OF 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 DAVIS 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 THE PIERCE FAMILY 
 
 * 
 


 
 COPYRIGHTED. 
 

 COPYRIGHTED 
 
CAMPAIGN OF '84 
 
 BIOGRAPHIES 
 
 OF 
 
 JAMES G-. ELAINE, 
 
 THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDA TE FOR PRESIDENT, 
 AND 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN, 
 
 THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDA TE FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. 
 WITH A 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE LEADING ISSUES 
 
 AND THE 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL CONVENTION. 
 
 TOGETHER WITH A 
 
 History of the Political Parties of the United States: 
 
 COMPARISONS OF PLATFORMS ON ALL 
 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS, 
 
 AND 
 
 POLITICAL TABLES FOR BEADY REFERENCE* 
 
 BY HON. THOS. V. COOPER, 
 
 Author of "American Politics," and Chairman of Pennsylvania 
 Republican State Committee 1881-82-83-84. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO. 
 J. DEWINO & CO. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, in the Offio* 
 of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C. 
 
 Bound by 
 
 HENRY ALTBMUS, 
 
 4th and Cherry Street*, 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Biographies, eto. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 JAMES G. BLAINE, 1 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN, 60 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONVENTION AT CHICAGO, JUNB 3, 1884 . 71 
 ISSUES OF PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1884 80 
 
 HISTORY OF THE POLITICAL PAR' 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 COLONIAL PARTIES WHIG AND TORY 3 
 
 PARTICULARISTS AND STRONG GOVERNMENT WHIGS .5 
 
 FEDERALS AND ANTI-FEDERALS 7 
 
 REPUBLICANS AND FEDERALS 9 
 
 DOWNFALL OF THE FEDERALS 13 
 
 DEMOCRATS AND FEDERALS 17 
 
 JEFFERSON DEMOCRATS 19 
 
 HARTFORD CONVENTION 20 
 
 TREATY OF GHENT 20 
 
 CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS 21 
 
 PROTECTIVE TARIFF 21 
 
 MONROE DOCTRINE 23 
 
 MISSOURI COMPROMISE 24 
 
 TARIFF AMERICAN SYSTEM 25 
 
 TENURE OF OFFICE ELIGIBILITY 27 
 
 NULLIFICATION DEMOCRATS AND FEDERALS 29 
 
 UNITED STATES BANK 31 
 
 JACKSON'S SPECIAL MESSAGE ON THE UNITED STATES BANK 33 
 
 CONCEPTION OF SLAVERY QUESTION 35 
 
 DEMOCRATS AND WHIGS 37 
 
 THE HOUR RULE 39 
 
 NATIONAL BANK BILL FIRST 41 
 
 SECOND 43 
 
 OREGON TREATY OF 1846 47 
 
 TREATY OF PEACE WITH MEXICO 49 
 
 CLAY'S COMPROMISE RESOLUTIONS 51 
 
 ABOLITION PARTY RISE AND PROGRESS OF 53 
 
 KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL 55 
 
 RITUAL OF THE AMERICAN PARTY 57 
 
 KANSAS STRUGGLE 71 
 
 LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE 73 
 
 CHARLESTON CONVENTION DEMOCRATIC, 1860 81 
 
 DOUGLAS CONVENTION, 1860, BALTIMORE 86 
 
 BRECKINRIDGE CONVENTION, 1860, BALTIMORE 86 
 
 CHICAGO REPUBLICAN CONVENTION, 1860 , . . . 86 
 
 AMERICAN CONVENTION, 1860 87 
 
 SECESSION PREPARING^ FOE 87 
 
 vii 
 
v iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 SECESSION VIRGINIA CONVENTION, 1861 91 
 
 " INTER-STATE COMMISSIONERS 96 
 
 " SOUTHERN CONGRESS, PROCEEDINGS OF 97 
 
 11 CONFEDERATE CONSTITUTION 97 
 
 " CONFEDERATE STATES 98 
 
 BUCHANAN'S VIEWS 99 
 
 CRITTENDEN COMPROMISE 104; 
 
 PEACE CONVENTION 106 
 
 ACTUAL SECESSION 109 
 
 " " TRANSFERRING ARMS TO THE SOUTH 109 
 
 FERNANDO WOOD'S SECESSION MESSAGE 112 
 
 CONGRESS ON THE EVE OF THE REBELLION 113 
 
 LINCOLN'S VIEWS 115 
 
 JUDGE BLACK'S VIEWS 115 
 
 ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS' SPEECH ON SECESSION 116 
 
 LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION 120 
 
 CONFEDERATE MILITARY LEGISLATION . 128 
 
 GUERRILLAS 129 
 
 TWENTY-NEGRO EXEMPTION LAW 130 
 
 DOUGLAS ON THE REBELLION 130 
 
 POLITICAL LEGISLATION INCIDENT TO THE WAR. 130 
 
 THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS 131 
 
 COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION 135 
 
 LINCOLN'S APPEAL TO THE BORDER STATES 137 
 
 REPLY OF THE BORDER STATES 138 
 
 BORDER STATE SLAVES 139 
 
 EMANCIPATION 141 
 
 " PRELIMINARY PROCLAMATION or 141 
 
 " PROCLAMATION OF 143 
 
 LOYAL GOVERNORS, THE ADDRESS OF 144 
 
 FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW, REPEAL OF 145 
 
 FINANCIAL LEGISLATION 149 
 
 SEWARD AS SECRETARY OF STATE 149 
 
 INTERNAL TAXES 151 
 
 CONFEDERATE DEBT 152 
 
 CONFEDERATE TAXES 153 
 
 WEST VIRGINIA ADMISSION OF 158 
 
 COLOR IN WAR POLITICS 159 
 
 THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT PASSAGE OF 167 
 
 LOUISIANA ADMISSION OF REPRESENTATIVES 168 
 
 RECONSTRUCTION 169 
 
 ARKANSAS ADMISSION OF 170 
 
 RECONSTRUCTION MEASURES TEXT OF 171 
 
 FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT 1V4 
 
 MoCLELLAN's POLITICAL LETTERS 175 
 
 LINCOLN'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION 177 
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON AND HIS POLICY 178 
 
 " IMPEACHMENT TRIAL 179 
 
 GRANT 191 
 
 ENFORCEMENT ACTS 193 
 
 READMISSION OF REBELLIOUS STATES 193 
 
 LEGAL TENDER DECISION 194 
 
 GREENBACK PARTY 194 
 
 PROHIBITORY PARTY . 196 
 
 SAN DOMINGO ANNEXATION OF <-. 196 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. i x 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 ALABAMA CLAIMS 197 
 
 FORCE BILL 197 
 
 CIVIL SERVICE ORDER OF PRESIDENT HAYES 198 
 
 AMNESTY 199 
 
 LIBERAL REPUBLICANS 199 
 
 REFORM IN THE CIVIL SERVICE 200 
 
 CREDIT MOBILIER 200 
 
 SALARY GRAB 214 
 
 RETURNING BOARDS 217 
 
 GRANGERS 218 
 
 " ILLINOIS RAILROAD ACT OF 1873 218 
 
 CIVIL RIGHTS BILL SUPPLEMENTARY 221 
 
 MORTON AMENDMENT 222 
 
 WHISKY RING 222 
 
 BELKNAP IMPEACHED 223 
 
 WHITE LEAGUE 223 
 
 WHEELER COMPROMISE TEXT OF 226 
 
 ELECTION OF HAYES AND WHEELEB 228 
 
 ELECTORAL COUNT ., 229 
 
 TITLE OF PRESIDENT HAYES 233 
 
 CIPHER DESPATCHES 234 
 
 THB HAYES ADMINISTRATION 239 
 
 NEGRO EXODUS 240 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1880 242 
 
 THREE PER CENT. FUNDING BILL 244 
 
 HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL LOANS 245 
 
 GARFIBLD AND ARTHUR INAUGURATION OF 253 
 
 REPUBLICAN FACTIONS 253 
 
 THE CAUCUS 256 
 
 ASSASSINATION OF GARFIELD 260 
 
 ARTHUR, PRESIDENT 261 
 
 Boss RULE 261 
 
 READJUSTEES 263 
 
 MORMONISM SUPPRESSION OF 264 
 
 " TEXT OF THE BILL 265 
 
 SOUTH AMERICAN QUESTION 269 
 
 STAR ROUTE SCANDAL 277 
 
 THE COMING STATES 278 
 
 CHINESE QUESTION 281 
 
 " " SPEECH OF SENATOR MILLER ON 281 
 
 " " REPLY OF SENATOR HOAR 285 
 
 MERCHANT MARINE 296 
 
 CURRENT POLITICS 298 
 
 POLITICAL CHANGES IN 1882 .304 
 
 POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS, 1798 
 
 VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS, 1 798 ANSWERS OF THE STATE LEGISLATURES 6 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF 1798 AND 1799 10 
 
 WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS 
 
 ALL NATIONAL PLATFORMS I-ROM 1800 TO 1880 2I-6& 
 
 COMPARISON OF PLATFORM PLANKS ON GREAT POLITICAL QUESTIONS 69-*N 
 
PART I. 
 BIOGRAPHIES OF 
 
 \ 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE 
 
 AND 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAK 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 HON. JAMES G. ELAINE, the Republican 
 nominee for President of the United States, 
 is so well and favorably known to the 
 people of the country, that he needs no 
 introduction to his fellow-citizens. During 
 his eventful life he has taken such a pro 
 minent part, and has been such a con 
 spicuous figure in the history of the coun 
 try as to bring him into every community 
 and every household. 
 
 Revolutions, exciting events, questions 
 of municipal, state and national impor 
 tance, bring men to the surface and place 
 them for the time prominently before the 
 people ; but when quiet is restored, when 
 the issues have been decided and passed 
 into history, a great majority of the pro 
 minent figures sink to the level from which 
 they arose, and are almost forgotten. 
 Men elevated to political prominence and 
 power, wielding the patronage and dis 
 tributing the favors of official position, 
 are followed by the public eye, heralded 
 by the public press, cajoled and flattered 
 by the myriads of sycophants who bask 
 in the sunshine of power and exist on the 
 gifts of patronage. They are exalted by 
 their office unto greatness, and their 
 names are sounded in the ears of the 
 world through the trumpet of praise until 
 they appear to have attained the summit 
 of human ambition. But when they are 
 stripped of their official position, when 
 they cease to perform in their official role, 
 when they are succeeded by others, and 
 retire to the shades of private life, their 
 followers leave them, their satellites re 
 volve around another centre, and they 
 find that it was the position and not the 
 man that people worshipped, and flattered, 
 and they realize that couplet of Pope: 
 
 "Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to 
 
 clay, 
 May stop a hole to keep the wind away." 
 
 Yet while this may be termed the " com 
 
 mon lot" of those who are placed in high 
 positions by their countrymen, yet there 
 are exceptions to the rule. Where honor, 
 love, confidence and fame follow men, 
 and continue as abiding when devoid of 
 power and patronage as when they were 
 at the summit of political power, it shows 
 the worth of the man. " The survival of 
 the fittest " holds true even on the camp 
 ing ground of honor and fame. How 
 many are unable to name the succession 
 of Presidents and Vice-Presidents. How 
 few can name the cabinets of distinguished 
 men from Washington to Arthur. What 
 a small percentage of the Continental 
 Congress has lived in names familiar to 
 the present generation. 
 
 It is a very severe, but an excellent test 
 of innate greatness, worth, ability and 
 character, as it separates the man from 
 the office, and gives him to posterity 
 stripped of all extraneous trappings. The 
 man survives as a man ; he lives on his 
 intrinsic value, or becomes lost for the 
 want of it. 
 
 Judged by this standard, James G. 
 Elaine is, in the true sense of the word, a 
 great man. His brilliant intellect and in 
 spiring genius are as fully recognized by 
 the people of the nation as his services as 
 statesman and legislator have been ac 
 knowledged. In all the positions he has 
 held, from his first office to that of Prime 
 Minister of the Government, he has been 
 an honor to the position, and hence when 
 he left them he retained that nobility of self 
 which kept him prominent and potential. 
 James G. Elaine has passed through more 
 crucial tests than perhaps any other public 
 man living. His acknowledged intellectual 
 ity, his brilliant and magnetic style, his fo 
 rensic power, and his native genius all tend 
 to place him on so high a pinnacle that no 
 man, unless he be great, can sustain him 
 self in all. Yet in public and private life 
 he has added to his renown, and never 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 dazed by the giddy height he has reached, 
 he still has a higher aim, and an upward 
 march. 
 
 In all the positions he has rilled, as well 
 as during his short rests within the quiet 
 of private lite, he has kept himself close to 
 the people, and been a ready champion 
 for their rights. As a leader of men he is 
 brave to a fault. As a party man he has 
 been one of its most able expounders and 
 supporters and as a statesman he has 
 shown an unflinching devotion to our 
 institutions, and he has throughout ad 
 vocated a policy as broad as our na 
 tion. Outspoken in his faith, and zea 
 lous for the principles of Freedom, he has 
 stood by the people of his country at home, 
 and wherever our flag covered them abroad. 
 In the House, in the Senate, at the head of 
 the Nation's Cabinet alike he has won the 
 love of the people by his devotion to their 
 personal interest and the national honor. 
 For a quarter of a century he has been iden 
 tified with the people, and his wonderful 
 popularity with the masses is the highest 
 eulogium that he can receive. Next to the 
 immortal Lincoln he is held to the people 
 by the strongest bonds, and for the same 
 reason that he has been so closely allied 
 to the masses. James G. Elaine has not 
 been the pet of politicians, and been 
 elevated from place to place by political 
 manoeuvering. On the contrary, his ad 
 vancement, and brilliant career has often 
 excited the jealousy and envy of his fel 
 low leaders, who have endeavored to 
 retard his rapid march in the path of 
 greatness. It is nothing derogatory to 
 Elaine, that he has his enemies on the 
 contrary, it is the best of proof that he has 
 positiveness and decision of character. It 
 is no compliment to say that a man has 
 no enemies. The friction of life naturally 
 makes them, when men are the exponents 
 of ideas, the zealous advocates of prin 
 ciples, and the acknowledged leaders of 
 men and of party. The genius of a man 
 like Elaine naturally makes him aggressive. 
 The comprehensive grasp of such a mind 
 can find no rest in our age and country, 
 and he who is brave enough to grasp the 
 issues of the hour must always expect to 
 meet with opposition. Such a character 
 cannot float quietly down the stream of 
 
 time with the current, content to wait for 
 time and tide, but will trust to its own 
 propelling powers, rather than to others, 
 and will, if necessary, stem the current in 
 stead of being carried by it. 
 
 Even to those who know Mr. Elaine 
 best, his wonderful magnetism is a mystery. 
 He does not act as though he was aware 
 of this power, and he shows nothing in 
 his manners or general conversation to lead 
 a stranger to suspect his real greatness. 
 
 He is now in the prime of a well-pre 
 served life, which has given him such a 
 knowledge of men and measures as but 
 few persons possess. For twenty-five years 
 he has been brought in personal contact 
 with all the leading politicians, statesmen 
 and diplomats, besides being a close stu 
 dent and a great reader. His record in 
 the House of Representatives, both as a 
 member and as its presiding officer, 
 shows tha*t he possesses vast resources, 
 and is always ready to apply them. This, 
 and not any oratorical display gave 
 him his prestige as a debater and leader. 
 According to the accepted definition of 
 oratory, James G. Elaine is not an orator, 
 although the experience and practice of his 
 official life has proven him to be a pro 
 found and almost irresistible speaker. It 
 is the earnestness of his style, joined to 
 his personal magnetism, and not the dis 
 play of oratorical sentences, that gives 
 him his power. Indeed, his early life 
 showed an actual dearth of oratorical 
 ability, and during the period when he 
 was at Washington College, he gave no 
 evidence in that direction. The different 
 literary societies to which he belonged 
 never selected him to represent them on 
 the platform on gala occasions. He was 
 far from being the brightest boy, and his 
 college days gave but little indication of 
 his reserved powers, or of the prominence 
 to which he has arrived in after life. 
 
 James Gillespie Elaine was born at what 
 was known as the Indian Hill Farm, in 
 Washington County, Pennsylvania, just 
 opposite Brownsville, January 31, 1830, 
 and hence is now in the fifty-fifth year of 
 his age. The stone house in which he 
 first drew the breath of life, dingy with 
 time, and tottering with its age, still re 
 mains. It is now included within the 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 3 
 
 limits of West Brownsville. It was erected 
 by Neal Gillespie, the great-grandfather 
 of Mr. Elaine, in 1778, so that it has stood 
 intact for more than a century. Indian 
 Hill Farm was then on the very borders 
 of civilization; now that civilization has 
 extended from ocean to ocean. Mr. Neal 
 Gillespie was evidently a pioneer in those 
 days, as it is believed that this was the 
 first stone house erected on that side of 
 the Mononghela river. 
 
 His Family History. 
 
 Colonel Ephraim Elaine of Carlisle, 
 Pennsylvania, great-grandfather of Mr. 
 Elaine, was one of the " patriots of 76," 
 and took an active part in the revolu 
 tionary struggle from the time when Inde 
 pendence Bell rang out the birth of a new 
 nation, until the United States were ac 
 knowledged by the nations of the earth. 
 He was appointed Commissary' General 
 by Washington in 1778 and held his com 
 mission until 1783. 
 
 The Blaines were Scotch-Irish, the race 
 from which sprang James Buchanan, Si 
 mon Cameron, John Stewart, Wayne Mac- 
 Veagh. The race has been remarkably 
 productive of the qualities of heart and 
 mind which win the regard and admiration 
 of mankind. Courage, quickness and a 
 brilliancy of intellect which flashes into 
 dark places like a wave of the electric light 
 are common to great Scotch-Irishmen. 
 
 Mr. Elaine's father was born in the fam 
 ily mansion at Carlisle. He made a tour 
 of Europe, spent some time in South 
 America and the West Indie*, and! on his 
 return, he settled in Washington County, 
 where he died before his son had reached 
 his manhood. 
 
 Colonel Ephraim Elaine's son, " Squire 
 Elaine," as he was known in the commu 
 nity, was married to Miss Gillespie, a de 
 vout member of the Roman Catholic 
 Church, but their seven children five 
 boys and two girls adhered to the tradi 
 tional faith of the Blaines. The second of 
 these five sons is the subject of this sketch, 
 James Gillespie Elaine, just selected by the 
 people for its highest honors. 
 
 Concerning the religious faith of his 
 family and his own attitude in religious 
 
 matters, Mr. Elaine wrote in later life 
 March 10, 1876 as follows : 
 
 My ancestors on my father's side were, 
 as you know, always identified with the 
 Presbyterian Church, and they were prom 
 inent and honored in the old colony of 
 Pennsylvania. But I will never consent 
 to make any public declaration upon the 
 subject, and for two reasons : First, be 
 cause I abhor the introduction of anything 
 that looks like a religious test or qualifica 
 tion for office in a republic where perfect 
 freedom of conscience is the birthright of 
 every citizen ; and r second, because my 
 mother was a devoted Catholic. I would 
 not for a thousand Presidencies speak a 
 disrespectful word of my mother's religion, 
 and no pressure will draw me into any 
 avowal of hostility or unfriendliness to 
 Catholics, though I have never received, 
 and do not expect any political support 
 from them. 
 
 The Kennebec Journal [Augusta, Me., 
 about this time said on the same subject 
 that "Mr. Elaine has been for nearly 
 twenty years a consistent member of the 
 Orthodox Congregational Church in this, 
 the city of his home. Orthodox Congre 
 gationalism in Maine is precisely the same 
 creed as Presbyterianismin Pennsylvania." 
 
 His father emigrated (as it was termed 
 at that day) west in 1817, and was the lar 
 gest landholder of any man in Western 
 Pennsylvania. The tract forming this es 
 tate is now worth many millions. In 1825 
 Mr. Elaine's father sold to the Economites 
 a large tract of his land, for $25,000, on 
 which their town with all its industry and 
 wealth now stands. 
 
 There were also timber tracts on the Al 
 legheny and coal tracts on the Mononga- 
 hela, at that day of no special value, which 
 now represent large fortunes in the hands 
 of those lucky enough to hold them. Very 
 near the large tracts owned by his father 
 and grandfather, Senator Elaine is now 
 the possessor of one of the most valuable 
 coal properties in the Monongahela val 
 ley. In area it is but a fraction of that 
 which he might have hoped to inherit, but 
 in value it is manifold greater than the 
 whole landed estate of his father fifty years 
 ago. 
 
 Mr. Elaine the elder was fairly educated, 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 had good business qualities, and was suc 
 cessful in his undertakings. He had a 
 " push " about him which while it is com 
 mon in these days of steam and telegraphs, 
 was not as general then. He was a quiet 
 worker, with a slow but sure judgment, 
 and in addition to being a fair scholar of 
 his day, he was a constant and careful 
 reader. With a desire that his son might 
 be well educated he spared no pains to 
 give him an intellectual training. As soon 
 as he had attained sufficient age he was 
 put to school and in 1841, when only 
 eleven years old he was sent to Lancaster, 
 Ohio, and placed in the family of a rela 
 tive, Hon. Thomas Ewing, a gentleman of 
 note in that State, and at that time Secre 
 tary of the department of the Treasury at 
 Washington. 
 
 General Thomas Ewing, at present in 
 Congress, is his cousin, and of the same 
 age ; was his classmate, under the tuition 
 of an Englishman named Wm. Lyons, a 
 brother of the elder Lord Lyons and uncle 
 of the late British Minister at Washing 
 ton. 
 
 Here he continued at school preparing 
 himself for entering college for two years, 
 and in 1843 ^ e returned to his native 
 place. In November of that year he was 
 admitted to the freshmen's class of Wash 
 ington College, where he remained until 
 September, 1847, when he graduated in 
 his eighteenth year. 
 
 There is a tradition that when Mr. Ew 
 ing was Secretary of the Interior Blaine 
 applied to him for a clerkship and the 
 old man sent him to Kentucky to earn 
 an honest living teaching school. This 
 association of the name of Ewing with 
 that of Blaine has given rise to the story 
 that the Ewing family of Ohio helped 
 James G. Blaine to an education, but this 
 is only a fiction. 
 
 Not a Leader at College. 
 
 During his college days Blaine was but 
 the chrysalis of what he has now become. 
 The growth of his body and the extra 
 ordinary expansion of his mind through 
 his continuous reading so drew on the 
 vital strength and imagination that he 
 seemed dull from the effect of his rapid 
 growth. This no doubt accounts for his 
 
 lack of popularity among the boys not 
 that he was unpopular, but retiring, and 
 seemingly unwilling to make himself pro 
 minent among the rest. From present 
 recollections I do not think he was known 
 as of a decided character in any way 
 among his fellow-students. He seemed 
 to be content to drift along reading, study 
 ing and growing, with never a thought of 
 prominence or supremacy in any way. 
 The newspaper accounts which claim that 
 Blaine was a leader among the boys are 
 incorrect. He was a remarkably quiet 
 and unassuming youth. He was so extra 
 ordinarily quiet in his relations at college 
 that I fail to recall one single anecdote of 
 his college days. He was neither noted 
 for unruliness of conduct nor saintliness : 
 never engaged in any college pranks nor 
 yet gained a reputation for being super- 
 naturally virtuous. A plain, quiet, good- 
 tempered, studious boy is what James G. 
 Blaine was in his college days. He was 
 the last young man in the college for 
 whom such a future as he has already dis 
 played would have been predicted. 
 Everyone thought and said that Blaine 
 would go through the world quiet, studious 
 and the quintessence of mediocrity. He 
 gave not the slightest hint of his great 
 career, and he then seemed but the raw 
 material of the present statesman. His 
 youth was singularly without honors ; he 
 neither sought nor received them. 
 
 At the quarter-centennial of the class, 
 held in 1872, twenty-nine of the thirty- 
 three were living, and every one of them 
 was a man of position and character in 
 his community. John H. Hampton, Esq., 
 of this city, A. M. Gow, of Washington, 
 Pa., John V. LeMoyne, of Chicago, were 
 members of the class. 
 
 Dr. Smith's description of him as a College 
 Boy. 
 
 Said Dr. Smith : " Yes, I knew Blaine at 
 Washington College, he being in the next 
 class below me. Elaine's parents lived at 
 Washington during their son's college 
 course, and on that account the students 
 saw less of Jim Blaine, as he was familiarly 
 called, than if he had boarded at the col 
 lege instead of at home. Young Blaine 
 was a sturdy, heavy set, matter-of-fact 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 looking young fellow, not at all prepos 
 sessing in appearance, and exceedingly 
 awkward at times, and giving no hint of 
 the elegant gentleman he has grown to 
 be. He was never seen on the street or 
 playground and but rarely mingled in the 
 customary sports of the boys. I remem 
 ber we had a very fine foot-ball ground, 
 but I never remember to have seen young 
 Elaine on it. In fact, I cannot say for 
 certain that I ever saw him engaged in any 
 kind of sport during the entire time I was 
 at college. It is my impression that he 
 passed all his leisure at home or in one of 
 the college halls with a book. He was a 
 great reader, almost a bookworm, and 
 would become absorbed to a wonderful de 
 gree in his books. 
 
 A friend and acquaintance of Mr. 
 Elaine, in speaking of his early life, and 
 of the utter lack of any precociousness 
 says : 
 
 "As a remarkable contrast to Elaine, I 
 remember Nicholas Watterman, of Elaine's 
 class. He was the brightest and smartest 
 in his class, receiving every prize and honor 
 that was offered. Brilliant in debate and 
 oratory, he never failed to represent his 
 class in oratorical contests and invariably 
 won every debate he engaged in. On 
 commencement day he graduated with 
 the very highest honors of his class, and 
 seemed to have every assurance of future 
 renown, while Elaine was some dis 
 tance from the head. Strange to say, after 
 leaving college he went into the commis 
 sion business, made a fortune, squandered 
 it and died a miserable death, while Elaine, 
 his humble rival, went on and developed 
 into the superb orator and statesman he is 
 now. It seemed to be the universal rule 
 in those days at Washington College that 
 the brightest pupils never rose above 
 mediocrity, while some of the dullest pupils 
 made a name and position for them 
 selves. " 
 
 Mr. Elaine's college guardian was Hon. 
 John H. Ewing, who was at that time 
 the member of Congress from that dis 
 trict, and who still lives and will cast his 
 vote for his distinguished ward. 
 
 The graduating class consisted of thirty- 
 three members, and Mr. Elaine divided 
 the honors of the class with John C. Har 
 
 vey, who is now superintendent of Public 
 Instruction in Wheeling, West Virginia. 
 During his college life he was noted for 
 excellence in Latin and mathematics, and 
 also in logic and political economy. 
 
 Robert G. I ugersoll, of Illinois, 
 
 In the National Republican Convention at Cincinnati, 
 
 June, l8fb, in nominating James G. Elaine, 
 
 for the Presidency. 
 
 " Massachusetts may be satisfied with 
 the loyalty o^" Benjamin H. Bristow ; so 
 am I ; but if any man nominated by this 
 convention cannot carry the State of Mas 
 sachusetts, I am not satisfied with the 
 loyalty .of that State. If the nominee of 
 this convention cannot carry the grand old 
 Commonwealth of Massachusetts by 
 seventy-five thousand majority, I would 
 advise them to sell out Faneuil Hall as a 
 Democratic headquarters. I would advise 
 them to take from Bunker Hill that old 
 monument of glory. 
 
 " The Republicans of the United States 
 demand as their leader in the great con 
 test of 1876 a man of intelligence, a man 
 of integrity, a man of well-known and ap 
 proved political opinions. They demand 
 a reformer after as well as before the elec 
 tion. They demand a politician in the 
 highest, broadest and best sense a man 
 of superb moral courage. They demand a 
 man acquainted with public affairs, with 
 the wants of the people ; with not only the 
 requirements of the hour, but with the 
 demands of the future. They demand a 
 man broad enough to comprehend the re 
 lations of this government to the other 
 nations of the earth.' They demand a man 
 well versed in the powers, duties, and pre 
 rogatives of each and every department of 
 this Government. They demand a man 
 who will sacredly preserve the financial 
 honor of the United States ; one who knows 
 enough to know that the national debt 
 must be paid through the prosperity of this 
 people ; one who knows enough to know 
 that all the financial theories in the world 
 cannot redeem a single dollar ; one who 
 knows enough to know that all the money 
 must be made, not by law, but by labor ; 
 
6 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 one who knows enough to know that the 
 people of the United States have the in 
 dustry to make the money and the honor 
 to pay it over just as fast as they make it. 
 
 " The Republicans of the United States 
 demand a man who knows that prosperity 
 and resumption, when they come must 
 come together ; that when they come, they 
 will come hand in hand through the 
 golden harvest fields ; hand in hand by 
 the whirling spindles and the turning 
 wheels ; hand in hand past the open 
 furnace doors ; hand in hand by the 
 flaming forges ; hand in hand by the 
 chimneys filled with eager fire greeted 
 and grasped by the countless sons of 
 toil. 
 
 " This money has to be dug out of the 
 earth. You cannot make it by passing 
 resolutions in a political convention. 
 
 " The Republicans of the United States 
 want a man who knows that this Govern 
 ment should protect every citizen, at home 
 and abroad ; who knows that any govern 
 ment that will not defend its defenders, 
 and protect its protectors, is a disgrace to 
 the map of the world. They demand a 
 man who believes in the eternal separation 
 and divorcement of Church and School. 
 They demand a man whose political repu 
 tation is spotless as a star ; but they do not 
 demand that their candidate shall have a 
 certificate of moral character signed by a 
 Confederate Congress. The man who has, 
 in full, heaped and rounded measure, all 
 these splendid qualifications, is the present 
 grand and gallant leader of the Republi 
 can party James G. Elaine. 
 
 " Our country, crowned with the vast 
 and marvelous achievements of its first 
 century, asks for a man worthy of the past 
 and prophetic of her future ; asks for a 
 man who has the audacity of genius ; asks 
 for a man who is the grandest combination 
 of heart, conscience and brain beneath 
 her flag. Such a man is James G. 
 Elaine. 
 
 " For the Republican host, led by this 
 intrepid man, there can be no defeat. 
 
 " This is a grand year a year filled with 
 the recollections of the Revolution ; filled 
 with proud and tender memories of the 
 past ; with the sacred legends of liberty ; 
 a year in which the sons of freedom will 
 
 drink from the fountains of enthusiasm ; 
 a year in which the people call for a man 
 who has preserved in Congress what our 
 soldiers won upon the field ; a year in 
 which they call for the man who has torn 
 from the throat of treason the tongue of 
 slander ; for the man who has snatched 
 the mask of Democracy from the hideous 
 face of rebellion ; for the man who, like an 
 intellectual athlete, has stood in the arena 
 of debate and challenged all comers, and 
 who is still a total stranger to defeat. 
 
 " Like an armed warrior, like a plumed 
 knight, James G. Elaine 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 Republican party to desert this 
 gallant leader now, is as though an army 
 should desert their general upon the field 
 of battle. 
 
 "James G. Elaine is now and has been 
 for years the bearer of the sacred standard 
 of the Republican party. I call it sacred, 
 because no human being c^,.. stand beneath 
 its folds without becoming and without re 
 maining free. 
 
 " Gentlemen of the convention, in the 
 name of the great Republic, the only Re 
 public that ever existed upon the earth ; 
 in the name of all her defenders and of all 
 her supporters ; in the name of all her sol 
 diers living ; in the name of all her soldiers 
 dead upon the field of battle, and in the 
 name of those who perished in the skeleton 
 clutch of famine at Andersonville and 
 Libby, whose sufferings he so vividly re 
 members, Illinois Illinois nominates for 
 the next President of this country, that 
 prince of parliamentarians that leader of 
 leaders James G Elaine." 
 
 Maine sent us to this magnificent Con 
 vention with a memory of her own salva 
 tion from impending peril fresh upon her. 
 To you representatives of 50,000,000 of the 
 American people who have met here to 
 counsel how the Republic can be saved, 
 she says, " Representatives of the people, 
 take the man, the true man, the staunch 
 man, for your leader, who has just saved 
 me, and he will bring you to safety and 
 certain victory." 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 Frye Nominating Blaine. 
 
 In the Chicago Convention, 1880. 
 
 " I once saw a storm at sea in the night 
 time ; an old ship battling for its life with 
 the fury of the tempest ; darkness every 
 where ; the winds raging and howling ; 
 the huge waves beating on the sides of the 
 ship, and making her shiver from stem to 
 stern. The lightning was flashing, the 
 thunders rolling ; there was danger every 
 where. I saw at the helm, a bold, coura 
 geous, immovable, commanding man. In 
 the tempest, calm ; in the commotion, 
 quiet ; in the danger, hopeful. I saw him 
 take the old ship and bring her into her 
 harbor, into still waters, into safety. That 
 man was a hero. [Applause.] I saw the 
 good old ship of State, the State of Maine, 
 within the last year, fighting her way 
 through the same waves, against the 
 dangers. She was freighted with all that 
 is precious in the principles of our repub 
 lic ; with the rights of the American citi 
 zenship, with all that is guaranteed to the 
 American citizen by our Constitution. The 
 eyes of the whole nation were on her, and 
 intense anxiety filled every American 
 heart lest the grand old ship, the " State 
 of Maine," might go down beneath the 
 waves forever, carry ing her precious freight I 
 with her. But there was a man at the 
 helm, calm, deliberate, commanding, sa 
 gacious ; he made even the foolish man 
 wise ; courageous, he inspired the timid 
 with courage ; hopeful, he gave heart to 
 the dismayed, and he brought that good 
 old ship safely into harbor, into safety ; 
 and she floats to-day greater, purer, stronger 
 for her baptism of danger. That man too, 
 was heroic, and his name was James G. 
 Blaine. [Loud cheers.] 
 
 Judge West Nominates Blaine 
 
 At Chigago, June 5, 1884. 
 
 After the chairman had succeeded in 
 producing comparative quiet, Judge West, 
 of Ohio, was introduced. The sensation 
 was intense and the interest in Mr. West 
 on account of his commanding presence, 
 and sympathy for his infirmity, brought all 
 to silence throughout the vast hall. Judge 
 West said : 
 
 As a delegate in the Chicago Conven 
 tion of 1860, the proudest service of my 
 
 life was performed by voting for the nom 
 ination of that inspired emancipator, the 
 first Republican President of the United 
 States. [Applause.] Four and twenty 
 years of the grandest history of recorded 
 times has distinguished the ascendency of 
 the Republican party. The skies have 
 lowered and reverses have threatened, but 
 our flag is still there, waving above the 
 mansion of the Presidency, not a stain on 
 its folds, not a cloud on its glory. Whether 
 it shall maintain that grand ascendency 
 depends upon the action of this council. 
 With bated breath a Nation awaits the 
 result. On it are fixed the eyes of twenty 
 millions of Republican freemen in the 
 North. On it, or to it, rather, are stretched 
 forth the imploring hands of ten millions 
 of political bondsmen of the South [ap 
 plause], while above, from the portals of 
 light, is looking down the immortal spirit 
 of the immortal martyr who first bore it to 
 victory, bidding to us Hail and God speed. 
 [Applause.] Six times in six campaigns 
 has that banner triumphed that symbol 
 of union, freedom, humanity and progress 
 sometime borne by that silent man ot 
 destiny, the Wellington of American arms 
 [wild applause], last by him at whose un 
 timely taking off a Nation swelled the 
 funeral cries and wept above great Gar- 
 field's grave. [Cheers and applause]. 
 Shall that banner triumph again ? 
 
 Commit it to the bearing of that chief 
 [a voice, " James G. Blaine of Maine," 
 cheers] commit it to the bearing of that 
 chief, the inspiration of whose illustrious 
 character and great name will fire the 
 hearts of our. young men, stir the blood of 
 our manhood and rekindle the fervor cf 
 the veterans, and the closing of the seventh 
 campaign will see that holy ensign span 
 ning the sky like a bow of promise. 
 [Cheers.] Political conditions are changed 
 since the accession of the Republican party 
 to power. The mighty issues of the free 
 dom and bleeding humanity which con 
 vulsed the continent and aroused the 
 Republic, rallied, united and inspired the 
 forces of patriotism and the forces of hu 
 manity in one consolidated phalanx, have 
 ceased their contentions. The subordinate 
 issues resulting therefrom are settled and 
 buried away with the dead issues of the 
 
8 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 past. The arms of the Solid South are 
 against us. Not an electoral gain can be 
 expected from that section. If the triumph 
 come, the Republican States of the North 
 must furnish the conquering battalions 
 from the farm, the anvil and the loom, 
 from the mines, the workshop and the 
 desk, from the hut of the trapper on the 
 snowy Sierras, from the hut of the fisher 
 man on the banks of the Hudson. The 
 Republican States must furnish these con 
 quering battalions if triumph comes. 
 
 What Political Wisdom Dictates. 
 
 Does not sound political wisdom dic 
 tate and demand that a leader shall be 
 given to them whom our people will fol 
 low, not as conscripts advancing by fu 
 nereal marches to certain defeat, but a 
 grand civic hero, whom the souls of the 
 people desire, and whom they will follow 
 with all the enthusiasm of volunteers, as 
 they sweep on and onward to certain vic 
 tory [Cheers], a representative of Ameri 
 can manhood [applause], a representative 
 of that living Republicanism that de 
 mands the amplest industrial protection 
 and opportunity whereby labor shall be 
 enabled to earn and eat the bread of in 
 dependent employment, relieved of men 
 dicant competition with pauper Europe or 
 pagan China ? [Loud applause.] In this 
 contention of forces, to whose candidate 
 shall be intrusted our battle flags ? Citi 
 zens, I am not here to do it, and may my 
 tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if 
 I do abate one tithe from the just fame, 
 integrity and public honor of Chester A. 
 Arthur, our President. [Applause.] I 
 abate not one tithe from the just fame and 
 public integrity of George F. Edmunds 
 [applause], of Joseph R. Hawley [ap 
 plause], of John Sherman [applause], of 
 that grand old black eagle of Illinois. 
 [Here the speaker was interrupted several 
 moments by prolonged applause.] And I 
 am proud to know that these distinguished 
 Senators whom I have named have borne 
 like testimony to the public life, the public 
 character, and the public integrity of him 
 whose confirmation brought him to the 
 highest office second in dignity to the 
 office of the President only himself the 
 first premiership in the administration of 
 
 James A. Garfield. [Applause.] A man 
 for whom the Senators and rivals will vote, 
 the Secretary of State of the United States 
 is good enough for a plain flesh and blood 
 God's people to vote for President. [Loud 
 applause.] 
 
 Who shall be our candidate ? [Cries of 
 " Elaine," "Arthur" and v Logan." A 
 loud voice yelled above the tumult, Give 
 us "Blackjack," and we will elect him. 
 When quiet was somewhat restored the 
 speaker continued.] Not the representa 
 tive of a particular interest of a particular 
 class. Send the great proclamation to the 
 country labelled " The Doctor's Candi 
 date," "The Lawyer's Candidate," "The 
 Wall Street Candidate," and the hand of 
 resurrection would not fathom his Novem 
 ber grave. [Applause.] 
 
 Gentlemen, he must be a representative ot 
 that Republicanism that demands the ab 
 solute political, as well as personal, eman 
 cipation and enfranchisement of mankind 
 a representative of that Republicanism 
 which recognizes the stamp of American 
 citizenship as the passport to every right, 
 privilege and consideration at home or 
 abroad, whether under the sky of Bis 
 marck, under the Palmetto, under the 
 Pelican or on the banks of the Mohawk, 
 that Republicanism that regards with dis 
 satisfaction a despotism which under the 
 "sic semper tyrannis " of the old Dominion 
 emulates, by slaughter, popular majorities 
 in the name of Democracy a Republi 
 canism as embodied and stated in the 
 platform of principles this day adopted by 
 your Convention, 
 
 Gentlemen, such a representative Re 
 publican is James G. Elaine, of Maine. If 
 nominated to-night his campaign would 
 commence to morrow and con'inue until 
 victory is assured. [Cheers.] There would 
 be no powder burned to fire into the backs 
 of his leaders. It would only be exploded 
 to illuminate the inauguration. The brazen 
 throats of the cannon in yonder square, 
 waiting to herald the result of the conven 
 tion, would riot have time to cool before 
 his name would be caught up on ten 
 thousand tongues of electric flame. It 
 would sweep down from the Old Pine Tree 
 State. It would go over the hills and 
 valleys of New England. 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 9 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 Hon. James G. Elaine's Oration on Presi 
 dent Garneld. 
 
 THE GRAND MORAL O/ HIS CAREER. 
 
 An Elaborate, Polished and Scholary Tribute by an 
 
 Accomplished Orator, in the Hah of the House of 
 
 Representatives, on Monday, Feb. 27, 1882. 
 
 At ten o'clock the doors of the House of 
 Representatives were opened to holders of 
 tickets for the memorial services, and in 
 less than half an hour the galleries were 
 filled, a large majority of the spectators 
 being ladies, mostly in black. There were 
 no signs of mourning in the hall, even the 
 full-length portrait of the late President, 
 James Abram Garfield, painted by E. F. 
 Andrews, of Washington, being undraped. 
 The three front rows of desks had been re 
 placed by chairs to accommodate the in 
 vited guests, and the Marine Band was 
 stationed in the lobby, back of the Speak 
 er's desk. 
 
 Among the distinguished guests first to 
 arrive were George Bancroft, W. W. Cor 
 coran, Cyrus Field and Admiral Worden, 
 who took seats directly in front of the 
 clerk's desk. Among the guests who oc 
 cupied seats upon the floor were General 
 Schenck, Governor Hoyt, of Pennsylva 
 nia ; Foster, of Ohio ; Porter, of Indiana ; 
 Hamilton, of Maryland, and Bigelow, of 
 Connecticut, and Adjutant General Har- 
 mine, of Connecticut. 
 
 At 11:30, Generals Sherman, Sheridan 
 Hancock, Howard and Meigs, and Admirals 
 Ammen and Rodgers entered at the north 
 door of the chamber and were assignee 
 seats to the left of the Speaker's desk 
 and a few moments later, the mem 
 bers of the Diplomatic Corps, in ful 
 regalia, were ushered in, headed by th 
 Hawaiian Minister, as dean of the Corps 
 The Supreme Court of the District, headec 
 by Marshal Henry, arrived next. Mrs 
 Blaine occupied a front seat in the gallery 
 reserved for friends of the President. A 
 twelve o'clock the House was called to 
 order by Speaker Keifer, and prayer was 
 offered by the Chaplain. The Speake 
 then announced that the House was as 
 sembled and ready to perform its part in 
 the memorial services, and the resolution 
 to that effect were read by Clerk McPher 
 son. At 12:10, the Senate was announced 
 
 and that body headed by its officers, en- 
 ered and took their assigned seats. The 
 hief Justice and Associate Justices of the 
 upreme Court, in their robes of office, 
 :ame next, and were followed by Presi 
 dent Arthur and his Cabinet. The Presi 
 dent took the front seat on the right of the 
 residing Officer's chair, next to that oc 
 cupied by Cyrus W. Field. 
 
 Senator Sherman and Representative 
 McKinley (Ohio) occupied seats at the 
 desk on the right and left of t!ie orator of 
 he day. Mr. West, the British Minister, 
 was the only member of the Diplomatic 
 Corps who did not wear the court uni- 
 brm. 
 
 A delegation of gentlemen from the 
 Society of the Army of the Cumberland 
 acted as ushers at the main entrance to 
 the Rotunda and in the various corridors 
 leading to the gallery. 
 
