xt7rv11vf979 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7rv11vf979/data/mets.xml McElroy, Robert McNutt, 1872-1959. 1923  books b92-234-31280957v2 English Harper, : New York ; London : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908. Grover Cleveland, the man and the statesman  : an authorized biography (vol. 2) / by Robert McElroy. text Grover Cleveland, the man and the statesman  : an authorized biography (vol. 2) / by Robert McElroy. 1923 2002 true xt7rv11vf979 section xt7rv11vf979 





















  GROVER CLEVELAND
THE MAN AND THE STATESMAN


       VOLUME TWO

           .10

 















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, n,

 
































GROVER CLEVELAND

IN HIS HOME AT PRINCETON


            6p) Underwood & Underwood

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GROVER



CLEVELAND



THE MAN AND THE STATESMIAN

        An Authorized Biography


                BY
ROBERT McELROY, PH.D., LL.D., F.R.H.S.
        EDWARDS PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN HlIrORY
            PRINCETON UNIVERSITY



VOLUME
II



HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
   NEW YORK AND LONDON
          MCMXXIII

 



























  GROVER CLEVELAND

THE MAN AND THE STATESMAN


      Copyright, 1923

   By Harper & Brothers

   Printed in the U. S. A.




           M-X

 


                    CONTENTS

                    VOLUME II

CHAPTER                                           PAGE
   I. THE FIRST BATTLE WITH BRYAN-THE REPEAL OF THE
       SHERMAN LAW . . . . . . . . . . .               I

  II. BLOCKING "MANIFEST DESTINY" IN HAWAII . . .      45  

  III. BREAKING THE ENDLESS CHAIN-THE FOUR BOND
       ISSUES  .  . .  .  . .  .  .  . .  .  . .   74

 IV. THE WILSON-GORMAN TARIFF . . . . . . . I07

 V. THE PULLMAN- STRIKE OF 1894. . . .           138

 VI. THE VENEZUELAN AFFAIR    .     .    .173

 VII. THE WARWICK OF I896 .  . . . . . . . . 203

 V1III. THE FOUR LEANT MONTHS .  . . . . . . . 238

 IX. RETIRES TO PRINCETON .  . . . . . . . . 2 56

 X. XVATCHING THE GAME FROMI THE SIDE LINES . . . 27I

 XI. THE TURN OF THE TIDE.     . . .  .  .   . . 301

 XII. THE ELECTION OF I904 .  . . . . . . . . 32I

XIII. REORGANIZING THE EQUITABLE.  . . . . . . 350

XIV. SUNSET DAYS . .    . . . . . . . . . . 365

     INDEX  .  . .  .  . .  .  .  . .  .  .  . .  417

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  GROVER CLEVELAND
THE MAN AND THE STATESMAN

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       GROVER CLEVELAND

                  CHAPTER I

  THE FIRST BATTLE WITH BRYAN-THE REPEAL OF THE
                  SHERMAN LAW

      "Patriotism is no substitute for a sound currency."
                            -GROVER CLEVELAND.

Tip HE election of November, 1892, placed Grover
     Cleveland in a position unique in American his-
tory. He was the only President ever re-elected after
a defeat. Furthermore, he was the first President-elect
since 1840 who was manifestly a greater political figure
than any man whom he could conceivably select for his
Cabinet
   Harrison and Tyler had been outclassed by many
leaders in their own party. James K. Polk had his WVil-
liam L. Marcy, his Robert J. Walker, his George Ban-
croft; Zachary Taylor, his John M. Clayton, Reverdy
Johnson, and Thomas Ewing; Franklin Pierce, to his
own generation, looked small beside Marcy, Guthrie, and
Caleb Cushing; and James Buchanan was clearly
eclipsed by Lewis Cass. Lincoln started his presidential
career with both Seward and Chase to overshadow him.
Andrew Johnson was outclassed in the public mind by
most of the Cabinet which he inherited from Lincoln.
Grant, though eminent as a soldier, was politically of
small stature beside Elihu Washburn or Hamilton Fish.
Hayes was dwarfed by Evarts, Sherman, and Carl
                         I

