History of the United States

11. Among the great public works may be mentioned the East River Bridge, joining New York with Brooklyn, which was opened with appropriate ceremonies on the 24th of May, 1883. This structure is the largest of the kind in the world, being a suspension bridge, with a total length of 5,989 feet. The span from pier to pier is 1,595 feet; and the estimated capacity of resistance is 49,200 tons. The engineer under whose direction the great bridge was constructed was Mr. John A. Roebling, who may properly be regarded as the originator of wire suspension bridges. Though he did not live to see the completion of the work which he had planned, the same was taken up and finished by his son, scarcely less noted than his father.

12. The recurrence of the birthday of Washington, 1885, was noted for the completion of the great monument, erected at the Capital, in honor of the Father of his Country. The cost of the completed structure was about $1,500,000. The shaft of the monument, exclusive of the foundation, is 555 feet in height, being 30 feet higher than the cathedral of Cologne, and 75 feet higher than the pyramid of Cheops.

13. In the last year of Arthur's administration the command of the army of the United States was transferred from General William T. Sherman to General Philip H. Sheridan. The former eminent soldier, having reached the age at which, according to Act of Congress, he might retire from active service, availed himself of the provision, and laid down the command which he had so long and honorably held. Nor could it be said that the new General, to whom the command of the American army was now given, was less a patriot and soldier than his eminent predecessor.

14. During this administration there was a gradual obliteration of those sharply defined issues which for a quarter of a century had divided the two great political parties. Partisan animosity in some measure abated, and it was with difficulty that the managers were able to direct the people in the political contest of 1884. The issue most clearly defined was that of tariff and free trade, and even this, when much discussed, tended to break up both the existing political organizations.

15. During the year 1883 many distinguished men were named for the presidential office. The first national convention was that of the Greenback-Labor party, held at Indianapolis, in April of 1884. By this party, General Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, and A. N. West, of Texas, were put in nomination. The Republican convention met on the 3d of June, in Chicago, and, after a session of three days, closed its labors by the nomination of James G. Blaine, of Maine, and General John A. Logan, of Illinois. The Democratic convention met in the same city, on the 9th of July, and chose for its standard-bearers Grover Cleveland, of New York, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana. The result showed that the Democratic party had drawn to its banners a majority of the American people. Cleveland and Hendricks were elected, receiving 219 ballots in the Electoral College, against 182 votes which were cast for Blaine and Logan.

CHAPTER LIV.

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. The summer of 1886 is memorable on account of the great natural catastrophe known as the Charleston Earthquake. On the night of the 31st of August, at ten minutes before ten o'clock, without a moment's warning, the city of Charleston, S. C., was rocked and rent to its very foundations. Hardly a building in the limits of Charleston, or in the country surrounding, escaped serious injury; and perhaps one half of all were in a state of semi-wreck or total ruin.

9. The whole coast in the central region of the disturbance was modified with respect to the sea, and the ocean itself was thrown into turmoil for miles from the shore. The people in the city fled from their falling houses to the public squares and parks and far into the country. Afraid to return into the ruins, they threw up tents and light booths for protection, and abode for weeks away from their homes. Nothing before in the limits of our knowledge has been at all comparable with it in extent and violence, except the great earthquake of New Madrid in 1811.

10. The disaster to Charleston served to bring out some of the better qualities of our civilization. Personal assistance and contributions from all quarters poured in for the support and encouragement of the afflicted people. For several weeks a series of diminishing shocks continued to terrify the citizens; but it was discovered that these shocks were only the dying away of the great convulsion, and that they gave cause for hope of entire cessation rather than continued alarm. In the course of a few months the ruins were cleared away, business was resumed, and the people were again safe in their homes.

11. On the 4th of March, 1887, the second session of the Forty-ninth Congress expired. The work of the body had not been so fruitful of results as had been desired and anticipated by the friends of the government. On the question of the tariff nothing of value was accomplished. A measure of Revenue Reform had been brought forward at an early date in the session, but the act failed of adoption.