 At 12:30 the orator of the day was an 
 nounced, and after a short prayer by the 
 Chaplain of the House, F. D. Power, pres 
 ident Davis said: "This day is dedicated 
 by Congress for memorial services of the 
 late President of the United States, James 
 A. Garfield. I present to you the Hon. 
 James G. Blaine, who has been fitly chosen 
 as the orator for this historical occasion." 
 Mr. Blaine then rose, and standing at 
 the clerk's desk, immediately in front of 
 the two presiding officers, proceeded, with 
 impressiveness of manner and clearness 
 of tone, to deliver his eulogy from manu 
 script, as follows : 
 
 Mr. Blaine's Oration. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT : For the second time 
 in this generation the great departments 
 of the Government of the United States 
 are assembled in the Hall of Representa 
 tives to do honor to the memory of a 
 murdered President. Lincoln fell at the 
 close of a mighty struggle in which the 
 passions of men had been deeply stirred. 
 The tragical termination of his great life 
 added but another to the lengthened suc 
 cession of horrors which had marked so 
 many lintels with the blood of the first 
 born. Garfield was slain in a day of peace, 
 when brother had been reconciled to 
 brother, and when anger and hate had 
 been banished from the land. " Whoever 
 
10 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 shall hereafter draw the portrait of mur 
 der, if he will show it as it has been ex 
 hibited where such example was last to 
 have been looked for, let him not give it 
 the grim visage of Moloch, the brow knit 
 ted by revenge, the face black with settled 
 hate. Let him draw, rather, a decorous, 
 smooth-faced, bloodless demon ; not so 
 much an example of human nature in its 
 depravity and in its paroxysms of crime, 
 as an infernal being, a fiend in the ordi 
 nary display and development of his 
 character." 
 
 Garfield's Ancestors. 
 
 From the landing of the Pilgrims at 
 Plymouth till the uprising against Charles 
 First, about twenty thousand emigrants 
 came from old England to New England. 
 As they came in pursuit of intellectual 
 freedom and ecclesiastical independence 
 rather than for worldly honor and profit, 
 the emigration naturally ceased when the 
 contest for religious liberty began in ear 
 nest at home. The man who struck his 
 most effective blow for freedom of con 
 science by sailing for the colonies in 1620 
 would have been accounted a deserter to 
 leave after 1640. The opportunity had 
 then come on the soil of England for that 
 great contest which established the au 
 thority of Parliament, gave religious free 
 dom to the people, sent Charles to the 
 block, and committed to the hands of 
 Oliver Cromwell the Supreme Executive 
 authority of England. The English emi 
 gration was never renewed, and from these 
 twenty thousand men with a small emigra 
 tion from Scotland and from France are 
 descended the vast numbers who have 
 New England blood in their veins. 
 
 In 1685 the revocation of the edict of 
 Nantes by Louis XIV. scattered to other 
 countries four hundred thousand Protes 
 tants, who were among the most intelli 
 gent and enterprising of French subjects ; 
 merchants of capital, skilled manufac 
 turers, and handicraftsmen superior at the 
 time to all others in Europe. A consider 
 able number of these Huguenot French 
 came to America ; a few landed in New 
 England and became honorably promi 
 nent in its history. Their names have in 
 large part become anglicised, or have dis 
 
 appeared, but their blood is traceable in 
 many of the most reputable families, and 
 their fame is perpetuated in honorable 
 memorials and useful institutions. 
 
 From these two sources, the English- 
 Puritan and the French-Huguenot, came 
 the late President his father, Abram Gar- 
 field, being descended from the one, and 
 his mother, Eliza Ballou, from the other. 
 
 It was a good stock on both sides none 
 better, none braver, none truer. There 
 was in it an inheritance of courage, of 
 manliness, of imperishable love of liberty, 
 of undying adherence to principle. Gar- 
 field was proud of his blood ; and, with as 
 much satisfaction as if he were a British 
 nobleman reading his stately ancestral 
 record in Burke's Peerage, he spoke of 
 himself as ninth in descent from those who 
 would not endure the oppression of the 
 Stuarts, and seventh in descent from the 
 brave French Protestants who refused to 
 submit to tyranny even from the Grand 
 Monarque. 
 
 General Garfield delighted to dwell on 
 these traits, and during his only visit to 
 England, he busied himself in discovering 
 every trace of his forefathers in parish 
 registries and on ancient army rolls. Sit 
 ting with a friend in the gallery of the 
 House of Commons one night after a long 
 day's labor in this field of research, he said 
 with evident elation that in every war in 
 which for three centuries patriots of Eng 
 lish blood had struck sturdy blows for 
 constitutional government and human 
 liberty, his family had been represented. 
 They were at Marston Moor, at Naseby, 
 and at Preston ; they were at Bunker Hill, 
 at Saratoga, and at Monmouth, and in his 
 own person he had battled for the same 
 great cause in the war which preserved 
 the Union of the States. 
 
 Losing his father before he was two 
 years old, the early life of Garfield was one 
 of privation, but its poverty has been made 
 indelicately and unjustly prominent. 
 Thousands of readers have imagined him 
 as the ragged, starving child, whose reality 
 too often greets the eye in the squalid sec 
 tions of our large cities. General Garfield's 
 infancy and youth had none of their des 
 titution, none of their pitiful features ap 
 pealing to the tender heart and to the 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 11 
 
 open hand of charity. He was a poor boy 
 in the same sense in which Henry Clay 
 was a poor boy ; in which Andrew Jack 
 son was a poor boy ; in which Daniel Web 
 ster was a poor boy; in the sense in which 
 a large majority of the eminent men of 
 America in all generations have been poor 
 boys. Before a great multitude of men, in 
 a public speech, Mr. Webster bore this 
 testimony : 
 
 His Early Days. 
 
 " It did not happen to me to be born in 
 a log cabin, but my elder brothers and sis 
 ters were born in a log cabin raised amid 
 the snow-drifts of New Hampshire, at a 
 period so early that when the smoke rose 
 first from its rude chimney and curled over 
 the frozen hills there was no similar evi 
 dence of a white man's habitation between 
 it and the settlements on the rivers of 
 Canada. Its remains still exist. I make 
 to it an annual visit. I carry my children 
 to it to teach them the hardships endured 
 by the generations which have gone before 
 them. I love to dwell on the tender re 
 collections, the kindred ties, the early 
 affections and the touching narratives and 
 incidents which mingle with all I know of 
 this primitive family abode." 
 
 With the requisite change of scene the 
 same words would aptly portray the early 
 days of Garfield. The poverty of the 
 frontier, where all are engaged in a com 
 mon struggle and where a common sym 
 pathy and hearty co-operation lighten the 
 burdens of each, is a very different pov 
 erty, different in kind, different in influ 
 ence and effect from that conscious and 
 humiliating indigence which is every day 
 forced to contrast itself with neighboring 
 wealth on which it feels a sense of grind 
 ing dependence. The poverty of the 
 frontier is indeed no poverty. It is but 
 the beginning of wealth, and has the 
 boundless possibilities of the future always 
 opening before it. No man ever grew up 
 in the agricultural regions of the West, 
 where a house-raising, or even a corn- 
 husking, is a matter of common interest 
 and helpfulness, with any other feeling 
 than that of broad-minded, generous inde 
 pendence. This honorable independence 
 marked the youth of Garfield as it marks 
 
 the youth of millions of the best blood 
 and brain now training for the future citi 
 zenship and future government of the re 
 public. Garfield was born heir to land, to 
 the title of free-holder which has been the 
 patent and passport of self-respect with 
 the Anglo-Saxon race ever since Hengist 
 and Horsa landed on the shores of Eng 
 land. His adventure on the canal an 
 alternative between that and the deck of a 
 Lake Erie schooner was a farmer boy's 
 device for earning money, just as the New 
 England lad begins a possibly great career 
 by sailing before the mast on a coasting 
 vessel or on a merchantman bound to the 
 farther India or to the China Seas. 
 
 No manly man feels anything of shame 
 in looking back to early struggles with ad 
 verse circumstances, and no man feels a 
 worthier pride than when he has con 
 quered the obstacles to his progress. But 
 no one of noble mould desires to be looked 
 upon as having occupied a menial position, 
 as having been repressed by a feeling ot 
 inferiority, or as having suffered the evils 
 of poverty until relief was found at the 
 hand of charity. General Garfield's youth 
 presented no hardships which family love 
 and family energy did not overcome, sub 
 jected him to no privations which he did 
 not cheerfully accept, and left no memo 
 ries save those which were recalled with 
 delight, and transmitted with profit and 
 with pride. 
 
 Garfield's early opportunities for secur 
 ing an education were extremely limited, 
 and yet were sufficient to develop in him 
 an intense desire to learn. He could read 
 at three years of age, and each winter he 
 had the advantage of the district school. 
 He read all the books to be found within 
 the circle of his acquaintance; some of 
 them he got by heart. While yet in child 
 hood he was a constant student of the 
 Bible, and became familiar with its litera 
 ture. The dignity and earnestness of his 
 speech in his maturer life gave evidence of 
 this early training. At eighteen years ot 
 age he was able to teach school, and thence 
 forward his ambition was to obtain a col 
 lege education. To this end he bent all 
 his efforts, working in the harvest field, at 
 the carpenter's bench, and, in the winter 
 season, teaching the common schools of 
 
12 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 the neighborhood. While thus laborious 
 ly occupied he found time to prosecute his 
 studies and was so successful that at twenty- 
 two years of age he was able to enter the 
 junior class at Williams College, then un 
 der the presidency of the venerable and 
 honored Mark Hopkins, who, in the full 
 ness of his powers, survives the eminent 
 pupil to whom he was of inestimable ser 
 vice. 
 
 The history of Garfield's life to this 
 period presents no novel features. He 
 had undoubtedly shown perseverance, 
 self-reliance, self-sacrifice, and ambition 
 qualities which, be it said for the honor of 
 our country, are everywhere to be found 
 among the young men of America But 
 from his graduation at Williams onward, 
 to the hour of his tragical death, Garfield's 
 career was eminent and exceptional. 
 Slowly working through his educational 
 period, receiving his diploma when twenty- 
 four years of age, he seemed at one bound 
 to spring into conspicuous and brilliant 
 success. Within six years he was success 
 ively president of a college, State Senator 
 of Ohio, Major General of the Army of 
 the United States and Representative- 
 elect to the National Congress. A com 
 bination of honors so varied, so elevated, 
 within a period so brief and to a man so 
 young, is without precedent or parallel in 
 the history of the country. 
 
 In the Army. 
 
 Garfield's army life was begun with no 
 other military knowledge than such as he 
 had hastily gained from books in the few 
 months preceding his march to the field. 
 Stepping from civil life to the head of a 
 regiment, the first order he received when 
 ready to cross the Ohio was to assume 
 command of a brigade, and to operate as 
 an independent force in Eastern Kentucky. 
 His immediate duty was to check the ad 
 vance of Humphrey Marshall, who was 
 marching down the Big Sandy with the 
 intention of occupying in connection with 
 other Confederate forces the entire terri 
 tory of Kentucky, and of precipitating the 
 State into secession. This was at the close 
 of the year 1861. Seldom, if ever, has a 
 young college professor been thrown into 
 a more embarrassing and discouraging 
 
 position. He knew just enough of mili 
 tary science, as he expressed it himself, to 
 measure the extent of his ignorance, and 
 with a handful of men he was marching, 
 in rough winter weather, into a strange 
 country, among a hostile population to 
 confront a largely superior force under the 
 command of a distinguished graduate of 
 West Point, who had seen active and im 
 portant service in two preceding wars. 
 
 The result of the campaign is a matter 
 of history. The skill, the endurance, the 
 extraordinary energy shown by Garfield, 
 the courage imparted to his men, raw and 
 untried as himself, the measures he adopt 
 ed to increase his force and to create in the 
 enemy's mind exaggerated estimates of 
 his numbers, bore perfect fruit in the rout 
 ing of Marshall, the capture of his camp, 
 the dispersion of his force, and the eman 
 cipation of an important territory from the 
 rebellion. Coming at the close of a long 
 series of disasters to the Union arms, Gar- 
 field's victory had an unusual and extra 
 neous importance, and in the popular 
 judgment elevated the young commander 
 to the rank of a military hero. With less 
 than two thousand men in his entire com 
 mand, with a mobilized force of only 
 eleven hundred, without cannon, he had 
 met an army of five thousand and defeat 
 ed them driving Marshall's forces suc 
 cessively from two strongholds of their 
 own selection, fortified with abundant ar 
 tillery. Major General Buell, command 
 ing the Department of the Ohio, an expe 
 rienced and able soldier of the regular 
 army, published an order of thanks and 
 congratulation on the brilliant result of the 
 Big Sandy campaign which would have 
 turned the head of a less cool and sensible 
 man than Garfield. Buell declared that 
 his services had called into action the 
 highest qualities of a soldier, and Presi 
 dent Lincoln supplemented these words of 
 praise by the more substantial reward of 
 a brigadier general's commission, to bear 
 date from the day of his decisive victory 
 over Marshall. 
 
 The subsequent military career of Gar- 
 field fully sustained its brilliant beginning. 
 With his new commission he was assigned 
 to the command of a brigade in the Army 
 of the Ohio, and took part in the second 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 13 
 
 and decisive day's fight in the great battle 
 of Shiloh. The remainder of the year 
 1 86 1 was not especially eventful to Gar- 
 field, as it was not to the armies with 
 which he was serving. His practical sense 
 was called into exercise in completing the 
 task, assigned him by General Buell, of 
 reconstructing bridges and re-establishing 
 lines of railway communication for the 
 army. His occupation in this useful but 
 not brilliant field was varied by service on 
 courts-martial of importance, in which de 
 partment of duty he won a valuable repu 
 tation, attracting the notice and securing 
 the approval of the able and eminent 
 Judge-Advocate-General of the Army. 
 That of itself was a warrant to honorable 
 fame ; for among the great men who in 
 those trying days gave themselves, with 
 entire devotion, to the service of their 
 country, one who brought to that service 
 the ripest learning, the most fervid elo 
 quence, the most varied attainments, who 
 labored with modesty and shunned ap 
 plause, who in the day of triumph sat re 
 served and silent and grateful as Francis 
 Deak in the hour of Hungary's deliverance 
 was Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, who in 
 his honorable retirement enjoys the respect 
 and veneration of all who love the Union 
 of the States. 
 
 Early in 1863 Garfield was assigned to 
 the highly important and responsible post 
 of chief of staff of General Rosecrans, then 
 at the head of the Army of the Cumber 
 land. Perhaps in a great military cam 
 paign no subordinate officer requires 
 sounder judgment and quicker knowledge 
 of men than the chief of staff to the com 
 manding general. An indiscreet man in 
 such a position can sow more discord, 
 breed more jealousy and disseminate more 
 strife than any other officer in the entire 
 organization. When General Garfield as 
 sumed his new duties he found various 
 troubles already well developed and seri 
 ously affecting the value and efficiency of 
 the Army of the Cumberland. The energy, 
 the impartiality and the tact with which he 
 sought to allay these dissensions, and to 
 discharge the duties of his new and trying 
 position, will always remain one of the 
 most striking proofs of his great versatility. 
 His military duties closed on the memor 
 
 able field of Chickamauga, a field which 
 however disastrous to the Union arms gave 
 to him the occasion of winning imperish 
 able laurels. The very rare distinction 
 was accorded him of great promotion for 
 his bravery on a field that was lost. Pres 
 ident Lincoln appointed him a Major- 
 General in the Army of the United States 
 for gallant and meritorious conduct in the 
 battle of Chickamauga. 
 
 The Army of the Cumberland was re 
 organized under the command of General 
 Thomas, who promptly offered Garfield 
 one of its divisions. He was extremely 
 desirous to accept the position, but was 
 embarrassed by the fact that he had, a 
 year before, been elected to Congress, and 
 the time when he must take his seat was 
 drawing near. He preferred to remain in 
 the military service, and had within his 
 own breast the largest confidence of suc 
 cess in the wider field which his new rank 
 opened to him. Balancing the arguments 
 on the one side and the other, anxious to 
 determine what was for the best, desirous 
 above all things to do his patriotic duty, 
 he was decisively influenced by the advice 
 of President Lincolm and Secretary Stan- 
 ton, both of whom assured him that he 
 could at that time, be of especial value in 
 the House of Representatives. He re 
 signed his commission of Major-General 
 on the fifth day of December, 1863, and 
 took his seat in the House of Representa 
 tives on the yth. He had served two years 
 and four months in the army, and had just 
 completed his thirty-second year. 
 
 In Congress. 
 
 The Thirty-eighth Congress is pre-emi 
 nently entitled in history to the designa 
 tion of the War Congress. It was elected 
 while the war was flagrant, and every 
 member was chosen upon the issues in 
 volved in the continuance of the struggle. 
 The Thirty-seventh Congress had, indeed, 
 legislated to a large extent on war mea 
 sures ; but it was chosen before any one 
 believed that secession of the States would 
 be actually attempted. The magnitude of 
 the work which fell upon its successor was 
 unprecedented, both in respect to the vast 
 sums of money raised for the support of 
 the Army and Navy, and of the new and 
 
14 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 extraordinary powers of legislation which 
 it was forced to exercise. Only twenty- 
 four States were represented, and one 
 hundred and eighty-two members were 
 upon its roll. Among these were many 
 distinguished party leaders on both sides, 
 veterans in the public service, with estab 
 lished reputations for ability, and with 
 that skill which comes only from parlia 
 mentary experience. Into this assemblage 
 of men Garfield entered without special 
 preparation, and it might almost be said 
 unexpectedly. The question of taking 
 command of a division of troops under 
 General Thomas, or taking his seat in 
 Congress was kept open till the last mo 
 ment so late, indeed, that the resignation 
 of his military commission and his appear 
 ance in the House were almost contem 
 poraneous. He wore the uniform of a 
 Major-General of the United States Army 
 on Saturday, and on Monday in civilian's 
 dress, he answered to the roll-call as a 
 Representative in Congress from the State 
 of Ohio. 
 
 He was especially fortunate in the con 
 stituency which elected him. Descended 
 almost entirely from New England stock, 
 the men of the Ashtabula district were in 
 tensely radical on all questions relating to 
 human rights. Well educated, thrifty, 
 thoroughly intelligent in affairs, acutely 
 discerning of character, not quick to bestow 
 confidence, and slow to withdraw it, they 
 were at once the most helpful and most ex 
 acting of supporters. Their tenacious 
 trust in men in whom they have once con 
 fided is illustrated by the unparalleled fact 
 that Elisha Whittlesey, Joshua R. Gid- 
 dings, and James A. Garfield represented 
 the district for fifty-four years. 
 
 There is no test of a man's ability in any 
 department of public life more severe than 
 service in the House of Representatives ; 
 there is no place where so little deference 
 is paid to reputation previously acquired 
 or to eminence won outside ; no place 
 where so little consideration is shown for 
 the feelings or failures of beginners. What 
 a man gains in the House he gains by 
 sheer force of his own character, and if he 
 loses and falls back he must expect no 
 mercy and will receive no sympathy. It 
 is a field in which the survival of the 
 
 strongest is the recognized rule and where 
 no pretense can deceive and no glamour 
 can mislead. The real man is discovered, 
 and his worth is impartially weighed, his 
 rank is irreversibly decreed. 
 
 With possibly a single exception Gar- 
 field was the youngest member in the 
 House when he entered, and was but 
 seven years from his college graduation. 
 But he had not been in his seat sixty days 
 before his ability was recognized and his 
 place conceded. He stepped to the front 
 with the confidence of one who belonged 
 there. The House was crowded with 
 strong men of both parties ; nineteen of 
 them have since been transferred to the 
 Senate, and many of them have served 
 with distinction in the gubernatorial chairs 
 of their respective States, and on foreign 
 missions of great consequence ; but among 
 all none grew so rapidly, none so firmly, 
 as Garfield. As is said by Trevelyan of 
 his parliamentary hero, Garfield succeeded 
 " because all the world in concert could 
 not have kept him in the background, and 
 because when once in the front he played 
 his part with a prompt intrepidity and a 
 commanding ease that were but the out 
 ward symptoms of the immense reserves 
 of energy, on which it was in his power to 
 draw." Indeed the apparently reserve 
 force which Garfield possessed was one of 
 his great characteristics. He never did 
 so well but that it seemed he could easily 
 have done better. He never expended so 
 much strength but that he seemed to be 
 holding additional power at call. This is 
 one of the happiest and rarest distinctions 
 of an effective debater, and often counts 
 for as much in persuading an assembly as 
 the eloquent and elaborate argument. 
 
 The great measure of Garfield's fame 
 was filled by his Cervices in the House of 
 Representatives. His military life, illus- 
 strated by honorable performance, and 
 rich in promise, was, as he himself felt, pre 
 maturely terminated, and necessarily in 
 complete. Speculation as to what he might 
 have done in a field, where the great prizes 
 are so few, cannot be profitable. It is 
 sufficient to say that as a soldier he did 
 his duty bravely ; he did it intelligently ; 
 he won an enviable fame, and he retired 
 from the service without blot or breath 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 15 
 
 against him. As a lawyer, though admir 
 ably equipped for the profession, he can 
 scarcely be said to have entered on its 
 practice. The few efforts he made at the 
 bar were distinguished by the same high 
 order of talent which he exhibited on every 
 field where he was put to the test, and if a 
 man may be accepted as a competent 
 judge of his own capacities and adapta 
 tions, the law was the profession to which 
 Garfield should have devoted himself. 
 But fate ordained otherwise, and his re 
 putation in history will rest largely upon his 
 service in the House of Representatives. 
 That service was exceptionally long. He 
 was nine times consecutively chosen to the 
 House, an honor enjoyed by not move 
 than six other Representatives of the more 
 than five thousand who have been elected 
 from the organization of the government 
 to this hour. 
 
 Orator and Debater. 
 
 As a parliamentary orator, as a debater 
 on an issue squarely joined, where the 
 position had been chosen and the ground 
 laid out, Garfield must be assigned a very 
 high rank. More, perhaps, than any man 
 with whom he was associated in public 
 life, he gave careful and systematic study 
 to public questions, and he came to every 
 discussion in which he took part with 
 elaborate and complete preparation. He 
 was a steady and indefatigable worker. 
 Those that imagine that talent or genius 
 can supply the place or achieve the results 
 of labor will find no encouragement in 
 Garfield's life. In preliminary work he 
 was apt, rapid and skillful. He possessed 
 in a high degree the power of readily ab 
 sorbing ideas and facts, and, like Dr. John 
 son, had the art of getting from a book all 
 that was of value in it by a reading appar 
 ently so quick and cursory that it seemed 
 like a mere glance at the table of contents. 
 He was a pre-eminently fair and candid 
 man in debate, took no petty advantage, 
 stooped to no unworthy methods, avoided 
 personal allusions, rarely appealed to pre 
 judice, did not seek to inflame passion. 
 He had a quicker eye for the strong point of 
 his adversary than for his weak point, and 
 on his own side he so marshaled his 
 weighty arguments as to make his hearers 
 
 forget any possible lack in the complete 
 strength of his position. He had a habit 
 of stating his opponent's side with such 
 amplitude of fairness and such liber 
 ality of concession that his followers often 
 complained that he was giving his cases 
 away. But never in his prolonged partici 
 pation in the proceedings of the House 
 did he give his case away, or fail in the 
 judgment of competent and impartial 
 listeners to gain the mastery. 
 
 These characteristics, which marked 
 Garfield as a great debater, did not, how 
 ever, make him a great parliamentary 
 leader. A parliamentary leader, as that 
 term is understood wherever free repre 
 sentative government exists, is necessarily 
 and very strictly the organ of his party. 
 An ardent American defined the instinc 
 tive warmth of patriotism when he offered 
 the toast, " Our country always right, but 
 right or wrong, our country." The par 
 liamentary leader who has a body of fol 
 lowers who will do and dare and die for 
 the cause, is one who believes his party 
 always right, but right or wrong, is for his 
 party. No more important or exacting 
 duty devolves upon him than the selection 
 of the field and the time for contest. He 
 must know not merely how to strike, but 
 where to strike and when to strike. ,He 
 often skillfully avoids the strength of his 
 opponent's position and scatters confusion 
 in his ranks by attaching an exposed point 
 when really the righteousness of the cause 
 and the strength of logical intrenchment 
 are against him. He conquers often both 
 against the right and the heavy battalions ; 
 as when young Chas. Fox, in the days of 
 his Toryism, carried the House of Com 
 mons against justice, against its immemo 
 rial rights, against his own convictions, if, 
 indeed, at that period Fox had convictions, 
 and, in the interest of a corrupt adminis 
 tration, in obedience to a tyrannical sove 
 reign, drove Wilkes from the seat to which 
 the electors of Middlesex had chosen him, 
 aud installed Luttrell in defiance, not 
 merely of law, but of public decency. 
 For an achievement of that kind Garfield 
 was disqualified disqualified by the tex 
 ture of his mind, by the honesty of his 
 heart, by his conscience, and by every 
 instinct and aspiration of his nature. 
 
16 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 The three most distinguished parlia 
 mentary leaders hitherto developed in this 
 country are Mr. Clay, Mr. Douglas and 
 Mr. Thaddeus Stevens. Each was a man 
 of consummate ability, of great earnest 
 ness, of intense personality, differing 
 widely each from the others, and yet with 
 a single trait in common the power to 
 command. In the give-and-take of daily 
 discussion, in the art of controlling and 
 consolidating reluctant and refractory fol 
 lowers ; in the skill to overcome all forms 
 of opposition, and to meet with compe 
 tency and courage the varying phases of 
 unlooked-for assault or unsuspected defec 
 tion, it would be difficult to rank with 
 these a fourth name in all our Congres 
 sional history. But of these Mr. Clay was 
 the greatest. It would, perhaps, be im 
 possible to find in the parliamentary 
 annals of the world a parallel to Mr. Clay, 
 in 1841, when at sixty-four years of age, 
 he took the control of the Whig party 
 from the President who had received their 
 suffrages, against the power of Webster in 
 the Cabinet, against the eloquence of 
 Choate in the Senate, against the Hercu 
 lean efforts of Caleb dishing and Henry 
 A. Wise in the House. In unshared lead 
 ership, in the pride and plenitude of 
 power he hurled against John Tyler with 
 deepest scorn the mass of that conquering 
 column which had swept over the land in 
 1840, and drove his administration to seek 
 shelter behind the lines of his political 
 foes. Mr. Douglas achieved a victory 
 scarcely less wonderful when, in 1854, 
 against the secret desires of a strong ad 
 ministration, against the wise counsel of 
 the older chiefs, against the conservative 
 instincts and even the moral sense of the 
 country, he forced a reluctant Congress 
 into a repeal of the Missouri compromise. 
 Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, in his contests 
 from 1865 to 1868, actually advanced his 
 parliamentary leadership until Congress 
 tied the hands of the President and gov 
 erned the country by its own will, leaving 
 only perfunctory duties to be discharged 
 by the Executive. With two hundred mil 
 lions of patronage in his hands at the open 
 ing of the contest, aided by the active force* 
 of Seward in the Cabinet and the moral 
 power of Chase on the Bench, Andrew 
 
 Johnson could not command the support 
 of one-third in either House against the 
 parliamentary uprising of which Thaddeus 
 Stevens was the animating spirit and the 
 unquestioned leader. 
 
 From these three great men Garfield 
 differed radically, differed in the quality of 
 his mind, in temperament, in the form 
 and phase of ambition. He could not do 
 what they did, but he could do what they 
 could not, and in the breadth of his Con 
 gressional work he left that which will 
 longer exert a political influence among 
 men, and which, measured by the severe 
 test of posthumous criticism, will secure a 
 more enduring and more enviable fame. 
 
 Garfield's Industry. 
 
 Those unfamilar with Garfield's indus 
 try and ignorant of the details of his work 
 may, in some degree, measure them by the 
 annals of Congress. No one of the gen 
 eration of public men to which he be 
 longed has contributed so much that will 
 be valuable for future reference. His 
 speeches are numerous, many of them 
 brilliant, all of them well studied, care- 
 ully phrased and exhaustive of the sub 
 ject under consideration. Collected from 
 the scattered pages of ninety royal octavo 
 volumes of Congressional Records they 
 would present an invaluable compendium 
 of the political history of the most impor 
 tant era through which the national gov 
 ernment has ever passed. When the his 
 tory of this period shall be impartially 
 written, when war legislation, measures of 
 reconstruction, protection of human rights, 
 amendments to the constitution, mainte 
 nance of public credit, steps toward specie 
 resumption, true theories of revenue may 
 be reviewed, unsurrounded by prejudice 
 and disconnected from partisanism, the 
 speeches of Garfield will be estimated at 
 their true value, and will be found to com 
 prise a vast magazine of fact and argu 
 ment, of clear analysis and sound conclu 
 sion. Indeed if no other authority were 
 accessible, his speeches in the House of 
 Representatives from December 1863, to 
 June 1880, would give a well connected 
 history and complete defence of the im 
 portant legislation of the seventeen event 
 ful years that constitute his Parliamentary 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 17 
 
 life. Far beyond that, his speeches would 
 be found to forecast many great measures, 
 yet to be completed measures which he 
 knew were beyond the public opinion of 
 the hour, but which he confidently be 
 lieved would secure popular approval 
 within the period of his own lifetime, and 
 by the aid of his own efforts. 
 
 Differing, as Garfield does, from the 
 brilliant parliamentary leaders, it is not 
 easy to find his counterpart anywhere in 
 the record of American public life. He 
 perhaps more nearly resembles Mr. Seward 
 in his supreme faith in the all-conquering 
 power of a principle. He had the love of 
 learning, and the patient industry of in 
 vestigation, to which John Quincy Adams 
 owed his prominence and his Presidency. 
 He had some of those ponderous elements 
 of mind which distinguished Mr. Webster, 
 and which indeed, in all our public life, 
 have left the great Massachusetts Senator 
 without an intellectual peer. 
 
 In English parliamentary history, as in 
 our own, the leaders in the House of Com 
 mons present points of essential difference 
 from Garfield. But some of his methods 
 recall the best features in the strong, inde 
 pendent course of Sir Robert Peel, and 
 striking resemblances are discernible in 
 that most promising of modern conserva 
 tives, who died too early for his country 
 and his fame, the Lord George Bentinck. 
 He had all of Burke's love for the sublime 
 and the beautiful, with, possibly, some 
 thing of his superabundance, and in his 
 faith and his magnamity, in his power of 
 statement, in his subtle analysis, in his 
 faultless logic, in his love of literature, in 
 his wealth and world of illustration, one is 
 reminded of the great English statesman 
 of to-day, who, confronted with obstacles 
 that would daunt any but the dauntless, 
 reviled by those whom he would relieve as 
 bitterly as by those whose supposed rights 
 he is forced to invade, still labors with 
 serene courage for the amelioration of 
 Ireland, and for the honor of the English 
 name. 
 
 Nomination to the Presidency. 
 
 Garfield's nomination to the Presidency, 
 while not predicted or anticipated, was not 
 a surprise to the country. His prominence 
 
 in Congress, his solid qualities, his wide 
 reputation, strengthened by his then recent 
 election as Senator from Ohio, kept him in 
 the public eye as a man occupying the very 
 highest rank among those entitled to be 
 called statesmen. It was not mere chance 
 that brought him this high honor. " We 
 must," says Mr. Emerson, " reckon success 
 a constitutional trait. If Eric is in robust 
 health, and has slept well and is at the top 
 of his condition, and thirty years old at his 
 departure from Greenland, he will steer 
 west and his ships will reach New Found- 
 land. But take Eric out and put in a 
 stronger and bolder man and the ships will 
 sail six hundred, one thousand, fifteen 
 hundred miles farther and reach Labrador 
 and New England. There is no chance 
 in results.'' 
 
 As a candidate, Garfield steadily grew 
 in popular favor. He was met with a 
 storm of detraction at the very hour of his 
 nomination, and it continued with increas 
 ing volume and momentum until the close 
 of his victorious campaign : 
 
 No might nor greatness in mortality 
 Can censure 'scape ; backwounding calumny 
 The whitest virtue strikes. What king so strong 
 Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue ? 
 
 Under it all he was calm, and strong, 
 and confident ; never lost his self-posses 
 sion, did no unwise act, spoke no hasty or 
 ill-considered word. Indeed nothing in 
 his whole life is more remarkable or more 
 creditable than his bearing through those 
 five full months of vituperation a pro 
 longed agony of trial to a sensitive man, a 
 constant and cruel draft upon the powers 
 of moral endurance. The great mass of 
 these unjust imputations passed unnoticed, 
 and, with the general debris of the cam 
 paign, fell into oblivion. But in a few 
 instances the iron entered his soul and he 
 died with the injury unforgotten if not un- 
 forgiven. 
 
 One aspect of Garfield's candidacy was 
 unprecedented. Never before in the his 
 tory of partisan contests in this country had 
 a successful Presidential candidate spoken 
 freely on passing events and current issues. 
 To, attempt anything of the kind seemed 
 novel, rash, and even desperate. The 
 older class of voters recalled the unfortu- 
 
18 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 nate Alabama letter, in which Mr. Clay was 
 supposed to have signed his political death- 
 warrant. They remembered also the hot- 
 tempered effusion by which General Scott 
 lost a large share of his popularity before 
 his nomination, and the unfortunate speech 
 es which rapidly consumed the remainder. 
 The younger voters had seen Mr. Greeley 
 in a series of vigorous and original addres 
 ses, preparing the pathway for his own de 
 feat. Unmindful of these warnings, un 
 heeding the advice of friends, Garfielc 
 spoke to large crowds as he journeyed to 
 and from New York in August, to a grea 
 multitude in that city, to delegations anc 
 deputations of every kind that called a 
 Mentor during the summer and autumn 
 With innumerable critics, watchful and 
 eager to catch a phrase that might be 
 turned into odium or ridicule, or a sentence 
 that might be distorted to his own or his 
 party's injury, Garfield did not trip or hal 
 in any one of his seventy speeches. This 
 seems all the more remarkable when it is 
 remembered that he did not write what he 
 said, and yet spoke with such logical con 
 secutiveness of thought and such admira 
 ble precision of phrase as to defy the acci 
 dent of misreport and the malignity of 
 misrepresentation. 
 
 As President. 
 
 In the beginning of his Presidential life 
 Garfield's experience did not yield him 
 pleasure or satisfaction. The duties that 
 engross so large a portion of the Presi 
 dent's time were distasteful to him, and 
 were unfavorably contrasted with his leg 
 islative work. "I have been dealing all 
 these years with ideas," he impatiently ex 
 claimed one day, " and here I am dealing 
 only with persons. I have been heretofore 
 treating of the fundamental principles of 
 government, and here I am considering all 
 day whether A or B shall be appointed to 
 this or that office." He was earnestly 
 seeking some practical way of correcting 
 the evils arising from the distribution of 
 overgrown and unwieldy patronage evils 
 always appreciated and often discussed by 
 him, but whose magnitude had been more 
 deeply impressed upon his mind since his 
 accession to the Presidency. Had he lived, 
 a comprehensive improvement in the mode 
 
 of appointment and in the tenure of office 
 would have been proposed by him, and 
 with the aid of Congress no doubt per 
 fected. 
 
 But, while many of the Executive duties 
 were not grateful to him, he was assiduous 
 and conscientious in their discharge. From 
 the very outset he exhibited administrative 
 talent of a high order. He grasped the 
 helm of office with the hand of a master. 
 In this respect, indeed, he constantly sur 
 prised many who were most intimately as 
 sociated with him in the government, and 
 especially those who had feared that he 
 might be lacking in the executive faculty. 
 His disposition of business was orderly 
 and rapid. His power of analysis, and his 
 skill in classification, enabled him to des 
 patch a vast mass of detail with singular 
 promptness and ease. His Cabinet meet 
 ings were admirably conducted. His clear 
 presentation of official subjects, his well- 
 considered suggestion of topics on which 
 discussion was invited, his quick decision 
 when all had been heard, combined to 
 show a thoroughness of mental training as 
 rare as his natural ability and his facile 
 adaptation to a new and enlarged field of 
 labor. 
 
 With perfect comprehension of all the 
 inheritances of the war, with a cool calcu 
 lation of the obstacles in his way, impelled 
 always by a generous enthusiasm, Gar- 
 field conceived that much might be done 
 by his administration towards restoring 
 harmony between the different sections of 
 the Union. He was anxious to go South 
 and speak to the people. As early as 
 April he had ineffectually endeavored to 
 arrange for a trip to Nashville, whither he 
 had been cordially invited, and he was 
 again disappointed a few weeks later to 
 find that he could not go to South Carolina 
 to attend the centennial celebration of the 
 victory of the Cowpens. But for the au- 
 umn he definitely counted on being pre 
 sent at three memorable assemblies in 
 he South, the celebration at Yorktown, 
 he opening of the Cotton Exposition at 
 Atlanta, and the meeting of the Army of 
 he Cumberland at Chattanooga. He was 
 already turning over in his mind his ad 
 dress for each occasion, and the three 
 aken together, he said to a friend, gave 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 19 
 
 him the exact scope'and verge which he 
 needed. At Yorktown he would have be 
 fore him the associations of a hundred 
 years that bound the South and the North 
 in the sacred memory of a common dan 
 ger and a common victory. At Atlanta he 
 would present the material interests and 
 the industrial development which appealed 
 to the thrift and independence of every 
 household, and which should unite the two 
 sections by the instinct of self-interest and 
 self-defence. At Chattanooga he would 
 revive memories of the war only to show 
 that after all its disaster and all its suffer 
 ing, the country was stronger and greater, 
 the Union rendered indissoluble, and the 
 future, through the agony and blood ot 
 one generation, made brighter and better 
 for all. 
 
 Garfield's ambition for the success of his 
 administration was high. With strong 
 caution and conservatism in his nature, he 
 was in no danger of attempting rash ex 
 periments or resorting to the empiricism 
 of statesmanship. But he believed that 
 renewed and closer attention should be 
 given to questions affecting the material 
 interests and commercial prospects of fifty 
 millions of people. He believed that our 
 continental relations, extensive and unde 
 veloped as they are, involved responsibil 
 ity, and could be cultivated into profitable 
 friendship or be abandoned to harmful 
 indifference or lasting enmity. He be 
 lieved with equal confidence that an essen 
 tial forerunner to a new era of national 
 progress must be a feeling of contentment 
 in every "section of the Union, and a gen 
 erous belief that the benefits and burdens 
 of government would be common to all. 
 Himself a conspicuous illustration of what 
 ability and ambition may do under repub 
 lican institutions, he loved his country 
 with a passion of patriotic devotion, and 
 every waking thought was given to her ad 
 vancement. He was an American in all 
 his aspirations, and he looked to the des 
 tiny and influence of the United States 
 with the philosophic composure of Jefferson 
 and the demonstrative confidence of John 
 Adams. 
 
 The Political Controversy. 
 
 The political events which disturbed the 
 President's serenity for many weeks be 
 
 fore that fatal day in July form an im 
 portant chapter in his career, and, in his 
 own judgment, involved questions of prin 
 ciple and of right which are vitally essen 
 tial to the constitutional administration of 
 the Federal Government. It would be out of 
 place here and now to speak the language 
 of controversy, but the events referred to, 
 however they may continue to be source 
 of contention with others, have become, 
 so far as Garfield is concerned, as much a 
 matter of history as his heroism atChicka- 
 mauga, or his illustrious service in the 
 House. Detail is not needful, and per 
 sonal antagonism shall not be rekindled 
 by any word uttered to-day. The motives 
 of those opposing him are not to be here 
 adversely interpreted nor their course 
 harshly characterized. But of the dead 
 President this is to be said, and said be 
 cause his own speech is forever silenced, 
 and he can be no more heard except 
 through the fidelity and the love of sur 
 viving friends. From the beginning to 
 the end of the controversy he so much de 
 plored, the President was never for one 
 moment actuated by any motive of gain 
 to himself or of loss to others. Least of 
 all men did he harbor revenge, rarely did 
 he even show resentment, and malice was 
 not in his nature. He was congenially 
 employed only in the exchange of good 
 offices and the doing of kindly deeds. 
 
 There wai not an hour, from the begin 
 ning of the trouble till the fatal shot 
 entered his body, when the President 
 would not gladly, for the sake of restoring 
 harmony, have retraced any step he had 
 taken, if such retracing had merely in 
 volved consequences personal to himself. 
 The pride of consistency, or any supposed 
 sense of humiliation that might result from 
 surrendering his position, had not a feath 
 er's weight with him. No man was ever 
 less subject to such influences from within 
 or from without. But after the most 
 anxious deliberation and the coolest sur 
 vey of all the circumstances, he solemnly 
 believed that the true prerogatives of 
 the Executive were involved in the 
 issue which had been raised, and that he 
 would be unfaithful to his supreme obliga 
 tion if he failed to maintain, in all their 
 vigor, the constitutional rights and digni- 
 
20 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 ties of his great office. He believed this 
 in all the convictions of conscience when 
 in sound and vigorous health, and he be 
 lieved it in his suffering and prostration in 
 the last conscious thought which his 
 wearied mind bestowed on the transitory 
 struggles of life. 
 
 More than this need not be said. Less 
 than this could not be said. Justice to the 
 dead, the highest obligation that devolves 
 upon the living, demands the declaration 
 that in all the bearings of the subject, 
 actual or possible, the President was con 
 tent in his mind, justified in his conscience, 
 immovable in his conclusions. 
 
 Garfteld's Religion. 
 
 The religious element in Garfield's char 
 acter was deep and earnest. In his early 
 youth he espoused the faith of the 
 Disciples, a sect of that great Baptist 
 Communion which in different ecclesiasti 
 cal establishments is so numerous and so 
 influential throughout all parts of the Uni 
 ted States. But the broadening tendency 
 of his mind, and his active spirit of in 
 quiry were early apparent, and carried 
 him beyond the dogmas of sect and the 
 restraints of association. In selecting a 
 college in which to continue his education, 
 he rejected Bethany, though presided 
 over by Alexander Campbell, the greatest 
 preacher of his church. His reasons were 
 characteristic : first, that Bethany leaned 
 too heavily toward slavery ; and, second, 
 that being himself a Disciple, and the son 
 of Disciple parents, he had little acquaint 
 ance with people of other beliefs, and he 
 thought it would make him more liberal, 
 quoting his own words, both in his reli 
 gious and general views, to go into a new 
 circle and be under new influences. 
 
 The liberal tendency which he had an 
 ticipated as the result of wider culture was 
 fully realized. He was emancipated from 
 mere sectarian belief, and with eager in 
 terest pushed his investigations in the di 
 rection of modern progressive thought. 
 He followed with quickening step in the 
 paths of exploration and speculation so 
 fearlessly trodden by Darwin, by Huxley, 
 by Tyndall, and by other living scientists 
 ' of the radical and advanced type. His own 
 church, binding its disciples by nojformu- 
 
 lated creed.but accepting the Old and New 
 Testaments as the word of God, with un 
 biased liberality of private interpretation, 
 favored, if it did not stimulate, the spirit of 
 investigation. .Its members profess with 
 sincerity, and profess only, to be of one 
 mind and one faith with those who imme 
 diately followed the Master, and who were 
 first called Christians at Antioch. 
 
