolen
goods and material to clothe himself and family
for the winter. When he faces the tradesman for
that purpose he discovers that he is obliged not
only to return in the way of increased prices his
tariff profit on the wool he sold, and which then
perhaps lies before him in manufactured form, but
that he must add a considerable sum thereto to
meet a further increase in cost caused by a tariff
duty on the manufacture. Thus in the end he is
aroused to the fact that he has paid upon a moder
ate purchase, as a result of the tariff scheme, which,
when he sold his wool seemed so profitable, an
increase in price more than sufficient to sweep
away all the tariff profit he received upon the wool
he produced and sold.
When the number of farmers engaged in wool-
raising is compared with all the farmers in the
country, and the small proportion they bear to our
population is considered ; when it is made appa
rent that, in the case of a large part of those who
own sheep, the benefit of the present tariff on
wool is illusory ; and, above all, when it must be
conceded that the increase of the cost of living
caused by such tariff becomes a burden upon those
with moderate means and the poor, the employed
and unemployed, the sick and well, and the young
and old, and that it constitutes a tax which, with
relentless grasp, is fastened upon the clothing of
every man, woman and child in the land, reasons

DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES. 5 5 1
are suggested why the removal or reduction of
this duty should be included in a revision of our
tariff laws.
In speaking of the increased cost to the con
sumer of our home manufactures, resulting from
a duty laid upon imported articles of the same
description, the fact is not overlooked that com
petition among our domestic producers sometimes
has the effect of keeping the price of their pro
ducts below the highest limit allowed by such duty.
But it is notorious that this competition is too
often strangled by combinations quite prevalent
at this time, and frequently called trusts, which
have for their object the regulation of the supply
and price of commodities made and sold by mem
bers of the combination. The people can hardly
hope for any consideration in the operation of
these selfish schemes.
If, however, in the absence of such combination,
a healthy and free competition reduces the price
of any particular dutiable article of home produc
tion below the limit which it might otherwise reach
under our tariff laws, and if, with such reduced
price, its manufacture continues to thrive, it is
entirely evident that one thing has been discovered
which should be carefully scrutinized in an effort
to reduce taxation.
The necessity of combination to maintain the
price of any commodity to the tariff point/fur
nishes proof that some one is willing to accept

552 DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
lower prices for such commodity, and that such
prices are remunerative ; and lower prices pro
duced by competition prove the same thing. Thus
where either of these conditions exist, a case would
seem to be presented for an easy reduction of
taxation. ,
The considerations which have been presented
touching our tariff laws are intended only to en
force an earnest recommendation that the surplus
revenues of the Government be prevented by the
reduction of our customs duties, and, at the same
time, to emphasize a suggestion that in accom
plishing this purpose, we may discharge a double
duty to our people by granting to them a measure
of relief from tariff taxation in quarters where it
is most needed and from sources where it can
be most fairly and justly accorded.
Nor can the presentation made of such consid
erations be, with any degree of fairness, regarded
as evidence of unfriendliness toward our manu
facturing interests, or of any lack of appreciation
of their value and importance.
These interests constitute a leading and most
substantial element of our national greatness and
furnish the proud proof of our country's progress.
But if in the emergency that presses upon us our
manufacturers are asked to surrender something
for the public good and to avert disaster, their pa
triotism, as well as a grateful recognition of advan
tages already afforded, should lead them to willing'

DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES. 553
cooperation. No demand is made that they shall
forego all the benefits of governmental regard ;
but they cannot fail to be admonished of their
duty, as well as their enlightened self-interest and
safety, when they are reminded of the fact that
financial panic and collapse, to which the present
condition tends, afford no greater shelter or pro
tection to our manufactures than to our other im
portant enterprises. Opportunity for safe, care
ful and deliberate reform is now offered ; and none
of us should be unmindful of a time when an
abused and irritated people, heedless of those who
have resisted timely and reasonable relief, may
insist upon a radical and sweeping rectification of
their wrongs.
The difficulty attending a wise and fair revision
of our tariff laws is not under-estimated. It will
require on the part of the Congress great labor
and care, and especially a broad and national con
templation of the subject, and a patriotic disregard
of such local and selfish claims as are unreasonable
and reckless of the welfare of the entire country.
Under our present laws more than four thousand
articles are subject to duty. Many of these do not
in any way compete with our own manufactures,
and many are hardly worth attention as subjects
of revenue. A considerable reduction can be
made in the aggregate, by adding them to the free
list. The taxation of luxuries presents no features
of hardship ; but the necessaries of life used and

554 DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.
consumed by all the people, the duty upon which
adds to the cost of living in every home, should
be greatly cheapened.
The radical reduction of the duties imposed upon
raw material used in manufactures, or its free im
portation, is of course an important factor in any
effort to reduce the price of these necessaries ; it
would not only relieve them from the increased
cost caused by the tariff on such material, but the
manufactured product being thus cheapened, that
part of the tariff now laid upon such product, as
a compensation to our manufacturers for the
present price of raw material, could be accord
ingly modified. Such reduction, or free importa
tion, would serve, beside, to largely reduce the
revenue. It is not apparent how such a change
can have any injurious effect upon our manufac
turers. On the contrary, it would appear to give
them a better chance in foreign markets with the
manufacturers of other countries, who cheapen
their wares by free material. Thus our people
might have the opportunity of extending their
sales beyond the limits of home consumption —
saving them from the depression, interruption in
business, and loss caused by a glutted domestic
market, and affording their employes more certain
and steady labor, with its resulting quiet and con
tentment. The question thus imperatively presented for
solution should be approached in a spirit higher

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. 555
than partisanship and considered in the light of
that regard for patriotic duty which should char
acterize the action of those intrusted with the weal
of a confiding people. But the obligation to
declared party policy and principle is not wanting
to urge prompt and effective action. Both of the
great political parties now represented in the
Government have, by repeated and authoritative
declarations, condemned the condition of our laws
which permit the collection from the people of
unnecessary revenue, and have, in the most solemn
manner, promised its correction ; and neither as
citizens nor partisans are our countrymen in a
mOod to condone the deliberate violation of these
pledges. Our progress toward a wise conclusion will not
be improved by dwelling upon the theories of pro
tection and free trade. This savors too much of
bandying epithets. It is a condition which con
fronts us — not a theory. Relief from this condi
tion may involve a slight reduction of the advan
tages which we award our home productions, but
the entire withdrawal of such advantages should
not be contemplated. The question of free trade
is absolutely irrelevant ; and the persistent claim
made in certain quarters, that all efforts to relieve
the people from unjust and unnecessary taxation
are schemes of so-called free-traders, /is mischiev
ous and far removed from any consideration for
the public good.

556 DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPLES.
The simple and plain duty which we owe the
people is to reduce taxation to the necessary ex
penses of an economical operation of the Govern
ment, and to restore to the business of the country
the money which we hold in the Treasury through
the perversion of governmental powers. These
things can and should be done with safety to all
our industries, without danger to the opportunity
for remunerative labor which our workingmen
need, and with benefit to them and all our people,
by cheapening their means of subsistence and
increasing the measure of their comforts.
The Constitution provides that the President
" shall, from time to time, give to the Congress
information of the state of the Union." It has
been the custom of the Executive, in compliance
with this provision, to annually exhibit to the Con
gress, at the opening of its session, the general
condition of the country, and to detail, with some
particularity, the operations of the different Ex
ecutive Departments. It would be especially agree
able to follow this course at the present time, and
to call attention to the valuable accomplishments
of these Departments during the last fiscal year.
But I am so much impressed with the paramount
importance of the subject to which this communi
cation has thus far been devoted, that I shall
forego the addition of any other topic, and only
urge upon your immediate consideration the
"state of the Union" as shown in the present

DEMOCRA TIC PRINCIPL ES. 557
condition of our treasury and our general fiscal
situation, upon which every element of our safety
and prosperity depends.
The reports of the heads of Departments, which
will be submitted, contain full and explicit infor
mation touching the transaction of the business
intrusted to them, and such recommendations
relating to legislation in the public interest as they
deem advisable. I ask for these reports and
recommendations the deliberate examination and
action of the Legislative branch of the Govern
ment. There are other subjects not embraced in the
departmental reports demanding legislative con
sideration and which I should be glad to submit.
Some of them, however, have been earnestly pre
sented in previous messages, and as to them I
beg leave to repeat prior recommendations.
As the law makes no provision for any report
from the Department of State, a brief history of
the transactions of that important Department,
together with other matters which it may here
after be deemed essential to commend to the
attention of the Congress, may furnish the occa
sion for a future communication.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
Washington,
December 16, 1887.

THE.
Citizen's Handbook
OF
Valuable Facts for Campaign Work.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.

563

TABLES OF FRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.

STJJEKABY OF POPULAB AND ELECTOEAL VOTES FOE PEESI-
DENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1789-
1876.

,\

06

> OO
s 3 0

Political Party.

* Presidents.

* Viob-Pbesidents.

V
FT

Candidates.

Vote.

CANDIDATES.

V

0
¦g-2 s
fi

4)oi

Popular.