12. On the question of Extending the Pension List, however, the case was different. A great majority of both parties favored such measures as looked to the increase of benefits to the soldiers. At the first, only a limited number of pensions had been granted, and these only to actually disabled or injured veterans of the War for the Union. But it became more and more important to each of the parties to secure and hold the soldier vote, without which it was felt that neither could maintain ascendency in the government. The Arrears of Pensions Act, making up to those who were already recipients of pensions such amounts as would have accrued if the benefit had dated from the time of disability, instead of from the time of granting the pension, was passed in 1879; and at the same time the list of pensioners was greatly enlarged.

13. The measure presented in the Fiftieth Congress was designed to extend the pension list so as to include all regularly enlisted and honorably discharged soldiers of the Civil War, who had become in whole, or in part, dependent upon the aid of others for their maintenance. The measure was known as the Dependent Pensions Bill. Many opposed the enactment of a law which appeared to give the bounty of the government to the deserving and the undeserving alike, and to compel the worthy recipients of pensions to rank themselves with those who had gone into the army for pay, and had been brought to want through improvidence. A majority was easily obtained for the measure in both Houses of Congress, and the act was passed. President Cleveland, however, interposed his veto, and the proposed law fell to the ground.

14. The most important and noted legislation of the session was the act known as the Inter-State Commerce Bill. For some fifteen years complaints against the methods and management of the railways of the United States had been heard on many sides, and in cases not a few the complaints had originated in actual abuses. A large class of people became clamorous that Congress should compel railways to accept a system of uniformity as to all charges for service rendered. With this object in view the Inter-State Commerce Bill was accordingly prepared, and became a law.

15. In the spring of 1885 it became known that General Ulysses S. Grant was stricken with a fatal malady. The announcement at once drew to the General and ex-President the interest and sympathies of the whole American people. The hero of Vicksburg and Appomattox sank under the ravages of a malignant cancer, which had fixed itself in his throat. On the 23d of July, 1885, he expired at a summer cottage on Mount McGregor, New York. His last days were hallowed by the love of the nation which he had so gloriously defended. No funeral west of the Atlantic—not even that of Lincoln—was more universally observed. The procession in New York City was perhaps as imposing a pageant as was ever exhibited in honor of the dead. On the 8th of August the body of General Grant was laid to rest in Riverside Park, overlooking the Hudson. There, on the summit from which may be seen the great river and the metropolis of the nation, is the tomb of him whose courage and magnanimity in war will forever give him rank with the few master spirits who have honored the human race and changed the course of history.

16. Within scarcely more than a year from the funeral of Grant several other distinguished Union Generals fell. On the 29th of October General George B. McClellan died at his home at St. Cloud, New Jersey. After another brief interval General Winfield S. Hancock, senior Major-General of the American Army, breathed his last. In the mean time, within a brief period, Generals Irwin McDowell, Ambrose E. Burnside, Joseph Hooker, and George G. Meade, each of whom, in a critical period of the war, had commanded the Army of the Potomac, passed away. Before the close of 1886 Major-General John A. Logan, greatest of the volunteer commanders, who, without previous military education, won for themselves distinguished honors in the War for the Union, fell sick and died at his home, called Calumet Place, in Washington City.

17. In the mean time, several distinguished civilians had passed away. On the 25th of November, 1885, Vice-president Thomas A. Hendricks, after an illness of a single day, died suddenly at his home in Indianapolis. The life of Mr. Hendricks had been one of singular purity as well as of greatness. His character had been noted for its mildness and serenity in the stormy arena of politics. The goodness of the man in private life, combined with his distinction as governor, senator, and Vice-president of the United States, drew from the people every evidence of public and private respect for his memory. The body of the dead statesman was buried in Crown Hill cemetery, near Indianapolis. The funeral pageant surpassed in grandeur any other display of the kind ever witnessed in the Western States, except the funeral of Lincoln. Shortly after his death, the funds were easily subscribed by the people, for the erection of the magnificent bronze monument and statue standing at one of the entrances to the Capitol of Indiana.

18. The death of Hendricks was soon followed by that of Horatio Seymour, of New York. On the 12th of February, 1886, this distinguished citizen, who had been governor of the Empire State, and a candidate for the Presidency against General Grant, died at his home in Utica. Still more distinguished in reputation and ability was Samuel J. Tilden, also of New York, who died at his home, called Greystone, at Yonkers, near New York City, on the 4th of August, 1886.

