Frank Brown, o Carroll County, was chosen governor in 1891, and in 1894 he found it neces sary to call out the National Guard to preserve order in consequence of a miners' strike in Allegany County. In that year's Congressional elections, the Republican party, for the first time, had a majority in the State. This fact gave the party fresh courage, and, in 1895, it nominated a strong candidate for governor, Lloyd Lowndes of Allegany County. The Re form League supported him, as did ex-Governor Whyte, and many other Democrats, who had become dissatisfied with conditions in their party and in the State. Especial efforts were exerted to prevent intimidation or fraud in Baltimore city. The election resulted in a Re pubhcan legislature and a large popular major ity for Lowndes. For many years, one United States senator had been chosen from either shore of the bay, but now that rule was broken, and a Republican, George L. Wellington of Allegany County, was chosen senator, the other senator being Arthur P. Gorman of Howard County. The same session saw the passage of an excellent ballot law, prepared by the Re form League (which did away with all riot and intimidation, and almost all fraud at the polls), and the establishment of the State Geological Survey, whose achievements have been very ex tensive, and of a remarkable scientific character.
In 1896 William J. Bryan was nominated for the Presidency, by the Democratic party, and this choice was not received with favor in Maryland, where the sentiment in favor of a gold standard was strong, and where the party had always called itself the Democratic-Con servative party. The Prohibitionists nominated Joshua Levering of Baltimore, but his vote was small. William McKinley, the Republican nominee, carried the State by 32,000 plurality, and every Republican candidate for Congress was elected. President McKinley called to his Cabinet, as Postmaster-General, James A. Gary, of Baltimore, a prominent manufacturer. In 1897 a general assembly was chosen, Republican in both branches, the only time such has been elected. They adopted a new city charter for Baltimore, by which a board of estimates was established, and empowered to prepare an an nual budget for the city. Louis E. McComas of Hagerstown, an experienced jurist, was elected to the United States Senate. In the Spanish War, which occurred during that year, Mary land troops did not have the opportunity of service outside of the country, but two natives of the State gained renown: Adm. Winfield Scott Schley and Gen. Harrison G. Otis, both of whom were born in Frederick.
The Democratic party won the gubernato rial election of 1899, owing in part to dissen sions among the Republicans, and John Walter Smith of Worcester County defeated Governor Lowndes, who sought re-election. Governor Smith succeeded to the leadership of the Demo cratic State party organization, when Senator Gorman died.. Four years after the close of his term as governor he was elected to the United States Senate. In 1900 the State cast its electoral vote for McKinley, by nearly 14,000 majority. Governor Smith called the legislature in extra session in 1901 to amend the ballot law and to provide for a State cen sus, since certain frauds, which were after ward corrected by the Federal officials, had been discovered in the National Census of 1900. The Democratic party now entered upon
a continuous policy for suppressing the votes of negroes and the election law adopted in 1901 abolished party emblems and columns from the ballot, and included other provisions, making it easy for election officials to throw out ballots. The election of 1901 turned upon the question of approving, or condemning, this election law, under which so-called trick ballots, difficult to vote, were used in certain counties. A Demo cratic legislature was chosen, but, of the two State officials elected by small majorities, one was a Republican. In 1902 the Republicans carried the State on the Congressional vote; but, in 1903, Edwin Warfield of Howard County, head of one of the Baltimore bonding companies, was elected governor on the Demo cratic ticket. About this time, an era of con struction of public buildings occurred at An napolis. The state house, erected in Governor Eden's administration, was enlarged; a build ing was erected for the Court of Appeals and the State Library; and the United States Naval Academy, established during the administra tion of President Polk, when George Bancroft was Secretary of the Navy, was rebuilt. On 7 Feb. 1904 occurred the great fire in Baltimore, which burnt over about 160 acres of ground in the centre of the city, and destroyed nearly $100,000,000 worth of property. A Burnt Dis trict Commission with created to deal with the emergency, streets were widened and new piers built. An adequate sewer system, at a cost of about $25,000,000, was installed about the same time, and the city entered upon a new era of progress. In the autumn of 1906 the erec tion of a new Young Men's Christian Association building was made possible in Bal timore, by the raising of over $400,000, through the first of those intensive canvasses which have since been so often resorted to in the city.
The legislature of 1904 proposed to the vot ers a constitutional amendment relating to the suffrage, usually known as the Poe Amend ment, from the name of John P. Poe, Esq., a prominent lawyer who drafted it. It included the so-called *grandfather clause,* and gave officers of registration considerable power, the object being to prevent most of the negroes from voting, and so render the success of that party certain. However, the amendment was opposed by the governor, the attorney-general and many other prominent Democrats, as well as by the united body of Republicans, and was i defeated at the polls in the election of 1905, by a majority of 35,000, although a Democratic majority was chosen in the general assembly then selected. Twice subsequently, a futile at tempt was made to have a similar amendment incorporated in the State constitution, before the effort was finally relinquished. In the Presidential elections of 1904 and 1908 the elec toral vote of the State was divided, so close was the result.