 But however high Garfield reasoned of 
 ' fixed fate, free-will, foreknowledge abso 
 lute," he was never separated from the 
 Church of the Disciples in his affections 
 and in his associations. For him it held 
 the ark of the covenant. To him it was 
 the gate of Heaven. The world of re 
 ligious belief is full of solecisms and con 
 tradictions. A philosophic observer de 
 clares that men by the thousand will die 
 in defense of a creed whose doctrines they 
 do not comprehend and whose tenets they 
 habitually violate. It is equally true that 
 men by the thousand will cling to church 
 organizations with instinctive and undy 
 ing fidelity when their belief in maturer 
 years is radically different from that which 
 inspired them as neophytes. 
 
 But after this range of speculation, and 
 this latitude of doubt, Garfield came back 
 always with freshness and delight to the 
 simpler instincts of religious faith, which, 
 earliest implanted, longest survive. Not 
 many weeks before his assassination, walk 
 ing pn the banks of the Potomac with a 
 friend, and conversing on those topics of 
 personal religion, concerning which noble 
 natures have an unconquerable reserve, he 
 said that he found the Lord's Prayer and 
 the simple petitions learned in infancy i-n- 
 finitely restful to him, not merely in their 
 stated repetition, but in their casual and 
 frequent recall as he went about the daily 
 duties of life. Certain texts of Scripture 
 had a very strong hold on his memory and 
 his heart. He heard, while in Edinburgh 
 some years ago, an eminent Scotch preach 
 er who prefaced his sermon with reading 
 the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the 
 Romans, which book had been the subject 
 of careful study with Garfield during his 
 religious life. He was greatly impressed 
 by the elocution of the preacher and de 
 clared that it had imparted a new and 
 deeper meaning to the majestic utterances 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 21 
 
 of Saint Paul. He referred often in after 
 years to that memorable service, and dwelt 
 with exaltation of feeling upon the radiant 
 promise and the assured hope with which 
 the great apostle of the Gentiles was " per 
 suaded that neither death, nor life, nor 
 principalities, nor powers, nor things pres 
 ent, nor things to come, nor height, nor 
 depth, nor any other creature, shall be 
 able to separate us from the love of God, 
 which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
 The crowning characteristic of General 
 Garfield's religious opinions, as, indeed, of 
 all his opinions, was his liberality. In all 
 things he had charity. Tolerance was of 
 his nature. He respected in others the 
 qualities which he possessed himself 
 sincerity of conviction and frankness of 
 expression. With him the inquiry was not 
 so much what a man believes, but does he 
 believe it ? The lines of his friendship and 
 his confidence encircled men of every 
 creed, and men of no creed, and to the end 
 of his life, on his ever lengthening list of 
 friends, were to be found the names of a 
 pious Catholic priest and of an honest- 
 minded and generous-hearted free-thinker. 
 
 The Aasassin'i Bullet. 
 
 On the morning of Saturday, July 2d, 
 the President was a contented and happy 
 man not in an ordinary degree, but joy 
 fully, almost boyishly happy. On his way 
 to the railroad station to which he drove 
 slowly, in conscious enjoyment of the beau 
 tiful morning, with an unwonted sense of 
 leisure, and a keen anticipation of pleasure, 
 his talk was all in the grateful and gratu- 
 latory vein. He felt that after four months 
 of trial his administration was strong in its 
 grasp of affairs, strong in popular favor 
 and destined to grow stronger; that grave 
 difficulties confronting him at his inau 
 guration had been safely passed ; that 
 troubles lay behind him and not before 
 him ; that he was soon to meet the wife 
 whom he loved, now recovering from an 
 illness which had but lately disquieted and 
 at times almost unnerved him ; that he 
 was going to his Alma Mater to renew the 
 most cherished associations of his young 
 manhood, and to exchange greetings with 
 those whose deepest interest had fol 
 lowed every step of his upward progress 
 
 from the day he entered upon his college 
 course until he had attained the loftiest 
 elevation in the gift of his countrymen. 
 
 Surely, if happiness can ever come from 
 the honors or triumphs of this world, on 
 that quiet July morning James A. Gar- 
 field may well have been a happy man. 
 No foreboding of evil haunted him ; no 
 slightest premonition of danger clouded his 
 sky. His terrible fate was upon him in an 
 instant. One moment he stood erect, strong, 
 confident, in the years stretching peacefully 
 out before him. The next he lay wounded, 
 bleeding, helpless, doomed to weary weeks 
 of torture, to silence and the grave. 
 
 Great in life, he was surpassingly great 
 in death. For no cause, in the very frenzy 
 of wantonness and wickedness by the red 
 hand of murder, he was thrust from the 
 full tide of this world's interest, from its 
 hopes, its aspirations, its victories, into the 
 visible presence of death and he did not 
 quail. Not alone for one short moment in 
 which, stunned and dazed, he could give 
 up life, hardly aware of itsrelinquishment, 
 but through days of deadly languor, 
 through weeks of agony, that was not less 
 agony because silently borne, with clear 
 sight and calm courage, he looked into his 
 open grave. What blight and ruin met 
 his anguished eyes, whose lips may tell 
 what brilliant, broken plans, what baffled, 
 high ambitions, what sundering of strong, 
 warm, manhood's friendship, what bitter 
 rending of sweet household ties ! Behind 
 him a proud, expectant nation, a great host 
 of sustainingfriends, a cherished and happy 
 mother, wearing the full, rich honors of 
 her early toil and tears ; the wife of his 
 youth, whose whole life lay in his ; the 
 little boys not yet emerged from child 
 hood's day of frolic ; the fair, young daugh 
 ter; the sturdy sons just springing into 
 closest companionship, claiming every day 
 and every day rewarding a father's love 
 and care ; and in his heart the eager, re 
 joicing power to meet all demands. Before 
 him, desolation and great darkness ! And 
 his soul was not shaken. His country 
 men were thrilled with instant, profound, 
 and universal sympathy. Masterful in his 
 mortal weakness, he became the centre of 
 a nation's love, enshrined in the prayers 
 of a world. But all the love and all the 
 
22 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 sympathy could not share with him his 
 suffering. He trod the wine press alone. 
 With unfaltering front he faced death. 
 With unfailing tenderness he took leave of 
 life. Above the demoniac hiss of the as 
 sassin's bullet he heard the voice of God. 
 With simple resignation he bowed to the 
 Divine decree. 
 
 As the end drew near, his early craving 
 for the sea returned. The stately mansion 
 of power had been to him the wearisome 
 hospital of pain, and he begged to be tak 
 en from his prison walls, from its oppres 
 sive, stifling air, from its homelessness and 
 its hopelessness. Gently, silently, the 
 love of a great people bore the pale suffer 
 er to the longed for healing of the sea, to 
 live or to die, as God should will, within 
 sight of its heaving billows, within sound 
 of its manifold voices. With wan, fevered 
 face tenderly lifted to the cooling breeze, 
 he looked out wistfully upon the ocean's 
 changing wonders ; on its far sails, whiten 
 ing in the morning light ; on its restless 
 waves, rolling shoreward to break and die 
 beneath the noonday sun ; on the red 
 clouds of evening, arching low to the hori 
 zon ; on the serene and shining pathway 
 of the stars. Let us think that his dying 
 eyes read a mystic mean'ng which only 
 the rapt and parting soul may know. Let 
 us believe that in the silence of the reced 
 ing world he heard the great waves break 
 ing on a further shore and felt already 
 upon his wasted brow the breath of the 
 eternal morning. 
 
 After the Oration. 
 
 The eulogy was concluded at 1-50. hav 
 ing taken just an hour and a half in its 
 delivery. As Mr. Elaine gave utterance 
 to the last solemn words the spectators 
 broke into a storm of applause, which was 
 not hushed for some moments. The ad 
 dress was listened to with an intense inter 
 est and in solemn silence, unbroken by 
 any sound except by a sigh of relief (such 
 as arises from a large audience when a 
 strong tension is removed from their 
 minds) when the orator passed from his 
 allusion to differences existing in the Re 
 publican party last spring. Benediction 
 was then offered by the Rev. Dr. Bullock, 
 
 Chaplain of the Senate. The Marine Band 
 played the " Garfield Dead March " as the 
 invited guests filed out of the Chamber in 
 the same order in which they had entered 
 it. The Senate was the last to leave, and 
 then the House was called to order by the 
 Speaker. 
 
 Mr. McKinley, of Ohio, offered the fol 
 lowing resolution ; 
 
 Resolved, The Senate concurring, that 
 the thanks of Congress are hereby pre 
 sented to the Hon. James G. Elaine for the 
 appropriate memorial address delivered by 
 him on the life and services of James A. 
 Garfield, late President of the United 
 States, in the Representative Hall, before 
 both houses of Congress and their invited 
 guests, on the 2yth of February, 1882, and 
 that he be requested to furnish a copy for 
 publication. 
 
 Colonel Frank A. Burr, of the Philadel 
 phia Press t one of the finest biographical 
 writers in the country, has given some 
 graphic sketches of Elaine's ancestors and 
 boyhood, which we take the liberty of re- 
 publishing. 
 
 What lie Saw and Heard. 
 
 There is a gift that is potent when one 
 calls upon the dusty past in a grave yard. 
 It is to learn the history and genius of the 
 human life that ended \vhen the mound was 
 raised and the inscription cut in the stone 
 that arrests attention. Who was it that 
 said that people too often read the inscrip 
 tions upon tombstones without knowing or 
 caring aught of the genius that once resi 
 ded in the inanimate dust beneath them ? 
 He spoke the truth, and how much people 
 often miss by being content with what is 
 recorded above-ground. 
 
 I stood beside two old graves to-day 
 in this village that are in the shadow of 
 the little Catholic church that so quickly 
 recalled to me Longfellow's beautiful lines. 
 The marble that marked them was much 
 newer than the mounds, and the surround 
 ings impressed me with the thought that a 
 dutiful and reverent son had, years after, 
 when means and opportunity that were 
 wanting when death called father and 
 mother, placed a fitting monument to 
 mark the spot where they slept. It is a 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 23 
 
 plain, unpretentious stone that marks 
 these graves, and it was the names only 
 that attracted my attention. They were 
 those of 
 
 Eiiliraim L.. Blaine 
 
 and 
 Maria Gillespie Blaine. 
 
 " Who were these two people in life ? " 
 I asked of an old gentleman, who had 
 wandered along with me to this quiet city 
 of the dead sleep. 
 
 " Why, they were the father and mother 
 of James G. Blaine. I knew them both 
 well. Eph Blaine and I went to school 
 together. He was one of the founders of 
 this town, and was "squire here for many a 
 year. He was elected prothonotary of the 
 county in 1842, and moved to Washington, 
 the county seat. He married Maria, a 
 daughter of old Neal Gillespie, the smartest 
 man in this whole section, and from his 
 people James Gillespie Blaine derives his 
 middle name. The Gillespies were among 
 the most prominent families in the State. 
 The seal of nature's nobility was stamped 
 upon them, one and all. The men were 
 brave and stalwart ; as strong in character, 
 too, as they were stout of limb. The wo 
 men were very handsome, and carried 
 themselves as proudly as though the blood 
 of a hundred earls were coursing through 
 their veins. The beauty of old Mrs. 
 Blaine, James' mother, passed into a pro 
 verb. Even in her decrepit age she pre 
 served much of her early attractiveness, 
 and ,her eye was like a hawk's, as clear 
 and flashing then as in the days of her 
 budding womanhood. This was a pecu 
 liarity of her family, and she transmitted it 
 to all her children. The Gillespies were 
 ardent, intense Catholics, and made their 
 religion the leading feature of their lives. 
 Neal Gillespie owned a good deal of land 
 here, and Eph Blaine built the brick house 
 you see yonder on a portion of it, after his 
 marriage with Miss Gillespie. There their 
 first, child, James, was born in 1830. I re 
 member him very well when he was a lad 
 and used to paddle about on the river and 
 make mud pies along its banks. He was 
 a bright lad. 
 
 Never Turned his Back on Friend or Foe. 
 
 " I remember one little story about him, 
 which I often heard in those days, and 
 
 which is interesting as showing how truly, 
 n his case, the child was father to the 
 man. When he was but a little toddler, 
 so to speak, some laborers were engaged 
 digging a well on his father's premises. 
 The future statesman was caught one 
 morning peering down into the excava 
 tion, and one of the men with the idea of 
 frightening him and thus preventing him 
 from again putting himself in danger, 
 thrust his shovel toward him and made all 
 sorts of ugly faces. Jim ran away, but only 
 to nurse his anger and await an opportunity 
 for revenge. Venturing to the well a day 
 or two after he had been driven away, he 
 found the men working away at the bot 
 tom. Improving the opportunity, he seized 
 a clod of earth and hurled it with all his 
 little might full at the head of his unsus 
 pecting enemy, with the consolatory re 
 mark, ' There, take that.' Clod followed 
 clod in fast succession, with accompanying 
 expletives, until the men were fairly beside 
 themselves with rage and with the fear 
 that the desperate child might take it into 
 his head to use some of the stones lying 
 about him as. messengers of wrath more 
 effective than mere lumps of earth. Their 
 shouts, however, brought his mother to 
 the scene, and the little avenger was un 
 ceremoniously hustled off to the house. 
 That was the old blood asserting itself. A 
 Gillespie or a Blaine never turned his 
 back upon friend or foe." 
 
 A Century's Memories. 
 
 " That's the new packet James G. Blaine 
 that runs from here to Pittsburg. The two 
 people who sleep in this graveyard little 
 thought when they died that they'd have a 
 son big enough to have a packet named 
 for him. They died when Jim was young, 
 and they didn't leave anything for him to 
 start with either. Eph Elaine was a rich 
 man once. His grandfather left him some 
 fifty thousand dollars, but he spent it hav 
 ing a good time. He was not a money- 
 saver, but believed in enjoying the world 
 as he lived. He used to drive fine horses, 
 and drive 'em tandem, too. Old Neal 
 Gillespie used to call him ' My gig-and- 
 tendem-son-in-law.' The Gillespies wasn't 
 so slow either, but Eph Blaine led 'em all 
 in this country. It's no wonder Jim 
 Blaine is smart. He comes of good stock 
 
24 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 on both sides. All the Gillespies were 
 smart. Neal Gillespie was the biggest 
 brained man in all this country.'' 
 
 " Do the Blaines or any of the relatives 
 own the old homestead ?'' 
 
 " No,- indeed. It's long since passed 
 into strange hands. There was little of 
 either the Elaine or the Gillespie estate left 
 when the settlement day came. The 
 children all had to begin new. None of 
 either family live about here now.'' 
 
 There is much that is strange in the 
 story that the old man told me, and much 
 more that is interesting. We finished the 
 talk beside the restless waters of the Mon- 
 ongahela.near which Mr. Elaine was born, 
 and his family lived for years. The little 
 brick house doesn't stand more than forty 
 rods from the river, and the old path which 
 leads from the doorway that Elaine helped 
 to make in childhood, is still there. The 
 best boat on the river now bears his name, 
 and the plain people love to talk of his 
 having been born in their midst. It is a 
 queer seel ion of country in which to have 
 found the homes of two such families as 
 the Blaines and the Gillespies. Both strong 
 houses both fond of the best things of 
 this life. Both educated and brainy. 
 Blaine sprung from Revolutionary stock. 
 His great grandfather was a distinguished 1 
 officer in the Revolution. He was a rich 
 man and lived in Cumberland County 
 above Carlisle. He left James Blaine the 
 grandfather, and Ephraim Blaine the 
 father of the man of whom I am now 
 writing, rich. The' story goes that both 
 spent their money in having a good time. 
 The grandfather spent many years in 
 Europe, and returned to this country only 
 when he had become penniless. The 
 first history he made in this country began 
 early in the present century. After he was 
 poor he left the rich and popular section 
 of Carlisle, and moved into the then wild 
 erness of the Youghiogheny region, and es 
 tablished a country store, at the mouth of 
 Ten Mile Run, in Greene County. He 
 lived here but a short time when he came 
 to Brownsville, with his wagon-load of 
 goods, and established a store which he 
 kept the remainder of his life. The Gil 
 lespie family was then a rich and powerful 
 family in the region. The strength of! 
 
 mind and character for which all the fam 
 ily were noted, is still a proverb in the re 
 gion. The Monongahela river at this 
 point separates the two counties of Fay- 
 ette and Washington. Brownsville is on 
 the Fayette side and West Brownsville is 
 on the Washington side. They are both 
 quaint, old towns, and wear the mark of 
 many years. I don't suppose there are 
 1 5000 people in both, and the houses strag 
 gle along the banks of the river on the 
 banks of the lowlands, which are just high 
 enough to keep them out of the reach of 
 the overflow. This country was new I 
 might say wild when the Blaines 
 and the Gillespies came here. The 
 rich treasures of the Youghiogheny 
 region floated down the Ohio river 
 in rude keel boats, and the untold 
 wealth in the rugged mountains was then 
 unknown. Albert Gallatin used to live in 
 this country then, and his residence was 
 but a few miles up the river from this 
 point. But mighty changes have taken 
 place since those days, when he left his 
 impress upon the finances and credit of 
 this country so that it can never be effaced. 
 
 Two Stroiis; Families. 
 
 There seems to have been good feeling 
 from the first between the Blaine and Gil 
 lespie families, and there seems to have 
 been a special care to intermingle the fam 
 ily names as each son was born. The old 
 man, whom I encountered in the first part 
 of this story, told me that nearly every son 
 in the Blaine family, as in the Gillespies, 
 bore the family name or some part of his 
 autograph. The Gillespie family seemed 
 to run more to girls than boys, and it 
 seemed to be their good fortune to link 
 their fortunes with strongmen. The daugh 
 ter who was next in age to Maria, who 
 married Ephraim A. Blaine, was wedded 
 to the famous Tom Ewing, of Ohio, when 
 he was a poor lawyer in Lancaster, Pa. 
 That s how he became an uncle to James 
 G. Blaine, and the names of Blaine and 
 Ewing became joined together. 
 
 There is a tale told that when old Tom 
 Ewing was Secretary of the Interior Blaine 
 applied to him for a clerkship and the old 
 man sent him to Kentucky to earn an hon 
 est living teaching school. .This associa- 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 25 
 
 tion of the name of Ewing with that of 
 Elaine has given rise to the story that the 
 Ewing family of Ohio helped James G. 
 Elaine to an education. I might as well 
 destroy this fiction by telling the facts. 
 
 A short drive brought me to Washing 
 ton, the county seat of this county, and one 
 of the first men I met was Major John H. 
 Ewing, an old veteran now past four-score 
 years. 
 
 " I married the sister of Ephraim L. 
 Elaine. He and I went to school together 
 over in yonder college, and I knew him 
 nearly all his life. He was a leader in the 
 mischief of the school, and fond of all the 
 good things in this life. He was the hand 
 somest man I ever saw, and he had a wife 
 that was a match for him. She was one of 
 the noblest women I ever knew. She in 
 herited all the sterling traits of character 
 and strength of mind for which the Gilles- 
 pies were noted. So, you see, Elaine sprang 
 from the best of stock on-both sides. His 
 father was j ustice of the peace over in West 
 Brownville for a number of years, and 
 afterwards prothonotary of the county. He 
 was elected in 1842 and came here to live. 
 James G. was only about 12 years old 
 then, and almost every middle-aged man 
 you meet on the streets here remembers all 
 about him. 
 
 On the road to Fame. 
 
 A 
 
 Mr. Gow, the editor of one of the village 
 papers, who was Elaine's classmate, speaks 
 thus of his schooldays: 
 
 "Yes, Elaine graduated in the class of 
 '47, when he was only seventeen years old. 
 I graduated in the same class. We were 
 thrown a great deal together, not only in 
 school, but in society. He was a great 
 favorite in the best social circles in the 
 town. He was not noted as a leadef in 
 his class. He could learn his lessons too 
 easily. He had the most remarkable 
 memory of any boy in school, and could 
 commit and retain his lessons without dif 
 ficulty. He never demonstrated in his 
 youth, except by his wonderful memory, 
 any of the great powers as a debater and 
 thinker that he has since given evidence 
 of. 
 
 When a man has filled so large a place 
 in the public eye as Mr. Elaine has, his 
 
 early life seems a great way off. When 
 you get where every other man you meet 
 can tell you all about it, then you seem to 
 see it in a different light and it leaves a far 
 different impression upon your mind. 
 Here, what seems to be to you when away 
 traditions far in the distant past, appears 
 like the recollections of yesterday. People 
 cannot only tell you of his father and his 
 grandfather, but of almost every phase of 
 his life from boyhood up. The stories of 
 his early struggles and triumphs are as vi 
 vid as those of his later years, and his 
 name is closely associated with the lore of 
 the country side. He left here soon after 
 he graduated, but how little did he then 
 think that his home would be made in the 
 Northland and his fame and fortune won 
 many miles away from the quaint old town 
 where he grew up. It is a nice place for 
 peace and rest. The people are contented 
 and happy with their splendid educational 
 institutions, their rich acres and plenty of 
 money. He had clos*e alliances here then 
 that were likely to bring him back to stay. 
 Almost his first occupation after graduating 
 was as a teacher in the Deaf and Dumb 
 Asylum in Philadelphia. 
 
 A Love Romance. 
 
 Why he went from there to Kentucky to 
 teach school has been a question often 
 asked, but never answered. There is a tra 
 dition here that there is but one being who 
 knows. Like other boys he had his friend 
 ships and his loves, and it would be strange 
 if he had grown up for he is said to have 
 been as handsome a boy as he is a man 
 without leaving some impression upon the 
 hearts of the maidens of the neighborhood. 
 If there is one person living who can tell, 
 and there is, it has been and doubtless will 
 be forever kept as a sealed book, so far as 
 the details are concerned. It was one of 
 those youthful misunderstandings that of 
 ten come to two people who hope to start 
 out on the voyage of life together, and are 
 separated by an angry sea before they 
 meet. There is not even a suggestion as 
 to which of the two were at fault for the 
 parting of the ways that led their life's 
 journeys into different paths. The party 
 most disappointed has never wedded, but 
 has rather devoted her life to self-denying 
 
26 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 charity. For twenty years, and by the 
 irony of fate in the capital of the nation, has 
 she followed the path of an undeviating 
 Christian life, devoted to careful attention 
 upon suffering humanity, doubtless watch 
 ing with a careful eye his steadily-advanc 
 ing steps, and, perhaps, often sitting under 
 the spell of his eloquence, without his ever 
 knowing that the being whose presence 
 was once the chief charm of life was even 
 living. 
 
 Blaine as m. Teacher. 
 
 From his alma mater young Elaine went 
 to Blue Lick Springs, Kentucky, and be 
 came a professor in the Western Military 
 Institute, in which there were about 450 
 boys. A retired officer, who was a student 
 there at the time, relates that Professor 
 Elaine was a thin, handsome, earnest 
 young man, v/ith the same fascinating man 
 ners he has now. He became very popu 
 lar with those entrusted to his charge, who 
 trusted him and made friends with him 
 from the first. He knew the given names 
 of every one, and he knew their short 
 comings and their strong points. He was 
 a man of great personal courage, and 
 during a fight between the faculty of the 
 school and the owners of the springs, in 
 volving some questions about the removal 
 of the school, he behaved in the bravest 
 manner, fighting hard, but keeping cool. 
 Revolvers and knives were freely used, but 
 Elaine only used his well-disciplined mus 
 cle. Colonel Thornton F. Johnson was 
 the principal of the school, and his wife 
 had a young ladies' school at Millersburg, 
 twenty miles distant. It was at this place 
 that Mr. Elaine met Miss Harriet Stan- 
 wood, who belonged to an excellent Mas 
 sachusetts family, and subsequently she 
 became Mrs. Elaine. Miss Stanwood for 
 some romantic reason refused to tell her 
 future husband anything about her parent 
 age or circumstances. When the school 
 broke up she returned to her home in 
 Maine. Mr. Elaine, lover like, followed 
 her; they were married, and the husband, 
 to oblige his \ .wife, became "Elaine, of 
 Maine," though a more correct title would 
 be Elaine of Maine and of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. Elaine continued to teach at the In 
 stitute for a few years, but at last conclud 
 ed to take up a profession. He returned 
 
 to Pennsylvania and began studying law. 
 He read law carefully, and obtained a 
 throrough knowledge of its principles, but 
 never presented himself as a candidate for 
 admission to the Bar. 
 
 While prosecuting his law studies he 
 devoted himself to literary pursuits, and 
 wrote for quite a number of newspapers 
 and magazines. 
 
 Mr. Elaine has always retained a warm 
 affection for his alma mater and hi? native 
 county and state. He has said that his 
 pride and affection for both increase with 
 years and reflection, and he recalls with 
 pleasure the memory of the hardy pioneers 
 of the county, their zealous celebrations 
 on the Fourth of July and Washington's 
 Birthday, and, speaking of one Fourth of 
 July celebration in Brownsville in 1840, 
 which was attended by 200 Revolutionary 
 veterans, Mr. Elaine has said that the 
 modern cant and criticism which we some 
 times hear about Washington not being a 
 very great man would have been dangerous 
 talk on that day and in that assemblage. 
 Of his college he has said : " During my 
 service of eighteen years in Congress I 
 met a larger number of the alumni of 
 Washington and Jefferson than of any 
 single college in the Union." With Elaine's 
 college life his immediate connection with 
 Pennsylvania, except for a short time spent 
 as a teacher in Philadelphia, and a few 
 years devoted to the study of law, was 
 ended, but his affection for his native State 
 did not grow less with distance or time, 
 and on the occasion of the celebration of 
 the looth anniversary of the establishment 
 of Washington County, in 1881, he wrote : 
 
 " I shall always recall with pride that 
 my ancestry and kindred were and are 
 not inconspicuously connected with iis his 
 tory, and that on either side of the beauti 
 ful river in Protestant and in Catholic 
 cemeteries five generations of my own 
 blood sleep in honored graves.'' 
 
 Before entering on his wider career, Mr. 
 Blaine had yet another experience of 
 teaching, and that was in this city. In the 
 summer of 1852 he arrived in Philadelphia 
 to answer an advertisement for a teacher 
 in the Pennsylvania Institution for the In 
 struction of the Blind. He had then the 
 bold, aggressive, combative qualities that 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 27 
 
 to-day are his characteristics, and upon ob 
 taining and entering on his position as in 
 structor of the institution named, early 
 gave evidence of them. Not that he was 
 obtrusive or offensively forward. " He 
 discharged his duty," said Dr. Chapin, the 
 head of the institution, with a conscien 
 tious fidelity worthy the highest" praise. A 
 strong, positive man, having an opinion 
 which he was ready to support and argue 
 upon on all occasions, Mr Elaine made as 
 many friends among his pupils as he did 
 among the officers of the establishment. In 
 every respect he proved worthy of the 
 trust reposed. He was a methodical man 
 a master of statistics and exceedingly 
 careful in his deportment. He appeared 
 to be in love with his work here, and began 
 a journal of the history of the institution, 
 which is as much a model of neatness as it 
 is of careful research." This journal, 
 written throughout in a plain, somewhat 
 angular hand, is, page after page, entirely 
 free from blots or erasures, and affords 
 ample evidence that the author was 
 thoroughly interested in his work, It is a 
 history of the Philadelphia Institution for 
 the Instruction of the Blind, written 
 throughout in the hand-writing of James 
 G. Elaine, and is complete from the day 
 on which the institution was opened until 
 the day on which Mr. Elaine resigned his 
 position. Mr. Elaine continued in this 
 place for nearly two years, winning the 
 affection of those he taught, the regard of 
 his fellows, and the respect of his supe 
 riors. 
 
 Editor and Politician. 
 
 Miss Stanwood was a native of Maine, 
 and after her marriage to Mr. Elaine 
 was anxious for him to make that State his 
 home. This he determined to do, and in 
 1853 the young couple moved to Augusta, 
 where they have ever since made their 
 home. In the following year Mr. Elaine 
 entered into partnership with Joseph 
 Baker, a prominent lawyer of that town, 
 and the two purchased The Kennebec 
 Journal^ of which Mr. Elaine at once be 
 came editor. The Journal was a weekly 
 paper, one of the organs of the Whig party, 
 and exercised considerable political in 
 fluence. His first reputation as a public 
 speaker, was gained in the Fremont cam 
 
 paign of 1856. In 1857, Mr. Elaine dis 
 posed of his interest in this paper and be 
 came Editor of The Portland Daily Ad 
 vertiser. In the campaign of 1860 he re 
 turned temporarily to his old post on The 
 Kennebec Journal on account of the illness 
 of its Editor. His career in journalism 
 lasted only six years, but was marked 
 throughout by ability and success, and it 
 served to give him a good introduction to 
 the world of politics and statesmanship. 
 
 The following paragraph is from a letter 
 by .the late Gov. Kent of Maine, who mod 
 estly refrained from classing himself with 
 Fessenden, Hamlin and the Morrills, 
 though he belonged in the front rank of 
 public men in Maine, made especially 
 prominent to the whole country in the 
 campaign of 1840: 
 
 Almost from the day of his assuming 
 charge of the Kennebec Journal, at the 
 early age of 23, Mr. Elaine sprang into a 
 position of great influence into the poli 
 tics and policy of Maine. At 26 he was a 
 leading power in the councils of the 
 Republican party, so recognized by Fes 
 senden, Hamlin, the two Morills, and 
 others then and still prominent in the 
 State. Before he was 29 he was chosen 
 chairman of the executive committee of 
 the Republican organization in Maine a 
 position he has held ever since, and from 
 which he has practically shaped and 
 directed every political campaign in the 
 State always leading his party to brilliant 
 victory. Had Mr. Elaine been New Eng 
 land born, he probably would not have 
 received such rapid advancement at so 
 early an age even with the same ability 
 he possessed. But there was a sort of 
 Western dash about him that took with us 
 Down-Easters ; an expression of frankness, 
 candor, and confidence that gave him 
 from the start very strong and permanent 
 hold on our people and as a foundation of 
 all, a pure character and a masterly ability 
 equal to all demands made upon him. 
 
 When the old Whig party went to pieces 
 Mr. Elaine joined hands with Governor 
 Anson P. Morrill in organizing the Repub 
 lican party in the Pine Tree State. His 
 vigorous attacks upon the Buchanan Ad 
 ministration made him a power in the new 
 organization. In 1858, when he was in his 
 
28 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 twentf -ninth year, he was elected to the 
 Legislature. He served two years on the 
 floor of the Lower House and two years 
 in the chair, where he displayed the 
 qualities of a parliamentary leadership and 
 control that afterward gave him such re 
 nown in' the National Legislature at Wash 
 ington. 
 
 His Congressional Career. 
 
 Mr. Elaine's career as a State repre 
 sentative won him such a position that in 
 1862 he was sent to the Thirty-eighth 
 Congress from the Kennebec district, and 
 received a majority of three thousand 
 votes. His aptitude for legislative busi 
 ness was so marked, that he at once rose 
 into notice amongst his fellow-members, 
 and it required no ordinary talent to at 
 tain that position amongst such renowned 
 men as Elihu B. Washburne, Owen Love- 
 joy, George W. Julian, Godlove S. Orth, 
 Schuyler Colfax, James F. Wilson, Wm. 
 B. Allison, John A. Kasson, Alexander H. 
 Rice, Henry L. Dawes, William Windom' 
 F. P. Blair, Jr., Jame Brooks, Erastus Cor 
 ning, Reuben E. Fenton, Francis Kernan, 
 George H. Pendleton, Robert C. Schenck, 
 James A. Garfield, Samuel J. Randall, 
 William D. Kelley, Thaddeus Stevens, G. 
 W. Scofield, and many other distinguished 
 men. 
 
 Here he followed the same even and 
 consistent path of progress that had marked 
 his journey ever since he left college, and 
 the same characteristics and force of 
 mind that gave him the leadership in the 
 Maine Legislature, made him already a 
 man of mark in the National Council. 
 It was an eventful era in our history, when 
 every public man was most critically esti 
 mated by the people of the country. 
 
 It is impossible within the brief limits of 
 this sketch to even touch upon the varied 
 services rendered by Mr. Elaine to his 
 country while a member of the House and 
 Senate. His congressional career em 
 braced the most trying period of his coun 
 try's history, the sombre years of the 
 rebellion, the reconstruction period, and 
 the perilous time when the election of 
 President Hayes aroused an apparently 
 triumphant Democratic Party almost to the 
 verge of madness. A good example of 
 
 Mr. Elaine's powers as a debater is found 
 in a speech delivered in the Senate, April 
 14, 1879, when an effort was made by the 
 Democrats to strike out the words from a 
 section of the Revised Statutes which pro 
 vided for the use of soldiers to keep peace 
 at the polls. In reply to the charge that 
 the soldiers were used to intimidate South 
 ern voters, Mr. Elaine said: 
 
 "The entire South has 1,155 soldiers to 
 intimidate, overrun, oppress and destroy 
 the liberties of 15,000,000 people ! In the 
 Southern States there are '1,203 counties. 
 If you distribute the soldiers, there is not 
 quite one for each county. If you distri 
 bute them territorially, there is one for 
 every seven hundred square miles of ter 
 ritory, so that if you make a territorial 
 distribution, I would remind the honorable 
 Senator from Delaware, if I saw him in 
 his seat, that the quota for his State would 
 be three. ' One ragged sergeant and two 
 abreast,' as the old song has it. That is 
 the force ready to destroy the liberties of 
 Delaware." 
 
 He was a member of the Thirty-eighth, 
 Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, Forty-first, Forty- 
 second, Forty-third, and Forty-fourth Con 
 gresses, and became the acknowledged 
 leader of the party in the House, and his 
 speeches during the period which he 
 served in Congress, are a glowing tribute 
 to his ability, his acute sagacity, his broad 
 and sound statesmanship, and unflinching 
 patriotism. 
 
 His first reputation in the Lower House 
 of Congress was that of an exceedingly 
 industrious committeeman. He was a 
 member of the Post Office and Military 
 Committees, and of the Committees on 
 Appropriations and Rules. He paid close 
 attention to the business of the committees, 
 and took an active part in the debates of 
 the House, manifesting practical ability 
 and genius for details. The first remark 
 able speech which he made in Congress 
 was on the subject of assumption by the 
 General Government of the war debts of 
 the States, in the course of which he urged 
 that the North was abundantly able to 
 carry on the war to a sucessful issue. This 
 vigorous speech attracted so much atten 
 tion that 200,000 copies of it were circulated 
 in 1864 as a campaign document by the 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 29 
 
 people. Specie payment came after long 
 public discussion, and now Senators are 
 quarreling as to who it was that drafted 
 the bill passed in 1875. So it is with 
 all measures of great public moment. 
 They do not spring from the mind of one 
 sitting behind his Congressional 
 The duty of the statesman is to 
 
 man 
 desk. 
 
 shape, mold, guide, direct in a Republican 
 government. The creative power is in the 
 minds of many, and the cause of action is 
 necessity. The great lawyer does not cre 
 ate his case. He argues it, develops it, 
 applies principles to it. 
 
 To say that Mr. Elaine has been a 
 power in Congress for the past seventeen 
 years is simply to affirm current history. 
 Though entering very young, he made his 
 
 mark at once, 
 depression in 
 
 At the period of darkest 
 the war, when anxiety 
 
 Republican party. In January, 1868, he 
 introduced a resolution in relation to Con 
 gressional representation, which was 
 referred to the Reconstruction Committee, 
 and was subsequently made the basis of 
 the ^Fourteenth Amendment. In De 
 cember, 1867, he made an elaborate speech 
 on the finances, in which he analyzed Mr. 
 Pendleton's greenback theory. "The 
 remedy for our financial troubles," said 
 he, " will not be found in a superabund 
 ance of depreciated paper currency. It 
 lies in the opposite direction, and the 
 sooner the Nation finds itself on a specie 
 basis the sooner will -the public treasury 
 be freed from embarrassment and private 
 business be relieved from discouragement. 
 Instead, therefore, of entering upon a 
 reckless and boundless issue of legal- 
 tenders, with their constant depreciation, 
 if not destruction, of value, let us set re 
 solutely to work and make those already 
 in circulation equal to so many gold dol 
 lars." 
 
 He has always stood close to tine People. 
 
 On the floor of the House, in the Speak 
 er's chair again on the floor of the House, 
 hence in the Senate, and during the politi 
 cal campaigns of all these years on the 
 stump in almost every Northern State, Mr. 
 Elaine has been emphatically with the 
 people and of the people. His opinions 
 on all questions have been pronounced, 
 sometimes to aggressiveness, and his 
 worst enemy has never accused him of 
 evading or avoiding any responsibility or come to Congress during his period of ser- 
 the expression of his convictions on any 
 public issue. 
 
 In reviewing Mr. Elaine's Congressional 
 career it is necessary at the outset to point 
 out a very superficial and frivolous line of 
 remark, which we sometimes see, not 
 only in regard to Mr. Elaine, but to other 
 prominent public men. " What great 
 measure did Mr. Elaine ever originate ? " 
 asks the unfledged but omnipotent cham 
 ber-statesman, and might go on indefinitely 
 asking what great measure did Mr. Sher 
 man, or Mr. Thurman ever originate, or 
 Mr. Edmunds, or Mr. Conkling, or Mr. 
 Webster, or Mr. Gallatin ? Such critics 
 and such criticisms are equally shallow. 
 Great measures grow in the minds of the 
 
 brooded everywhere and boded every 
 thing, Mr. Elaine delivered a speech on 
 " The Ability of the American People to 
 Suppress the Rebellion," which has 
 been cited for the great attention and 
 commendation it received. Its value lay 
 not alone in its timeliness, for after its first 
 wide circulation it was reprinted as a cam 
 paign document in the Presidential cam 
 paign of 1 864. 
 
 It was the delivery of this speech, and 
 some discussions which took place shortly 
 after, that caused Thaddeus Stevens to 
 say that " Elaine, of Maine, has shown as 
 great aptitude and ability for the higher 
 walks of public life as any man that had 
 
 vice. 
 
 During the first session of Mr. Elaine's 
 service as member of the Post-Office Com 
 mittee he took an active part in co-opera 
 tion with the chairman, Hon. John B. 
 Alley, and the late James Brooks of New 
 York, in encouraging and securing the 
 system of postal cars now in universal 
 use. Distribution on the cars had not 
 been attempted on any great scale, and 
 the first appropriations for the enlarged 
 service were not granted without opposi 
 tion. 
 
 Following the war, and throughout the 
 period of reconstruction, Mr. Elaine was 
 active, energetic, and intelligent. He was 
 especially prominent in shaping some of 
 
30 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 the most important features of the Four 
 teenth Amendment, particularly that re 
 lating to the basis of representation. The 
 discussions on this great series of ques 
 tions, in which Elaine figured largely, are 
 among the most interesting and valuable 
 in the history of the American Congress. 
 
 Mr. Elaine became a leader in legisla 
 tion as he became the leader of men gen 
 erally, by virtue of his comprehensiveness 
 of mind, his quick perception of objective 
 points, and his devotion in advocating 
 what he felt was right and duty. 
 
 It was in the beginning of his second 
 term that he began to make himself felt. 
 None of the younger members had been 
 on more cordial or confidential terms with 
 Mr. Lincoln than the new member from 
 Maine. Towards the expiration of Mr. 
 Lincoln's first teim Mr. Elaine was the 
 person with whom the President con 
 stantly conferred in regard to political 
 movements in Maine. Ward H. Lamon, 
 Lincoln's law partner, was presented at a 
 conference when Mr. Lincoln requested 
 Mr. Elaine to go to Maine and watch the 
 movements of the President's opponents. 
 The acquaintance between Lincoln and 
 Blaine had begun in Illinois during the 
 Douglas campaign in 1858, and at that 
 early time the Maine editor had predicted 
 in the columns of his paper that Lincoln 
 would be defeated for senator by Douglas, 
 but that he would beat Douglas for presi 
 dent in 1860. A copy of this prophecy 
 Mr. Lincoln carried in his memorandum- 
 book long after he had been inaugurated 
 as president. In 1860, a delegate to the 
 Chicago Convention, Mr. Blaine had been 
 almost the only New England man who 
 had supported Mr. Lincoln from the start, 
 and it is not too much to say that it was 
 Mr. Elaine's early and firm stand for Lin 
 coln which opened the way to the first 
 nomination of the first martyr President. 
 
 In 1867, Mr. Elaine sought a temporary 
 relaxation from official cares and labors, 
 and for the first time paid a short visit to 
 Europe. While he was out of the country 
 the theory of paying the public debt in 
 greenbacks was started in Ohio by Mr. 
 Pendleton, and in Massachusetts by Gen 
 eral Butler. Just after his return in the 
 autunm, at a special or adjourned session 
 
 of Congress in November, Mr. Blaine as 
 saulted the proposition in a speech of 
 great research, logic, and force. It thus 
 happened that he was the first man in 
 either branch of Congress who spoke 
 against the financial heresy that in subse 
 quent years has engrossed so much of 
 public attention. From that time, both in 
 Congress and before the people, Mr. Blaine 
 has been indefatigable in bringing the 
 public opinion of the country to the right 
 standard of financial and national honor. 
 
 Blaine as Speaker of the House. 
 
 Six years in Congress had made him so 
 conspicuous as a leader, and so noted as a 
 parliamentarian, that he was made Speaker 
 of the House, a position that he filled with 
 marked ability for six years, when the 
 Democrats obtained control of that body. 
 Mr. Blaine was perhaps the youngest man 
 who ever occupied the Speaker's chair, 
 being then 39 years of age. He presided 
 over some of the most important and 
 exciting sessions of the House, and by his 
 just rulings, admirable tact, and magnetic 
 influence, he passed through the long and 
 trying period with the approbation of both 
 friend and foe. 
 
 A Memorable Event. 
 
 Even more marked, at least in the pop 
 ular eye, than his career as Speaker, was 
 Mr. Elaine's course in the House when he 
 returned to the floor at the close of his 
 Speakership. Few have forgotten the 
 sudden tilt by which, in a day, a victorious 
 and exultant Democratic majority was 
 changed into a surprised, subdued, and 
 saddened crowd, under Mr. Elaine's 
 aggressive and unexpected tactics. The 
 debates of that memorable session on the 
 proposition to remove the disabilities of 
 Jefferson Davis are still fresh in all minds, 
 and more likely to be appreciated perhaps 
 to-day than at any time within the last 
 three years. Mr. Elaine's speeches laid 
 the foundation of success in the campaign 
 of 1876 though he was not selected as the 
 standard-bearer. The excitement growing 
 out of this exciting session with all its 
 attendants events brought Mr. Blaine 
 more prominently before the country than 
 any other citizen for the time, centered 
 upon him indeed a hostility more malig- 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 31 
 
 nant and a love more enthusiastic than 
 are often inspired by public service, and 
 gave him such a national fame that he at 
 once became a prominent candidate for 
 the Presidency. 
 
 HI at lie as Senator. 
 
