Michael D. Harter
Michael Daniel Harter was an American banker and politician. He served two terms as a U.S. Representative from Ohio during the 1890s.
Early life
Born in 1846 in Canton, Ohio, Harter attended public schools. He was a grandson of Robert Moore, who served as a U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania during 1817–1821.Harter engaged in mercantile pursuits and banking. He established the Harter Bank in 1866. In 1869, he moved to Mansfield, Ohio, and at the age of 23 became treasurer and manager of the Aultman&Taylor Company upon its organization. He also established the Isaac Harter Milling Company in Fostoria, Ohio, the largest producer of flour in the state.
Political career
A Democrat, Harter was elected to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses, spanning March 1891 to March 1895. In Congress, he was strongly in favor of the gold standard, and against free silver, views in opposition to his own party. His views won out during the Panic of 1893, when Congress, in special session, repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. Harter declined to be a candidate for renomination to a third term.In 1894, Harter was one of six congressmen to vote in favor of a single tax amendment to the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act. Proposed by Georgist and fellow Democrat James G. Maguire of California, it was intended as a substitute for the bill's proposed income tax. It would have levied a direct tax of $31,311,125 on land values nationwide. After this was rejected, Harter voted in favor of the original version of the bill, but did not vote on the final version sent back by the Senate several months later.