 
GROVER CLEVELAND



Schur'z. Blaine, as Secretary of State, completely over-
topped both Garfield and Arthur, while Cleveland him-
self in 1884 was far less eminent than either Tilden or
Thomas F. Bayard. But with Grover Cleveland's resto-
ration, the older and better tradition was resumed, for,
with the single exception of Monroe's first term, every
administration down to that of William Henry Harri-
son had begun with a President more eminent than any
of his advisers.
   In addition to this personal prestige, Mr. Cleveland
returned to power with the added advantage of being
the first President since Pierce whose party was in a posi-
tion to control both Senate and Congress. During his
first term Congress had been Democratic; but the Re-
publicans had controlled the Senate, and f rom that strong-
hold had wrought havoc upon many of his cherished
plans. Now, however, for a brief but satisfying period,
he found himself riding the crest of the wave, his tri-
umphant party eagerly hailing him chief, and even the
Republicans admitting that he had "qualities."
   In the House of Representatives he was entitled to
expect the support of two hundred and nineteen out of a
membership of three hundred and fifty-five, with one
seat vacant. Out of a Senate of eighty-eight the Demo-
crats numbered forty-four, while the three seats yet to
be filled gave them hope of a majority, especially as the
five Populist Senators might reasonably be expected to
train with them. To all appearances, therefore, Mr.
Cleveland could count upon the support of both Houses,
and but for the break in his own party when the testing
time came, he might have commanded the storm for
many a day.
   When ready to choose his Cabinet, Mr. Cleveland
felt it wise to select new men who would bring new points

 
THE FIRST BATTLE WITH BRYAN



of view and new suggestions to bear upon the problems
confronting the country. And so, while freely seeking
the personal advice of his old Cabinet associates, he per-
sistently looked elsewhere for official advisers.
   On January 25, i893. he wrote to L. Clarke Davis:

   "Bayard came to me night before last and left this
morning. We had a very frank and unrestrained talk,
as we have always had, and so far as he can do so, he has,
like the good patriotic friend he is, left matters almost
entirely in my control.
   "I am dreadfully perplexed and bothered. I cannot
get the men I want to help me, but strange to say, my
greatest trials come through those professing to be near
and attached friends, who expect things.
   "I hope the skies will lighten by and by, but I have
never seen a day since I consented to drift with events
that I have not cursed myself for yielding; and in these
particular days I think I curse a little more heartily than
ever. This is strange talk and perhaps seems ungracious
and unappreciative. It is nothing of the kind. It pre-
sents only the personal side of the matter; and sometimes
when I feel that perhaps I may after all be the instru-
ment of doing good to the American people whom I know
I love, I am quite happy."

   That night he offered Bayard's old post, the portfolio
of State, to Judge Walter Q. Gresham, of Indiana, a man
who, except for the year i864, when he had been unable
to go to the polls, had voted the Republican ticket at
every presidential election since the party was organized.
Gresham had served as Secretary of the Treasury for one
month during Arthur's administration, and at the opening
of the campaign of i892, had been in the minds of many



3

 


anti-Harrison leaders, a possible Republican nominee
for the Presidency. Indeed, according to the memoir pub-
lished by his widow, he had been actually asked to lead
the Republicans in a fight for the nomination, but had
answered: "I am out of politics, and have no political
aspirations." The People's party, too, had offered him
their nomination, and this also he had declined, declaring
to his son that he thought the thing for him to do was to
take the stump for Grover Cleveland, largely because of
the latter's tariff views. Gresham's support under such
circumstances had been of great value to the Democratic
ticket, but the offer of the leading place in the Cabinet
came as a surprise, and he at first declined. Mr. Cleve-
land met his objections with the assurance that "prior
political affiliations matter not a bit." Whitney, Carlisle,
Henry Watterson, and other prominent Democrats added
their arguments, and Mr. Gresham finally accepted the
appointment. In acknowledging the acceptance, Mr.
Cleveland wrote:

Confidential.
                               Lakewood, N. J.
Hon. Walter Q. Gresham.             Feby. 9, 1893.
My dear Sir:
   Your letter of the 7th instant came to hand two or
three hours ago, and causes me the greatest satisfaction.
I know perfectly well that only considerations of patriot-
ism and duty have constrained you to accede to my wishes,
and I assure you this vastly increases my appreciation
of what you have done. . . .
   I would certainly be exceedingly glad to have a chat
with you between now and the 4th of March, and hope
that your work will so close up as to enable you to come
to me.



