Efforts to impeach the President were first begun in the House on January 7, 1867, and the Judiciary Committee, to which the matter was referred, reported in March that it was unable to conclude its investigations, and it recommended a continuance of the proceedings. President Johnson now took the step that ultimately brought about his impeachment. In August, 1867, he suspended Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War; the suspension was not approved by the Senate in January, 1868, but the President, holding that the Tenure of Office Act was unconstitutional, removed (February 21, 1868) Mr. Stanton from office and appointed Adjutant-general Lorenzo Thomas. This act was declared illegal by the Senate and a second impeachment was immediately reported in the House and adopted February 24, 1868. The House selected John A. Bingham, Geo. S. Boutwell, James F. Wilson, Benjamin F. Butler, Thomas Williams, John A. Logan and Thaddeus Stevens, all Republicans, as managers of the impeachment proceedings. The counsel for the President were no less eminent: Henry Stanbery, Benjamin R. Curtis, William M. Evarts and William S. Groesbeck. On May 11, 1868, the Senate voted thirty-five "guilty" to nineteen "not guilty," and the impeachment failed by one vote. Had the President been impeached, Benjamin F. Wade, of Ohio, would have become President. The result was deeply disappointing to the Republicans, and for many years there was considerable feeling against the seven Republicans who voted with the twelve Democrats against the impeachment, but lapse of time has brought about a view that the interests of the country were best served by the failure of the impeachment, not that President Johnson's policy and the action of the South under it are to be adopted, but because it is believed that the issues caused by the war were more speedily settled by the failure to impeach.
So bitter was the feeling of Congress against the President, and so great was the distrust of him, that when the Thirty-ninth Congress adjourned on March 4, 1867, the Fortieth Congress convened on the same day, and a series of adjourned meetings were held during the months until December, so that the President would not have undisputed sway during the recess which usually came between March and December.
The question of the National Debt, while not arousing the bitter antagonism that marked the attempt to settle the Reconstruction question, was nevertheless of equal, if not greater importance, because it affected the prosperity and business of the entire country. The total debt of the United States on October 31, 1865, was $2,808,549,437.55, of which debt $454,218,038.00 was in United States notes (legal tenders or greenbacks, as they were called) and fractional currency, in active circulation with the National Bank currency. When the Thirty-ninth Congress convened for the first session it had to consider the disposition of this enormous debt, most of which had been incurred at a high war rate of interest; and to decide what, if anything, should be done with this vast volume of fiat currency, and to consider the matter of reducing the Internal Revenue. The greenbacks were, of course, not on a par with coin, as the action of the Government in declaring these notes legal tender had destroyed our credit abroad and had driven all coin out of circulation, and the value of these notes fluctuated almost daily with the market value of coin. The plan of the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. McCulloch, was to contract the currency so as to lead to a resumption of specie payment and again establish our credit abroad. The situation was without precedent in financial history and there was some excuse for what has since been deemed a wrong step in the beginning. After considerable debate, in which some opposition was shown to the policy of Contraction—this opposition being led by John Sherman, who was, in fact, almost alone in his contention—a Bill was passed (April 12, 1866) allowing the Secretary of the Treasury to redeem a certain amount of legal tenders with Bonds, a course which naturally increased the bonded interest-bearing indebtedness and reduced the volume of circulating medium. The people of the country speedily complained of the contraction of the currency, and attributed the failure of business enterprises and the lack of money to it. This sentiment resulted later in the formation of a new but ephemeral political party, the Greenback Party, which went so far as to advocate the unlimited issue of legal tenders and the payment of all the indebtedness of the United States in United States notes. The public disapproval of contraction showed itself strongly, and this led to a Bill, passed on February 4, 1868, suspending the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to reduce the currency. The total amount of greenbacks had by this time been reduced to $356,000,000. This practically settled the question of Currency Contraction, although the Greenback Party, created by this agitation, was in existence until the resumption of specie payments in 1879.
As the requirements of the Treasury gradually became less, Congress rapidly amended the Internal Revenue laws, and the Federal taxes on the people, as a result of the war, gradually became less burdensome, and notwithstanding the enormous reduction in the revenue of the Government, the National Debt was reduced nearly three hundred million dollars in the four years following the war. To add to the brightness of this financial history, large sums were paid out toward the construction of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads, and on July 27, 1868, Alaska was purchased from the Russian Government for $7,200,000.
The entire course of this financial history cannot be claimed to be entirely satisfactory, yet the achievements of the Republican Party during this period, acting in many instances without precedent, were indeed remarkable.
While the exciting scenes connected with the impeachment of the President were going on during the early months of 1868, the South was ratifying the Fourteenth Amendment, and by June, 1868, the long struggle over the Reconstruction question was practically closed by the admission of the Southern States, and in July the Fourteenth Amendment was declared a part of the Constitution. Throughout this long contest the Democrats, North and South, joined in vigorous support of the President because the course of the Republicans was absolutely fatal to their political prospects. The great contest had retarded the progress of the South, and was unfortunate in continuing the bitterness between the two sections of the country. Both sides hailed its conclusion with thanksgiving, and the Republicans now looked forward to the presidential election in the Fall of 1868, which would replace, probably with a Republican, a President whose person and course were so obnoxious to the party.
CHAPTER XIII.
GRANT.
" … I endorse their resolutions, and, if elected to the office of President of the United States, it will be my endeavor to administer all the laws in good faith, with economy, and with a view of giving peace, quiet and protection everywhere… Peace, and universal prosperity, its sequence, with economy of administration, will lighten the burden of taxation, while it constantly reduces the national debt. Let us have peace."
Ulysses S. Grant's Letter of Acceptance, May 29, 1868.
The impeachment of President Johnson had not been finally disposed of in the Senate when the Fourth Republican National Convention assembled in Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, on May 20, 1868, for the purpose of nominating one whom, it was confidently believed, would succeed President Johnson and thus end the long controversy between the President and Congress, and between the North and the South. There was absolutely no question as to who would be the presidential nominee, for the overwhelming sentiment of the party had long since crystallized in favor of a man whose wonderful career and talents had made him pre-eminently the strongest candidate in the party.
[Illustration: Ulysses S. Grant.]
Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio in 1822, and had graduated from West Point in 1843. He took part in the Mexican War, and was brevetted Captain for gallant services. A few years after the close of that war he resigned his commission and engaged in business until the call to arms in 1861. His great success in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson brought him the rank of Major General and made him at once one of the most prominent and promising of the Union Generals. His subsequent successes in Tennessee, the capture of Vicksburg and the opening of the Mississippi caused him to be appointed to the revived rank of Lieutenant-General, and taking personal command of the campaign against Richmond, he had, by his dogged persistence, brought success and ended the great conflict. He continued to remain at the head of the Army, and in the bitter contest between the President and Congress during the reconstruction period, though placed in a most trying position, he had displayed rare qualities of tact and judgment, and had gained the confidence of the entire party, and indeed of the American people. Such, briefly, was the career of the man who was now called to accept a presidential nomination.
