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SUMMARY AND REFERENCES

429 The country suffered from great floods and storms, and carelessness in building caused terrible fires.

The railroads of the East, South, and West were extended and short lines were linked into systems, of which the strongest were the New York Central and the Pennsylvania. In the cities the old-fashioned horse cars were given up for elevated roads and cable systems, and the trolley car system was invented. Many great bridges were built for highways and railroads.

Freight rates were reduced, and the running of through trains with sleeping cars was made easy by consolidated lines. The express business came into the hands of five strong companies. The old canals were little used. New and larger steamers were used on the Great Lakes and in the ocean trade. The President was aroused when the French undertook to build a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama.

The railroads, although under the law they were common carriers, made distinctions between cities, lines of business, and individual shippers. Under the short-haul principle they would often make lower rates for long distances than for short distances. A feeling arose that the big corporations and especially the railroads needed regulation.

REFERENCES

Maps. Dunning, Reconstruction, 224. - Sparks, Nat. Development, 206.

Histories. Beard, Contemporary Hist., 27-41, 67-76, 143-163. Bogart, Economic Hist., chs. xxii-xxiv, xxvii, xxx.

Hist., 285-307.

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Coman, Industrial Dewey, National Problems, 40-56, 117–123. Moore, Industrial Hist., 317-324, 468-480. - Paxson, New Nation, 67-79, 9297, 119-124. Southworth, Builders of Our Country, chs. xxvii, xxx. Sparks, Nat. Development, chs. i-v, xiii, xviii. Sources. Am. Hist. Leaflets, no. 34.

Commons, Documentary Hist. of Am. Industrial Society, IX, X. Hart, Contemporaries, IV. §§ 162, 165. James, Readings, § 97.

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Century.

Side Lights and Stories. Bacheller, Cricket Heron. Foote, Cœur d'Alene. - Harper's Monthly. - Harper's Weekly. How, J. B. Eads. Raymond, Peter Cooper. Scribner's. Pictures. Bogart, Economic Hist. · Coman, Industrial Hist. - Frank Leslie's Weekly. - Harper's Weekly. - Mentor, serial no. 87.- Scientific American.

QUESTIONS

(§ 335) 1. What were the principal inventions of this period? 2. How did cheap steel affect industry? 3 (For an essay). A visit to a steel plant. 4. What were the most important electric inventions?

(8 336) 5. What were the most important household inventions? 6. What new machines for general use affected industry? 7. What were the most important farm inventions? 8. What was done to make farm life attractive?

(§ 337) 9. How were railroads gathered into large systems? 10. How was the oil industry developed? 11 (For an essay). Visit to an oil well. 12. What were the trusts?

(§ 338) 13. How were disputes at first settled between employers and employees? 14. How were labor unions formed? 15 (For an essay). A meeting of a labor union. 16. What was the policy of the unions as to settling disputes? 17. What is the closed shop? 18. How did the railroad strikes result? 19 (For an essay). The railroad strike of 1877.

20. What were the methods of the labor federations?

(§ 339) 21. What calamities befell the country? 22. What damage was caused by fire and flood? 23 (For an essay). The Johnstown flood; or the San Francisco fire.

(§ 340) 24. What railroad systems were built up? 25. How were “railroad wars" settled?

(§ 341) 26. How were street railroads managed? 27. What are franchises? 28. What caused the building of elevated roads? 29. What were cable cars?

(§ 342) 30. How was railroad service improved? 31 (For an essay). The building of a bridge across the Ohio or across the Mississippi. 32. How was the express business carried on? 33 How were means of communication improved?

(§ 343) 34. How was water transportation improved? 35 (For an essay). A steamer trip on the Great Lakes or along the Atlantic or along the Pacific coast. 36. What were the plans for a canal across the Isthmus of Panama?

(8344) 37. What is a "common carrier"? 38. What privileges did favored patrons of the railroads receive? 39. What was the "short-haul" system? 40. What could the states do to control the railroads? 41. What did the railroads do for the country?

CHAPTER XXXII

DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATIONS (1885-1897)

346. President Cleveland (1885-1889). When the new President came into office in March, 1885 (§ 324), the Republicans felt as though the sky were going to fall. Some "stalwart" Republicans predicted that the colored people would again be made slaves, and that the Confederate bonds would be paid off by the national government.

President Cleveland had had little political experience and was not much known outside of New York state. He was a gruff, plain man with a set purpose to make a strong government. He felt that such a government ought to keep up the financial system of banks and corporations that then existed. He was opposed to the protective tariff which was strongly supported by the Republican party, and he meant to hit it hard. He had no powerful personal friends and backers and his only hope of success was that the people would approve the things that he wanted to do.

There had been Republican Presidents without a break for twenty-four years, and few Democrats were in federal offices. The Democratic politicians, therefore, were in favor of turning out many of the officeholders, on the ground that they had been using the time paid for by the government in working for the Republican party. Cleveland called such party workers "offensive partisans," and removed over 3000 persons. Subordinates were dismissed right and left so that after a few years most of the employees of the government were Democrats. Still, Cleveland did not disturb the small classified service, which had been set up by President Arthur (§ 323); and just at the end of his term he added over 5000 railway mail clerks to that service.

347. New States (1889-1890). During his administration Cleveland signed bills looking to the admission of four new states; and in November, 1889, they all came into the Union: (1) North Dakota (39th state) was a prairie farming region, extending across the upper Missouri Valley, with rich wheat lands. The population at the time of admission was about 190,000. (2) South Dakota (40th state) included a rich

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Corn Palace at Mitchell, South Dakota. The outside of the entire building is decorated with ears of corn of various colors

prairie belt in its eastern section and a mountainous, mining country in the west. Its population was 330,000. (3) Montana (41st state), with a population of 130,000, made a huge state nearly as large as Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois together. Its chief industry was cattle ranching, with some mining. (4) Washington (42d state) had 350,000 people. It was an immense state including a magnificent seacoast and a large part of the Columbia River Valley.

In 1890 came two more states: (1) Idaho (43d state) was a large lumber and mining region with some rich land and a population of 90,000. (2) Wyoming (44th state) had then the small population of 62,000 but a large area of grazing and mineral land. At the northwestern corner is the wonderful Yellowstone geyser region.

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