(5/24/01)

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- A PROGRAM IN SPECIAL ENGLISH BY THE

VOICE OF AMERICA.

(THEME)

I'M MAURICE JOYCE. TODAY,FRANK OLIVER AND I CONTINUE THE

STORY OF AMERICAN PRESIDENT GROVER CLEVELAND.

VOICE TWO:

GROVER CLEVELAND BEGAN HIS SECOND PRESIDENCY IN

EIGHTEEN-NINETY-THREE. HIS TWO TERMS WERE SEPARATED BY THE

PRESIDENCY OF BENJAMIN HARRISON. CLEVELAND TOOK OFFICE AGAIN

JUST AS THE UNITED STATES WAS ENTERING AN ECONOMIC DEPRESSION.

BUSINESSES FAILED. BANKS CLOSED THEIR DOORS. WORKERS LOST THEIR

JOBS. AND FARMERS LOST THEIR FARMS.

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND BELIEVED THE DEPRESSION WAS CAUSED BY THE

GOVERNMENT'S MONEY POLICY. AT THAT TIME, BOTH GOLD AND SILVER

WERE USED TO SUPPORT THE VALUE OF THE AMERICAN DOLLAR. IN

EUROPE, HOWEVER, ONLY GOLD WAS USED. AMERICAN INVESTORS AND

BANKERS WERE AFRAID THEIR MONEY WOULD DROP IN VALUE BECAUSE OF

THE USE OF SILVER. THEY BEGAN EXCHANGING THEIR MONEY FOR GOLD.

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND WANTED TO RETURN TO THE GOLD STANDARD, TOO.

TO DO THIS, HE HAD TO URGE CONGRESS TO KILL A LAW WHICH FORCED

THE GOVERNMENT TO BUY SILVER.

BEFORE CONGRESS BEGAN ITS DEBATE, THE PRESIDENT DISCOVERED A

CANCER IN HIS MOUTH. THE CANCER NEEDED TO BE REMOVED

IMMEDIATELY. BUT THE OPERATION HAD TO BE KEPT SECRET. NEWS THAT

THE PRESIDENT'S LIFE WAS IN DANGER COULD HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE

DEBATE. IT COULD MAKE THE NATION'S ECONOMIC CRISIS WORSE.

VOICE ONE:

SO, THE OPERATION WAS DONE ON A PRIVATE BOAT IN NEW YORK HARBOR.

DOCTORS REMOVED SOME OF PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S TEETH AND MUCH OF

HIS UPPER LEFT JAW. THEN THEY REMOVED THE CANCER. THE OPERATION

TOOK ONLY A HALF HOUR.

AFTER A FEW WEEKS, DOCTORS MADE CLEVELAND A NEW JAW OUT OF HARD

RUBBER. HE WORE IT WITHOUT DIFFICULTY. A NEWSPAPER PRINTED A

STORY ABOUT THE OPERATION. BUT ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS DENIED

IT. THE FACTS DID NOT BECOME PUBLIC FOR MANY YEARS.

VOICE TWO:

WHEN PRESIDENT CLEVELAND RETURNED TO WASHINGTON, HE SENT A

MESSAGE TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. HE URGED THEM TO KILL THE LAW

WHICH FORCED THE GOVERNMENT TO BUY SILVER.

HE NOTED HOW PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE NATION HAD BEEN EXCHANGING

THEIR PAPER MONEY AND SILVER FOR GOLD. HE SAID HE WAS AFRAID THE

FEDERAL TREASURY WOULD SOON RUN OUT OF GOLD. THEN IT WOULD HAVE

ONLY SILVER TO SUPPORT THE DOLLAR. IF THAT HAPPENED, HE SAID,

THE UNITED STATES NO LONGER COULD CLAIM TO BE A MAJOR NATION.

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND SAID: "THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES HAVE

A RIGHT TO A MONEY RECOGNIZED AS SUCH ON EVERY EXCHANGE AND IN

EVERY MARKET OF THE WORLD. THEIR GOVERNMENT HAS NO RIGHT TO

INJURE THEM BY FINANCIAL EXPERIMENTS THAT ARE OPPOSED TO THE

POLICIES OF OTHER NATIONS."

VOICE ONE:

AFTER THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE WAS READ, THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES BEGAN ITS DEBATE. A YOUNG CONGRESSMAN FROM

NEBRASKA SPOKE IN OPPOSITION TO THE PRESIDENT'S POSITION. HIS

PART IN THE DEBATE MADE HIM FAMOUS THROUGHOUT THE NATION. HIS

NAME WAS WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN.

