Chapter XV: Preface (13)

When the annals of this Republic show the disgrace and censure of a Vice-President; a late Speaker of the House of Representatives marketing his rulings as a presiding officer; three Senators profiting secretly by their votes as law-makers; five chairmen of the leading committees of the House of Representatives exposed in jobbery; a late Secretary of the Treasury forcing balances in the public accounts; a late Attorney-General misappropriating public funds; a Secretary of the Navy enriched or enriching friends by percentages levied off the profits of contractors with his department; an ambassador to England censured in a dishonorable speculation; the President’s private secretary barely escaping conviction upon trial for guilty complicity in frauds upon the revenue; a Secretary of War impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors,—the demonstration is complete that the first step in reform must be the people’s choice of honest men from another party, lest the disease of one political organization infect the body politic, and lest, by making no change of men or parties, we get no change of measures and no real reform.

All these abuses, wrongs, and crimes, the product of sixteen years’ ascendency of the Republican party, create a necessity for reform confessed by Republicans themselves; but their reformers are voted down in convention and displaced from the Cabinet. The party’s mass of honest voters is powerless to resist the eighty thousand office-holders, its leaders and guides.

Reform can only be had by a peaceful civic revolution. We demand a change of system, a change of administration, a change of parties, that we may have change of measures and of men.

_Resolved_, That this convention, representing the Democratic party of the United States, do cordially endorse the action of the present House of Representatives in reducing and curtailing the expenses of the Federal Government, in cutting down salaries, extravagant appropriations, and in abolishing useless offices and places not required by the public necessities; and we shall trust to the firmness of the Democratic members of the House that no committee of conference and no misinterpretation of the rules shall be allowed to defeat these wholesome measures of economy demanded by the country.

_Resolved_, That the soldiers and sailors of the Republic, and the widows and orphans of those who have fallen in battle, have a just claim upon the care, protection, and gratitude of their fellow-citizens.

Business and trade were very much depressed in 1876, as the country was then approaching the panic and industrial troubles of 1877, which convulsed the country from Eastern to Western sea, and the Greenback or Independent National party, as it was called, exhibited formidable proportions in the contest. It held its national convention at Indianapolis on the 18th of May, with Thomas J. Durant, of Washington, D. C., as permanent president. Peter Cooper, the noted philanthropist of New York, was unanimously nominated for President, and Newton Booth, then a California Senator, was in like manner nominated for Vice-President, but he declined, and General Samuel F. Cary, of Ohio, was substituted. There were 19 States represented by 239 delegates. The following platform was unanimously adopted:

The Independent party is called into existence by the necessities of the people, whose industries are prostrated, whose labor is deprived of its just reward, by a ruinous policy which the Republican and Democratic parties refuse to change, and in view of the failure of these parties to furnish relief to the depressed industries of the country, thereby disappointing the just hopes and expectations of the suffering people, we declare our principles, and invite all independent and patriotic men to join our ranks in this movement for financial reform and industrial emancipation.

1. We demand the immediate and unconditional repeal of the Specie-Resumption act of January 14, 1875, and the rescue of our industries from ruin and disaster resulting from its enforcement; and we call upon all patriotic men to organize, in every Congressional district of the country, with a view of electing Representatives to Congress who will carry out the wishes of the people in this regard, and stop the present suicidal and destructive policy of contraction.

2. We believe that a United States note, issued directly by the Government, and convertible on demand into United States obligations, bearing a rate of interest not exceeding one cent a day on each one hundred dollars, and exchangeable for United States notes at par, will afford the best circulating medium ever devised. Such United States notes should be full legal tender for all purposes except for the payment of such obligations as are, by existing contracts, especially made payable in coin, and we hold that it is the duty of the Government to provide such circulating medium, and insist, in the language of Thomas Jefferson, that bank paper must be suppressed, and the circulation restored to the nation, to whom it belongs.

3. It is the paramount duty of the Government, in all its legislation, to keep in view the full development of all legitimate business, agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and commercial.

4. We most earnestly protest against any further issue of gold bonds, for sale in foreign markets, by which we would be made, for a long period, hewers of wood and drawers of water for foreigners, especially as the American people would gladly and promptly take, at par, all bonds the Government may need to sell, provided they are made payable at the option of the holder, and bearing interest at 3.65 per cent. per annum, or even a lower rate.

5. We further protest against the sale of Government bonds for the purpose of purchasing silver, to be used as a substitute for our more convenient and less fluctuating fractional currency, which, although well calculated to enrich owners of silver mines, yet in operation it will still further oppress, in taxation, an already over-burdened people.

The Prohibitionists held their national convention at Cleveland, O., on the 17th of May, and nominated Greene Clay Smith, of Kentucky, for President, and G. T. Stewart, of Ohio, for Vice-President, by acclamation, and adopted the following platform:

The Prohibition Reform party of the United States, organized in the name of the people to revive, enforce, and perpetuate in the Government the doctrines of the Declaration of Independence, submit in this centennial year of the Republic, for the suffrages of all good citizens, the following platform of national reforms and measures:

1. The legal prohibition in the District of Columbia, the Territories, and in every other place subject to the laws of Congress, of the importation, exportation, manufacture, and traffic of all alcoholic beverages as high crimes against society; an amendment of the national Constitution to render these prohibitory measures universal and permanent; and the adoption of treaty stipulations with foreign powers to prevent the importation and exportation of all alcoholic beverages.