 Mr. Elaine was appointed by the Gov 
 ernor of Maine, July 19, 1876, to be United 
 States Senator to fill the vacancy caused 
 by the resignation of Senator Morrill, who 
 then became Secretary of the Treasury, 
 and took his seat in that august body at 
 the opening of its session in December, 
 1876. Many regretted that the able 
 Speaker of the House, the dashing and 
 brilliant debater in Committee of the 
 Whole, should, as they expressed it, be 
 shelved in the Senate. Four years passed, 
 and it would be hard to name a man who 
 had been less securely shelved, a Senator 
 who moved so promptly to the front. The 
 Senate contains a large number of able 
 men and some skillful debaters, but in 
 logical, off-hand discussion, in quick per 
 ception and full command of every re 
 source, it has seldom contained a man 
 superior to Mr. Elaine. His career in the 
 Senate was as active as that in the House. 
 He took a prominant part in every im 
 portant debate, and though not fearing to 
 differ from his party, was always a strong 
 party man, and one of the recognized 
 leaders on the Republican side. He was 
 subsequently elected for the unexpired 
 term and for the ensuing term expiring in 
 1883. On his appointment he wrote to the 
 people of his Congressional District a 
 farewell address, in which he said : 
 
 " Beginning with 1862 you have by con 
 tinuous elections sent me as your repre 
 sentative to the Congress of the United 
 States. For such marked confidence I 
 have endeavored to return the most zeal 
 ous and devoted service in my power, and 
 it is certainly not without a feeling of pain 
 that I now surrender a trust by which I 
 have always felt so signally honored. It 
 has been my boast in public and in private 
 that no man on the floor of Congress ever 
 represented a constituency more distin 
 guished for intelligence, for patriotism, for 
 public and personal virtue. The cordial 
 support you have so uniformly given me 
 
 through these fourteen eventful years is 
 the chief honor of my life. In closing the 
 intimate relations I have so long held with 
 the people of this district it is a great satis 
 faction to me to know that with returning 
 health I shall enter upon a field of duty in 
 which I can still serve them in common 
 with the larger constituency of which they 
 form a part." 
 
 The Kennebec Journal of his State well 
 representing the sentiment of the public in 
 the state, said : 
 
 " Fourteen years ago, standing in the 
 convention at which he was first nomi 
 nated, Mr. Elaine pledged himself to use 
 his best services for the district, and to 
 support to the best of his ability the policy 
 of Abraham Lincoln to subdue the rebel 
 lion, and then and there expressed plainly 
 the idea that slavery must and ought to 
 be abolished to save the Union. That he 
 has kept his pledge faithfully his constitu 
 ents know and feel, and the records of 
 Congress attest. To this district his abili 
 ties were freely given, and as he rose in 
 honor in the House and in the public 
 estimation he reflected honor and gave 
 strength to the constituency that supported 
 him. Every step he made in advance 
 was a gain for them, It was a grand thing 
 for this district to have as its Representa 
 tive in Congress for six years the Speaker 
 of the House, filling the place next in im 
 portance to that of President of the United 
 States, with matchless ability. It was a 
 grander thing when we took the lead of 
 the minority in the House last December, 
 routed the Democratic majority, and drove 
 back in dismay the ex-Confederates who 
 were intending and expecting through the 
 advantage they had already gained to 
 grasp the supreme power in the Nation and 
 wield it in the interest of the cause of 
 secession and rebellion revived. For what 
 he has done as their representative in 
 Ccngress, never will this Hid District of 
 Maine forget to honor the name of James 
 G. Elaine. It will live in the hearts of this 
 people even as the name of Henry Clay 
 is still loved by the people of his old dis 
 trict in Kentucky." 
 
 He at once entered actively upon his 
 new official duties, and his prestige in the 
 House, and his great popularity with the 
 
32 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 people made him a prominent figure in 
 his new position. His progressive nature 
 had little regard for the tradition of that 
 body, which expects new members to 
 listen to their elders instead of pushing 
 forward in debates. He could not remain 
 silent on questions which he was well in 
 formed, and so he at once became a 
 debater in the Senate. 
 
 The Senate had a large number of able 
 men and some skillful debaters, but in 
 logical, off-hand discussion, in quick per 
 ception and full command of every re 
 source, it has seldom contained a man 
 superior to Mr. Elaine. His career in the 
 Senate was as active as that in the House. 
 He took a prominent part in every import 
 ant debate, and though not fearing to differ 
 from his party, was always a strong party 
 man, and one of the recognized leaders on 
 the Republican side. 
 
 He made a strong speech in favor of 
 restricting Chinese immigration, which 
 was much censured and much praised, ac 
 cording to the point of view of his critics. 
 He voted against the Electoral Commission 
 bill. He opposed the Eland Silver bill in 
 a vigorous speech, and favored the coinage 
 of an honest silver dollar. The question 
 of the restoration of the American carry 
 ing trade upon the seas has received a 
 great deal of attention from him, and his 
 speeches and letters on this subject have 
 attracted much attention. One of these 
 speeches was made at a New York Cham 
 ber of Commerce dinner, and was accepted 
 as a masterly presentation of the sub 
 ject. 
 
 Mr. Elaine's sagacity, coolness and wis 
 dom as a party leader were conspicuously 
 demonstrated in the measures he took to 
 circumvent the Democratic plot for steal 
 ing the State Government of Maine in 
 1879, by fraudulently counting out Repub 
 lican members of the Legislature. All the 
 advantages, save that of being in the right, 
 were with his opponents at the start. His 
 supporters were eager to resort to arms as 
 the only means of obtaining justice, but 
 they were restrained by him. His plan was 
 first to arouse public sentiment by expos 
 ing the enormity of the plot, next to tangle 
 up his antagonists in a web of contradic 
 tions, and then, after obtaining the judg 
 
 ment of the Supreme Court, to seize and 
 hold the legislative halls. It was com 
 pletely successful, and the conspiracy be 
 came impotent and ridiculous. 
 
 His debates in both Houses of Congress 
 covered a wide range of the most compli 
 cated subjects, and show him to have been 
 sound in his financial views, practical 
 always and liberal in his political views. 
 When, in December, 1864, Mr. Stevens, of 
 Pennsylvania, introduced a bill in the 
 House to determine the value of legal ten 
 der notes and to compel all persons to take 
 the notes at their face value, Mr. Elaine 
 was the member to expose the absurdity of 
 the attempt. " This bill," he said, " aims 
 at the impossible. You cannot make a 
 gold dollar worth less than it is or a paper 
 dollar worth more than it is by Congres 
 sional declaration." 
 
 Mr. Elaine invented the word " Stal 
 wart," but no one was quicker than he to 
 advise keeping hands off the South after 
 the war. In January, 1868, when the for 
 feiture of Southern land grants was under 
 discussion, Mr. Elaine said : 
 
 We do not treat the South as well as the 
 Northwest for the latter have representa 
 tives here and they have been effectual in 
 getting the grants extended and renewed 
 where the law has not been fully complied 
 with, and now, when there are no repre 
 sentatives of the South upon the floor, with 
 not a voice to speak in her behalf, we pro 
 pose to cut them off. I say there is no 
 hope for the growth of cotton and grain 
 down South on the part of the loyal men 
 there unless we furnish them with the mag 
 nificent facilities for transportation to mar 
 ket afforded by these very railroads. 
 
 In a speech upon the financial condition 
 of the country, delivered in the House in 
 March, 1868, Mr. Elaine said: 
 
 Nor do I see how any gentleman can 
 consistently propose an inflation of the 
 currency in the face of an express and sol 
 emn pledge to the contrary by Congress. 
 * * * If we were ever so eager to pay 
 off our 5-20*3 in greenbacks we are actu 
 ally stopped by the $400,000,000 pledge. 
 If we disregard that pledge we might just 
 as well trample upon others and take a 
 short cut at once to .repudiation and nation 
 al bankruptcy. The policy which I ad- 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 33 
 
 vocate is to bring our entire currency in 
 due season, without haste, without rash 
 ness, without contraction, without financial 
 convulsion, up to the specie standard." 
 
 June 23, 1868, Mr. Elaine made an elabo 
 rate argument in opposition to the propo 
 sition to impose a tax upon Government 
 bonds. He was one of the most conspic 
 uous and able of the opponents of the im 
 portation of Chinese labor. His ablest 
 speeches in the Senate were probably 
 those made during the Geneva award 
 debate, \vhen he successfully crossed arms 
 with the great legal athletes of the Senate 
 Chamber. 
 
 His position on the Chinese question 
 was the result of a thorough investigation 
 of the subject in all its bearings, and when 
 a conclusion had been^ reached, he threw 
 all the force of his genius and ability in 
 opposition to an unlimited immigration of 
 those people to this country. This action 
 made him the most popular statesman on 
 the Pacific Coast, and the people of those 
 states have given him the most decided 
 manifestations of their esteem and confi 
 dence. His independence of action has 
 made him friends and enemies, but ap 
 parently indifferent to personal interests 
 or popular clamor, he has boldly pro 
 claimed and defended his convictions. He 
 is no time-serving politician. He never 
 waits to ascerrain the current of public 
 opinion and then drift with it. On the con 
 trary he is a born leader, who makes 
 public opinion, and his advanced ideas 
 lead him to the front, while his magnetism 
 brings a host of followers. He possesses 
 those qualities which make a military 
 commander great, a diplomat effective, 
 and a statesman popular. His position on 
 the tariff question is in strict harmony with 
 his party, and ever since he entered the 
 halls of legislation he has advocated the 
 doctrine of protection to labor. 
 
 In the Senate, as in the House, Mr. 
 Blaine was a staunch advocate of a protec 
 tive tariff. 
 
 On the 22d of April, 1878, he offered the 
 following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, that any radical change in our 
 present tariff laws would in the judgment 
 of the Senate, be inopportune, would 
 needlessly derange the business interests 
 
 of the country, and would seriously retard 
 that return to prosperity for which all should 
 earnestly co-operate. 
 
 Resolved, that in the judgment of the 
 Senate, it should be the fixed policy of 
 this government to so maintain our tariff 
 for revenue as to afford adequate protec 
 tion to American labor. 
 
 On the ist of May, 1878, Mr. Blaine 
 called up his resolutions and urged their 
 passage in a stormy speech, which how 
 ever, was ineffectual at the time. 
 
 In 1876, his friends brought him forward 
 as a candidate for President, and without 
 any exertion or direction on his part, they 
 made a most brilliant charge on the con 
 vention. Then as now, he was the choice 
 of a majority of the masses of his party and 
 had popular sentiment decided the issue 
 it would have resulted in the nomination 
 of James G. Blaine. He went into the 
 convention with more votes than any of 
 his competitors. On the sixth ballot he 
 received 308 votes, on the seventh ballot 
 his vote rose to 345, or 33 votes less than 
 a majority. But for an unfortunate sun 
 stroke on a hot July day he would probably 
 have been nominated. As it was, his 
 friends looked forward to his nomination 
 on the next ballot with confidence, and 
 every indication pointed to his nomina 
 tion when a combination was formed to 
 defeat him which succeeded, for on the 
 following ballot : R. B. Hayes received 
 384 votes, Mr. Blaine 351, Mr. Conkling 21, 
 and Mr. Hayes was declared the nominee. 
 
 On the following December he entered 
 the Senate, and whilst in that position, in 
 1880, he was again brought forward as a 
 presidential candidate. He had antagon 
 ized the Hayes policy and had carried the 
 popular heart of his partisans with him 
 again. But the field was so powerful 
 in several States of the North that it was 
 able to deprive the favorite of many votes 
 which belonged to him. 
 
 Mr. Elaine's candidacy for the Presi 
 dential nomination in 1880 is of such 
 recent date that only a passing reference 
 to it is necessary. He received 284 votes 
 on the first ballot in the Convention, to - 
 304 for Grant, and fairly held his own un 
 til the 34th ballot, on which he had 275 
 votes. It was on the next ballot that Gar- 
 
34 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 field began to loom up as the coming man, 
 and Elaine fell to 257. On the 36th and 
 last ballot, all his supporters except 42 
 went over to Garfield. 
 
 Blaine in the Cabinet. 
 
 Elaine had made General Garfield 
 President by throwing his votes in the 
 Convention to him at the proper time, and 
 this materially made his relations with 
 Garfield closer than his relations with 
 Lincoln, confidential as they had been in 
 proportion as his services to Garfield in 
 1880 were made greater than his service 
 to Lincoln in 1860 by his increased in 
 fluence and prominence. It remained for 
 Mr. Blaine to do almost as much to elect 
 Garfield as he had done to nominate him 
 by his appreciation of the importance of 
 the tariff question, and by exposing upon 
 the stump the dangers of Free Trade at a 
 moment in the campaign when the Re 
 publican horizon was darkest with clouds. 
 Mr. Garfield was elected in November, 
 and shortly afterwards made a visit to 
 Washington, to confer with Mr. Blaine, 
 but found that he was at his home in Maine. 
 He at once wrote him to meet him in 
 Wa-hington on the 24th of November, and 
 on the 26th he arrived and called upon 
 the President elect. For two hours they 
 were closeted without interruption from a 
 single person. At this conference General 
 Garfield, without reservation, tendered the 
 State Department to Mr. Blaine. When 
 Mr. Blaine had recovered from his surprise 
 he replied: "General, I was hardly pre 
 pared for this tender on your part. I do 
 not know how to make answer. I would 
 like some time for reflection and consulta 
 tion, and in the meantime I will advise 
 you." General Garfield then and there 
 urged Mr. Blaine to accept, but he made 
 no binding answer at the time. Subse 
 quently Mr. Blaine had a conference with 
 his closest friends, and the weight of their 
 testimony was that he should accept the 
 place. Said he : " Gentlemen, I am in 
 clined to accept General Garfield's offer ; 
 but meanwhile I will for a very short 
 period still further hold it under advise 
 ment." After this conference with his 
 friends the fact that General Garfield had 
 offered .the Senator the Secretaryship of 
 
 State was communicated to one or two of 
 Senator Elaine's confidential friends, and 
 he said : " If the sentiment of the country 
 indorses the selection General Garfield has 
 made, I will accept the office. Otherwise 
 not." Early in December the announce 
 ment was made in one or two newspapers, 
 directly and absolutely, that Senator 
 Blaine had been invited by General Gar- 
 field to accept the position of Secretary of 
 State. 
 
 It was almost a month after this Confer 
 ence that Blaine formally accepted the 
 position tendered him, as will be seen by 
 his letter of acceptance : 
 
 WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 1880. 
 
 MY DEAR GARFIELD : Your generous 
 invitation to enter your Cabinet as Secre 
 tary of State has been under consideration 
 for more than three weeks. The thought 
 had really never occurred to my mind 
 until at our late conference you presented 
 it with such cogent arguments in its favor 
 and with such warmth of personal friend 
 ship in aid of your kind offer. 
 
 I know that an early answer is desirable, 
 and I have waited only long enough to 
 consider the subject in all its bearings, and 
 to make up my mind, definitely and con 
 clusively. I now say to you, in the same 
 cordial spirit in which you have invited 
 me, that I accept the position. 
 
 It is no affectation for me to add that I 
 make this decision, not for the honor of 
 the promotion it gives me in the public 
 service, but because I think I can be use 
 ful to the country and to the party ; useful 
 to you as the responsible leader of the 
 party and the great head of the Govern 
 ment. 
 
 I am influenced, somewhat, perhaps, by 
 the shower of letters I have received urging 
 me to accept, written to me inconsequence 
 of the mere unauthorized newspaper report 
 that you had been pleased to offer me the 
 place. While I have received these letters 
 from all sections of the Union, I have been 
 especially pleased and even surprised at 
 the cordial and widely extended feeling in 
 my favor throughout New England, where 
 I had expected to encounter local jealousy 
 and perhaps rival aspiration. 
 
 In our new relation I shall give all that 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 35 
 
 I am and all that I can hope to be, freely 
 and loyally, to your service. You need no 
 pledge of my loyalty in heart and act. I 
 should be false to myself did I not prove 
 true both to the great trust you confide to 
 me and to your own personal and political 
 fortunes in the present and in the future. 
 Your Administration must be made bril 
 liantly successful and strong in the confi 
 dence and pride of the people, not at all 
 directing its energies for re-election, and 
 yet compelling that result by the logic of 
 events and by the imperious necessities of 
 the situation. 
 
 To that most desirable consummation 
 I feel that, next to yourself, I can possibly 
 contribute as much influence as any other 
 one man. I say this not from egotism or 
 vainglory, but merely as a deduction from 
 a plain analysis of the political forces 
 which have been at work in the country 
 for five years past, and which have been 
 significantly shown in two great National 
 Conventions. I accept it as one of the 
 happiest circumstances connected with this 
 affair that in allying my political fortunes 
 with yours or rather for the time merging 
 mine in yours my heart goes with my 
 head, and that I carry to you not only politi 
 cal support but personal and devoted friend 
 ship. I can but regard it as somewhat 
 remarkable that two men of the same age, 
 entering Congress at the same time, 
 influenced by the same aims and cherish 
 ing the same ambitions, should never, for 
 a single moment in eighteen years of close 
 intimacy, have had a misunderstanding or 
 coolness, and that our friendship has 
 steadily grown with our growth and 
 strengthened with our strength. 
 
 It is this fact which has led me to the 
 conclusion embodied in this letter ; for 
 however much, my dear Garfield, I might 
 admire you as a statesman, I would not 
 enter your cabinet if I did not believe in 
 you as a man and love you as a friend. 
 
 Always faithfully yours, 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 Mr. Elaine qualified as Secretary of 
 State March 5, 1881, two days following the 
 inauguration of the President, and imme 
 diately assumed the duties of the office. 
 
 President Garfield's Cabinet was as fol 
 lows : 
 
 Secretary of State, James G. Elaine, of 
 Maine ; Secretary of the Treasury, William 
 Windom, of Minnesota; Secretary of the 
 Navy, William H. Hunt, of Louisana ; 
 Secretary of War, Robert T. Lincoln, of 
 Illinois ; Secretary of the Interior, Samuel 
 J. Kirkwood, of Iowa ; Attorney-General, 
 Wayne MacVeagh, of Pennsylvania ; Post 
 master-General, Thomas L. James, of New 
 York. 
 
 The foreign policy announced by Presi 
 dent Garfield was: First, to bring about 
 peace and prevent future wars in North 
 and South America ; and, secondly, to cul- 
 vate such friendly commercial relations 
 with all American countries as would lead 
 to a large increase in the export trade of 
 the United States. It was for the purpose 
 of promoting peace on the Western Hem 
 isphere that it was determined to invite all 
 the independent governments of North and 
 South America to meet in a peace con 
 ference at Washington on March 15, 1882. 
 The project met with cordial approval in 
 South America, and, had it been carried 
 out, would have raised the standard of civ 
 ilization, and possibly, by opening South 
 American markets to our manufactures, 
 would have wiped out $12,000,000 balance 
 of trade which Spanish America brings 
 against us every year. The invitations to 
 this important conference were subse 
 quently sent out by President Arthur, but 
 in a short time they were recalled, after 
 some of the countries had actually accepted 
 them. It was a pacific policy and was 
 wholly in accord with the Monroe Doctrine 
 and the characteristic traditions of Ameri 
 can diplomacy. 
 
 President Garfield in his inaugural ad 
 dress had repeated the declaration of his 
 predecessor that it was " the right and duty 
 of the United States to assert and maintain 
 such supervision and authority over any 
 interoceanic canal across the isthmus that 
 connects North and South America as will 
 protect our National interests." This 
 policy, which had received the direct ap 
 proval of Congress, was vigorously upheld 
 by Secretary Elaine. The Columbian 
 Republic had proposed to the European 
 Powers to join in a guarantee to the neu- 
 
36 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 trality of the proposed Panama Canal 
 One of President Garfield's first acts unde 
 the advice of Secretary Elaine was to re 
 mind the European Government of th< 
 exclusive rights which the United State 
 had secured with the country to be trav 
 ersed by the interoceanic waterway. Thesi 
 exclusive rights rendered the prior guaran 
 tee of the United States Government indis 
 pensable, and the Powers were informe 
 that any foreign guarantee would be no 
 only an unnecessary but unfriendly act 
 As the United States had made in th 
 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 a specia 
 agreement with Great Britain on this sub 
 ject, Secretary Elaine supplemented hi: 
 memorandum to the Powers by a forma 
 proposal for the abrogation of all provi 
 sions of that convention which were not in 
 accord with the guarantees and privileges 
 covenanted for in the compact with the 
 Colombian Republic. In his State paper 
 the most elaborate of the series receiving 
 his signature as Secretary of State, Mr 
 Elaine contended that the operation of the 
 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty practically con 
 ceded to Great Britain the control of any 
 canal which might be constructed in the 
 isthmus, as that Power was required by its 
 insular position and colonial possessions to 
 maintain a naval establishment with which 
 the United States could not compete. As 
 the American Government had bound 
 itself by its engagements in the Clayton- 
 Bulwer Treaty not to fight in the isthmus, 
 nor to fortify the mouths of any waterway 
 that might be constructed the Secretary 
 argued that if any struggle for the control 
 of the canal were to arise England would 
 have an advantage at the outset which 
 would prove decisive. " The treaty," he 
 remarked, " commands this Government 
 not to use a single regiment of troops to 
 protect its interests in connection with the 
 interoceanic canal, but to surrender the 
 transit to the guardianship and control of 
 the British navy." The logic of this paper 
 was unanswerable from an American point 
 of view. If the Monroe Doctrine be any 
 thing more than a traditfon, the control of 
 the Panama Canal must not be allowed to 
 pass out of American hands ; and since 
 the country having the most powerful 
 navy is the real guardian of the freedom 
 
 of an interoceanic canal under any system 
 of international guarantees, or in the ab 
 sence of treaty law, the Panama Canal, as 
 Mr. Elaine said, under the Clayton-Bulwer 
 Treaty would be surrendered, if not in form 
 yet in effect, to the control of Great Britain. 
 
 Proposed Changes in the Treaty. 
 
 In Secretary Elaine's instructions to Mr. 
 James Russel Lowell, Minister to England, 
 is the following summary of the changes 
 in the Clayton Bulwer treaty of 1850, 
 necessary to meet the views of the United 
 States Government : 
 
 " first. Every part of the treaty which 
 forbids the United States fortifying the 
 canal, and holding the political control of 
 it in conjunction with the country in which 
 it is located to be cancelled. 
 
 "Second. Every part of the treaty in 
 which Great Britain and the United States 
 agree to make no acquisition of territory 
 in Central America to remain in full 
 force." 
 
 The admirable and forcible chain of 
 reasoning by which Mr. Elaine led to 
 these conclusions forced the English news 
 papers to admit that he had made out a 
 good case upon British precedents, and 
 that the right of the United States to con 
 trol the Panama Canal was stronger, and 
 the necessity of such control greater, than 
 the right and necessity of England to con 
 trol the Suez Canal. 
 
 What the Administration Promised. 
 
 The brief administration of President 
 arfield was remarkable for its promise of 
 broad statesmanship. For many years 
 ongress and the entire government had 
 been busy in making war, in restoring peace 
 and in paying the immense war debt. It 
 was all the United States could do to pre 
 serve the Union, and other nations were 
 profiting by the neglect of this country to 
 Droperly cultivate its foreign relations. 
 England had absorbed our commerce and 
 directed into her own coffers the trade of 
 he South American countries. And now, 
 under the auspices of the French Repub- 
 ic, under the direction of a citizen of 
 France, and backed by continental capi- 
 alists, active preparations had been made 
 o construct an interoceanic canal across 
 he Isthmus of Panama, while, under the 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 37 
 
 Clayton-Bui wer treaty of 1850, the United 
 States was practically powerless to take 
 any steps for the protection of her own 
 interests. 
 
 Home Policy. 
 
 At the same time at home a more 
 sagacious Southern policy was demanded, 
 a policy which would promote the ma 
 terial reconstruction of the South, here 
 tofore neglected for the sake of political 
 reconstruction. 
 
 The Southern policy of the Administra 
 tion would have been to cultivate cordial 
 relations between the different sections of 
 the country, and, by thus promoting the 
 flow Southward of Northern capital, to 
 assist the development of the Southern 
 States. Mr. Elaine had great faith in the 
 future of the South. On one occasion he 
 said : 
 
 " In reconstructing the South we made 
 the same mistake the British Government 
 is making with the Irish. If we had made 
 a government donation of $50,000.000 
 for the purpose of constructing a railway 
 from Charleston to the Southern end of 
 California, and spent every dollar of it 
 between Charleston and the Mississippi 
 River in the first three years following the 
 war, the problem of reconstruction would 
 have solved itself; the people would have 
 had business interests, instead of politics, 
 to occupy their attention. I believe that 
 within ten years the material increase in 
 the Southern States, east of the Mississippi, 
 will equal, if it does not surpass, that of 
 the Northwestern States, west of the Mis 
 sissippi." 
 
 Foreign Policy. 
 
 As the policy of the Garfield administra 
 tion and its course of action during the 
 war between Chili and Peru, a short and 
 succinct presentation of the facts should 
 be given here inasmuch as Mr. Blaine 
 was considered the originator of the pro 
 jected action on the part of the United 
 States. The following carefully prepared 
 article gives such a clear exhibit of the sub 
 ject, and which appeared in the New York 
 Tribune, will inform the general reader of 
 the facts as they exist, and which we pub 
 lish along with Mr. Elaine's statement : 
 
 " The war between Chili and Peru had 
 virtually ended with the capture of Lima 
 
 on January 17, 1881. Pierola, the presi 
 dent, had succeeded in rallying a few fol 
 lowers in the north, and Calderon, assum 
 ing the provisional Presidency, had con 
 voked a Congress in the vicinity of Lima. 
 The State Department made strenuous 
 exertions to bring about the conclusion of 
 an. early peace between Chili and the two 
 prostrate States which have been crushed 
 in war. The influence of the Government 
 was brought to bear upon victorious Chili 
 in the interest of peace and magnanimity ; 
 but owing to an unfortunate misapprehen 
 sion of Mr. Elaine's instructions, the 
 United States Ministers did not promote 
 the ends of peace. Special envoys were 
 accordingly sent to South America ac 
 credited to the three Governments with 
 general instructions which should enable 
 them to bring those belligerent Powers 
 into friendly relations. These envoys 
 were Mr. Trescot and Mr. Walker Blaine, 
 and their mission was to perform a most 
 delicate and important diplomatic duty in 
 the interest of peace. After they had set 
 out from New York Mr. Blaine resigned, 
 and Mr. Frelinghuysen reversed the diplo 
 matic policy with such precipitate haste 
 that the envoys on arriving at their desti 
 nation were informed by the Chilian Min 
 ister of Foreign Affairs that their instruc 
 tions had been countermanded and that 
 their mission was an idle farce. By this 
 extraordinary reversal of diplomatic 
 methods and purposes the influence of the 
 United States Government on the South 
 American coast was reduced to so low a 
 point as to become insignificant Mr. 
 Elaine's policy had been at once strong 
 and pacific. It was followed by a period 
 of no-policy which enabled Chili to make 
 a conqueror's terms with the conquered 
 and to seize as much territory as pleased 
 its rapacious generals. 
 
 The Peace CougreM. 
 
 The most conspicuous act of Mr. 
 Elaine's administration of the State De 
 partment was his invitation to the Peace 
 Congress. This plan had been decided 
 upon before the assassination of President 
 Garfield. 'The proposition was to invite 
 all the independent Governments of North 
 and South America to meet the Peace 
 
38 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 Congress at Washington on March 15, 
 1882. The representatives of all the minor 
 Governments on this continent were to 
 agree, if possible upon some comprehen 
 sive plan for averting war by means of 
 arbitration and for resisting the intrigues 
 of European diplomacy. Invitations were 
 sent on November 22, with the limitations 
 and restrictions originally designed. Mr. 
 Frelinghuysen lost n > time in undermin 
 ing this Diplomatic Congress and the 
 meeting never took place. It cannot be 
 doubted that the proposed Congress would 
 have had a most important effect, not 
 only in promoting the ends of peace, but 
 in stimulating American trade with the 
 Spanish-American States. It was a bril 
 liant conception a most useful project. 
 
 Mr. Elaine has described the Congress 
 as " an important and impressive step on 
 the part of the United States toward closer 
 relationship with our continental neigh 
 bors. In no event could harm have result 
 ed in the assembling of the Peace Con 
 gress. Failure was next to impossible. 
 Success might be regarded as certain. The 
 subject to be discussed was peace, and 
 how it can be permanently preserved in 
 North and South America. The labors' of 
 the Congress would have probably ended 
 in a well-digested system of arbitration, 
 under which all troubles between Ameri 
 can States could be quickly, effectually and 
 satisfactorily adjusted. Such a consum 
 mation would have been worth a great 
 struggle and a great sacrifice. It could 
 have been reached without any struggle 
 and would have involved no sacrifice. It 
 was within our grasp. It was ours for the 
 asking. It would have been a signal vic 
 tory of philanthropy over the selfishness 
 of human ambition; a complete triumph 
 of Christian principles as applied to the 
 affairs of Nations. It would have reflected 
 enduring honor on our new country, and 
 would have imparted a new spirit and a 
 new brotherhood to all America. Nor 
 would its influence beyond the sea have 
 been small. The example of seventeen 
 independent Nations solemnly agreeing. to 
 abolish the arbitrament of the sword, and 
 to settle every dispute by peaceful meth 
 ods of adjudication, would have exerted 
 an influence to the utmost confines of 
 
 civilization, and upon the generations of 
 men yet to come." 
 
 Mr. Elaine's Statement. 
 
 Shortly after Mr. Elaine retired from the 
 Cabinet, and after President Arthur had 
 modified the foreign policy laid down by 
 his predecessor, he wrote the following 
 letter to a paper in Chicago, in explanation 
 of his position. 
 
 As there is a desire to re-read it, the 
 entire letter is given : 
 
 AUGUSTA, Maine, Sept. ist, 1882. 
 
 The foreign policy of President Gar- 
 field's administration had two principal 
 objects in view : First, to bring about 
 peace, and prevent future wars in North 
 and South America ; second, to cultivate 
 such friendly commercial relations with 
 all American countries as would lead to a 
 large increase in the export trade of the 
 United States, by supplying those fabrics 
 in which we are abundantly able to compete 
 with the manufacturing nations of Europe. 
 
 To attain the second object the first must 
 be accomplished. It would be idle to 
 attempt the development and enlargement 
 of our trade with the countries of North 
 and South America if that trade were 
 liable at any unforeseen moment to be 
 violently interrupted by such wars as that 
 which for three years has engrossed and 
 almost engulfed Chili, Peru, and Bolivia ; 
 as that which was barely averted by the 
 friendly offices of the United States be 
 tween Chili and the Argentine Republic ; 
 as that which has been postponed by the 
 same good offices, but not decisively 
 abandoned, between Mexico and Guate 
 mala; as that which is threatened between 
 Brazil and Uruguay ; as that which is even 
 now foreshadowed between Brazil and the 
 Argentine States. Peace is essential to 
 commerce, is the very life of honest trade, 
 is the solid basis of international pros 
 perity ; and yet there is no part of the 
 world where a resort to arms is so prompt 
 as in the Spanish American Republics. 
 Those Republics have grown out of the 
 old Colonial divisions, formed from capri 
 cious grants to favorites by Royal charter, 
 and their boundaries are in many cases 
 not clearly defined, and consequently 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 89 
 
 afford the basis of continual disputes, 
 breaking forth too often in open war. To 
 induce the Spanish American States to 
 adopt some peaceful mode of adjusting 
 their frequently recurring contentions was 
 regarded by the late President as one of 
 the most honorable and useful ends to 
 which the diplomacy of the United States 
 could contribute useful especially to those 
 States by securing permanent peace within 
 all their borders, and useful to our own 
 country by affording a coveted opportunity 
 for extending its commerce and securing 
 enlarged fields for our products and manu 
 factures. 
 
 Tlie Motive for Calling a Peace Congress. 
 
 Instead of friendly intervention here 
 and there, patching up a treaty between 
 two countries to-day, securing a truce be 
 tween two others to-morrow, it was appa 
 rent to the President that a more compre 
 hensive plan should be adopted if war was 
 to cease in the Western Hemisphere. It 
 was evident that certain European Powers 
 had in the past been interested in promot 
 ing strife between the Spanish American 
 countries, and might be so interested in 
 the future, while the interest of the United 
 States was wholly and always on the side 
 of peace with all our American neighb ors, 
 and peace between them all. 
 
 It was therefore the President's belief 
 that mere incidental and partial adjust 
 ments failed to attain the desired end, and 
 that a common agreement of peace, per 
 manent in its character and continental in 
 its extent, should, if possible, be secured. 
 To effect this end it had been resolved, 
 before the fatal shot of July 2, to invite all 
 the independent governments of North and 
 South America to meet in a Peace Con 
 gress at Washington. The date to be as 
 signed was the I5th of March, 1882, and 
 the invitations would have been issued di 
 rectly after the New England tour, which 
 the President was not permitted to make. 
 Nearly six months later, on November 22, 
 President Garfield's successor issued the 
 invitations for the Peace Congress in the 
 same spirit and scope and with the same 
 limitations and restrictions that had been 
 originally designed. 
 
 As soon as the project was understood 
 in South America it received a most cor 
 
 dial approval, and some of the countries, 
 not following the leisurely routine of diplo 
 matic correspondence, made haste to ac 
 cept the invitation. There can be no 
 doubt that within a brief period all the 
 nations invited would have formally sig 
 nified their readiness to attend the Con 
 gress ; but in six weeks after the invitations 
 had gone to the several countries, President 
 Arthur caused them to be recalled, or at 
 least suspended. The subject was after 
 ward referred to Congress in a special 
 message, in which the President ably vin 
 dicated his Constitutional right to assemble 
 the Peace Congress, but expressed a desire 
 that the legislative department of the Gov 
 ernment should give an opinion upon 
 the expediency of the step before the 
 Congress should be allowed to convene. 
 Meanwhile the nations that received the 
 invitations were in an embarrassing situa 
 tion ; for after they were asked by the Pre 
 sident to come, they found that the matter 
 had been reconsidered and referred to 
 another department of the Government. 
 This change was universally accepted as a 
 practical though indirect abandonment of 
 the project, for it was not from the first 
 probable that Congress would take any 
 action whatever upon the subject. The 
 good will and welcome of the invitation 
 would be destroyed by a long debate in the 
 Senate and House, in which the question 
 would necessarily become intermixed with 
 personal and party politics, and the pro 
 ject would be ultimately wrecked from the 
 same cause and by the same process that 
 destroyed the usefulness of the Panama 
 Congress more than fifty years ago, when 
 Mr. Clay was Secretary of State. The 
 time for Congressional action would have 
 been after the Peace Conference had 
 closed its labors. The conference could 
 not agree upon anything that would be 
 binding upon the United States, unless 
 assented to as a treaty by the Senate, or 
 enacted into a law by both branches. The 
 assembling of the Peace Conference, as 
 President Arthur so well demonstrated, was 
 not in derogation of any right or preroga 
 tive of the Senate or House. The money 
 necessary for the expenses of the confer 
 ence which would not have exceeded 
 $10,000 could not, with reason or proprie- 
 
40 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 ty, have been refused by Congress. If it 
 had been refused, patriotism and philan 
 thropy would have promptly supplied it. 
 
 The Necessity of Friendly Intervention. 
 
 The Spanish American States are in 
 special need of the help which the Peace 
 Congress would afford them. They re 
 quire external pressure to keep them from 
 war. When at war they require external 
 pressure to bring them to peace. Their 
 outbreaks are not only frequent, but are 
 sanguinary and sometimes cruel. The in 
 habitants of those countries are a brave 
 people, belonging to a race that have 
 always been brave, descended of men that 
 have always been proud. They are of hot 
 temper, quick to take affront, ready to 
 avenge a wrong, whether real or fancied. 
 They are at the same time generous and 
 chivalrous, and though tending for years 
 to past estrangement and alienation from 
 us, they would promptly respond to any 
 advance made by the Great Republic of 
 the North, as they have for two genera 
 tions termed our Government. The moral 
 influence upon the Spanish American 
 people of such an international assembly 
 as the Peace Congress, called by the invi 
 tation and meeting under the auspices of 
 the United States, would have proved 
 beneficent and far-reaching. It would have 
 raised the standard of their civilization. 
 It would have turned their attention to the 
 things of peace ; and the continent, whose 
 undeveloped wealth amazed Humboldt, 
 might have had a new life given to it, a 
 new and splendid career opened to its in 
 habitants. 
 
 Such friendly interventions as the pro 
 posed Peace Congress, and as the attempt 
 to restore peace between Chili and Peru, 
 fell within the line of both duty and 
 interest on the part of the United States. 
 Nations like individuals often require the 
 aid of a common friend to restore relations 
 of amity. Peru and Chili are in deplora 
 ble need of a wise and powerful mediator. 
 Though exhausted by war, they are unable 
 to make peace, and, unless they shall be 
 aided by the intervention of a friend, po 
 litical anarchy and social disorder will 
 come to the conquered, and evil scarcely 
 less serious to the conqueror. Our own Gov 
 ernment cannot take the ground that it will 
 
 not offer friendly intervention to settle 
 troubles between American countries, 
 unless at the same time it freely concedes 
 to European governments the right of such 
 intervention, and thus consents to a prac 
 tical destruction of the Monroe doctrine 
 and an unlimited increase of European and 
 monarchical influence on this continent. 
 The late special envoy to Peru and Chili, 
 Mr. Trescot, gives it as his deliberate and 
 published conclusion that if the instruc 
 tions under which he set out upon his mis 
 sion had not been revoked, peace between 
 those angry belligerents would have be^n 
 established as the result of his labors 
 necessarily to the great benefit of the 
 United States. If our Government does 
 not resume its efforts to secure peace in 
 South America, some European govern 
 ment will be forced to perform that friendly 
 office. The United States cannot play 
 between nations the part of the dog in the 
 manger. We must perform the duty of 
 humane intervention ourselves, or give 
 way to foreign governments that are will 
 ing to accept the responsibility of the great 
 i trust and secure the enhanced influence 
 and numberless advantages resulting from 
 such a philanthropic and beneficent 
 course. 
 
 Its Commercial Value. 
 
 A most significant and important result 
 would have followed the assembling of the 
 Peace Congress. A friendship and an in 
 timacy would have been established be 
 tween the States of North and South 
 America, which would have demanded 
 and enforced a closer commercial connec 
 tion. A movement in the near future, as 
 the legitimate outgrowth of assured peace, 
 would, in all probability, have been a great 
 commercial conference at the city of 
 Mexico or Rio Janeiro, whose delibera 
 tions would be directed to a better system 
 of trade on the two continents. To such 
 a conference the Dominion of Canada could 
 properly be asked to send representatives, 
 as that government is allowed by Great 
 Britain a very large liberty in regulating 
 its commercial relations. In the Peace 
 Congress, to be composed of independent 
 governments, the Dominion could not 
 I have taken any part, and was consequent- 
 1 ly not invited. From this trade confer- 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 41 
 
 ence of the two continents the United 
 States could hardly have failed to gain 
 great advantages. At present the com 
 mercial relations of this country with the 
 Spanish-American countries, both conti 
 nental and insular, are unsatisfactory and 
 unprofitable indeed, those relations are 
 absolutely oppressive to the financial inter 
 ests of the Government and people of the 
 United States. In our current exchanges it 
 requires about $120,000,000 to pay the 
 balance which Spanish America brings 
 against us every year. This amount is 50 
 per cent, more than the average annual 
 product of the gold and silver mines of the 
 United States during the past five years. 
 This vast sum does not of course go to 
 Spanish America in coin, but itgoes across 
 the ocean in coin or its equivalent, to pay 
 European countries for manufactured ar 
 ticles which they furnish to Spanish 
 America a large proportion of which 
 should be furnished by the manufacturers 
 of the United States. 
 
 The Tariff and Smith American Trade. 
 
 At this point of the argument the free 
 trader appears and declares that our pro 
 tective tariff destroys our power of compe 
 tition with European countries, and that 
 if we will abolish protection, we shall soon 
 have South American trade. The answer 
 is not sufficient, for to-day there are many 
 articles which we can send to South Ame 
 rica, and sell as cheaply as European 
 manufacturers can furnish them. It is 
 idle, of course, to make this statement to 
 the genuine apostle of free trade and the 
 implacable enemy of protection, for the 
 great postulate of his argument, the foun 
 dation of his creed, is that nothing can be 
 made as cheaply in America as in Europe. 
 Nevertheless facts are stubborn, and the 
 hard figures of arithmetic cannot be satis 
 factorily answered by airy figures of speech. 
 The truth remains that the coarser descrip 
 tions of cottons and cotton prints, boots 
 and shoes, ordinary household furniture, 
 harness for draft animals, agricultural im 
 plements of all kinds, doors, sashes and 
 blinds, locks, bolts and hinges, silver 
 ware, plated ware, wooden ware, ordinary 
 paper and paper-hangings, common vehi 
 cles, ordinary window-glass and glass 
 
 ware, rubber goods, coal oils, lard oils, 
 kerosenes, white lead, lead pipe, and arti 
 cles in which lead is a chief component, 
 can be and are produced as cheaply in 
 the United States as in any other part of 
 the world. The list of such articles might 
 be lengthened by the addition of those 
 classed as "notions;" but enough only 
 are given to show that this country would, 
 with proper commercial arrangements, ex 
 port much more largely than it now does 
 to Spanish America. 
 
 In the trade relations of the world, it 
 does not follow that mere ability to pro 
 duce as cheaply as another nation insures 
 a division of an established market, or, 
 indeed, any participation in it. France 
 manufactures many articles as cheaply as 
 England some articles at even less cost. 
 Portugal lies nearer to France than to 
 England, and the expense of transporting 
 the French fabric to the Portuguese mar 
 ket is therefore less than the transportation 
 of English fabric. And yet Great Britain 
 has almost a monopoly in the trade of 
 Portugal. The same condition applies, 
 though in a less degree, in the trade of 
 Turkey, Syria and Egypt, which England 
 holds to a much greater extent than any of 
 the other European nations that are able to 
 produce the same fabric as cheaply. If it 
 be said in answer, that England has spe 
 cial trade-relations by treaty with Portugal 
 and special obligations binding the other 
 countries, the ready answer is, that she 
 has no more favorable position with regard 
 to those countries than can be readily and 
 easily acquired by the United States with 
 respect to all the countries of America. 
 That end will be reached whenever the 
 United States desires it, and wills it, and 
 is ready to take the steps necessary to se 
 cure it. At present the trade with Spanish 
 America runs so strongly in channels ad 
 verse to us, that, besides our inability to 
 furnish manufactured articles, we do not 
 get the profit on our own raw products 
 that are shipped there. Our petroleum 
 reaches most of the Spanish-American 
 ports after twice crossing the Atlantic, 
 paying often a better profit to the European 
 middle man, who handles it, than it does 
 to the producer of the oil in the north 
 western counties of Pennsylvania. Flour 
 
42 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 and pork from the West reach Cuba by 
 way of Spain, and though we buy and 
 consume ninety per cent, of the total pro 
 ducts of Cuba, almost that proportion of 
 her purchases are made in Europe made, 
 of course, with money furnished directly 
 from our pockets. 
 
 The ominous adverse Balance of Trade. 
 
 . As our exports to Spanish America grow 
 less, as European imports constantly grow 
 large, the balance against us will show an 
 annual increase, and will continue to ex 
 haust our supply of the precious metals. 
 We are increasing our imports from South 
 America, and the millions we annually pay 
 for coffee, wool, hides, guano, cinchona, 
 caoutchouc, cabinet woods, dye woods and 
 other articles, go for the ultimate benefit 
 of European manufacturers who take the 
 gold from us and send their fabrics to 
 Spanish America. If we could send our 
 fabrics, our gold would stay at home and 
 our general prosperity would be sensibly 
 i creased. But so long as we repel 
 Spanish America, so long as we leave her 
 to cultivate intimate relations with Europe 
 alone, so long our trade relations will re 
 main unsatisfactory and even embarras 
 sing. Those countries sell to us very heavy. 
 They buy from us lightly. And the amount 
 they bring us in debt each year is larger 
 than the heaviest aggregate balance of 
 trade we ever have against us in the 
 worst of times. The average balance 
 against us in the whole world in the five 
 most adverse years we ever experienced, 
 was about one hundred millions of dollars. 
 This plainly shows that in our European 
 exchanges there is always a balance in 
 our favor and that our chief deficiency 
 arises from our mal-adjusted commercial 
 relations with Spanish America. It fol 
 lows that if our Spanish America trade 
 were placed on a better and more equita 
 ble foundation, it would be almost im 
 possible even in years most unfavorable 
 to us, to bring us in debt to the world. 
 