19. To this list of deaths must be added the illustrious name of Henry Ward Beecher. To him, with little reservation, must be assigned the first place among our orators and philanthropists. He had the happy fortune to retain his faculties unimpaired to the close of his career. On the evening of the 5th of March, 1887, at his home in Brooklyn, he sank down under a stroke of apoplexy. He was nearing the close of his seventy-fourth year. He lived until the morning of the 8th, and quietly entered the shadows. He was followed to the grave by the common eulogium of mankind, and every circumstance of his passing away showed that he had occupied the supreme place among men of his class in America.

20. On the 23d of March, 1888, Morrison R. Waite, Chief-Justice of the United States, died at his home in Washington City. The death of this able jurist imposed on President Cleveland the duty of naming his successor. Judge Melville W. Fuller, of Chicago, was appointed, and confirmed on the 30th of April, 1888.

21. During the whole of Cleveland's administration, the public mind was swayed and excited by the movements of politics. The universality of partisan newspapers, the combination in their columns of all the news of the world with the invectives and misrepresentations of party leaders, kept political questions constantly uppermost to the detriment of social progress and industrial interests. Scarcely had President Cleveland entered upon his office as chief magistrate when the question of the succession to the Presidency was agitated.

22. By the last year of the administration it was seen that there would be no general break-up of the existing parties. It was also perceived that the issues between them must be made rather than found in the existing state of affairs. The sentiment in the United States in favor of the Constitutional prohibition of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors had become somewhat extended and intensified since the last general election. But the discerning eye might perceive that the real issue was between the Republican and Democratic parties.

23. One issue, however, had a living and practical relation to affairs, and that was the question of Protection to American Industry. Since the campaign of 1884, the agitation had been gradually extended. At the opening of the session, in 1887, the President, in his annual message to Congress, devoted the whole document to the discussion of the single question of a Reform of the Revenue System of the United States. The existing rates of duty on imported articles of commerce had so greatly augmented the income of the Government, that a large surplus had accumulated in the treasury of the United States. This fact was made the basis of the President's argument in favor of a new system of revenue, or at least an ample reduction in the tariff rates under the old. It was immediately charged by the Republicans, that the project in question meant the substitution of the system of Free Trade in the United States as against the system of protective duties. The question thus involved was made the bottom issue in the Presidential campaign of 1888.

24. The Democratic National Convention was held in St. Louis on the 5th day of June, 1888, and Mr. Cleveland was renominated by acclamation. For the Vice-presidential nomination the choice fell on ex-Senator Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio. The Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, on the 19th day of June. Many candidates were ardently pressed upon the body, and the contest was long and spirited. The voting was continued to the eighth ballot, when the choice fell upon Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana. In the evening, Levi P. Morton, of New York, was nominated for the Vice-presidency on the first ballot.

25. In the mean time, the Prohibition party had held its National Convention at Indianapolis, and on the 30th of May had nominated for the Presidency General Clinton B. Fisk, of New Jersey, and for the Vice-presidency John A. Brooks, of Missouri. The Democratic platform declared for a reform of the revenue system of the United States, and reaffirmed the principle of adjusting the tariff on imports with strict regard to the actual needs of governmental expenditure. The Republican platform declared also for a reform of the tariff schedule, but at the same time stoutly affirmed the maintenance of the protective system as a part of the permanent policy of the United States. Both parties deferred to the patriotic sentiment of the country in favor of the soldiers. The Prohibitionists entered the campaign, on the distinct proposition that the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors should be prohibited throughout the United States by Constitutional amendment. To this was added a clause in favor of extending the right of suffrage to women.

26. As the canvass progressed during the summer and autumn of 1888, it became evident that the result was in doubt. The contest was exceedingly close. The result showed success for the Republican candidate. He received 233 electoral votes, against 168 votes for Mr. Cleveland. The latter, however, appeared to a better advantage on the popular count, having a considerable majority over General Harrison. General Fisk, the Prohibition candidate, received nearly three hundred thousand votes; but, under the system of voting, no electoral vote of any State was obtained for him.

