 During his tenure , McCreary represented Kentucky 's agricultural interests , introducing a bill to create the United States Department of Agriculture . A bill containing most of the same provisions as the one McCreary authored was passed later in the session . He also proposed a successful amendment to the Wilson – Gorman Tariff Act that excluded farm implements and machinery from the tariff . An advocate of free silver , he was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison to be a delegate to the International Monetary Conference held in Brussels , Belgium , in 1892 . As chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs , he authored a bill to establish a court that would settle disputed land claims stemming from the Gadsden Purchase and the Treaty of Guadalupe @-@ Hidalgo . He advocated the creation of a railroad linking Canada , the United States , and Mexico . In 1890 , he sponsored a bill authorizing the first Pan @-@ American Conference and was an advocate of the Pan @-@ American Medical Conference that met in Washington , D.C. , in 1893 . He authored a report declaring American hostility to European ownership of a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans , and sponsored legislation authorizing the U.S. president to retaliate against foreign vessels that harassed American fishing boats . 