The assembling at Chicago of a great convention of soldiers and sailors at the same time the Republican Convention met, made the latter even more enthusiastic than the convention of 1860, and the number in attendance was much larger. The Soldiers' Convention met before the Republican Convention, and amid scenes of the wildest enthusiasm, nominated Gen. Grant for the presidency, and condemned the seven Republicans—"traitors" as they were then called—who had voted against the impeachment of President Johnson. At noon, May 20th, the Republican Convention was called to order by Governor Marcus L. Ward, of New Jersey. He named Carl Schurz, of Wisconsin, as temporary Chairman. The temporary Secretaries were B. R. Cowen, of Ohio, Luther Caldwell, of New York, and Frank S. Richards, of Tennessee. Committees on Credentials, Permanent Organization, Resolutions and Rules were then appointed, each of the committees, with some few exceptions, having on it a representative from each of the States. The name of Joseph R. Hawley was reported for President of the Convention, and the names of one representative from each State as Vice-President, and also thirty-six secretaries. A delegation from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Convention now presented a resolution nominating Gen. Grant for President, and it caused great enthusiasm. Such a procedure was contrary to the rules of the Convention, but the delegates were almost unanimous in desiring the nomination to be made at once, but order was finally restored. After some debate it was decided to give representation in the Convention to the Territories, and to the States not yet reconstructed. The Convention then adjourned until the following morning at ten o'clock, at which time, on assembling, impatient attempts were again made to nominate Gen. Grant contrary to the rules, but the Convention finally quieted down and listened to speeches delivered by F. Hassaurek, John M. Palmer and John W. Forney. The platform, reported by Richard W. Thompson, of Indiana, was adopted with many cheers.
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 1868.
The National Republican Party of the United States, assembled in national convention in the City of Chicago on the 21st day of May, 1868, make the following declaration of principles:
1. We congratulate the country on the assured success of the reconstruction policy of Congress, as evinced by the adoption, in the majority of the states lately in rebellion, of Constitutions securing equal civil and political rights to all; and it is the duty of the government to sustain those institutions and to prevent the people of such states from being remitted to a state of anarchy.
2. The guaranty by Congress of equal suffrage to all loyal men at the South was demanded by every consideration of public safety, of gratitude, and of justice, and must be maintained; while the question of suffrage in all the loyal states properly belongs to the people of those states.
3. We denounce all forms of repudiation as a national crime; and the national honor requires the payment of the public indebtedness in the uttermost good faith to all creditors at home and abroad, not only according to the letter, but the spirit of the laws under which it was contracted.
4. It is due to the labor of the nation that taxation should be equalized, and reduced as rapidly as the national faith will permit.
5. The national debt, contracted as it has been for the preservation of the Union for all time to come, should be extended over a fair period for redemption; and it is the duty of Congress to reduce the rate of interest thereon whenever it can be honestly done.
6. That the best policy to diminish our burden of debt is to so improve our credit that capitalists will seek to loan us money at lower rates of interest than we now pay, and must continue to pay, so long as repudiation, partial or total, open or covert, is threatened or suspected.
7. The government of the United States should be administered with the strictest economy; and the corruptions which have been so shamefully nursed and fostered by Andrew Johnson call loudly for radical reform.
8. We profoundly deplore the untimely and tragic death of Abraham Lincoln, and regret the accession of the Presidency of Andrew Johnson, who has acted treacherously to the people who elected him and the cause he was pledged to support; who has usurped high legislative and judicial functions; who has refused to execute the laws; who has used his high office to induce other officers to ignore and violate the laws; who has employed his executive powers to render insecure the property, the peace, the liberty and life of the citizen; who has abused the pardoning power; who has denounced the national legislature as unconstitutional; who has persistently and corruptly resisted, by every means in his power, every proper attempt at the reconstruction of the states lately in rebellion; who has perverted the public patronage into an engine of wholesale corruption; and who has been justly impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and properly pronounced guilty thereof by the vote of thirty-five senators.
9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers, that because a man is once a subject he is always so, must be resisted at every hazard by the United States, as a relic of feudal times, not authorized by the laws of nations, and at war with our national honor and independence. Naturalized citizens are entitled to protection in all their rights of citizenship as though they were native born; and no citizen of the United States, native or naturalized, must be liable to arrest and imprisonment by any foreign power for acts done or words spoken in this country; and, if so arrested and imprisoned, it is the duty of the government to interfere in his behalf.
10. Of all who were faithful in the trials of the late war there were none entitled to more especial honor than the brave soldiers and seamen who endured the hardships of campaign and cruise, and imperilled their lives in the service of the country; the bounties and pensions provided by the laws for these brave defenders of the nation are obligations never to be forgotten; the widows and orphans of the gallant dead are the wards of the people—a sacred legacy bequeathed to the nation's protecting care.
11. Foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to the wealth, development, and resources, and increase of power to this republic—the asylum of the oppressed of all nations—should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.
12. This convention declares itself in sympathy with all oppressed people struggling for their rights.
13. That we highly commend the spirit of magnanimity and forbearance with which men who have served in the rebellion but who now frankly and honestly co-operate with us in restoring the peace of the country and reconstructing the Southern state governments upon the basis of impartial justice and equal rights, are received back into the communion of the loyal people; and we favor the removal of the disqualifications and restrictions imposed upon the late rebels in the same measure as the spirit of disloyalty will die out, and as may be consistent with the safety of the loyal people.
14. That we recognize the great principles laid down in the immortal Declaration of Independence as the true foundation of democratic government; and we hail with gladness every effort toward making these principles a living reality on every inch of American soil.
Nominations now being in order, John A. Logan, in a few words remarkable for their force and beauty, nominated Ulysses S. Grant for President. After the enthusiasm had abated the roll of the States was called, and the unanimous vote of the delegates, 650 in number, was given to Gen. Grant, and the audience went wild with delight. The great contest of the Convention now came over the nomination for Vice-President. Henry Wilson, Schuyler Colfax, Benjamin F. Wade, Reuben E. Fenton, James Speed, Andrew G. Curtin, Hannibal Hamlin, James Harlan, S. C. Pomeroy, J. A. J. Creswell and William D. Kelley were nominated. The leading candidates were Benj. F. Wade, of Ohio, Mr. Colfax, of Indiana, Mr. Curtin, of Pennsylvania, Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Fenton, of New York, all of whom had rendered the most conspicuous services to the party. Five ballots were taken as follows:
1st 2d 3d 4th 5th
Ballot Ballot Ballot Ballot Ballot
Wade ………. 147 170 178 206 38
Wilson …….. 119 114 101 87
Colfax …….. 115 145 165 186 541
Fenton …….. 126 144 139 144 69
Curtin …….. 51 45 40
Only the votes for the leading candidates are here given. Mr. Colfax was therefore nominated on the fifth ballot, and it was felt that his name added great strength to the ticket. He was then Speaker of the House, to which he had been elected with the organization of the party in 1854, and had served with great ability for six terms.