00 V

&
-3
3

1789

no 15 1616

73
135 13S 138

George Washington

69

34
*
6
A
4
8
Samuel Huntingdon
9.
?,
1
1
Edward Telfair. ..
1
Federalist. .
Federalist. .
Bepublican
4
132
4
1792
G-eorge Washington
T7
M)
4
1
Federalist. .
Republican
Federalist.. Republican
3
71
3
1796
Thomas Jefferson. .
6859
30
15
11
7
5
3
George Washington
2
3
¦J
RepublicanRepublican Federalist. .
Federalist..
Charles C. Pinckney
1
1800
$73
|7S
65
Charles C. Pinckney
64
1
• Previous to the election of 1804 each elector voted for two candidates for President ; the
one receiving the highest number of votes, if a majority, was declared elected President;
and the nextMghest Vice-President.
t Three States out of thirteen did not vote, viz. : New York, -which had not passed an eieo-
toral law ; and North Carolina and Rhode Island, which had not adopted the Constitution.
i There having been a tie vote, the choice devolved upon the House of Representatives.
A choice was made on the seth ballot, which was as follows : Jefferspn-Qeorgla, Kentucky,
Ha^rVland New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, and
vffinla_10 States TBurr-Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, aad Rhode Island
— 4 States; Blank— Delaware aad South Carolina— 2 States.
5^4

POPULAR AND ELECTORAL VOTES.

1804 1808

1812

1816

1820

1828

1832

1836

18

19

24

24

24

218

26

RepublicanFederalist..RepublicanFederalist. .

Republican.Federalist..

Republican. Federalist. .

235

261

261

294

Pouticjj. PABTY.

Republican. Opposition.

Republican, Coalition. . .
Republican.Republican.

DemocraticNat. Repub.

DemocraticNat. Repub.

Anti-Mason

Democratic.Whig...Whig....Whig....Whig..-.

Thomas Jefferson. .
Charles C. Pinckney
James Madison.
Charles C. Pinckney
George Clinton. . '

Vacancy 
James Madison..
De Witt Clinton..
Vacancy 

James Monroe.
Rufus King 

Presidents.

Candidates.

Vacancies 
James Monroe . . . . ..
John Q. Adams. . . .

24

Vacancies 
Andrew Jackspn. .
John Q. Adams...
Wm. H. Crawford.
Henry Clay 

Vacancy 
Andrew Jackson.
John Q. Adams..

Andrew Jackson. . .
Henry Clay.
John Floyd.
William Wirt

::::!-

Vacancies.. .
Martin Van Buren.
Wm. H. Harrison
Hugh L.White..
Daniel Webster..
W. P. Mangum...

Vox».

15

Popular.

155,872 105,321 44,282
46,587

647,231
609,097

530,189 33,108

761,549

736,656

178

George Clinton. .
Rufus King 

George Clinton. .
Ruf ns King. ....
John Langdon..
James Madison.
James Monroe..

Elbridge Gerry. .
Jared Ingersoll. .

D. H. Tompkins.
John E. Howard
James Ross 
John Marshall
Robt. G. Harper.

Vice-Presidents.

Candidates.

D. D. Tompkins.
Rich. Stockton. .
Daniel Rodney. .
Robt. G. Harper
Richard Rush...

John C. Calhoun
Nathan Sanford.
Nathaniel Macon
Andrew Jackson
M. Van Buren...
Henry Clay..

John C. Calhoun
Richard Rush. .
William Smith. .
M. Van Buren. . .
John Sergeant...
Henry Lee 
Amos Ellmaker
William Wilkins

R. M. Johnsont.
FranciB Granger.
John Tyler. 
William Smith. .

162 14
113 47 933 1
131 86 1
183 82 5
4 34
218 84 t
1
3

3024 13 9 3 1
171 13 7
189 49 11 7
30 2
147 77 47 23

•No choice having been made by the Electoral College, the choice devolved upon the
House of Representatives. A choice was made- on the first ballot,' which was as follows:
?dams — Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mia*
Bouri, New Hampshire, New .York, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont— 13 States : Jackson—
Alahama, Indiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee —
7 States ; Crawford— Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia — 4 States.
t No candidate having received a majority of the votes of the Electoral College, the cen-
»u sleeted R, M, J ohusou Vlce-Prealduii, who received 83 vote» ; Francis Urauger received It,

POPULAR AND ELECTORAL VOTES.

565

8

Politicai. Party.

Presidents.

CAOTIDATES.

Popular,

Vioe-Presidsnts.

Candidates.

1840

1844

1848

1852

1856

1860

1864

1872

30

31

31

33

*36

t87

275

290

314

317

1876

1880

1884

38

Whig 
Democratic
Liberty 

Wm. H. Harrison..
Martin Van Buren.
James G. Birney . . .

1,275,0171,128,702 7,059

60

Democratic Whig 
Liberty

Whig 
DemocraticFree Soil...

James K. Polk...
Henry Clay. ..... .
James G. Birney.

DemocraticWhig 
Free Dem..
Democratic Republican.American . .
Republican.
Democratic.
Cons. Union
Ind". Dem. . .
Republican.Democratic

Republican,Democratic,

Republican.Dem. & Lib.
Democratic. Temp'rance

Zachary Taylor. 
Lewis Cass 
Martin Van Buren. .
Franklin Pierce 
Winfleld Scott 
John P. Hale 

James Buchanan. .
John C. Fremont.
Millard Fillmore. .
Abraham Lincoln.
J. C. Breckinridge.
John Bell 
S. A. Douglas 

Abraham Lincoln.
Geo. B. McClellan.
Vacancies 

Ulysses S. Grant. .
Horatio Seymour .
Vacancies 

1,299,068 62,300
1,360,1011,220,544 291,268
1,691,4741,386,578 156,149
1.838,1691,341,264 874,534
1,866,352 845.763589,581
1,375,1572,216,067 1,808,725

3,015,0712,70»,613

Ulysses S. Grant. . .
Horace Greeley....
Charles O'Conor. ..
James Black 
Thos. A. Hendricks
B. Gratz Brown ....
Charles J. Jenkins.
David Davis 

3,597,0702,834,079 29,408 6,608

Republican. Democratic.Greenback..
Prohibition

X Not Counted.
Rutherford B.Hayes
Samuel J. Tilden...
Peter Cooper 
Green Clay Smith..
Scattering. 

Rapuortcan.Democratic,Greenback..

Democratic
Republican
Prohibition
Greenback..

James A. Garfield...
Winfleld S.Hancock
James B. Weaver...
Scattering............
Grover Cleveland
James G . Blaine.. .
John P. St. John..
Benj. F. Butler 
Scattering.......;..:.

4,033,950 4,284,885 81,740 9.522
2,636
4,449.053

17

John Tyler 
R. M. Johnson.

234 48

L. W. Tazewell.
James K. Folk.
Geo. M. Dallas..
T. Frelinghuysen

170
105

Millard Fillmore
Wm. O. Butler. .
Chas. F. Adams.
Wm. R. King...
Wm. A. Graham
Geo. W. Julian..
J. C. Breckinr'ge
Wm. L.Dayton.
A. J. Donelson
Hannibal Hamlin
Joseph Lane.
Edward Everett.
H. V. Johnson
Andrew Johnson
G. H. Pendleton.

Schuyler Colfax
F.P. Blair, Jr...

Henry Wiraon. .
B. Gratz Brown
Geo. W. Julian. .
A. H. Colquitt...
John M. Palmer,
T. E. Bramlette.
W. S. Groesbesk
Willis B. Machen
N. P. Banks. .

Wm. A. Wheeler
T. A Hendricks

16J-.121

254 42

174114 8
180 72 3D 13
213 21
81
214 8023
28* 47 5
5 33 111
14
185184

4,442,035 307.306 12,576
20|4,9li,0l7

214

4,848,334 151,809133,825 11,362

Chester A. Arthur 1214

Wm. H. English,
B. J. Chambers..

155

T. A. Hendricks
John A . Logan.
William Daniel.
A.M. West 

219182

• Jtleven States did not vote, viz.: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida. Oeorgla, Louisiana, Mis
•Issippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
t Three States did not vote, rlz.: Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia.

566

NATIONAL ELECTIONS.
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

The Presidential election will take place on Tuesday,
November 6th, 1888. The Constitution prescribes that each
State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof
may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number
of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be
entitled in Congress. For the election this year the electors
by States will be as follows :

States.

Alabama.;  ;.... 10
Arkansas  7
California  8
Colorado  3
Connecticut  6
Delaware  3
Florida  4
Georgia  12
Illinois  22
Indiana  15
Iowa  13
Kansas  '.  : 9
Kentucky  13
Louisiana..,  8
Maine  6
Maryland  8
Massachusetts  ;  14
Michigan  13
Minnesota...,  7
Mississippi  9

Electoral States. ' Electoral
Vote. Vote.
Missouri.,  16
Nebraska  5
Nevada  3
New Hampshire  4
New Jersey  9
New York  36
North Carolina  11
Ohio  23
Oregon...  3
Pennsylvania  30
Rhode Island  4
South Carolina  ,  9
Tennessee  12
Texas  13
Vermont   4
Virginia  ,... 12
West Virginia  6
Wisconsin  11

Total.

.401

Necessary to a choice, 201.
No Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of
profit or. trust under the United States, shall be an elector.
In all the States, the laws thereof direct that the people shall
choose the electors. The Constitution declares that the day
when electors are chosen shall be the same throughout the
United States. The electors shall meet in their respective
States on the first Wednesday in December, and vote by ballot
for President and Vice-President, one of whom at least shall
not be an inhabitant of the same State as themselves.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR VOTERS.

567

QUALIFICATIONS FOR VOTERS.

States.

Requirement as to
Citizenship.

Residence

Registration.

