Meanwhile, the Prohibitionists, the National party (declaring for woman suffrage, prohibition, government ownership of railroads and telegraphs, an income tax, and the election of the President, Vice President, and senators by direct vote of the people), the Socialist Labor party, the Silver party, and the Populists, had all put candidates in the field.  The Silver party indorsed Bryan and Sewall; the Populists nominated Bryan and Thomas E. Watson.

[Illustration:  William McKinley]

%565.  McKinley, President.%—­An “educational campaign” was carried on with a seriousness never before approached in our history, and resulted in the election of Mr. McKinley.  He was inaugurated on March 4, and immediately called a special session of Congress to revise the tariff, a work which ended in the enactment of the “Dingley Tariff,” on July 24, 1897.

%566.  The Cuban Question.%—­Absorbing as were the election and the tariff, there was another matter, which for two years past had steadily grown more and more serious.  In February, 1895, the natives of Cuba for the sixth time in fifty years rebelled against the misrule of Spain and founded a republic.  A cruel, bloody, and ruinous war followed, and as it progressed, deeply interested the people of our country.  The island lay at our very doors.  Upwards of $50,000,000 of American money were invested in mines, railroads, and plantations there.  Our yearly trade with Cuba was valued at $96,000,000.  Our ports were used by Cubans in fitting out military expeditions, which the government was forced to stop at great expense.

%567.  Shall Cuba be given Belligerent Rights?%—­These matters were serious, and when to them was added the sympathy we always feel for any people struggling for the liberty we enjoy, there seemed to be ample reason for our insisting that Spain should govern Cuba better or set her free.  Some thought we should buy Cuba; some that we should recognize the Republic of Cuba; others that we should intervene even at the risk of war.  Thus urged on, Congress in 1896 declared that the Cubans were entitled to belligerent rights in our ports, and asked the President to endeavor to persuade Spain to recognize the independence of Cuba; and the House in 1897 recommended that the independence of Cuba be recognized.  But nothing came of either recommendation, and so the matter stood when McKinley was inaugurated.

During the summer of 1897 matters grew worse.  A large part of the island became a wilderness.  The people who had been driven into the towns by order of Captain General Weyler, the “reconcentrados,” were dying of starvation, and our countrymen, deeply moved at their suffering, began to send them food and medical aid.