GROVER CLEVELAND



4

 
THE FIRST BATTLE WITH BRYAN



   I have settled, I think, on five members of the Cabi-
net. I mean to have Carlisle for the Treasury-Lamont
for War-Bissell (of Buffalo, one of my oldest friends
and former partner) for Postmaster General, and Hoke
Smith, of Georgia (a very able representative of the new
and progressive South), for Interior. This leaves Navy,
Attorney General and Agriculture still to be selected. I
want George Gray, Senator from Delaware, to accept
the Attorney General's place, but he has thus far,
strangely enough, declined. If there was a first-rate man
in Alabama, Mississippi, or that neighborhood, I would
like to consider him. If not, I am prepared to take a
man from almost any quarter.
   I offered Agriculture to Bliss of Iowa; but he and
his friends are reckoning on his making a successful
canvass for United States Senator next fall, and he de-
clined my invitation. The Navy ought not to be a very
hard place to fill, but I have not just the man in view yet.
It is barely possible that I may induce Senator Gray to
take the Attorney Generalship after all, but I hardly
expect it.
   I would be very glad to receive any suggestions you
may make concerning incumbents for these vacant places.
Now that I have secured the head of my Cabinet, I feel
that it should be completed as soon as possible.
   If your leisure and convenience permit, I hope you
will write to me. Please address me by letter or dispatch
at this place.
                 Very sincerely yours,
                               GROVER CLEVELAND.

   Disappointed in his hope of securing Senator Gray
as Attorney General, Mr. Cleveland appointed Richard
Olney, whom he had met but once, but whose qualifica-



5

 
GROVER CLEVELAND



tions he had carefully investigated. Mr. Olney's success
as counsel for the Eastern Railroad in I875, during a
period of peculiar difficulty, had established his reputa-
tion as a lawyer, and he had ably sustained the reputa-
tion thus secured.
   As Secretary of the Navy, Hilary A. Herbert, of Ala-
bama, was finally selected, while Julius Sterling Morton,
of Nebraska, accepted the post of Secretary of Agricul-
ture. Thus the Cabinet was complete, and of the men
chosen only Lamont had been associated with his first
administration.
   In describing his Cabinet to Richard Watson Gilder,
the President-elect said of John G. Carlisle: "We are
just right for each other. He knows all ! ought to know,
and I can bear all we have to bear." And already his
daily mail showed many premonitory symptoms of what
he would have to bear.
   Office seekers of every conceivable type once more
employed every means to impress upon him the duty of
a President with power to bestow. Some of these appeals
were pathetic, some patriotic; but the vast majority were
grotesque, almost illiterate pleas for pay for alleged party
service.
   One bore the distressingly familiar ring, which had
called forth so many pension vetoes during his first term:
"I congratulate you with greetings of love. Forget not
the noble soldier. Procrastinate not. Strike at once.
Give pensions to all that fought."
   Another of equally well-known purport ran: "Please
send me immediately J,ooo, to which you are indebted
to me, to say nothin about the pain and sufferin endured,
caused by a pure accident when celebratin your election."
   A third mingled his good wishes with a request for
45, giving as his reason: "I had ben votin the Demo-