2. The abolition of class legislation and of special privileges in the Government, and of the adoption of equal suffrage and eligibility to office without distinction of race, religious creed, property, or sex.

3. The appropriation of the public lands in limited quantities to actual settlers only; the reduction of the rates of inland and ocean postage; of telegraphic communication; of railroad and water transportation and travel to the lowest practicable point by force of law, wisely and justly framed, with reference not only to the interests of capital employed, but to the higher claims of the general good.

4. The suppression by law of lottery and gambling in gold, stocks, produce, and every form of money and property, and the penal inhibition of the use of the public mails for advertising schemes of gambling and lotteries.

5. The abolition of those foul enormities, polygamy and the social evil, and the protection of purity, peace, and happiness of homes by ample and efficient legislation.

6. The national observance of the Christian Sabbath, established by laws prohibiting ordinary labor and business in all departments of public service and private employment (works of necessity, charity, and religion excepted) on that day.

7. The establishment by mandatory provisions in national and State Constitutions, and by all necessary legislation, of a system of free public schools for the universal and forced education of all the youth of the land.

8. The free use of the Bible, not as a ground of religious creeds, but as text-book of the purest morality, the best liberty, and the noblest literature, in our public schools, that our children may grow up in its light, and that its spirit and principles may pervade the nation.

9. The separation of the Government in all departments and institutions, including the public schools and all funds for their maintenance, from the control of every religious sect or other association, and the protection alike of all sects by equal laws, with entire freedom of religious faith and worship.

10. The introduction into all treaties hereafter negotiated with foreign governments of a provision for the amicable settlement of international difficulties by arbitration.

11. The abolition of all barbarous modes and instruments of punishment; the recognition of the laws of God and the claims of humanity in the discipline of jails and prisons, and of that higher and wiser civilization worthy of our age and nation, which regards the reform of criminals as a means for the prevention of crime.

12. The abolition of executive and legislative patronage, and the election of President, Vice-President, United States Senators, and of all civil officers, so far as practicable, by the direct vote of the people.

13. The practice of a friendly and liberal policy to immigrants from all nations, the guarantee to them of ample protection, and of equal rights and privileges.

14. The separation of the money of Government from all banking institutions. The National Government only should exercise the high prerogative of issuing paper money, and that should be subject to prompt redemption on demand in gold and silver, the only equal standards of value recognized by the civilized world.

15. The reduction of the salaries of public officers in a just ratio with the decline of wages and market prices, the abolition of sinecures, unnecessary offices, and official fees and perquisites; the practice of strict economy in Government expenses, and a free and thorough investigation into any and all alleged abuses of public trusts.

A mass convention held under the name of the American National party met in Pittsburg on the 9th of June, 1875, and nominated James B. Walker, of Illinois, for President, and Donald Kirkpatrick, of New York, for Vice-President. This political organization made no figure in the contest of 1876, and did not again appear in the subsequent national elections. The following platform was adopted:

We hold: 1. That ours is a Christian and not a heathen nation, and that the God of the Christian Scriptures is the author of civil government.

2. That God requires and man needs a Sabbath.

3. That the prohibition of the importation, manufacture, and sale of intoxicating drinks as a beverage is the true policy on the temperance question.

4. The charters of all secret lodges granted by our Federal and State Legislatures should be withdrawn, and their oaths prohibited by law.

5. That the civil equality secured to all American citizens by Article 13th, 14th, and 15th of our amended Constitution should be preserved inviolate.

6. That arbitration of differences with nations is the most direct and sure method of securing and perpetuating a permanent peace.

7. That to cultivate the intellect without improving the morals of men, is to make mere adepts and experts; therefore, the Bible should be associated with books of science and literature in all our educational institutions.

8. That land and other monopolies should be discountenanced.

9. That the Government should furnish the people with an ample and sound currency, and a return to specie payment as soon as practicable.

10. That maintenance of the public credit, protection to all loyal citizens, and justice to Indians are essential to the honor and safety of our nation.

11. And finally, we demand for the American people the abolition of electoral colleges, and a direct vote for President and Vice-President of the United States.

The contest of 1876 was conducted with great earnestness, but it was not distinguished for the defamation of candidates. The popular tide seemed to be with Tilden, as the reformation he had wrought in the Democratic party by the overthrow of Tweed in New York presented him in bold contrast to the administration of Grant, that had brought a tempest of scandals upon the party; but misfortune seemed to multiply upon Tilden from the beginning to the close of the battle. His first disaster, and what in the end proved to be a fatal one, was the result of the admission of Colorado into the Union. Thomas N. Patterson, an active Democrat, had been chosen as a delegate to Congress from Colorado in 1874 by a majority of 2163, and he gave the Democrats, who largely controlled the House, the positive assurance that the admission of Colorado would bring in another Democratic State. They had the power to exclude Colorado, but believing that the large majority of the Democrats had, under Patterson’s lead in 1874, anchored the Territory safely in the Democratic column, the Democrats admitted the new State, and her three electoral votes decided the election against Tilden, as even with South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana taken from Tilden, all of which had voted for him, Hayes was chosen by a single vote.

