CLEVELAND
CLEVELAND
■who had resigned his position as secretary
■of the United States treasury to become a guber-
natorial candidate. Mr. Cleveland continued,
in his discliarge of duty to the state, the sj's-
tem that liad proved so popular in his adopted
city, and his vetoes, though numerous, were
all sustained by law. He claimed to be a ser-
vant or clerk of the people and to have an eye
single to the interests of his employers. So pop-
ular had become his methods and so apparently
honest his efforts for reform that the Democratic
national convention, July 11, 1884, by vote of
683 out of 820, and which was made unanimous,
nominated him as the Democratic candidate for
the presidency of the United States. As the re-
sult of the election in November, 1884, in the
electoral college in 1885 Grover Cleveland had
219 votes and James G. Blaine, 182, and of the
popular vote Grover Cleveland received 4,911 017;
it
.Jam«^s Vt. Blaine, 4,848,334; John P St. John,
151, 8Uy, and Benjamin F. Butler, 133,825. Mr.
Cleveland was inaugurated March 4, 1885, and
at once announced as members of his cabinet,
Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware, secretary of
state ; Daniel Manning of New York, secretary of
the treasury ; "William C. Endicott of Massachu-
setts, secretary of war; William C. Whitney of
New York, secretary of the navy; William F.
Vilas of Wisconsin, postmaster-general; Augus-
tus H. Garland of Arkansas, attorney-general,
and Lucius Q. C. Lamar of Mississippi, secretary
of the interior. He made Daniel S. Lamont, who
had been his secretary while governor, priA-ate
secretary to the President. The social functions
of the White House wei-e in charge of the Presi-
dent's sister. Rose Elizabeth Cleveland. The
United States senate met in extra session on
March 4, when the President withdrew from
tliat body for executive consideration, a treaty
untler which the government assumed unusual
and new duties in connection with the Nicara-
gua canal. He restored to the Indians their
rights to the Oklahoma country by removing the
white settlers; ordered a naval expedition to As-
pinwall for the protection of Americans and their
property against revolutionists; removed cattle
companies and ranchmen with their herds from
Indian lands without recourse to force and caused
them to remove their fences erected on public
lands. He outlined his purpose of adopting and
enforcing important advances in civil service re-
form, and displeased the great body of his party
at the outset of his administration by postponing
the removal of Republican office holders save the
heads of departments, foreign ministers and
otliers on whom rested the responsibilities of ex-
ecuting the policy of the administration. He
made offensive partisanship and neglect or inca-
pacity the only causes for removal of minor offi-
cials and in this policy disappointed many of his
political supporters, accustomed to a clean
sweep on a change of party administration.
Upon the assembling of the 49th congress, Dec.
8, 1885, the President in his message recom-
mended the reduction of the tariff on necessaries
of life ; the abolition of duties on works of art ;
the suspension of compulsory silver coinage ; the
better pay of consular and diplomatic agents;
the enlargement and improvement of the navy ;
the suppression of polygamy in Utah; the ap-
pointment of Indian commissioners; the exten-
sion of the principle of civil-service reform;
provision for presidential succession ; and reform
in the matter of titles to pubUc lands. He re-
fused to submit to the senate documents relat-
ing to the removal of certain public officials, and
the senate in turn threatened to withhold confir-
mation of presidential appointments. On March
1, 1886, the President in a message to the senate
claimed that under the constitution the right of
removal and suspension from office rested within
the discretion of the President, and the papers
relating thereto were of a private and personal
nature. Ultimately the senate ratified most of
the appointments of the President. The Presi-
dent vigorously and publicly complained of the
insincerity of senators and representatives, as
well as others, on whose advice he had to depend,
for recommending notoriously unfit persons for
office. He offered the protection of the govern-
ment to the resident Chinamen subjected to out-
rages by antagonistic working men and finally
ordered out the United States troops to suppress
the disturbances. In a message dated April 22,
1886, the President recommended to the congress
the creation of a labor commission, to be perma-
nent officers of the government, to whom should
be submitted all disputes between laborers and
capitalists concerning wages or employment.
Upon the close of the first .session of the 49th con-
gress, Aug. 5, 1886, the presidential vetoes num-
bered 115, of which 102 were private pension bills
and six bills for the erection of public buildings.
The river and harbor bill and the bill taxing oleo-
margarine, contrary to precedent, were not
vetoed by the President. At the second session
