used his position to become a well-known advocate of the unlimited coinage of silver. Governor Campaign Matthews was nominated to run as the Democratic candidate for governor in 1892 and ran in the fall election against incumbent Republican governor Ira Joy Chase and Populist candidate Leroy Templeton. The campaign focused primarily on depressed farm prices and farmers desires to inflate the currency to alleviate debt problems. Matthews won the election by seven thousand votes. The Populist party failed to make significant gains in the state, and the election marked the party's decline in the state. Shortly before Matthews took office, the national economy was struck by the Panic of 1893, caused in part by the inflationary acts of the government, which Matthews supported in the campaign. In Indiana, it led to a large rise in unemployment, the bankruptcy of most of the state railroad companies, the collapse of many state banks, business failures, and a collapse in land value. Matthews came into office with projected budget shortfalls and threats of worker strikes across the state. Strikes Coal miners in southern Indiana made good on their threats and joined in a national strike. The strikers attacked railroad tracks to prevent strikebreakers from sending out shipments. Matthews called out nine companies of militia and sent them to forcibly break up the strikers and protect coal shipments. As the militia arrived to resolve the situation, and second large strike broke out in Hammond, as railroad workers seized control of an important railroad hub in northern Indiana, effectively shutting down a large part of the state's exporting via Lake Michigan. Matthews called up additional militia and dispatched them to break up the second strike. The legislature was not in session when Matthews ordered the militia to duty, but they approved of his actions when they gathered later in the year. Because they had not approved the call-up, no funds had been appropriated for paying the men, and Matthews borrowed over $40,000 on his personal credit to pay for the operations. The legislature agreed to reimburse him for his expense. In addition to fighting strikers, Matthews continued the policy of the previous governors of suppressing white cap organizations in the southern part of the state. Matthews had advocated in the campaign the banning of horse racing and prize fighting in the state. He successfully pressed the General Assembly to pass legislation banning the enterprises. He