BRYAN SAID THE UNITED STATES SHOULD CONTINUE TO MAKE AND USE BOTH

GOLD AND SILVER MONEY. USING ONLY GOLD, HE SAID, INCREASED THE

VALUE OF THE DOLLAR. AND THAT MADE LIFE DIFFICULT FOR AMERICA'S

FARMERS AND WORKERS. THEY HAD TO PAY MORE TO BORROW MONEY.AND,

FOR FARMERS, A MORE VALUABLE DOLLAR MEANT LOWER PRICES FOR CROPS.

BRYAN DESCRIBED THE SITUATION THIS WAY: "ON ONE SIDE OF THE

DEBATE STAND THE BUSINESS INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES. ON THE

OTHER SIDE STAND THE UNNUMBERED MASSES. WORK-WORN AND COVERED

WITH DUST, THEY MAKE THEIR APPEAL. BUT TOO OFTEN THEIR CRY FOR

HELP HAS SOUNDED HOPELESSLY AGAINST THE OUTER WALLS, WHILE OTHERS

-- LESS DESERVING -- FIND EASY ENTRANCE TO THE HALLS OF CONGRESS.

"THE PRESIDENT IS WRONG TO ACT ON THE DEMAND OF THE BUSINESS

INTERESTS. HE CAN NO MORE JUDGE THE WISHES OF THE GREAT MASS OF

OUR PEOPLE BY THE WORDS OF THESE MIDDLEMEN THAN HE CAN MEASURE

THE OCEAN'S SILENT DEPTHS BY THE FOAM UPON ITS WAVES."

VOICE TWO:

NO OTHER CONGRESSMAN SPOKE AS WELL AS WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN.

YET HIS WORDS COULD NOT SAVE THE SILVER PURCHASE LAW.

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APPROVED PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S

PROPOSAL TO KILL THE LAW. THE SENATE DID, TOO. THE UNITED

STATES WAS FIRMLY ON THE GOLD STANDARD. EVERYONE -- ESPECIALLY

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND -- WAITED FOR THE ECONOMY TO IMPROVE. IT DID

NOT.

VOICE ONE:

MORE BUSINESSES FAILED. MORE WORKERS LOST THEIR JOBS. TENS OF

THOUSANDS OF MEN LEFT THEIR HOMES TO LOOK FOR WORK. SOME OF

THESE MEN BEGAN TO UNITE IN PROTEST GROUPS THEY CALLED

"INDUSTRIAL ARMIES."

ONE INDUSTRIAL ARMY WAS ORGANIZED BY A MAN NAMED JACOB COXEY.

COXEY PROPOSED THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD HIRE UNEMPLOYED

MEN TO BUILD ROADS. HE SAID THE GOVERNMENT COULD BORROW ENOUGH

MONEY TO PAY EACH MAN A DOLLAR AND A HALF A DAY.

COXEY DECIDED TO TAKE HIS PROPOSAL TO WASHINGTON. HE ALSO

DECIDED TO TAKE HIS INDUSTRIAL ARMY WITH HIM.

VOICE TWO:

COXEY'S ARMY MARCHED MANY KILOMETERS FROM OHIO TO WASHINGTON.

HUNDREDS OF UNEMPLOYED MEN JOINED IN ALONG THE WAY. BUT BY THE

TIME THE ARMY REACHED THE CAPITAL, ONLY THREE-HUNDRED MEN

REMAINED.

CITY OFFICIALS BARRED COXEY'S ARMY FROM MEETING ON PUBLIC

PROPERTY. THEY BARRED THEM FROM ASKING PEOPLE FOR FOOD OR MONEY.

JACOB COXEY WAS READY FOR THE WORST. HE SAID: "IF MY MEN STARVE

IN THE STREETS OF WASHINGTON, THE SMELL OF THEIR BODIES WILL

FORCE CONGRESS TO ACT."

COXEY TRIED TO READ A PROTEST STATEMENT AT THE CAPITOL BUILDING.

POLICE STOPPED HIM. THE PROTESTORS THEN PUSHED FORWARD IN WHAT

POLICE LATER CALLED A RIOT. SEVERAL OF THE MEN -- INCLUDING

COXEY -- WERE ARRESTED. A JUDGE FOUND COXEY GUILTY OF VIOLATING

PUBLIC PROPERTY. HE SENT HIM TO JAIL FOR TWENTY DAYS.

