594. New Standard of Time.

Much annoyance and confusion had been caused by the various standards of time in different parts of the country, and in 1883, a Railway Oct., 1883 Time Convention in Chicago adopted an improved system. The United States was divided into four sections, each of which embraced about fifteen degrees of longitude. In each section the local time of the central meridian was to be observed as the standard, though this rule is not strictly adhered to. The first section, reaching seven and one half degrees on each side of the 75th meridian west from Greenwich, has "eastern time." The standard time of the second section is the local time of the 90th meridian, one hour later than eastern time, and is known as "central time." The third division has the local time of the 105th meridian; it is called "mountain time," and is two hours slower than eastern time. The 120th meridian passes through the central part of the fourth division, which reaches the Pacific Ocean. The standard time for this is three hours behind that of the first section, and is called "Pacific time." On November 18, 1883, clocks and watches were set by this new standard of time. 595. International Cotton Exposition. The first cotton exported from the United States was shipped in 1784. The

1884

amount was eight bags, which held about as much as one bale. The export in 1884 was 3,884,233 bales, and about 2,000,000 of these were shipped from New

Orleans, which, as the greatest cotton port of the United States, was selected as the place for holding an exposition in honor of the hundredth anniversary of the first shipment and to show the immense growth of the cotton industry. For this purpose Congress appropriated a loan of $1,000,000, and $500,000 more were raised by subscription. There was a magnificent display of products and manufactures, showing the progress of the South. The cotton crop this year reached 8,000,000 bales, and large quantities of corn and wheat were raised. Factories and mills had been built in many places. Large numbers of visitors from all parts of the country were in attendance. President Arthur, far away in Washington, touched an electric button and set the machinery in motion. 596. The Electric Car. For the electric car, the country is under obligations to Edison. His experiments were with a railroad two miles long at Menlo Park, New Jersey. Electric cars were first used for passengers in 1884. The "trolley" soon began everywhere to take the place of horse cars. Their rapid movement put the workingman within easy reach of the pure air of the country, and the cities expanded in all directions. More than two billion passengers are now carried over the electric railroads of the country every year.

1884

1884

597. Presidential Election. A great deal of revenue for carrying on the war had been obtained by raising the duty on imported goods, and as this high tariff had been continued since the war, much of the war debt had been paid, and a surplus was accumulating in the treasury. Hence, the people desired to be relieved of this heavy tax, and the question of reducing the tariff became a leading point in the presidential campaign of 1884.

The Republicans nominated James G. Blaine, of Maine. A number of independent Republicans were displeased with this nomination, and determined to vote with the Democrats. They were called "mugwumps," an old Indian word meaning "chiefs." The Democrats nominated Grover Cleve

land, of New York, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana. This party pledged itself to "revise the tariff in a spirit of fairness to all interests," and to "limit all taxation to the requirement of economical government." A new party, called Prohibitionists, had been organized by the temperance reformers, who were using every effort to banish from the country the use of intoxicating liquors. They nominated John P. St. John, of Kansas. Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, represented the Independent Republicans, who were unwilling to vote for Mr. Blaine.

The vote of the people turned in favor of the Democrats, and after ruling during a term of nearly twenty-five years the Republican party retired from office.

QUESTIONS FOR STUDY

What was the result of removing the Federal troops from the South? What caused the railroad strikes of 1877 ? What was the effect of the Bland Silver Bill? Of the resumption of specie payments? Is it probable that we will ever have another scourge of yellow fever? Why not? What are the objects of civil service reform ? What did the Exposition at New Orleans celebrate? What are the advantages of the trolley car? What do you know of Thomas A. Edison?

CHAPTER III

LABOR TROUBLES AND THE TARIFF

CLEVELAND'S 1 FIRST ADMINISTRATION - 1885-9

598. Civil Service Reform inaugurated. When President Cleveland entered upon the duties of his office, he retained the majority of the employés who had received their appoint

1 Grover Cleveland, the son of a Presbyterian minister, was born in the little town of Caldwell, New Jersey, in 1837. He was only three years old when his father removed to Fayetteville, New York. His time was spent in school until he reached the age of fourteen. He then began work as a clerk in one of the stores of the town. There his industry and faithful attention to his duties soon won for him the confidence and respect of his employers. After his father's death, he went to try his fortune in the city of Buffalo. There he had some hard struggles with poverty. At length he decided to

ments under the former administration.

The "spoils system

seemed to have come to an end, and the requirements of the

Civil Service Bill were generally

observed.

599. Death of Noted Men. A number of prominent men died during this administration. Among them were Generals Grant, McClellan, and Hancock, Vice President Hendricks, Mr. Tilden, and ex-President Arthur. The death of General Grant in 1886 caused universal sorrow. Flags were hoisted at half-mast, the White House was draped in mourning. By a proclamation of the President, all places of business in the capital city were ordered to be closed on the day of his funeral, and an immense procession in New York marched with his remains to the tomb. The sudden death of Vice President Hendricks, at his home in Indianapolis, occurred the same year. Congress at its next meeting elected John Sherman, of Ohio, president of the Senate pro tempore, and he became the acting Vice President.

GROVER CLEVELAND

1886

600. Law of Presidential Succession. -The death of President Garfield and of Vice President Hendricks caused the people to feel the necessity for a law which should define more exactly upon whom the duties of the chief office of the government should devolve, in case of the death begin the study of law. He took the position of office boy for a prominent law firm in Buffalo, and obtained the privilege of using the library belonging to the firm. By industry and study, he finally gained the preparation necessary for admission to the bar, to which his ambition had all along pointed. His advent into public life was as assistant district attorney; later he became a sheriff. Afterwards, at a time when his services were greatly needed, he was elected mayor of the city of Buffalo. The next step was to the governor's office in the capital of New York. While he filled that position he was nominated by the Democratic convention as a candidate for the presidency.

Mr. Cleveland and Miss Frances Folsom, of Buffalo, New York, were married in the Blue Room of the White House on the evening of June 2, 1886.

of both President and Vice President. Accordingly a bill was passed by Congress, providing that, if both of these offices should from any cause become vacant, a member of the Cabinet should be made President, the order of succession being as follows: the Secretaries of State, Treasury, War, the Attorney-General, the Postmaster-General, and the Secretaries of the Navy and the Interior. There was not at that time a separate department of Agriculture; it was not established until 1889.

1886

601. Counting Electoral Votes. To prevent a repetition of the trouble which occurred in some of the states at the time of the presidential election of 1876, Congress in 1886 passed an act revising the method of counting electoral votes, and making each state responsible for the settlement of any dispute arising in regard to its own vote. 602. Interstate Commerce Act. Congress also passed a law for regulating the rates charged by railroads for passengers and freight between the states.

1887

603. Knights of Labor. For several years a feeling of enmity had been growing up between the workingmen and their employers - the manufacturers and the capitalists of the country. When the laboring men saw the immense wealth of the men who owned the mines, the mills, and the railroads, it seemed to the former that they were not getting a just share of the profits of their labor. They felt that the hours of labor were too long, and they began to urge upon their employers the justice of paying them their usual wages for eight hours a day. All over the country societies called "Knights of Labor" were formed. At their meetings this question was freely discussed. At length they determined to take the law into their own hands. Strikes were held in many places. In Chicago alone thirty thousand idle men walked the streets. Railroad business was seriously interrupted; switches were left out of place, trains thrown from the track, and much valuable property destroyed.

604. Haymarket Riot. The leading anarchists of Chicago