duced the duties on many articles, while wool, salt, and lumber were put upon the free list. The President did not sign the bill, as it did not meet his views, but he allowed it to become law without his signature.

Civil Service Reform.-President Cleveland in his first term, and President Harrison later, had added largely to the offices filled by competitive examination. During his second term Cleveland added enormously to the number of such offices, and at present nearly all minor positions under the government, except the post-offices, are filled in this manner.

Foreign Affairs.-Several important questions of foreign relations arose during this administration. The people of Hawaii deposed their queen, and asked for annexation to the United States. This the President declined, and the Hawaian Islands were made a republic.

A second matter concerned the dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana in relation to the boundary line. This had long existed, and in 1895 President Cleveland called the attention of Congress to it. He reaffirmed the Monroe Doctrine, and declared that this country could not permit Great Britain to act unjustly toward Venezuela. A commission was appointed to investigate the subject. In the latter part of 1896 the dispute was settled by Great Britain consenting to submit the matter to arbitration. By this successful negotiation the importance of the Monroe Doctrine has been greatly increased.

An insurrection having broken out in Cuba, and gaining great headway, the President was called upon to accord the rights of belligerents to the insurrectionists. This he declined to do, but indicated that the time might soon come when it would be requisite.

National Parks and Forest Reservations.-Among the important matters of legislation since the Civil War, not the least important is the setting aside of several regions of natural beauty or wonder as National Parks, such as the Yosemite Valley, the Yellowstone geyser region, and the sequoia groves; and of such leading battle-fields as Gettysburg, Chickamauga, etc. In addition to these, an act was passed in 1891 which provided for a series of national forest reservations. In 1897, President Cleveland set aside a second series of forest reservations, the whole covering more than thirty-eight million acres. This was done to preserve the forests and to guard the sources of rivers and streams, which are seriously injured by the destruction of the mountain woodlands.

There has been legislation also in regard to irrigation, with the purpose of preserving the waters which fall on the mountains of the west, and using them for the irrigation of the wide-spread rainless region. By this means it is hoped to render many millions of arid acres productive.

Admission of Utah.-On January 4, 1896, the Territory of Utah was proclaimed a State, it being the forty-fifth State of the American Union. Its constitution gives the suffrage to women. Woman suffrage has existed in Wyoming since 1869 and in Colorado since 1893, and was voted for and adopted in Idaho in the election of 1896. woman suffrage exists in a majority of the States.

Partial

The New Navy.-The Civil War of the United States proved conclusively that the era of wooden vessels in the navies of the world was at an end, and that the battle-ship of the future must be heavily plated with iron or steel and armed with guns of great range and power. Yet this country was slow in applying the lesson it had taught. For twenty years after the war almost nothing was done for the

improvement of the navy. Then an active building of steelplated war-vessels began, and to-day the navy of the United States possesses some of the swiftest and most powerful

cruisers and battle-ships of the world. Our navy is still small as compared with those of the great maritime nations of Europe, but is steadily increasing.

The Election of 1896.-In the Presidential campaign of 1896 new parties and new views came into the contest. The Republicans nominated William McKinley, whose name was associated with the protective policy, with the expectation that the campaign would be conducted on the tariff issue. For Vice-President they nominated Garret A. Hobart, of New Jersey.

Their expectation was not realized. The Democratic convention adopted a platform whose principal demand was for "the free and unlimited coinage of silver at the present legal ratio of sixteen to one,"-that is, sixteen ounces of silver was to be considered equal in value to one ounce of gold, and all silver offered to the government was to be

coined. William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, an earnest "free silver" advocate, received the nomination. Arthur M. Sewall, of Maine, was nominated for Vice-President.

The People's party accepted the Democratic candidate and policy, though making a different nomination for VicePresident. Many of the delegates to the Democratic Convention, however, refused to be bound by its action, and subsequently met in convention and nominated candidates on a gold standard platform. Nominations were also made by the Prohibition and Socialist-Labor parties.

The Campaign. In the election campaign the tariff question disappeared, and "free silver" on the one side and "honest money" on the other were the battle-cries of the two parties. Silver had depreciated in value until a dollar in silver was worth little more than a half-dollar in gold. The Republicans, therefore, held that the adoption of the Democratic policy would be ruinous. The Democrats, on the other hand, maintained that silver, if freely coined, would regain its former value, and that the country was suffering for lack of currency.

The South and much of the West favored the Democratic views; the North and East, the Republican. There followed an unusually active and exciting campaign, which ended in a victory for the Republicans, McKinley receiving two hundred and seventy-one, Bryan one hundred and seventy-six electoral votes.

8. Mckinley's Administration.

The Needs of the Government.-On the 4th of March, 1897, William McKinley was formally inaugurated President of the United States. A few days afterward he called Congress together in extra session for the purpose of considering the financial condition of the country, which was the

reverse of satisfactory. For several years the country had been running into debt, the revenue not being sufficient to meet the annual expenses of the govern

ment, so that more than one hundred million dollars had been added to the public debt of the United States. Congress was asked to provide new sources of revenue, which the President believed could be best done by aid of a higher tariff on imported goods. He also thought that this would aid in overcoming the business depression, which had continued for several years. A new tariff bill, with higher rates of duty than those of the Wilson Tariff, was prepared and passed, becoming law by the signature of the President in July, 1897.

WILLIAM MCKINLEY.

The Overflow of the Mississippi.-Meanwhile, a great disaster had taken place in the West. The winter had been severe and deep snows covered the ground. Under the influence of heavy spring rains and warm winds which melted these snows, the rivers of the West rose to a dangerous height and poured their surging waters into the Mississippi, until in April that great stream reached a height it had never before attained. Despite the labors of thousands of people, the banks or levees gave way at many points and thousands of square miles of the fertile lands on both sides of the river were deeply overflowed, while many of the people lost their lives. Great destitution and much suffering prevailed, and it was not until late in the spring that the overflowing waters returned to their proper channel, leaving wide-spread ruin in the country around.

Gold in Alaska.-In the summer of 1897 it became known that rich deposits of gold had been found along the