 With such heavy purchases as we are 
 compelled to make from Spanish America, 
 it could hardly be expected that we should 
 be able to adjust the entire account by ex 
 ports. But the balance against us of one 
 hundred and twenty millions in gold coin 
 
 is far too large, and in time of stringency is 
 a standing menace of final disaster. It 
 should not be forgotten that every million 
 dollars of products or fabrics that we sell in 
 Spanish America is a million dollars in 
 gold saved to our own country. The im 
 mediate profit is to the producer and ex 
 porter, but the entire country realizes a 
 gain in the ease and affluence of the money 
 market which is insured by keeping our 
 gold at home. The question involved is 
 so large, the object to be achieved is so 
 great, that no effort on the part of the Go 
 vernment to accomplish it could be too 
 earnest or too long continued. 
 
 It is only claimed for the Peace Con 
 gress, designed under the administration 
 of Garfield, that it was an important and 
 impressive step on the part of the United 
 States toward closer relationship with our 
 continental neighbors. The present ten 
 dency in those countries is toward Europe, 
 and it is a lamentable fact that their peo 
 ple are not so near to us in feeling as they 
 were sixty years ago when they threw off 
 the yoke of Spanish tyranny. We were 
 then a weak republic of ten millions, but 
 we did not hesitate to recognize the in 
 dependence of the new governments, even 
 at the risk of war with Spain. Our foreign 
 policy at that time was specially designed 
 to extend our influence in the Western 
 Hemisphere, and the statesmen of that 
 era the era of DeWitt Clinton and the 
 younger Adams, of Clay and of Crawford, 
 of Webster and Calhoun, of Van Buren and 
 Benton, of Jackson and of Edward Liv 
 ingston were always courageous in the 
 inspiring measures which they advocated 
 for the expansion of our commercial do 
 minion. 
 
 The Peril to be Avoided by the Union. 
 
 Three-score years have passed. The 
 power of the Republic in many directions 
 has grown beyond all anticipation, but we 
 have relatively lost ground in some great 
 fields of enterprise. We have added 
 thousands of miles to our ocean front, but 
 our commerce has fallen off, and from 
 ardent friendship with Spanish America 
 we have drifted into indifference if not 
 into coldness. It is but one step further 
 to reach a condition of positive unfriend 
 liness, which may end in what would be 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 43 
 
 equivalent to a commercial alliance against 
 us. Already one of the most dangerous 
 of movements that of a European guar 
 antee and guardianship of the Interoceanic 
 Canal is suggested and urged upon the 
 Great Foreign Powers by representatives 
 of a South American country. If these 
 tendencies are to be averted, if Spanish- 
 American friendship is to be regained, if 
 the commercial empire that legitimately 
 belongs to us is to be ours, we must not be 
 idle and witness its transfer to others. If we 
 would reconquer it, a great first step is to be 
 taken. It is the first step that costs. It is 
 also the first step that counts. Can there 
 be suggested a wiser step than the Peace 
 Congress of the two Americas, that was 
 devised under Garfield, and had the weight 
 of his great name ? 
 
 In no event could harm have resulted 
 in the assembling of the Peace Congress ; 
 failure was next to impossible. Success 
 might be regarded as certain. The sub 
 ject to be discussed was peace, and how it 
 can be permanently preserved in North 
 and South America. The labors of the 
 Congress would have probably ended in a 
 well-digested system of arbitration, under 
 which all troubles between American 
 States could be quickly, effectually and 
 satisfactorily adjusted. Such a consum 
 mation would have been worth a great 
 struggle and a great sacrifice. It could 
 have been reached without any struggle 
 and would have involved no sacrifice. It 
 was within our grasp. It was ours for the 
 asking. It would have been a signal vic 
 tory of philanthropy over the selfishness 
 of human ambition ; a complete triumph 
 of Christian principles as applied to the 
 affairs of Nations. It would have reflected 
 enduring honor on our new country, and 
 would have imparted a new spirit and a 
 new brotherhood to all America. Nor 
 would its influence beyond the sea have 
 been small. The example of seventeen 
 independent Nations solemnly agreeing to 
 abolish the arbitrament of the sword, and 
 to settle every dispute by peaceful methods 
 of adjudication, would have exerted an in 
 fluence to the utmost confines of civiliza 
 tion, and upon generations of men yet to 
 come. 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 But whatever might have been the ulti 
 mate result of his foreign policy, and what 
 ever he might have accomplished to ren 
 der the administration to which he was at 
 tached popular and prosperous, was pre 
 vented by the assassination of the Presi 
 dent, just four months from the day of his 
 inauguration. His policy had been formu 
 lated and its details duly specified, and no 
 doubt the President and his first officer 
 were anticipating additional prosperity for 
 the people. 
 
 The Assassination [of President Garfleld. 
 
 On the bright Saturday morning of July 
 2nd the President prepared to leave the 
 National Capital for New York, and thence 
 to New England to join in the reunion of 
 his classmates at the Commencement of 
 Williams College. Secretary Elaine ac 
 companied him to the station and observed 
 the almost boyish delight with which he 
 anticipated this meeting with his fellow 
 students of former days. Passing into the 
 station through the ladies' waiting room, 
 they were about to pass to the train, when 
 that fiend in human form, Guiteau, fired 
 the fatal shot which finally after weeks and 
 months of suffering, and during which not 
 only our nation but the world, watched in 
 spirit by his bedside, ended in his death. 
 The people of the country will not forget 
 the noble devotion showed by Mr. Elaine 
 to his dying superior officer how be 
 watched at his bedside, and amidst his 
 and his nation's sorrows discharged all the 
 responsible duties of his position. 
 
 Garfleld's Death. 
 
 On September 6 the President was re 
 moved fromWashington to Elberon, whith 
 er he was followed the same day by Mr. 
 Elaine and the rest of the Cabinet. The 
 apparent improvement in the President's 
 condition warranted the belief that he 
 would continue to gain, and Mr. Elaine 
 went for a short rest to his home in Au 
 gusta. He was on his way back to Elberon 
 on the nineteenth day of September 
 when the fatal moment came and reached 
 there the next morning. It is the univer 
 sal testimony of press and people that, du 
 ring the weary weeks which intervened 
 between the President's injury and death, 
 Mr. Elaine's every action and constant 
 demeanor were absolutely faultless. 
 
44 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 Selected by Congress to . pronounce a 
 formal eulogy (which is given in another 
 place,) upon President Garfield, Mr. Elaine 
 on February 19, 1882, before President 
 Arthur and his Cabinet, both Houses of 
 Congress, the Supreme Court, the foreign 
 legations, and an audience of ladies and 
 gentlemen which crowded the Hall of Re 
 presentatives, delivered a most just, com 
 prehensive and admirable address upon 
 the martyr's great career and character. 
 The orator, with entire self-abnegation 
 and reserve, but with a firm touch and in 
 a style which rose at times to easy elo 
 quence, assigned to President Garfield his 
 true place in history. 
 
 The diplomatic career of Mr. Elaine, 
 which commenced with Garfield's admin 
 istration, ended with his resignation on 
 December 19, just three months after the 
 death of the President. He desired to re 
 tire to private life at once, but remained at 
 the urgent solicitation of President Arthur. 
 
 His next appearance in public life will 
 be his inauguration as President of the 
 United States, when the people have de 
 clared for " the WHITE PLUMED KNIGHT " 
 OF MAINE, and the "DARK EAGLE OF 
 THE PRAIRIE." 
 
 Blaine as a Historian. 
 
 After his resignation as Secretary of 
 State, he removed to his home in Maine, 
 and at once commenced his "Twenty Years 
 in Congress," the first volume of which 
 was published in April. It covers the 
 most important part of our history, extend 
 ing from Lincoln to Garfield, with a glance 
 at the events that led to the rebellion. 
 Apart from the general tenor of the work 
 from a historical standpoint, it is a biogra 
 phy of the American people, a review of 
 general issues, a picture of the progress of 
 a fifth of a century, and a panorama of 
 the historic events belonging to that period. 
 It shows the great pulsations of the nation 
 during its struggle, its hopes, its fears, and 
 its efforts for success, or as is said by a 
 writer in reviewing the work : the thoughts 
 of the people, as they varied from year to 
 year, their times of indecision and dark 
 ness, of swift insight and heroic resolution ; 
 their days of timidity and weak compro 
 mising with wrong, and their grand endu 
 rance and unflinching fidelity when the 
 
 crisis at last brought duty clearly before 
 them; their singular sagacity in decisions 
 of vital moment all these are portrayed 
 in Mr. Elaine's narrative with clearness 
 and power. The story he tells in his first 
 volume is given with the simplicity and 
 compactness of a trained journalist, and 
 yet with sufficient fullness to make the pic 
 ture distinct and clear in almost every 
 detail. The book is as easy to read as a 
 well-written novel ; it is clear and interest 
 ing, and commands the attention through 
 out, the more for the absence of anything 
 like oratorical display or forensic combat- 
 iveness. 
 
 His Candidacy in 1884:. 
 
 The popularity which had placed Mr. 
 Blaine before the nominating Conventions 
 of 1876, and 1880, still remained, notwith 
 standing he was defeated. That he was 
 the favorite of the masses on each of those 
 occasions is generally conceded, and the 
 tenacity with which they held to him, 
 showed that his magnetism could retain 
 friends as well as make them. The peo 
 ple love James G. Blaine. They do not 
 rally around him for the dispensation of 
 favors, or the spoils of office such persons 
 always flock to a victorious banner. They 
 are for him, not as a politician but as a man 
 who has sympathy with the masses. They 
 admire his genius,applaudhis actions, exult 
 at his advancement, and trust in his integ 
 rity, but over and above all these they love 
 the man. And so when another nominat 
 ing year came around, the same vital in 
 fluences or forces that pressed him forward 
 on two former occasions, brought him 
 again to the forefront, and without any ef 
 fort of his without any apparent desire to 
 again contest for the place, they placed 
 him in nomination before the people and 
 prepared to do battle for him in the Chi 
 cago Convention. Apart from his great 
 personal popularity, the fact that he had 
 been defeated through intriguing combina 
 tions at a former Convention still more 
 closely cemented his allies and multiplied 
 the number of his followers. His princi 
 pal competitor was the Executive of the 
 Nation armed with the power of his posi 
 tion, and fortified by the patronage of the 
 government, while he, a private citizen, had 
 no sceptre to wield, no places to bestow. 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 45 
 
 He must be more than human who could 
 calmly behold such a contest without tak 
 ing an active part therein. It must have 
 required a vast amount of " retaining 
 power '' for one so ready to fight the bat 
 tles of his friends to remain inactive, and 
 refuse to help himself. As has been said : 
 
 " The office has been taken to Mr. 
 Blaine ; he did not go after it. No man, 
 not even his most intimate associate, can 
 say with truth that Mr. Blaine has unduly 
 pressed the recognition of himself. Dur 
 ing the long and anxious struggle of the 
 many candidates for the honor he has won, 
 Mr. Blaine has stood all aloof. He has 
 not put himself in a position to wrest the 
 office or to solicit it from the Convention. 
 With most wise and commendable dignity 
 he went before the Convention met, to his 
 distant home in Maine, there to await 
 events ; to accept the trust and responsi 
 bility of the highest place of honor of all 
 if it were offered him, but saying nothing, 
 doing nothing to gain it. He simply kept 
 himself in readiness to obey his country's 
 call. It has called him and he will answer 
 it." 
 
 The Candidate and the Man. 
 
 It must have been a proud hour for him, 
 when, after the preliminary battles had 
 been fought, after the representatives of 
 the people's will had been selected, when 
 the army of delegates, with another army 
 of unofficial followers, met at Chicago on 
 the 3d of June, and balloted for a candi 
 date, to find that the friends who had stood 
 by him at other Conventions, were still 
 loyal, and that as on former occasions, he 
 led the list. The banner of the " PLUMED 
 KNIGHT" was still in the front, and the 
 promise of victory was engrafted on the 
 first vote. Another feature which added 
 to his strength was this. His votes repre 
 sented three-fourths of the entire Repub 
 lican vote, and more than two-thirds of 
 the votes in the Electoral College. That 
 his party was with him was apparent to all, 
 and with such a backing, could the Con 
 vention (if it wished) or the party afford to 
 sacrifice him to any combination ? From 
 the first it was evident that no such thing 
 could be accomplished. The day for 
 " dark horses " had passed away the 
 people had too often been defeated in their 
 
 expressed wishes. The Convention felt 
 this, the people demanded that their ver 
 dict should be recorded ; this was no time 
 for political juggling, and they knew it. 
 Amongst the delegates not positively com 
 mitted to him were a host of friends who 
 were ready whenever it became necessary 
 to abandon their candidates, to rush to his 
 standard. So the first ballot indicated that 
 the field was won, and that James G. 
 Blaine would be our standard bearer. 
 The second ballot added to his strength 
 the third ballot was still more fruitful in 
 additions to his strength, and on the fourth 
 ballot, state after state recorded its vote 
 for him, making a grand total of 541 votes, 
 or more than 100 more than necessary to 
 elect. The battle had been fought and 
 won, and the "PLUMED KNIGHT," amidst 
 the thunders of cannon, and the plaudits 
 of thousands of people, was declared the 
 nominee. All over the land, men forgot 
 their callings, and gathered about the tel 
 egraph centres to hear the result, and all 
 over the land went the tidings to the peo 
 ple, until they took up the applause of the 
 Convention and made it ring throughout 
 the entire country. 
 
 The Receipt of the New. 
 Never was a nomination received with 
 such enthusiasm as that made at Chicago 
 on Friday, July 5th, and if that can be 
 taken as any indication of the result in 
 November, it points most unequivocally 
 to the success of the Republican candi 
 dates. If popularity augurs success, then 
 James G. Blaine gives the ticket a strength 
 beyond that of any other man. 
 
 To quote from the same writer as before : 
 " Can Mr. Blaine be elected ? Yes, if 
 any Republican can. The popular en 
 thusiasm which his name evokes proves 
 that. He can carry New York and Ohio, 
 the crucial States, and he is probably the 
 one Republican leader who, being nomi 
 nated, could be elected without the vote of 
 New York. There were enough doubtful 
 States, before the Convention met, without 
 New York. They are so few now as to 
 make the vote of New York no longer 
 necessary. The States of the Pacific 
 Slope and of the Southwest, which were 
 all doubtful, are now all certain for Blaine 
 and victory. No party's convention could 
 
46 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 do better than the National Republican 
 Convention of Chicago did when it nomi 
 nated James G. Elaine; it obeyed the will 
 of the people, which is what all such rep 
 resentative bodies should do. The Con 
 vention having nominated Mr. Elaine 
 Republican candidate for President of the 
 United States, the people will triumphantly 
 elect him. His is a name to win with. 
 The campaign will be as a crusade ; the 
 election a triumphal march of the first, 
 best-found choice of the people to the 
 Presidency of the great Republic." 
 
 Personal Description. 
 
 Mr. Elaine has a phenomenal memory. 
 He remembers circumstances, dates, 
 names, and places readily, and it is this 
 wonderfully-available memory that makes 
 him such a ready speaker and such a 
 charming companion. He has also great 
 quickness and accuracy of judgment. He 
 writes as readily and as strongly as he 
 speaks, and very rapidly. In many re 
 spects he resembles Mr. Greeley as a 
 writer he goes straight to the point and 
 wastes no time in painting with pretty 
 words a background for his thoughts. 
 Mr. Elaine is of imposing height and burly 
 in form. His hair is nearly white and thin 
 on top, and his beard is not heavy. He 
 has a fair, imposing head. His figure is 
 well preserved, he dresses with care, and 
 is of handsome personnel. He has made 
 use of no means to conceal the ravages 
 time and anxieties have made on his hair, 
 and wears it close cut, the color making 
 all the more noticeable his dark eyes, 
 which glitter and flash with temper or glow 
 lustrous and beam forth amiably, as the 
 mood is on him. He is full of activity and 
 quick thought, has more magnetism than 
 nine-tenths of his colleagues ; has an 
 irascible disposition, and in debate is irri 
 tating beyond all powers of endurance, 
 but is, nevertheless, personally popular 
 with his political opponents. He has 
 long been a resident of Washington, 
 where his house has been the resort for 
 bright people of every kind of degree. 
 There is nothing of that assumption of 
 aristocratic exclusiveness so common 
 among public men. His home is well and 
 even elegantly furnished, but it is all 
 
 made for use and not for mere dis 
 play. It is there that he is seen at his best 
 and his power comes largely from his 
 faculty of winning the affection of men by 
 epigrammatic speech, his easy manners 
 and his uniform, unaffected good nature. 
 He knows how to unbend at all times, 
 without any of those patronizing -airs so 
 common in society with men who have 
 succeeded. Few men in either party have 
 left his presence without strong and pleas 
 ant memories of the vigorous character 
 which is now to bear the heat and burden 
 of a five months' bitter political campaign. 
 
 felaine'g Home. 
 
 His home in Augusta, near the State 
 House is a plain two-story house. Seve 
 ral institutions in the State have received 
 benefactions from him, and his charity 
 and generosity are appreciated at home. 
 In his own house he is a man of culture 
 and refinement, a genial host, a courteous 
 gentleman. No man in public life is more 
 fortunate in his domestic relations. He is 
 the companion and confidant of every one 
 of his six children, and they fear him no 
 more than they fear one of their own 
 number. Mrs. Elaine is the model wife 
 and mother, and more is due to her strong 
 judgment, quick perception and heroic 
 courage than the world will ever know. 
 
 His Family. 
 
 The eldest son, Walker Elaine, is a 
 graduate of Yale College and of the Law 
 School of Columbia College. He is a 
 member of the bar of several States, and 
 has been creditably engaged in public life 
 in Washington. The second son, Em- 
 mons Elaine, is a graduate of Harvard 
 College and the Cambridge Law School. 
 The third is James G. Elaine, jr., a lad of 
 fourteen. The three daughters are named 
 Alice, Margaret and Harriet. The eldest 
 was married more than a year ago to 
 Brevet-Colonel J. J. Coppinger, U. S. A. 
 
 A Visitor thus describes Mrs. Blaiue. 
 
 Mrs. Elaine is fair-haired, tall, rather 
 stout, with dignified carriage, and a man 
 ner earnest and practical. Sincerely con 
 scientious, Mrs. Elaine seems to belong to 
 a race of New England women not always 
 to be met with even among the rugged 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 47 
 
 hills, and rarely seen elsewhere. A beau- 1 
 tiful home life is the result of her wise 
 management. Already her sons are in 
 business, and popular in society; and 
 Alice, the eldest daughter, now a beautiful 
 woman of twenty-two, was married, in 
 February, 1883, to Colonel John J. Cop- 
 pinger, of the regular army. Mrs. Elaine 
 ever sympathizes most deeply with her 
 brilliant husband in political exploits and 
 ambitions, yet would -gladly persuade him 
 to retire to private life. 
 
 A Just tribute to Mr. Blaine. 
 
 The following editorial in the Buffalo 
 Express (Edmunds' Republican) pub 
 lished a week before the nominating Con 
 vention, pays a just tribute to his ability. 
 
 The Greatest Political Leader of the 
 Generation. 
 
 It is clear that the one name upon which 
 interest chiefly centres in Chicago is that 
 of James G. Blaine. He is the one man 
 mentioned there who, as a political leader, 
 can be justly called great. There are 
 many politicians and a few statesmen, but 
 there is only one candidate who, by virtue 
 of his personal attractions, his innate j 
 qualities of mind and of heart, attracts a 
 large following. He is the one man for 
 whom his friends and supporters can ac 
 cept no substitute. 
 
 The Express has not been a supporter 
 of Mr. Elaine's candidacy. It does not 
 now believe his nomination to be wise. It 
 still hopes Mr. Edmunds will be nominated. 
 But Mr. Elaine's wonderful personal 
 qualities and his amazing hold upon the 
 affections of the great mass of Republican 
 voters of this country have been so empha 
 sized in the preliminary contest that they 
 cannot any longer be a matter of dispute, 
 if, indeed, they ever have been disputed. 
 For the third time in eight years he is a 
 candidate before a Republican National 
 Convention. Each time he has been op 
 posed by the powerful lever of political 
 patronage. But, though twice beaten by 
 combinations against him, he appears the 
 third time stronger than ever. He has not 
 only held his own under adverse ciicum- 
 stances, but he has grown in the popular 
 mind becomes yearly a greater favorite 
 and to-day fulfils more nearly than ever 
 before Colonel Ingersoll's wonderful pic 
 
 ture of " a man who is the grandest com 
 bination of heart, conscience, and brain 
 beneath the flag." 
 
 Political leaders, like poets, are born, 
 not made. Mr. Blaine is inferior to Mr. 
 Edmunds in the higher qualities of states 
 manship, and inferior to Mr. Sherman as 
 apolitical manipulator ; but in all that con 
 stitutes real political leadership he is in 
 finitely above even comparison with them. 
 Mr. Edmunds makes no pretense, and has 
 no ambition in that direction. Mr. Sher 
 man has tried to be a leader and tailed. 
 Mr. Blaine was born for chieftainship as 
 surely as the great Napoleon was born to 
 lead armies. Under the British system Mr. 
 Blaine would certainly be Premier. In the 
 popular branch of our National Legislature 
 his leadership was undisputed. Even Gar- 
 field able, popular, fully equipped for 
 any intellectual combat was content in 
 the House to look up to Blaine as the 
 leader. 
 
 It is no wonder the Republicans of the 
 United States look upon Blaine with ad 
 miration and cling to him with devotion. 
 It is no wonder the mass of voters excuse 
 some things which the more thoughtful 
 cannot excuse and lose their heads be 
 cause their hearts are moved. Mr. Blaine 
 is a man to challenge admiration and se 
 cure devotion. He is, first of all, an Ameri 
 can, of the most pronounced type. He 
 embodies many of the characteristics 
 which we like to regard as distinctively 
 American. His career would perhaps be 
 possible in no other country. A Penn 
 sylvania boy, a student, a teacher, an 
 editor ; at 25 one of the foremost men of 
 Maine ; at 39 Speaker of our House cf 
 Representatives ; a little later United 
 States Senator ; then Secretary of State ; 
 then eulogist of the martyred president ; and 
 finally the writer of a history which, de 
 spite foreign prejudice, extorts admiring 
 notice from the London Times. There 
 has been no pause in his career, no time 
 when his resources were crippled. He 
 seems even yet not to have reached the 
 zenith of his fame, for he never stops 
 working. At the age of 54 he is still 
 twenty years younger than Gladstone and 
 with every prospect of a long and vigorous 
 life. 
 
48 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 It is not manly, it is not patriotic, to de 
 cry Mr. Elaine's true greatness. One need 
 not be his political supporter to recognize 
 his splendid qualities, nor his eulogist to 
 admit them. He was once characterized 
 by an earnest opponent as 4< a brilliant but 
 tainted man." We know that he is bril 
 liant. His brilliancy is of that sort which 
 the taint upon his character cannot dim. 
 It is not a flash but a steady glow. All 
 his old competitors have disappeared, 
 while he remains the leader still, abler and 
 greater than when his "audacity of genius" 
 was first recognized, or when he had 
 freshly "torn from the throat of treason 
 the tongue of slander." 
 
 WHAT OUR ENGLISH COUSINS THINK 
 AND SAY : 
 
 Blaine a Beaconsfleld. 
 
 Under the heading, "A Beaconsfield 
 Beyond the Sea," the Pall Mall Gazette 
 says : " Mr. Elaine's nomination is the 
 most notable event for England since Pre 
 sident Lincoln was assassinated. Wher 
 ever Mr. Blaine can oust the British from 
 the position they hold on the American 
 Continent he will endeavor to replace 
 English influence and trade by American. 
 
 His menacing intimation that he would 
 disregard the Clayton-Bulwer treaty is an 
 evil augury for the future relations ot 
 England and America. His intervention 
 in Peru was most ominous when declared 
 that he disliked England to win com 
 mercial triumphs in fields which legiti 
 mately belong to America. England will 
 watch with extreme solicitude the pro 
 gress of the electoral campaign." 
 
 In a leading article discussing the re 
 sults of the Chicago Convention the Times 
 this morning says : " Mr. Elaine's nomina 
 tion will be received with general satisfac 
 tion. Not only has he been the most 
 popular candidate from the outset, but he 
 is beyond all question the most conspicuous 
 and respected politician in the ranks of 
 the Republican party, which has done 
 itself honor by the nomination of so well 
 known and distinguished a man. If the 
 Democrats could make up their mind to 
 a definite and reasonable Free-trade policy 
 they would certainly secure more sym 
 pathy on this side of the Atlantic than has 
 hitherto been accorded them. Meantime 
 we must congratulate the Republic on the 
 choice of a candidate so eminently suited 
 as Mr. Blaine to represent and uphold the 
 dignity of the United States." * 
 
 (* The writer is indebted to the NEW YORK TRIBUNE and the PHILADELPHIA PRESS for valuable 
 aid in the preparation of this article. 
 
JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 GENERAL JOHN A LOGAN, the Republi 
 can nominee for Vice-President, is perhaps 
 second to Elaine only in general popularity 
 with the masses of the people. His ex 
 tensive following, embracing almost the 
 entire soldier element of the country, 
 pushed him for the first place on the 
 ticket, satisfied that his record as a soldier 
 and as a statesman would not only carry 
 the party to victory in November, but that 
 his sterling integrity and devotion to the 
 principles of the party would ensure an 
 administration loyal to party, safe to per 
 son, and devoted to the prosperity of the 
 country. The man who " never lost a 
 battle nor disobeyed the orders of a supe 
 rior officer," has a prestige that is seldom 
 reached, and his double claim to the re 
 gard of the people as soldier and states 
 man, exhibit him as valuable in the one 
 as he was valiant in the other. Like his 
 great commander, General Grant, he knew 
 no path but duty when in the field had 
 no platform but patriotism, and no object 
 but a victory that would cement the union 
 of the States. 
 
 It was therefore but reasonable to pre 
 sume that his own great State, which he 
 had so ably represented in the field and 
 in the Senate, with others following its 
 train, should send their delegates to the 
 Convention to support him for the Presi 
 dential nomination. It was perfectly natu 
 ral that the men he had led, and those 
 with whom he fought, should cling to their 
 general and comrade, and ask a recogni 
 tion of his services to his country. Grant 
 had been so honored ; Garfield had also 
 been chosen ; Hayes had been rewarded 
 by the elevation to Chief Magistrate of 
 the nation, and it was only following the 
 usages of the party to ask the Convention 
 to add another military name to the roll of 
 Presidents. Washington, Jackson, Har 
 rison and Taylor had been given this post 
 of honor because of their military services, 
 
 making in all seven distinguished men 
 who won their honors by fighting for their 
 country, and whose administrations cover 
 quite a portion of our history. Gen 
 eral Logan's friends failed to secure the 
 first place, not because of his unfitness 
 for it, but simply because the people 
 desired to elevate Mr. Elaine, who 
 for the third time had been pre 
 sented to the National Conven 
 tions and had twice been put aside for 
 the same reasons that operated against 
 General Logan. As James G. Elaine, 
 twice defeated, recognized the supremacy 
 of the people by their verdict in the con 
 ventions, and gave his hearty support to 
 those who outstripped him in the race, so 
 this gallant soldier and unwavering Re 
 publican will throw all the weight of his 
 influence to his successful competitor. 
 General Logan was reared in a school of 
 discipline, and as soldier or statesman he 
 will carry out the principle. 
 
 The enthusiasm for him at Chicago was 
 as sincere as it was demonstrative, and 
 when Senator Cullom arose and placed 
 him in nomination the cheers of ten 
 thousand spectators rang over the vast 
 building. The tribute paid to General 
 Logan by the senators was a just tribute 
 to the general, and is a true and vivid 
 picture of the soldier-statesman. 
 
 As soon as the storm of applause had 
 subsided and an approach to order was 
 reached, Senator Cullom rose and said : 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF 
 THE CONVENTION: Twenty-four years 
 ago the second National Convention of 
 the Republican party met in this city and 
 nominated their first successful candidate 
 for President of the United States 
 Abraham Lincoln. [Cheers.] Abraham 
 Lincoln led the Republican party to its 
 first great victory. He stands to-day in 
 the estimation of the world as the grandest 
 and the most majestic figure in all mod- 
 
 49 
 
50 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 ern times. [Applause.] Again in 1868 
 another Republican Convention came to 
 gether in this city and nominated as its 
 candidate for President of the Unitec 
 States another eminent citizen of Illinois 
 General Ulysses S. Grant, [Loud cheers 
 and waving of fans and other demonstra 
 tions of approval] and the Republican 
 party was again victorious. Still again in 
 1880 the Republican party turned its face 
 towards this political Mecca, where two 
 successes had been organized, and the 
 murdered Garfield led the Republican 
 party to victory. [Loud and continuing 
 applause.] 
 
 Mr. President and fellow-citizens, it is 
 good for us to be here. There are omens 
 of victory in the way history repeats itself. 
 There are premises of triumph to the Re 
 publican party in holding its Convention 
 in this great emporium of the Northwest. 
 [Applause.] The commonwealth of Illi 
 nois, which has never wavered in its adher 
 ence to Republican principles since it gave 
 to the nation and to the world the illus 
 trious Lincoln, now presents to this conven 
 tion for its consideration as the standard 
 bearer of the Republican party another 
 son of Illinois, one whose name will be 
 recognized from one end of this land to 
 the other as an able statesman, a brilliant 
 solder, and an honest man General John 
 A. Logan. [The announcement of General 
 Logan's name was received with a wild 
 burst of applause, a great many persons 
 rising to their feet waving their hats and 
 handkerchiefs, and the thousands of 
 people in the gallery joining in the roar of 
 applause. The cheers were renewed again 
 and again.] 
 
 { Logan's Services to liis Country. 
 
 A native of the State which he represents 
 in the council of the Nations, reared among 
 the youth of a section where every ele 
 ment of manhood is early brought into 
 play, he is eminently a man of the people. 
 [Applause.] The safety, the permanency 
 and the prosperity of the Nation depend 
 upon the courage, the integrity, and the 
 loyalty of its citizens. When yonder 
 storied flag was assailed by enemies in 
 arms, when the integrity of the Union was 
 imperilled by organized treason, when the 
 
 storm of war threatened the very life of 
 this Nation, this gallant son of the Prairie 
 State resigned his seat in the Congress of 
 the United States, returned to his home, 
 and was among the first of our citizens to 
 raise a regiment and to march to the front 
 in defence of his country. [Applause.] 
 Like Douglas, he believed that in time of 
 war men must be either patriots or 
 traitors, and he threw his mighty influence 
 on the side of union, and Illinois made a 
 record second to none in the history of 
 States in the struggle to preserve this Gov- 
 ernment. [Applause.] His history is the 
 record of the battles of Belmont, Donelson, 
 Shiloh, Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain, 
 Atlanta and of the famous march to the 
 sea. [Great applause.] He never lost a 
 battle. [Applause]. J repeat again Mr. 
 Chairman and fellow citizens [applause], 
 he never lost a battle in all the war. [Ap 
 plause]. When there was fighting to be 
 done he did not wait for others, nor did 
 he fail to obey orders when they were re 
 ceived. His plume, the white plume of 
 Henry of Navarre, was always to be seen 
 at the point where the battle raged the hot 
 test, [Applause.] During the long struggle 
 of four years, he commanded, under the 
 authority of the Government, first a regi 
 ment, then a brigade, then a division, 
 then an army corps, and finally an 
 army. He remained in the service until 
 the war closed. When, at the head 
 of his army, with the scars of battle 
 upon him, he marched into the 
 Capital of the Nation and, with 
 brave men with whom he had bled on a 
 hundred hard-fought fields, was mustered 
 out of the service under the very shadow 
 of the capitol building which he had left, 
 four years before as a member of Congress 
 to go and fight the battles of his country. 
 When the war was over and general 
 peace victoriously returned, he was again 
 nvited by his fellow citizens to take his 
 Dlace in the councils of the Nation. In a 
 service of twenty years in both houses of 
 Congress, he has shown himself to be no 
 ess able and distinguished as a citizen 
 han he was renowned as a soldier. Con 
 servative in the advocacy of measures in- 
 olving the public welfare, ready and elo 
 quent in debate, fearless yes, I repeat 
 
JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 51 
 
 again, fearless in defense of the rights of 
 the weak against the oppressions of the 
 strong, he stands to-day, and I say it 
 without disposition to take one laurel from 
 the brow of those men whose names may 
 be presented to this convention ; I say he 
 stands to-day, in my judgment, closer to 
 the great mass of the people of this 
 country than almost any other man now 
 engaging public attention. [Applause. 
 No man has done more in defense ol 
 those principles which have given life and 
 spirit and victory to the Republican party 
 than has John A. Logan, of Illinois. [Ap 
 plause.] In all that goes to make up a 
 brilliant military and civil career, and to 
 commend a man to the favor of the peo 
 ple, he whose name we. have presented 
 here to-night has shown himself to be the 
 peer of the best. 
 
 His Early Life. 
 
 It is difficult in a short sketch to give a 
 satisfactory biography of one whose life 
 has been so eventful, so replete with in 
 cident, and so identified with the history 
 of the country, as his life has been ; one of 
 such activity, such rapid transitions, and 
 historic situations. It is impossible under 
 such situations to do justice to the man, 
 to his motives, to his reputation, or to pro 
 perly present even an abstract of his pub 
 lic record. We can only refer to the 
 exalted position he has attained, the effect 
 of his labors in behalf of his country, in 
 the halls of legislation and on the field of 
 battle. 
 
 To fully abstract the story of his life 
 would require volumes, to speak from even 
 the impulse of popular feeling and per 
 sonal admiration would be a eulogy too 
 flattering for the cold pages of a biogra 
 phical sketch. Hence we can only glance 
 rapidly at the boy, the rising man, the 
 soldier as he is known to his comrades 
 and his friends, and the statesman as 
 shown by the records of that august body 
 where his voice has been heard and his 
 votes recorded. 
 
 IliH Early History. 
 
 General John A. Logan, the Republican 
 candidate for Vice President of the United 
 States is now in the fifty-ninth year of his 
 age, having been born in Jackson County. 
 
 Illinois on the 9th, of February, 1826. 
 His parents were Irish, or at least were so 
 reputed but his massive face, high cheek 
 bones, dark complexion and straight black 
 hair give him so typical an appearance of 
 an Indian, that it is generally supposed 
 that some of their blood courses through his 
 veins. His father, Dr. John Logan, emi 
 grated from Ireland in 1823, and settled 
 as a country practitioner near Murphys- 
 boro, 111. He prospered in what was then 
 a wild country and in 1824 married Eliza 
 beth Jenkins, a native of Tennessee, who, 
 two years later, on the night of February 9, 
 1826, became the mother of the present 
 Republican candidate for vice-president. 
 
 Illinois was not then as you now behold 
 it, dotted over with splendid cities, 
 adorned with pregnant fields, and check 
 ered with railroads. Half a century has 
 changed it from a wild and unsettled 
 country to one of the first states in the 
 union. Hence the means of obtaining an 
 education were very limited, and John 
 was taught to read and write by his parents. 
 His father was a practising physician and 
 a conspicuous member of the community 
 in which he lived, and the stern and de 
 termined manner of General Logan is 
 inherited from him. 
 
 During his boyhood he was given such 
 opportunities for an education as were 
 available, so that by the time he was ap 
 proaching his majority he had received a 
 fair education, and had read many of the 
 best authors. Works of history and biog 
 raphy were his favorites, and this prefer 
 ence probably led him to devote himself 
 to his country, and to emulate the great 
 men with whose lives he was familiar. 
 He showed an individuality of character, 
 and a disposition to push things at an 
 early age, and he became an acknowledged 
 leader amongst boys of his own time. That 
 self-reliance and independence of action 
 joined with a personal bravery which 
 have made him a name in his manhood, 
 showed themselves in his early years. 
 The history of his country was a favorite 
 study, and the story of the Revolutionary 
 war filled him with youthful valor, so emi 
 nently displayed in later years. 
 
 The sparsely settled country at that 
 early day furnished very limited means of 
 
52 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 education. The now splendid system of 
 schools in the State was then in its infan 
 cy, and the future warrior and statesman 
 must indeed have seen, as through a 
 glass, darkly, the fruition of any ambi 
 tious dreams of power or greatness, honor 
 or fame that early stirred his heart. But 
 in his case, if never in another, the boy 
 was truly father to the man. With the 
 earnestness of purpose and the never-ac 
 knowledging defeat that has ever charac 
 terized his actions, aided by natural abil 
 ity of the highest order, he set his mark 
 and struggled unflinchingly until he 
 reached it reached beyond it. Thus, he 
 soon became noted for his scholastic tri 
 umphs, and those days became a true in 
 dex of his after life. 
 
 Strange indeed are the criticisms in re 
 ference to his education : he is a fair lin 
 guist, having studied Greek, Latin and 
 Spanish, speaking the latter fluently. Pro 
 ficient in his studies, he would have won 
 still greater honor therein had not " the 
 rustling of a banner and the rolling of a 
 drum" caught eye and ear, stirred the 
 positive nature to its very centre and 
 awoke still more enthusiastically within his 
 breast the love of the old flag which in late 
 years he defended through many a danger, 
 never faltering, never wavering, never 
 doubtful of final success and a glorious 
 vindication of the equal rights of man and 
 the God-given blessings of freedom to all. 
 
 Service in the Mexican War. 
 
 When the United States declared war 
 with Mexico, he was in his nineteenth 
 year, strong and robust for his age, and 
 full of patriotic fervor. It was no wonder 
 then that he responded to the call for 
 men, and left the parental home to battle 
 for his country. 
 
 The very first important movement fired 
 the blood of JOHN A. LOGAN and quicken 
 ed resolution into action. With the hardy 
 and loyal sons of the West, with full 
 statured men both in body and mind, he 
 swung into line as a private soldier. 
 
 His first public service was in the war 
 with Mexico, when he left home and en 
 listed as a private and marched to the 
 " Halls of the Montezumas." Subse 
 quently he was promoted to the lieuten 
 ancy, and served as Adjutant of the First 
 
 Illinois regiment. From this position he 
 was made quartermaster, in which capac 
 ity he served until the end of the war. He 
 returned with his regiment to his native 
 State, where he was mustered out of the 
 service, and became a private citizen. 
 
 It is not unfitting here to mention an in 
 cident of his early life, proving as it does 
 his mental stamina and firmness of pur 
 pose. Soon after he had been elected 
 Clerk of the County Court he entered the 
 office of his uncle one day and surprised 
 him by the declaration that he was going 
 to resign. From this purpose he could not 
 be swerved. He had already mapped out 
 his future, the study of law included, and 
 determined upon a full term of scholar 
 ship at Louisville, Ky. 
 
 Thus much of generalities and statistical 
 dates, rather than of the man and his 
 works ; and the story of his life and deeds 
 naturally separate into two distinctive 
 channels though pulsed by the same 
 springs of action and controlled by the 
 same motives, cannot be described to 
 gether, albeit harmonious in love of coun 
 try, her flag, her honor and her laws, and 
 stretching away into the vast fields of 
 public comity, cohesion, jurisprudence, 
 liberty, reputation, national honor and na 
 tional greatness. 
 
 Soon after he commenced the study of 
 law in the office of his uncle, Lieutenant 
 Governor Jenkins of Illinois. Here he 
 proved an apt and careful student. He 
 attended law lectures at Louisville and re 
 ceived his diploma, and was admitted to 
 the bar in 1851, just when he had reached 
 his twenty-fifth year. He at once entered 
 into practice, and his ability soon attracted 
 public attention, and so popular did he be 
 come, that he had followed his profession 
 only about a year when he was nominated 
 and elected to the State legislature, where 
 he served for one term, and was then 
 elected prosecuting attorney for the Third 
 Judicial District of Illinois. 
 
 He was re-elected to the State Legisla 
 ture in 1853, 1856, and 1857, and was pre 
 sidential elector on the Buchanan and 
 Breckenridge ticket. 
 
 Mr. Logan was a leading Democrat when 
 he was chosen a Presidential Elector in 
 the Buchanan campaign. 
 
JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 53 
 
 His record in the state legislature gave 
 him a still greater popularity, and as he had 
 served his constituents so well in that ca 
 pacity, they thought him worthy of a wider 
 and more honorable field of labor. Two 
 years later he was sent to congress, at the 
 same time Roscoe Conkling first entered 
 that body. Mr. Logan was re-elected in 
 1860. In that year he was an ardent ad 
 vocate of Stephen A. Douglas ; and he ad 
 dressed a mass meeting in Cooper Insti 
 tute, in New-York City, in behalf of the 
 " Little Giant." When trouble was threat 
 ened in the South, however, he openly 
 avowed his intention to see Mr. Lincoln 
 inaugurated if elected, even if he was ob 
 liged to shoulder a musket and go] to 
 Washington. 
 
 ' As a Speaker. 
 
 The school in which John A. Logan was 
 trained for the bloodless battles of the 
 forum that have made his name famous as 
 a debater ; for the striking of heavy blows ; 
 for impassioned, and at times ornate elo 
 quence, clear logic and exhaustive argu 
 ment was no ordinary one, but that of re 
 markable men. 
 
 The capital of Illinois was famous even 
 at that early day for the strength and 
 learning of its bar ; its far-sighted poli 
 ticians : its wit keen as a Toledo blade. 
 Men since known in every land and 
 spoken of with intense admiration and 
 deepest reverence by every tongue, had 
 their homes there and in their future wan 
 derings never had to bow the knee to in 
 tellectual masters ; men who lived in the 
 times that tested manhood to the utter 
 most; 
 
 "Men who their duties know, 
 
 But knoro their rights, and knowing, dare main 
 tain" 
 
 Lincoln, the ever-to-be-remembered and 
 mourned ; the man of iron will, but 
 woman's tender heart ; the man possessed 
 of the rare gift and knowledge of common 
 sense, though "not a soldier of the classics ;" 
 the sound lawyer ; the honest advocate ; the 
 impressive speaker ; the breaker of bonds 
 and the apostle of Emancipation was 
 there. 
 
 Douglas, powerful, self-reliant, massive 
 in eloquence, in fact, argument and illus 
 tration ; dauntless in his championship 
 
 of what he considered right ; unswerving 
 in his love for the law and the Union, 
 though he saw ahead the political ship 
 wreck of his most cherished ambition ; the 
 cool, clear-headed defender of the Consti 
 tution and its most able interpreter since 
 Webster, was there. 
 
 Stephen T. Logan, the living lexicon of 
 law and logic ; who fully comprehended 
 that " reason is the life of the law : nay, 
 the common law itself is nothing. else but 
 reason ;" the man bitter in sarcasm, with 
 lips to thunder anathema or melt to tears 
 of pity, regret and remorse ; the lawyer to 
 whom the Bench could give no new honors 
 was there, grand in the firmness and purity 
 of his character and with integrity never 
 challenged. 
 
