CHAPTER XXII.

ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND (SECOND), 1893-1897.

Repeal of the Purchase Clause of the Sherman Bill--The World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago--The Hawaiian Imbroglio--The Great Railroad Strike of 1894--Coxey's Commonweal Army--Admission of Utah--Harnessing of Niagara--Dispute with England Over Venezuela's Boundary--Presidential Election of 1896.

REPEAL OF THE PURCHASE CLAUSE OF THE SHERMAN BILL.

Grover Cleveland was the first President of the United States who had an interval between his two terms. His inauguration was succeeded by a financial stringency, which appeared in the summer and autumn of 1893. There seemed to be a weakening of general confidence in all parts of the country, and much suffering followed, especially in the large cities, greatly relieved, however, by the well-ordered system of charity. Many people thought that one cause of the trouble was the Sherman Bill, which provided for a large monthly coinage of silver. Congress was convened in extraordinary session August 7th by the President, who recommended that body to repeal the purchase clause of the Sherman act. Such a repeal was promptly passed by the House, but met with strong opposition in the Senate. There is less curb to debate in that branch of Congress, and the senators from the silver States, like Colorado, Idaho and Nevada, where the mining of silver is one of the most important industries, did what they could to delay legislation. Some of the speeches were spun out for days, with no other purpose than to discourage the friends of the measure by delaying legislation. Finally, however, a vote was reached October 30th, when the bill passed and was immediately signed by the President.

THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

The most notable event of Cleveland's second administration was the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago. Properly the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America should have taken place in 1892, but the preparations were on so grand a scale that they could not be completed in time.

The part of the government in this memorable celebration was opened by a striking naval parade or review of the leading war-ships of the world. They assembled at Hampton Roads, Virginia, coming from points of the globe thousands of miles apart. Steaming northward to New York, the review took place April 27, 1893. In addition to the thirty-five war-ships, there were the three Columbian caravels sent by Spain and presented to the United States. When ranged in two lines on the Hudson, these ships extended for three miles, and represented, besides our own country, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Holland, and Argentina. The steel-clad yacht _Dolphin_ steamed between these two lines, bearing President Cleveland and his cabinet, while each ship as she came opposite thundered her salute. No conqueror of ancient or modern times ever received so magnificent a tribute.

Chicago, having won the prize of the location of the World's Fair, selected the site on the 2d of July, 1890. This covered nearly 700 acres of beautiful laid-out grounds and parks, extending from the point nearest the city, two and a half miles, to the southern extremity of Jackson Park. The site selected by the directors was the section known as Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance. The park has a frontage of one and a half miles on Lake Michigan and contains 600 acres, while the Midway Plaisance, connecting Jackson and Washington Parks, afforded eighty-five acres more. It is 600 feet wide and a mile in length. Since world's fairs have become a favorite among nations, the following statistics will give a correct idea of the vastness of the one held in Chicago, from May 1 to November 1, 1893:

London, 1857, 21-1/2 acres occupied; 17,000 exhibitors; total receipts, $1,780,000

Paris, 1855, 24-1/2 " " 22,000 exhibitors; total receipts, 6,441,200

London, 1862, 23-1/2 " " 28,633 exhibitors; total receipts, 1,644,260

Paris, 1867, 37 " " 52,000 exhibitors; total receipts, 2,103,675

Vienna, 1873, 280 " " 142,000 exhibitors; total receipts, 6,971,832

Philadelphia, 1876, 236 " " 30,864 exhibitors; total receipts, 3,813,724

Paris, 1878, 100 " " 40,366 exhibitors; total receipts, 2,531,650

Paris, 1889, 173 " " 55,000 exhibitors; total receipts, 8,300,000

Chicago, 1893, 645 " " 65,422 exhibitors; total receipts, 33,290,065

The countries which made generous appropriations for exhibits were: Argentine Republic, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Danish West Indies, Ecuador, France, Germany, Great Britain, Barbadoes, British Guiana, British Honduras, Canada, Cape Colony, Ceylon, India, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, New South Wales, New Zealand, Trinidad, Greece, Guatemala, Hawaii, Honduras, Haiti, Japan, Liberia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Dutch Guiana, Dutch West Indies, Nicaragua, Norway, Orange Free State, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Salvador, San Domingo, Spain, Cuba, Sweden, Uruguay.

All the States in the Union entered heartily into the scheme, their total appropriations amounting to $6,000,000. The original plan called for ten main buildings: Manufactures, Administration, Machinery, Agriculture, Electricity, Mines, Transportation, Horticulture, Fisheries, and the Venetian Village; but there were added: the Art Galleries, the Woman's Building, the Forestry, Dairy, Stock, Pavilion, Terminal Station, Music Hall, Peristyle, Casino, Choral, Anthropological, and many others.

