HARRISON 



2700 



HARRISON 



not have been passed. One of the ostensible 

 purposes of the McKinley Tariff Act was to 

 reduce the revenue, but this it failed to accom- 

 plish. The most effective means taken to 

 reduce the surplus was the Dependent Pension 

 Bill of 1890. Harrison had long been in favor 

 of more liberal pensions, and in response to his 

 views Congress authorized pensions for all 

 Federal soldiers who had served ninety days in 

 the War of Secession and were now incapaci- 

 tated, for any reason whatever, from earning 

 their living. This act nearly doubled the num- 

 ber of pensioners, and the pension fund has 

 ever since been the largest item of government 

 expenditure. Congress also appropriated large 

 sums of money for new battleships, and the 

 "new navy," as it is known, dates from 1890. 

 The first of the modern steel battleships in the 

 American navy were begun in that year. 



Development of the West. In 1889 and 1890 

 six new states were admitted to the Union 

 North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and 

 Washington in 1889, Idaho and Wyoming in 

 1890. Wyoming was the first state admitted 

 to the Union with a constitution granting 

 women and men equal rights in voting and 

 office-holding. The year 1889 was also note- 

 worthy for the opening of Oklahoma, on April 

 22. Oklahoma, the Indians' "Beautiful Land," 

 lay in the heart of the Indian Territory, but 

 the government purchased the rights of the 

 tribes and threw the land open to settlement. 

 An army of settlers camped for days and even 

 weeks along the boundary. At noon on April 

 22, 1889, at the sound of a bugle, the multitude 

 surged across the line, and by the end of that 

 day Oklahoma was the home of 50,000 settlers. 

 This day summarized in dramatic fashion the 

 settlement and expansion of the United States. 

 With the exception of a few scattered Indian 

 reservations, the stream of population had now 

 covered the entire United States. There was 

 no longer a frontier, and settlements extended 

 from ocean to ocean. 



Foreign Relations. While the development 

 of the West was continuing, there was also 

 during Harrison's administration a marked de- 

 velopment of interest in the foreign relations 

 of the United States. This was due partly to 

 James G. Elaine, the Secretary of State, and 

 partly to a combination of incidents which 

 threatened to involve the United States in war. 

 Under Elaine's leadership the first Pan-Ameri- 

 can Congress (which see) was held at Wash- 

 ington, and reciprocity treaties were negoti- 

 ated with Spain and Brazil. The International 



HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION 



B1889' '18955 



Oklahoma Opened for Settlement 



Death of 

 John C 

 Fremont 



Six States 



Admitted to the 



Union 



Bering SeaTreaty 



Chinese Exclusion 

 Bill Re-enacted 