 And others well worthy of the bright 
 companionship were there, but we cannot 
 call the roll. It would be a summoning 
 the dead and making the halls of Spring 
 field ring with eloquence as it is never 
 likely to do again. It was a gathering of 
 giants ; of men of learning, nerve, prin 
 ciple and stern devotion to their country 
 and its laws, as later years brightly, but 
 sadly proved. It was a school where none 
 but the fittest could survive and genius, 
 study and eloquence were strained to the 
 utmost to "keep the pace :" where the en 
 counters were fierce and he who kept his 
 shield unbeaten down, who fell not in the 
 struggle, must possess all the best and 
 most brilliant elements of manhood and 
 would be forearmed for anything that 
 might come in the forensic arena of the 
 future. 
 
 It was surrounded by such men and 
 with their precepts and examples before 
 him, that John A. Logan grew into the full 
 stature of manhood mentally and phy 
 sically and learned "that chastity of 
 honor which felt a stain like a blow," and 
 arly in life (as previously remarked) he 
 was called to serve client and country in 
 court and legislative hall. Early, too, he 
 revealed the metal of which he was made 
 and the temper of the blade he used for 
 attack and defense as occasion required 
 and which his enemies have learned bears 
 a keen and a cutting edge. 
 
 To gather his speeches and from them 
 massed, form any judgment of his ca- 
 
JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 pability, truth, justice, inflexibility of pur 
 pose, correctness of judgment and claim 
 to far more than ordinary elocutionary 
 gifts, is beyond our power or purpose. He 
 accomplished the end in view when deliv 
 ered, were the inspiration of the hour 
 and their echoes (for the most part) have 
 become lost save as they are now and then 
 awakened in the chambers of some reten 
 tive memory. 
 
 Private at Bull Ron. 
 
 During the year 1858 Mr. Logan was 
 elected member of Congress from the Ninth 
 district of Illinois, in the Thirty-sixth Con 
 gress of the United States, and took his 
 seat in December, 1859. His term of 
 office expired March 3, 1861, and, having 
 obtained a re-election during 1860, he was 
 entitled to take his seat during the Thirty- 
 seventh Congress, but resigned to take 
 part in putting down the great rebellion. 
 
 He attended the extra session of Con 
 gress called in July, 1861, to meet the exi 
 gencies of the hour. Troops had been 
 called to arrest the progress of the rebel 
 lion, and the 75,000 men called for by 
 President Lincoln were marching to the 
 .field. An army had already reached Wash 
 ington and were crossing the Potomac. 
 
 Logan could no longer restrain his pa 
 triotic feeling and so in July, 1861, he 
 left his seat in the House of Representives 
 and joined the Union Army on its way 
 to the Initial Battle of the war at Bull Run. 
 He took a hand in that disastrous conflict 
 and was one of the last men to leave the 
 bloody field. 
 
 Filled with patriotic, zeal, he returned to 
 Congress after that battle, and urged upon 
 the government the necessity of raising a 
 sufficient force to put down the rebels in 
 arms. He then, at the close of the session, 
 went to his native State and energetically 
 called upon his countrymen to rally around 
 the flag of their country and to put down 
 the rebellion. The citizens of his district 
 readily responded to the call, and the 
 Thirty-first regiment of Illinois volunteers 
 was raised and organized at Cairo on Sep 
 tember 1 8, 1861. Mr. Logan was chosen 
 as the colonel of his regiment, with a com 
 mission dating from August 10, 1861. 
 Shortly after its organization his regiment 
 
 figured in the sanguinary battle of Bel- 
 mont. He was at the capture of Fort 
 Henry, and with several hundred cavalry 
 pursued and captured eight of the enemy's 
 guns. He also took an active part in the 
 reduction of Fort Donelson. In this en 
 gagement Colonel Logan was severely 
 wounded in the left arm and shoulder, but 
 held his position until reinforcements ar 
 rived. Shortly after he was attacked with 
 a serious illness, and for some time hopes 
 of his recovery were given up. 
 
 General. 
 
 On the 5th of March, 1883, he was con 
 firmed brigadier-general, and soon after 
 reported to General Grant at Pittsburg 
 Landing. Since then he figured in all 
 important movements. On August 26 he 
 was placed in command of the forces at 
 Jackson, Tenn. In the movement into 
 Mississippi he commanded a division in 
 the right wing, and afterward one- in the 
 Seventeenth corps under General McPher- 
 son. In the spring of 1863 he was con 
 firmed a major-general of volunteers, with 
 rank from November 29, 1862. During 
 General Grant's rapid movements from 
 Grand Gulf to Jackson in May, 1863, he 
 was continually in the advance, and 
 occupied the Mississippi capital. Again, 
 at Champion Hills he distinguished him 
 self, and also at the storming of Vicks- 
 burg, May 22, 1863. When the rebel 
 stronghold was surrendered General 
 Logan's forces had awarded to them the 
 post of honor namely, the occupying of 
 the surrendered city and General Logan 
 was made Military Governor from July 4, 
 1863. He afterward returned North, where 
 he addressed large assemblies, stating 
 that he had always been a democrat, but 
 as the peace of the country could not be 
 restored without the extinction of slavery 
 he advocated that policy. Having ad 
 ministered the duties of his position at 
 Vicksburg for some time longer, he, at 
 his own request for more active duty, was 
 once more placed in the field. On the 
 2/th of October, 1863, the President ap 
 pointed Major-General John A. Logan to 
 the command of the Fifteenth Army 
 Corps, thereby relieving Major-General 
 Francis P. Blair, who was sent to take his 
 
JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 55 
 
 seat in Congress as the representative of 
 the First District of Illinois. He suc 
 ceeded Sherman at the head of the Fif 
 teenth Army Corps in November, 1863, 
 and when McPherson lost his life on the 
 22d of July, Logan succeeded him and 
 commanded the Army of the Tennessee 
 with the same ability and success which 
 had characterized his command of smaller 
 numbers. He was with Sherman on his 
 " March to the Sea," remaining with him 
 until Johnston's surrender. From the 
 close of the war until 1871 he occupied 
 various positions of honor, which attended 
 his frequent elections as Representative 
 in his State and at Washington. In 1871, 
 and again in 1879, ^ e was Senator from 
 Illinois. Senator Logan has played a 
 brilliant part in the political history of the 
 United States during the last twenty-five 
 years. 
 
 A Pen. Picture of Logan. 
 
 In manners and demeanor, General 
 Logan is a true type of a gentleman. He 
 is quick in speech and motion, and exhibits 
 a brightly nervous temperament, and yet 
 when called upon to decide or express an 
 opinion, he is cool, cautious and exceed 
 ingly guarded in his expressions. Having 
 once formed an opinion he formulates in 
 sentences so clear, bold and positive, that 
 no man can doubt their meaning. His 
 military training has given him a discipline 
 of mind and action that in all his posi 
 tions, shows the soldier. He is always 
 punctual to his appointments, and though 
 slow to promise, he makes it a point to keep 
 those made, He has a regard for time, 
 and when a particular hour is suggested 
 it means "sharp" to the minute. In the 
 Senate he is deliberate and dignified, 
 courteous and affable, and probably no 
 member of that body is more popular with 
 his fellow Senators than General Logan. 
 
 In the heat of debate he is bold and ag 
 gressive, striking his adversaries with his 
 heaviest blows, but when the contest is 
 ended, whether in victory or defeat, he re 
 laxes into the genial man as though noth 
 ing had brought him into contact with his 
 peers. Outside of his official position he is 
 a most companionable gentleman, and he 
 ornaments the social circle with his flashes of 
 wit and versatile powers of entertainment. 
 
 Logan a* a Democrat. 
 
 General Logan was a Democrat, and 
 held his seat by virtue of a Democratic 
 constituency. He had been reared in that 
 school of political faith, and honestly advo 
 cated its principles. He could not believe 
 that the mutterings that threatened a com 
 ing danger would really come to a bloody 
 crisis. But when the overt act was com 
 mitted when a part of the nation stood 
 committed to break asunder the bond of 
 national unity, and when the call rang 
 throughout the country to defend and pro 
 tect the constitution and the government, 
 he broke the bonds of party, renounced 
 his allegiance to Democratic policy, and ex 
 changing the politician for the patriot states 
 man, he stood forth for the national cause. 
 
 He entered the army in August, 1861, 
 and at once repaired to his native state to 
 raise a regiment. He had been com 
 missioned as Colonel for this purpose, and 
 he lost no time in accomplishing his missior. 
 With the prestige of Mexican renown, 
 Colonel Logan had little difficulty in gath 
 ering hardy and brave men around his 
 standard. The same patriotic spirit fired 
 their hearts as when the second call for 
 three hundred thousand soldiers was 
 issued and Illinois filled her quota within 
 thirteen days, notwithstanding she had to 
 her credit sixteen thousand nine hundred 
 and seventy-eight men in excess of former 
 demands. 
 
 The movements of "the 'war were rapid 
 and incisive. But it is not our province 
 to follow them save as they throw light 
 upon the career of the brave soldier whose 
 history we are briefly relating and which, 
 at the best must be fragmentary and do 
 ing little justice to one who has long filled 
 the public eye and won the heart alike of 
 soldier and of civilian. 
 
 The battle of Fort Henry resulted in 
 the first decisive victory of Union troops 
 upon Western waters, and the cry of 
 "On to Donelson " rang from every 
 lip. Logan was then with his daunt 
 less 3 ist, and his heart thrilled with joy at 
 beholding the evidences of loyalty among 
 the people of Tennessee and Kentucky, 
 and he hailed as a bright omen the tears 
 of gladness shed at the sight of the dear 
 old flag. 
 
56 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 The attack upon and surrender of Fort 
 Donelson have been too often and faith 
 fully pictured, and are too fresh in mem 
 ory to be repainted here. It was a wild 
 and bloody contest and fought without 
 thought of self. Stubbornly, gallantly, 
 enthusiastically was the battle waged, each 
 taking a fallen comrade's place until the 
 end came with a surging bayonet charge, 
 and above the Rebel ramparts the Union 
 banner was flung to the breeze. The terms 
 of " unconditional and immediate sur 
 render "were forced to acceptance, and 
 upon Sunday morning, February 16, 1862, 
 Donelson, of boasted strength, was given 
 over to the boys in blue. 
 
 The annals of the war speak of General 
 Logan as being where danger was the 
 greatest and the blows of death the thick 
 est and most heavy, and no name is in 
 scribed more brightly upon the roll of 
 honor of Donelson. 
 
 The first engagement in which he and 
 his command participated was the battle of 
 Belmont, in November of the same year, 
 when his ability as a commander, and his 
 dash and intrepidity, foreshadowed the 
 fact that he was to play a conspicuous 
 part in the operations of the army. He 
 participated in the movements at Fort 
 Henry, and was present at the battle of 
 Fort Donelson, where he received a 
 severe wound, and did not rejoin his com 
 mand until some weeks afterwards, on the 
 evening of the last day of the battle of 
 Shiloh. On March 3, 1862, he was made 
 Brigadier General and participated in the 
 siege of Corinth as commander of the 
 First Brigade in General Judah's division 
 or the right wing of the army, and for his 
 valiant services was publicly thanked by 
 General Sherman in his official report. 
 
 Logan's Popularity, and What Made It. 
 
 The following presentation of General 
 Logan to his people, is both deserved and 
 eloquent : 
 
 " And then the soldier vote that vote 
 which is cast not alone by the soldiers 
 themselves, but by their relatives and all 
 whom they can influence as well that 
 prodigious vote which safely goes into the 
 millions do we not know that it would all 
 be brought out and go solidly for Logan, 
 the soldiers' friend par excellence. How 
 
 they would come out and work in a cam 
 paign with him for their leader ! Not a 
 soul of them will forget how he has 
 worked year in and year out for them in 
 both branches of Congress in the matter 
 of pensions, arrears of pensions, and 
 equalization of bounties; nor how, regard 
 less of time, trouble and expense, he has 
 corresponded with them and urged their 
 cases to prompt settlement; nor how no 
 crippled soldier nor soldier's widow nor 
 orphan has ever appealed to him for help, 
 so far as it was possible for him to help, in 
 vain. Letters by the hundreds not from 
 Illinois only, but from all parts of the 
 Union come in his daily mail from the 
 soldiers or their survivors, and force him 
 to keep several clerks to attend to them. 
 These things will not be forgotten by the 
 old soldiers. They will remember, if no 
 one else does, how he fought in the 
 Mexican War: how, at the beginning of 
 the rebellion, he left his seat of safety in 
 Congress, joined the troops on their way 
 to the first Bull Run as a private, and was 
 among the last to leave that disastrous 
 field ; how, as Colonel of the 31 st Illinois, 
 during a successful bayonet charge on the 
 Rebel position at Belmont, his horse was 
 shot from under him ; how, at Fort Donel 
 son, where he led the victorious charge 
 and out of 606 men of his regiment who 
 shared in it, but 303 answered to their 
 names the next morning he was severely 
 wounded; how, with wounds still un- 
 healed, having joined General Grant at 
 Pittsburgh Landing as a Brigadier-General, 
 he declined a renomination for Congress 
 in these memorable words: "I have en 
 tered the field to die, if need be, for this 
 Government, and never expect to return 
 to peaceful pursuits until the object of thin 
 war of preservation has become a fact es 
 tablished ;" how, in Grant's Northern Mis 
 sissippi campaign, he commanded a divi 
 sion of McPherson's Seventeenth Army 
 Corps with such conspicuous military 
 prowess and ability as to earn the stars of 
 a Major-General ; how his military renown 
 grew with each of the many marches 
 through scorching sun and over burning 
 sands, and each of the many bloody 
 battles before Vicksburg ; how in the ter 
 rible assaults upon that " Gibraltar of the 
 
JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 57 
 
 Mississippi" whose bluffs were "stud 
 ded with batteries and seamed with rifle- 
 pits " his signal valor was known of all ; 
 and how it was Logan's column that was 
 the first to enter that great conquered fort 
 ress. They will remember his succeeding 
 General Sherman in the command of the 
 Fifteenth Army Corps the corps which 
 Grant himself had commanded the corps 
 which by Logan's order adopted as their 
 corps-badge a cartridge-box with the sig 
 nificant legend "Forty Rounds ' ? and 
 how gallantly he led the advance of the 
 Army of the Tennessee at Resaca, re 
 pulsed Hardee at Dallas, and dislodged 
 the enemy from his fortifications at Kene- 
 saw Mountain, amid blood and sweat, and 
 slaughter. He was no carpet-knight no 
 knight of the white feather but ever in 
 the thickest of the fray his victorious 
 raven plume was seen. *' 
 
 At Hit Battle of Atlanta. 
 
 The battle of Atlanta (or Peachtree 
 Creek), the bloodiest fought in the West, 
 was one of the decisive battles of the war. 
 Those of them who were there will never 
 forget it nor Logan, their triumphant 
 chieftain. It was the 22d of July, 1864. 
 Hood had succeeded Johnston, and Mc- 
 Pherson, finding himself flanked, was rid 
 ing to the left, when he met his death. 
 The command of the flanked Army of the 
 Tennessee at once devolved on Logan. 
 Surgeon Welch, of the 53d Illinois, de 
 scribes the panic which at once seized the 
 Seventeenth Army Corps, and continues : 
 "General Logan, who then took com 
 mand, on that famous black stallion of his, 
 became a flame of fire and fury, yet keep 
 ing wondrous methods in his inspired 
 madness. He was everywhere ; his horse 
 covered with foam, and himself hatless 
 and begrimed with dirt; perfectly com 
 prehending the position ; giving sharp 
 orders to officers as he met them, and 
 planting himself firmly in front of fleeing 
 columns, with revolver in hand, threaten 
 ing, in tones not to be mistaken, to fire 
 into the advance did they not instantly 
 halt and form in order of battle. ' He 
 spake, and it was done.' . . . The battle 
 was resumed in order and with fury a 
 tempest of thunder and fire a hailstorm 
 of shot and shell. And when night closed 
 
 down the battle was ended, and we were 
 masters of the field." Some of the regi 
 ments that went into that sanguinary con 
 flict strong came out with but thirty men, 
 and another which went in in the morning 
 with 200 men came out with but fifteen ! 
 But thousands of the enemy bit the dust 
 that day, and though compelled to fight in 
 front and rear our arms were crowned with 
 victory. Then came Jonesboro and com 
 plete route for the enemy, the blowing up 
 of his magazines, and the evacuation of 
 Atlanta, "the last stronghold of the West." 
 His corps, also under Sherman, participa 
 ted in the famous "March to the Sea." 
 His military record would fill a volume. 
 In all his brilliant career he never suffered 
 defeat. It has been well said of him that 
 to his soldiers he was " an inspiration a 
 prophecy of success ; they believed him 
 invincible." 
 
 His Promotion. 
 
 Another point in the military career of 
 General Logan stands out in bold relief, 
 greatly to his credit, and showing the esti 
 mation in which he was held by those in 
 authority who sou ght for the best possible 
 material to place in command when the 
 dismemberment of the Union was threat 
 ened and the speedy ending of the fratri 
 cidal and unnatural war was a " consum 
 mation most devoutly to be wished." It 
 is this : General Logan was the one and 
 only exception to the rule : was the single 
 instance in which a volunteer officer, 
 who had risen from a private to the rank 
 of Major- General, ever commanded an 
 army. 
 
 General Summary. 
 
 The following summary exhibits in one 
 paragraph, the political and military posi 
 tions held by General John A. Logan, and 
 they illustrate what an amount can be per 
 formed by one man. 
 
 In the fall of the year (1852) he was 
 chosen to represent the counties of Frank 
 lin and Jackson in the legislature and re- 
 elected in 1856. He was in 1853 appointed 
 Prosecuting Attorney, retaining the office 
 until the fall of 1856 ; the same year was 
 chosen a Presidential elector and elected 
 to the XXXVIth and XXXVIIth Cong- 
 resses, resigning to enter the Union Army, 
 carrying a musket in the first battle of Bull 
 
58 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 Run ; fighting through the war of the Re 
 bellion and reaching the rank of Major- 
 General and commanded the Army of the 
 Tennessee at the close of the war ; he was 
 appointed in 1865 Minister to Mexico, but 
 declined; was elected in 1866 Congress- 
 man-at- Large ; was elected to this position 
 three times, then elected to the United 
 States Senate to succeed the Hon. Richard 
 Yates from March 4, 1871 to March 3, 
 1877. He resumed the practice of his pro 
 fession for a time, and was replaced in the 
 United States Senate to succeed the Hon. 
 R. J. Oglesby, and took his seat March 
 1 8, 1879, m ' s term f service expiring 
 March 3, 1885. 
 
 As chairman of the Senate Committee 
 on Military Affairs, an influential member 
 of the Judiciary and Appropriation Com 
 mittees he has more than enough to oc 
 cupy his time even were the hours quad 
 rupled. But this is very far from being 
 all. Early and late his house is crowded 
 with people seeking advice and aid in 
 every possible shape seeking position and 
 money. And to those in the ordinary walks 
 of business his daily mail would not only 
 be a wonder, but a terror, when the labor 
 of answering became apparent. The word 
 " immense " (comparatively used) is the 
 most fitting to convey an idea of its mag 
 nitude. And the replying is not simply a 
 matter of aye or nay. It frequently in 
 volves intricate points of law and practice 
 before the various departments ; the min 
 ute searching of records ; involves thought, 
 study, investigation, abstruse calculations, 
 personal attention and monied expense 
 never repaid. But with General LOGAN 
 nothing suffers neglect. The poor man is 
 as welcome as he who conies " clad in 
 purple and fine linen," and his cause held 
 even more sacred. 
 
 Yet there is another point so clearly 
 demonstrated by these masterly efforts that 
 we cannot pass it unnoticed. It is the per 
 fectly clean life-record of the man. During 
 all his years the honesty of General LOGAN 
 has never been questioned or slurred 
 Politically or privately there has never 
 been found stain or blemish, and none 
 have even been hinted at. No public 
 trust has ever been betrayed by him. He 
 has stood sternly and completely aloof 
 
 rom all of public or private jobbery. His 
 statesmanship and his personal character 
 iave alike been pure, and his every 
 official act done for the benefit of his con 
 stitution and his country. His labors have 
 been excessive, heavy, engrossing. He 
 tias given the best of his years and talents 
 to the end for which he was elected, not 
 the accumulation of wealth by question 
 able methods, and stands to-day with un- 
 defiled hands and untarnished honor, a 
 living and a striking proof of the power to 
 resist sordid temptation, rise superior to 
 selfish ends and to live for the greatest 
 good and the highest glory of his native 
 land and mankind. 
 
 That this statement is true in its fullest 
 and most comprehensive sense, those who 
 have the entre of his home and share 
 his confidence will attest. Very few have 
 such privileges and therefore very few are 
 in a situation to rightly judge how arduous 
 has been his toil, and how unrepaid, ex 
 cept in that reward which follows the 
 doingjof good deeds and the keeping of the 
 golden rule. 
 
 Fitz John Porter Case. 
 
 No matter brought before the XLVIIth 
 and XLVIIIth Congresses attracted more 
 attention than the bill to reinstate Fitz 
 John Porter ; had in it more the sugges 
 tions of discord, and aroused more of pas 
 sionate feeling. It was a question that had 
 been discussed by all prominent men, 
 polititicians especially ; every soldier from 
 the commander-in-chief to the rank-and- 
 file had made it a study ; every newspaper 
 in the land had advocated one side or the 
 other ; the great majority were committed 
 by strongly expressed opinions and poli 
 tics becoming involved, the action of one 
 party was as a unit in favor of the passage 
 of the bill on the other, with but a few 
 remarkable and scarcely-to-be-accounted- 
 for exceptions, opposed^to it. 
 
 And farther than any merely local or 
 personal bearing, it contained the decision 
 of a court-martial ; of the right of Con 
 gress to decide whether or no the said 
 court-martial had exceeded its powers and 
 jurisdiction, and, if so, what authority Con 
 gress could confer upon the President of 
 the United States to restore tarnished 
 
JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 honor and pay for pecuniary losses sus 
 tained. 
 
 And still further it reopened, as it were, 
 the history of the latest war, and touched 
 again with bitterness the causes and effects 
 that had been laid to rest ; re-venomed 
 many an unpoisoned sting ; tore asunder 
 scarcely healed wounds, and forced men 
 into partisanship from which they would 
 gladly have withdrawn and totally ignored. 
 
 It was when the pulse of the country 
 was thus beating at fever heat that General 
 Logan defended a principle ; opposed the 
 establishment of a dangerous and wrong 
 precedent ; upheld the decree of justice, 
 even if stern ; fortified the high position 
 of every honest and brave soldier and, 
 indirectly, but gloriously and with reverend 
 homage, upheld the name and deeds of 
 Abraham Lincoln, the man who had " as 
 cended the ladder of fame so high, from 
 the round at the top he stepped to the 
 sky," and won a crown immortal by a 
 martyr's baptism. (Also the sacred mem 
 ory of the lamented Garfield, who was a 
 member of the court-martial.) 
 
 Arrayed against General LOGAN were 
 talent, learning, eloquence, rank, and 
 wealth. He swept them aside with a 
 breath ; silenced into the lowest of mur 
 murs malicious insinuations and false testi 
 mony ; overturned the most carefully con 
 structed theories; exposed the fallacy of 
 worn-thread-bare arguments; winnowed 
 the false from the true, and won greater 
 renown than ever before. 
 
 He knew better than any man. for he 
 had the best opportunity for so doing, the 
 magnitude of the task he had undertaken ; 
 the target he made of himself for those who 
 stab in the back and dark, and who shoot 
 venomed arrows from behind ambushes. 
 Yet he shrank not and was more than 
 equal to the emergency. More because a 
 far less powerful and testimony-sustained 
 argument at every point would have made 
 him triumphant, and caused him to be 
 fully sustained (as he was) by the verdict 
 of all unbiased, thinking people. 
 
 The corner-stones upon which the entire 
 elaborate speech was constructed were but 
 two, and contained the simple proposi 
 tions: "First, what is the law; second 
 what is the evidence applicable to that 
 
 law for this tribunal to examine." These 
 were the words of General Logan ; his 
 brief, but comprehensive statement of the 
 case, and upon them was builded the or 
 thographic structure that for five days held 
 Congress, as is rarely done in the first in 
 stance and hours in the second. And the 
 closing of the latter is so eloquent and 
 true that we cannot refrain from repro 
 ducing it here : 
 
 " If this act of wrong, as I deem it, shall 
 be perpetrated by the Congress of the 
 United States, it will be declaring that 
 those who failed in the hour of trial are 
 those who shall be honored in the hour 
 of triumph ; it will be declaring to the 
 world that the record of those in the 
 Army who failed at the important time is 
 as good as those who sustained the Gov 
 ernment ; that the honor and glory of the 
 whole Army of the United States shall not 
 be maintained alone by the honors it won, 
 but shall be maintained by the honors lost 
 by its unworthy members. When we re 
 turned to our homes and our peaceful pur 
 suits, when the armies of a million of 
 men melted away into the paths of peace, 
 we then expected, and ought to expect 
 now, that nothing would be done by Con 
 gress at least that would mar that thought 
 that should be in every man's mind, that 
 equality and justice should be done to all 
 according to the laws and Constitution of 
 our land, that justice should be done the 
 living and that justice also should be 
 meted out to the reputation of the dead. 
 
 " So, then, for the honor of this Nation 
 let not its representatives mar the re 
 cord that loyalty made in behalf of this 
 Government and for the benefit of this 
 people. 
 
 " I have deemed it to be my duty as a 
 member of this body to oppose at all 
 times a proposition of this character, be 
 cause I believe it to be wrong in theory 
 and certainly wrong in practice. I be 
 lieve it will demoralize the Army and have 
 a demoralizing effect upon the country. 
 
 I say in all kindness to the other side ot 
 this chamber (it will perhaps have no ef 
 fect,) your course, assisted by a few of our 
 side in this case, will prevent the people of 
 this country, as long as they shall proceed 
 in this way, from having confidence that 
 
60 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 you intend to administer the affairs of the 
 Government fairly. The opening of the 
 doors for Fitz-John Porter does not mean 
 Fitz-John Porter. It means breaking down 
 the barrier, the wall between the good and 
 the bad and those who failed in time of 
 trial and those who did their duty. It 
 means opening the door on the retired-list 
 to Porter and to other men who failed us 
 in our trials who shall follow in his wake. 
 It means more. I do not care what a few 
 gentlemen who were in the Union Army 
 may say, I do not care what a few gentle 
 men who were not in the Union Army 
 may say ; but the great body of the Ame 
 rican people do not believe in breaking 
 down the barriers between the men who 
 failed in time of need and the men who 
 stood at their posts. 
 
 When I say that I am speaking of our' 
 . loyal people, I mean that the people do 
 not believe in your coming here to re 
 gulate courts-martial for us during the war. 
 They do not believe it just ; they do not 
 believe it is right. I am speaking in truth 
 to you, and the people will emphasize it 
 to you hereafter. Let your confederacy 
 regulate its own courts-martial while it ex 
 isted in opposition to this Union, but do 
 not come here from under the flag with 
 numbers sufficient to put disgraced men 
 back in the army, to cast slurs upon our 
 men who did their duty, to trample in the 
 dust the authority that suppressed your 
 confederacy. Let not your feelings go 
 that far. If they do, I tell you that more 
 years than you think will pass over your 
 heads before you will have the confidence 
 of the American people. 
 
 There are some friends on this side of 
 the Chamber who join with the other side. 
 They are entitled to their views. I say to 
 them, you will open the doors to danger 
 in this country when you do this act. It is 
 not an act of kindness to this man ; it is 
 an act of injustice to the Army; it is an 
 act of injustice to the loyal people of this 
 country; it an act of injustice to the 
 memory of Lincoln and those who were 
 associated with him at the time ; it is 
 trampling under foot the law and the facts. 
 You were the friends in the hour of trial, 
 you who stood by then, should not falter 
 now. You are to-day doing that which 
 
 you would not have done ten years ago 
 But to-day the consciences of some people 
 are getting so easy that we must do every 
 thing that is asked for men who failed us 
 in the hour of our greatest danger, for 
 men who are entitled to nothing except 
 what they received. We are asked in 
 charity which is no charity to violate the 
 law, to violate the proper rules of conduct, 
 to violate the judgment of a court, to 
 violate the order of a President made ac 
 cording to law and in justice, as shown at 
 that time and now. I hope at least that 
 men who have stood by the country in the 
 hour of trial will not weaken in the hour 
 of triumph in the interests of those whose 
 triumph would have proved disastrous to 
 the country. 
 
 The conscientious feeling that I have 
 performed my duty according to my honest 
 convictions to my country, to the honor of 
 our now faithful little Army, to my com 
 rades in arms during the war, to the living 
 and the dead that took part in the judg 
 ment of the court, to the loyal people that 
 loved this country and helped to save it, 
 shall be in my own breast through life my 
 reward for my action in this case." 
 
 But dry detail and statistics were supple 
 mented and interwoven with flashes that 
 controlled attention and compelled admi 
 ration. Beyond all quibbling, they were 
 the speech of the sessions ; not an ex parte 
 one, for the records of both the Northern 
 and Southern Army had been made to 
 yield up everything bearing upon the 
 question at issue. They were exhaustive. 
 Not only were eye-witnesses, soldiers and 
 officers (theoretically) placed upon the 
 stand, but geography, topography, engi 
 neering, were summoned and the secret 
 whispers of the lightning became audi 
 ble. 
 
 Upon the merits of the case it is not our 
 province to express an opinion. From 
 the Congress of the nation General LOGAN 
 appealed to the Congress of the world and 
 the verdict was pronounced and favorable. 
 With the speeches as speeches we have a 
 right to deal. When given to the public, 
 such things become their property and 
 nothing of private or personal right is out 
 raged by free discussion and critical 
 analysis. The eyes of time are sharp and 
 
JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 61 
 
 On Self-Governntent in Louisiana. January /? and 14- 
 
 look through powerful microscopic lenses I upon which General LOGAN, or^any man, 
 and are as quick to discover faults as might safely rest his reputation, his name 
 enemies are to magnify a grain of sand and his fame. 
 
 into a mountain. In order that the readers of this book 
 
 That these speeches were perfection in may form an estimate of General LOGAN as 
 all the elements of diction, eloquence of an orator, we give portions of his speech 
 expression and the inevitably best words at on self-government. 
 all times claimed, could not be expect- Speech of Hon. Jolm A. 
 
 (-. -j 
 
 ed when extemporaneous. Some one said 
 that " no man dare to be reported as the The Senate having under consideration 
 words fell from his lips," and the saying is the resolution submitted by Mr. Schurz 
 a true one. In the heat of debate men are on the 8th of January, directing the Corn- 
 carried beyond the mere "padding" of mittee of the Judiciary to inquire what 
 words by the thought to be enforced, legislation is necessary to secure to the 
 They have in view more the end to be ob- people of the State of Louisiana their rights 
 tained than the leading flowers growing o f Self-government under the Constitution, 
 along the path to it, and in the " torrent, Mr. Logan said : 
 
 tempest, and wind of passion " it is very MR. PRESIDENT : I believe it is consid- 
 hard to " beget a temperance that may give ered the duty of a good sailor to stand by 
 it smoothness." his ship in the midst of a great storm. We 
 
 Strength and truth, we fancy, were have been told in this Chamber that a 
 more the purpose of General LOGAN than great storm of indignation is sweeping 
 any oratorical display, and that he sue- over this land, which will rend asunder 
 ceeded most admirably in these particulars and sink the old Republican craft. We have 
 is beyond dispute. The great majority of listened to denunciations of the President, 
 the press declared : have praised in no of the Republicans in this Chamber, of the 
 measured or feeble terms, and their de- Republican party as an organization, their 
 cision is final as to the future, for " after acts heretofore and their purposes in refer- 
 your death you were better to have a bad ence to acts hereafter, of such a character 
 epitaph than their ill report while you as has seldom been listened to in this or 
 live." in any other legislative hall. Every fact 
 
 Looking at these speeches after the on the side of the Republican party has 
 lapse of time, and when the waves of pas- been perverted, every falsehood on the 
 sion are at rest, there can be but one view part of the opposition has been exagge- 
 taken of them save when some all-con- rated, arguments have been made here 
 trolling interest sways judgment and em- calculated tQ inflame and arouse a certain 
 bitters and warps reason. Setting these class of the people of this country against 
 aside the careful reader will find them brist- the authorities of the Government, based 
 ling with points sharp as a bayonet ; fair in not upon truth but upon manufactured 
 statement and deduction ; free from all of statements which were utterly false. The 
 vulgar personality ; free from it entirely Republican party has been characterized 
 except where the necessity of the case as despotic, as tyrannical, as oppressive. 
 imperatively forces such mention; free from The course of the Administration and the 
 all of low prejudice ; free from intolerant party toward the Southern people has been 
 partisanship ; free from the slightest bias denounced as of the most tyrannical char- 
 of sectionality ; non political; free from acter by men who have received clemency 
 any ad captandum or egotistical ipse dixit at the hands of this same party. 
 style; a bald, even if bold statement of Now, sir, what is the cause of all this 
 fact and circumstance ; the collated testi- vain declamation ? What is the cause of 
 mony of others rather than the opinions all this studied denunciation ? What is the 
 of self ; speeches in defense of the army reason for all these accusations made 
 of the past and sustaining the high code against a party or an administration ? 1 
 in the future ; plain, logical, convincing ; may be mistaken, but, if I am not, this is 
 covering all possible points ; speeches | the commencement of the campaign of 
 
62 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 1876. It has been thought necessary o 
 the part of the opposition Senators here t 
 commence, if I may use a homely phrase 
 a raid upon the Republican party and upo 
 this Administration, and to base that upo 
 false statements in reference to the conduc 
 of affairs in the State of Louisiana. 
 
 I propose in this debate, and I hope 
 shall not be too tedious, though I may b 
 somewhat so to discuss the question tha 
 should be presented to the American peo 
 pie. I propose to discuss that questior 
 fairly, candidly, and truthfully. I propos 
 to discuss it from a just, honest, and lega 
 stand-point. Sir, what is that question 
 There was a resolution offered in thi 
 Chamber calling on the President to fur 
 nish^certain information. A second reso 
 lution was introduced, (whether for the 
 purpose of hanging on it an elaborate 
 speech or not I am not aware,) asking the 
 Committee on the Judiciary to report a 
 once some legislation in reference to 
 Louisiana. Without any facts presentee 
 officially arguments have been made, the 
 country has been aroused, and some peo 
 pie have announced themselves in a man 
 ner calculated to produce a very sore feel 
 ing against the course and conduct of the 
 party in power. I say this is done withou 
 the facts; without any basis whatever 
 without any knowledge officially commu 
 nicated to them in reference to the conduct 
 of any of the parties in the State of Louisi 
 ana. In discussing this question we ought 
 to have a beginning ; some point from 
 which we may all reason and see whether 
 or not any great outrage has been perpe 
 trated against the rights of the American 
 people or any portion of them. 
 
 I then propose to start at this point, that 
 there is a government in the State of Loui 
 siana. Whether that government is a 
 government of right or not is not the ques 
 tion. Is there a government in that State 
 against which treason, insurrection, or re 
 bellion, may be committed ? Is there such 
 a government in the State of Louisiana as 
 should require the maintenance of peace 
 and order among the citizens of that State ? 
 Is there such a government in the State of 
 Louisiana as requires the exercise of Exec 
 utive authority for the purpose of preserv 
 ing peace and order within its borders ? I 
 
 ask any Senator on this floor to-day if he 
 can stand up here as a lawyer, as a Sena 
 tor, as an honest man, aud deny the fact 
 that a government does exist? Whether 
 he calls it a government de jure or a gov 
 ernment de facto, it is immaterial. It is 
 such an organization as involves the lib 
 erties and the protection of the rights of 
 the people of that State. It will not do for 
 Senators to talk about the election of 1872. 
 The election of 1872 has. no more to do 
 with this " military usurpation " that you 
 speak of to-day than an election of a hun 
 dred years ago. It is not a question as to 
 whether this man or that was elected. The 
 question is, is there such a government 
 there as can be overturned, and has there 
 been an attempt to overturn it? If so, then 
 what is required to preserve its status or 
 preserve the peace and order of the peo 
 ple ? 
 
 But the other day when I asked the 
 question of a Senator on the other side, 
 who was discussing this question, whether 
 or not he endorsed the Penn rebellion, he 
 answered me in a playful manner that 
 excited the mirth of people who did not 
 understand the question, by saying that I 
 had decided that there was no election, 
 and that therefore there was no govern 
 ment to overturn. Now I ask Senators, I 
 ask men of common understanding if that 
 s the way to treat a question of this kind ; 
 when asked whether insurrection against 
 a government recognized is not an insur 
 rection and whether he endorses it, he 
 ays there is no government to overturn, 
 f there is no government to overturn, 
 why do you make this noise and confusion 
 about a Legislature there ? If there is 
 10 State Government, there is no State 
 Legislature. But I will not answer in 
 hat manner. I will not avoid the issue ; 
 will not evade the question. I answer 
 here is a Legislature, as there is a State 
 Government, recognized by the President, 
 ecoguized by the Legislature, recognized 
 y the courts, recognized by one.branch of 
 Congress, and recognized by the majority 
 f the citizens by their recognition of the 
 aws of the State; and it will not do to 
 ndertake to avoid questions in this 
 nanner. 
 Let us see, then, starting from that stand- 
 
JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 point, what the position of Louisiana is 
 now, and what it has been. On the I4th 
 day of September last a man by the name 
 of Penn, as to whom we have official in 
 formation this morning, with some seven 
 or ten thousand white-leaguers made war 
 against that government, overturned it, dis 
 persed it, drove the governor from the ex 
 ecutive chamber, and he had to take refuge 
 under the jurisdiction of the Government 
 of the United States, on the soil occupied 
 by the United States custom-house, where 
 the exclusive jurisdiction of the United 
 States Government extends, for the purpose 
 of protecting his own life. 
 
 This then was a revolution ; this then 
 was a rebellion ; this then was treason 
 against the State, for which these men 
 should have been arrested, tried, and pun 
 ished. Let gentlemen dodge the question 
 as they may ; it may be well for some men 
 there who engaged in this treasonable act 
 against the government that they had Mr. 
 Kellogg for governor. It might not have 
 been so well for them, perhaps, had there 
 been some other man in his place. I tell 
 the Senator from Maryland if any crowd 
 of armed men should undertake to disperse 
 the government of the State of Illinois, 
 drive its governor from the executive 
 chamber, enter into his private drawers, 
 take his private letters, and publish them, 
 and act as those men did, some of them 
 would pay the penalty either in the peni 
 tentiary or by dancing at the end of a rope. 
 
 But when this rebellion was going on 
 against that State, these gentlemen say it 
 was a State affair ; the Government of the 
 United States has nothing to do with it ! 
 That is the old-fashioned secession doctrine 
 again. The government of the United 
 States has nothing to do with it ! This 
 national government is made up of States, 
 and each State is a part of the Government, 
 each is a part of its life, of its body. It 
 takes them all to make up the whole ; and 
 treason against any part of it is treason 
 against the whole of it, and it became the 
 duty of the President to put it down, as he 
 did do ; and, in putting down that treason 
 against the Kellogg government, the whole 
 country almost responded favorably to his 
 action. 
 
 But our friend from Maryland, not in 
 
 his seat now, [Mr. Hamilton] said that 
 that was part of the cause of the elections 
 going as they did. In other words, my 
 friend from Maryland undertook in a round 
 about way to endorse the Penn rebellion, 
 and claim that people of the country did 
 the same thing against the government of 
 the State of Louisiana, and on this floor 
 since the discussion has been going on, 
 not one Senator on that side of the cham 
 ber has lisped one word against the rebel 
 lion against the government of the State 
 of Louisiana, and all who have spoken of 
 it have passed it by in silence so as to indi 
 cate clearly that they endorse it, and I be 
 lieve they do. 
 
 Then, going further, the President issued 
 his proclamation requiring those insurgents 
 to lay down their arms and to resume their 
 peaceful pursuits. This morning we have 
 heard read at the clerk's desk that these 
 men have not yet complied fully with that 
 proclamation. Their rebellious organiza 
 tion continued up to the time of the elec 
 tion and at the election. When the elec 
 tion took place, we are told by some of 
 these Senators that the election was a 
 peaceable, and a fair election, that a major 
 ity of democrats were elected. That is the 
 question we propose to discuss as well as 
 we are able to do it. They tell us that 
 there was no intimidation resorted to by 
 any one in the State of Louisiana. I dis 
 like very much to follow out these state 
 ments that are not true and attempt to 
 controvert them because it does seem to 
 me that we ought to act fairly and candidly 
 in this Chamber and discuss questions 
 without trying to pervert the issue or the 
 facts in connection with it. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Now, Mr. President, I want to ask can 
 did, honest, fair-minded men, after read 
 ing the report of General Sheridan show 
 ing the murder, not for gain, not for 
 plunder, but for political opinions in the 
 last few years of thirty-five hundred per 
 sons in the State of Louisiana, all of them 
 republicans, not one of them a democrat 
 I want to ask if they can stand here be 
 fore this country and defend the democratic 
 party of Louisiana? I put this question to 
 them for they have been here for days 
 crying against the wrongs upon the demo- 
 
64 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 cracy of Louisiana. I want any one of 
 them to tell me if he is prepared to defend 
 the democracy of Louisiana. What is 
 your democracy of Louisiana? You are 
 excited, your extreme wrath is aroused at 
 General Sheridan because he called your 
 White Leagues down there "banditti." I 
 ask you if the murder of thirty-five hun 
 dred men in a short time for political 
 purposes by a band of men banded to 
 gether for the purpose of murder does not 
 make them banditti, what it does make 
 them? Does it make them democrats? 
 It certainly does not make them republi 
 cans. Does it make them honest men ? 
 It certainly does not. Does it make them 
 law-abiding men ? It certainly does not. 
 Does it make them peaceable citizens ? It 
 certainly does not. But what does it make 
 them ? A band of men banded together 
 and perpetrating murder in their own 
 State ? Webster says a bandit is " a law 
 less or desperate fellow ; a robber ; a bri 
 gand/' and "banditti" are men banded 
 together for plunder and murder ; and what 
 are your White Leagues banded together for 
 if the result proves that they are banded to 
 gether for murder for political purposes ? 
 O, what a crime it was in Sheridan to 
 say that these men were banditti ! He is a 
 wretch. From the papers he ought to be 
 hanged to a lamp-post ; from the Senators 
 he is not fit to breathe the free air of hea 
 ven or of this free Republic ; but your 
 murderers of thirty-five hundred people for 
 political offenses are fit to breathe the air 
 of this country and are defended on this 
 floor to-day, and they are defended here 
 by the democratic party, and you cannot 
 avoid or escape the proposition. You have 
 denounced republicans for trying to keep 
 the peace in Louisiana; you have de 
 nounced the Administration for trying to 
 suppress bloodshed in Louisiana ; you have 
 denounced all for the same purpose ; but 
 not one word has fallen from the lips of a 
 solitary democratic Senator denouncing 
 these wholesale murders in Louisiana. 
 You have said, " I am sorry these things 
 are done," but have defended the White 
 Leagues ; you have defended Penn ; you 
 have defended rebellion ; and you stand 
 here to-day the apologists of murder, of 
 rebellion, and of treason in that State. 
 