Alabama ...
Arkansas...California .
Colorado . . .
Connecticut... Delaware ...
Florida 

Georgia 
Illinois 
Indiana 
Iowa 
Kansas 
Kentucky 
Louisiana 
Maine 
Maryland......Massachusetts.Michigan...... Minnesota 
Mississippi. ...
Missouri 
Nebraska 
Nevada 
N\ Hampshire
faew Jersey...
Re w York ....
N. Carolina...
Ohio 
Oregon,, 
Pennsylvania .
Rhode Island
S. Carolina....
Tennessee 
Texas 
Vermont 
Virginia 
W.Virginia...Wisconsin 

Citizens or declared intention.
Citizens or declared intention.
Actual citizens 
Citizens or declared intention.
Actual citizens 
Actual County taxpayers 
J United States citizens or V
\ declared intention. ,....,/
21 Actual citizens 
21 Actual citizens 
21 Citizens or declared intention.
21 Actual citizens 
21 Citizens or declared intention.
21 Free white male citizens 
21 Citizens or declared intention.
21 Actual citizens 
21 Actual citizens. 
21 Citizens.... 
21 Citizens or declared intention.
21 Citizens or declared intention.
21 Actual citizens 
21 Citizens or declared intention.
21 Citizens or declared intention.
21 Citizens or declared intention.
21 Actual citizens 
21 Actual citizens 
21 Actual citizens 
21 Actual citizens 
21 Actual citizens 
21 Citizens or declared intention.
21 Actual citizens 
21 Actual tax-paying citizens 
21 Actual citizens 
21 Actual citizens 
21 Citizens or declared intention.
21 Actual citizens 
21 Actual citizens 
21 Actual citizens 
21 Citizens or declared intention.

I yr.
1 yr
lyX-omo I yr.
iyr.
iyr. iyr, I yr.
6 mo
6 mo
6 mo
2yrs I yr,
3 mo
iyr 1 yr,
3 mo
4mo6 mo
1 yr.
6 mo
6 me

3 mo
6 mo
gods

6mo 1 mo

6 mo
9ods6ods6ods

iyr.
6 mo

6 mo

I mo
6ods

iyr.iyr.I yr.
iyr.
6 mo
1 yr.
1 yr.
iyr. yr-
iyr.iyr.iyr.iyr.iyr.

3ods5 mo
4mo 9ods

6ods6 mo
6 mo

6ods

No law.
Prohibited.Required.Required.Required.Not required.
Required.No law.
Required. No law.
Required.Req'd in cities
Not required.
No law.
Required.Required.
Required.
Required. Required.
Required.Req'd in cities
Required. Required.Required.
Req'd in cities
Req'd in cities
Required.Not required.
Required.Required. Required.Not required.
Prohibited.-Required.Required.Prohibited. Required.

Note. — In several States women are permitted to vote on the school questions, selee*
Hon of directors, etc.

568

HOMES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Presi
dential Term.

Name.

Qualified.

Born..

Died./

I
2
3
4 S6 7
89
ioII12"314ISi°'718
19
20 21222324 25

George Washington..
George Washington..
John Adams 
Thomas Jefferson....
Thomas Jefferson 
James Madison 
James Madison 
James Monroe 
James Monroe 
John Quincy Adams.
Andrew Jackson 
Andrew Jackson 
Martin Van Buren...
Wm. H. Harrison.*
John Tyler 
James K. Polk 
Zachary Taylor* 
Millard Fillmore 
Franklin Pierce 
James Buchanan 
Abraham Lincoln....
Abraham Lincoln *..
Andrew Johnson 
Ulysses S. Grant 
Ulysses S. Grant 
Rutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield* . . .
Chester A. Arthur. ...

April 30, 1789
March 4, 1793
March 4, 1797
March 4, 1801
March 4, 1805
March 4, 1809
March 4, 1813
March 4, 1817
March 5, 182 1
March 4, 1825
March 4, 1829
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
April 6.
March 4,
March 5
July 9.
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
April 15,
March 4,
March 4,
March 5, 1877
March 4, 1881

Feb. 22, 1732
Oct. 19 1735,
April 2, 1743
March 5, 1751
April 28, 1758

i«3318371841
,1841 1845
, 18491850
185318571861
1865 186518691873

July Mar

Dec.Feb. Mar.Nov

II, 1767
15. 1767
5. 1782
9. 1773
29, 1790
2, I79S
Nov. 24, 1784
Jan. 7, 1800
Nov. 23, 1804
April 22, 1 79 1
Feb. 12, 1809
Dec. 29, 1808
April 27, 1822
Oct. 4, 1822
Nov. 19, 1 83 1
Oct. S, 1830

Sept'r 20, I
Grover Cleveland  March 4, 1885 Mar. 18, 1837
Total number of incumbents. 21. * Died in office.

Dec. 14, 1799
July , 4, 1826
July 4, 1826
June 28, 1836
July 4, 1831
Feb. 23, 1848
June 8, 1 45
July 24, 1862
April 4, 1 841
Jan. 17, 1862
June 15, 1849
July 9, 1850
Oct. 8 1869
June 1, 1868
April 15, 1865
July 30,1875
July 23, 1885
Sept. 19, 1881

HOMES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

Native State.

Whence Elected.

Washington 
Adams 
Jefferson 
Madison 
Monroe 
Adams, J. Quincy..
Jackson 
Van Buren 
Harrison 
Tyler 
Polk 
Taylor 
Fillmore 
Pierce 
Buchanan 
Lincoln 
Johnson 
Grant  ;.
Hayes 
Garfield 
Arthur 
Cleveland 

Virginia 
Massachusetts..Virginia.. 

Massachusetts...North Carolina..
New York 
Virginia 

North Carolina 
Virginia 
New York 
New Hampshire...
Pennsylvania 
Kentucky... '. 
North Carolina 
Ohio 

Virginia. Massachusetts.
Virginia.

Massachusetts.
Tennessee.New York.
Ohio.Virginia.Tennessee. Louisiana. '
New York.
New Hampshire
Pennsylvania.
Illinois.
Tennessee. Illinois.
Ohio.

New York  New York.
New Jersey  New York.

VICE-PRESIDENTS. egg
VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Vice-
Tres.
Term.

Name.

John Adams 
John Adams 
Thomas Jefferson 
Aaron Burr 
George Clinton  ; . . .
George Clinton* 
William H. Crawfordf.
Elbridge Gerry* 
John Gaillard* 
Daniel D. Tompkins 
Daniel D. Tompkins...
John C. Calhoun 
John C CalhounJ 
Hugh L. Whitef 
Martin Van Buren 
Richard M . Johnson 
John Tyler <S... 
Samuel L. Southard-)-...,
Willie P. Mangumf 
George M. Dallas 
Millard Fillmore? 
William R. Ki'ngf  ,
William R. King* 
David R. Atchison-f-....,
Jesse D. Bright f 
John C. Breckenridge...
Hannibal Hamlin  ,
Andrew Johnson $  ,
Lafayette S. Fosterf 
Benjamin F. Wadef 
Schuyler Colfax 
Henry- Wilson* 
Thomas W. Ferryf 
William A. Wheeler....,
Chester A. Arthur \  ,
David Davisf  ,
George F. Edmundsf...
Thos. A. Hendricks*....
John Sherman-)-.'. 

Qualified.

June 3
Dec. 2,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4
April 10.
March 4,
Nov. 25,
March 4,
March 5,
March 4.
March 4
Dec. 28,
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
April 6.
May 31
March 4
March 5
July 11
March 4.
April l8;
Dec. 5;
March 4,
March 4,
March 4,
April I5:
March 2
March 4,
March 4
Nov; 22,
March 5
March 4
Oct. 13
March 3,
March 4.
Dec. 7

7891
793/ 797
801805I
809/ 812813814817I821/825-1829/832833837841841842845849850I853/853
854857 861865
865 867869
873875877881 881
88? 885885

Born.

17351743 1756
173917721744

1744
1782 1773178217801790
178717921792180017861807 1812
1 82 1
18091808
1806 18001823 1812
1827 1819
18301815
1828 18191823

Died.

182$1826I836

1834I814
182618251850184a1862185O18621842l86lI864I8691853
1886
«8751875
1875I880
187818851875
188718861886 I885

* Died in office, t Acting Vice-President and President pro tem. of the Senate,
t Resigned the Vice-Presidency, j) Became President.

CABINETS OF THE PRESIDENTS.
George Washington: April 30, 1789— March 4, 1797 (Jwo terms).
Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson, appointed Sept. 26, 1789

Edmund Randolph,
Timothy Pickering,

Jan. 2, 1794
Dec, 10, 1795

57°

CABINETS OF THE PRESIDENTS.

n

Secretary of Treasury

: Alexander Hamilton,

appointed Sept. II, 1789

u tt

Oliver Wolcott,

tt

Feb. 2, 1795

" War;

Henry Knox,

tt

Sept. 12, 1789

It tt

Timothy Pickering,

tt

Jan. 2, 1795

tt tt

James McHenry,

tt

Jan. 27, 1796

Postmaster- General;

Samuel Osgood,

it

Sept. 26, 1789

tt it

Timothy Pickering,

tt

Aug. 12, 1 79 1

*t tt

Joseph Habersham,

"

Feb. 25, 1795

Attorney- General;

Edmund Randolph,

u

Sept. 26, 1789

tt tt

William Bradford,

«

Jan. 27, 1794

U tt

Charles Lee,

tt

Dec. 10, 1795

John Adams : March

4> J797 — March 4, 1801

1 (one term).

Secretary of State ;

Timothy Pickering,

appointed

March 4, 1797

tt u

John Marshall,

n

May 13, 1800

" Treasury.

• Oliver Wolcott,

tt

March 4, 1 797

a tt

Samuel Dexter,

tt

Jan. 1, 1 801

" War:

James McHenry,

tt

March 4, 1797

t. a

Samuel Dexter,

tt

May 13, 1800

a tt

Rodger Griswold,

tt

Feb. 3, 1801

" Navy:

Benjamin Stoddart,

tt

May 21, 1798

Postmaster- General-

Joseph Habersham,

tt

March 4, 1 797

Attorney- General:

Charles Lee,

tt

March 4, 1797

k tt

Theophilus Parsons,

tt

Feb. 20, 1 801

Thomas Jefferson: :

March 4, 1801 — March ,

4, 1809 (two terms).