The first State election in Colorado was held in the summer of 1876, and to the utter consternation of the Democrats the Republicans elected the entire State ticket with 25 majority on joint ballot in the Legislature, and it was settled before the State election that the new State would not be put to the trouble and expense of another election for President in the fall, and that the Legislature would choose the electors, as it did. Tilden thus started in the contest with three electoral votes positively assured against him in the new State, that had been admitted because it was confidently expected to be Democratic.

On the popular vote Tilden had, according to the Republican returns, 252,224 majority over Hayes, and had the electoral colleges cast their votes as the popular vote was cast in Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina, Tilden would have received 203 to 156 for Hayes. The following table presents the popular vote and gives the Democratic and Republican returns of Florida and Louisiana, with the totals as they would appear with either count accepted:

══════════════════════════╤══════════╤══════════╤══════════╤══════════
STATES. │Samuel J. │Rutherford│ Peter │Green Clay
│ Tilden. │ B. Hayes.│ Cooper. │ Smith.
──────────────────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────
Maine │ 49,917 │ 66,300 │ 663 │ ――――
New Hampshire │ 38,509 │ 41,539 │ 76 │ ――――
Vermont │ 20,350 │ 44,428 │ ―――― │ ――――
Massachusetts │ 108,777 │ 150,063 │ 779 │ 84
Rhode Island │ 10,712 │ 15,787 │ 68 │ 60
Connecticut │ 61,934 │ 59,034 │ 774 │ 378
New York │ 521,949 │ 489,207 │ 1,987 │ 2,359
New Jersey │ 115,962 │ 103,517 │ 712 │ 43
Pennsylvania │ 366,204 │ 384,184 │ 7,187 │ 1,319
Delaware │ 13,381 │ 10,752 │ ―――― │ ――――
Maryland │ 91,780 │ 71,981 │ 33 │ 10
Virginia │ 139,670 │ 95,558 │ ―――― │ ――――
West Virginia │ 56,495 │ 42,046 │ 1,373 │ ――――
North Carolina │ 125,427 │ 108,417 │ ―――― │ ――――
South Carolina │ 90,896 │ 91,870 │ ―――― │ ――――
Georgia │ 130,088 │ 50,446 │ ―――― │ ――――
Florida[25] │ 22,927 │ 23,849 │ ―――― │ ――――
Florida[26] │ 24,434 │ 24,340 │ ―――― │ ――――
Alabama │ 102,989 │ 68,708 │ ―――― │ ――――
Mississippi │ 112,173 │ 52,605 │ ―――― │ ――――
Louisiana[25] │ 70,508 │ 75,315 │ ―――― │ ――――
Louisiana[26] │ 83,723 │ 77,174 │ ―――― │ ――――
Texas │ 104,803 │ 44,803 │ ―――― │ ――――
Arkansas │ 58,071 │ 38,669 │ 289 │ ――――
Missouri │ 203,077 │ 145,029 │ 3,498 │ 64
Tennessee │ 133,166 │ 89,566 │ ―――― │ ――――
Kentucky │ 159,696 │ 97,156 │ 1,944 │ 818
Ohio │ 323,182 │ 330,698 │ 3,057 │ 1,636
Michigan │ 141,095 │ 166,534 │ 9,060 │ 766
Indiana │ 213,526 │ 208,011 │ 17,233 │ 141
Illinois │ 258,601 │ 278,232 │ 9,533 │ ――――
Wisconsin │ 123,926 │ 130,070 │ 1,509 │ 27
Minnesota │ 48,799 │ 72,962 │ 2,311 │ 72
Iowa │ 112,121 │ 171,326 │ 9,901 │ 36
Nebraska │ 17,554 │ 31,916 │ 2,320 │ 1,599
Kansas │ 37,902 │ 78,322 │ 7,776 │ 110
Colorado[27] │ ―――― │ ―――― │ ―――― │ ――――
Nevada │ 9,308 │ 10,383 │ ―――― │ ――――
California │ 76,468 │ 78,322 │ 44 │ ――――
Oregon │ 14,149 │ 15,206 │ 510 │ ――――
├──────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────
Total, Republican count │4,285,992 │4,033,768 │ 81,737 │ 9,522
Total, Democratic count │4,300,590 │4,036,298 │ 81,737 │ 9,522
══════════════════════════╧══════════╧══════════╧══════════╧══════════

[25] Republican count.

[26] Democratic count.

[27] By Legislature.

On the morning after the election, newspapers of all parties announced the election of Tilden for President, but a murmur of the coming storm came at the same time from Senator Chandler, of New Hampshire, who was secretary of the national committee, of which Senator Zachariah Chandler, of Michigan, was chairman, who announced that Hayes was elected, and declared that the States of Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina had honestly voted for Hayes, and that he would finally receive their electoral votes. With the whole machinery of the Government in the hands of the Republicans, it was almost a hopeless battle for Tilden to fight for the disputed Southern States, but the Democratic people became violently aroused, and threats were freely made that the inauguration of Hayes would be prevented by mob violence if attempted.

