This essay is aimed to examine why Grover Cleveland’s Tariff
Reform was failed and what was his veracity of Tariff Reform through
U.S. Legislative Process of Wilson-Gormon Tariff Act, which he kept
to initiate and legislate. He was a Jeffersonian Democrat and the
twenty-second and twenty-fourth President of the United States, holding
the white House form 1885 to 1889 and again form 1893 to 1897. His
objective of tariff Reform were the following. Low taxes and tariffs, no
national debt, sound money, strict construction of the Constitution,
economy and accountability.
Cleveland’s aim for the Tariff Reform changed at the height of the
panic of 1893 before and after. After Cleveland took office as the 24th
president again, he and his 2nd adminstration wanted to repeal the
McKinley Tariff and legislate the tariff revise act as soon as possible.
But at the time the most urgent issue was to cope with the crisis of
the 1893 Depression. So, in order to overcome the economic crisis he
had to stabilize the monetary system and restore the currency system
at home and abroad.
For searching of the both monetary stabilization and confidency restoration in Currency system, Cleveland showed his political influence
to repeal the sherman Silver Purchase Act. In order to win he offered
public office and The Democratic party’s hegemony to leading politicians
within the Democrats who alined with Cleveland’s anti-silver stance.
It was the very Tariff Reform Bill of 1894 that not only Cleveland
but also William Wilson agreed and wrote. The Wilson Bill was passed
the house easily, but when the bill was been proposed before the
Senate, conditions were rapidly changing. For the tariff reform, Cleveland
came up against the Protectionists and well as the Siverites in the
Democrats. Many Senators added 460 amendments to the original
version of the House bill(Wilson bill) for not the future of the nation
but the interests of their local voter and industrialist.
In order to save the Wilson’s original tariff version, Wilson open
Cleveland’s letter to the Democratic senators in the house-senate conference.
His letter was publicly to denounce them and to appeal to public
opinion. But when the senators protested Cleveland, the political situation
reached in stalemate. Finally the Senate’s amended bill passed the house.
Cleveland was in a dilemma. It was difficult for him to sign or veto
the Wilson-Gorman Tariff bill(Senate’s amended bill). He wanted to
give historical lesson to next generation by showing the process of
Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act. The result was Democrat’s election defeat
between 1894-1912.