Secretary of State :

James Madison,

appointed

March 5, 1801

" Treasury.

¦ Albert Gallatin,

tt

May 14, 1801

" War:

Henry Dearborn,

tt

March 5, 1801

" Navy:

Benjamin Stoddert,

<!

March 4, 1801

ti tt

Robert Smith,

tt

July 15, 1 801

<t it

J. Crowninshield,

tt

March 3, 1805

Postmaster- General :

Joseph Habersham,

tt

March 4, 1801

it tt

Gideon Granger,

ti

Nov. 28, 1801

Attorney- General:

Levi Lincoln,

tt

March 5, 1801

tt tt

Robert Smith,

tt

March 3, 1805

tt tt

John Breckinridge,

It

Aug. 7, 1805

tt u

Csesar A. Rodney,

tt

Jan. 28, 1807

James Madison: March 4, 1809' — March 4, 1:

3i7 (two terms).

Secretary of State :

Robert Smith,

appointed

March 6, 1809

tt it

James Monroe,

(C

April 2, 1811

" Treasury

.- Albert Gallatin,

«(

March 4, 1809

it tt

George W. Campbell,

tt

Feb. 9, 1 8 14

tt n

Alexander J. Dallas,

tt

Oct. 6, 1 814

tt tt

William H. Crawford,

It

Oct. 22, 1816

" War:

William Eustis,

tt

March 7, 1809

tt tt

John Armstrong,

it

Jan. 13, 1813

(i «(

James Monroe,

tt

Sept. 27, 1814

II It

William H. Crawford,

(C

Aug. 1, 1815

" Navy:

Paul Hamilton,

It

March 7, 1809

u tt

William Jones,

tt

Jan. 12, 1813

m tt

B. W. Crowninshield,

It

Dec. 19, 1S14

CABINETS OF THE PRESIDENTS.

571

Postmaster- General:
tt tt
Attorney- General:

Gideon Granger,
Return J. Meigs, Jr.,
Caesar A, Rodney,
William Pinkney,
Richard Rush,

appointed

March 4, l8oj
March 17, 18 14
March 4, 1809
Dec. 11, 1811
Feb. 10, 1814

James Monroe: March 4, 1817— March 4, 1825. (two terms).
Secretary of State: John Quincy Adams, appointed March 5, 1817

Treasury War: tt
Navy:

Postmaster- General:
a tt
Attorney- General:

William H. Crawford,
George Graham,
Jphn C. Calhoun,
B. W. Crowninshield,
Smith Thompson,
Samuel L. Southard,
Return J. Meigs, \c.,
John McLean,
Richard Rush,
William Wirt,

March 5, 1817
ad interim.
Oct. 8, 1817
March 4, 18 1 7
Nov. 9, 1818
Sept. 16, 1823
March 4, 1817
June 26, 1823
March 4, 1817
Nov. 13, 1817

John Quincy Adams: March 4, 1825 — March 4, 1829 (one term).
Secretary of State: Henry Clay, appointed March 7, 1825

War:
tt tt
" Navy :
Postmaster- General:
Attorney- General:
Andrew Jackson
Secretary of State :

Treasury : Richard Rush,

James Barbour,
Peter B. Porter,
Samuel L. Southard,
John McLean,
William Wirt,

March 7, 1825
March 7, 1825
May 26, 1828
March 4, 1825
March 4, 1825
March 4, '1825

March 4, 1829 — March 4, 1837 (two terms).

Postmaster- General
it tt
Attorney- General:

Martin Van Buren,
Edward Livingston,
" Louis McLane,
" John Forsyth,
Treasury : Samuel D. Ingham,
" Louis McLane,
" William J. Duane,
" Roger B. Taney,
" Levi Woodbury,
War: John H. Eaton,
" Lewis Cass,
Navy: John Branch,
" Levi Woodbury,
Mahlon Dickerson,
William T. Barry,
Amos Kendall,
John M. Berrien,

appointed March 6, 1829,
May 24, 1 83 1
May 29, 1833
June 27, 1834
March 6, 1829
Aug. 2, 1 83 1
May 29, 1833
Sept. 23, 1833
June 27, 1834
March 9, 1829
Aug. 1, 1831
March 9, 1829
May 23, 1831
June 30, 1834
March 9, 182$
May 1, 1835
March 9, 1829
July 20, 1 83 1
Nov. 15, 1833

Martin Van Buren
Secretary of State:

Roger B. Taney,
Benjamin F. Butler,
March 4, 1837 — March 4, 1841 (one term).
John Forsyth, appointed March 4, 1837
Treasury : Levi Woodbury, " March 4, 1837
War. Joel R. Poinsett, " March 7, 1837

572

CABINETS OF THE PRESIDENTS.

Secretary of Navy:
a tt
Postmaster- General:
u tt
Attorney- General:

Mahlon Dickerson,
James K. Paulding,
Amos Kendal,
Johtt M. Niles,
Benjamin F. Butler,
Felix Grundy,
Henry D. Gilpin,

appointed March 4, 1837
" June 25, 1838
" March 4, 1837
" May 25, 1840
" March 4, 1837
July 5, 1838
" Jan. 11, 184a

William H. Harrison: March 4, 1841 — April 6, 1841 (partial term).

Secretary of State : ' Daniel Webster,
" Treasury : Thomas Ewing,
" War: John Bell,
" Navy: George E. Badger,
Postmaster- General: Francis Granger,
Attorney- General : John J. Crittenden,

appointed March 5, 1841
" March 5, 1841
" March 5, 1841
" March 5, 1 841
" March 6, 1841
" March 5, 1841

John Tyler: April 6, 1841 — March 4, 1845 (partial term).

Secretary of State

Postmaster- General
tt it
Attorney- General:

Daniel Webster,
Hugh S. Legare,
" Abel P. Upshur,
" John C. Calhoun,
Treasury .' Thomas Ewing,
" Walter Forward,
" John G. Spencer,
George M. Bibb,
John Bell,
John C. Spencer,
James M. Porter,
William Wilkins,
George E. Badger,
Abel P. Upshur,
David Henshaw,
Thomas W. Gilmer,
John Y. Mason,
Francis Granger,
Charles A. Wickliffe,
John J. Crittenden,
Hugh S. Legare,
John Nelson,

War

Navy:

appointed April 6, 1841
" May 9, 1843
July 24, 1843
" March 6, 1844
" April 6, 1841
" Sept. 13, 1841
" ' March 3, 1843
" June 15, 1844
" April 6, 1841
" Oct. 12, 1841
" March 8, 1843
" June 15, 1844
" April 6, 1 841
" Sept. 13, 1 841
" July 24, 1843
" Feb. 15, 1844
" March 14, 1844
" April 6, 1841
" Sept. 13, 1841
" April 6, 1841
" Sept. 13, 1841
July 1, 1843

James K. Polk: March 4, 1845— March 5, 1849 (one term).

Secretary of State : James Buchanan,
" Treasury : Robert J. Walker,

War:
" Navy:
u tt
postmaster- General:
Attorney- General :

William L. Marcy,
George Bancroft,
John Y. Mason,
Cave Johnson,
John Y. Mason,
Nathan Clifford,
Isaac Toucey,

appointed March 6, 1845
" March 6, 1845
" March 6, 1845
" March 10, 1845
" Sept. 9, 1846
" March 6, 1845
March 6, 1845
" Oct. 17, 1846
«• June ai, 1848

CABINETS OF THE PRESIDENTS.

573

Zachary Taylor : March 5, 1849— July 9> l85° (partial term)
Secretary of State : John M. Clayton, appointed March 7, 1849
" Treasury: William M." Meredith, '
" War : George W. Crawford, '
" Navy: William B.Preston,
" Interior : Thomas Ewing, ¦
Postmaster- General: Jacob Collamer, '
Attorney- General: Re verdy Johnson, '

March 8, 1849
March 8, 1849
March 8, 1 849
March 8, 1849
March 8, 1849
March 8, 1849

Millard Fillmore: July 9, 1850 — March 4, 1853 (partial term).
appointed July 32, 1850
" , Nov. 6, 1852
July 23, 1850
" Aug. 15, 1850
" July 22, 1850
" July 22,1852
" Sept. 12, 1850
" July 23, 1850
" Aug. 31, 1852
" July 22, 1850

Secretary of State :
u it
" Treasury
" War :
" Navy :
a tt
" Interior :
Postmaster- General :

Attorney- General :

Daniel Webster,
Edward Everett,
1 Thomas Corwin,
Charles M. Conrad,
William A. Graham,
John P. Kennedy,
Alex. H. H. Stuart,
Nathan K. Hall,
Samuel D. Hubbard,
John J. Crittenden,

Franklin Pierce: March 4, 1853 — March 4,
Secretary of State : William L. Marcy,
" Treasury : James Guthrie>

War:
" : Navy:
" Interior:
Postmaster- General:
Attorney- General:

Jefferson Davis, _
James C. Dobbin,
Robert McClelland,
James Campbell,
Caleb Cushing,

18/7 (one term).
appointed March 7, 1853
" March 7, 1853
" March 5, 1853
" March 7, 1853
" March 7, 1853
" March 5, 1853
" March 7, 1853

James Buchanan: March 4,1857
Secretary of State:
a it
" Treasury.
it tt
a a
" War:
tt a
" Navy:
" Interior:
Postmaster- General:

Attorney- General:

—March 4,
Lewis Cass,
Jeremiah S. Black,
Howell Cobb,
Philip F. Thomas,
John A. Dix,
John B. Floyd,
Joseph Holt,
Isaac Toucey,
Jacob Thompson,
Aaron V. Brown,
Joseph Holt,
Horatio King,
Jeremiah S. Black,
Edwin M. Stanton,

1861 (one term).
appointed March 6,
" Dec. 17,
" March 6,
" Dec. 12,
'• Jan. 11,
" March 6,
" Jan. 18,
" March 6,
" March 6,
" March 6,
" March 14,
" Feb. 12,
" March 6,
" Dec. 20,

1857 i860
1857 i86018611857 1861185718571857J859
18611857 i860

Abraham Lincoln : March 4, i86i^April 15, 1865 (one term and a
part}.
Secretary of State : William H. Seward, appointed March 5, 1861
« Zrt+sury: Salmon P. Chase, " March 7, 1861

574

CABINETS OF THE PRESIDENTS.