 I want to ask the judgment of an honest 
 country, I want to ask the judgment of the 
 moral sentiments of the law-abiding people 
 of this grand and glorious Republic to tell 
 me wkether men shall murder by the score, 
 whether men shall trample the law under 
 foot, whether men shall force judges to re 
 sign, whether men shall force prosecuting 
 attorneys to resign, whether men shall take 
 five officers of a State out and hang or shoot 
 them if they attempt to. exercise the func 
 tions of their office, whether men shall ter 
 rify the voters and office-holders of a 
 State, whether men shall undertake in vio 
 lation of law to organize a Legislature for 
 revolutionary purposes, for the purpose of 
 putting a governor in possession and tak 
 ing possession of the State and then ask the 
 democracy to stand by them I appeal to 
 the honest judgment of the people of this 
 land and ask them to respond whether this 
 was not an excusable case when this man 
 used the Army to protect the life of that 
 State and to preserve the peace of that 
 people ? Sir, the man who will not use all 
 the means in his power to preserve the na 
 tionality, the integrity of this Government, 
 the integrity of a State or the peace and 
 happiness of a people, is not fit to govern, 
 he is not fit to hold position in this or any 
 other civilized age. 
 
 Does liberty mean wholesale slaughter ? 
 Does republican government mean tyranny 
 and oppression of its citizens ? Does an 
 intelligent and enlightened age of civiliza 
 tion mean murder and pillage, bloodshed 
 at the hands of Ku-Klux or White Leagues 
 or anybody else, and if any one attempts 
 to put it down, attempts to reorganize and 
 produce order where chaos and confusion 
 have reigned, are they to be denounced as 
 tyrants, as oppressors, and as acting against 
 republican institutions ? I say then the 
 happy days of this Republic are gone. 
 When we fail to see that republicanism 
 means nothing, that liberty means nothing 
 but the unrestrained license of the mobs to 
 do as they please, then republican govern 
 ment is a failure. Liberty of the citizen 
 means the right to exercise such rights as 
 are prescribed within the limits of the law 
 so that he does not in the exercise of these 
 rights infringe the rights of other citizens. 
 But the definition is not well made by our 
 
JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 65 
 
 friends on the opposite side of this Cham 
 ber. Their idea of liberty is license ; it is 
 not liberty, but it is license. License to do 
 what ? License to violate law, to trample 
 constitutions under foot, to take life, to 
 take property, to use the bludgeon and the 
 gun or anything else for the purpose of 
 giving themselves power. What statesman 
 ever heard of that as a definition of liberty ? 
 Whatman in a civilized age has ever heard 
 of liberty being the unrestrained license of 
 the people to do as they please without any 
 restraint of law or of authority ? No man, 
 no not one until we found the democratic 
 party, would advocate this proposition and 
 endorse and encourage this kind of license 
 in a free country. 
 
 Mr. President, I have perhaps said more 
 on this question of Louisiana than might 
 have been well for me to say on account of 
 my strength, but what 1 have said about it 
 1 have said because 1 honestly believed it. 
 What 1 have said in reference to it comes 
 from an honest conviction in my mind and 
 in my heart of what has been done to sup 
 press violence and wrong. But I have a 
 few remarks in conclusion to submit now 
 to my friends on the other side, in answer 
 to what they have said not by way of ar 
 gument but by way of accusation. You 
 say to us I had it repeated to me this 
 morning in private conversation "With 
 draw your troops from Louisiana and you 
 will have peace." Ah, I heard it said on 
 this floor once " Withdraw your troops 
 from Louisiana and your State government 
 will not last a minute." I heard that said 
 from the opposite side of the Chamber, and 
 now you say "Withdraw your troops from 
 Louisiana and you will have peace." 
 
 Mr. President, 1 dislike to refer to things 
 that are past and gone; I dislike to have 
 my mind called back to things of the past ; 
 but 1 well remember the voice in this 
 Chamber once that rang out and was heard 
 throughout tnis land, " Withdraw your 
 troops from Fort Sumter if you want 
 peace." I heard that said. Now it is 
 "Withdraw your troops from Louisiana 
 if you want peace. 1 ' Yes, I say, withdraw 
 your troops from Louisiana if you want a 
 revolution, and that is what is meant. 
 But, sir, we are told, and doubtless it is be 
 lieved by the Senators who tell us so, who 
 
 denounce the republican party, that it is 
 tyrannical, oppressive, and outrageous. 
 They have argued themselves into the idea 
 that they are patriots, pure and undefiled. 
 They have argued themselves into the idea 
 that the democratic party never did any 
 wrong. They have been out of power so 
 long that they have convinced themselves 
 that if they only had control of this coun 
 try for a short time, what a glorious coun 
 try they would make it. They had control 
 for nearly forty long years, and while they 
 were the agents of this country I appeal 
 to history to bear me out they made the 
 Government a bankrupt, with rebellion 
 and treason in the land, and were then 
 sympathizing with it wherever it existed. 
 That is the condition in which they left 
 the country when they had it in their pos 
 session and within their control. But they 
 say the republican party is a tyrant ; that 
 it is oppressive. As I have said, I wish to 
 make a few suggestions to my friends in 
 answer to this accusation oppressive to 
 whom? They say to the South, that the 
 republican party has tyrannized over the 
 South. Let me ask you how has it tyran 
 nized over the South ? Without speaking 
 of our troubles and trials through which 
 we passed, I will say this : at the end of a 
 rebellion that scourged this land, that 
 drenched it with blood, that devastated a 
 portion of it, left us in debt and almost 
 bankrupt, what did the republican party 
 do ? Instead of leaving these our friends 
 and citizens to-day in a territorial condi 
 tion where we might exercise jurisdiction 
 over them for the next coming twenty 
 years, where we might have deprived them 
 of the rights of members on this floor, 
 what did we do ? We reorganized them 
 into States, admitted them back into the 
 Union, and through the clemency of the 
 republican party we admitted representa 
 tives on this floor who had thundered 
 against the gates of liberty for four bloody 
 years. Is that the tyranny and oppression 
 of which you complain at the hands of the 
 republican party ? Is that a part of our op 
 pression against you southern people ? 
 
 Let us go a little further. When the 
 armed democracy, for that is what they 
 were, laid down their arms in the Southern 
 States, after disputing the right of freedom 
 
66 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 and liberty in this land for four years, how 
 did the republican party show itself in its 
 acts of tyranny and oppression toward 
 you ? You appealed to them for clemency. 
 Did you get it ? Not a man was punished 
 for his treason. Not a man ever knocked 
 at the doors of a republican Congress for a 
 pardon who did not get it. Not a man 
 ever petitioned the generosity of the repub 
 lican party to be excused for his crimes 
 who was not excused. Was that oppres 
 sion upon the part of the republicans in 
 this land ? Is that a part of the oppression 
 of which you accuse us ? 
 
 Let us look a little further. We find to 
 day twenty-seven democratic Representa 
 tives in the other branch of Congress who 
 took arms in their hands and tried to de 
 stroy this Government holding commis 
 sions there by the clemency of the repub 
 lican party. We find in this chamber by 
 the clemency of the republican party three 
 Senators who held such commissions. Is 
 that tyranny ; is that oppression ; is that 
 the outrage of this republican party on you 
 southern people ? Sir, when Jeff. Davis, the 
 head of the great rebellion, who roams the 
 land free as air, North, South, East, and 
 West, makes democratic speeches when 
 ever invited, and the vice-president of the 
 southern rebellion holds his seat in the 
 other House of Congress, are we to be told 
 that we are tyrants, and oppressing the 
 southern people ? These things may sound 
 a little harsh/but it is time to tell the truth 
 in this country. The time has come to 
 talk facts. The time has come when 
 cowards should hide, and the honest men 
 should come to the front and tell you plain, 
 honest truths. You of the South talk to 
 us about oppressing you. You drenched 
 your land in blood, caused weeping 
 throughout this vast domain, covered the 
 land in weeds of mourning both North and 
 South, widowed thousands and orphaned 
 many, made the pension-roll as "long as an 
 army-list, made the debt that grinds the 
 poor of this land for all these things you 
 have been pardoned, and yet you talk to 
 us about oppression. So much for the op 
 pression of the republican party of your 
 patriotic souls and selves. Next comes the 
 President of the United States. He is a 
 tyrant, too. He is an oppressor still, in 
 
 conjunction with the republican party. 
 Oppressor of what ? Who has he oppressed 
 of your Southern people, and when, and 
 where ? When your Ku-Klux, banded to 
 gether for murder and plunder in the 
 Southern States, were convicted by their 
 own confession, your own representatives 
 pleaded to the President and said : " Give 
 them pardon, and it will reconcile many 
 of the southern people." The President 
 pardoned them ; pardoned them of their 
 murder, of their plunder, of their piracy 
 on land ; and for this I suppose he is a 
 tyrant. 
 
 More than that, sir, this tyrant in the 
 White House has done more for you south 
 ern people than you ought to have asked 
 him to do. He has had confidence in you 
 until you betrayed that confidence. He 
 has not only pardoned the offenses of the 
 South, pardoned the criminals of the dem 
 ocratic party, but he has placed in high 
 official position in this Union some of the 
 leading men who fought in the rebellion. 
 He has put in his Cabinet one of your 
 men; he has made governors of Territories 
 of some of your leading men who fought 
 in the rebellion ; he has sent on foreign 
 missions abroad some of your men who 
 warred against this country ; he has placed 
 others in the Departments ; and has tried 
 to reconcile you in every way on earth, by 
 appealing to your people, by recognizing 
 them and forgiving them for their offenses, 
 and for these acts of generosity, for these 
 acts of kindness he is arraigned to-day as 
 a Caesar, as a tyrant, as an oppressor. 
 
 Such kindness in return as the Presi 
 dent has received from these people will 
 mark itself in the history of generosity. O, 
 but say they, Grant wants to oppress the 
 White Leagues in Louisiana ; therefore 
 he is an oppressor. Yes, Mr. President, 
 Grant does desire that these men should 
 quit their every-day chivalric sports of 
 gunning upon negroes and republicans. 
 He asks kindly that you stop it. He says 
 to you, " That is all I want you to do ; " and 
 you say that you are desirous that they 
 shall quit it. You have but to say it and 
 they will quit it. It is because you have 
 never said it that they have not quit it. It 
 is in the power of the democratic party 
 to-day but to speak in tones of majesty, of 
 
JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 67 
 
 honor, of justice in faver of human life, 
 and your Ku-Klux and murders will 
 stop. But you do not do it ; and that is 
 the reason they do not stop. In States 
 where it has been done they have stopped. 
 But it will not do to oppress those people ; 
 it will not do to make them submit and 
 subject them to the law ; it will not do to 
 stop these gentlemen in their daily sports 
 and in their lively recreations. They are 
 White Leagues ; they are banded together 
 as gentlemen ; they are of southern blood ; 
 they are of old southern stock ; they are 
 the chivalry of days gone by; they are 
 knights of the bloody shield; and the 
 shield must not be taken from them. Sirs, 
 their shield will be taken from them ; this 
 country will be aroused to its danger ; this 
 country will be aroused to do justice to its 
 citizens ; and when it does, the perpetra 
 tors of crime may fear and tremble. Tyr 
 anny and oppression ! A people who 
 without one word of opposition allow men 
 who have been the enemies of a govern 
 ment to come into these legislative hall 
 and make laws for that government to be 
 told that they are oppressors is a monstro 
 sity in declamation and assertion. Who 
 ever heard of such a thing before ? Who 
 ever believed that such men could make 
 such charges ? Yet we are tyrants ! 
 
 Mr. President, the reading of the title of 
 that bill from the House only reminds me 
 of more acts of tyranny and oppression ol 
 the republican party, and there is a contin 
 uation of the same great offenses constantly 
 going on in this Chamber. But some may 
 say, " It is strange to see Logan defending 
 the President of the United States." It is not 
 strange to me. I can disagree with the 
 President when I think he is wrong ; I do 
 not blame him for disagreeing with me 
 but when these attacks are made, coming 
 from where they do, I am ready to stanc 
 from the rising sun in the morning to the 
 setting sun in the evening, to defend every 
 act of his in connection with this matter 
 before us. 
 
 I may have disagreed with Presiden 
 Grant in many things ; but I was calling 
 attention to the men who have been ac 
 cusing him here, on this floor, on th( 
 stump, and in the other House ; the kinc 
 of men who do it, the manner of its doing 
 
 he sharpness of the shafts that are sent at 
 lim, the poisonous barbs that they bear 
 with them, and from these men who, at 
 lis hands, have received more clemency 
 han any men ever received at the hands 
 of any President or any man who governed 
 a country. Why, sir, I will appeal to the 
 soldiers of the rebel army to testify in be 
 half of what I say in defense of President 
 rant the honorable men who fought 
 against the country, if there was honor in 
 doing it. What will be their testimony ? 
 It will be that he captured your armed de 
 mocracy of the South, he treated them 
 kindly, turned them loose, with their pro 
 visions ; treated them as men and not as 
 pirates. Grant built no prison-pens for 
 the southern solders; Grant provided no 
 starvation for southern men ; Grant pro 
 vided no " dead-lines" upon which to 
 shoot southern soldiers if they crossed 
 them ; Grant provided no outrageous pun 
 ishment against these people that now call 
 him a tyrant. Generous to a fault in all 
 his actions toward the men who were fight 
 ing his country and destroying the consti 
 tution, that man to-day is denounced as a 
 very Caesar. 
 
 Sherman has not been denounced, but 
 the only reason is that he was not one of 
 the actors in this transaction ; but I want 
 now to say to my friends on the other side, 
 especially to my friend from Delaware, 
 who repeated his bitter denunciation 
 against Sheridan yesterday and I say this 
 in all kindness, because I am speaking 
 what future history will bear me out in 
 when Sheridan and Grant and Sherman, 
 and others like them are forgotten in this 
 country, you will have no country. When 
 the democratic party is rotten for centu 
 ries in its grave, the life, the course, the 
 conduct of these men will live as bright as 
 the noonday sun in the heart of every pa 
 triot of a republic like the American Union. 
 Sirs, you may talk about tyranny, you may 
 talk about oppression, you may denounce 
 these men ; their glory may fade into the 
 darkness of night ; but that darkness will 
 be a brilliant light compared with the 
 darkness of the democratic party. Their 
 pathway is illuminated by glory ; yours by 
 dark deeds against the Government. That 
 is a difference which the country will 
 
68 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 bear witness to in future history when 
 speaking of the country and the actors on 
 its stage. 
 
 Now Mr. President, I have a word to 
 say about our duty. A great many people 
 are asking, what shall we do ? Plain and 
 simple in my judgment is the proposition. 
 I say to republicans, do not be scared. No 
 man is ever hurt by doing an honest act 
 and performing a patriotic duty. If we 
 are to have a war of words outside or in 
 side, let us have them in truth and sober 
 ness, but in earnest. What then is our 
 duty? I did not believe that in 1872 there 
 were official data upon which we could de 
 cide who was elected governor of Louisi 
 ana. But this is not the point of my argu 
 ment. It is that the President has recog 
 nized Kellogg as governor of that State, and 
 he has acted for two years. The Legisla 
 ture of the State has recognized him ; the 
 supreme court of the State has recognized 
 him ; one branch of Congress has recog 
 nized him. The duty is plain, and that is 
 for this, the other branch of Congress, to 
 do it, and that settles the question. Then, 
 when it does it, your duty is plain and 
 simple, and as the President has told you, 
 he will perform his without fear, favor, or 
 affection. Recognize the government that 
 revolution has been against and intended 
 to overthrow, and leave the President to 
 his duty, and he will do it. That is what 
 to do. 
 
 Sir, we have been told that this old craft 
 is rapidly going to pieces; that the angry 
 waves of dissension in the land are lash 
 ing against her sides. We are told that 
 she is sinking, sinking, sinking to the bot 
 tom of the political ocean. Is that true ? 
 . Is it true that this gallant old party, that 
 this gallant old ship that has sailed through 
 troubled seas before is going to be stranded 
 now upon the rock of fury that has been 
 set up by a clamor in this Chamber and a 
 few newspapers in the country ? Is it true 
 that the party that saved this country in 
 all its great crises, in all its great trials, is 
 sinking to-day on account of its fear and 
 trembling before an inferior enemy? I 
 hope not. I remember, sir, once I was 
 toM that the old Republican ship was 
 gone ; but when I steadied myself on the 
 shores bounding the political ocean of 
 
 strife and commotion, I looked afar off 
 and there I could see a vessel bounding 
 the boisterous billows with white sails 
 unfurled, marked on her sides " Freighted 
 with the hopes of mankind," while the 
 great Mariner above, as her helmsman, 
 steered her, navigated her to a haven of 
 rest, of peace, and of safety. You have 
 but to look again upon that broad ocean 
 of political commotion to-day, and the 
 time will soon come when the same old 
 craft, provided with the same cargo, will 
 be seen, flying the same flag, passing 
 through these tempestuous waves, anchor 
 ing herself at the shores of honesty and 
 justice, and there she will lie undisturbed 
 by strife and tumult, again in peace and 
 safety. [Manifestations of applause in the 
 galleries.] 
 
 He attends to more wants of individuals 
 than any man ever in Congress. This is 
 emphatically and especially true with re 
 gard to soldiers. Their cause is his cause ; 
 their wants his wants ; their just recogni 
 tion and reward his constant battle. From 
 every section of the country, from Maine 
 to Mississippi ; from the shores of the 
 Atlantic to those of the Pacific ; from 
 every state in a Union undivided come 
 letters to him from those who wore the 
 blue and those who wore the gray, and 
 none are ever rejected. He is too mag 
 nanimous to permit anything of the past 
 to influence his mind or his charity ; his 
 love of his race is too catholic and broad 
 to be swayed by the recollections of 
 former years ; he was and is too much a 
 good soldier not to respect bravery in 
 others ; too much of a man to harbor 
 anything of revenge or become narrow- 
 minded by prejudice or petty malice. It 
 sometimes his soul is permitted to speak 
 through his lips when justice and duty 
 require, back of it beats a warm and re 
 sponsive heart, and no one, friend or foe, 
 ever appealed to him in vain, for in his 
 composition the elements that mark the 
 North and the South are strongly blended 
 the inflexible honesty and icy firmness 
 of the one, with the chivalry, the fiery 
 warmth and the open-handed generosity 
 of the other. 
 
 Logan's Domestic Life. 
 
 General Logan resides in Washington, 
 
JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 on Twelfth street, where he entertains his 
 friends in excellent style, and his hos 
 pitality is well known by the people of the 
 Capital. In his domestic relations General 
 Logan has been one of the most happy 
 and fortunate of men. In 1855 he married 
 Miss Mary Cunningham, of Shawneetown, 
 111., and she has proved a most valuable 
 helpmeet. There is no woman in public 
 life who possesses more admirable traits 
 than Mrs. Logan, and, what is unusual, 
 her popularity with her own sex is quite 
 as great as with the other. She has two 
 children, a daughter, who is the wife of 
 Paymaster Tucker, of the army, now 
 stationed at Santa Fe, and a son, Manning, 
 who is a cadet at West Point, having in 
 herited his father's military ambition. 
 Both of them have been educated by her, 
 or under her personal supervision. They 
 appear to have inherited the excellent 
 qualities of both parents, and they have 
 had the best of parental instruction. 
 
 The country owes General Logan a debt 
 of gratitude for his valuable services in 
 the army, which it can never cancel. No 
 man stood out more boldly in the field 
 and in the national councils for the preser 
 vation of the Union, than he. The war 
 had broken the last ties that bound him 
 to party, and the first flash of the enemy's 
 guns found him side by side with Lincoln, 
 and ready to devote himself on field or 
 forum to his country. With him there 
 was no middle ground, no compromise, 
 no recognition of those in rebellion against 
 the country he was for the Union under 
 all circumstances, at all hazards, and at 
 whatever cost of blood and treasure. If 
 the government was worth living for it 
 was worth dying for, and so he supple 
 mented his worth as a statesman, by his 
 value as a soldier. It should be remem 
 bered that he did not wait for distinction 
 or title, or rank as a defender of his coun 
 try ; he did not wait until he could ascer 
 tain if there were sufficient men without 
 him, but he shouldered his musket as a 
 private soldier, and took his place in the 
 ranks. He sought no favored position 
 where he could escape danger and share 
 the honors of the field without encounter 
 ing its dangers, for his bravery was 
 coequal with his patriotism. Instances 
 
 are so rare where men voluntarily leave 
 positions of honor, dignity, and security 
 for those of privation and danger, that 
 this act stands out in bold relief, stamping 
 him with the diadem of true greatness. 
 
 It was no wonder, therefore, that a rep 
 resentative body of the Republican party 
 should give him recognition, and that he 
 should have such a respectable following 
 for the first place on the ticket, a special 
 compliment, when one with the brilliant 
 genius and forensic power of Elaine was 
 named for the place. To poll almost one- 
 fourth of the votes in the convention, 
 showed that he had a following in the 
 nation of which any man might justly be 
 proud. To be preferred to James G. Elaine 
 was no empty compliment, and he could 
 in no way better show his appreciation of 
 it than by joining his forces with the 
 "Plumed Knight" and giving him the 
 victory. It was the result of no bargain 
 and sale ; it was the commendable act of 
 one great man aiding in the elevation of 
 the other. He had shown the same hon 
 orable and fraternal feeling when he 
 brought to General Garfield in the last 
 campaign, and a mention of the concila- 
 tory attitude which he maintained in re 
 spect to the complications of the brief Gar- 
 field administration. Reviewing his career 
 the writer notes these additional elements 
 of strength : Senator Logan's hands are 
 absolutely clean ; his public record is 
 consistent and unassailable ; his personal 
 magnetism would evoke great enthusiasm 
 and draw back to the party a host of old 
 Douglas War Democrats ; his Irish blood 
 would win Irish votes ; his simple, sturdy 
 character and his efforts for the distribu 
 tion of the surplus revenue make him 
 strong with the laboring classes ; his advo 
 cacy of the interests of the Mississippi 
 Valley has given him great popularity in 
 that section; and the colored people know 
 that he would find a way under the Con 
 stitution and the laws to protect them in 
 their political and civil rights. 
 
 The Convention appreciated this act of 
 General Logan. It had the true ring of a 
 true man, and without regard to their pre 
 ferences in the selection of a candidate 
 for President, they almost unanimously 
 resolved that he should take his place on 
 
70 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 the ticket beside Mr. Elaine. The ticket 
 had a magnetic head, and the delegates 
 resolved that it should be magnetic 
 throughout. Logan's name was no sooner 
 mentioned for the place than it spread 
 like wildfire ^ through the building. In a 
 moment his nomination was a foregone 
 conclusion, and amidst the booming of 
 cannon, the screeching of rockets and 
 the shouts of the enthused multitude, the 
 " BLACJK. EAGLE of Illinois" was added to 
 the ticket headed by the " PLUMED KNIGHT 
 of Maine." 
 
 " In the words of a comrade : It is not less 
 in General Logan than in Mr. Elaine truly 
 a representative ticket. The candidate for 
 Vice President is an ideal soldier and a 
 statesman universally respected. He is a 
 plain, straightforward man, beloved by the 
 great army of heroes who survived the war 
 of the Rebellion and who honor him for his 
 courage and brilliancy in the field as the 
 country honors him for the long and dis 
 tinguished service he has rendered it 
 in its Senate. General Logan will 
 rally to the support of the ticket, 
 
 with old-time enthusiasm and ear 
 nestness, the soldiers, who will now have 
 a chance to vote for the man they fought 
 with, and who they remember as one who 
 never turned his back on the enemy, and 
 who never lost a battle. General Logan 
 owes all that he is to his own industry, 
 courage and ambition. He has worked his 
 way upward to the highest honors and use 
 fulness unaided. He planned, laid the 
 foundation and builded his own fortunes, 
 and is a conspicuous example of the sturdy 
 American growth of men. His nomination 
 was recognized to be so fit as to cause it to 
 be made by acclamation. With equal una 
 nimity will Republicans vote for him. The 
 great campaign has been opened, and, with 
 such leaders as Elaine of the East and 
 Logan of the West, the way to victory is 
 made level and straight to the Republican 
 
 party. 
 
 The continuous chain of victories that 
 have marked his course in the past will 
 add another shining link when Novem 
 ber's battle shall have closed in triumph. 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF CHICAGO CONVENTION, 1884. 
 
 Meeting of the National Republican Com 
 mittee. 
 
 The National Republican Committee 
 met pursuant to adjournment at Chicago, 
 June 2, 1884, and selected a temporary 
 Chairman to present to the Convention. 
 
 Mr. Morey, of Louisiana, nominated Gen 
 eral Powell Clayton, of Arkansas. 
 
 Mr. Runnells, of Iowa, nominated Sen 
 ator Hoar, of Massachusetts. 
 
 Mr. Stone, of Michigan, nominated Con 
 gressman Horr. 
 
 Mr. Magee, of Pennsylvania, nominated 
 Hon. Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 The vote by States and Territories, 
 stood as follows : For Clayton Califor 
 nia, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, 
 Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, 
 Ohio, Oregon, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Mis 
 sissippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South 
 Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Arizo 
 na, Dakota, Idaho, Montana, New Mexi 
 co, Utah, Washington and Wyoming 27. 
 
 For Senator Hoar Alabama, Connecti 
 cut, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, 
 Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New 
 Hampshire, Vermont and the District of 
 Columbia 13. 
 
 For Congressman Horr Arkansas and 
 Michigan 2. 
 
 For Galusha A. Grow Delaware and 
 Pennsylvania 2. 
 
 The members of the Committee from 
 Georgia, Tennessee and Texas were absent. 
 
 Mr. Clayton, having received a major 
 ity of all the votes, was declared elected. 
 
 Proceeding* of the National Republican 
 Convention, at CMiicugo. 
 
 The National Republican Convention 
 was called to order at 12 25 p.m., June 3, 
 1884, by Linked States Senator Sabin, 
 Chairman of the National Committee of 
 Minnesota. 
 
 After prayer by Rev. F. Bristol, of Chi 
 cago, the call for the Convention was 
 read, when the Chairman addressed the 
 Convention as follows : 
 
 GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION : On 
 behalf of the National Republican Com 
 mittee, permit me to Welcome you to Chi 
 cago. As chairman of that Committee it 
 is both my duty and pleasure to call you 
 to order as a National Republican Con 
 vention. This city, already known as the 
 "City of Conventions," is among the 
 most cherished of all the spots of our 
 country sacred to the memories of a 
 Republican. It is the birthplace of Re 
 publican victory. On these fields of labor 
 gathered the early fathers of our political 
 faith, and planned the great battle for the 
 preservation of the Union. [Applause.] 
 Here they chose that immortal chief that 
 led us on to victory Abraham Lincoln. 
 [Applause.] Here were gathered in coun 
 sel those gifted men who secured the 
 fruits of that long trouble by elevating to 
 the first place in the nation the foremost 
 chieftain of that great contest General 
 Grant. [Loud applause] Here was 
 afterward witnessed that signal triumph 
 which anticipated the wish of the nation 
 by nominating as color-bearer of the 
 party that honored soldier, that shining 
 citizen, that representative American 
 James A. Garfield. [Loud applause.] 
 Every deliberation of Republican forces 
 on this historic ground has been followed 
 by signal victory, and every convention 
 on this spot has carried forward our line 
 of battle, and to-day our forces overlook 
 every position of the enemy. Indeed, so 
 secure now is the integrity of the Union, 
 so firmly imbedded in the Constitution 
 and laws of the land are the safeguards of 
 individual liberty so fairly and fully 
 achieved, that by general consent the 
 time has now arrived for the new disposi 
 tion of party forces in contemplation of 
 new lines of operation. 
 
 Having compassed the defeat of our op 
 ponents on all former occasions, the party 
 is about to set its house in order and take 
 counsel as to the direction and the 
 management of its future course. In the 
 comparative lull of party strife which dis 
 tinguishes the present condition of Nation 
 al politics there is discernible an increas- 
 
 71 
 
72 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF CONVENTION. 
 
 ing disposition to look after the men who 
 are to execute, and the methods that are 
 to guide them in the execution of the 
 powers committed to them for the manage 
 ment of the affairs of the Republic. As a 
 result of the rule adopted in the last Na 
 tional Republican Convention, this Con 
 vention finds itself constituted bv a large 
 majority of gentlemen who have been 
 clothed with the delegated powers of the 
 conventions in their several Congressional 
 Districts. On this consideration may be 
 grounded a hope that the voice of the peo 
 ple [applause] will beyond recent prece 
 dent .be felt in moulding the work you are 
 assembled to perform, so that its results 
 may be such as' to win the unhesitating 
 and undivided support of every lover of 
 those principles by which the party has 
 heretgfore triumphed and yet will triumph. 
 [Applause]. When we consider the me 
 mories of the past, so intimately connected 
 with this city, and even with this edifice 
 which the people of Chicago have so gene 
 rously placed at our disposal : when we 
 reflect upon the deep-seated concern 
 among all people in the result of your de 
 liberations and the various incentives to 
 the abandonment of personal ambitions in 
 the interest of the party welfare, you can 
 not wonder that the Committee, and be 
 yond it the great Republican masses, ex 
 tend you a most hearty welcome to this 
 scene of labor, in the constant hope that 
 your efforts will result in such an exposi 
 tion of Republican doctrine and disclose 
 such a just appreciation of Republican 
 men in the choice of your nominees as to 
 rejoice the hearts of your constituents and 
 keep victory on the side of your ever-vic 
 torious banner. 
 
 In conclusion, at the request of the Na 
 tional Republican Committee, I have to 
 propose to you as temporary chairman of 
 this convention, the Hon. Powell Clayton, 
 of Arkansas. [Loud applause.] 
 
 The nomination of General Clayton 
 gave rise to an animated discussion, and 
 Mr. Lodge, of Massachusetts, nominated 
 JOHN R. Lynch of Mississippi, closing his 
 remarks as follows : 
 
 With no view of introducing any per 
 sonal contest, win no view of attempting 
 to make any test of the votes as to the 
 strength of the respective candidates, I 
 have the honor to move, as it is certainly 
 most desirable that we should recognize, 
 as you have done, Mr. Chairman, the 
 
 Republicans of the South [applause], I 
 therefore desire to present the name of a 
 gentleman well known throughout the 
 South for his conspicuous parliamentary 
 ability, for his courage and his character. 
 I move you, Mr. Chairman, to substitute 
 the name of the Hon. John R. Lynch, of 
 Mississippi, and I ask, sir, that when the 
 vote is taken the roll may be called on 
 that question. 
 
 A lengthy debate followed the presenta 
 tion of the name of Mr. Lvnch in opposi 
 tion to the nominee of the National Com 
 mittee. The friends of General Clayton 
 insisted that it had been the unbroken 
 rule for the Convention to accept the per 
 son presented by the committee, and that 
 no good reason existed for departing from 
 the established custom, when the advo 
 cates of Mr. Lynch contended that the 
 Convention had not only the right, but 
 was the proper body to nominate and 
 elect a temporary presiding officer. 
 
 The Chair then directed a call of the 
 roll of delegates, commencing with Ala 
 bama, which resulted in the election of 
 Mr. Lynch. The vote was; for Lynch, 
 431 votes; for Clayton, 387 votes. On 
 motion of General Clayton the election of 
 Mr. Lynch was made unanimous, and he 
 was escorted to the platform by General 
 Clayton, Henry C. Lodge of Massachu 
 setts, and Henry Taft of South Carolina. 
 
 Mr. Lynch Chosen. 
 
 On assuming the chair Mr. Lynch said : 
 
 GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION : I 
 feel that I ought not to say I thank you for 
 this distinguished honor that you have 
 conferred upon rne, for I do not. Never 
 theless, from the standpoint that no patriot 
 should fail to respond to his country's call, 
 and that no loyal member of his party 
 should fail to comply with the demand of 
 his party, I yield with reluctance to your 
 decision and assume the duties of the 
 position to which you have assigned me. 
 Every member of this convention who ap 
 proached me on this subject within the last 
 two hours knows that this position was 
 neither expected nor desired by me. If, 
 therefore, there is anything like a man 
 having honors thrust upon him, you have 
 an exemplification of it in this instance. 
 [Laughter and applause.] I came to this 
 Convention, not for the purpose of secur 
 ing the defeat of any man or the success of 
 any man, but for the purpose of contribut 
 ing (to the extent of my vote and influence) 
 to make Republican success in November 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF CONVENTION. 
 
 73 
 
 next an assured fact. (Cheers.] I hope 
 and believe that the assembled wisdom of 
 the Republican party of this Nation, 
 through its chosen representatives in this 
 hall, will so shape its platform and will 
 present such candidates before the Ameri 
 can people as will make that victory be 
 yond the shadow of a doubt. So far as 
 the candidates for the Presidential nomina 
 tion are concerned, I do not wish any gen 
 tleman to feel that my election (by your 
 vote) is indicative of anything relative to 
 the preference of one candidate over 
 another. I am prepared, and I hope that 
 every member of this Convention is pre 
 pared to give to the candidates of this 
 Convention a loyal and hearty sup 
 port, whoever they may be. [Cheers.] 
 I am satisfied in my own mind 
 that when we go before the people of this 
 country our action will be ratified, because 
 the great heart of the American people 
 will never consent to have a political party 
 gain the ascendency in this Government, 
 whose chref reliance is on a fraudulent 
 ballot and on violence at the polls. [Ap 
 plause.] I am satisfied that the people of 
 this country are too loyal ever to allow a 
 man to be inaugurated President whose 
 title to the position is brought, forth in 
 fraud. 
 
 I am satisfied that trie American people 
 will ratify our action because they will 
 never consent to have a revenue system 
 for the government other than one that 
 will not only raise the necessary revenue 
 for its support, but will also be sufficient to 
 protect every American citizen in his busi 
 ness. [Cheers.] 
 
 Gentlemen, not for myself but perhaps 
 in the obedience to custom, I thank you 
 for the honor you have conferred upon me. 
 
 The several delegations then presented 
 three candidates for places on the several 
 committees. 
 
 Mr. Williams, Chairman ot the Com 
 mittee on Permanent Organization, re 
 ported as permanent Chairman of the 
 Convention General J. B. Henderson, of 
 Missouri, who was elected and escorted to 
 the chair amidst the applause of the mul 
 titude : 
 
 General Henderson's Speech. 
 
 On taking the chair, General Hender 
 son said : 
 
 GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION : 
 We have assembled to survey the past 
 
 history of the party ; to rejoice, as we 
 may, because of the good it has done ; to 
 correct its errors, if errors there be ; to 
 discover, if possible, the wants of the 
 present, and with patriotic firmness, pro 
 vide for the future 
 
 Our past history is the Union preserved, 
 slavery abolished, and its former victims 
 equally and honorably by our sides in this 
 Convention ; the public faith maintained, 
 unbounded credit at home and abroad, a 
 currency convertible into coin, and the 
 pulses of industry throbbing with renewed 
 health and vigor in every section of a 
 prosperous and peaceful country. These 
 are the fruits of triumphs over adverse 
 policies, gained in the military and civil 
 conflicts of the last twenty-four years. 
 
 Out of these conflicts has come a race 
 of heroes and statesmen challenging con 
 fidence and love at home, respect and ad 
 miration abroad. And now, when we 
 come to select a standard-bearer for the 
 approaching conflict, our chief embarrass 
 ment is not in the want but in the abun 
 dance of Presidential material. New 
 York has her true and tried statesman, 
 upon whose administration the fierce and 
 even unfriendly light of public scrutiny 
 has been turned, and the universal verdict 
 is " Well done, thou good and faithful 
 servant." Vermont has her great states 
 man whose mind is as clear as the crys 
 tal springs of his native State, and whose 
 virtue is as firm as its granite hills. 1 '' Ohio 
 can come with a name whose history is 
 the history of the Republican party itself. 
 Illinois can come with one who. never 
 failed in the discharge of public duty, 
 whether in council chamber or on field of 
 battle. Maine has her honored favorite 
 whose splendid abilities and personal qual 
 ities have endeared him to the hearts of 
 his friends, and the brilliancy of whose 
 genius challenges the admiration of all. 
 Connecticut and Indiana may come with 
 names scarcely less illustrious than these. 
 
 And now, in conclusion, if because of 
 personal disagreements in the emergen 
 cies of the occasion another name is 
 sought, there remained that grand old 
 hero of Kenesaw Mountain and Atlanta. 
 When patriotism calls he cannot, if he 
 would, be silent, but grasping that banner 
 to him so dear, which he has already borne 
 in triumph, he will march to a civic vic 
 tory no less renowned than those of war. 
 
 I thank you, gentlemen, for this distin 
 guished mark of your confidence. 
 
74 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF CONVENTION. 
 
 The Convention then took a recess until 
 7 o'clock, P. M. 
 
 Evening Session. 
 
 General Henderson called the Conven 
 tion to order at 7:35, and made the follow 
 ing announcements: 
 
 GENTLEMEN There is a communication 
 in the hands of the Secretary from the 
 Committee on Credentials, which will be 
 read to the Convention. 
 
 The Secretary read the communication 
 as follows : 
 
 " To THE CHAIRMAN OF THE REPUBLICAN 
 
 NATIONAL CONVENTION : 
 
 "The Committee on Credentials have 
 the honor to notify the Convention that as 
 important business is occupying the time 
 of the Committee, the Committee will not 
 be able to report to the Convention this 
 evening." 
 
 After a proposition to issue 500 extra 
 tickets of admission to the hall to veteran 
 soldiers had been voted down the Conven 
 tion adjourned to ten o'clock to-morrow. 
 
 Third Day's Proceedings. 
 
 THURSDAY. Chairman Henderson 
 called the Convention to order at ten min 
 utes to eleven A. M. The delegates and 
 audience dropped into their seats with 
 commendable alacrity, when the Chair 
 said : " The Convention this morning 
 will be opened with prayer by the Rev. 
 Dr. Fallows." 
 
 Bishop Fallows made the opening 
 prayer. 
 
 Contests Decided. 
 
 The report of the Committee on Creden 
 tials was presented. It contained the fol 
 lowing recommendations : 
 
 In the case of the First district of Ala 
 bama your Committee find the sitting 
 members, James E. Slaughter, Frank H. 
 Threet, and their alternates, as on the roll 
 of the National Committee, entitled to 
 their seats. 
 
 In the case of the Seventh district of 
 Alabama the committee find the sitting 
 members, Robert A. Moseley, Jr., and 
 Arthur Bingham, and their alternates, as 
 on the roll of the National Committee en 
 titled to their seats. 
 
 In the case of the Fourth district of 
 Texas the committee find the sitting 
 members, A. G. Malioy and J. R. Carter, 
 and their alternates, entitled to their seats. 
 
 In the case of the First district of Geor 
 gia the committee find the s ; tting mem- 
 beis, A. W. Wilson and James Blue, and 
 their alternates, entitled to their seats. 
 
 In the case of the Second district of 
 Illinois the committee find the sitting 
 members, W. H. Ruger, C. E. Piper, and 
 their alternates, entitled to their seats. 
 
 In the case of the First district of Ken 
 tucky the committee find the sitting mem 
 bers, Edwin Farley and A. C. Bragg, with 
 their alternates, entitled to their seats. 
 
 In the case of the Fourth district of 
 Maryland the committee find the sitting 
 members, James J. W. Jordan and Henry 
 W. Rogers, with their alternates, entitled 
 to their seats. 
 
 In the case of the Sixth district of New 
 York the committee find the sitting mem 
 bers, John J. O'Brien and John H. Brady, 
 with their alternates, entitled to their seats. 
 
 In the case of the Nineteenth district of 
 New York the committee recommend that 
 sitting delegates George Campbell and 
 Hiram Griggs, with their alternates, 
 Andrew S. Draper and Madison .Covert, 
 and the contestants James Lamb and 
 James A. Houck, with their alternates, 
 William H. Haskell and Nathan B. Wen 
 dell, be each admitted to seats in the con 
 vention, with a half vote to each delegate. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 In the case of the Twenty-first district 
 of Pennsylvania the committee find the 
 sitting ' member there was only a contest 
 as to one member James E. Sayres, with 
 his alternate, entitled to his seat. 
 
 In the case of the contest of the State 
 of Virginia the committee by unanimous 
 vote, find that the delegation from said 
 State headed by Senator William Mahone 
 are each and all entitled to their seats in 
 this Convention, in accordance with the 
 roll of delegates and alternates as made up 
 by the National Republican Committee. 
 
 In the case of the Fifth district of Ken 
 tucky the committee make the unanimous 
 recommendation that the sitting members, 
 Silas F. Miller and John Mason Brown, 
 with their alternates, J<-hn Barrett and 
 George W. Brown and the contestants. 
 Augustus E. Wilson and M. Minton and 
 their alternates, Hugh Mulholland and 
 August Kahlert, be each admitted as dele 
 gates and alternates to this Convention, 
 with a right to cast a half vote each. This 
 recommendation is consented to by the 
 sitting members and by the contestants. 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF CONVENTION. 
 
 75 
 
 The report was adopted with but one 
 member voting against the proposition. 
 
 The Convention took a recess until six 
 o'clock. 
 
 EVENING SESSION. 
 
 The Nomination of Candidates. 
 
 Connecticut Presents Hawlcy Speeches for Logan and 
 Elaine Arthur Named by Townsend. 
 
 Chairman Henderson called the conven 
 tion to order at 7:35 p. m., and announced 
 that the presentation of candidates for 
 President was in order. Mr. Dutcher, of 
 New York, offered the following, which 
 was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee on Seats 
 be directed to issue five hundred tickets of 
 admission to veteran soldiers and sailors, 
 to be distributed through the chairmen of 
 the several State delegations. 
 
 The National Committee. 
 
 The roll was then called for members 
 of the National Committee, with the fol 
 lowing result : 
 
 Alabama William Youngblood. 
 
 Arkansas Powell Clayton. 
 
 California Horace Davis. 
 
 Colorado J. B. Chaffee. 
 
 Connecticut Samuel Fessenden. 
 
 Delaware Daniel J. Leighton. 
 
 Florida Jesse G. Cole. 
 
 Georgia F. F. Putney. 
 
 Illinois David T. Littler. 
 
 Indiana John C. New. 
 
 Jowa J. S. Clarkson. 
 
 Kansas John A. Martin. 
 
 Kentucky E. Moore. 
 
 Louisiana Frank Morey. 
 
 Maine J. Manchester Haden. 
 
 Maryland J. E. Geary. 
 
 Massachusetts W. W. Crapo. 
 
 Michigan John B. Sanborn. 
 
 Minnesota M. J. Norton. 
 
 Mississippi J. R. Lynch. 
 
 Missouri Robert T.Van Home. 
 
 Nebraska Church Howe. 
 
 Nevada Thomas Wren. 
 
 New Hampshire.. .Edwin H. Follett. 
 
 New Jersey Garrett A. Hobart. 
 
 New York John D. Lawson. 
 
 North Carolina. ...Scott M Humphrey. 
 
 Ohio A. L. Conger. 
 
 Oregon J. T. Apperson. 
 
 Pennsylvania B. F. Jones. 
 
 Rhode Island H. A. Jenckes. 
 
 South Carolina ...John B. Johnston. 
 
 Tennessee W. D. Brownlow. 
 
 Texas C. C. Binckley. 
 
 Vermont George W Hooker. 
 
 Virginia F. S. Blair. 
 
 West Virginia John W. Mason 
 
 Wisconsin .. ... Edward Saunderson. 
 
 Dakota Judge Bennett. 
 
 District of Columbia, Col. Perry Carson. 
 
 Idaho Sherman A Coffin. 
 
 Montana James A. Mill. 
 
 New Mexico William H. Ryners. 
 
 Utah Charles W. Bennett. 
 
 Washington P. W. Miner 
 
 Wyoming Joseph F. Carey. 
 
 The Beginning of the End. 
 
 When the call of States for nominations 
 was had and Maine was called, the Chair 
 man sank into his seat knowing what 
 would follow. There was an instant, clear, 
 loud, wild burst of applause that seemed 
 to come from the throat of every man in 
 the hall. To describe, in its fullness of en 
 thusiasm, in its spontaneity of sentiment, 
 in its fervor of devotion, the scene that fol 
 lowed a scene such as was never before 
 witnessed in a national convention is 
 well nigh impossible. 
 