So grave had the situation become that both branches of Congress finally passed an act, creating what was known as the Electoral Commission, that should be a tribunal of last resort, to determine the disputed election. The bill passed the House by the vote of 158 Democrats and 33 Republicans, with 68 Republicans and 18 Democrats voting in the negative; and in the Senate the bill was passed by the votes of 26 Democrats and 21 Republicans, with 16 Republicans and 1 Democrat voting against it. The measure was approved by the President on the 29th of January. As a majority of the Democrats in both Houses favored the measure, it was assumed that Tilden desired them to support it, but in point of fact Tilden was irresolute, and put it upon his friends to decide what should be done. Had any other man been the Democratic candidate, he would have been a great leader and an aggressive one; but from the beginning to the close of the post-election battle Tilden was apparently dwarfed into utter helplessness, and when it became evident that the Commission would decide against him, he distinctly disclaimed all responsibility for the creation of the tribunal. The Electoral Commission was finally made up under the law, composed of Senators Edmunds, Morton, Frelinghuysen, Republicans, and Thurman and Bayard, Democrats; of Representatives Payne, Hunton, and Abbott, Democrats, and Garfield and Hoar, Republicans, with Justices Strong and Miller, Republicans, and Clifford and Field, Democrats, and the fifth member of the court to be chosen by the four. Justice David Davis was first chosen as the fifth judicial member of the court, but he declined, as he had just been elected to the Senate by Illinois, and Justice Bradley was then selected to fill his place. Had Davis remained on the Commission, it is reasonably certain that the vote of the Electoral Commission would have been 8 for Tilden and 7 for Hayes. This Commission, whose judgment was to be final, decided in favor of Hayes on every disputed proposition by a vote of 8 to 7, and thus made him President by the following electoral vote:

════════════════╤════════╤════════
STATES. │ Hayes. │ Tilden.
────────────────┼────────┼────────
Maine │ 7 │ ――
New Hampshire │ 5 │ ――
Vermont │ 5 │ ――
Massachusetts │ 13 │ ――
Rhode Island │ 4 │ ――
Connecticut │ ―― │ 6
New York │ ―― │ 35
New Jersey │ ―― │ 9
Pennsylvania │ 29 │ ――
Delaware │ ―― │ 3
Maryland │ ―― │ 8
Virginia │ ―― │ 11
West Virginia │ ―― │ 5
North Carolina │ ―― │ 10
South Carolina │ 7 │ ――
Georgia │ ―― │ 11
Florida │ 4 │ ――
Alabama │ ―― │ 10
Mississippi │ ―― │ 8
Louisiana │ 8 │ ――
Texas │ ―― │ 8
Arkansas │ ―― │ 6
Missouri │ ―― │ 15
Tennessee │ ―― │ 12
Kentucky │ ―― │ 12
Ohio │ 22 │ ――
Michigan │ 11 │ ――
Indiana │ ―― │ 15
Illinois │ 21 │ ――
Wisconsin │ 10 │ ――
Minnesota │ 5 │ ――
Iowa │ 11 │ ――
Nebraska │ 3 │ ――
Kansas │ 5 │ ――
Colorado │ 3 │ ――
Nevada │ 3 │ ――
California │ 6 │ ――
Oregon │ 3 │ ――
├────────┼────────
│ 185 │ 184
════════════════╧════════╧════════

The true history of the struggle for the control of the electoral votes of South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana has never been written and now never can be fully written. The ablest men of both sides attended the contest in those States to battle for or against the action of the returning boards. All three States had voted for Tilden, but the returning boards, which had been created by the carpet-bag rule of the South, set aside the returns on the plea of fraud and certified the electoral vote for Hayes. The strength of the claim of the Democrats was practically admitted after the inauguration of Hayes by the President aiding in the adjustments which gave the Democrats the Governors and the Legislatures of those States, and ousting the Republicans who had given the electoral vote to the President.

The chief factor in the bold and revolutionary action that returned the three States named for the Republican candidate for President was J. Donald Cameron, then Secretary of War under President Grant, and later United States Senator. He is nothing if not heroic when occasion demands it. I remember calling upon him at the Continental Hotel a few days after the election, and inquired of him whether he really meant to force the reversal of the vote in those States and have Hayes returned as elected. He answered with perfect frankness that he had started in to do it, that he meant to do it, and that it was right to do it, as the Republicans had not opportunity to vote in the South, and the only way to meet such frauds was by the strong power of the Government.

But for the assurance that the army and navy would sustain the returning boards of those States in whatever they did under color of law, the reversal of the popular vote never could have been accomplished. The State of Florida was manipulated by Robert W. Mackey, who was the most accomplished politician the Republicans have ever produced in Pennsylvania. He was apparently dying of consumption for ten years, and when it became necessary to send some competent man to handle Florida, he was selected. He started on his mission, and his racking cough and general consumptive features gave plausibility to the statement that he was going South to nurse his health. Two Democratic visiting committeemen were on the same train, and he overheard them mature their plans to hold the State for Tilden. He telegraphed to C. D. Brigham, who had been a prominent editor and Republican politician in Pittsburg, but who then resided in Florida, to meet him at the station, and before the Democrats attempted to carry their plans into execution they were completely blocked by Mackey, who could summon all the Federal officials to his aid.