Secretary of Treasury : William P. Fessenden,
Hugh McCulloch,
Simon Cameron,
Edwin M. Stanton,
Gideon Welles,
Caleb B. Smith,
John P. Usher,
Montgomery Blair,
William Dennison,
Edward Bates,
Titian J. Coffey, ad int.,
James Speed

" War:
a tt
" Navy:
" Interior:
tt it
Postmaster- General :
a tt
Attorney- General :

Andrew Johnson :
Secretary of State :

appointed July I, 1864
" March 7, 1865
" March 5, 1861
" Jan. 15, 1862
" March 5, 1861
" March 5, 1 86 1
Jan. 8, 1863
" March 5, 1861
" Sept. 24, 1864
" March 5, 1861
" June 22, 1863
" Dec. 2, 1864
April 15, 1865 — March 4, 1869 (partial term).
William H. Seward, appointed April, 15, 1865

Elihu B. Washburne,
Treasury .-, Hugh McCulloch,

War:

Navy :
Interior :

Postmaster- General :
tt n
Attorney- General:
tt - it
a tt
Ulysses S. Grant
Secretary of State :

Edwin M. Stanton,
Ulysses S., Grant, ad int.,
Lorenzo Thomas,
John M. Schofield,
Gideon Welles,
John P. Usher,
James Harlan,
Orville H. Browning,
William Dennison,
Alexander W. Randall,
James Speed,
Henry Stanbery,
William M. Evarts,

March 5, 1869
April 15, 1865
April 15, 1865
Aug. 12, 1868
Feb. 21, 1868
May 28, 1868
April 15, 1865
April 15, 1865
May 15, 1865
July 27, 1866
April 15, 1865
July 25, 1866
April 15, 1865
July 23, 1866

July 15,. 1868
March 4, 1869 — March 5, 1877 (two terms).

" War:
tt tt
tt tt
tt n
'* Navy :
n tt •
" Interior :
u tt
a a
Postmaster- General :
it 't
11 tt
Attorney- General :

Hamilton Fish, appoi
Treasury : George S. Boutwell,
" William A. Richardson,
" Benjamin H. Bristow,
" , Lot M. Morrill,
John A. Rawlins,
William W. Belknap,
Alphonso Taft,
James D. Cameron,
Adolph E. Borie,
George M. Robeson,
Jacob D. Cox,
Columbus Delano,
Zachariah Chandler,
John A. J. Creswell,
Marshall Jewell,
James N. Tyner,
E. Rockwood Hoar,
Amos T. Akerman, ,
George H. Williams,
Edwards Pierrepont,
Alphonso Taft,

nted March 11, 1869
March II, 1869
March 17, 1873
June 4, lb 74
July 7, 1876
March 11, i86g
Oct. 25, 1869
March 8, 1876
May 22, 1856
March 5, 1869--
June 25, 1869
March 5, 186.9
Nov. I, 1870
Oct. 19, 1875
March 5, 1869
Aug. 24, 1874
July 12, 1876
March 5, 1869
June 23, 1870
Dec. 14, 1871
April 26, 1875
May 29, 1876

575

Rutherford B. Hayes : March 5, 1877 — March 4, 1881 (one term).

Secretary of State :
" Treasury .
" War :
a tt
'' Navy :
a «*
" Interior :
Postmaster- General:
tt tt
Attorney- General:
James A. Garfield
Secretary of State

William M. Evarts,
John Sherman,
George W. McCrary,
Alexander Ramsey,
Richard W. Thompson,
Nathan Goff, Jr.,
Carl Schurz,
David McK. Key,
Horace Maynard,
Charles Devens,

appointed March 12,
" March 8

i?77 1877
March 12, 1877
Dec. 10, 1879
March 12, 18*77
Jan. 6, 1881
March 12, 1877
March, 1 2, 1877
June 2, 1880
March 12, 1877

March 4, 1881 — September 19, 1881 (partial term).

James G. Blaine,
Treasury: William Windom,
War : Robert T. Lincoln,
Navy: William H. Hunt,
Interior: Samuel J. Kirkwood,
Postmaster- General : Thomas L.James,
Attorney- General : Wayne MacVeagh,

appointed March 5, 1881

March 5, iS
March 5, 18
March 5, 1 8
March 5, Ic
March 5, 1$
March 5, 18

Chester A. Arthur, September 20, 1881 --March 4, 1885 (partial term).
Secretary of State : F. T. Frelinghiiysen, appointed Dec. 12, 188 1

" War:
" Navy :
" Interior;
Postmaster- General :

Treasury : Charles J. Folger,
" Walter Q. Gresham,
Hugh McCulloch,
Robert T. Lincoln,
William E. Chandler,
Henry M. Teller,
Timothy O. Howe,
Walter Q. Gresham,
Frank Hatton,
Benjamin H. Brewster,

Attorney- General

Grover Cleveland, March 4, 1885 —
Secretary of State : Thomas F. Bayard,
" Treasury :• Daniel Manning,
Charles S. Fairchild,

Oct. 27, 1881
Sept. 24, 1884
Oct. 28, 1884
Sept. 20, 1 88 1
April 1, 1882
April 6, 1882
Dec. 20, 18,81
April 3, 1883
Oct. 14, 1884
Dec. 19, iSSi

appo

William C. Endicott,
WilliamC. Whitney,
Lucius Q. C. Lamar,
William F. Vilas,
William F. Vilas,
" " Don M. Dickinson,
Attorney- General : Augustus H. Garland,

War:
" Navy :
" Interior .
tt a
Postmaster- Gen eral:

nted

MarchMarch April
MarchMarch
March Jan.
March Jan.
March

6, 1885
6, 1885
1, 1887
6, 1885
6, 1885
6, 1885
16, 1888
6,- 1885
16, 1888
6, 1885

576

General .

CHIEF OFFICERS OF THE U. S. ARMY.

Entered the Army.
Philip H. Sheridan.  .1 1853
(¦John M. Schofield  1853
\ Oliver O. Howard  1854
Alfred H.Terry  1865
John Gibbon  1847
George Crook  1852
Nelson A. Miles  1866
David S. Stanley  1852
Thomas H. Ruger  ;  1854
Orlando A. Willcox  1847

Maj or-Generals —
(Limited by law to three).,

Brigadier- Generals —
(Limited by law to six)..

CHIEF OFFICERS OF THE U. S. NAVY.

Name.

David D. Porter 
Stephen C. Rowan...
John Lee Davis 
James E. Jouett 
Ralph Chandler 
Lewis A. Kimberly...
Bancroft Gherardi, ...
Daniel L. Braine 
George E. Belknap..
David B. Harmony..,
A. E. K. Benham....
John Irwin 
James A. Greer 
1 Aaron W. Weaver;..
William P. McCann.
James H. Gillis  ,
William E. Fitzhugh
George Brown 

Whence Ap-
pointed.

Penn....
Ohio.... Indiana,Ky 
N.Y 
Illinois. Mass....
Texas...
N. H...
Penn....N. Y....
Penn....
Ohio 
Ohio ....
Ky 
Penn....
Ohio 
Indiana

Original Entry into
Servicer

1829182618411 841
1845 1846
1846
18461847
1847
1847 I847 1848
18481848184818481849

Rank.

Admiral.
Vice-Admiral.

Rear-Admirals, active list (6).

Commodores,
active list (10).

COMMANDERS' OF THE U. S. ARMY— 1775-1884.

Major-General George Washington.  -J""* T5» X77S» to December 23, 1783.
Major-General Henry Knox  December 23, 1783, to June 20, 1784.
Lieutenant-Colonel Josiah Harmer, gener-
al-in-chief by brevet  September, 1788, to March, 1791.
Major-General Arthur St. Clair  March 4, 1791, to March, 1792.
Major-General Anthony Wayne  April 11, 1792, to December 15, 1796.
Major-General James Wilkinson  December 15, 1796, to July, 1798.
Lieutenant-General George Washington... July 3, 1798, to his death, December 14, 1799.
Major-General James Wilkinson  June, 1800, to January, 1812.
Major-General "Henry Dearborn  January 27, 1812, to June, 1815.
Major-General Jacob Brown'  June, 1815, to February 21, 1828
Major-General Alexander Macomb  May 24, 1828, to June, 1841. •
Major-General Winfield Scott (brevet Lieu
tenant-General)  June, 1841, to November 1, 1861.
Major-General George B. McClellan  November 1, 1861, to March 11, 1862.
Major-General Henry W. Halleck  July it, 1862, to March 12, 1864.
Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant  March 12 1864, to July 25, 1866, and as Gen
eral to March 4, 1869.
General William T. Sherman  March 4. i860, to November 1, 1883.
Lieutenant-General Philip H. Sheridan .... Since November 1, 1883.

SPEAKERS.

577

SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.*

Name.

F. A. Muhlenberg ...
Jonathan Trumbull..
F. A. Muhlenberg....
Jonathan Dayton 

Theodore Sedgwick
Nathaniel Macon 

Joseph B. Varnum...
Henry Clay 

Langdon Cheves..
Henry Clay 

John W. Taylor 
Philip P. Barbour....
Henry Clay 
John W.Taylor 
Andrew Stevenson..