6

 
THE FIRST BATTLE WITH BRYAN



crat ticket ever sense the War, and I have never received
anything for my trouble. goin to the election whitch
some of the Republicans has been payed for votin there
own ticket."
  "A young lady aged 17 years old," opened her epistle
with the words: "Thou ruler of the United, as such you
are and have a rite to be, bein Democratic." And a
New Englander, less effusive but doubtless equally sin-
cere, modestly apologized for the form of his congratula-
tions in the words: "I am not very mutch on the writin
and spelin but then you will excuse I bein Born in
Maine."
   Thus again Mr. Cleveland knew what the psycholo-
gists call "the reality feeling." The burden which he
had shifted to another Atlas in i889 was his again, and
while grateful for the confidence of the people, he was
far from elated. "Every feeling of jubilation," he wrote.
"and even my sense of gratitude is so tempered as to be
almost entirely obscured by the realization, nearly pain-
ful, of the responsibility I have assumed in the sight of
the American people."
   Although executive authority was not yet his, his sense
of responsibility drove him ruthlessly. At his office in
the Mills Building, New York, he received the brunt
of the office seekers' attacks. At his retreat in Lakewood,
he welcomed his friends and those political leaders whose
advice and assistance he requested. But whether in New
York or in Lakewood, he avoided no obligation, and
worked at the people's problems as though he were
already once more the people's sworn servant.
   "I have just been to see Mr. Cleveland at Lakewood,"
wrote Thomas F. Bayard to Judge Lambert Tree, "and
his self-abnegation and simple devotion to the great work
which confronts him touch and impress me greatly. No



7

 
GROVER CLEVELAND



small purpose has any right to be brought into view
where he is concerned, and self-seeking should stand re-
buked in his presence."
   The month before inauguration Mr. Cleveland de-
voted largely to work upon his address, abandoning his
office hour at the Mills Building. Toward the end of
that period Dr. Wilton Merle Smith, pastor of a New
York church which Mr. Cleveland frequently attended,
paid a visit to Lakewood.
   "Come into my den," said Mr. Cleveland, "I want
to read you my inaugural speech." When he had fin-
ished the final paragraph: "Above all I know there is
a Supreme Being who rules the affairs of men, and whose
goodness and mercy have always followed the American
people, and I know He will not turn from us now if
we humbly and reverently seek His powerful aid," his
visitor remarked, "I like it immensely and its conclusion
best of all." "I will never forget," said Dr. Smith later,
'the way this strong man then paced up and down the
floor, and returned and returned, with these words, 'I
suppose at times you will not approve many things I
do, but I want you to know that I am trying to do what
is right. I have a hungry party behind me, and they say
I am not grateful. Sometimes the pressure is almost
overwhelming, and a President cannot always get at the
exact truth, but I want you to know, and all my friends
to know, that I am trying to do what is right-I am try-
ing to do what is right.'"
   Shortly before the date fixed for Mr. Cleveland's de-
parture for Washington, a number of his intimate friends
presented him with a watch. In his letter of thanks to
Mr. Gilder, he wrote: "I expected to see you this evening
and did not suspect any such conspiracy as was developed
when the beautiful gift sent to me by yourself and your



8

 
THE FIRST BATTLE WITH BRYAN9



'pals' reached my hands. I don't know what to say to
'you fellows'-and no wonder, for I never had so fine a
present before.
   "I can only say that I am perfectly delighted, and that
this reminder of real friendliness comes to me at a time
when my surroundings do not indicate that all friendship
is sincere and disinterested. I thank you from the bottom
of my heart."
   Cleveland took his second oath as President with the
ground white with snow. Before him spread an audi-
ence in which appeared at points the glint of Indian
costumes, denoting not real red men but Tammany tigers.
Led by Richard Croker and other of Mr. Cleveland's
ancient opponents, Tammany, for the moment, celebrated
Cleveland's return.
   As he faced the sea of upturned faces awaiting his
inaugural address, he boldly resumed the topic which
four years earlier had caused his defeat. "The verdict
of our voters which condemns the injustice of maintain-
ing protection for protection's sake," he declared, "en-
joins upon the people's servants the duty of exposing
and destroying the brood of kindred evils which are the
unwholesome progeny of paternalism." The fact that in
his message of I887 he had doomed himself and his party
to defeat by a frank avowal of the same view, induced
no caution. To his mind, personal or party defeats were
merely incidents in the operation of great forces. It was
his intention to bring about a sweeping reform of the
tariff, and his method was to let the country know it
at the earliest possible moment.
   To those Democrats who despite his previous utter-
ances still hoped that Grover Cleveland would promise
to "do something for silver," he presented an uncompro-
mising front. And he as frankly disappointed those who



