Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-06

I W
Bokine. then in the cabinet. through Sem
ator Frye. The bill was passed In the last
days OF September. and was signed by
the President October I. 1t went into
operation October q.
OF course the congressional campaign
was already on. 1t was only four weeks
until the election. 1t was impossible for
the country to have felt the effect OF the
measure. for 1t was not yet In working
order. But all during the long debate
the democrats had made the most Of
their opportunity to riddle the bill and
to point out the alleged evils 1t con-
tanned.
Peddlers were sent through republican
congressional districts with wagons load
ed with tinware, for which enormous
prices were asked. The housewives were
told that the Mckinley bill had put up
the prices. This campaign device was
worked In Mr.. McKinley's own district.
All over the country the democratic ora
tors were busily engaged In tearing down
the new bill before II was really passed.
The result Of the election in November
was an unprecedented rout of the re-
publican forces. Speaker Reed was re-
elected in Maine in September. but that
was before the hill had passed. Mr.. Nc
kinley. Mr.. Cannon and many other re-
publican leaders went down in the gem
eral disaster. The House which passed
the Mckinley bill had 173 republicans to
1J6 democrats and 1 Independent. The
House elected in 1890 had 231 democrats
only " republicans and IA populfsts. The
democrats had the largest majority in
d lat Congress. the Fifty-second. ever
possessed by any congressional party.
=
The democrats in great glee began at
once to prepare for the presidential cam
paign of 1892
Money Question The Mckinley
t,o1
Would Not Down. D OH mao Oeen re.
House was overwhelmingly democratic.
but the Senate still was republican. Great
political unrest filled the country. The
republican Congress in 1850 attempted to
settle the money question by passing the
Sherman compromise measure providing
for the purchase Of a certain amount Of
silver bullion each month. But the prob
lem grew more and more insistent. The
country was in a very bad condition,
financially, and in the west the farmers
were grooming under a burden of debt
and poverty which was threatening po-
litical revolution. The Farmers Alliance
developed into the populist party and
the new organization made some surpris-
Ing advances in the west, sending four
teen representatives and two senator's to
the Fffty-second Congress. The western
ers Of all parties were for free silver. The
fasteners Of both parties were for the
gold standard.
But in 1892 neither party was willing
or able to take a position on the money
question. The democrats forced the
fighting by declaring unequivocally for
q reduction Of tariff duties The republic
cans defended the Mckinley bill as best
they could, in view of the disaster of
1890, but they talked more about reci-
procity than about protection.
-
Harrison and Cleveland again were the
leaders Of the two parties. The populists
nominated James
Democrats Gain B. Weaver OF
Absolute Control. n rO~ ana a... IN
states the democrats and populists fused
against the republicans. The result was
confirmation Of the election of 1890.
The republicans gained back some of the
congressional districts they had lost two
years before. but the democrats had go
members Of the House to 126 republicans
and eight populists. while the Senate had
again changed complexion and was prac-
tically under democratic control. There
were forty-four democratic senators,
thirty-eight republicans, one Independent
and two pOpulists, with three vacancies.
This gave the democrats a majority of
three and plurality over the republic
cans of six.
Cleveland carried states which thereto
fore had been deemed solidly republican,
including Illinois and Wisconsin, receiv-
ing 277 electoral votes to 145 for Harri-
son and % for Weaver. This was the
only time since the civil war that third
party candidate for President has re-
ceived any electoral votes. Weaver car
ried. Colorado, Idaho. Kansas and
Nebraska and got one vote from Oregon
and one from North Dakota.
The result was that the democrats on
March 4, 1898. came into complete control
of the federal government for the first
time since Buchanan's administration.
The President, the Senate and the House
OF Representatives all were democratic.
After the election in November the demo-
cratic press was jubilant. but even be-
fore the beginning Of the new admins
tration signs Of discord began to be APP
parent and the rumble Of the coming
storm was plainly to be heard. The
democratic triumph was destined soon to
be turned into a party catastrophe.
Tomorrow - CONGRESSIONAL CAM.
PAIGNS.
XIv-The Landslide OF 1894.