The Democratic Convention met in New York in Tammany Hall on July 4, 1868. It was a gathering composed principally of Southern leaders and Generals and Northern Copperheads. After a troubled session of six days the Chairman of the Convention, Horatio Seymour, of New York, was nominated for President on the twenty-second ballot, and Francis P. Blair, Jr., of Missouri, was nominated for Vice-President. The platform advocated the payment of the national debt in depreciated currency, the overthrowing of all that had been done under the reconstruction policy of Congress and the taxing of Government bonds. The platform practically doomed the party to defeat before the campaign had really opened. The canvass was exciting, but the October States practically decided the contest, and the election on November 3d registered what had long been conceded. Grant and Colfax received the 214 electoral votes of twenty-six States; Seymour and Blair only carrying eight States, New York among them, with their 80 electoral votes. The popular vote gave Grant and Colfax 3,012,833, and Seymour and Blair 2,703,249.
The third session of the Fortieth Congress assembled on December 7, 1868. One phase of the slavery question still remained unsettled, that of giving the negro the right of suffrage. For several years a strong sentiment had shown itself in the North in favor of granting this right, and Congress had already recognized this sentiment by giving the negro the right to vote in the District of Columbia, which act was passed over President Johnson's veto. The great injustice of freeing the negro and withholding from him the means of protecting his freedom by the right of suffrage was not generally felt, and it remained now for a Republican Congress to crown with a great act of justice the long labors of the party, to remove all the evils of insufferable bondage, and to complete the work of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments.
On February 27, 1869, Congress proposed, through the Department of
State, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution:
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." This Amendment, after submission to the States, was proclaimed a part of the Constitution in 1870.
In his message to Congress in December, 1868, President Johnson said:
"The holders of our securities have already received upon their bonds a larger amount than their original investment, measured by the gold standard. Upon this statement of facts it would seem but just and equitable that the six percent interest now paid by the Government should be applied to the reduction of the principal in semi-annual installments, which in sixteen years and eight months would liquidate the entire national debt." The policy of repudiation advocated by the Democratic Party in the campaign of 1868 and the repudiation now advocated by President Johnson, were promptly rejected by the Republican Congress, and both branches passed resolutions of condemnation.
General Grant was inaugurated on March 4, 1869, and the Fortieth Congress adjourned on the same day. The Forty-first Congress immediately convened and elected James G. Blaine, of Maine, Speaker by 105 votes to 57 votes for Michael C. Kerr, of Indiana. Mr. Blaine was also elected Speaker of the Forty-second Congress when it met on March 4, 1871. On the 18th of March, 1869, Congress decided by the "Act to strengthen the public credit," to remove as far as possible the damage done at home and abroad by the repudiation platform of the Democratic Party, and the repudiation message of President Johnson. This Act pledged the Government at the earliest practicable moment to pay in coin or its equivalent all obligations, notes and bonds except those where the law authorizing their issue stipulated that payment might be made in lawful money.
May 10, 1869, witnessed the opening for traffic of the Union Pacific Railroad, which had first been advocated by the Republican Party in its platform in 1856, and which was now brought to a successful opening by necessary subsidies of money and land given the railroad by Republican Congresses. The war had resulted in a wonderful development of the physical wealth of the North and West, and the railroad was opened at a most opportune moment to connect the East and West, and make possible the development of all the wonderful resources of the nation. It was unfortunate, however, that unwise management of the bonds and credit of the Western Railroads led to such a disastrous climax in the fall of 1873.
In the decade between 1860 and 1870 the admission of four new States— Kansas in 1861, West Virginia in 1863, Nevada in 1864, and Nebraska in 1867—had raised the total number of States to thirty-seven. In addition, six new Territories had been organized—Colorado and Dakota in 1861, Idaho and Arizona in 1863, Montana in 1864, and Wyoming in 1868. The admission of these new States, the completing of the railroad, the discovery of precious metals, and the general awakening of the North caused a large increase in the population, especially in the West. The total population of the country in 1870 was 38,558,371, of which 4,880,009 were negroes, about 4,400,000 of them living in the Southern States.
The second session of the Forty-first Congress met December 6, 1869. The President in his message advocated the refunding of the National Debt, and this was done by the Act of July 14, 1870, which authorized the refunding of the debt at five, four and one-half and four percent, payable in coin and exempt from taxation.
The sentiment in favor of a general amnesty of all persons who had engaged in the rebellion was now growing in the North, and in December, 1869, and March, 1870, Acts were passed removing legal and political disabilities from a large class of persons in the South, but a full pardon was not yet extended to all. The South at this time was most bitter against negro suffrage, and the opposition was shown in a series of most violent outrages and murders perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klans and other similar organizations formed for the purpose of preventing the negro from voting and the "carpet bagger" from living in the community. The outrages and murders done by these organizations became so flagrant that Congress passed a special Act on April 20, 1871 (the Ku Klux Act), to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment.
The other events of Gen. Grant's administration were chiefly of a diplomatic nature, and it is not necessary to dwell upon them in these pages. With the opening of 1872 came the year for another presidential campaign, and the only serious issue was the threatened split in the Republican Party over the question of the treatment of the South. The Democrats were demoralized and had no candidate, and the situation was the most peculiar and abnormal in the history of presidential campaigns. A group of Republicans in Missouri were in favor of a more liberal policy toward the South, and President Grant was roundly condemned for his military rule. This movement became known as the Liberal Republican movement, and a convention was called to meet in Cincinnati on May 1st. This year also witnessed the organization for political action of the Prohibition Party and the Labor Reform Party. The latter held the first of the political conventions and met at Columbus, Ohio, February 22, 1872. Judge David Davis, of Illinois, was nominated for President, and Judge Joel Parker, of New Jersey, for Vice-President; both subsequently withdrew, and in August this party nominated Charles O'Conor for President, who also declined. The platform of the Labor Reform Party demanded lower interest on and taxation of government bonds; the repeal of the law establishing the national banks and withdrawal of the national bank notes; the issue of paper money based on the faith and resources of the nation to be legal tender for all debts; exclusion of the Chinese; no more land grants to corporations, and the organization of a National Labor Reform party. The National Prohibition Convention also met in Columbus, Ohio, on February 22d, and nominated James Black, of Pennsylvania, for President, and Rev. John Russell, of Michigan, for Vice-President.
