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CLEVELAND, STEPHEN GROVER (1837-1908)

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 503 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CLEVELAND, See also:STEPHEN GROVER (1837-1908) , See also:president of the See also:United States from 1885 to 1889, and again from 1893 to 1897, was See also:born, the fifth in a See also:family of nine See also:children, in the See also:village of Caldwell, See also:Essex See also:county, New See also:Jersey, on the 18th of See also:March 1837. His See also:father, See also:Richard F. Cleveland, a clergyman of the Presbyterian See also:Church, was of See also:good colonial stock, a descendant of See also:Moses Cleveland, who emigrated from See also:Ipswich, See also:England, to See also:Massachusetts in 1635. The family removed to See also:Fayetteville, N.Y., and afterwards to See also:Clinton, N.Y. It was intended that See also:young Grover should be educated at See also:Hamilton See also:College, but this was prevented by his father's See also:death in 1852. A few years later he drifted westward with twenty-five dollars in his See also:pocket, and the autumn of 1855 found him in a See also:law See also:office in the See also:city of See also:Buffalo. At the end of four years (1859), he was admitted to the See also:bar. In 1863 he was appointed assistant See also:district See also:attorney of See also:Erie county, of which Buffalo is the See also:chief city. This was his first public office, and it came to him, like all later preferments, without any solicitation of his own. Two years later (1865) he was the Democratic See also:candidate for district attorney, but was defeated. In 1869 Cleveland was nominated by the Democratic party for the office of See also:sheriff, and, despite the fact that Erie county was normally Republican by a decisive See also:majority, was elected. The years immediately succeeding his retirement from the office of sheriff in 1873 he devoted exclusively to the practice of law, coming to be generally recognized as one of the leaders of the western New See also:York bar.

In the autumn of 1881 he was nominated by the Democrats for See also:

mayor of Buffalo. The city See also:government had been characterized by extravagance and maladministration, and a revolt of the See also:independent voters at the polls overcame the usual Republican majority and Cleveland was elected. As mayor he attracted wide See also:attention by his See also:independence and business-like methods, and under his direction the various departments of the city government were thoroughly reorganized. His ability received further recognition when in 1882 he was nominated by his party as its candidate for See also:governor. The Republican party in the See also:state was at that See also:time weakened by the quarrels between the "Stalwart" and "Halfbreed" factions within its ranks; and the Democrats were thus given an initial See also:advantage which was greatly increased by the Republicans' nomination for governor of See also:Charles J. Folger (1818-1884), then secretary of the See also:treasury. Secretary Folger was a See also:man of high See also:character and ability, who had been chief See also:justice of the New York supreme See also:court when placed in See also:control of the treasury See also:department by President See also:Arthur in 1881. But the cry of Federal interference was raised as a result of the methods employed in securing his nomination, and this, together with the party See also:division and the popularity of Cleveland, brought about Cleveland's See also:election by the unprecedented See also:plurality of 192,854. As governor Cleveland's -course was marked by the See also:sterling qualities that he had displayed in his other public positions. His appointees were chosen for their business qualifications. The demands of party leaders were made subordinate to public interests. He promoted the passage of a good See also:civil service law.

All bills passed by the legislature were subjected to the governor's laborious See also:

personal See also:scrutiny, and the See also:veto See also:power was used without fear or favour. In 1884 the Democratic party had been out of power in See also:national affairs for twenty-three years. In this See also:year, however, the generally disorganized state of the Republican party seemed to give the Democrats an unusual opportunity. Upon a See also:platform which called for See also:radical reforms in the administrative departments, the civil service, and the national finances, Cleveland was nominated for president, despite the opposition of the strong Tammany delegation from his own state. The nominee of the Republican party, See also:James G. See also:Blaine (q. v.) of See also:Maine, had received the nomination only after a contest in which violent personal animosities were aroused. The See also:campaign that followed was one of the bitterest See also:political contests in See also:American See also:history. The Republican party was still further weakened by the defection of a large See also:body of See also:independents, known as " Mugwumps." The result was See also:close, but Cleveland carried New York, and was elected, obtaining a majority in the electoral college of 219 to 182. Cleveland's first See also:term was uneventful, but was marked by firmness, justice and steady adherence on his See also:part to the principles which he deemed salutary to the nation. He was especially concerned in promoting a non-See also:partisan civil service. See also:Congress in 1883 had passed the " See also:Pendleton See also:Bill" (introduced by Senator See also:George H. Pendleton) to classify the subordinate places in the service, and to make entrance to it, and promotion therein, depend upon competitive examination of applicants, instead of See also:mere political See also:influence.