Governor Curtin and Senator Sherman met face to face at New Orleans in the struggle to win the electoral vote of Louisiana, and at one stage of the battle Tilden could have secured the vote by telegraphing a single word to Curtin; but Tilden seemed to have lost his cunning, and hesitation was exhibited by him at every stage of the conflict when the promptest action was indispensable. I visited him at his home in Gramercy Park when the contest was on at white heat, and was amazed to find his table covered with legal briefs, as though his election depended upon the law that would govern before a competent and impartial judicial tribunal. He permitted himself and his friends to become involved in a compromising way in the Oregon dispute for a single elector, and had the same method been adopted in Louisiana, he would have won. Instead of discussing the situation as it was, he presented to me elaborate arguments to show how it should be, and I could not refrain from reminding him that he was not dealing with judicial tribunals nor with honest men, and that he must either meet them on their own ground and with their own weapons or he must fall in the fight. He seemed to be utterly bewildered, and the man who had organized his nomination and election with consummate skill shrivelled up into pitiable indecision and inaction when he had the power to cast the die for or against himself.

The severe strain upon the popular sentiment of the country that had given Tilden 250,000 majority for President was greatly tempered, especially in the South, by a very shrewd movement planned early in the after-election contest to conciliate the leading people of the South. They received positive assurances from men very close to Hayes, and who gave the assurance of Hayes’s approval of the movement, that if Hayes should be inaugurated President without violence the State governments of Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina would be given to the Democrats. That Hayes approved of the plan is evidenced by the fact that after he became President he stood resolutely by the promise made by his friends to give the Democrats control of the governments of those States.

There was not serious friction in Florida; the Democratic candidate for Governor was allowed to be inaugurated on a returned majority of 195 as given by the Supreme Court. In South Carolina the face of the returns gave Wade Hampton 1134 majority for Governor, with about a like majority for the Democratic Presidential electors, but the Returning Board threw out Democratic counties and returned Chamberlain, Republican, as elected Governor by a majority of 3433, and gave the Republican electors majorities ranging from 600 to 900.

Two Legislatures were organized and two claimants for the Governorship were qualified, but after a long siege, in which the friends of Hampton were with difficulty restrained from taking violent possession of the Capitol, the Republicans gave up the contest, as they discovered that President Hayes would not support them, and Hampton and his associate Democratic candidates and a Democratic Legislature were accepted.

The great battle was made in Louisiana, where the Returning Board gave Hayes the State by a majority of 4807, and declared the Republican electors chosen by about the same majority. The face of the returns gave a majority of 7876 for Tilden and 8101 for Nichols, Democratic candidate for Governor. There, as in South Carolina, two Governors were qualified and two Legislatures organized, and Stephen B. Packard, who had been counted in as the Republican Governor, and had been largely instrumental in giving the electoral vote to Hayes, and thereby electing him, demanded that the President should sustain him, logically insisting that if Hayes was elected Packard was elected, and that if Packard must go out Hayes must go out with him.

The faith of the President and his friends were pledged to the people of property in Louisiana that they should have their own State government, but it was a most difficult obligation to discharge. Finally, the President appointed a committee of eminent Republicans, two of whom were the present Senator Hawley, of Connecticut, and ex-Attorney-General Wayne MacVeagh, of Washington, to go to New Orleans and solve the problem. The first necessity to accomplish that result was to withdraw enough Senators and Representatives from the Packard Legislature to the Nichols Legislature to give Nichols a quorum in both houses of undisputed legislators, as that would leave Packard without a Legislature and clothe Nichols’s government with all the ceremony of law.

Many of the Packard legislators were negroes, and most of them commercial. The change could be effected only by purchase, in which the Hawley and MacVeagh committee had no part. There were enough and to spare of Packard legislators who were willing to sell out, but the Democrats were impoverished and could not raise money to buy them. One of the active men in the movement was Duncan F. Kenner, one of the most prominent men in the State for many years, and among the Senators in the market was one of his former slaves, who demanded a high price. The State had been desolated, business paralyzed, and the people of Louisiana had not recovered from the universal waste of war, and while they were more than willing to buy enough of the Packard men to give Nichols the Legislature, they were absolutely without the means to do it.

In this emergency the Louisiana Lottery Company came forward and proposed to furnish the citizens of New Orleans, who were managing the movement, all the money they needed on condition that when the Democrats came into power and amended the Constitution, they should give the Louisiana Lottery a twenty-five-year charter in the Constitution. It was a hard bargain, but as they could do no better they accepted the proffer, and a very large sum of money was thus furnished and paid to the negroes and carpet-bag legislators, who were very glad to get under cover with cash in their pockets, knowing that the end of carpet-bag rule was near at hand. Packard finally found himself abandoned by a majority of the undisputed Senators and Representatives. His administration thus ended, and the promise of the friends of Hayes, which Hayes manfully sustained, was fully performed, and the property people of the South were given their right to govern their own States as the price of assenting to Hayes as President.

The Nichols government kept faith with the Louisiana Lottery Company, and the people of Louisiana have ever since been unjustly criticised as the only State in the Union that gave the highest possible charter to a lottery company, as they could not explain the inexorable conditions which compelled them to do it. This was the last act of the great political drama of 1876–77 that made Rutherford B. Hayes President.