WITHOUT COXEY'S LEADERSHIP, HIS ARMY BROKE UP. ITS MEMBERS WENT

HOME. YET THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PRESSURES WHICH CREATED

COXEY'S ARMY DID NOT EASE. PROTESTS AND STRIKES CONTINUED

THROUGHOUT THE NATION.

VOICE ONE:

THE BIGGEST STRIKE STARTED IN CHICAGO AGAINST THE PULLMAN

COMPANY, WHICH MADE RAILROAD CARS.

THE MAN WHO OWNED THE COMPANY, GEORGE PULLMAN, ALSO OWNED THE

TOWN WHERE HIS WORKERS LIVED. HE OWNED THE STORES, THE HOUSES,

THE SCHOOLS, AND THE LIBRARY.

WHEN THE ECONOMIC DEPRESSION BEGAN IN EIGHTEEN-NINETY-THREE,

GEORGE PULLMAN CUT THE SIZE OF HIS WORK FORCE. THOSE STILL

WORKING RECEIVED LESS PAY. YET PULLMAN DID NOT REDUCE THE COST

OF RENT FOR HIS HOUSES. ANYONE WHO PROTESTED, LOST HIS JOB.

VOICE TWO:

IN THE SPRING OF EIGHTEEN-NINETY-FOUR, A LABOR UNION ORGANIZER

WENT TO GEORGE PULLMAN'S TOWN. HE WAS EUGENE DEBS, LEADER OF THE

AMERICAN RAILWAY UNION.

PULLMAN DID NOT WANT HIS WORKERS TO BELONG TO A UNION. BUT HE

DID NOT STOP THEM AT FIRST. MORE THAN FOUR-THOUSAND WORKERS

JOINED.

IMMEDIATELY, THE NEW UNION MEMBERS VOTED TO GO ON STRIKE AGAINST

THE PULLMAN COMPANY. OTHER MEMBERS OF THE UNION SUPPORTED THEM.

THEY AGREED NOT TO WORK ON TRAINS THAT INCLUDED PULLMAN CARS.

WITHIN A FEW DAYS, SIXTY-THOUSAND RAILWAY WORKERS WERE ON STRIKE.

TWENTY RAILROADS WERE CLOSED DOWN.

UNION LEADER EUGENE DEBS ATTEMPTED TO KEEP THE STRIKE PEACEFUL.

BUT HE COULD NOT CONTROL STRIKERS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. SO,

RAILROAD COMPANIES ASKED THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR TROOPS TO

BREAK THE STRIKE.

VOICE ONE:

THE REQUEST INVOLVED A LEGAL POINT. AMERICA'S CONSTITUTION SAYS

FEDERAL TROOPS CANNOT BE SENT TO A STATE UNLESS THE STATE

GOVERNMENT ASKS FOR THEM. AND NO STATE GOVERNMENT HAD ASKED FOR

THEM.

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND MET WITH HIS CABINET TO DISCUSS THE RAILROAD

COMPANIES' REQUEST. THEY FINALLY AGREED TO SEND FEDERAL TROOPS

TO CHICAGO -- WHERE THE STRIKE HAD STARTED -- TO ENFORCE FEDERAL

POSTAL LAWS. THE TROOPS WOULD PROTECT TRAINS CARRYING MAIL.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE TROOPS LED TO MORE VIOLENCE. EUGENE DEBS AND

OTHER LEADERS OF THE AMERICAN RAILWAY UNION WERE ARRESTED. THE

PULLMAN STRIKE ENDED.

VOICE TWO:

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND FACED INCREASING POLITICAL PROBLEMS.

ORGANIZED LABOR DENOUNCED HIM FOR USING FEDERAL TROOPS TO BREAK

UP THE PULLMAN STRIKE. FARMERS AND WESTERNERS ATTACKED HIM FOR

OPPOSING THE USE OF SILVER MONEY. AND EVERYONE BLAMED HIM FOR

NOT DOING MORE TO END THE DEPRESSION. THESE POLITICAL PROBLEMS

WOULD HAVE A GREAT EFFECT ON THE NEXT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

THAT WILL BE OUR STORY NEXT WEEK.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO THE MAKING OF A NATION -- A PROGRAM IN

SPECIAL ENGLISH BY THE VOICE OF AMERICA. YOUR NARRATORS WERE

MAURICE JOYCE AND FRANK OLIVER. OUR PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY FRANK

BEARDSLEY.

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