OPENING OF THE GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS.

The grounds and buildings were opened October 21, 1892, with appropriate ceremonies by Vice-President Morton and other distinguished citizens. The most important exhibits were as follows:

The Transportation Building displayed about everything that could be possibly used in transportation, from the little baby-carriage to the ponderous locomotive. The progress of ship-building from its infancy to the present was shown, among the exhibits being an accurate model of the _Santa Maria_, the principal ship of Columbus, which was wrecked in the West Indies, on his first voyage. The Bethlehem steam hammer, the largest in the world, was ninety-one feet high and weighed 125 tons.

Among the locomotives were the "Mississippi," built in England in 1834; a model of Stephenson's "Rocket;" a steam carriage, used in France in 1759; and a model of Trevithick's locomotive of 1803. There were also the first cable car built, the boat and steam fixtures made and navigated by Captain John Stevens in 1804, and the "John Bull," used on the Camden and Amboy Railroad, and which, it is claimed, is the oldest locomotive in America.

The exhibit in the Mines and Mining Building were divided into 123 classes, including cement from Heidelberg, mosaics in Carlsbad stone, French asphalt specimens, French work in gold, platinum, and aluminum, silver and ores from nearly every part of the world, and ores from different sections of our own country.

The Government Building was specially attractive, with its exhibits of the several departments of the United States government. A case of humming birds contained 133 varieties, and in another case were represented 106 families of American birds. There were stuffed fowls, flamingoes, nests, Rocky Mountain goats and sheep, armadilloes from Texas, sea otters, American bisons, a Pacific walrus, 300 crocodiles of the Nile, crocodile birds, fishes and reptiles, and an almost endless display of coins and metals.

The Department of Ethnology contained figures of Eskemos and specimens of their industry, Canadian Indians, Indian wigwam, ancient pottery, models of ruins found in Arizona, a brass lamp used at a feast 169 years before Christ; scrolls of the law of Tarah, made in the tenth century in Asia; silver spice-box of the time of Christ; phylacteries, used by the Jews at morning prayers, except on Saturday; knife used by priests in slaying animals for sacrifice.

In the State Department thousands of people gazed with awe upon what was believed to be the original Declaration of Independence as it came from the hand of Thomas Jefferson. It was, however, only a close copy, since the government under no circumstances will permit the original to leave the archives at Washington. But among the original papers were the petition of the United Colonies to George III., presented by Benjamin Franklin in 1774; the original journal of the Continental Congress; Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation; an autograph letter of George III.; and various proclamations issued by Presidents, with their autographs and letters, by Washington, Franklin, the Adamses, Jefferson, Madison, Polk, Van Buren, Monroe, Lincoln, Grant, Arthur, and Hayes.

WONDERFUL HISTORIC RELICS.

The most interesting historic papers were letters penned by Napoleon, Alexander of Russia, and other foreign potentates, the Webster-Ashburton treaty signed by Queen Victoria, and a shark's tooth sent as a treaty by the king of Samoa. Precious relics were Washington's commission as commander-in-chief of the colonial forces, his sword, his diary, and his account books and army reports; the sash with which Lafayette bound up his wound at Brandywine; the calumet pipe which Washington smoked when seventeen years old; Benjamin Franklin's cane; the sword of General Jackson; a waistcoat embroidered by Marie Antoinette; wampum made before the discovery of America; camp service of pewter used by Washington throughout the Revolution; Bible brought over by John Alden in the _Mayflower_; and a piece of torch carried by "Old Put" (General Israel Putnam) into the den of the wolf which he killed.

A section of one of the big trees of California was 20 feet in diameter at the top and 26 feet at the base.

The dreadful sufferings of persons imprisoned for debt in England, which led to the founding of Georgia, were recalled by a warrant for the arrest and imprisonment of one of the unfortunates, issued in 1721.

There also were to be seen a page from the Plymouth records of 1620 and 1621; a land patent of 1628; the royal commission creating the common pleas court of Massachusetts in 1696; a page from the horrible witchcraft trials in Salem in 1692; a door-knocker brought to this country in the _Mayflower_; and portraits of many historical persons.

In the War Department were shown a six-pounder bronze gun presented by Lafayette to the colonial forces; the four-pounder gun that fired the first shot in the Civil War; the rifled gun that fired the last shot; cannon used in the Mexican War; cast-iron cannon found in the Hudson River; Chinese cannon captured at Corea; cannon captured at Yorktown; boot-legs from which the starving members of the Greely Arctic expedition made soup; relics of Sir John Franklin; a wagon used by General Sherman throughout all his marches; the sacred shirt worn by Sitting Bull at the time of the massacre of Custer and his command on the Little Big Horn.

