Clarkson, who had expected a full cabinet position, began sabotaging the appointment from the outset, gaining the reputation for "decapitating a fourth class postmaster every three minutes". Clarkson himself stated, "I am simply on detail from the Republican Committee ... I am most anxious to get through this task and leave."He resigned in September 1890.[122]

Tariff
Harrison and the Billion-Dollar Congress are portrayed as wasting the surplus in this cartoon from Puck.
The tariff levels had been a major political issue since before the Civil War, and they became the most dominant matter of the 1888 election.[124] The high tariff rates had created a surplus of money in the Treasury, which led many Democrats (as well as the growing Populist movement) to call for lowering them. Most Republicans preferred to maintain the rates, spend the surplus on internal improvements and eliminate some internal taxes.[125]
Representative William McKinley and Senator Nelson W. Aldrich framed the McKinley Tariff that would raise the tariff even higher, including making some rates intentionally prohibitive.