The National Liberal Republican Convention met at Cincinnati, Ohio, May 1, 1872. It was a mass convention, and Carl Schurz presided as Permanent Chairman. The prominent candidates for the presidency were Judge David Davis, Lyman Trumbull, Chas. Francis Adams, B. Gratz Brown and Horace Greeley, whose name had not been seriously considered until the Convention assembled, and who, on May 3d was nominated on the sixth ballot for President, and B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, was nominated for Vice-President. The platform demanded universal amnesty and a liberal policy, no more land grants to corporations, and denounced repudiation. The Republicans met in their Fifth National Convention at Philadelphia, June 5th, in the Academy of Music. There was no question but that President Grant would be renominated, and the only contest was that between Henry Wilson and Schuyler Colfax for the nomination for Vice-President. William Claflin, of Massachusetts, called the meeting to order and named Morton McMichael as temporary Chairman. The usual committees were appointed, and while they were deliberating the convention listened to a number of stirring speeches, several by colored men, who appeared as representatives in a national convention for the first time. Thomas Settle, of North Carolina, was reported as permanent chairman. On the following day, after some preliminary business had been disposed of, Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois, nominated President Grant for a second term, and the vote, 752, was made unanimous. Henry Wilson, Schuyler Colfax, John F. Lewis, Edmund J. Davis, and Horace Maynard were nominated for Vice-President. One ballot was cast and resulted in the nomination of Henry Wilson, who received 364-1/2 votes to 321-1/2 for Colfax, 26 for Maynard, 16 for Davis, and one each for Jos. R. Hawley and E. F. Noyes. The fifth Republican platform, which was now adopted, read as follows:
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 1872.
The Republican Party of the United States, assembled in national convention in the city of Philadelphia on the 5th and 6th days of June, 1872, again declares its faith, appeals to its history, and announces its position upon the questions before the country.
1. During eleven years of supremacy it has accepted with grand courage the solemn duties of the time. It suppressed a gigantic rebellion, emancipated four millions of slaves, decreed the equal citizenship of all, and established universal suffrage. Exhibiting unparalleled magnanimity, it criminally punished no man for political offenses, and warmly welcomed all who proved loyalty by obeying the laws and dealing justly with their neighbors. It has steadily decreased with firm hand the resultant disorders of a great war and initiated a wise and humane policy toward the Indians. The Pacific Railroad and similar vast enterprises have been generously aided and successfully conducted, the public lands freely given to actual settlers, immigration protected and encouraged, and a full acknowledgment of the naturalized citizens' rights secured from European powers. A uniform national currency has been provided, repudiation frowned down, the national credit sustained under the most extraordinary burdens, and new bonds negotiated at lower rates. The revenues have been carefully collected and honestly applied. Despite annual large reductions in the rates of taxation, the public debt has been reduced during General Grant's presidency at the rate of a hundred millions a year; great financial crises have been avoided, and peace and plenty prevail throughout the land. Menacing foreign difficulties have been peacefully and honorably composed, and the honor and power of the nation kept in high respect throughout the world. This glorious record of the past is the party's best pledge for the future. We believe the people will not intrust the government to any party or combination of men composed chiefly of those who have resisted every step of this beneficent progress.
2. The recent amendments to the National Constitution should be cordially sustained because they are right, not merely tolerated because they are law, and should be carried out according to their spirit by appropriate legislation, the enforcement of which can safely be entrusted only to the party that secured those amendments.
3. Complete liberty and exact equality in the enjoyment of all civil, political and public rights should be established and effectually maintained throughout the Union, by efficient and appropriate state and federal legislation. Neither the law nor its administration should admit any discrimination in respect of citizens by reason of race, creed, color, or previous condition of servitude.
4. The national government should seek to maintain honorable peace with all nations, protecting its citizens everywhere, and sympathizing with all people who strive for greater liberty.
5. Any system of the civil service under which the subordinate positions of the government are considered rewards for mere party zeal is fatally demoralizing, and we therefore favor a reform of the system by laws which shall abolish the evils of patronage and make honesty, efficiency and fidelity the essential qualifications for public positions, without practically creating a life-tenure of office.
6. We are opposed to further grants of the public lands to corporations and monopolies, and demand that the national domain be set apart for free homes for the people.
7. The annual revenue, after paying current expenditures, pensions, and the interest on the public debt, should furnish a moderate balance for the reduction of the principal, and that revenue, except so much as may be derived from a tax on tobacco and liquors, should be raised by duties upon importations, the details of which should be so adjusted as to aid in securing remunerative wages to labor, and promote the industries, prosperity, and growth of the whole country.
8. We hold in undying honor the soldiers and sailors whose valor saved the Union. Their pensions are a sacred debt of the nation, and the widows and orphans of those who died for their country are entitled to the care of a generous and grateful people. We favor such additional legislation as will extend the bounty of the government to all our soldiers and sailors who were honorably discharged, and who in the line of duty became disabled, without regard to the length of service or the cause of such discharge.
9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers concerning allegiance—"Once a subject always a subject"—having at last, through the efforts of the Republican party, been abandoned, and the American idea of the individual's right to transfer allegiance having been accepted by European nations, it is the duty of our government to guard with jealous care the rights of adopted citizens against the assumption of unauthorized claims by their former governments, and we urge continued careful encouragement and protection of voluntary immigration.
10. The franking privilege ought to be abolished and the way prepared for a speedy reduction in the rates of postage.
11. Among the questions which press the attention is that which concerns the relations of capital and labor, and the Republican party recognizes the duty of so shaping legislation as to secure full protection and the amplest field for capital, and for labor, the creator of capital, the largest opportunities and a just share of the mutual profits of these two great servants of civilization.
12. We hold that Congress and the President have only fulfilled an imperative duty in their measures for suppression of violent and treasonable organizations in certain lately rebellious regions, and for the protection of the ballot-box; and therefore they are entitled to the thanks of the nation.
13. We denounce repudiation of the public debt, in any form or disguise, as a national crime. We witness with pride the reduction of the principal of the debt, and of the rates of interest upon the balance, and confidently expect that our excellent national currency will be perfected by a speedy resumption of specie payment.
14. The Republican party is mindful of its obligations to the loyal women of America for their noble devotion to the cause of freedom. Their admission to wider fields of usefulness is viewed with satisfaction; and the honest demand of any class of citizens for additional rights should be treated with respectful consideration.
15. We heartily approve the action of Congress in extending amnesty to those lately in rebellion, and rejoice in the growth of peace and fraternal feeling throughout the land.
16. The Republican party proposes to respect the rights reserved by the people to themselves as carefully as the powers delegated by them to the state and to the federal government. It disapproves of the resort to unconstitutional laws for the purpose of removing evils by interference with rights not surrendered by the people to either the state or national government.
17. It is the duty of the general government to adopt such measures as may tend to encourage and restore American commerce and ship-building.
