BENJAMIN Harrison, twenty-third President of the United States, was born at North Bend, Ohio, on the 20th of August, 1833. He is a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, and a great-grandson of Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

2. Harrison's early home was on a farm. He was a student at the institution called Farmers' College, for two years. Afterwards, he attended Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, and was graduated therefrom in June, 1852. He took in marriage the daughter of Dr. John W. Scott, President of the University. After a course of study, he entered the profession of law, removed to Indianapolis, and established himself in that city. With the outbreak of the war he became a soldier of the Union, and rose to the rank of Brevet Brigadier-General of Volunteers. Before the close of the war, he was elected Reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court of Indiana.

3. In the period following the Civil War, General Harrison rose to distinction as a civilian. In 1876 he was the unsuccessful candidate of the Republican party for governor of Indiana. In 1881 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he won the reputation of a leader and statesman. In 1884, his name was prominently mentioned in connection with the Presidency; and in 1888 it was found that he, more than any other, combined in himself all the elements of a successful candidate. The event justified the choice of the party in making him the standard-bearer in the ensuing campaign.

4. General Harrison was inaugurated President on the 4th of March, 1889. His Cabinet appointments were as follows: Secretary of State, James G. Blaine, of Maine; Secretary of the Treasury, William Windom, of Minnesota; Secretary of War, Redfield Proctor, of Vermont; Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin F. Tracy, of New York; Postmaster-General, John Wanamaker, of Pennsylvania; Secretary of the Interior, John W. Noble, of Missouri; Attorney-General, William H. H. Miller, of Indiana; and Secretary of Agriculture—the new department—Jeremiah Rusk, of Wisconsin.

5. As the more fertile and accessible public lands in the Mississippi valley were gradually taken up, new settlers began to cast envious eyes upon Indian Territory, and especially upon a central region, called Oklahoma, or the "beautiful country," which was supposed to be very fertile. Several illegal attempts were made by bands of adventurers to settle upon these lands, and the military had been employed to eject the "Oklahoma Boomers," as the intruders were called.

6. The Indian title to Oklahoma had gradually been acquired by the United States, and one of the first acts of President Harrison was to issue a proclamation declaring that this region, embracing nearly 3000 square miles, should be thrown open to public settlement at noon of April 22, 1889.

7. As this date approached, settlers to the number of over ten thousand collected and formed camps along the southern boundary of Kansas, and, at the hour named, made a wild race to Oklahoma across the intervening strip of Indian Territory. Towns were started in several localities, and within a few days the region had a population of more than 30,000. Though the country proved somewhat less fertile than had been supposed, the new community continued to grow, and the following year, with greatly enlarged boundaries and a population of 62,000, was organized as the Territory of Oklahoma.

8. Within two months after Harrison's inauguration occurred the Centennial of the American Republic. On the 30th of April, 1789, the Father of his Country had taken the oath of office and entered upon his duties as first President of the United States, and the corresponding date in 1889 was fixed upon for the centennial celebration of the event. The holidays in the metropolis included the 29th and 30th days of April and the 1st day of May. The event drew to New York the largest concourse of people ever seen at one place within the limits of the United States. Fully half a million strangers visited the city and were present at the ceremonies.

9. The close of the year 1888 and the beginning of 1889 were marked by a dangerous complication between the United States and Germany relative to the Samoan Islands. In order to settle the difficulty, the President of the United States sent three commissioners to Berlin, to confer with the German Government. The result was wholly satisfactory to the United States. The attitude and demand of the American Government in favor of the independence of Samoa, under its native sovereign, were supported by the decision of the commissioners, and the difficulty ended with the recognition of King Malietoa.