EXHIBITS OF THE TREASURY AND POSTOFFICE DEPARTMENTS.

In the Treasury Department was represented the United States Mint in operation, besides historic medals, ancient and modern coins, including those of foreign countries, a ten-thousand gold dollar certificate and a silver certificate of the same denomination.

The eyes of the philatelists sparkled at the treasures in the Postoffice Department, which included all the issues of stamps from 1847 to 1893. Some of the single stamps were worth thousands of dollars, and it would have required a fortune to purchase the whole collection, had it been for sale. The methods of carrying the mail were illustrated by a representation of dogs drawing a sled over the snow and a Rocky Mountain stage-coach. It would require volumes to convey an intelligent idea of the display in the Patent Office, Interior Department, Geological Survey, Agricultural Department, and the United States Commission.

Everybody knows that wonderful discoveries have been made in electricity, and no doubt we are close upon still greater ones. The name of Edison is connected with the marvelous achievements in this field, and there was much food for thought and speculation in the exhibits of the Electricity Building. These, while profoundly interesting, were mainly so in their hints of what are coming in the near future.

Machinery Hall was a favorite with thousands of the visitors. The exhibits were so numerous that they were divided into eighty-six classes, grouped into:

1. Motors and apparatus for the generation and transmission of power, hydraulic and pneumatic apparatus.

2. Fire-engines, apparatus and appliances for extinguishing fire.

3. Machine tools and machines for working metals.

4. Machinery for the manufacture of textile fabrics and clothing.

5. Machines for working wood.

6. Machines and apparatus for type-setting, printing, stamping and embossing, and for making books and paper making.

7. Lithography, zincography, and color painting.

8. Photo-mechanical and other mechanical processes for illustrating, etc.

9. Miscellaneous hand-tools, machines and apparatus used in various arts.

10. Machines for working stones, clay, and other minerals.

11. Machinery used in the preparation of foods, etc.

OTHER NOTABLE EXHIBITS.

The cost of the model of the Convent of Santa Maria de la Rabida, where the wearied Columbus stopped to crave food for himself and boy, was $50,000. The relics of the great explorer were numerous and of vivid interest.

Hardly less interesting was the reproduction of the Viking ship unearthed in a burial mound in Norway in 1880, the model being precisely that of the vessels in which the hardy Norsemen navigators crossed the Atlantic a thousand years ago. It was seventy-six feet in length, the bow ornamented with a large and finely carved dragon's head and the stern with a dragon's tail. Rows of embellished shields ran along the outside of the bulwarks, and all was open except a small deck fore and aft, while two water-tight compartments gave protection to the men in stormy weather. The rigging consisted of one mast with a single yard, that could be readily taken down, but there were places for immense oars, whose handling must have required tremendous muscular power.

The Agricultural Building had an almost endless variety of articles, such as cocoa, chocolate, and drugs from the Netherlands; wood pulp from Sweden; odd-looking shoes and agricultural products from Denmark and from France, the most striking of which was the Menier chocolate tower that weighed fifty tons; fertilizers and products from Uruguay; an elephant tusk seven and a half feet long; woods, wools, and feathers from the Cape of Good Hope; a Zulu six feet and seven and a half inches tall; a Canadian cheese weighing eleven tons, with other exhibits from various countries, and specimens of what are grown in most of our own States. The articles were so numerous that a list is too lengthy to be inserted in these pages.

The Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building was of such unprecedented size that its ground area was more than thirty acres, and its gallery space forty-four acres. Its roof structure surpassed any ever made, and it was the largest building in the world. So vast indeed was it that it is worth our while to impress it upon our minds by several comparisons. Any church in Chicago, which contains numerous large ones, can be placed in the vestibule of St. Peter's at Rome, but the latter is only one-third of the size of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. The Coliseum of ancient Rome would seat 80,000 persons, but in the central hall of the Chicago building, which is a single room without a supporting column, 75,000 people could be comfortably seated, while the building itself would seat 300,000 persons. The iron and steel in the roof would build two Brooklyn bridges, and it required eleven acres of glass to provide for the skylights. In its construction 17,000,000 feet of lumber, 13,000,000 pounds of steel, and 2,000,000 pounds of iron were used, with a total cost of $1,700,000. The ground plan was twice the size of the pyramid of Cheops.