18. We believe that the modest patriotism, the earnest purpose, the sound judgment, the practical wisdom, the incorruptible integrity, and the illustrious services of Ulysses S. Grant have commended him to the heart of the American people, and with him at our head we start to-day upon a new march to victory.
19. Henry Wilson, nominated for the Vice-Presidency, known to the whole land from the early days of the great struggle for liberty as an indefatigable laborer in all campaigns, an incorruptible legislator, and representative man of American institutions, is worthy to associate with our great leader and share the honors which we pledge our best efforts to bestow upon them.
It is important also to note that Grant and Wilson had already been nominated by the Workingmen's National Convention in New York on May 23d.
The Democratic National Convention met at Baltimore on July 9th and endorsed the Liberal Republican nominees, Greeley and Brown, and the Liberal Republican platform. A convention of "straight-out" Democrats met at Louisville, Kentucky, September 3d to 5th, and repudiated the Baltimore convention, nominating Charles O'Conor, of New York, for President, and John Q. Adams, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President, who both declined, but the convention, unable to secure other candidates, left the ticket as named. A Colored Liberal Republican Convention at Louisville on September 25th also nominated Greeley and Brown. In addition to these various conventions, the Liberal Republican Revenue Reformers' Convention met in New York June 25th, and nominated William S. Groesbeck, of Ohio, for President, and F. L. Olmstead, of New York, for Vice-President.
The contest between Grant and Greeley was a remarkable one, and at its opening there was considerable doubt as to the outcome; but as the summer months went by it was seen that the coalition between the Liberal Republicans and the Democrats was working out unsatisfactorily. The October States went Republican, and indicated clearly what could be expected in November. The election on November 5th was an overwhelming victory for the Republicans; Grant and Wilson carried 29 States with their 286 electoral votes out of a total electoral vote of 366, Arkansas and Louisiana not being counted for either side. The popular vote gave Grant 3,597,132, Greeley 2,834,125, O'Conor 29,489, Black 5,608. The election was followed in a few weeks by the death of Mr. Greeley; broken-hearted by the death of his wife a few days before the election, and exhausted by the tremendous strains of the campaign, and disappointed by the result, the great editor closed one of the most remarkable careers in American history.
The hostility of England to the North during the Civil War led to the filing of the Alabama Claims, which were adjusted by the Geneva Tribunal, and the United States, on September 14, 1872, was awarded $15,500,000 in gold in full payment of these claims.
The third session of the Forty-second Congress began December 2, 1872, and immediately, on motion of Mr. Blaine, a committee was appointed to investigate the Democratic charges made during the preceding presidential campaign, that the Vice-President, the Secretary of the Treasury, Speaker of the House, and other prominent Republicans, had accepted, in return for political influence, stock in the Credit Mobilier, a company originally engaged in the construction of the Union Pacific. The result of this committee's investigation was the clearing of the prominent men charged, but a vote of censure was passed on Representatives Oakes Ames and James Brooks for connection with the scandal.
An Act went into effect on February 12, 1873, the provisions of which, it was afterwards argued, caused the "demonetization" of silver. This demonetization had already occurred in 1853, when nothing was said in the Act of that year as to the silver dollar piece which had for some years entirely disappeared from circulation. The Act of 1873 simply recognized a condition which had been present for more than twenty years when it provided for the coinage of ten, twenty-five and fifty-cent silver pieces and omitted the dollar. The Act of 1873 was passed because all coin had been driven out of circulation by the United States notes and fractional currency issued during the War, and the Treasury Department, deeming the time appropriate for the issuance of subsidiary silver coins and revision of the coinage laws, suggested, after consultation with experts, the Act of 1873. The Act was, in fact, an important step toward specie resumption. This law also provided for a trade dollar for use in trade with China and Japan. This dollar was to weigh 420 grains, so as to give it the advantage over the Mexican dollar of 416 grains. It was made legal tender for a limited amount only, and several years afterwards was withdrawn from circulation.
President Grant was reinaugurated on March 4, 1873, and the Republican Party seemingly had a prospect of a long lease of power, for the strength of all opposition seemed to have been dissipated by the campaign of 1872; but before the year of the reinauguration had passed, circumstances occurred absolutely beyond the control of the party, the result of which caused a complete change of the political aspect of the country. In September, 1873, while business affairs were in a good condition and labor well employed, a sudden financial panic engulfed the country and brought demoralization to almost all industries. The direct cause of this panic was the abuse of credit in the enormous building of railroads which had been going on for several years prior to 1873. The market had been flooded with railroad bonds, and as the old portions of the Western railroads did not earn enough to pay for new construction, the railroads gradually began to default in the payment of interest on their bonds, and the New York bankers became overburdened with them; the natural result was that they were compelled to call in their loans, money became tight, and the storm broke in September, 1873, when the great financial house of Jay Cooke & Co. closed its doors. By the end of October the panic was over, but the effects were felt long afterwards in thousands of ruined enterprises. It gave new arguments to the champions of fiat currency, and the whole situation told against the success of the Republican Party. When the first session of the Forty-third Congress opened on December 1, 1873 (James G. Blaine elected Speaker), arguments for currency inflation were advanced on all sides, and resulted in the passage of a bill on April 14, 1874, to inflate the currency $44,000,000. President Grant wisely vetoed the measure and it failed of passage over his veto. The Congressional elections in the fall of 1874 showed the influence of the disastrous industrial conditions upon politics, for the Democrats obtained control of the House for the first time in fifteen years. That a great political revulsion was in progress was apparent when Ohio in 1873 and New York in 1874 elected Democratic Governors. When the Forty-fourth Congress convened on December 6, 1875, Michael C. Kerr, Democrat, of Indiana, was chosen Speaker by 173 votes over James G. Blaine, who received 106. This practically showed the party strength in the House.
The most important Act of President Grant's second term was the Resumption of specie payment, which was provided for in the bill reported to the Senate December 21, 1874, by John Sherman. By this Act there was to be a coinage of ten, twenty-five and fifty-cent silver pieces, which were to be exchanged for fractional currency until it was all redeemed. There was to be an issue of bonds, and the surplus revenue was to be used to buy coin. So much of the Act of 1870 which limited the amount of national bank notes to $350,000,000 was repealed, and these banks were now authorized to issue more bills; but for every $100.00 issued the Secretary of the Treasury must call in $80.00 of the greenbacks until but $300,000,000 of them remained. The total amount of paper currency in the United States at this time was $780,000,000, divided into $382,000,000 U. S. notes, $44,000,000 fractional currency and $354,000,000 national bank notes, and each dollar of this paper currency was worth about eighty-nine cents in coin. The Act further provided that after January 1, 1879, the Secretary of the Treasury was to redeem in coin all United States legal tender notes then outstanding, on presentation. President Grant approved this bill January 14, 1875, with a special message to Congress.