9

 
GROVER CLEVELAND



had ventured to suggest that he would "soft-pedal" when
touching questions of wastefulness, civil service, and pen-
sion reform.
   His speech was a reiteration of his past speeches.
Four years' relief from executive cares had altered none
of his fundamental conceptions. Simply, frankly, and
uncompromisingly, he declared not new views but old:
"Nothing is more vital to our supremacy as a nation . . .
than a sound and stable currency"; "the injustice of main-
taining protection for protection's sake"; "a challenge
of wild and reckless pension expenditures"; "the waste
of public money is a crime" ; "to secure the fitness and
competency of appointees to office and remove from po-
litical action the demoralizing madness of spoils"; "legit-
imate strife in business should not be superseded by an
enforced concession to the demands of combinations that
have the power to destroy."
   The address made a profound impression in Europe.
The President of the Paris Council caused extracts from
it to be printed for use in the public schools of France,
and the Papal Nuncio declared that it was: "One of the
grandest spectacles of modern times to see the head of
a great nation inculcate such lessons of morality and prac-
tical religion."
  No sooner was the ceremony of inauguration over
than Mr. Cleveland encountered, with regard to almost
every article of his creed, bitter and determined oppo-
sition, not only from the Republicans, but from  his
own party as well. In the lower House, which had been
elected under the same popular inspiration which had
restored him, the adverse current remained within
bounds, thanks to the high-minded leadership of Mr.
Wilson, of West Virginia, and many of his efforts to
carry out the promises made to the people found a fair



TO

 
THE FIRST BATTLE WITH BRYAN'



degree of party support. But the Democratic contingent
of the Senate was controlled by men who hated Cleveland
and spared no pains to block his measures. To such
opposition the Republicans gave assistance, for to them
Grover Cleveland was only the first successful leader of
Democracy since the small years of the century, and
their business was to add party opposition to personal
opposition, that the days of his power might prove as
few as possible.
   Thus the new President soon saw that his expected
majority in the Senate was not to be realized. He was,
in short, in the unenviable position of a leader deter-
mined to lead, at the head of a band of followers who
refused to follow, and this at a time when the situation
was most perplexing and difficult.
   His party was pledged to tariff reform, but there
seemed little chance of securing it in the face of such a
combination. Civil service, too, was part of its promise
to the people, but the Democratic leaders, with reform
ardor cooled by victory, found satisfying absolution in
the fact that the Republicans had packed the federal
offices with their henchmen as rapidly as vacancies had
occurred, thus restoring the inequality which had pre-
vailed for a quarter of a century before Mr. Cleveland's
coming.
   To upset this iniquitous situation, so at variance with
the will of the people as expressed in the recent elec-
tions, they boldly declared a necessary preliminary to
real reform. They pointed out the fact that of the
200,000 employees in the civil service of the United States
only 43,000 were classified according to the rules of civil
service reform, and that of this 43,000 a large percentage
were but examples of how a defeated party can, in the
last few hours of its power, use civil service reform laws



I I

 
GROVER CLEVELAND



to furnish permanent berths for its members. Particu-
larly did they denounce Amended Postal Rule No. i,
signed by President Harrison two months before his re-
tirement, which brought some 7,500 federal employees
of the free delivery post-offices within the protection of
the civil service laws.
   "This is perhaps the most important extension that
has ever taken place under the civil service law," runs
the Commissioners' annual report, signed by Theodore
Roosevelt and Charles Lyman. ". . . It is needless to
point out the very great benefit conferred upon the public
at large and upon the cause of decent politics by this
extension of the classified service."
   Doubtless Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Lyman were sin-
cere in this opinion, but the minority report signed by
the third Commissioner, George D. Johnston, gave a
different interpretation, and one more favorable to the
case of Democratic politicians desirous of removals.
Writing to President Cleveland, on November 21, I893,
Johnston declared the action the very opposite of reform:
"The extension of the classified service does not of ne-
cessity mean civil service reform. . . . When such an
extension is ordered by an administration and goes into
effect shortly before the government is turned over to an-
other administration of different political faith and party
affiliation, known to be friendly to the cause of civil
service reform, it is difficult to reconcile it to fair-minded
men of all parties as a non-partisan measure."
   While inclined to accept the minority interpretation,
Mr. Cleveland showed his confidence in Theodore Roose-
velt by the announcement that he would be retained as
Civil Service Commissioner, and this decision was hailed
with enthusiasm by the reformers of both parties. Carl



