Part 55 (1/2)

453. Election of 1872.--In fact, this condition of the public service made many persons doubtful of the wisdom of reelecting President Grant. There was not the slightest doubt as to Grant's personal honesty.

There were grave doubts as to his judgment in making appointments.

Reconstruction, too, did not seem to be restoring peace and prosperity to the South. For these reasons many voters left the Republican party.

They called themselves Liberal Republicans and nominated Horace Greeley for President. He had been one of the most outspoken opponents of slavery. The Democrats could find no better candidate, so they, too, nominated Greeley. But many Democrats could not bring themselves to vote for him. They left their party for the moment and nominated a third candidate. The result of all this confusion was the reelection of Grant. But the Democrats elected a majority of the House of Representatives.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HEART OF MODERN CHICAGO.]

[Sidenote: Rebellion in Cuba, 1867.]

[Sidenote: Spanish cruelty.]

[Sidenote: The _Virginius_ affair.]

[Sidenote: Spanish promises end rebellion, 1877.]

454. The Cuban Rebellion, 1867-77.--When the other Spanish-American colonies won their independence (p. 223), Cuba remained true to Spain.

But by 1867 the Cubans could no longer bear the hards.h.i.+ps of Spanish rule. They rebelled and for ten years fought for freedom. The Spaniards burned whole villages because they thought the inhabitants favored the rebels. They even threatened to kill all Cuban men found away from their homes. This cruelty aroused the sympathy of the Americans. Expeditions sailed from the United States to help the Cubans, although the government did everything it could to prevent their departure. One of these vessels carrying aid to the Cubans was named the _Virginius_. The Spaniards captured her, carried her to Santiago, and killed forty-six of her crew. There came near being a war with Spain over this affair. But the Spaniards apologized and saluted the American flag. In 1877 President Grant made up his mind that the war had lasted long enough. He adopted a severe tone toward Spain. The Spanish government made terms with the rebels, and the rebellion came to an end.

[Sidenote: The Credit Mobilier.]

[Sidenote: The Whiskey Ring.]

455. Scandals in Political Life.--In 1872 the House of Representatives made a searching inquiry into the charges of bribery in connection with the building of the Pacific railroads. Oakes Ames of Ma.s.sachusetts was the head of a company called the ”Credit Mobilier.”

This company had been formed to build the Union Pacific Railway. Fearing that Congress would pa.s.s laws that might hurt the enterprise, Ames gave stock in the company to members of Congress. But nothing definite could be proved against any members, and the matter dropped. Soon after the beginning of Grant's second term, many evil things came to light. One of these was the Whiskey Ring, which defrauded the government of large sums of money with the aid of the government officials. Grant wished to have a thorough investigation, and said, ”Let no guilty man escape.” The worst case of all, perhaps, was that of W. W. Belknap, Secretary of War. But he escaped punishment by resigning.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A MISSISSIPPI RIVER COTTON STEAMER.]

[Sidenote: Failure of reconstruction. _Source-Book_, 349-351.]

456. Anarchy in the South.--Meantime reconstruction was not working well in the South. This was especially true of Louisiana, Arkansas, and South Carolina. In Louisiana, and in Arkansas also, there were two sets of governors and legislatures, and civil war on a small scale was going on. In South Carolina the carpetbaggers and the negroes had gained control. They stole right and left. In other Southern states there were continued outrages on the negroes. President Grant was greatly troubled.

”Let us have peace,” was his heartfelt wish. But he felt it necessary to keep Federal soldiers in the South, although he knew that public opinion in the North was turning against their employment. It was under these circ.u.mstances that the election of 1876 was held.

[Sidenote: Election of 1876. _Higginson_, 331-334.]

[Sidenote: The electoral commission.]

[Sidenote: Hayes inaugurated, 1877.]

457. Election of 1876.--The Republican candidate was Rutherford B.

Hayes of Ohio. He was a gallant soldier of the Civil War, and was a man of the highest personal character. His Democratic opponent was Samuel J.

Tilden of New York--a shrewd lawyer who had won distinction as governor of the Empire State. When the electoral returns were brought in, there appeared two sets of returns from each of three Southern states, and the vote of Oregon was doubtful. The Senate was Republican, and the House was Democratic. As the two houses could not agree as to how these returns should be counted, they referred the whole matter to an electoral commission. This commission was made up of five Senators, five Representatives, and five justices of the Supreme Court. Eight of them were Republicans and seven were Democrats. They decided by eight seven that Hayes was elected, and he was inaugurated President on March 4, 1877.

[Sidenote: Southern politics _Higginson_, 334-335.]

[Sidenote: Troops withdrawn.]

458. Withdrawal of the Soldiers from the South.--The People of the North were weary of the ceaseless political agitation in the South. The old Southern leaders had regained control of nearly all the Southern states. They could not be turned out except by a new civil war, and the Northern people were not willing to go to war again. The only other thing that could be done was to withdraw the Federal soldiers and let the Southern people work out their own salvation as well as they could.

President Hayes recalled the troops, and all the Southern states at once pa.s.sed into the control of the Democrats.