GROVER CLEVELAND 279 At the first regular session of the fifty-third con gress, opened December 4, 1893, the question of tariff revision was at once considered. In his mes sage of that date the president, after reviewing the work and needs of the various departments of government, dwelt with special emphasis on the necessity of immediately undertaking this impor tant reform. "After a hard struggle," he said, "tariff reform is directly before us. Nothing so important claims our attention, and nothing so clearly presents itself as both an opportunity and a duty an opportunity to deserve the gratitude of our fellow-citizens, and a duty imposed upon us by our oft-repeated professions and by the emphatic mandate of the people. After full discussion, our countrymen have spoken in favor of this reform, and they have confided the work of its accomplish ment to the hands of those who are solemnly pledged to it. ... "Manifestly, if we are to aid the people directly through tariff reform, one of its most obvious fea tures should be a reduction in present tariff charges upon the necessaries of life. The benefits of such a reduction would be palpable and substantial, seen and felt by thousands who would be better fed and better clothed and better sheltered. . . . "Not less closely related to our people s prosper ity and well-being is the removal of restrictions upon the importation of the raw materials neces-