10. The last week of May, 1889, was memorable in the history of our country for the destruction of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. That city lay at the junction of a stream, known as the South Fork, with the Conemaugh River. Several miles up the South Fork some wealthy fishermen had constructed a dam and a reservoir, where the waters had accumulated in an immense volume. The level of the lake was high above the valley and the city. During the last days of May heavy rains fell, and the country was inundated. On the afternoon of the 31st of the month, the dam which held the lake in place was burst asunder, and the deluge of waters poured suddenly down the valley. Everything was swept away by the flood. Johnstown, a manufacturing city, was totally wrecked, and thrown in an indescribable mass against the aqueduct of the Pennsylvania Railway below the town. Here the ruins caught fire, and the wild shrieks of hundreds of miserable victims were heard above the roar of the deluge and the conflagration. The heart of the nation responded quickly to the sufferings of the people, and millions of dollars in money and supplies were poured into the Conemaugh valley to relieve the destitution of those who survived the calamity.

11. The work of the fifty-first Congress was marked with much partisan bitterness and excitement. The first question which occupied the attention of the body was the revision of the tariff. On this question the political parties were strongly opposed to each other. The policy of the Republican party, though the platform of 1888 had declared for a revision of the tariff, was favorable to the perpetuation of the protective system as a part of the permanent policy of the Government. The Democrats favored a great reduction in the existing rates of duties, and the ultimate adoption of the principle of free trade. What was known as the McKinley Bill was introduced into Congress, and finally adopted, by which the Republican policy was incorporated as a part of the governmental system. The average rate of import duties was raised from about forty-seven per cent. to more than fifty-three per cent.; but in a few instances the existing duties were abolished, and in the case of raw sugar a bounty to the producers was provided instead.

12. Early in the session a serious difficulty arose in the House of Representatives between the Democrats and the Speaker, Thomas B. Reed, of Maine. The Republican majority in the House was not large, and the minority were easily able in matters of party legislation to break the quorum by refusing to vote. In order to counteract this policy, a new system of rules was reported empowering the Speaker to count the minority as present whether voting or not, and thus to compel a quorum. These rules were violently resisted by the Democrats, and Speaker Reed was denounced by his opponents as an unjust officer. It was under the provision of the new rule that nearly all of the party measures of the fifty-first Congress were adopted.

13. One of the most important of these was the attempt to pass through Congress what was known as the Force Bill, by which it was proposed to transfer the control of the Congressional elections in the States of the Union, from State to National authority. This measure provoked the strongest opposition, part of which arose within the Republican party. In the Senate certain Republicans refused to support the bill, and it was finally laid aside for the consideration of other business.

14. A third measure was the attempt to restore silver to a perfect equality with gold in the coinage of the country. Since 1874 there had been an increasing difference in the purchasing power of the two money metals of the country. That is, the purchasing power of gold had, in the last fifteen years, risen about fifteen per cent., while the purchasing power of silver had fallen about five per cent. in the markets of the world. One class of theorists, assuming that gold is the only invariable standard of values, insisted that this difference in the purchasing power of the two metals had risen wholly from a depreciation in the price of silver; while the opposing class argued that the difference had arisen most largely from an increase in the purchasing power of gold, and that equal legislation and equal favor shown to the two money metals would bring them to par, the one with the other, and keep them in that relation in the markets of the world.

15. The advocates of free coinage claimed that the laws discriminating against silver and in favor of gold were impolitic, unjust, and un-American. They urged that the free coinage of silver would be of vast advantage to the financial interests of the country. This view, however, was strongly opposed by the money centers and by the fund-holding classes, to whom the payment of all debts according to the highest standard of value—that is, in gold only—was a fundamental principle. A bill for the free coinage of silver was passed by the Senate, but rejected by the House, and the question was handed over to the next Congress.

16. This Congress passed the necessary acts for the admission of Idaho and Wyoming as the forty-third and forty-fourth States respectively. Idaho was admitted with a population of 84,385, on the 3d of July, 1890; while on the 10th of the same month 60,705 souls were added to the Union with the State of Wyoming.

17. The Eleventh Decennial Census of the United States was taken in June, 1890. Its results indicated that the population of the country had increased to 62,622,250, exclusive of Indians not taxed, and whites in Alaska and Indian Territory. These swell the grand total to about 63,000,000 souls. Indiana was found to contain 2,195,404 inhabitants, and to include, near the hamlet of Westport in Decatur County, the center of population of the United States.