The spring of 1876 witnessed the opening of the Centennial Exposition at Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, by President Grant and Emperor Dom Pedro II, of Brazil. In this year a successor was to be chosen to President Grant, and for the first time in the history of the party since 1860 there was to be a contest over the presidential nomination. The long continuance in power of the party had its natural effect of creating factions, and this, together with the recent Democratic successes, made necessary a most careful selection of a candidate and of a platform for this campaign.
CHAPTER XIV.
HAYES.
" … and to put forth my best efforts in behalf of a civil policy which will forever wipe out in our political affairs the color line and the distinction between North and South, to the end that we may have, not merely a united North or a united South, but a united country."
Rutherford B. Hayes, Inaugural Address, March 5, 1877.
The Sixth Republican National Convention met at Cincinnati, Ohio, June 14, 1876, and, as already noted, for the first time since 1860 there was to be a contest for the presidential nomination. James G. Blaine was most prominently mentioned during the months preceding the Convention, and was unquestionably the favorite of a majority of the delegates when they met. His friends were united and enthusiastic, but there was a factional opposition, led by Mr. Conkling, of New York, that united on the seventh ballot and resulted in the nomination of a candidate who had received comparatively little attention before the Convention met. The next strongest candidates after Mr. Blaine seemed to be Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana, and Benjamin H. Bristow, of Kentucky, both of whom had rendered conspicuous services to the party and to the country. Other candidates were Roscoe Conkling, of New York, Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, and John F. Hartranft, of Pennsylvania. The Convention was called to order by Edwin D. Morgan, who named Theodore M. Pomeroy, of New York, temporary Chairman. The usual committees were appointed and Edward McPherson, of Pennsylvania, was reported as permanent Chairman. Gen. Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut, reported the following platform:
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 1876.
When in the economy of Providence, this land was to be purged of human slavery, and when the strength of government of the people, by the people, and for the people was to be demonstrated, the Republican party came into power. Its deeds have passed into history, and we look back to them with pride. Incited by their memories to high aims for the good of our country and mankind, and looking to the future with unfaltering courage, hope and purpose, we, the representatives of the party, in national convention assembled, make the following declaration of principles:
1. The United States of America is a nation, not a league. By the combined workings of the national and state governments, under their respective constitutions, the rights of every citizen are secured, at home and abroad, and the common welfare promoted.
2. The Republican party has preserved these governments to the hundredth anniversary of the nation's birth, and they are now embodiments of the great truth spoken at its cradle: "That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that for the attainment of these ends governments have been instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Until these truths are cheerfuly obeyed, or, if need be, vigorously enforced, the work of the Republican party is unfinished.
3. The permanent pacification of the southern section of the Union and the complete protection of all its citizens in the free enjoyment of all their rights, is a duty to which the Republican party stands sacredly pledged. The power to provide for the enforcement of the principles embodied in the recent constitutional amendments is vested by those amendments in the Congress of the United States, and we declare it to be the solemn obligation of the legislative and executive departments of the government to put into immediate and vigorous exercise all their constitutional powers for removing any just causes of discontent on the part of any class, and for securing to every American citizen complete liberty and exact equality in the exercise of all civil, political, and public rights. To this end we imperatively demand a Congress and a Chief Executive whose courage and fidelity to these duties shall not falter until these results are placed beyond dispute or recall.
4. In the first act of Congress signed by President Grant the national government assumed to remove any doubts of its purpose to discharge all just obligations to the public creditors, and "solemnly pledged its faith to make provisions, at the earliest practicable period, for the redemption of the United States notes in coin." Commercial prosperity, public morals, and the national credit demand that this promise be fulfilled by a continuous and steady progress to specie payment.
5. Under the Constitution the President and heads of departments are to make nominations for office; the Senate is to advise and consent to appointments, and the House of Representatives is to accuse and prosecute faithless officers. The best interest of the public service demands that these distinctions be respected; that Senators and representatives who may be judges and accusers should not dictate appointments to office. The invariable rule in appointments should have reference to the honesty, fidelity and capacity of the appointees, giving to the party in power those places where harmony and vigor of administration require its policy to be represented, but permitting all others to be filled by persons selected with sole reference to the efficiency of the public service, and the right of all citizens to share in the honor of rendering faithful service to the country.
6. We rejoice in the quickening conscience of the people concerning political affairs, and will hold all public officers to a rigid responsibility, and engage that the prosecution and punishment of all who betray official trusts shall be swift, thorough and unsparing.
7. The public-school system of the several states is the bulwark of the American Republic, and with a view to its security and permanence we recommend an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, forbidding the application of any public funds or property for the benefit of any schools or institutions under sectarian control.
8. The revenue necessary for current expenditures and the obligations of the public debt must be largely derived from duties upon importations, which, so far as possible, should be adjusted to promote interests of American labor and advance the prosperity of the whole country.
9. We reaffirm our opposition to further grants of the public lands to corporations and monopolies, and demand that the national domain be devoted to free homes for the people.
10. It is the imperative duty of the government so to modify existing treaties with European governments that the same protection shall be afforded to the adopted American citizen that is given to the native born; and that all necessary laws should be passed to protect immigrants, in the absence of power in the states for that purpose.
11. It is the immediate duty of Congress to fully investigate the effect of the immigration and importation of Mongolians upon the moral and material interests of the country.
12. The Republican party recognizes with approval the substantial advances recently made toward the establishment of equal rights for women, by the many important amendments effected by Republican legislatures, in the laws which concern the personal and property relations of wives, mothers and widows, and by the appointment and election of women to the superintendence of education, charities, and other public trusts. The honest demands of this class of citizens for additional rights, privileges, and immunities should be treated with respectful consideration.
13. The Constitution confers upon Congress sovereign power over the territories of the United States for their government, and in the exercise of this power it is the right and duty of Congress to prohibit and extirpate, in the territories, that relic of barbarism, polygamy; and we demand such legislation as shall secure this end and the supremacy of American institutions in all the territories.
14. The pledges which the nation has given to her soldiers and sailors must be fulfilled, and a grateful people will always hold those who imperilled their lives for the country's preservation in the kindest rememberance.
15. We sincerely deprecate all sectional feeling and tendencies. We therefore note with deep solicitude that the Democratic party counts, as its chief hope of success, upon the electoral vote of a united South, secured through the efforts of those who were recently arrayed against the nation; and we invoke the earnest attention of the country to the grave truth that a success thus achieved would reopen sectional strife and imperil national honor and human rights.
16. We charge the Democratic party with being the same in character and spirit as when it sympathized with treason with making its control of the House of Representatives the triumph and opportunity of the nation's recent foes; with reasserting and applauding in the National Capitol the sentiments of unrepentant rebellion; with sending Union soldiers to the rear and promoting Confederate soldiers to the front; with deliberately proposing to repudiate the plighted faith of the government; with being equally false and imbecile upon the overshadowing financial question; with thwarting the ends of justice by its partisan mismanagements and obstruction; with proving itself, through the period of its ascendancy in the Lower House of Congress utterly incompetent to administer the government; and we warn the country against trusting a party thus alike unworthy, recreant and incapable.