We have recorded enough, however, to give some idea of the wealth of treasures exhibited at Chicago in 1893, and which drew visitors from all parts of the world. It is not worth while to refer at length to the display of the foreign countries, for those who had the pleasure of looking upon them will always carry their pleasant memory, while those who were deprived of the privilege can gain no adequate idea from the most extended description. The Midway Plaisance was a unique feature, with its Hungarian Orpheum, Lapland Village, Dahomey Village, the captive balloon, Chinese Village, Austrian Village, Cyclorama of the volcano of Kilauea, the Algerian and Tunisian Village, the Ferris Wheel, the never-to-be-forgotten street in Cairo, the numerous natives, and other scenes that were not always on the highest plane of morality.

THE GRAND WORK BY THE STATES.

We as Americans are prone to forget some of the important events in our history. The memory of them fades too soon. A hundred, years must pass before our country will look upon another Columbian Exposition. That, in the nature of things, will surpass the one in 1893, as far as that surpassed the ordinary country fairs of our grandparents. When that great year--1992--comes around, none of us will be here to look upon its wonders. It seems proper, therefore, that, in dismissing the subject, we should place on record the amount contributed by each State, without which the grand success of the enterprise could never have been attained.

Alabama.................. $38,000 Nebraska................. $85,000 Arizona.................. 30,000 Nevada................... 10,000 Arkansas................. 55,000 New Hampshire............ 25,000 California............... 550,000 New Jersey............... 130,000 Colorado................. 167,000 New Mexico............... 35,000 Connecticut.............. 75,000 New York................. 600,000 Delaware................. 20,000 North Carolina........... 45,000 Florida.................. 50,000 North Dakota............. 70,000 Georgia.................. 100,000 Ohio..................... 200,000 Idaho.................... 100,000 Oklahoma................. 17,500 Illinois................. 800,000 Oregon................... 60,000 Indiana.................. 135,000 Pennsylvania............. 360,000 Iowa..................... 130,000 Rhode Island............. 57,500 Kansas................... 165,000 South Carolina........... 50,000 Kentucky................. 175,000 South Dakota............. 85,000 Louisiana................ 36,000 Tennessee................ 25,000 Maine.................... 57,000 Texas.................... 40,000 Maryland................. 60,000 Utah..................... 50,600 Massachusetts............ 175,000 Vermont.................. 39,750 Michigan................. 275,000 Virginia................. 75,000 Minnesota................ 150,000 Washington............... 100,000 Mississippi.............. 25,000 West Virginia............ 40,000 Missouri................. 150,000 Wisconsin................ 212,000 Montana.................. 100,000 Wyoming.................. 30,000 ---------- Total................$6,060,350

The islands composing the group known under the general name of Hawaii have long been of interest to different nations, and especially to our country. A treaty was made in 1849 between Hawaii and the United States, which provided for commerce and the extradition of criminals, and in 1875 a reciprocity treaty was concluded. This gave a marked impetus to the sugar industry, which was almost wholly in the hands of foreigners. Further treaty rights were confirmed by Congress in 1891.

David Kalakaua became king of Hawaii in 1874. He had slight ability, and was fonder of the pleasures of life than of measures for the good of his country and subjects. He was displeased to see the hold gained by foreigners in his country and their rapidly growing power. He joined with the native Legislature in its cry of "Hawaii for the Hawaiians," and did all he could to check the material progress of the islands. Progressive men, however, gained control, and in 1887 Kalakaua was compelled to sign a new constitution which deprived him of all but a shadow of authority. The white residents were granted the right of suffrage and closer relations were established with the United States.

While engaged in negotiating a treaty with our country Kalakaua died, in 1891, in San Francisco, and his sister, Liliuokalani, succeeded him as queen. She was much of the same mould as her brother, but of a more revengeful nature. She was angered against the foreigners and the progressive party, and alert for an opportunity to strike them a fatal blow. She thought the time had come in January, 1893, when the leading party was bitterly divided over important measures. She summoned the Legislature and urged it to adopt a new constitution, which took away the right of suffrage from the white residents and restored to the crown the many privileges that had been taken from it. She was so radical in her policy that her friends induced her to modify it in several respects. She was thoroughly distrusted by the white residents, who did not doubt that she would break all her promises the moment the pretext offered. Nor would they have been surprised if a general massacre of the white inhabitants were ordered.

So deep-seated was the alarm that the American residents appealed for protection to the United States man-of-war _Boston_, which was lying in the harbor of Honolulu. The commander landed a company of marines, against the protest of the queen's minister of foreign affairs and the governor of the island, although they were assured that no attempt would be made to interfere with their rights. In the face of this assurance, a revolt took place, the monarchy was declared at an end, and a provisional government was organized, to continue until terms of union with the United States could be agreed upon.