The action of Tilden defeating Chase in the Democratic convention of 1868 had its sequel with mingled romance and reality in the defeat of Tilden for the Presidency in 1877, when the vote of Louisiana was passed upon by the Senate. Kate Chase Sprague was the most brilliant woman in Washington society during the war period, and in every way one of the most attractive. Her home in Washington was the centre of the most accomplished men in public life, and among them was Roscoe Conkling, the ablest of the Republican Senators. The contest for the Presidency before the Electoral Commission in 1876–77 turned on the vote of Louisiana, and it required the approving vote of the Senate to give the electoral vote of that State to Hayes. Had it been given to Tilden, he would have been the President. Many believed that Hayes had not been elected and should not be declared elected, and among those who shared that conviction was Mr. Conkling, although he did not publicly express it.

The Senate was carefully canvassed, and enough Republican votes were marshalled to throw the vote of the Senate in favor of Tilden on the Louisiana issue if Conkling would lead in support of that policy, and it was understood that he had agreed to do so. When the crucial time came Conkling did not appear at all, and the anti-Hayes Republicans, being without a leader, fell back to their party lines and gave the vote of the State and the Presidential certificate to Hayes. It is an open secret that Conkling resolved his doubts as urged by Mrs. Sprague, who thereby avenged the defeat of her father in the Democratic nomination of 1868, that had been accomplished by Tilden; and thus Tilden lost the Presidency, to which he had been elected by a popular majority of over 250,000.

THE GARFIELD-HANCOCK CONTEST

1880

The greatest battle ever fought in a national convention was witnessed at Chicago where the Republican National Convention met on June 2, 1880. Grant had made his journey around the world, received the homage of the highest rulers of every clime, and returned to be greeted with a degree of popular enthusiasm that had never before been given to any citizen of the Republic. During Grant’s absence his friends had made tireless efforts to organize his forces in all the States, and the friends of Blaine, who fought this battle royal with the friends of Grant, had been equally earnest and ceaseless to give Blaine the victory. It was indeed a battle of giants, and the auditorium in which the convention was held was the most impressive picture I have ever witnessed. There were not less than ten thousand spectators in addition to the full delegations and alternates from the States. Neither of the opposing chieftains ever had a majority in the body, but for a week they stood up face to face with unbroken lines and belligerent leaders in hand-to-hand conflict.

Among the delegates were Conkling, Garfield, Harrison, Logan, and many other conspicuous and able leaders of the opposing factions. Blaine’s people, with the aid of the field, weakened Grant’s lines by preventing the unit rule in any delegation, whereby Grant lost a considerable number of votes in New York, Pennsylvania, and other States. That was a test of the distinctive Grant strength in the body. Conkling opened the nominations by presenting the name of Grant, and he did it in imperial grandeur and with a degree of eloquence that was most impressive. Next to the speech of Ingersoll, who nominated Blaine in 1876, Conkling’s appeal for the nomination of Grant will stand as the ablest of all the many able deliverances in the history of American politics. I sat quite close to him on the platform when he delivered it, and he was a most interesting study. Had he been as discreet as he was eloquent, it would have been a perfect exhibition of impressive oratory; but Conkling was inspired not only by his love of Grant, but more influenced than he confessed to himself by an intense hatred of Blaine, that he cherished until his death.

He mortally offended every friend of Blaine, and thereby made it impossible even to win the hesitating men in the Blaine ranks by his keen and pungent fling at the delegates who disregarded their instructions to vote as a unit for Grant, and by his aggressive assault upon Blaine when he referred to Grant as a candidate “without patronage, without emissaries, without committees, without bureaus, without telegraph wires running from his house to this convention or running from his house anywhere.” Unlike the Ingersoll speech nominating Blaine in 1876, the speech of Conkling, able, eloquent, and grand as it was, left Grant weaker, instead of stronger.

Very general interest centred in General Garfield, who was at the head of the Ohio delegation, that was instructed for Senator Sherman for President. Garfield knew the situation; he knew that a third candidate must eventually be accepted, and he illy concealed his efforts to advance himself, while ostensibly struggling for Sherman. His speech nominating Sherman was a plea for peace rather than an aggressive presentation of Sherman’s claims, and it was well understood that his plea for peace was, in fact, a plea for himself. At various stages of the balloting tidal waves of enthusiasm would start for Garfield, and he narrowly escaped a spontaneous nomination. He was personally very popular, of imposing presence, a most accomplished speaker, and he was finally accepted by the friends of Blaine because he was not the partisan of either Blaine or Grant, and also because they could certainly win with him, and thus defeat Grant.

The convention became weary of what was evidently an equal contest between the Grant and Blaine forces, and all who were not intensely enlisted in the factional fight were glad to end the bitter struggle by accepting Garfield. Grant’s memorable 306 stood by him and never lowered their flag until they were defeated and fell with their faces to the foe.

Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, was the permanent president of the convention, and it was a battle of giants, lasting well in to the second week. Mr. Joy, who presented the name of Blaine to the convention, grievously disappointed the friends of the Plumed Knight. His advocacy of his chief was tame compared with the masterly orations of Conkling and Garfield, but his friends were in admirable fighting trim, and no such heroic struggle as that between Blaine and Grant has ever been recorded in the history of American politics. Conkling was chairman of his delegation, and was offensively imperious in every announcement that he made to the convention. His delegation had been instructed to vote a unit for Grant, but the convention had unshackled the delegates by allowing each one to cast his vote according to his choice, and Conkling in announcing the vote for Blaine in New York always did it with a sneer, and often with offensive expression. A ballot was not reached until Monday of the second week in the convention, and for two days the extraordinary spectacle was presented of Grant and Blaine holding their forces with but little variation, until the Blaine column finally broke for Garfield. The following table presents the ballots in detail:

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BALLOTS.│ James A.│ Ulysses │James G.│ John │ Elihu B. │George F.│William│Rutherford│George W.│ Roscoe │ John F. │ Edmund │Philip H.│Benjamin │Total.│ Necessary
│Garfield.│S. Grant.│Blaine. │Sherman.│Washburne.│Edmunds. │Windom.│B. Hayes. │McCrary. │Conkling.│Hartranft.│J. Davis.│Sheridan.│Harrison.│ │to a choice.
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1st │ ―― │ 304 │ 284 │ 93 │ 31 │ 34 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
2d │ 1 │ 305 │ 282 │ 94 │ 31 │ 32 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
3d │ 1 │ 305 │ 282 │ 93 │ 31 │ 32 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 755 │ 378
4th │ 1 │ 305 │ 281 │ 95 │ 31 │ 32 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 755 │ 378
5th │ 1 │ 305 │ 281 │ 95 │ 31 │ 32 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ 755 │ 378
6th │ 2 │ 305 │ 280 │ 95 │ 31 │ 32 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
7th │ 2 │ 305 │ 281 │ 94 │ 31 │ 32 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
8th │ 1 │ 306 │ 284 │ 91 │ 32 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
9th │ 2 │ 308 │ 282 │ 90 │ 32 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
10th │ 2 │ 305 │ 282 │ 92 │ 32 │ 31 │ 10 │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
11th │ 2 │ 305 │ 281 │ 93 │ 32 │ 31 │ 10 │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
12th │ 1 │ 304 │ 283 │ 92 │ 33 │ 31 │ 10 │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
13th │ 1 │ 305 │ 285 │ 89 │ 33 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
14th │ ―― │ 305 │ 285 │ 89 │ 35 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
15th │ ―― │ 309 │ 281 │ 88 │ 36 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
16th │ ―― │ 306 │ 283 │ 88 │ 36 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 754 │ 378
17th │ ―― │ 303 │ 284 │ 90 │ 36 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
18th │ ―― │ 305 │ 283 │ 91 │ 35 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
19th │ 1 │ 305 │ 279 │ 96 │ 32 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
20th │ 1 │ 308 │ 276 │ 93 │ 35 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
21st │ 1 │ 305 │ 276 │ 96 │ 35 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
22d │ 1 │ 305 │ 275 │ 97 │ 35 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
23d │ 2 │ 304 │ 275 │ 97 │ 36 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
24th │ 2 │ 305 │ 279 │ 93 │ 35 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
25th │ 2 │ 302 │ 281 │ 94 │ 35 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
26th │ 2 │ 303 │ 280 │ 93 │ 36 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
27th │ 2 │ 306 │ 277 │ 93 │ 36 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
28th │ 2 │ 307 │ 279 │ 91 │ 35 │ 31 │ 10 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
29th │ 2 │ 305 │ 278 │ 116 │ 35 │ 12 │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
30th │ 2 │ 306 │ 279 │ 120 │ 33 │ 11 │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
31st │ 1 │ 308 │ 276 │ 118 │ 37 │ 11 │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
32d │ 1 │ 309 │ 270 │ 117 │ 44 │ 11 │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
33d │ 1 │ 309 │ 276 │ 110 │ 44 │ 11 │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
34th │ 17 │ 312 │ 275 │ 107 │ 30 │ 11 │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 756 │ 379
35th │ 50 │ 313 │ 257 │ 99 │ 23 │ 11 │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 756 │ 379
36th │ 399 │ 306 │ 42 │ 3 │ 5 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 755 │ 378
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While it was generally expected that the convention would eventually stampede to Garfield, the movement was given vitality and form by the Wisconsin delegation. The only name prominently discussed as a compromise candidate in addition to that of Garfield was the name of Senator Windom, of Minnesota, who had received the vote of his State from the start. In a caucus of the delegation a small majority of the Wisconsin delegation voted to prefer Garfield to Windom, and that movement started the tide that gave the victory to Garfield. It is quite possible that if Wisconsin had declared for Windom, instead of Garfield, as it failed to do by only a very few votes, Windom might have been made the candidate, as he occupied a very strong position in the party, was free from factional alliances, and probably would have been quite as strong a candidate with the people as Garfield. When the Wisconsin delegation decided to break the deadlock by accepting Garfield, it opened the door for the wearied anti-Grant gladiators to find speedy and gratifying refuge. Grant’s column stood to him with marvellous fidelity. He started with 304 votes, never fell below 302, never rose above 313, and ended on the final ballot with 306. The nomination of Garfield was made unanimous amidst the wildest enthusiasm.