17. The national administration merits commendation for its honorable work in the management of domestic and foreign affairs, and President Grant deserves the continued hearty gratitude of the American people for his patriotism and his eminent services, in war and in peace.
18. We present as our candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States two distinguished statesmen, of eminent ability and character, and conspicuously fitted for those high offices, and we confidently appeal to the American people to intrust the administration of their public affairs to Rutherford B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler.
On the second day the nominations were made of the above-named candidates, with stirring speeches, the most remarkable of which were the three delivered for Mr. Blaine. Robert G. Ingersoll, in presenting Mr. Blaine's name, uttered the eloquent words which caused his celebrated effort to become known as the "Plumed Knight Speech"; near its conclusion he said, "Like an armed warrior, like a plumed knight, James G. Blaine marched down the halls of the American Congress and threw his shining lance full and fair against the brazen foreheads of the defamers of his country and the maligners of his honor. For the Republicans to desert this gallant leader now is as though an army should desert their General upon the field of battle." This nomination was seconded by Henry M. Turner, colored, and William P. Frye, of Maine. Gov. Hayes was nominated by Edwin F. Noyes, seconded by Benjamin F. Wade. The various nominating speeches concluded the second day's business and the balloting began on the opening of the third day of the Convention. The number of votes necessary for a choice was 378, and seven ballots were taken, with the following result for the leading candidates:
1st. 2d. 3d. 4th. 5th. 6th. 7th.
Blaine ……… 285 290 293 292 286 308 351
Morton ……… 125 120 113 108 95 85
Bristow …….. 113 114 121 126 114 111 21
Conkling ……. 99 93 90 84 82 81
Hayes ………. 61 64 67 68 104 113 384
Hartranft …… 58 63 68 71 69 50
Scattering votes were also cast for Messrs. Wheeler, Jewell and Washburne. At the close of the seventh ballot, Mr. Hayes' nomination was made unanimous on motion of William P. Frye. During the sixth ballot the unit rule was decided against and each delegate allowed to vote as he pleased, and this became the rule of all subsequent conventions of the party, although in the convention of 1880 the supporters of Gen. Grant made a strong effort to fasten the unit rule on that convention. The candidates for the vice-presidential nomination were Wm. A. Wheeler, Marshall Jewell, Stewart L. Woodford, Jos. R. Hawley and F. T. Frelinghuysen, but after the first ballot had proceeded as far as South Carolina the nomination of Mr. Wheeler was made unanimous.
The nomination of Mr. Hayes was a great surprise to the country and consequently, at first, created little enthusiasm in the party, but it was shortly seen that he was in fact a strong candidate, and the party united solidly behind him and took up the canvass with considerable enthusiasm. Rutherford B. Hayes was born at Delaware, Ohio, October 4, 1822, and graduated at Kenyon College in 1842. He studied law, and practiced for a short time at Fremont, Ohio, afterwards moving to Cincinnati, where he became the City Solicitor. He volunteered in the Civil War, distinguished himself in many important engagements, and rose from the rank of Major to brevet Major-General. The War over, he entered Congress (1865), and at the close of his term was twice elected Governor, serving from 1868 to 1872; was defeated for Congress in 1872, but his election in 1875 to the Governorship, over the Democratic Governor, William Allen, in a remarkable honest-money campaign, brought him into greater national prominence, and now resulted in his nomination for the Presidency. His nomination was a bitter disappointment to the many friends of Mr. Blaine, but they promptly ratified it.
The Republican Platform of 1876, already given, was strong in expression and lofty in its sentiments, which were in keeping with those engendered by the Centennial Year.
The Democratic Convention assembled at St. Louis, Mo., June 27th. The nomination of Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, was almost a foregone conclusion before the Convention met, and he was nominated on the second ballot. Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, who was the strongest opponent of Tilden for the presidential nomination, was named for Vice-President by a unanimous vote. The Democratic platform of 1876 was a lengthy and remarkable one, containing "the sustended arguments of a stump speech." Its planks, with few exceptions, began with "we denounce" or "reform is necessary," and it was a general arraignment of the entire course of the Republican Party while in power, and stated near its conclusion, "reform can only be had by peaceful, civic revolution. We demand a change of system, a change of administration, and a change of parties, that we may have a change of measures and men."
The other political conventions of this year were the Prohibition Convention held at Cleveland, Ohio, on May 17th, at which Green Clay Smith, of Kentucky, was nominated for President, and G. T. Stewart, of Ohio, for Vice-President. The Independent National or Greenback Party met at Indianapolis May 18th, and nominated Peter Cooper, of New York, for President, and U. S. Senator Newton Booth, of California, for Vice-President, who declined and was replaced by Samuel F. Cary, of Ohio. Its platform demanded the immediate repeal of the Specie Resumption Act of January 14, 1875, and the issuance of United States notes, convertible on demand into United States obligations, bearing a rate of interest not exceeding one cent a day on each $100.00, and exchangeable for United States notes at par, as being the best circulating medium that could be devised. It insisted that bank paper must be suppressed, and it protested against the further issuance of gold bonds for sale in foreign markets, and against the sale of government bonds for the purpose of purchasing silver to be used as a substitute for fractional currency. At the election in November the Greenback Party polled a total of 81,737 votes, not influencing the electoral vote of any State, with the possible exception of Indiana, which Tilden carried with 213,526 votes to 208,011 for Hayes, Cooper receiving 17,233 in this State. The total Prohibition vote this year was 9,522. The Democrats, throughout the campaign, had high hopes of success; the hard times which had followed the panic of 1873, the factional disturbances in the Republican Party, charges of official dishonesty, and dissatisfaction of some Republicans with the financial policy of the party, and the success of the Democrats in several of the Northern States all indicated an exceedingly close election. The Republican campaign was largely in the hands of Zachariah Chandler, of Michigan, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, as Mr. Hayes took little part in the details or organization of the canvass. Colorado, admitted in August of this year, raised the number of States to thirty-eight, with a total electoral vote of 369, making 185 votes necessary for an election. The October States did not indicate anything decisive for either side; Ohio going Republican and Indiana Democratic by small majorities. The election was held on Nevember 7th, and a few hours after the polls were closed it was found that Tilden and Hendricks had carried Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Indiana, and if they had received the vote of the solid South it would give them 203 of the electoral votes and consequently the election. But Mr. Chandler, on information received, sent out a telegram from headquarters in Washington saying that the Republicans had been successful in South Carolina, Louisiana and Florida, and that Hayes and Wheeler were elected by a majority of one. A general outline of the remarkable contest that now followed, and its decision, must suffice for these pages. Each party sent a number of its prominent members to the capitals of the disputed States to witness the count. The legal canvassing boards in all of these States decided in favor of Hayes and Wheeler. Then followed, as it was afterwards discovered, many attempts to bribe an elector in the disputed