27. The last days of Cleveland's administration and of the Fiftieth Congress were signalized by the admission into the Union of Four New States, making the number forty-two. In 1887 the question of dividing Dakota Territory by a line running east and west was agitated, and the measure finally prevailed. Steps were taken by the people of both sections for admission into the Union. Montana, with her 146,080 square miles of territory, had meanwhile acquired a sufficient population; and Washington Territory, with its area of 69,180 square miles, also knocked for admission. In the closing days of the Fiftieth Congress a bill was passed raising all of these four Territories—South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Washington—to the plane of Statehood. The Act contemplated the adoption of State Constitutions, and a proclamation of admission by the next President. It thus happened that the honor of bringing in this great addition to the States of the Union was divided between the outgoing and incoming administrations.

28. Another Act of Congress was also of national importance. Hitherto the government had been administered through seven departments, at the head of each of which was placed a Cabinet officer, the seven together constituting the advisers of the President. Early in 1889 a measure was brought forward in Congress, and adopted, for the institution of a new department, to be called the Department of Agriculture. Practically the measure involved the elevation of what had previously been an Agricultural Bureau in the Department of the Interior, to the rank of a Cabinet office. Hitherto, though agriculture has been the greatest of all the producing interests of the people, it has been neglected for more political and less useful departments of American life and enterprise.

CHAPTER LV.

3. In the period following the Civil War, General Harrison rose to distinction as a civilian. In 1876 he was the unsuccessful candidate of the Republican party for governor of Indiana. In 1881 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he won the reputation of a leader and statesman. In 1884, his name was prominently mentioned in connection with the Presidency; and in 1888 it was found that he, more than any other, combined in himself all the elements of a successful candidate. The event justified the choice of the party in making him the standard-bearer in the ensuing campaign.

4. General Harrison was inaugurated President on the 4th of March, 1889. His Cabinet appointments were as follows: Secretary of State, James G. Blaine, of Maine; Secretary of the Treasury, William Windom, of Minnesota; Secretary of War, Redfield Proctor, of Vermont; Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin F. Tracy, of New York; Postmaster-General, John Wanamaker, of Pennsylvania; Secretary of the Interior, John W. Noble, of Missouri; Attorney-General, William H. H. Miller, of Indiana; and Secretary of Agriculture—the new department—Jeremiah Rusk, of Wisconsin.

5. As the more fertile and accessible public lands in the Mississippi valley were gradually taken up, new settlers began to cast envious eyes upon Indian Territory, and especially upon a central region, called Oklahoma, or the "beautiful country," which was supposed to be very fertile. Several illegal attempts were made by bands of adventurers to settle upon these lands, and the military had been employed to eject the "Oklahoma Boomers," as the intruders were called.

6. The Indian title to Oklahoma had gradually been acquired by the United States, and one of the first acts of President Harrison was to issue a proclamation declaring that this region, embracing nearly 3000 square miles, should be thrown open to public settlement at noon of April 22, 1889.

7. As this date approached, settlers to the number of over ten thousand collected and formed camps along the southern boundary of Kansas, and, at the hour named, made a wild race to Oklahoma across the intervening strip of Indian Territory. Towns were started in several localities, and within a few days the region had a population of more than 30,000. Though the country proved somewhat less fertile than had been supposed, the new community continued to grow, and the following year, with greatly enlarged boundaries and a population of 62,000, was organized as the Territory of Oklahoma.

8. Within two months after Harrison's inauguration occurred the Centennial of the American Republic. On the 30th of April, 1789, the Father of his Country had taken the oath of office and entered upon his duties as first President of the United States, and the corresponding date in 1889 was fixed upon for the centennial celebration of the event. The holidays in the metropolis included the 29th and 30th days of April and the 1st day of May. The event drew to New York the largest concourse of people ever seen at one place within the limits of the United States. Fully half a million strangers visited the city and were present at the ceremonies.

9. The close of the year 1888 and the beginning of 1889 were marked by a dangerous complication between the United States and Germany relative to the Samoan Islands. In order to settle the difficulty, the President of the United States sent three commissioners to Berlin, to confer with the German Government. The result was wholly satisfactory to the United States. The attitude and demand of the American Government in favor of the independence of Samoa, under its native sovereign, were supported by the decision of the commissioners, and the difficulty ended with the recognition of King Malietoa.