More decided steps followed. On February 1, 1894, the government was formally placed under the protectorate of the United States, and the Stars and Stripes was hoisted over the government building by a party of marines. There was a strong sentiment in favor of annexation, and the American minister was highly pleased.

President Harrison was of the same mind, and authorized the presence on the island of troops that might be needed to protect the lives and property of Americans there, but he disavowed the protectorate. No doubt, however, he favored the movement, but thought it wise to "make haste slowly."

In a short time, a treaty was framed which was acceptable to the President. It provided that the government of Hawaii should remain as it was, the supreme power to be vested in a commissioner of the United States, with the right to veto any of the acts of the local government. The public debt was to be assumed by the United States, while Liliuokalani was to be pensioned at the rate of $20,000 a year, and her daughter was to receive $150,000. President Harrison urged upon the Senate the ratification of the treaty, fearing that delay would induce some other power to step in and take the prize.

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S CHANGE OF POLICY.

Such was the status when President Cleveland came into office on the 4th of March, 1893. His views were the very opposite of his predecessor's, and he took steps to enforce them. He maintained there would have been no revolution in Hawaii had not the force of marines landed from the _Boston_. He withdrew the proposed treaty from the Senate, and sent James H. Blount, of Georgia, to Hawaii as special commissioner to make an investigation of all that had occurred, and to act in harmony with the views of the President. On the 1st of April, Blount caused the American flag to be hauled down, and formally dissolved the protectorate. Minister Stevens was recalled and succeeded by Mr. Blount as minister plenipotentiary. Steps were taken to restore Liliuokalani, and her own brutal stubbornness was all that prevented. She was determined to have the lives of the leaders who had deposed her, and to banish their families. This could not be permitted, and the Dole government refused the request to yield its authority to the queen.

The situation brought President Cleveland to a standstill, for he had first to obtain the authority of Congress in order to use force, and that body was so opposed to his course that it would never consent to aid him. The provisional government grew stronger, and speedily suppressed a rebellion that was set on foot by the queen. It won the respect of its enemies by showing clemency to the plotters, when it would have been legally justified in putting the leaders to death. The queen was arrested, whereupon she solemnly renounced for herself and heirs all claim to the throne, urged her subjects to do the same, and declared her allegiance to the republic.

ANNEXATION OF HAWAII.

Let us anticipate a few events. In May, 1898, Representative Newlands introduced into the House a resolution providing for the annexation of Hawaii. Considerable opposition developed in the Senate, but the final vote was carried, July 6th, by 42 to 21. The President appointed as members of the commission, Senators Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois; John T. Morgan, of Alabama; Representative Robert R. Hitt, of Illinois; and President Dole and Chief Justice Judd, of the Hawaiian Republic. All the congressmen named were members of the Committee on Foreign Relations and Foreign Affairs.

The news of the admission of Hawaii to the Union was received in the islands with great rejoicing. A salute of one hundred guns was fired on the Executive Building grounds at Honolulu, and the formal transfer, August 12th, was attended with appropriate ceremonies. A full description of these interesting islands, their history and their products, will be found in Chapter XXVI. of this volume.

THE GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE OF 1894.

One of the greatest railroad strikes in this country occurred in the summer of 1894. Early in the spring of that year, the Pullman Car Company, whose works are near Chicago, notified their employes that they had to choose between accepting a reduction in their wages or having the works closed. They accepted the cut, although the reduction was from twenty-five to fifty per cent. of what they had been receiving.

When May came, the distressed workmen declared it impossible for them and their families to live on their meagre pay. They demanded a restoration of the old rates; but the company refused, affirming that they were running the business at a loss and solely with a view of keeping the men at work. On the 11th of May, 3,000 workmen, a majority of the whole number, quit labor and the company closed their works.

The American Railway Union assumed charge of the strike and ordered a boycott of all Pullman cars. Eugene V. Debs was the president of the Union, and his sweeping order forbade all engineers, brakemen, and switchmen to handle the Pullman cars on every road that used them. This was far-reaching, since the Pullman cars are used on almost every line in the country.

A demand was made upon the Pullman Company to submit the question to arbitration, but the directors refused on the ground that there was nothing to arbitrate, the question being whether or not they were to be permitted to operate their own works for themselves. A boycott was declared on all roads running out of Chicago, beginning on the Illinois Central. Warning was given to every road handling the Pullman cars that its employes would be called out, and, if that did not prove effective, every trade in the country would be ordered to strike.