The first test of the efficiency and permanence of this law came with the shifting of political power at See also:

Washington. The new president stood firmly by the new law. It applied only to places of the See also:rank of clerkships, but the president was authorized to add others to the classified service from time to time. He added 11,757 during his first term. President Cleveland made large use of the veto power upon bills passed by Congress, vetoing or " pocketing " during his first term 413 bills, more than two-thirds of which were privatepension bills. The most important bill vetoed was the Dependent See also:Pension Bill, a measure of extreme profligacy, opening the See also:door, by the vagueness of its terms, to enormous frauds upon the treasury. In 1887 there was a large and growing surplus in the treasury. As this See also:money was See also:drawn from the channels of business and locked up in the public vaults, the president looked upon the See also:condition as fraught with danger to the commercial community and he addressed himself to the task of reducing See also:taxation. About two-thirds of the public See also:revenue was derived from duties on imports, in the See also:adjustment of which the See also:doctrine of See also:protection to native See also:industry had a large See also:place. Cleveland attacked the See also:system with See also:great vigour in his See also:annual See also:message of 1887. He did not propose the See also:adoption of See also:free See also:trade, but the See also:administration See also:tariff measure, known as the See also:Mills Bill, from its introducer Congressman See also:Roger Q. Mills (b.

1832) of See also:

Texas, passed the See also:House, and although withdrawn owing to amendments in the Republican See also:Senate, it alarmed and exasperated the protected classes, among whom were many Democrats, and spurred them to extraordinary efforts to prevent his re-election. In the following year (1888), however, the Democrats re-nominated Cleveland, and the Republicans nominated See also:Benjamin See also:Harrison of See also:Indiana. The campaign turned on the tariff issue, and Harrison was elected, receiving 233 electoral votes to 168 for Cleveland, who however received a popular plurality of more than roo,000. Cleveland retired to private See also:life and resumed the practice of the law in New York. He had married on the 2nd of See also:June 1886 See also:Miss Frances Folsom, a daughter of a former law partner in Buffalo. Congress had passed a law in 1878 requiring the treasury department to See also:purchase a certain amount of See also:silver See also:bullion each See also:month and See also:coin it into silver dollars to be full legal See also:tender. As no time had been fixed for this operation to cease, it amounted to an unlimited increase of a See also:kind of currency that circulated at a nominal value much above its real value. Both political parties were committed to this policy, and strong passions were aroused whenever it was called in question. Cleveland had written a See also:letter for publication before he became president, saying that a See also:financial crisis of great severity must result if this coinage were continued, and expressing the See also:hope that Congress would speedily put an end to it. In 1890 Congress, now See also:con-trolled by the Republican party, passed the See also:McKinley Bill, by which the revenues of the government were reduced by more than $6o,000,000 annually, chiefly through a See also:repeal of the See also:sugar duties. At the same time expenditures were largely increased by liberal pension legislation, and the government's purchase of silver bullion almost doubled by the provisions of the new See also:Sherman Silver Purchase See also:Act of 189o. In 1892 Cleveland was nominated for president a third time in See also:succession.

President Harrison was nominated by the Republicans. Cleveland received 277 electoral votes and Harrison 145, and 22 were See also:

cast for James B. See also:Weaver (b. 1833) of See also:Iowa, the candidate of the " See also:People's " party. Cleveland's second term embraced some notable events. The most important was the repeal of the silver legislation, which had been a growing menace for fifteen years. Nearly $600,000,000 of " fiat money" had been thrust into the channels of See also:commerce in addition to $346,000,000 of legal tender notes that had been issued during the Civil See also:War. A reserve of $roo,000,000 of See also:gold had been accumulated for the redemption of these notes. In See also:April 1893 the reserve See also:fell below this sum. President Cleveland called an extra session of Congress to repeal the Silver Law. The House promptly passed the repealing act. In the Senate there was a protracted struggle.

The Democrats now had a majority of that body and they were more decidedly See also:

pro-silver than the Re-publicans. The president had undertaken to coerce his own party to do something against its will, and it was only by the aid of the Republican minority that the passage of the repealing bill was at last made possible (See also:October 3oth). The See also:mischief, how-ever, was not ended. The deficit in the treasury made it inevitable that the gold reserve should be used to meet current expenses. Holders of the government's legal tender notes anticipating this fact presented them for redemption. Borrowing was resorted to by the government. Bonds were issued and sold to the amount of $162,000,000. The business See also:world was in a state of See also:constant agitation. See also:Bank failures were numerous and commercial See also:distress widespread. Among the consequences of the panic was a reduction of See also:wages in many employments, accompanied by labour troubles more or less serious. The centre of disturbance was the See also:Pullman strike at See also:Chicago (q.v.), whence the disorder extended to the Pacific See also:coast, causing See also:riot and bloodshed in many places. President Cleveland waited a See also:reason-able time, as he conceived, fcr Governor Altgeld of See also:Illinois to put an end to the disorder in that state.