I 2

 
THE FIRST BATTLE WITH BRYAN3



Schurz declared it "A great event, and in itself a large
program for the next four years."
   Mr. Roosevelt fully agreed with the President's view
that "public office is a public trust," but, being far more
ardent in his desire to hold public office, was far more
active in seeking it. "He who has not wealth owes his
first duty to his family," he once declared, "but he who
has means owes his to the State."
   Mr. Cleveland, on the other hand, believed that a
citizen should not court public place. The Inter-Ocean,
of May 3, 1903, recalls a conversation between him and
Mr. Roosevelt shortly after the latter's reappointment as
Civil Service Commissioner. To the question, "Do you
intend to remain active in politics" Mr. Roosevelt re-
turned an instant affirmative. "I am sorry to hear it,"
Mr. Cleveland replied. "It is enough to be a good
citizen."
   But though anxious to retain Roosevelt's services,
Mr. Cleveland had no intention of allowing any one ele-
ment, even the civil service reformers, to run the govern-
ment. He believed that the Democrats, as the victorious
party commissioned by the people, were entitled to con-
trol, and he did not scruple to appoint competent Demo-
crats, chiefly because they were Democrats. Nor did he
hesitate to appoint competent Republicans, whatever the
opposition, when the situation demanded it. Incompe-
tent candidates, whether Democrats or Republicans, he
stoutly refused to appoint, however great the political
pressure back of their applications. He was, moreover,
always ready to correct injustice when convinced that in-
justice had been done, as is shown by the following cor-
respondence between Mark Twain and the President's
daughter Ruth, aged one.



I 3

 


"My dear Ruth,
   "I belong to the mugwumps, and one of the most
sacred rules of our order prevents us from asking favors
of officials or recommending men to office, but there is
no harm in writing a friendly letter to you and telling
you that an infernal outrage is about to be committed
by your father in turning out of office the best consul
I know [Captain Mason, Consul General at Frankfort]
(and I know a great many) just because he is a Republi-
can and a Democrat wants his place."

   Mr. Clemens then related what he knew of Captain
Mason and his official record, and continued:

   "I can't send any message to the President, but the
next time you have a talk with him concerning such mat-
ters, I wish you would tell him about Captain Mason
and what I think of a government that so treats its effi-
cient officials."

   Three or four weeks later Mr. Clemens received a
tiny envelope postmarked Washington, in which was a
note, written in President Cleveland's own hand. It
read:

   "Miss Ruth Cleveland begs to acknowledge the re-
ceipt of Mr. Twain's letter, and to say that she took the
liberty of reading it to the President, who desires her to
thank Mr. Twain for his information and to say to him
that Captain Mason will not be disturbed in the Frank-
fort Consulate. The President also desires Miss Cleve-
land to say that if Mr. Twain knows of any other cases
of this kind he would be greatly obliged if he will write
him concerning them at his earliest convenience."



GROVER CLEVELAND



I 4

 
THE FIRST BATTLE WITH BRYAN         5



   But despite his readiness to accept advice from dis-
interested sources, MIr. Cleveland took every step possi-
ble to strip from Congressmen and Senators the harness
by which they were accustomed to draw the chariot of
the spoils system. To this end, and to the indignation
of Senators with expectant officials in tow, he issued the
following executive order:
                             Executive Mansion,
                                      May 8, 1893.
   It has become apparent after two months' experience
that the rules heretofore promulgated regulating inter-
views with the President have wholly failed in opera-
tion. The time which under those rules was set apart
for the reception of senators and representatives has been
spent almost entirely in listening to applications for office,
which have been bewildering in volume, perplexing and
exhausting in their iteration, and impossible of remem-
brance.
   A due regard for public duty, which must be neg-
lected if present conditions continue, and an observance
of the limitations placed upon human endurance oblige
me to decline from and after this date all personal inter-
views with those seeking appointments to office, except
as I, on my own motion, may especially invite them. ...
   I earnestly request senators and representatives to aid
me in securing for them uninterrupted interviews by de-
clining to introduce their constituents and friends when
visiting the executive mansion during the hours desig-
nated for their reception. Applicants for office will only
prejudice their prospects by repeated importunities and
by remaining at Washington to await results.