The railroad companies were under heavy bonds to draw the Pullman cars, and it would have cost large sums of money to break their contracts. They refused to boycott, and, on June 26th, President Debs declared a boycott on twenty-two roads running out of Chicago, and ordered the committees representing the employes to call out the workmen without an hour's unnecessary delay.

The strike rapidly spread. Debs urged the employes to refrain from injuring the property of their employers, but such advice is always thrown away. Very soon rioting broke out, trains were derailed, and men who attempted to take the strikers' places were savagely maltreated. There was such a general block of freight that prices of the necessaries of life rose in Chicago and actual suffering impended. So much property was destroyed that the companies called on the city and county authorities for protection. The men sent to cope with the strikers were too few, and when Governor Altgeld forwarded troops to the scenes of the outbreaks, they also were too weak, and many of the militia openly showed their sympathy with the mob.

Growing bolder, the strikers checked the mails and postal service and resisted deputy marshals. This brought the national government into the quarrel, since it is bound to provide for the safe transmission of the mails. On July 2d a Federal writ was issued covering the judicial district of northern Illinois, forbidding all interference with the United States mails and with interstate railway commerce. Several leaders of the strike were arrested, whereat the mob became more threatening than ever. The government having been notified that Federal troops were necessary to enforce the orders of the courts in Chicago, a strong force of cavalry, artillery, and infantry was sent thither. Governor Altgeld protested, and President Cleveland told him in effect to attend to his own business and sent more troops to the Lake City.

There were several collisions between the mob and military, in which a number of the former were killed. Buildings were fired, trains ditched, and the violence increased, whereupon the President dispatched more troops thither, with the warning that if necessary he would call out the whole United States army to put down the law-breakers.

The strike, which was pressed almost wholly by foreigners, was not confined to Chicago. A strong antipathy is felt toward railroads in California, owing to what some believe have been the wrongful means employed by such corporations on the Pacific coast.

There were ugly outbreaks in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Sacramento, the difficulty being intensified by the refusal of the militia to act against the strikers. A force of regular soldiers, while hurrying over the railroad to the scene of the disturbance, was ditched by the strikers and several killed and badly hurt. The incensed soldiers were eager for a chance to reach the strikers, but they were under fine discipline and their officers showed great self-restraint.

END OF THE STRIKE.

The course of all violent strikes is short. The savage acts repel whatever sympathy may have been felt for the workingmen at first. Few of the real sufferers took part in the turbulent acts. It was the foreigners and the desperate men who used the grievances as a pretext for their outlawry, in which they were afraid to indulge at other times. Then, too, the stern, repressive measures of President Cleveland had a salutary effect. Many labor organizations when called upon to strike replied with expressions of sympathy, but decided to keep at work. President Debs, Vice-President Howard, and other prominent members of the American Railway Union were arrested, July 10th, on the charge of obstructing the United States mails and interfering with the execution of the laws of the United States. A number--forty-three in all--was indicted by the Federal grand jury, July 19th, and the bonds were fixed at $10,000 each. Bail was offered, but they declined to accept it and went to jail. On December 14th, Debs was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for contempt, the terms of the others being fixed at three months.

On August 5th, the general committee of strikers officially declared the strike at an end in Chicago, and their action was speedily imitated elsewhere.

COXEY'S COMMONWEAL ARMY.

One of the most remarkable appeals made directly to the law-making powers by the unemployed was that of Coxey's "Commonweal Army." Despite some of its grotesque features, it was deserving of more sympathy than it received, for it represented a pitiful phase of human poverty and suffering.

The scheme was that of J.S. Coxey, of Massillon, Ohio, who left that town on the 25th of March, 1894, with some seventy-five men. They carried no weapons, and believed they would gather enough recruits on the road to number 100,000 by the time they reached Washington, where their demands made directly upon Congress would be so imposing that that body would not dare refuse them. They intended to ask for the passage of two acts: the first to provide for the issue of $500,000,000 in legal-tender notes, to be expended under the direction of the secretary of war at the rate of $20,000,000 monthly, in the construction of roads in different parts of the country; the second to authorize any State, city, or village to deposit in the United States treasury non-interest-bearing bonds, not exceeding in amount one-half the assessed valuation of its property, on which the secretary of the treasury should issue legal-tender notes.

This unique enterprise caused some misgiving, for it was feared that such an immense aggregation of the unemployed would result in turbulence and serious acts of violence. Few could restrain sympathy for the object of the "army," while condemning the means adopted to make its purpose effective.