On the 6th of See also:

July 1894, despite Governor Altgeld's protest, he directed the military forces of the United States to clear the way for trains carrying the mails. The rioters in and around Chicago were dispersed in a single See also:day, and within a See also:week the strike was broken. Another important event was the See also:action of the government as regards the question of See also:arbitration between Great See also:Britain and See also:Venezuela (q.v.), in which Richard See also:Olney, the secretary of state, played a somewhat aggressive part. On the 17th of See also:December 1895 President Cleveland sent to Congress a See also:special message calling attention to Great Britain's action in regard to the disputed boundary See also:line between See also:British See also:Guiana and Venezuela., and declaring the See also:necessity of action by the United States to prevent an infringement of the See also:Monroe Doctrine. Congress at once appropriated funds for an American See also:commission to investigate the See also:matter. The See also:diplomatic situation became for the moment very acute, but after a See also:short See also:period of bellicose talk the See also:common-sense of both countries prevailed. Negotiations with Great Britain ensued, and before the American special commission finished its See also:work, Great Britain had agreed, See also:November 1896, to arbitrate on terms which safeguarded the national dignity on both sides. Cleveland's independence was nowhere more strikingly shown during his second term than in his action in regard to the tariff legislation of his party in Congress. A tariff bill introduced in the House by See also:William Lyne See also:Wilson (1843-1900), of See also:West See also:Virginia, chairman of the See also:Committee of Ways and Means, was so amended in the Senate, through the instrumentality of Senator Arthur Pue Gorman and a coterie of See also:anti-administration democratic senators, that when the bill eventually came before him, although unwilling to veto it, the president signified his dissatisfaction with its too high rates by allowing it to become a law without his See also:signature. Cleveland's second administration began by vigorous action in regard to See also:Hawaii; he at once withdrew from the Senate the See also:annexation treaty which President Harrison had negotiated. During his second term Cleveland added 44,004 places in the civil service to the classified See also:list, bringing them within the rules of the merit system. This was a greater number than all that had been placed in the list before, and brought the whole number up to 86,932.

Toward the end of his second term the president became very much out of See also:

accord with his party on the free-silver question, in consequence of which the endorsement of the administration was withheld by the Democratic national See also:convention at Chicago in 1896. In the ensuing campaign the president and his See also:cabinet, with the exception of Hoke See also:Smith (b. 1855), ' secretary of the interior, who resigned, gave their support to See also:Palmer and See also:Buckner, the National, or " See also:Sound Money " Demo-vatic nominees. Cleveland's second term expired on the 4th of March 1897, n, d he then retired into private life, universally respected and constantly consulted, in the university See also:town of See also:Princeton, New Jersey, where he died on the 24th of June 1go8. He was a trustee of Princeton University and See also:Stafford Little lecturer on public affairs. Chosen in 1905 as a member of a committee of three to act as trustees of the majority of the stock of the Equitable Life Assurance See also:Company, he promoted the reorganization and the mutualization of that company, and acted as See also:rebate See also:referee for it and for the Mutual and New York Life See also:insurance companies. He published Presidential Problems (New York, 1904), made up in part of lectures at Princeton University, and Fishing and See also:Hunting Sketches (Igoe). A large amount of See also:magazine literature has been devoted to President Cleveland's career. W. O. See also:Stoddard's Grover Cleveland (1888; " Lives of the Presidents " See also:series) and J. Lowry Whittle's Grover Cleveland (1896; " Public Men of To-day " series) are judicious volumes; and " Campaign See also:Biographies " (1884) were written by W.

Dorsheimer, F. E. See also:

Goodrich, P. See also:King and D. Welch. See articles by Woodrow Wilson (See also:Atlantic Monthly, vol. 79; " Cleveland as President ") ; Carl See also:Schurz (McClure's Magazine, vol. ix.; " Second Administration of Grover Cleve-See also:land ") ; William See also:Allen See also:White (McClure's, vol. 18, " Character See also:Sketch of Cleveland "), and. See also:Henry L. See also:Nelson (See also:North American See also:Review, vol. 188). Also See also:Jesse L.

See also:

Williams, Mr Cleveland: A Personal Impression (1909), and G. W. See also:Parker, Recollections of Grover Cleveland (1909). (H.

End of Article: CLEVELAND, STEPHEN GROVER (1837-1908)

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