States to vote for Mr. Tilden, but when the electors met in the various States on December 6th, the vote was 185 for Hayes and Wheeler and 184 for Tilden and Hendricks. As hostile sets of electors were present in four States—Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana and Oregon—it was therefore of the highest importance to know who would count the votes when Congress jointly assembled for that purpose. The Senate and its presiding officer were Republicans, the House was Democratic, and it was apparent that with so much at stake neither would make any concession to the other. This was a state of affairs unprovided for in the Constitution or in any laws that had been passed, and the result was that for four months after the election nobody knew who would be inaugurated as President in March, 1877. The difficulty was temporarily solved by the Electoral Commission Law, which became effective January 29, 1877. It provided that any electoral votes from any State from which but one return had been received should not be rejected except by the affirmative vote of the two Houses, but if more than one return was received from any State it should be referred to a Commission, to be composed of five members of the Senate, five members of the House and five Supreme Court Justices, and the decision of a majority of this Commission was to decide unless otherwise ordered by a concurrent vote of both Houses. Senators Oliver P. Morton, George F. Edmunds, F. T. Frelinghuysen, Republicans, and Allan G. Thurman and Thomas F. Bayard, Democrats, were chosen to represent the Senate; Josiah G. Abbott, Eppa Hunton and H. B. Payne, Democrats, and James A. Garfield and George F. Hoar, Republicans, represented the House; four Justices of the Supreme Court had been designated by the law to act, and these were Nathan Clifford and Stephen J. Field, Democrats, and William Strong and Samuel F. Miller, Republicans; they were to choose the fifth Justice, and Joseph P. Bradley, Republican, was selected. By a strict party vote the Commission decided, 8 to 7, all questions in favor of the Republicans. These decisons, as already noted, could not be set aside without the concurrent vote of both Houses, which manifestly could not be obtained, and at 4:10 a. m. March 2, 1877, it was declared by Mr. Ferry, President pro tem. of the Senate, that Hayes and Wheeler had been elected by 185 votes to 184 for Tilden and Hendricks. The popular vote at the November election was Tilden 4,285,992 and Hayes 4,033,768.
[Illustration: Rutherford B. Hayes.]
Before passing to the events of President Hayes' administration, it is interesting to note that when the second session of the Forty-fourth Congress met on December 4, 1876, an election was held to fill the position of Speaker, left vacant by the death of Mr. Kerr. Samuel J. Randall, Democrat, was elected by 162 votes to 82 votes for James A. Garfield, and it is therefore seen that President Hayes would enter upon his term with one branch of Congress Democratic.
Mr. Hayes was publicly inaugurated March 5, 1877, the 4th falling upon Sunday. The striking declaration of his inaugural address was the paragraph setting forth the policy that he would pursue in the Southern question, and this policy was exactly the reverse of that of his predecessor. He withdrew the military protection to the colored voter and entered upon a policy of pacification by putting the whites of the South on their honor. This was practically turning over the entire South to the Democrats, and they were not slow to seize the advantage, and they immediately began to work for a "solid South," which became an assured fact when the results of the election of 1880 were known. This policy was extremely unsatisfactory to most of the members of the Republican Party, and considerable antagonism to the President was shown. Lapse of time, however, has vindicated President Hayes, and it is now felt that while his administration was not brilliant, still it was safe, progressive and satisfactory. The President also had his ideas on the subject of Civil Service Reform, and on June 22, 1877, he issued an order that no officer of the Government should be required or permitted to take part in the management of political organizations or election campaigns.
The first session (extra) of the Forty-fifth Congress opened October 15, 1877. The most important business of this session, and indeed of President Hayes' administration, was the legislation on the silver question, which came up before the House suddenly on November 5, 1877, on motion of Mr. Richard P. Bland, of Missouri, that the rules be suspended so as to permit the introduction of a bill for the free coinage of the standard silver dollar. The motion was carried, and had the effect of cutting off all debate and amendment. The bill, as passed in the House, provided for the coinage of the standard silver dollar (412-1/2 grains), to be legal tender at face value for all debts public and private, and any owner of silver bullion might deposit it in any United States mint and have it coined into dollars for his own benefit. The Bland bill was thus a remonetization of silver on absolutely a free coinage basis, and if passed by the Senate and approved by the President in its original form it would unquestionably have had a serious effect upon the credit of the Government. Its introduction and passage in the House caused a flurry in the money market, and distinctly affected the refunding of the public debt, but fortunately it was amended in the Senate so as to deprive it largely of its destructive effect on the national credit. Mr. Allison (Republican), of the Committee on Finance in the Senate, reported an amendment, striking out the free coinage provision, and providing that the Secretary of the Treasury should purchase at the market price not less than $2,000,000 nor more than $4,000,000 per month of silver bullion to be coined into dollars, any gain to be for the benefit of the Treasury. The House accepted the Allison amendment, but President Hayes vetoed the bill and it was passed over his veto February 28, 1878.
A strong but unsuccessful attempt had been made to repeal the specie resumption act, but now, after seventeen years of suspension of specie payment, which had seriously affected the public credit during all these years, the time approached for resumption. John Sherman was Secretary of the Treasury under President Hayes, and the great act of resumption took place quietly under his direction on January 1, 1879. Mr. Sherman had fought for resumption in both Houses of Congress, and was now permitted, by his official position, to bring about the execution of the law. Its effect on the public credit had been marked for several months before the statutory time of resumption by a better feeling throughout the country in financial circles. The manner in which the entire subject had been treated reflected the greatest credit on the ability of Mr. Sherman, and ranked him with Alexander Hamilton as a great financier.
The Chinese Immigration question had been growing in prominence for several years, and it resulted in a bill to restrict this immigration. The bill passed the House and the Senate, but was vetoed by President Hayes, and its supporters were unable to obtain the necessary vote to pass it over the veto. As the Forty-fifth Congress had adjourned without making the necessary appropriations for the legislative, executive and judicial departments, President Hayes was forced to call an extra session of the Forty-sixth Congress, which met March 18, 1879. In the House Mr. Randall was re-elected Speaker by 143 votes to 125 for James A. Garfield, and for the first time since 1857 the Democratic Party was in complete control of both branches of Congress.
As the time approached for another national campaign the merits of several possible candidates were thoroughly discussed. President Hayes was not a candidate, and the contest for the nomination was seemingly between General Grant and James G. Blaine, with John Sherman as a possible compromise candidate. Several interesting elements entered into the situation and made it extremely doubtful who would be successful, and the result was the most remarkable contest the party had had in any of its previous conventions, and was solved by the selection, on the thirty-sixth ballot, of one whose name had not even been placed in nomination.