Volume Iv Part 15 (2/2)
[1877]
The deadlock could be broken only by a compromise. A joint committee reported the famous Electoral Commission Bill, which pa.s.sed House and Senate by large majorities; 186 Democrats voting for the bill and 18 against it, while the republican vote stood 52 for and 75 against. The bill created a commission of five senators, five representatives, and five justices of the United States Supreme Court, the fifth justice being chosen by the four appointed in the bill. Previous to this choice the commission contained seven Democrats and seven Republicans. It was expected that the fifth justice would be Hon. David Davis, of Illinois, a neutral with democratic leanings; but his unexpected election as democratic senator from his State caused Justice Bradley to be selected to the post of decisive umpire. The votes of all disputed States were to be submitted to the commission for decision.
It was drawing perilously near to inauguration day. The commission met on the last day of January. The cases of Florida, Louisiana, Oregon, and South Carolina were in succession submitted to it by Congress. Eminent counsel appeared for each side. There were double sets of returns from everyone of the States named. In the three southern States the governor recognized by the United States had signed the republican certificates.
The democratic certificates from Florida were signed by the state attorney-general and the new democratic governor; those from Louisiana by the democratic gubernatorial candidate, who claimed to be the lawful governor; those from South Carolina by no state official, the Tilden electors simply claiming to have been chosen by the popular vote and rejected by the returning board. In Oregon the democratic governor declared one of the Hayes electors ineligible because an office-holder, and gave a certificate to Cronin, the highest Tilden elector, instead.
The other two Hayes electors refused to recognize Cronin, and, a.s.sociating with them the rejected republican elector, presented a certificate signed by the secretary of state. Cronin, appointing two new electors to act with him, cast his vote for Tilden, his a.s.sociates voting for Hayes. This certificate was signed by the governor and attested by the secretary of state.
After deciding not to go behind any returns which were prima facie lawful, the commission, by a strict party vote of eight to seven, gave a decision for the Hayes electors in every case. March 2d it adjourned, and three days later Hayes was inaugurated without disturbance.
The whole country heaved a sigh of relief. All agreed that provision must be made against such peril in the future; but it was not till late in 1886 that Congress could agree upon the necessary measure. The Electoral Count Bill was then pa.s.sed, and signed by the President on February 3, 1887. It aims to throw upon each State, so far as possible, the responsibility of determining how its own presidential vote has been cast. It provides that the President of the Senate shall open the electoral certificates in the presence of both houses, and hand them to the tellers, two from each house, who are to read them aloud and record the votes.
If there has been no dispute as to the list of electors from a State, such list, where certified in due form, is to be accepted as a matter of course. In case of dispute, the procedure is as follows: If but one set of returns appears and this is authenticated by a state electoral tribunal const.i.tuted to settle the dispute, such returns shall be conclusive. If there are two or more sets of returns, the set approved by the state tribunal shall be accepted. If there are two rival tribunals, the vote of the State shall be thrown out, unless both houses, acting separately, agree upon the lawfulness of one tribunal or the other. If there has been no decision by a tribunal, those votes shall be counted which both houses, acting separately, decide to be lawful. If the houses disagree, the votes certified to by the governor shall be accepted.
[1880]
President Hayes's first important action was the withdrawal of troops from South Carolina and Louisiana, where the rival governments existed side by side. The republican governments at once fell to the ground. As the Democrats had already got control in Florida, the ”solid South” was now an accomplished fact. Financial questions were those which chiefly occupied the public mind during Hayes's administration. They are referred to in Chapter VII., below.
Returning from a remarkable tour around the world, General Grant became in 1880 a candidate for a third-term nomination. The deadlock in the republican convention between him and Mr. Blaine was broken by the nomination of James A. Garfield, of Ohio. Chester A. Arthur, of New York, was the vice-presidential candidate. The Democrats nominated the hero of Gettysburg, the brave and renowned General W. S. Hanc.o.c.k, of Pennsylvania, and William H. English, of Indiana. Garfield was elected, receiving 214 electoral votes against 155 for Hanc.o.c.k. Hanc.o.c.k carried every southern State; Garfield every northern State except New Jersey, Nevada, and California.
[1881]
President Garfield had hardly entered upon his high duties when he was cut down by the hand of an a.s.sa.s.sin. On the morning of July 2, 1881, the President entered the railway station at Was.h.i.+ngton, intending to take an eastern trip. Charles J. Guiteau, a disappointed office-seeker, crept up behind him and fired two bullets at him, one of which lodged in his back. The President died on September 19th, after weeks of suffering.
Vice-President Arthur succeeded to the presidency, and had an uneventful but respectable administration.
[1882]
Guiteau's trial began in November and lasted more than two months. The defence was insanity. The a.s.sa.s.sin maintained that he was inspired to commit the deed, and that it was a political necessity. The ”stalwart”
Republicans, headed by Senator Conkling, had quarrelled with the President over certain appointments unacceptable to the New York senator; Guiteau pretended to think the removal of Mr. Garfield necessary to the unity of the party and the salvation of the country.
The prosecution showed that Guiteau had long been an unprincipled adventurer, greedy for notoriety; that he first conceived of killing the President after his hopes of office were finally destroyed; and that he had planned the murder several weeks in advance. Guiteau was found guilty, and executed at Was.h.i.+ngton on June 30, 1882. The autopsy showed no disease of the brain.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Portrait.]
James A. Garfield.
From a photograph by C. M. Bell, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C.
[1881]
Although it had no logical connection with the ”spoils” system, the a.s.sa.s.sination of President Garfield called the attention of the whole country to the crying need of reform in the civil service. Ever since the days of President Jackson, in 1829, appointments to the minor federal offices had been used for the payment of party debts and to keep up partisan interest. This practice incurred the deep condemnation of Webster, Clay, Calhoun, and others, but no practical steps toward reform were taken till 1871. The abuses of the spoils system had then become so flagrant that Congress created a civil service commission, which inst.i.tuted compet.i.tive examinations to test the merits of candidates for office in the departments at Was.h.i.+ngton. President Grant reported that the new methods ”had given persons of superior capacity to the service'”
But Congress, always n.i.g.g.ardly in its appropriations for the work of the commission, after 1875 cut them off altogether, and the rules were suspended.
Under President Hayes civil service reform made considerable progress in an irregular way. Secretary Schurz enforced compet.i.tive examinations in the Interior department. They were also applied by Mr. James to the New York Post-office, and, as the result, one-third more work was done with less cost. Similar good results followed the enforcement of the ”merit system” in the New York custom-house after 1879. President Hayes also strongly condemned political a.s.sessments upon office-holders, but with small practical effect.
[1874]
The alarming increase of corruption in political circles generally, after the war, helped to create popular sentiment for reform. Corrupt ”rings” sprang up in every city. The ”whiskey ring,” composed of distillers and government employees, a.s.sumed national proportions in 1874, cheating the Government out of a large part of its revenue from spirits. Liberal appropriations for building a navy were squandered.
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