   This did not, of course, solve the problem, but it did
something to relieve the strain, leaving him a little freer



I15

 
GROVER CLEVELAND



to follow his conscience in matters which the Constitu-
tion had made his responsibility.
   During the remainder of his term he worked slowly
toward the ideal of the reformers, and by the end the
42,950 classified officers mentioned in the Commissioners'
tenth annual report had grown into 84,000, while only ioo
civil servants at the National Capitol were outside the
graded service.
   But the outstanding conflict of Mr. Cleveland's first
year of restored power was not civil service but currency
reform, the state of the nation's circulating medium when
President Harrison surrendered the reins of government
making prompt action imperative. The situation which
culminated in the panic of 1893 had begun, long before
Mr. Cleveland's restoration, with a widespread business
prostration, the responsibility for which he laid at the
door of those who had yielded to the oft-repeated plea:
"Do something for silver." During his first term he had
made clear his attitude toward what he called "the free
silver heresy," and through his Secretary of the Treas-
ury, Daniel Manning, had devoted himself whole-heart-
edly to conserving the gold balance in the Treasury. He
had suspended for a time the bond purchases, discon-
tinued the issue of i and 2 greenbacks, in order to
increase the demand for silver certificates, and had sold
to New York City bankers 5,915,000 worth of subsidiary
silver coin, receiving gold in payment. These measures
he had taken by executive action alone, existing condi-
tions not being serious enough to justify an extra session
of Congress.
   In his first message, he had denounced the existing
silver purchase law, the Bland-Allison Act in these
words:



i6

 
THE FIRST BATTLE WITH BRYAN



   "Since February, 1878, the government has under the
compulsory provisions of law purchased silver bullion
and coined the same at the rate of more than 2,000,000
every month. By this process up to the present date,
215,759,431 silver dollars have been coined. . . . Only
about So,ooo,ooo of the silver dollars so coined have actu-
ally found their way into circulation, leaving more than
i6S,ooo,ooo in the possession of the government, the cus-
tody of which has entailed a considerable expense for the
construction of vaults for its deposit. Against this latter
amount there are outstanding silver certificates amount-
ing to about 93,ooo,ooo.
   "Every month two millions of gold . . . are paid out
for two millions of silver dollars, to be added to the
idle mass already accumulated.
   "If continued long enough, this operation will result
in the substitution of silver for all the gold the govern-
ment owns applicable to its general purposes.
   "It will not do to rely upon the customs receipts of
the government to make good this drain of gold, because
the silver thus coined having been made legal tender for
all debts and dues, public and private, at times during
the last six months, 587o of the receipts for duties has
been in silver or silver certificates, while the average
within that period has been 20.
   "This proportion . . . will probably increase as time
goes on, for the reason that the nearer the period ap-
proaches when it will be obliged to offer silver in pay-
ment of its obligations, the greater inducement there will
be to hoard gold against depreciation in the value of
silver or for the purpose of speculating.
   "This hoarding of gold has already begun.
   "When the time comes that gold has been withdrawn
from circulation, then will be apparent the difference



I7

 

GROVER CLEVELAND



between the real value of the silver dollar and a dollar
in gold, and the two coins will part company. Gold, still
the standard of value and necessary in our dealings with
other countries, will be at a premium over silver; banks
which have substituted gold for the deposits of their cus-
tomers may pay them with silver . . . thus making a
handsome profit; rich speculators will sell their hoarded
gold to their neighbors who need it to liquidate their
foreign debts, at a ruinous premium over silver, and the
laboring men and women of the land, most defenceless
of all, will find that the dollar received for the wages
of their toil has sadly shrunk in its purchasing power.
   "If this silver coinage be continued, we may reason-
ably expect that gold and its equivalent will abandon
the field of c