John Bell 
James K. Polk..

Robert M. T. Hunter.......
John White 
John W. Jones 
John W. Davis 
Robert C. Winthrop 
Howell Cobb 
Linn Boyd 

Nathaniel P. Banks..
tames L, Orr 
Wm. Pennington 
GalushaA. Grow 
Schuyler Colfax 

James G. Blaine,.

Michael C. Kerr...,.
Samuel J, Randall..

J. Warren Keifer..
John G. Carlisle....

Pennsylvania .
Connecticut..... Pennsylvania .
New Jersey....,

State.

Massachusetts...North Carolina.

Massachusetts...Kentucky 

South Carolina.
Kentucky. 

New York..
Virginia 
Kentucky...,
New York..
Virginia 

Tennessee..

Virginia........... Kentucky  ,
Virginia 
Indiana 
Massachusetts ,
Georgia... 
Kentucky 

Massachusetts..South Carolina.
New Jersey 
Pennsylvania ...
Indiana 

Maine.,

Indiana 
Pennsylvania..

Ohio 
Kentucky,.

Congress

ist
2d 4th5th6th 7th8th
9 th
iothnth1 2th
13th 13th
14th 15th
16th 16th17th1 8th
19th
20th
21st22d 23d
23d24th25th26th27th28th29th 30th31st32d33d34th35th36th 37th38th39th
40th41st42d43d44th
44th 45 th
46th 47th
48th

Term of Service.

April 1,
October 24.
December 2,
December 7,
May 15,
December 2,
December 7,
October 17,
December 2,
October 26,
May 22
November 4,
May 24,
January 19,
December 4.
December 1,
December 6,
November 15
December 4,
December 1,
December 5,
December 3,
December 7,
December 5,
December 2,
June 2,
December 7,
Septembers, Decemben6,May 31,
December 4,
December i,"
December 6,
December22, December 1,
December 5,
February 2,
December 7,
February i,
December 7,
December 4,
March 4,
March ' 4,
March 4,
December 1 ,
December 6,
December 4,
October 15,
March 18
December 5,
December 3,

1789, to March 4, 1791
1791, to March 4, 1793
1703, to March 4, 1795
z795t to March 4, 1797
1797, to March 3, 1799
1799, to March 4, ,1801
1801, to March 4, 1803
1803, to March 4, 1805
1805, to March 4, 1807
1807, to March 4, 1809
1809, to March 4, 181 1
x8n, to March 4, 1813
1813, to Jan'y 19, 1814
1814/to March 4, 1815
1815, to March 4, 1817
1817, to March 4, 1819
1819, to May 15, 1820
1820, to March 4, 1821
1821, to March 4, 1823
1823, to March 4, 1825
1825, to March 4, 1827
1827, to March 4, 1829 ,
1829, to-March 4, 1831
1831, to March 4, 1833
1833, to June 2, 1834
1834, to March 4, 1835
I835» to March 4, 1837
1837, to March 4, 1830
1839, to March 4, 1841
1841, to March 4, 1843
1843, to March 4, 1845
1845, to March 4, 1847
1847, to March 4, 1849
, 1849, to March 4, 1851
, 1851, to March 4, 1853
1853, to March 4, 1855
1856, to March 4, 1857
1857, to March 4, 1859
, 1860, to March 4, 1861
, 1861, to March 4, 1863
1863, to March 4, 1865
1865, to March 4, 1867
, 1867, to March 4, 1869
, 1869, to March 4, 1871
, 1871, to March 4, 1873
1873, to March 4, 1875
1875, to Aug. 20, 1876
1876, to March 4, 1877
1877, to March 4, 1879
1879, to March 4, 1881
1 88t, to March 4, 1883
1883, to ,

* Not including Speakers^?-*? tem.

CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATION OF THE STATES.
I. Ratio of Representatives and Population.
By Constitution, 1789   One to 30,000.
" First Census, from March 4th, 1793  " 33»°°0-
" Second " " "1803  " 33>°oo.
« Third " " " 1813  " 35,000.

578

CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATION.

By Fourth Census, from March 4th, 1823  One to 40,000.
" Fifth " " " 1833....;.... " 47.7°°-
" Sixth " " " 1843  " 70,680.
" Seventh " " " 1853  " 93.423-
" Eighth " " " 1863  " 127,381.
" Ninth " " " 1873  " 131,425-
" Tenth " " " 1883  " I54,3ZS-

II. Representatives from Each State Under Each Census.

States.

Constitution, 1789.

« g
M u
0

si u

0

•5 3u

in
j- 3
to £u
4 1
86
10 4 S
34 9
24 2 7
15 10 4
11
21 7
7
10 4 7
4 S 1
3

x! =
etc u
4 1
8 6
11 3 5
33 8
25 26
13 10 3
10
21 79
11 46 5
7 2
4 2 1
22 1
2
3

at
^2 CO COJu
4 1
75
10 3 5
31 7
24 2
4
II 9
3 8
19 6
14 11 5559 363 1
62 1
4 6 111

0
4 1
9 6
11 3 7
33 8
27 2 5
9
10 3
10
20 8
19 13 656
13 4 94 29 3 1
68 3 1 11
3

n
2 c
HI Vu

5 I
3 6
8 3
4 6 58 1
5
10

7 1
2 8
4 5
10 10'3 26
19 22

7 1
4 9
17 S 6
171218 2 8
22 6
4 3

7269
20 66
27 13
23 2 9
23 10 6 66

6 1
79
13 66
34 '3
26 29
22 12 5
9
H 3 1
3 3 7 11

6 1
9 8
12 5
6
40 13
28 29
21 13 S
1319 537 3
8 2 2

4

6
7
34 9
•>8
7
Ohio 
8
13 6
1
4 7
14 5
6
5
9 73 .
4
65
105
141
181
213
240
223
237
243
293
325
SUPREME COURT

579

Chief Justices and Associate Justices of
the U. S. Supreme Courts*

State Whence Appointed.

Term of
Service.

JohnJayf 
John Rutledge f 
William Cushingg 
James WilsonjJ 
John Blair-)- 
Robert H. Harrison f 
James Iredell § 
Thomas Johnson f 
William Patterson § 
John Rutledge J 
Samuel Chase § 
Oliver Ellsworth f 
Bushrod Washington \ . . . .
AlfredMooref 
John Marshall? 
William Johnson | 
Brockholst Livingston \ . . .
Thomas Teddg 
Joseph Story$ 
Gabriel Duval -j- 
Smith Thompson \.... 
Robert Trimble \ 
John McLean g 
Henry Baldwin \ 
James M. Wayne \ 
Roger B. Taney \ 
Philip P. Barbour § 
John Catron g 
John McKinleyg 
Peter V. Daniel | , 
Samuel Nelson f 
Levi Woodbury \ 
Robert C. Grierf 
Benjamin R. Curtis f 
John Aj Campbell -f 
Nathan Clifford § 
Noah H. Swaynej- 
Samuel F. Miller 
David Davisf 
Stephen J. Field 
Salmon P. Chase g....
William Strongf 
Joseph P. Bradley...: 
Ward Hunt 
Morrison R. Waite \
John M. Harkn 
William B, Woods 
Stanley Matthews  ,
Horace Gray  ,
Samuel Blatchford

New York..... 
South Carolina...,
Massachusetts 
Pennsylvania 
Virginia 
Maryland 
North Carolina....
Maryland 
New Jersey 
South Carolina...,
Maryland  .,
Connecticut 
Virginia 
North Carolina...,
Virginia 
South Carolina..,.
New York 
Kentucky 
Massachusetts 
Maryland 
New York 
Kentucky 
Ohio 
Pennsylvania 
Georgia 
Maryland 
Virginia 
Tennessee 
Alabama 
Virginia  .'....
New York.. 
New Hampshire..
Pennsylvania 
Massachusetts 
Alabama 
Maine 
Ohio 
Iowa 
Illinois 
California 
Ohio 
Pennsylvania 
New Jersey 
New York 
Ohio 
Kentucky 
Georgia 
Ohio 
Massachusetts ....
New York.,

1 789- 1 795
1789-17911789-18101 789- 1798
1789-17961789-17901 790- 1 799
1791-17931793-18061 795 -1 795
796- 1 81 1
1796-18011798-18291 7 99> 1 804
1801-18351804-1834 1806-18231807-1826 1811-1845 1811-18361823-1845 1826-18281829-18611 830- 1 846
1835-1867 1 836- 1 864
1836-18411837-1865
1837-1852 I 84I r I 860
1845- 1 872
1845-18511846. 1869
1851-18571853-18611858-1881I86l-l88l 1862-1862-1877
1863-
,1864-1873 1870-18801870-1872- 1 882
1874-1888 1877-
1880-1887 l88l-l88l-1882-

Lucius Q. C. Lamar  Mississippi  1888-  ^
"•Chief Justices iu heavy type, f Resigned- { Presided one term. \ Died in office.

5*8o

WHERE OUR CHIEF OFFICERS CAME FROM.
WHERE OUR CHIEF OFFICEMS CAME FROM.

Front the beginning

»/¦ the Government

'» 7

?59

'0 1884.

States.

M C
•s •» E
ft

it t>

*- o 10
a «;
rt rt
o V
JX

0IS t

"3 V

O 2 >.
2« 0u
n

0« .;
!! 0
rt'c £ =
V
n

2 .
rt i>
go
3.