18. Meanwhile three other great leaders of the Civil War passed away by death. On the 5th of August, 1888, Lieutenant-General Sheridan, at that time Commander-in-chief of the American army, died at his home in Nonquitt, Massachusetts. Few other generals of the Union army had won greater admiration and higher honors. He was in many senses a model soldier, and his death at the comparatively early age of fifty-seven was the occasion of great grief throughout the country.

19. Still more conspicuous was the fall of General William T. Sherman. Among the Union commanders in the great Civil War he stood easily next to Grant in greatness and reputation. In vast and varied abilities, particularly in military accomplishment, he was perhaps superior to all. Born in 1820, he reached the mature age of seventy-one, and died at his home in New York on the 14th day of February, 1891. The event produced a profound impression. Sherman, more than any other great military captain of his time, had shunned and put aside political ambition. Of his sterling patriotism there was never a doubt. As to his wonderful abilities, all men were agreed. His remains were taken under escort from New York to St. Louis, where they were deposited in the family burying grounds in Mount Calvary cemetery.

20. After the death of General Sherman, only two commanders of the first class remained on the stage of action from the great Civil War—both Confederates. These were Generals Joseph E. Johnston and James Longstreet. The former of these was destined to follow his rival and conqueror at an early day to the land of rest. General Johnston, who had been an honorary pall bearer at the funeral of Sherman, contracted a heavy cold on that occasion, which resulted in his death on the 20th of February, 1891, at his home in Washington City. General Johnston was in his eighty-third year at the time of his decease. Among the Confederate commanders none were his superiors, with the single exception of Lee. After the close of the war, his conduct had been of a kind to win the confidence of Union men; and at the time of his death he was held in almost universal honor.

21. In February of 1891 a serious event occurred in the city of New Orleans. There existed in that metropolis a secret social organization among the Italians, known as the Mafia Society. The principles of the brotherhood involved mutual protection and even the law of revenge against enemies. Several breaks occurred between members of the society and the police authorities of the city, and the latter, by arrest and prosecution, incurred the dislike and hatred of the former. The difficulty grew until at length Captain David C. Hennessey, chief of the police, was assassinated by some secret murderer or murderers, who for the time escaped detection. It was believed, however, that the Mafia Society was at the bottom of the assassination, and several members of the brotherhood were arrested under the charge of murder.

22. A trial followed, and the circumstances tended to establish the guilt of the prisoners. But the proof was not positive, and the first three of those on trial were acquitted. A great excitement followed this decision, and charges were published that the jury had been bribed or terrorized with threats into making a false verdict. On the following day a public meeting was called, and a great crowd gathered around the statue of Henry Clay, standing in one of the public squares. Speeches were made. A mob was organized and directed against the jail where the Italian prisoners were confined. The jail was entered by force. The prisoners were driven from their cells, and nine of them were shot to death in the court of the prison. Two others were dragged forth and hanged. Nor can it be doubted that the innocent as well as the guilty suffered in the slaughter.

23. The event was followed by intense public excitement. The affair became of national, and then of international, importance. The Italian minister, Baron Fava, at Washington, entered his solemn protest against the killing of his countrymen, and the American Secretary of State communicated with King Humbert on the subject. The Italian societies in other American cities passed angry resolutions against the destruction of their fellow-countrymen by the mob; and the newspapers of the country teemed with discussions of the subject. Threats of war were heard between Italy and the United States; but the more thoughtful looked with confidence to the settlement of the question by peaceable means.

24. The History of our Country has thus been traced from the times of the aborigines to the present day. The story is done. The Republic has passed through stormy times, but has at last entered her second century in safety and peace. The clouds that were recently so black overhead have broken, and are sinking behind the horizon. The equality of all men before the law has been written with the iron pen of war in the Constitution of the Nation. The Union of the States has been consecrated anew by the blood of patriots and the tears of the lowly. The temple of freedom reared by our fathers still stands in undiminished glory. The Past has taught its Lesson; the Present has its Duty; and the Future its Hope.