Part 55 (2/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RUINS AFTER THE PITTSBURGH RIOTS.]

[Sidenote: Panic and hard times.]

[Sidenote: The Pittsburgh riots, 1877.]

459. Strikes and Riots, 1877.--The extravagance and speculation of the Civil War, and the years following its close, ended in a great panic in 1873. After the panic came the ”hard times.” Production fell off. The demand for labor diminished. Wages were everywhere reduced. Strikes became frequent, and riots followed the strikes. At Pittsburg, in western Pennsylvania, the rioters seized the railroad. They burned hundreds of railroad cars and locomotives. They destroyed the railroad buildings. At last the riot came to an end, but not until millions of dollars' worth of property had been destroyed.

[Sidenote: The Stalwart Republicans.]

[Sidenote: Garfield elected President, 1880.]

460. Election of 1880.--At the beginning of his administration Hayes had declared that he would not be a candidate for reelection. Who should be the Republican standard bearer? Grant's friends proposed to nominate him for a third term. The politicians who advocated a third term for Grant were opposed to the candidacy of James G. Blaine. They were called the Stalwart Republicans. In the convention they voted steadily and solidly for Grant. Finally their opponents, with the cry of ”Anything to beat Grant,” suddenly turned to an entirely new man, whose name had been little mentioned. This was James A. Garfield of Ohio. He had won distinction in the Civil War and had served with credit in Congress. For Vice-President the Republicans nominated Chester A.

Arthur, a New York banker. The Democrats, on their part, nominated one of the most brilliant and popular soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, General Winfield Scott Hanc.o.c.k. The campaign was very hotly contested.

In the end Garfield won.

[Sidenote: Garfield murdered, 1881.]

[Sidenote: President Arthur.]

[Sidenote: Civil Service Reform. _Source-Book_, 363-365.]

461. Garfield murdered; Civil Service Reform.--President Garfield took the oath of office on March 4, 1881. On July 2 he was shot in the back by a disappointed office-seeker. Week after week he endured terrible agony. At length, on September 19, the martyred President died.

Now at last the evils of the ”Spoils System” were brought to the attention of the American people. Vice-President Arthur became President and entered heartily into projects of reform. A beginning was soon made.

But it was found to be a very difficult thing to bring about any lasting reform. The Const.i.tution gives the President the appointment of officers, subject to the confirmation of the Senate. No act of Congress can diminish the const.i.tutional powers of the President except so far as he consents, and one President cannot bind succeeding Presidents. Any scheme of reform also costs money, which must be voted annually by Congress. It follows, therefore, that the consent of every President and of both Houses of every Congress is necessary to make the reform of the civil service permanent. Nevertheless the reform has made steady progress until now by far the greater part of the civil service is organized on the merit system.

[Sidenote: J.G. Blaine]

[Sidenote: The Mugwumps.]

[Sidenote: Grover Cleveland.]

[Sidenote: Cleveland elected President, 1884.]

[Sidenote: Tariff reform.]

462. Election of 1884.--In 1884 the Republicans nominated James G.

Blaine of Maine for President. He was a man of magnetic address and had made many friends, but he also had made many enemies. Especially many Republican voters distrusted him. They felt that he had used his position for private gain, although nothing was proved against him.

These Republicans were called ”Mugwumps.” They ”bolted” the nomination and supported the Democratic candidate, Grover Cleveland. As mayor of Buffalo, Cleveland had done very well. He had then been elected governor of New York by a very large majority. The campaign of 1884 was conducted on lines of personal abuse that recall the campaigns of 1800 and of 1828. Cleveland carried four large Northern states and the ”solid South”

and was elected.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GROVER CLEVELAND.]

463. Cleveland's Administration, 1885-89.--The great contest of Cleveland's first term was a fierce struggle over the tariff. The government's need of money during the Civil War had compelled Congress to raise large sums by means of internal revenue taxes. These taxes in turn had brought about a great increase in the tariff rates on goods imported from foreign countries. The internal revenue taxes had been almost entirely removed, but the war tariff substantially remained in force. In 1887 Cleveland laid the whole question before Congress. For a time it seemed probable that something would be done. But the opposition in Congress was very active and very strong. It fell out, therefore, that nothing important was done. The real significance of Cleveland's first administration lay in the fact that the Southerners were once again admitted to a share in the government of the nation. It marked, therefore, the reunion of the American people.

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

CHAPTER 42

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