Senator Conkling was in violent temper over the defeat of Grant, and when he was asked to name a candidate for Vice-President he at first petulantly refused to do so, but some of his more deliberate friends suggested the name of Chester A. Arthur, who was in the delegation. Arthur had acted as chairman during part of the balloting when Conkling was absent, and his dignified and manly manner of announcing the vote of his State contrasted very favorably with the offensive manner of Conkling. Conkling assented to rather than dictated the nomination of Arthur, and the 1st ballot for Vice-President was as follows:

Chester A. Arthur, N. Y. 468
Elihu B. Washburne, Ill. 199
Marshall Jewell, Conn. 43
Horace Maynard, Tenn. 30
Edmund J. Davis, Texas 20
Blanche K. Bruce (Col.), Miss. 8
James L. Alcorn, Miss. 4
Thomas Settle, Fla. 2
Stewart L. Woodford, N. Y. 1

The nomination was promptly made unanimous. The following platform was unanimously adopted:

The Republican party in national convention assembled, at the end of twenty years since the Federal Government was first committed to its charge, submits to the people of the United States this brief report of its administration. It suppressed the Rebellion which had armed nearly a million of men to subvert the national authority. It reconstructed the Union of the States with freedom instead of slavery as its corner-stone. It transformed four millions of human beings from the likeness of things to the rank of citizens. It relieved Congress from the infamous work of hunting fugitive slaves, and charged it to see that slavery does not exist. It has raised the value of our paper currency from thirty-eight per cent. to the par of gold. It has restored upon a solid basis payment in coin for all the national obligations, and has given us a currency absolutely good and equal in every part of our extended country. It has lifted the credit of the nation from the point where six per cent. bonds sold at eighty-six per cent. to that where four per cent. bonds are eagerly sought at a premium. Under its administration railways have increased from thirty-one thousand miles in 1860 to more than eighty-two thousand miles in 1879. Our foreign trade has increased from seven hundred million dollars to one billion, one hundred and fifty million dollars in the same time, and our exports, which were twenty million dollars less than our imports in 1860, were two hundred and sixty-four million more than our imports in 1879. Without resorting to loans, it has, since the war closed, defrayed the ordinary expenses of government besides the accruing interest on the public debt, and has annually disbursed more than thirty million dollars for soldiers’ pensions. It has paid eight hundred and eighty-eight million dollars of the public debt, and, by refunding the balance at lower rates, has reduced the annual interest charge from nearly one hundred and fifty-one million dollars to less than eighty-nine million dollars. All the industries of the country have revived, labor is in demand, wages have increased, and throughout the entire country there is evidence of a coming prosperity greater than we have ever enjoyed.

Upon this record the Republican party asks for the continued confidence and support of the people, and this convention submits for their approval the following statement of the principles and purposes which will continue to guide and inspire its efforts:

1. We affirm that the work of the last twenty-one years has been such as to commend itself to the favor of the nation, and that the fruits of the costly victories which we have achieved through immense difficulties should be preserved; that the peace regained should be cherished; that the dissevered Union, now happily restored, should be perpetuated, and that the liberties secured to this generation should be transmitted undiminished to future generations; that the order established and the credit acquired should never be impaired; that the pensions promised should be extinguished by the full payment of every dollar thereof; that the reviving industries should be further promoted, and that the commerce, already so great, should be steadily encouraged.

2. The Constitution of the United States is a supreme law, and not a mere contract; out of confederated States it made a sovereign nation. Some powers are denied to the nation, while others are denied to the States; but the boundary between the powers delegated and those reserved is to be determined by the national, and not by the State tribunals.

3. The work of popular education is one left to the care of the several States, but it is the duty of the National Government to aid that work to the extent of its constitutional duty. The intelligence of the nation is but the aggregate of the intelligence in the several States, and the destiny of the nation must be guided, not by the genius of any one State, but by the average genius of all.

4. The Constitution wisely forbids Congress to make any law respecting an establishment of religion, but it is idle to hope that the nation can be protected against the influences of sectarianism while each State is exposed to its domination. We therefore recommend that the Constitution be so amended as to lay the same prohibition upon the Legislature of each State, and to forbid the appropriation of public funds to the support of sectarian schools.

5. We affirm the belief avowed in 1876, that the duties levied for the purpose of revenue should so discriminate as to favor American labor; that no further grant of the public domain should be made to any railway or other corporation; that, slavery having perished in the States, its twin barbarity, polygamy, must die in the Territories; that everywhere the protection accorded to citizens of American birth must be secured to citizens by American adoption; and that we esteem it the duty of Congress to develop and improve our watercourses and harbors, but insist that further subsidies to private persons or corporations must cease; that the obligations of the Republic to the men who preserved its integrity in the hour of battle are undiminished by the lapse of the fifteen years since their final victory—to do them perpetual honor is, and shall forever be, the grateful privilege and sacred duty of the American people.

6. Since the authority to regulate immigration and intercourse between the United States and foreign nations rests with Congress, or with the United States and its treaty-making powers, the Republican party, regarding the unrestricted immigration of the Chinese as an evil of great magnitude, invoke the exercise of those powers to restrain and limit that immigration by the enactment of such just, humane and reasonable provisions as will produce that result.