y ratio by international agreement. There is no
good biography of William McKinley, although the external facts of his
career may be obtained in the _Annual Cyclopaedia_, and in _Who's Who in
America_ (a biennial publication which, since its first issue in
1899-1900, has been the standard source of biographical data concerning
living Americans). These may be strengthened by D. Magie, _Life of
Garrett A. Hobart_ (1910). The best biography of the period is H. Croly,
_Marcus Alonzo Hanna_ (1912), which gives an illuminating survey of
Republican politics, although based on only the public printed materials
and personal recollections. The opposition may be studied in W.J. Bryan,
_The First Battle_ (1896). The platforms, as always, are in Stanwood,
and there are useful narratives in Dewey, Latane, Andrews, and Peck.
From this period the _Outlook_ (January, 1897), and the _Independent_
(July, 1898), take on a modern magazine form and are to be added to the
list of valuable newspaper files, while the _Literary Digest_ begins to
play the part carried by _Niles's Register_ in the early part of the
century. They may generally be trusted as intelligent, honest, and
reasonably independent. The Venezuelan affair, besides stimulating
diplomatic correspondence (_q.v._, in Foreign Relations Reports), led to
the writing of W.F. Reddaway, _The Monroe Doctrine_ (1898), which is
still one of the most judicious discussions of the topic. J.B.
Henderson, _American Diplomatic Questions_ (1901), is useful also.

CHAPTER XV

THE "COUNTER-REFORMATION"

The mission of Populism did not end when free silver had been driven
like a wedge into all the parties. Its more fundamental reforms
outlasted both the hard times and the recovery from them. Although
obscured by the shadow of the larger controversy, the reforms had been
stated with conviction. The Populist party was not permitted to bring
the reformation that it promised, but it stimulated within the parties
in power a "counter-reformation," that was already under way. This
counter-reformation was largely within the Republican ranks because that
party dominated in every branch of the National Government for fourteen
years after 1897, but it was essentially non-partisan. It derived its
advocates from the generation that had been educated since the Civil
War, and many of its leaders bore the imprint of democratic higher
education. It derived its materials from historical, economic, and
soci