"3 cV '',
VeO
<

3
3s V 3
a- 2

| »g
Sen
•0 0
3 0
Pi- -
2

Vn3O
X O20 rt
O.
U3

*rt H

i
'
¦>
I
I
1 1
1
2
1
4
1 1
I
3
I
15
2
4
1I
2 1
22 2
1
2
'2
2 I I
3 1 1
I
3.
14
2
i
1
1
22
8
11 5
2 1
11 II
3 i
3 2 2
3 11
1
1
4
3
3
2
4
23
Louisiana  ,
•I
1 .
4
1
2 1
1
5 5
1
5
4
2 22
1
4
8
1
4 1
3 -
5'
2
21
2
3
36 6
1
1
11
11
4
1
3
I
1
4
5
23 2
4
1
26 25
3 11
3 1
2 11 1
8
i
5
...
t)
New York.,.. 
3
7
4
t
41
i...
10
Ohio 
3
4-
3
3
3
3 1
6
26
1
i
i
3
7
6
2
2
4
3 2 3 2 1
3 6
3 2
24
^8
2
3
i i
2
1
22
1
1
1
2 1
14
3
16
1
1
4
5
2
6
3
4
1
4
5
40
2
3°
1
5°
3°
3
Total 
21
20
29
34
37
3°
14
38
49
38
lJ _t
OUR REPRESENTATIVES ABROAD.

58l

OUR REPRESENTATIVES ABROAD.

Country.

Argentine Republic
Austria-Hungary* .;.
Belgium  , 
Bolivia 
Brazil 
Central American
States 
Chili 
China  „ 
Colombia 
Corea  ,
Denmark  ,
France..  ,
Germany  ,
Great Britain  ,
Hawaiih Islands ..
Hayti 
Italy 

Name and Rank.

Bayliss W. Hanna, M. R. and C. G.*
Alex. R. Lawton, E. E. and M. P.f
Lambert Tree, Minister Res 
S. S. Carlisle, M. R. and C. G 
Thomas J. Jarvis, E. E. and M. P....

Mexico 
Netherlands 
Paraguay and Uru
guay 
Persia 
Peru 
^Portugal 
Roumania, Servia,
and Greece 
Russia  ,
Siam 
Spain 
Sweden and Norway
Switzerland  ; 
Turkey 
Venezuela. ...j 

Henry C. Hall, E. E. and M. P..
Wm. R. Roberts, E. E. and M. P.
Charles Denby, E, E. and M. P..
Dabney H. Maurey, Minister Res..:.
Hugh A. Dinsmore, M. R. and C. G.
Rasmus B. Anderson, M R. andC.G.
Robert M. McLane, E. E. and M. P.
Geo. H. Pendleton, E. E. and M. P
Edward J. Phelps, E. E. and M. P.
George W. Merrill, Minister Res..,.
J. E. W. Thompson, M. R. and C. G.
John B. Stallo, E. E. and M. P 
Richard B. Hubbard, E. E. and M. P.
C. H. J. Taylor, M. R. and C. G..
Edward S. Bragg, E. E. and M. P
Isaac Bell, Jr., Minister Res  ,

John E. Bacon, Charge d' Affaires 
E. Spencer Pratt, M. R. and C. G....
Charles W. Buck, E. E. and M. P....
Edward P. C. Lewis, M. R. and C. G.

Walter Fearn, M. R. and C. G... ......
Geo. V. N. Lothrop, E. E. and M. P.
lacob T. Child, M. R. and C. G 
Jabez L. M. Curry, E. E. and M. P..
Rufus Magee, Minister Res 
Boyd Winchester, M. R. and C. G...
Oscar S. Strauss, E. E. and M. P....
Charles L. Scott, M. R. and C. G....

Residence.

Buenos Ayres...
Vienna 
Brussels 
La Paz 
Rio de Janeiro..

Guatemala 
Santiago 
Peking 
Bogota 
Seoul 
Copenhagen 
Paris  ,
Berlin 
London 
Honolulu 
Port au Prince.,
Rome 
Yeddo... 
Monrovia 
Mexico  ,
The Hague 

Montevideo..
Teheran 
Lima 
Lisbon 

Bucharest: 
St. Petersbuig...
Bangkok  ,
Madrid 
Stockholm 
Berne........." 
Constantinople .
Caracas 

Salary.

$7»5°o 12,000 7,500
5,000
12, OOO
10,000IO.OOO
12,000 7,500
5,OCO5,000
*7j5oo*7,5«>17,500 7,5°o
5,000
12, POO
12, OOO
4,000
12,000 7,500
5,pOO
5*000
10,000 5,000
6,500
17,500 5,000
12,000 7.5005,ooo7>S°o7,500.

* M. R., Minister Resident; C. G., Consul General.
f E. E. and M. P., Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.

582

OUR REPRESENTATIVES PROM ABROAD.

OUR REPRESENTATIVES FROM ABROAJX

Country.

Argentine Republic
Austria-Hungary. . .
Belgium  ,
Brazil..,..*. 
Chili 
China 
Costa Rica 
Denmark... 
Ecuador 
France 
Germany 
Great Britain 
Guatemala 
Hawaii  ,
Hayti 
Italy 
Japan  ,
Mexico 
Netherlands 
Nicaragua 
Portugal 
Russia 
Spain 
Sweden and Norway
Switzerland 
Turkey 
Venezuela 

NAM3.

Senor Don Vincente G. Quesada ....
Don Severo Ygarzabal 
Chevalier Schmit von Tavera....v...
Count Lippe Weissenfeld 
Mr, de Bounder de Melsbroeck  ,
Count Gaston d'Arschot  ,
Baron de Itajuba.% 
Senhor Don Jose Ferriera da Costa
Sefior Don Domingo Gana 
Senor Beltram Mathieu 
Mr. Chang Yen Hoon 
Mr. Shu Cheon Pon 
Senor Pedro Perez Zeled<5n 
Sefior Don Federico Balio 
Mr. P. L. E. de Lovenorn 
Sefior Don Antonio Flores (abseni) ,
Mr. Theodore Roustan 
Count Maurice Sala 
Mr. H. von Alvensleben .; 
Baron von Zedtwitz 
The Hon. Sir L. S. Sackville West
Hon. Henry Edwardes 
Senor Don Francisco Lainfiesta  ,
Mr. H. A. P. Carter 
Mr. Stephen Preston 
Mr. Charles A. Preston.... 
Baron de Fava 
Le Comte Albert de Foresta.  ,
Mr. Tusammi Riuichi Kuki 
Mr. Shiro Akabane 
Sefior Don Matias Romero 
Senor 'Don Cayetano Romero 
Mr. G. de Weckherlin 
Sefior Don Horacio Guzman  ,
Senor Don Roman Mayorga  ,
Mr. Charles de Struve (absent) 
Baron Rosen 
Sefior Don Emilio de Muruaga ...t..
Senor Don Miguel Garcia Florez ...
Mr. L. de Reuterskiold 
Mr. Sigurd Ibsen 
Colonel Emile Frey  ,
Major Karl Kloss 
Mavroyeni Bey 
Sefior Jose Antonio Olavarria  ,

*E. E. and M. P.
Secretary of Legation.
E. E. and M/ P.
Councilor of Legation.
E. E. and M. P.
Councilor of Xegation.
E. E. and M. P.
Secretary of Legation.
E. E. and M. P.
Secretary. E. E. and M. P.
Secretary of Legation.
E. E. and M. P.
Secretary of Legation.
M. R. and C. G.
E. E. and M. P.
E. E. and M. P.
First Secretary.
E. E. and M. P.
Charge d' Affaires.
E. E. and M. P.
First Secretary.
E. E. andM.P.
E. E. and M. P.
E. E. and M. P.
Secretary of Legation.
E. E. and M. P.
Secretary of Legation.
E. E. and M. P.
Secretary of Legation.
E. E. and M. P.
First Secretary.
E. E. and M. P.
E. E. and M. P.
Secretary of Legatiou.
E. E. and M. P.
E. E. and M. P.
Charge d'Aff . ad int.
E. E. and M. P.
First Secretary.
E. E. andM.P.
Attache. E. E. and M. P.
Secretary of Legation.
E. E. andM. P.
Charge d' Affaires.

* Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.

PA Y OF CHIEF OFFICERS U. S. NA VY.

58:

PAY OF THE CHIEF OFFICER* OF THE U. S. NAVY.

Admiral 
Vice-Admiral 
Rear- Admirals....: 
Commodores 
Captains 
Commanders 
Lieutenant-Commanders —
First four years 
After four years 
Lieutenants — First five years 
After five years 
Masters — First five years 
After five years 
Ensigns — First five years 
After five years 
Midshipmen 
Cadet Midshipmen 
Mates 
Medical and Pay Directors, Inspectors, and
Chief Engineers. : 
Fleet Surgeons, Paymasters, and Engineers.
Surgeons, Paymasters, and Chief Engineers —
First five years 
Second five years 
Third five years 
Fourth five years 
After twenty years 
Passed Assistant Surgeons, Paymasters, and
Engineers — First five years 
After five years 
Assistant Surgeons, Paymasters, and Engi
neers — ¦
First five years 
After five years.. 
Chaplains — First five years 
After five years 
Boatswains, Gunners, Carpenters, and Sail-
makers —
First three years.... 
Second three years 
Third three years 
Fourth three years 
After twelve years 
Cadet Engineers (after examination) 

On Leave

At Sea.

On Shore

or. Waiting

Duty.