10. The last week of May, 1889, was memorable in the history of our country for the destruction of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. That city lay at the junction of a stream, known as the South Fork, with the Conemaugh River. Several miles up the South Fork some wealthy fishermen had constructed a dam and a reservoir, where the waters had accumulated in an immense volume. The level of the lake was high above the valley and the city. During the last days of May heavy rains fell, and the country was inundated. On the afternoon of the 31st of the month, the dam which held the lake in place was burst asunder, and the deluge of waters poured suddenly down the valley. Everything was swept away by the flood. Johnstown, a manufacturing city, was totally wrecked, and thrown in an indescribable mass against the aqueduct of the Pennsylvania Railway below the town. Here the ruins caught fire, and the wild shrieks of hundreds of miserable victims were heard above the roar of the deluge and the conflagration. The heart of the nation responded quickly to the sufferings of the people, and millions of dollars in money and supplies were poured into the Conemaugh valley to relieve the destitution of those who survived the calamity.

11. The work of the fifty-first Congress was marked with much partisan bitterness and excitement. The first question which occupied the attention of the body was the revision of the tariff. On this question the political parties were strongly opposed to each other. The policy of the Republican party, though the platform of 1888 had declared for a revision of the tariff, was favorable to the perpetuation of the protective system as a part of the permanent policy of the Government. The Democrats favored a great reduction in the existing rates of duties, and the ultimate adoption of the principle of free trade. What was known as the McKinley Bill was introduced into Congress, and finally adopted, by which the Republican policy was incorporated as a part of the governmental system. The average rate of import duties was raised from about forty-seven per cent. to more than fifty-three per cent.; but in a few instances the existing duties were abolished, and in the case of raw sugar a bounty to the producers was provided instead.

12. Early in the session a serious difficulty arose in the House of Representatives between the Democrats and the Speaker, Thomas B. Reed, of Maine. The Republican majority in the House was not large, and the minority were easily able in matters of party legislation to break the quorum by refusing to vote. In order to counteract this policy, a new system of rules was reported empowering the Speaker to count the minority as present whether voting or not, and thus to compel a quorum. These rules were violently resisted by the Democrats, and Speaker Reed was denounced by his opponents as an unjust officer. It was under the provision of the new rule that nearly all of the party measures of the fifty-first Congress were adopted.

13. One of the most important of these was the attempt to pass through Congress what was known as the Force Bill, by which it was proposed to transfer the control of the Congressional elections in the States of the Union, from State to National authority. This measure provoked the strongest opposition, part of which arose within the Republican party. In the Senate certain Republicans refused to support the bill, and it was finally laid aside for the consideration of other business.

14. A third measure was the attempt to restore silver to a perfect equality with gold in the coinage of the country. Since 1874 there had been an increasing difference in the purchasing power of the two money metals of the country. That is, the purchasing power of gold had, in the last fifteen years, risen about fifteen per cent., while the purchasing power of silver had fallen about five per cent. in the markets of the world. One class of theorists, assuming that gold is the only invariable standard of values, insisted that this difference in the purchasing power of the two metals had risen wholly from a depreciation in the price of silver; while the opposing class argued that the difference had arisen most largely from an increase in the purchasing power of gold, and that equal legislation and equal favor shown to the two money metals would bring them to par, the one with the other, and keep them in that relation in the markets of the world.

15. The advocates of free coinage claimed that the laws discriminating against silver and in favor of gold were impolitic, unjust, and un-American. They urged that the free coinage of silver would be of vast advantage to the financial interests of the country. This view, however, was strongly opposed by the money centers and by the fund-holding classes, to whom the payment of all debts according to the highest standard of value—that is, in gold only—was a fundamental principle. A bill for the free coinage of silver was passed by the Senate, but rejected by the House, and the question was handed over to the next Congress.

16. This Congress passed the necessary acts for the admission of Idaho and Wyoming as the forty-third and forty-fourth States respectively. Idaho was admitted with a population of 84,385, on the 3d of July, 1890; while on the 10th of the same month 60,705 souls were added to the Union with the State of Wyoming.

17. The Eleventh Decennial Census of the United States was taken in June, 1890. Its results indicated that the population of the country had increased to 62,622,250, exclusive of Indians not taxed, and whites in Alaska and Indian Territory. These swell the grand total to about 63,000,000 souls. Indiana was found to contain 2,195,404 inhabitants, and to include, near the hamlet of Westport in Decatur County, the center of population of the United States.