The result, however, was a dismal fiasco. The trampers committed no depredations, and when they approached a town and camped near it the authorities and citizens were quite willing to supply their immediate wants in order to get rid of them. But, while a good many recruits were added, fully as many deserted. At no time did Coxey's army number more than 500 men, and when it reached Washington on the 1st of May it included precisely 336 persons, who paraded through the streets. Upon attempting to enter the Capitol grounds they were excluded by the police. Coxey and two of his friends disregarded the commands, and were arrested and fined five dollars apiece and sentenced to twenty days' imprisonment for violating the statute against carrying a banner on the grounds and in not "keeping off the grass." The army quickly dissolved and was heard of no more.

Similar organizations started from Oregon, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, and different points for Washington. In some instances disreputable characters joined them and committed disorderly acts. In the State of Washington they seized a railroad train, had a vicious fight with deputy marshals, and it was necessary to call out the militia to subdue them. Trouble occurred in Kansas, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. The total strength of the six industrial armies never reached 6,000.

ADMISSION OF UTAH.

On the 4th of January, 1896, Utah became the forty-fifth member of the Federal Union. The symbolical star on the flag is at the extreme right of the fourth row from the top. The size of the national flag was also changed from 6 by 5 feet to 5 feet 6 inches by 4 feet 4 inches.

Utah has been made chiefly famous through the Mormons, who emigrated thither before the discovery of gold in California. Its size is about double that of the State of New York, and its chief resources are mineral and agricultural. It forms a part of the Mexican cession of 1848, and its name is derived from the Ute or Utah Indians. Salt Lake City was founded, and Utah asked for admission into the Union in 1849, but was refused. A territorial government was organized in 1860, with Brigham Young as governor. It has been shown elsewhere that in 1857 it was necessary to send Federal troops to Utah to enforce obedience to the laws. Polygamy debarred its admission to the Union for many years.

The constitution of the State allows women to vote, hold office, and sit on juries, and a trial jury numbers eight instead of twelve persons, three-fourths of whom may render a verdict in civil cases, but unanimity is required to convict of crime. The constitution also forbids polygamy, and the Mormon authorities maintain that it is not practiced except where plural marriages were contracted before the passage of the United States law prohibiting such unions.

It has been said by scientists that the power which goes to waste at Niagara Falls would, if properly utilized, operate all the machinery in the world. The discoveries made in electricity have turned attention to this inconceivable storage of power, with the result that Niagara has been practically "harnessed."

In 1886, the Niagara Falls Power Company was incorporated, followed three years later by that of the Cataract Construction Company. Work began in October, 1890, and three more years were required to complete the tunnel, the surface-canal, and the preliminary wheel-pits.

The first distribution of power was made in August, 1895, to the works of the Pittsburg Reduction Company, near the canal. Other companies were added, and the city of Buffalo, in December, 1895, granted a franchise to the company to supply power to that city. The first customer was the Buffalo Railway Company. November 15, 1896, at midnight, the current was transmitted by a pole line, consisting of three continuous cables of uninsulated copper, whose total length was seventy-eight miles. Since that date, the street cars have been operated by the same motor, with more industrial points continually added.

While our past history shows that we have had only two wars with Great Britain, yet it shows also that talk of war has been heard fully a score of times. Long after 1812, we were extremely sensitive as regarded the nation that the majority of Americans looked upon as our hereditary foe, and the calls for war have been sounded in Congress and throughout the land far oftener than most people suspect. That such a calamity to mankind has been turned aside is due mainly to the good sense and mutual forbearance of the majority of people in both countries. England and the United States are the two great English-speaking nations. Together they are stronger than all the world combined. With the same language, the same literature, objects, aims, and religion, a war between them would be the most awful catastrophe that could befall humanity.

The last flurry with the "mother country" occurred in the closing weeks of 1895, and related to Venezuela, which had been at variance with England for many years. Until 1810, the territory lying between the mouths of the Orinoco and the Amazon was known as the Guianas. In the year named Spain ceded a large part of the country to Venezuela, and in 1814 Holland ceded another to Great Britain. The boundary between the Spanish and Dutch possessions had never been fixed by treaty, and the dispute between England and Venezuela lasted until 1887, when diplomatic relations were broken off between the two countries.

Venezuela asked that the dispute might be submitted to arbitration, but England would not agree, though the territory in question was greater in extent than the State of New York. The United States was naturally interested, for the "Monroe Doctrine" was involved, and in February, 1895, Congress passed a joint resolution, approving the suggestion of the President that the question should be submitted to arbitration, but England still refused. A lengthy correspondence took place between Great Britain and this country, and, on December 17, 1895, in submitting it to Congress, President Cleveland asked for authority from that body to appoint a commission to determine the merits of the boundary dispute, as a guide to the government in deciding its line of action, insisting further that, if England maintained her unwarrantable course, the United States should resist "by every means in its power, as a willful aggression upon its rights and interests, the appropriation by Great Britain of any lands, or the exercise of governmental jurisdiction over any territory, which after investigation we have determined of right belongs to Venezuela."

