Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. III.djvu/311

 GROVER CLEVELAND 259 ment, the government should not support the peo ple.&quot; As he had done while governor, so now as presi dent, Mr. Cleveland exercised the veto power with great freedom. This was particularly true during the session of congress which ended August 5, 1886, when of 987 bills which passed both houses he vetoed 115. In October, 1886, accompanied by Mrs. Cleve land and several personal friends, the president made a tour of the west and south in response to invitations from those sections, which involved about 5,000 miles of railroad travel and occupied three weeks. He was enthusiastically received by the people, and made speeches at Indianapolis, St. Louis, Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, At lanta, and other cities. In December, 1887, depart ing from custom, he devoted his annual message to the presentation of a single subject, namely, the reduction of the tariff. He advocated a radical modification of the existing policy by the adoption of a law framed with a view to the ultimate estab lishment of the principles of free trade. The re publicans immediately took up the issue thus pre sented, and the question at once became a predomi nant issue of the canvass. Cleveland was unani mously renominated by the national democratic con vention in St. Louis, on June 5, 1888. The efforts of both parties were directed chiefly to the doubtful