18. Meanwhile three other great leaders of the Civil War passed away by death. On the 5th of August, 1888, Lieutenant-General Sheridan, at that time Commander-in-chief of the American army, died at his home in Nonquitt, Massachusetts. Few other generals of the Union army had won greater admiration and higher honors. He was in many senses a model soldier, and his death at the comparatively early age of fifty-seven was the occasion of great grief throughout the country.

19. Still more conspicuous was the fall of General William T. Sherman. Among the Union commanders in the great Civil War he stood easily next to Grant in greatness and reputation. In vast and varied abilities, particularly in military accomplishment, he was perhaps superior to all. Born in 1820, he reached the mature age of seventy-one, and died at his home in New York on the 14th day of February, 1891. The event produced a profound impression. Sherman, more than any other great military captain of his time, had shunned and put aside political ambition. Of his sterling patriotism there was never a doubt. As to his wonderful abilities, all men were agreed. His remains were taken under escort from New York to St. Louis, where they were deposited in the family burying grounds in Mount Calvary cemetery.

20. After the death of General Sherman, only two commanders of the first class remained on the stage of action from the great Civil War—both Confederates. These were Generals Joseph E. Johnston and James Longstreet. The former of these was destined to follow his rival and conqueror at an early day to the land of rest. General Johnston, who had been an honorary pall bearer at the funeral of Sherman, contracted a heavy cold on that occasion, which resulted in his death on the 20th of February, 1891, at his home in Washington City. General Johnston was in his eighty-third year at the time of his decease. Among the Confederate commanders none were his superiors, with the single exception of Lee. After the close of the war, his conduct had been of a kind to win the confidence of Union men; and at the time of his death he was held in almost universal honor.

21. In February of 1891 a serious event occurred in the city of New Orleans. There existed in that metropolis a secret social organization among the Italians, known as the Mafia Society. The principles of the brotherhood involved mutual protection and even the law of revenge against enemies. Several breaks occurred between members of the society and the police authorities of the city, and the latter, by arrest and prosecution, incurred the dislike and hatred of the former. The difficulty grew until at length Captain David C. Hennessey, chief of the police, was assassinated by some secret murderer or murderers, who for the time escaped detection. It was believed, however, that the Mafia Society was at the bottom of the assassination, and several members of the brotherhood were arrested under the charge of murder.

22. A trial followed, and the circumstances tended to establish the guilt of the prisoners. But the proof was not positive, and the first three of those on trial were acquitted. A great excitement followed this decision, and charges were published that the jury had been bribed or terrorized with threats into making a false verdict. On the following day a public meeting was called, and a great crowd gathered around the statue of Henry Clay, standing in one of the public squares. Speeches were made. A mob was organized and directed against the jail where the Italian prisoners were confined. The jail was entered by force. The prisoners were driven from their cells, and nine of them were shot to death in the court of the prison. Two others were dragged forth and hanged. Nor can it be doubted that the innocent as well as the guilty suffered in the slaughter.

23. The event was followed by intense public excitement. The affair became of national, and then of international, importance. The Italian minister, Baron Fava, at Washington, entered his solemn protest against the killing of his countrymen, and the American Secretary of State communicated with King Humbert on the subject. The Italian societies in other American cities passed angry resolutions against the destruction of their fellow-countrymen by the mob; and the newspapers of the country teemed with discussions of the subject. Threats of war were heard between Italy and the United States; but the more thoughtful looked with confidence to the settlement of the question by peaceable means.

24. The History of our Country has thus been traced from the times of the aborigines to the present day. The story is done. The Republic has passed through stormy times, but has at last entered her second century in safety and peace. The clouds that were recently so black overhead have broken, and are sinking behind the horizon. The equality of all men before the law has been written with the iron pen of war in the Constitution of the Nation. The Union of the States has been consecrated anew by the blood of patriots and the tears of the lowly. The temple of freedom reared by our fathers still stands in undiminished glory. The Past has taught its Lesson; the Present has its Duty; and the Future its Hope.

Review Questions.—Part VII.