Orders

#13.°°°

#I3.°00

#13,000

9,000

8,000

6,000

6,000

•5,000

4,000

5,000

4,000

3.000

4,500

3.500

2,8oo

3.50O

3.O0O

2,300

2,800

2,400

2,000

3,000

2,600

2,200

2,400

2,000

I,6oo

- 2,600

2,200

I,8oO

I,8oO

1,500

1,200

2,000

I.7CO

1,400

I.20O

1,000

800

1,400

1,200

1,000

1,000

800

600

500*

500

500

900

« 700

500

4,400

4,400
2,800
2,4O0
2,000
3,200
2,8oO
2,400
3.500
3.2OO
2,6oO
3,700
3,600
2,80O
4,200
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,800
1,500
2,200
2,000
1,700
1,700
I.40O
I,OO0
1,900
I,6O0
1,200
2,500
2,000
I,000
2,800
2,300
1,900
1,200
9OO
700
1,300
1,000
8O0
1,400
1,300
900
1,600
I,3pO
1,000
1,800
I,6oO
1,200
1,000
800
60O
eg, pA YMENTS FOR PENSIONS.
PAY OF CHIEF OFFICERS OF THE U. S. ARMY.

Pay of Officers in Active Service.

Grade or Rank.

Yearly Pay.

First 5
years
service.

After 5
years
service.

After 10
years
service.

After 15
years
service.

years
service.

General.... 
Lieutenant-General 
Major-General 
Brigadier-General 
Colonel..*. 
Lieutenant-Colonel., 
Major 
Captain, mounted 
Captain, not mounted 
Regimental Adjutant 
Regimental Quartermaster;....
1st Lieutenant, mounted 
1st Lieutenant, not mounted...
2d Lieutenant, mounted 
2d Lieutenant, not mounted. .
Chaplain 

si3,5f» 11,000 7,5oo 5,5003,5oo3,0002,5002,000 1,800
1,8001,8001,600
1,500 1,500
1,400 1,500

10 p. c.

20 p. c.

3° P-

40 /.

#3,85° 3,300 2,750
2,200 I,98o
1,980 l,98oI,76o1,65b
1,650
1,54°
1,650

£4,200 3,6003,0002,4002,1602,160
2,160 1,920
1,8001,8001,680
1, 800

$4,500 3>9«>3,2502,6002,340 2,340
2,340 2,080 •,950
1,950
1,820
1,950

£4,5oo 4,000 3.5O0 2,8002,5202,5202,5202,240
2,100
2,100 1,960
2,100

PAYMENTS FOR PENSIONS IN 1883.

Pensions paid during the Year.

Number of
Pensioners.

States.

For Regular
Pensions.

For
Arrears of
Pensions.

Salary and
Expenses
of Pension
Agents.

Total
Disburse ments.

1882.

'883.,

Maine 
Illinois 
Ohio 

Dollars.
3,948,453-54
4,045,320.08 5.863,544-76 5-636,1 55-64
2,087,440.80
3,616,997.312,753.227-405,100,507.50
2,842,400.69 1,600,370.16
3,282,322.782,8°9>535-73 3,176,762.17 3»<>54 975*95
408,379.66
4,o88, 557-37
4,174,624 48
3.572,433-='

Dollars. 521-47
4,091.60 5,260.308.43* -57
4,216.72 i,4i3.73 2,760.284,126.67
7,483-83
7.353-6o3>5i5.4a 3-9*5-93
5.364.72
¦, 4,081.47

Dollars.
11,938.1118,858.60
22,643.97 23.562.99 13.264.55
I4.358-5614,039.0417,483-23
'5,379- 7*5
8.353-37
14-39* -*3
19,205.99
'7.997 49
13 224.50
5,859-22
19,240.51 16,438.17
22,915.73

Dollars.
1,960,913.12
4,068,270.285,891,449.03 5,668,150.20
2,104,922.07 3,632,769.602,772,026.725,122,117.40
2,865,264.28 1,616,077.133,300,229.33
2,832,707.653,200,124.38 3,072,281.92 414,238.88
4,109,995.89
4,199,115.66 3,601,319.31

11,526
22,004
23,557 26,16311,028 13.860 11,99918,805
17,693 6,606
'3,<>33 16,017
'8,715 16,250 1,962
20,962 '5,'93
20,324

11,827
23>49525.85427,686 11,00716,05113,080
20,921 17,189 7,001
'4.^5316,14119,30016,006 2,191
22,338 '7,525
2'-393

New Hampshire..;
Iowa; 

Tennessee 

2,198.018,053.01 6,970-37
79.808.70
Kansas 
Oist. of Columbia..
6b ,064,000 .2^
288,154.92
60,431,972.85
285,697
303,658
Total payment for pensions in 1887..
••$75*0^9,102
BALANCE OF TRADE.

585

BALANCE OF TRADE.
Showing our imports^ our exports, and the excess either way for
twenty years.

Year.

Merchandise at Gold Value.

Imports. Export;

Excess.

1868.1869.1870.1871 .
1872. 1873.
1874. 1875187618771878.1879. 1880.1881 .
1882 .
1883. 1884. 11(85.1886.1887

JS>3i7 4j6,44o
4i7,5o°.379 435958,408 520,223,684626,505,077642,136,210 567,406,342
533.005.436460,741,19145'.323.126437.05i,532 445.777.775 667,954,746642,664,628 724,639,574723,180,914667,697,693 577,'527,329
635436,136 692,319,768

$281,952,899 286,117,697
392,771,768
443,820,178444,177,586 522,479,317 586,283,040513441,711 540,384,671
602,475,220
694,848,496 710,439,441
835,638,658902,36,7,346 750,542,257
823,839,402 740,513,609 742.i89\755
679.524,830 716,183,211

Imports
ImportsImports Imports
Imports
ImportsExports ImportsExports ExportsExp irts
Exports Kxports
ExportsExports ExportsExports Exports Exports Exports

#75,483.541 131,388,682 43,186,640 77.403.500
182,417.491ii9,656,2.»8 18,876,69819,563,725
79,623,480
152,152,094
257,796,964264,661,666 167,683,912
259,702,718 25,902,683
100,658,488 72.815,916
164,662,426 44,088,694 23,863,443

586

REVENUES OF THE UNITED STATES.

Year Endeu
June 30.

1858... 1.859-
i860... 1861...
1862...1863... 1864...
1865... 1866 .
1807...1868...1869...1870 ..
1871 ..
1872...
1873... 1874...
1875... 1876...1877...
1878... 1879...
1880...1881... 1882...1883...
r 1863...1864 ..
1865...1866...1867...1868...
1869..; 1870.,.1871...1872...
\ 1S73- 1874...
1875...1876...
1877 ...
1878...1879...1880...1881.... 1882....188^...

Amount
collected.

$41,789^620.96 49,565,824.38 53,IS7.5II.87
39,582,125.6449,056,397-62 69,059,642.40
102,316,152.99 84 928,260.60
179,046,651.58 176,417,810.88
164,464,599.56
180,048,416.63 194,53s 374-44
2^6,270,408.05216.370 286.77
188,089.522.70 163,103,833.69
157 167,722.35
148,071,984.61130,956,49307130,170,680.20
137-250,047.70186,522,064.60 198 159 076.02
220,410,730.25214,706,496.93
$37,640,787.95 109,741,134.10
209,464,215.25309,226,813.42 266.027,537.43 191,087,589.41158,356,460.86184,899.756.49
143,098,153.63130,642,177.721 13,729 3H- H
102,409,784.90110,007,493.58
116,700,732.03 118,630407.83
110,581.624.74 113,561,610.58124,009,37392135,264,385.51
146,497,505.45 144.720,368.98

Expense
of collecting. »

Per cent.
of cost.

#2,903,336.89 3.407,93'-773,337.188.15 2,843,455.84
3,270,560.39
3.181,026.17 4,192,582.43
; 5,4i5,449-325,34246999 5,763,979-oi7,641,116.68
5,388,082.316,233,747-686,568,350.61
6,95o,i73-88 7,077,864.707321,469.94
7,028,521.806,704,858.096,50-1,037-57
5,826,974.325,477,421.526,023,253.53
.%383.288.10 6,506,359.266,593,509-43 $108,685.00 253,372.99
385,239>52
5,783,128.77 7,335,029.81
8,705,366.36 7,257,176.117,253-439-81
7,593.714.175,694,116.86
5,340,230.00
4,509.976.05
4,289,442.71
3.942,613.72 3,556,943-853,280,162 22
3,527,956.56 3,657,105.10
4,327,793-244,097,241.344,424,707,39

6.94
6.856.27 7.18
6.67
4.604-09 6-39-
2.98
3.26
4-65 2-99
3.203-iS
3-764-49
4-474-534.964-47 3-99
3-233-22 2,95
3-070.290.230.18 1.87
2.77
4-55
4-59 3 92
5-3o
4-364.69
4-4o .
3-89
3-38 2.99.
2.96
3.16 2.95
3.202.79305.,

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588 POST-OFFICE.
BUSINESS OF THE POST-OFFICE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30,
18S7.
Number of post-offices in the United States  55,157
Number of Presidential post-offices*  2,336
Length of public mail routes  377,442
Length of railroad routes  130,949
Length of steamboat routes  IO-597
Length of other routes (Star service)  235,896
Aggregate cost of service  #28,031,106
Postage stamps, envelopes, and cards sold  #45,670,984
Number of registered letters  12,524,421
Fees on registered matter...;  $1,034,677
Dead letters received  5,578,965
Cost of free-delivery  $4,618,692
Receipts of postage on local matter.  $6,691,253
Numberof money orders (domestic)  9,232,177
Amount of money orders (domestic)  $117,462,661
Fees for money orders (domestic)  $912,876
Number of money orders (foreign)  615,405
Amountof money orders (foreign)  #9-°35,53o
Fees for money orders (foreign)  $112 093.
Cost of the ocean mail service  :  $425,818
Numberof postal-notes issued  6,307,552
Amountof postal-notes issued  $11,768,825
Amount of fees for postal-notes.  $189,844
* Where the salary exceeds $1,000 per annum, and Postmasters are appointed by the
President and confirmed by the Seuate.