There was no mistaking the warlike tone of these words. The country and Congress instantly fired up and the land resounded with war talk. Congress immediately appropriated the sum of $100,000 for the expense of the commission of inquiry, and two days later the Senate passed the bill without a vote in opposition. The committee was named on the 1st of the following January and promptly began its work.

But the sober second thought of wise men in both countries soon made itself felt. Without prolonging the story, it may be said that the dispute finally went to arbitration, February 2, 1897, where it should have gone in the first place, and it was settled to the full satisfaction of Great Britain, the United States, and Venezuela. Another fact may as well be conceded, without any reflection upon our patriotism: Had England accepted our challenge to war, for which she was fully prepared with her invincible navy, and we were in a state of unreadiness, the United States would have been taught a lesson that she would have remembered for centuries to come. Thank God, the trial was spared to us and in truth can never come, while common sense reigns.

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1896.

The presidential election in the fall of 1896 was a remarkable one. The month of September had hardly opened when there were eight presidential tickets in the field. Given in the order of their nominations they were:

Prohibition (May 27th)--Joshua Levering, of Maryland; Hale Johnson, of Illinois.

National Party, Free Silver, Woman-Suffrage offshoot of the regular Prohibition (May 28th)--Charles E. Bentley, of Nebraska; James H. Southgate, of North Carolina.

Republican (June 18th)--William McKinley, of Ohio; Garret A. Hobart, of New Jersey.

Socialist-Labor (July 4th)--Charles H. Matchett, of New York; Matthew Maguire, of New Jersey.

Democratic (July 10th to 11th)--William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska; Arthur Sewall, of Maine.

People's Party (July 24th to 25th)--William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska; Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia.

National Democratic Party (September 8th)--John McAuley Palmer, of Illinois; Simon Boliver Buckner, of Kentucky.

As usual, the real contest was between the Democrats and Republicans. The platform of the former demanded the free coinage of silver, which was opposed by the Republicans, who insisted upon preserving the existing gold standard. This question caused a split in each of the leading parties. When the Republican nominating convention inserted the gold and silver plank in its platform, Senator Teller, of Colorado, led thirty-two delegates in their formal withdrawal from the convention. A large majority of those to the National Democratic Convention favored the free coinage of silver in the face of an urgent appeal against it by President Cleveland. They would accept no compromise, and, after "jamming" through their platform and nominating Mr. Bryan, they made Arthur Sewall their candidate for Vice-President, though he was president of a national bank and a believer in the gold standard.

In consequence of this action, the Populists or People's Party refused to accept the candidature of Mr. Sewall, and put in his place the name of Thomas E. Watson, who was an uncompromising Populist.

There was also a revolt among the "Sound Money Democrats," as they were termed. Although they knew they had no earthly chance of winning, they were determined to place themselves on record, and, after all the other tickets were in the field, they put Palmer and Buckner in nomination. In their platform they condemned the platform adopted by the silver men and the tariff policy of the Republicans. They favored tariff for revenue only, the single gold standard, a bank currency under governmental supervision, international arbitration, and the maintenance of the independence and authority of the Supreme Court.

Mr. Bryan threw all his energies into the canvass and displayed wonderful industry and vigor. He made whirlwind tours through the country, speaking several times a day and in the evening, and won many converts. Had the election taken place a few weeks earlier than the regular date, it is quite probable he would have won. Mr. McKinley made no speech-making tours, but talked many times to the crowds who called upon him at his home in Canton, Ohio. The official vote in November was as follows:

McKinley and Hobart, Republican, 7,101,401 popular votes; 271 electoral votes.

Bryan and Sewall, Democrat and Populist, 6,470,656 popular votes; 176 electoral votes.

Levering and Johnson, Prohibition, 132,007 popular votes.

Palmer and Buckner, National Democrat, 133,148 popular votes.

Matchett and Maguire, Socialist-Labor, 36,274 popular votes.

Bentley and Southgate, Free Silver Prohibition, 13,969 popular votes.

Despite the political upheavals that periodically occur throughout our country, it steadily advances in prosperity, progress and growth. Its resources were limitless, and the settlement of the vast fertile areas in the West and Northwest went on at an extraordinary rate. In no section was this so strikingly the fact as in the Northwest. So great indeed was the growth in that respect that the subject warrants the special chapter that follows.