CHAPTER L.

• 1. Tell about the thirteenth amendment.
• 2. Trace the reconstruction measures of President Johnson's administration.
• 3. Give an account of the purchase of Alaska.
• 4. Tell about the Atlantic cable.

CHAPTER LI.

• 5. Give an account of the adoption of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments.
• 6. Detail the Alabama Claims controversy and tell how it was settled.
• 7. Tell about the great fires of 1871-72.
• 8. Outline the Indian troubles with the Modocs and the Sioux.
• 9. Give an account of the Credit Mobilier.
• 10. Tell about the Centennial exposition.
• 11. Give an account of the contested election of 1876, and how it was adjusted.

CHAPTER LII.

• 12. Tell about the railroad strikes in the early part of President Hayes's administration.
• 13. Give an account of the troubles with the Nez Percé Indians.
• 14. Give the leading Congressional measures of these four years.
• 15. Tell about General Grant's tour around the world.

CHAPTER LIII.

• 16. Give an account of the presidency and death of Garfield.
• 17. Outline the presidency of Arthur and the progress of applied science during his term of office.

CHAPTER LIV.

• 18. State the general condition and trace the measures of Cleveland's administration.
• 19. Tell about the Charleston earthquake.
• 20. What great leaders of the Civil War died during these four years?

CHAPTER LV.

• 21. Give an account of the election of President Harrison, and of his entrance upon office.
• 22. Summarize the leading events which have occurred during his administration.

APPENDIX.

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand; but each State shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three; Massachusetts, eight; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, one; Connecticut, five; New York, six; New Jersey, four; Pennsylvania, eight; Delaware, one; Maryland, six; Virginia, ten; North Carolina, five; South Carolina, five; and Georgia, three.

When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

Sec. 3.—The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and each senator shall have one vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year; of the second class, at the expiration of the fourth year; and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen, by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature which shall then fill such vacancies.

No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice-president of the United States shall be president of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-president, or when he shall exercise the office as President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the chief-justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.

Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law.

Sec. 4.—The times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may, at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year; and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

Sec. 5.—Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members; and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide.

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house, on any question, shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.

Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.

Sec. 6.—The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall, in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance on the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and, for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased, during such time; and no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office.

Sec. 7.—All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills.

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and, if approved by two thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But, in all such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays; and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the United States; and, before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

Sec. 8.—The Congress shall have power:—
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general welfare, of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States:

To borrow money on the credit of the United States:

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes:

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States:

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures:

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States:

To establish post-offices and post-roads:

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries:

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court:

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations:

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water:

To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years:

To provide and maintain a navy:

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces:

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions:

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress:

To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings:—And

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

Sec. 9.—The migration or importation of such persons, as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight; but a tax, or duty, may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.

No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census, or enumeration, hereinbefore directed to be taken.

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties, in another.

No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

Sec. 10.—No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of nobility.

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.

ARTICLE II.

Section 1.—The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and together with the Vice-president, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows:—

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 the Congress; but no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the president of the Senate. The president of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates; and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose, by ballot, one of them for President; and if no person have a majority, then, from the five highest on the list, the said house shall, in like manner, choose the President. But, in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the States; and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be Vice-president. But, if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them, by ballot, the Vice-president.

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers or duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-president; and the Congress may, by law, provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice-president, declaring what officer shall then act as President; and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected; and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States or any of them.

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:—

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Sec. 2.—The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint, ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; but the Congress may, by law, vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of their next session.

Sec. 3.—He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and, in case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and shall commission all the officers of the United States.

Sec. 4.—The President, Vice-president, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

ARTICLE III.

Section 1.—The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in a Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior; and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

Sec. 2.—The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States, between a State and citizens of another State, between citizens of different States, between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or subjects.

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as the Congress shall make.

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but, when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.

Sec. 3.—Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.

ARTICLE IV.

Section 1.—Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

Sec. 2.—The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.

A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.

No person held to service or labor in one State under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.

Sec. 3.—New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislature of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Sec. 4.—The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature can not be convened), against domestic violence.

ARTICLE V.

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution; or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided, that no amendment, which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

ARTICLE VI.

All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution as under the Confederation.