 First came the cheer rattling through the 
 hall like a volley of infantry ; then deepen 
 ing as it grew in force, like a roar of can 
 non, and swelling as it progressed like the 
 crash of a thunderbolt across the skies. 
 From the stage to the end of the hall, a 
 distance of the eighth of a mile, the cheer 
 ing, rolling in dense waves of sound, 
 hoarse and shrill, sharp and clear, com 
 mingling in a wild tumult of applause, 
 which, in the minds of all who heard it and 
 of those who witnessed the great scene, 
 meant the nomination of James G. Blaine. 
 
 Looking over the human sea from the 
 stage to the balconies, there was a surging 
 mob of men and women waving hats, um 
 brellas, parasols and flags. Against the 
 dark background a thousand white hand 
 kerchiefs swung over the heads of the ex 
 cited audience, dotted the hall with specks 
 of white, like the caps of the breakers on a 
 stormy sea. Men put their hats on the 
 tops of canes and waved them high over 
 their heads. Women tore their bright 
 fichus and laces from around their snowy 
 necks, and, leaning far forward over the 
 galleries, frantically swung them to and 
 fro to give emphasis to their shrill screams 
 of joy. 
 
 From outside the glass windows under 
 the dome of the hall, where an adventur 
 ous crowd of men and boys had gathered 
 to witness the proceedings, loud cat-calls 
 and screams were heard above the roar 
 
76 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF CONVENTION. 
 
 beneath. Men hung dangerously over the 
 front of the galleries and waved the ends 
 of the banners that had been fastened there 
 as decorations to the hall. 
 
 The following candidates were placed in 
 nomination : 
 
 JAMES G. BLAINE, of Maine. 
 
 CHESTER A. ARTHUR, of New York. 
 
 JOHN SHERMAN, of Ohio. 
 
 GEORGE F. EDMUNDS, of Vermont. 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN, of Illinois. 
 
 JOSEPH R. HAWLEY, of Connecticut. 
 Each candidate was introduced by an 
 eloquent eulogy, which consumed the en 
 tire evening session. (The speeches nom 
 inating Elaine and Logan are given else 
 where.) 
 
 The nominations being completed the 
 convention adjourned until Friday morn 
 ing, at 10 o'clock. 
 
 FOURTH DAY. 
 
 The interest and excitement culmina 
 ted on Friday, as the convention had 
 made its nominations, and the deciding 
 ballots were to be cast. 
 
 At 11:20 A. M., Senator Henderson 
 called the convention to order. 
 
 After prayer by the Rev. Henry Martin 
 Scudder, pastor of Plymouth Church, the 
 chairman directed the secretary to call the 
 roll, so that the States and Territories 
 which were passed yesterday could hand 
 in the names of their members of the 
 National Committee. A delegate from 
 California at this point asked to offer a reso 
 lution without comment, but Mr. Davis of 
 Illinois, demanded the regular order. 
 
 The First Ballot. 
 
 The delegate from California above 
 mentioned then announced that at the re 
 quest of his delegation he withdrew the 
 resolution he had not been permitted to 
 offer. The chairman then directed that the 
 roll be called for a ballot on candidates for 
 the Presidency. The ballot resulted as 
 follows : 
 
 James G Blaine 334^ 
 
 Chester A. Arthur 278 
 
 George F. Edmunds 93 
 
 John Sherman 30 
 
 John A. Logan 63^ 
 
 Joseph R. Hawley 13 
 
 Robert T. Lincoln 4 
 
 William T. Sherman... 
 
 Total 818 
 
 Necessary to a choice 410 
 
 The Second Ballot. 
 
 The second ballot was commenced at 
 12:23. 
 
 During the roll call much delay was 
 caused by frequent calls for a poll of the 
 Delegates in certain States. As the first 
 ballot resulted in no choice, the chairman 
 directed that another one be taken. It 
 resulted as follows : 
 
 Whole number of votes cast 819 
 
 Necessary to a choice 410 
 
 For James G. Blaine, of Maine 349 
 
 For Chester A. Arthur, of New York... 27 5 
 For George F. Edmunds, of Vermont. 85 
 
 For John A. Logan, of Illinois 61 
 
 For John Sherman, of Ohio 28 
 
 For Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut 13 
 
 For Robert T. Lincoln, of Illinois 4 
 
 For William T. Sherman of Missouri... 2 
 
 The result of the ballot showed a gain 
 for Blaine, and wild cheering greeted its 
 announcement. When order was restored, 
 the convention proceeded to a third ballot 
 with the following result : 
 
 Whole number of votes cast 820 
 
 Necessary to a choice 411 
 
 For James G. Blaine, of Maine 375 
 
 For Chester A. Arthur, of New York... 274 
 For George F. Edmunds, of Vermont.. 69 
 
 For John A. Logan, of Illinois 53 
 
 For John Sherman, of Ohio 25 
 
 For Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut 13 
 
 For Robert T. Lincoln, of Illinois 8 
 
 For William T. Sherman, of Missouri.. 2 
 
 During the roll call the count in Ken 
 tucky and Massachusetts was challenged ; 
 but when dissatisfaction was expressed, 
 the delegates making the challenges with 
 drew them. When Michigan cast eighteen 
 votes for Blaine, there was tremendous 
 cheering. The ten votes of Nebraska for 
 Blaine were received with much cheering. 
 After Nevada had been called, delegates 
 were seen rushing through the aisles in 
 every direction. The confusion and noise 
 was so great by the time North Carolina 
 was reached, that the Chairman directed 
 the sergeant-at-arms to see that the dele 
 gates took their seats. 
 
 A Motion to Adjourn Lost. 
 
 When the result of the third ballot was 
 announced, there was a scene of wild con 
 fusion. When an opportunity offered, 
 Judge Foraker, of Ohio, moved to take a 
 recess until 7 P. M. Mr. Dutcher, of New 
 York, seconded the motion. 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF CONVENTION. 
 
 77 
 
 Mr. McKinley of Ohio said: 
 I hope no friend of James G. Elaine 
 will object to having the roll call of States 
 made. [Cries of " Good, good,'' and 
 cheers.] Let us raise no technical objec 
 tion. [Cries of " That's right," and 
 cheers.] And, as a friend of James G. 
 Blaine I insist that all his friends shall 
 unite in having the roll of States called 
 and voting against adjournment. [Loud 
 cheers.] 
 
 Mr. Conger accepted Mr. McKinley's 
 proposition, and the vote on adjournment 
 was taken. The result, 364 to 450, was re 
 ceived with wild cheering. 
 
 Fourth and Final Ballot. 
 
 Judge Foraker then moved that the rules 
 be suspended and James G. Blaine be 
 nominated by acclamation. This was re 
 ceived with applause and objections, and 
 Mr. Roosevelt declared that it could not 
 be done. Motions of various kinds fol 
 lowed, and at last Judge Foraker withdrew 
 his motion. During the confusion that 
 followed the chairman directed that the 
 roll be called for the fourth ballot. It re 
 sulted as follows : 
 
 Whole number of votes cast 813 
 
 Necessary to a choice 407 
 
 For James G. Blaine, of Maine 541 
 
 For Chester A. Arthur, of New York... 207 
 For George F. Edmunds, of Vermont, 41 
 
 For John A. Logan, of Illinois 7 
 
 For Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut, 1 5 
 
 Blaine's Nomination made Unanimous. 
 
 The announcement of the result of the 
 fourth ballot was received with a whirl 
 wind of applause. Every person in the 
 audience delegates and visitors rose to 
 their feet simultaneously and, all being 
 Blaine men now, shouted and sang their 
 delight at the success of the man from 
 Maine. It took nearly thirty minutes to 
 get to business. The chairman then asked 
 if the nomination should be made unani 
 mous. Mr. Burleigh, of New York, took 
 the platform and said : 
 
 In behalf of the President of the United 
 States, and at his request, I move to make 
 the nomination of James G. Blaine, of 
 Maine, unanimous, and I promise for the 
 friends of President Arthur, who are 
 always loyal at the polls, and for Northern 
 New-York, 20,000 Republican majority ; 
 
 and I promise you all that we will do all 
 we can for the ticket and for the nominee, 
 and will show you in November next that 
 New-York is a Republican State. It 
 elected James A. Garfield, and it will elect 
 James G. Blaine, of Maine. [Applause.] 
 Mr. Sabin, of Minnesota, said : 
 Four years ago, in this very hall and as 
 a delegate to the National Republican 
 Convention, I was opposed to Chester A. 
 Arthur and to the elements with which he 
 then associated. Since then he has been 
 called, under the most trying circumstan 
 ces, to fill the first place in the gift of the 
 people of this country. So well, so nobly, 
 so faithfully has he fulfilled that trust, and 
 so happily has he disappointed not only 
 those of his opponents but his friends, so 
 fully has he filled the position of the 
 scholar and the gentleman, that he is pos 
 sessed of that great, good common sense 
 which has made his administration a great 
 and pronounced success, that he has grown 
 upon me until to-day, I honor and revere 
 Chester A. Arthur. [Applause.] As a friend 
 of his, I no less honor and revere that 
 prince of gentlemen, that scholar, that 
 gifted statesman James G. Blaine, whose 
 nomination it affords me the greatest 
 pleasure to second, with the prediction 
 that his name before this country in No 
 vember will produce that same spontane 
 ous enthusiasm which will make him Pre 
 sident of the United States on the 4th of 
 March next. [Loud and prolonged ap 
 plause, and cries of "Curtis."] 
 
 Mr. Plumb, of Kansas, said : 
 
 This convention has discharged two ot 
 its most important trusts and is now, 
 notwithstanding the length of time it has 
 been in session and the exciting scenes 
 through which it has passed, in thorough 
 good humor, and I believe we are ready 
 to go on and conclude the business which 
 brought us all here. [Mr. Houck, of Ten 
 nessee, here called for the regular order 
 the question on making the nomination 
 unanimous.] Before proceeding wiih 
 that I desire to respond to the sentiment 
 which pervades the entire convention. I 
 move that the nomination be made unani 
 mous, and I hope there will not be a dis 
 senting voice in all this vast assemblage. 
 
78 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF CONVENTION. 
 
 Fourth Ballot. 
 
 
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PROCEEDINGS OF CONVENTION. 
 
 79 
 
 The chairman then read the following 
 dispatch : 
 
 The President has sent the following 
 dispatch to Mr. Elaine: "As the candidate 
 of the Republican party, you will have my 
 earnest and cordial support. 1 ' 
 
 The nomination was then rnade unani 
 mous, and, on motion of Mr. Husted, of 
 New- York, the Convention adjourned 
 until 8 p. m. 
 
 EVENING SESSION. 
 Logan Nominated, for Vice-president. 
 
 Nominated by Acclamation Xo other Candidates. 
 
 The convention was called to order at 
 8:15 p.m., when prayer was offered by the 
 Rev Dr. Charles O'Reilly, of Detroit. Dr. 
 O'Reilly is the treasurer of the Irish Na 
 tional League of America, and is the first 
 Catholic to open a Republican National 
 Convention with prayer. The chairman 
 called for the names of members of the 
 National Committee which had not been 
 already sent up. Florida announced 
 the name of Jesse G. Coles, and the Dis 
 trict of Columbia, Colonel Perry Carson. 
 A resolution was passed permitting the 
 late Central Committees to fill vacancies 
 in the National Committee. 
 
 Logan put in Nomination. 
 
 The resolution limiting speeches of 
 nomination to ten minutes, passed, and 
 the clerk proceeded to call the roll of 
 States for nominations. No response was 
 received till Illinois was reached, when 
 Senator Plumb, of Kansas, came forward 
 and said, in substance : 
 
 The convention had completed two of 
 its most serious duties, the adoption of a 
 platform and the nomination of a candi 
 date for President. The platform was one 
 on which all good Republicans could 
 unite, and the candidate was one who could 
 beat any Democrat, living or dead. But 
 it was still important that the best possible 
 man bhould be nominated for the second 
 place. It was but a matter of just recog 
 nition to the great body, of the soldiers of 
 the war for the Union that a representative 
 from their number should be placed as 
 the second name on the ticket. The 
 Grand Army of the Republic had enrolled 
 more than three quarters of a million men 
 who lately wore the blue. In presenting a 
 
 name from their ranks the speaker would 
 mention a man fitted in every way for the 
 first place ; a man who would add strength 
 to the ticket and justify the hopes and ex 
 pectations of the party. That man was 
 General John A. Logan. [Loud, long and 
 renewed applause.] The sp'eaker said he 
 did not present him in behalf of Illinois 
 or any other State, but of the whole 
 United States. He belonged no more to 
 Illinois than to Kansas, whose 75,000 sol 
 diers would receive the news of his nomi 
 nation with shouts of gladness. The 
 speaker was commissioned by the State of 
 Kansas to make this nomination. [Ap 
 plause.] 
 
 Judge Houck, of Tennessee, in second 
 ing the nomination said in substance : 
 
 While the convention had not chosen 
 his first choice, it had done well, and the 
 speaker proceeded to pay a tribule to the 
 " Plumed Knight'' of Maine. He hoped the 
 convention would come to a common 
 understanding and agreement for the sec 
 ond place on the ticket. When the wires 
 should transmit the news of the nomina 
 tion of General Logan t the so.dier boys 
 of East Tennessee there would be rejoicing 
 among them as there would be every 
 where. On the Presidential nominee his 
 delegation was somewhat divided, but 
 when they came to name John A. Logan 
 they were united 24 strong. 
 
 Mr. Thurston, of Nebraska, Mr. Lee, ot 
 Pennsylvania, Congressman Horr, of Mich 
 igan, and Mr. Clancy (colored), of North 
 Carolina, also seconded the nomination. 
 
 A motion was made to suspend the rules 
 and make the nomination of Logan by 
 acclamation. It was put to vote, and a 
 majority voted for it, but as a two-third 
 vote was necessary, the chair ordered the 
 roll called, in order to ascertain whether 
 the necessary two-thirds voted for it. 
 
 The rules were then suspended and sev 
 eral delegates made speeches in favor of 
 Logan. On motion of Congressman 
 Davis the roll was called with the follow 
 ing result : Logan 779 ; Gresham 6"; For- 
 aker, I. The nomination was then made 
 unanimous. Before the convention had ad 
 journed Emery A. Storrs took the platform 
 and spoke for an hour. 
 
 The convent. on then adjourned sine dif. 
 
THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 The cardinal principles of the Repub 
 lican Party have been so long enunciated, 
 and are so well known to the people of the 
 country that a full exposition of them 
 would seem to be an act of supererogation. 
 The exigencies of the times that called it 
 into existence necessarily made it a par 
 ticipant in the vital current issues, and its 
 advanced and frank position on all na 
 tional questions has become a part of the 
 history of the country. In its incipiency 
 it gathered around it the devoted, union- 
 loving statesmen of the day, and ignoring 
 old platforms, unmeaning platitudes, and 
 dead issues, it boldly launched out as 
 the party of progress and national ad 
 vancement. It had no ancient landmarks 
 to define its limits or to resist its expansion 
 and development. As a party of the people 
 it grew with the rapidly expanding nation, 
 and by precept and practice it fostered 
 legitimate industries of every class, devel 
 oped the country's resources, promoted 
 personal liberty, advanced civilization, 
 and protected national honor. 
 
 Its First Great Efforts. 
 
 The herculean task of conquering* a re 
 bellion which involved the cost of thou 
 sands of lives and the expenditure of almost 
 countless millions of money, for which a 
 loyal people accepted its promise of pay 
 ment, a pledge which has been faithfully 
 kept, gave it a prestige abroad, and a po 
 tency at home never attained by any other 
 political organization. In patriotism, in 
 statesmanship, and in financial ability it is 
 without a peer in the long role of historic 
 revolutions ; as it sprung from the people, 
 by the fiat of the people, for the protection 
 of the people and the preservation of their 
 nation, developing at once into a vigorous 
 and stalwart manhood, so it has remained, 
 their motor in the calm, and their anchor 
 in the storm. Under its beneficent ad 
 ministrations the nation has made such 
 80 
 
 rapid strides in the path of progress as to 
 surprise even its most enthusiastic sup 
 porters for the development, increased 
 freedom, and prosperous growth of the 
 nation during the past quarter of a cen 
 tury is but the result of the benign policy 
 of the Republican Party. 
 
 The stars in its galaxy represent every 
 sphere and calling of life they have been 
 gathered from the camp of the soldier, the 
 cloister of the student, the study of the 
 political economist, the portals of finance, 
 the broad and elevated dais of statesman 
 ship and the blood-stained bannerette ot 
 patriotism. 
 
 A common danger which involved the 
 country cemented its followers into a 
 common faith, and, pledging that faith to 
 the people, and true to its glorious birth 
 right, it won its victories, cemented the 
 union of the States, and made its name 
 before the world. 
 
 Tlie Grand Mission of the Party. 
 
 Its Mission has been, and is, to elevate 
 the nation by protecting its industries and 
 enlarging the freedom of the masses, re 
 garding capital as the plant of labor, and 
 giving, by legal enactments, each a com 
 mon and undivided interest with the other. 
 The money which moves the giant wheels 
 of machinery, and the fingers that manipu 
 late the delicate tissues, are nature's co 
 partners and common workers. 
 
 As expressed by President Lincoln it is 
 a party " of the people, by the people, and 
 for the people," and it has been so closely 
 allied with their interests both as a nation 
 and as individuals as to give it the well- 
 earned name of " The Peoples' Party." 
 
 It is a true maxim that whatever contrib 
 utes to the national prosperity, contributes 
 alike to the welfare of the individuals com 
 posing the nation that public good is pri 
 vate weal and that national disaster 
 brings individual ruin. When you destroy 
 
THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 81 
 
 the tree's roots its trunk and branches will 
 perish. Recognizing industry as not only 
 the source of wealth, but as the actual 
 wealth of a nation, the policy of, the Re 
 publican Party has been to throw around 
 that industry such guards and protection, 
 as would promote its growth, insure its 
 permanency, and make it remunerative. 
 
 A party that has proven so true to na 
 tional permanency and national honor, 
 could not do otherwise than protect and 
 defend its citizens in all the legitimate call 
 ings of life. 
 
 Its Cardinal Principle is to Protect Labor. 
 
 The policy of the party is to bring into 
 prosperous harmony and speedy develop 
 ment, on its own territory, the great 
 branches of industry, without which na 
 tional life cannot be sustained, as our trade 
 interests rest largely on internal circum 
 stances. The same condition of nature 
 which brings individuals into competition 
 also leads to conflict between nations and 
 renders legal enactments necessary to pro 
 tect each from the encroachments of the 
 other. Protection is a broad field, and 
 governments recognize it in many ways 
 outside of the mere question of revenue, or 
 tariff restrictions. They organize and keep 
 in discipline standing armies and expen 
 sive navies, not to quell insurrections at 
 home nor to repel an existing foreign in 
 vasion, but in the midst of profound peace 
 to prevent them. They enact laws, to 
 prevent the spread of contagious diseases, 
 and the influx of paupers and criminals. 
 They pass naturalization laws to protect 
 the ballot box homestead laws to protect 
 the settlers, usury laws to protect the man 
 who needs from he who advances money. 
 Protection is engraved in the Constitution 
 and written all over the statute book. 
 
 Governments are for I lie Protection of the 
 People. 
 
 Protection to capital and labor is quite 
 as necessary for the common good of the 
 people. Governments are formed for the 
 protection of their people, just as corpora 
 tions are conducted for the benefit of their 
 stockholders. The general common wel 
 fare of nations is had through treaty 
 stipulations, or is arbitrated in a congress 
 of the nations. Governments protect and 
 
 defend their people by the same rights that 
 men defend their households first, under 
 the law, lastly, when that fails, vi et armis. 
 
 We Cannot Regulate other Labor than 
 our Own. 
 
 We should remember that labor and 
 trade in other nations cannot be regulated 
 by our laws, and have no interest in our 
 institutions other than that we may be com 
 pelled to purchase their surplus goods, 
 at prices which we cannot regulate. Our 
 poverty adds to their wealth, and vice 
 versa. The working world abroad is only 
 benefited by our prosperity when it 
 emigrates to our shores. It has taken a 
 century of our history, and thousands of 
 millions of capital to establish our indus 
 trial interests and place us in our present 
 attitude before the world, and this has been 
 done by protective legislation whereby 
 the capitalist could receive an equitable 
 interest on his investment, and the laborer 
 fully compensated for his toil. This has 
 been done for the sole benefit of our own 
 people of those who develop our resour 
 ces, pay no taxes, fight our battles, and 
 change our forests into pregnant fields, 
 flourishing towns and villages. Shall we 
 blot out all the labor of the past, and 
 destroy the industries of the nation through, 
 a " tariff for revenue only?". 
 
 Protection a Constitutional Right and 
 Liberty. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States, 
 as construed by the ablest statesmen 
 expressly authorizes protection to labor. 
 The power to impose duties on importations^ 
 originally was exercised by the several 
 States. Subsequently the States delegated 
 their whole authority to the general gov 
 ernment, without restriction or reservation, 
 except what related to inspection laws. 
 Having passed from State authority, it: 
 must exist with the general government,, 
 or be extinct. It is simply absurd to sup 
 pose the latter, as it would present the 
 strange status of a nation of people de 
 prived of the power to increase or protect 
 its own industries. Every administration 
 since the formation of the government 
 has recognized this right under the Consti 
 tution, and a century's acceptance of the 
 fact should be sufficient. But the advo- 
 
82 
 
 THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 cates of Free Trade, fearful of a discussion 
 of its merits, affect to deny the constitu 
 tional right to pass tariff laws except for 
 revenue alone, and every man of ordinary 
 information knows that " a tariff for rev 
 enue only," would be as disastrous to our 
 industries as the most open and avowed 
 free trade. They are homogeneous and 
 cannot be separated in their effect on the 
 country. 
 
 The Republican Party declares that 
 Congress has plenary power under the 
 Constitution to enact such tariff laws as it 
 deems proper, and that this power coupled 
 with the obligation to provide for the com 
 mon defence and general welfare, without 
 any restriction as to revenue, makes it self- 
 evident that those who framed the Consti 
 tution not only gave the power, but made 
 it mandatory on them to exercise it. "To 
 regulate Commerce 1 ' is a phrase in the 
 Constitution that was not carelessly framed 
 or vaguely understood by its framers. Its 
 true meaning had been given in the re 
 peated discussions between the colonies 
 and the mother country, and is precisely 
 as interpreted in the platforms of the Re 
 publican Party. 
 
 The first tariff law passed by Congress, 
 July 4th, 1798, declared that one of its 
 objects was to encourage and protect 
 manufactures ; and when at the next 
 session the duties were increased, the same 
 principle was enunciated. 
 
 It Re-Affirms the Policy of Early Legis 
 lation. 
 
 All the leading statesmen of the early 
 days of the Republic, so construed it, and 
 many of those who framed and de 
 liberated upon the Constitution were sub 
 sequently chosen to execute its provisions 
 all of whom gave it this construction and 
 meaning. It cannot for a moment be 
 supposed that they were ignorant of their 
 own work, or that when called on to act 
 under its provisions that they would per 
 vert its true meaning, and yet those who 
 deny the constitutional power to protect 
 home labor must arrive at one or the other 
 of these conclusions. 
 
 The several functions of the government, 
 legislative, judicial and executive are 
 directed to protect the rights of persons 
 
 and property. It is for this that they are 
 instituted. Different nations have different 
 interests, just as individuals have under 
 the same form of government, but at the 
 same time all have a common welfare in 
 the general national prosperity. When 
 one is affected, the others suffer corre 
 spondingly. 
 
 Upon this great question of capital and 
 labor, political parties always have and 
 probably always will be at issue. 
 
 The advocates of Free Trade strive to 
 have such a revision of the tariff laws as 
 will enable this foreign element to have 
 the preference over our own people simply 
 to procure from abroad what we now pro 
 duce at home, and thus to reduce the com 
 pensation of labor to such a standard as 
 will ultimately destroy it. 
 
 What is meant by Free Trade. 
 
 Free Trade in the unlimited sense of the 
 word has a comparatively small following 
 the term as generally used does not im 
 ply actual free trade between different 
 nations. The Free Trade theory is to 
 collect sufficient revenue from duties on 
 imports to maintain the government to 
 the utter rejection of incidental protection 
 in a word, to open our ports as mere 
 collection agencies, and to fill the national 
 coffers at the expense of our own in 
 dustries. Great Britain is the head centre 
 of what is known as free trade, and the 
 celebrated Cobden Club of England that 
 represents it, has its plants in free trade 
 organizations in this country. But Eng 
 land with its ostensible free trade policy, 
 fosters its industries to a greater extent 
 than any other nation by laying excessive 
 duties on certain items of manufacture, 
 and permitting free trade on those which 
 it can produce at lower prices than any 
 other nation. Its tariff policy is one of 
 ultra-protection to its industries, and to 
 enable its people to sell their surplus 
 goods abroad. 
 
 Comparison between Great Britain and 
 the United States. 
 
 Great Britain and the United States, 
 although of a common stock, do not have 
 a common interest as nations. England 
 strives to manufacture for the world, to 
 monopolize the productive power, and 
 
THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 83 
 
 through its cheap labor, to undersell other 
 nations in their own markets. She 
 willingly permits competition at home in 
 all raw materials, so that she can procure 
 them at her own price, and to have com 
 petition in her home market for manu 
 factured goods to enable her to name the 
 selling price, and thus through this in 
 strumentality to control the markets abroad. 
 
 How tlie Tariff i made Protective. 
 
 At the present time England pays about 
 one half, and the rest of Europe about one 
 third of the rates that prevail here, so that 
 when this shield of protection is removed, 
 and the products of their cheap labor flood 
 our market they would easily be able to 
 undersell our own people. Hence, a 
 tariff to protect, must be regulated by a 
 comparison of the relative cost of materials 
 and price of labor. To ascertain the in 
 trinsic value of anything, we must compare 
 it with our unit of value, just as we do with 
 the sovereign of England, or the franc of 
 France, when estimated by our own dol 
 lar. It is just as reasonable, and equitable 
 to value these coins at their purchasing 
 power in their own countries without any 
 reference to their intrinsic value here. 
 Labor is the intrinsic value of manufac 
 tured goods and it is valued under a protec 
 tive tariff by a comparison with our home 
 labor. For example five francs repre 
 sent the value of a day's labor by an 
 artisan in Paris, and $3.00, that of one in 
 the United States. Shall we increase 
 the value of the franc in this country 
 to threefold its value at home, and conse 
 quently depreciate the true value of our 
 dollar to one-third its value as defined by 
 law ? Or shall we declare that a day's 
 labor, all over the world shall be valued at 
 a day's labor in the United States, upon all 
 articles of industry sent from abroad to 
 sell in our market ? If this is not done, 
 our labor must compete with foreign labor, 
 and our men be paid at foreign prices. 
 As has been said by an able expounder of 
 the question : 
 
 " Persons who denounce tariff protec 
 tion are therefore compelled to take the 
 untenable position that they are unwilling 
 to permit the existence of natural prices 
 for American products; or, to state the 
 
 case in another form, are opposed to the 
 continuance of all domestic industries 
 which can be undersold in our market by 
 foreign competition." 
 
 We believe in the dignity of labor and 
 strive to elevate it, instead of debasing it 
 into a miserable servitude but little above 
 that of human slavery. The true policy of 
 government is not to sacrifice labor in 
 order to have cheap production. Abandon 
 the doctrine of protection, open our ports 
 to the market of the world, let revenue 
 only be the cry, and Shylock-like, insist only 
 for the pound of flesh, and whilst we would 
 manufacture goods as cheaply, and furnish 
 products at as low rates, labor would be 
 degraded, and wages would be as low as 
 it is across the ocean. Under such circum 
 stances we can compete with the world, 
 but do we desire to pay such a price for its 
 great market ? Our gain would be a loss, 
 which would not only destroy our in 
 dustries but would break up our nation. 
 In the words of a celebrated writer on this 
 question : 
 
 " This would, to begin with, treat men as 
 made for trade, not trade as made for men. 
 Our laborers deprived of justly high, or 
 comfort, or freedom of wages, would 
 quickly sink in the scale of civilization. 
 Within a few generations they would cease 
 to be intelligent, and become ignorant, 
 debased, superstitious, servile, and unfit to 
 be trusted with the ballot. No longer 
 having chances to improve their condition, 
 or to arise above it they would lose their 
 present incentives to self-respect, to 
 courage, to ambition, to enterprise, to hope. 
 The spirit of man falls with his wages 
 declines as declines the reward of his in 
 dustry, toil and care. Crush this and he 
 is crushed. Take away from the labor in 
 the United States the elevated, important 
 and commanding position which it novr 
 occupies, and let its wages and its situa 
 tion sink to the European level, then its 
 descent would drag down the edifice of 
 republican institutions, and of human 
 freedom. These cannot long exist where 
 the rights of labor are not respected. 
 Would general cheapness in the price of 
 commodities be any compensation for this 
 tremendous sacrifice of all we hold dear and 
 sacred as the results of American liberty ?" 
 
84 
 
 THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 \VImt a Judicious Scale of Duties will 
 Effect. 
 
 Fully satisfied with the truth of this 
 proposition, the Republican Party has 
 stood between the people, and those who 
 would destroy their industries, and by 
 means of a judicious tariff warded off these 
 disasters. Cheap goods can be, and are 
 manufactured through home competition, 
 which is in the main, healthful. The manu 
 facturer who charges more than a fair 
 profit on his goods offers an inducement 
 for another to furnish them at a less cost, 
 and thus home competition will always 
 give our people goods at the lowest figures 
 at which they can be made. There can be 
 no monopoly of manufacture or prices 
 where capital has an open field, and, 
 skilled labor is ever ready to develop it. On 
 the contrary, open the doors to Free Trade, 
 until our industries shall have been driven 
 from their posts by foreign goods, and as 
 soon as the market is controlled by them 
 the prices will be advanced beyond our own 
 standard, to be reduced only when protec 
 tion shall again stand between home and 
 foreign labor. 
 
 We must eith er Protect Home or Foreign 
 Labor. 
 
 If we do not protect our own people in 
 their industries we are protecting those 
 under other governments. Omission in 
 the first case is equivalent to a direct action 
 in the other. In our governmental action 
 we are compelled to chose between home 
 and foreign labor, and if we refuse it to 
 our own people we confer it on others to 
 their exclusion. In the words of the 
 writer already quoted : 
 
 " To repeal the laws which punish crime 
 is to protect criminals ; and to legislate out 
 of existence the protection which guards 
 and sustains American industry, is to 
 transfer the protection to European indus 
 try. A tariff too low for home Protection, 
 thus becomes a law to protect transatlantic 
 manufacturers against the rivalry of our 
 own manufacturers in the latter's domestic 
 market. The issue between the protec 
 tionists and the Free Traders, when 
 reduced to its seminal principle, dwindles 
 to simply this, whether we shall protect 
 our own labor and capital or that of 
 
 other nations. Doing the latter may be 
 symbolized as dismantling our forts, level 
 ing our breastwork, and disarming our 
 troops, in the face of an invading enemy, 
 leaving him at his leisure to reap all the 
 fruits of unopposed conquest.'' 
 
 Tariff History. 
 
 The revision of existing tariff laws, in 
 order to protect the industries of the 
 country, and to inaugurate what was then 
 known as " The American System," came 
 up before Congress at the session of 1823 
 and 24, and the heated debate that en 
 sued matured into a serious conflict of 
 authority between the general government, 
 and a few of the slave-holding States. So 
 prominent did the question become at 
 that time, it entered very largely into the 
 presidential issue and party lines were 
 drawn accordingly. 
 
 The protection of home industry had 
 not been recognized among the powers 
 granted, was looked for in the incidental ; 
 and denied by the strict constructionists 
 to be a substantive term, to be exercised 
 for the direct purpose of protection ; but 
 admitted by all at that time and ever 
 since the first tariff act of 1789, to be an 
 incident to the revenue raising power, and 
 an incident to be regarded in the exercise 
 of that power. Revenue the object, pro 
 tection the incident, had been the rule in 
 the earlier tariffs j now that rule was sought 
 to be reversed, and to make protection the 
 object of the law, and revenue the inci 
 dent. Henry Clay was the leader in the 
 proposed revision and the champion of 
 the American system ; he was ably sup 
 ported in the House by many able and 
 effective speakers, who based their argu 
 ment on the general distress then alleged 
 to be prevalent in the country. 
 
 When a measure becomes oppressive or 
 odious or destructive of the interests of 
 the masses, it soon becomes a matter of 
 public complaint, and the right of petition 
 to Congress for redress is freely and fully 
 exercised. 
 
 In the face of our Industrial Prosperity, 
 the Democrats insist on a Repeal of the 
 Protective Tariff Laws. 
 
 No such reason appears to have existed 
 for the effort to change existing tariff laws, 
 
THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 85 
 
 so as to open the door for foreign compe 
 tition. The Morrison bill, which was only 
 defeated by Republican votes, is a fair ex 
 hibit of the opinion and policy of the 
 Democratic party on the issue, having 
 been prepared for that special purpose. 
 Not a single petition was presented to the 
 House, or referred to the Committee of 
 Ways and Means even suggesting the re 
 duction of duties proposed by this bill, or 
 any other reduction of customs duties. 
 On the contrary, the petitions have all 
 been in direct opposition to such legisla 
 tion. Outside of a majority of Democratic 
 members, and the Free Trade Clubs or 
 ganized in the interests of English capital 
 ists there has been no expressed sentiment 
 in favor of such a measure. 
 
 The measure was a blow at the farmers 
 of the country. Mr. Hewitt of New York, 
 in a speech delivered in the House of 
 Representatives, March 2yth last, said: 
 
 How Mr. Hewitt Views It. 
 
 " Now how can the farmer be benefited ? 
 What does he want ? He wants to sell 
 his productions at a higher price. And 
 how is he going to sell his products at a 
 higher price as the grain trade stands to 
 day ? The markets of Europe are over 
 crowded with food products. To-day the 
 farmer is met at Liverpool and London 
 by the food products of India, and that 
 competition so far from being less is going 
 to increase. Therefore the farmer has 
 reached the limit of the demand for his 
 products in foreign lands. Where then, 
 is he to find his market for them ? He 
 must find his market at home, and how is 
 he going to get it at home ? Why, only 
 by one method manufactures must be 
 fostered and grow and not be diminished. 
 
 This foreign market, for which every 
 tariff idealist and every Democratic free 
 trader longingly sighs, is only mythical in 
 the present condition of our country. We 
 should capture the home market, first get 
 control of it, before we seek the foreign 
 one. We can not command a foreign 
 market until we can control our own. It 
 seems to me that proposition is so plain 
 and palpable that it must commend itself 
 to every intelligent man. 
 
 Duty on Raw Material. 
 
 It is probable that free raw material has 
 nothing to commend it to legislative favor 
 which is not common to every other Amer 
 ican product. The same necessity for 
 protection, within reasonable limits, ap 
 plies to what are commonly called raw 
 materials as to the finished or more ad 
 vanced manufacture. There is no such 
 thing as raw materials distinguished from 
 other products of labor. Labor enters into 
 all productions, the commonest as well as 
 the higher forms. 
 
 The ore costs something to mine it ; the 
 coal, to take it from the ground ; the stone, 
 to quarry it ; much labor enters into the 
 production of wool ; leather costs some 
 thing to tan ; and to the extent that labor 
 enters into their preparation, what are 
 usually termed raw materials should have 
 ratable protection with the completed pro 
 duct. Pig-iron is the raw material for bar- 
 iron, and yet no one has been heard to 
 advocate free pig-iron. Cloth is the raw 
 material for the tailor, the finest steel is 
 the crude material of the watch maker, 
 and so on interminably. There can be no 
 just line drawn, and no reason exists for 
 such a discrimination. When the country 
 is ready for free trade let us have it in all 
 things without exception or restriction. 
 
 Facts are more potent than Theories. 
 
 What has been accomplished during 
 the period when a protective tariff has 
 been in operation is a stronger argument 
 in its favor than all the thin spun theories 
 of so called political economists, or the 
 prophecies of visionary enthusiasts, and 
 although the Democracy has called it ex 
 tortion and robbery, and declared that it 
 obstructed the progress and permanency 
 of our industries, and the development of 
 our growth to wealth and national great 
 ness, still the actual result has become a 
 record for all to read, so that no man 
 need go astray. 
 
 How it contrasts with the low tariff pe 
 riod from 1847 to 1860, when we had prac 
 tically a revenue tariff, such as is advocated 
 by the Democratic party of to-day ! It was 
 a period of universal business depression, 
 deficiencies in the public Treasury, when 
 both nation and individuals were compelled 
 
86 
 
 THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 to borrow money at the most exorbitant 
 rates of interest ; and it was in this condition 
 that the Republican party foundthe country 
 when it came into power on the 4th of 
 March, 1861. The Democratic policy of 
 the tariff was immediately reversed ; and 
 the splendid achievements in every de 
 partment of industrial activity, the large 
 revenues of the Government, its improved 
 credit, and its present flourishing monetary 
 conditions are the highest vindication of its 
 policy. Every class in the country has 
 been benefited. The necessities of life 
 have been cheapened to the consumer. 
 Every article of merchandise that has been 
 made possible of manu r acture in this 
 country by reason of protective duties has 
 been cheapened, instead of being en 
 hanced in price. 
 
 Democratic Tariff from a British Stand 
 point. 
 
 The Democratic party is legislating for 
 England's interests rather than those of 
 America for the protection of foreign 
 labor instead of home industry. 
 
 The London Iron and Coal Trades Re 
 view for December 1883 says: 
 
 "Our best customer for iron, steel, 
 hardwares, and many other goods, has 
 long been the United States, notwithstand 
 ing the very heavy duties that are there 
 levied, and the greatest interest is always 
 manifested by our businessmen in Ameri 
 can politics where they are likely to affect 
 the tariff. It is pretty evident that the pro 
 tectionists are no longer to have it all 
 their own way.'' 
 
 In addition to this, the following ex 
 tracts from British labor periodicals puts 
 the whole case in its true light : 
 
 "The year is likely to see important 
 political changes on the other side of the 
 Atlantic which will have their influence 
 here. Events move rapidly in America, 
 and the coming triumph of the Democratic 
 party there means the triumph of the free- 
 trade movement in the States. It is not to 
 be supposed that there will be free imports 
 into the States, but " a tariff for revenue 
 only,'' which is the leading cry of De 
 mocrats, will open an immense additional 
 field for the sale of English manufactured 
 goods in the States." 
 
 The same journal said in March last : 
 
 " It appears, therefore, that we are buy 
 ing nearly as much in the way of manufac 
 tures in iron and steel, machinery, &c., 
 from the States as we are selling to them. 
 The result must be looked upon as miser 
 able, and is not equal to our position as a 
 manufacturing country. The United States 
 is a producing country, not a manufactur 
 ing, in the sense to which we apply this 
 term to ourselves. It is high time we turned 
 our attention actively elsewhere for a better 
 customer, not forgetting all the same to 
 watch the opportunities which the tariff 
 reduction in the States will open out 
 to us." 
 
 The London Iron and Coal Trades Re 
 view for February 8, 1884, says: 
 
 " Though our trade with the Uniied States 
 has fallen off very much of late, that 
 country still occupies the position of our 
 leading customer, and every change in 
 its condition yet has its influence upon 
 our market. It is, therefore, important to 
 notice that the intelligence from the other 
 side has been of a rather more encouraging 
 character during the last few days." 
 
 The Pall Mall Gazette published the 
 following : 
 
 " The progress of the Morrison bill will 
 be watched with considerable interest by 
 English exporters to the American mar 
 ket, inasmuch as it can hardly fail to tend 
 in their favor." 
 
 Hon. Major Mt Kin ley's Views. 
 
 Hon. William McKinley of Ohio, who 
 has recently been ousted from his seat in 
 the House, and a Democrat put in his 
 place, gives this vivid presentation of the 
 case : 
 
 Importers Celebrate Democratic Victories. 
 
 One firm of importers celebrated that free- 
 trade victory by christening a line of 
 English goods with the significant trade 
 mark, " The Carlisle shape," and pub 
 lished it as "the coming thing" [applause], 
 named in honor of Speaker CARLISLE, to 
 whom the country looked to reduce the 
 present outrageous tariff on crockery. 
 This Democratic House is now employed 
 under the leadership of the distinguished 
 Mr. MORRISON. This line of goods named 
 for one of the ablest and purest Democrats 
 in the House or the country comes from 
 his representative capacity. He stands at 
 
THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 87 
 
 the head of a great political organization 
 committed to the English system, which all 
 ^England believes will increase her pros 
 perity and enrich her manufacturers. 
 
 These goods, made in a foreign pottery 
 with foreign materials, foreign labor, and 
 foreign capital, are fittingly crowned with 
 the head of the British lion. Pass this bill 
 and you will all have shapes and be 
 honored with like manifestations of ap 
 proval. I know my honored friend the 
 Speaker craves no such distinction ; I know 
 he would shrink from such public demon 
 strations of approval, and I believe he will 
 not feel nattered by this well-intentioned 
 compliment; but they could not avoid 
 expression in some public way their appre 
 ciation of his victory. This is but an 
 advance manifestation of the joy which 
 will be felt on the other side should the bill 
 pass. 
 
 American Wages the t>e*t in the World. 
 
 Our wages are higher here than in any 
 other nation of the world, and we are all 
 proud and grateful that it is so. I know it 
 is denied, but experience outweighs theo 
 ries or misleading statistics. One thing 
 we do know is that our work people do not 
 go abroad for better wages, and every 
 other nationality comes here for increased 
 wage> and gets them. In Great Britain 
 and the United States the rate of wages is 
 on the average about 50 per cent, higher 
 here than there." 
 
 We are confronted with this problem at 
 the very threshold of this discussion, and 
 we must meet it. The proposition of the 
 chairman of the Committee of Ways and 
 Means will result in reducing the wages of 
 labor or the destruction of many of our 
 most valuable industries, and the depriva 
 tion of employment to thousands. The 
 one or the other alternative must come ; 
 either will be most disastrous and attended 
 by business depression and individual 
 suffering. 
 
 We must not reduce the price paid to 
 labor ; it is already sufficiently low. We 
 can only prevent it by defeating this bill, 
 and it should be done without unnecessary 
 delay. The sooner the better, and remove 
 this menace which hangs over all of our 
 industrial life and threatens the comfort 
 
 and independence of millions of American 
 workingman. 
 
 How Henry Clay, the Father of Protec 
 tion Presents it. 
 
 Henry Clay, whose reputation as a 
 statesman, and whose life was devoted to 
 the great question of political economy, 
 came from the same state which is now 
 represented by the Champion of Free 
 Trade, and where the demand is made by 
 the Democracy to wipe all laws for the 
 protection of American Industry from the 
 statute book. So fully was he convinced 
 that protection should form a prominent 
 part of the national policy, that he em 
 braced every opportunity to hand his name 
 down to the future artisans and laborers 
 of his country as their friend and champion. 
 
 His defence of the American system 
 made in the Senate in 1832,30 fully sus 
 tains the position of the Republican party, 
 as to entitle it to the careful consideration 
 of the American people. 
 
 "If the term of seven years were to be 
 selected, of the greatest prosperity which 
 this people have enjoyed since the estab 
 lishment of their present constitution, it 
 would be exactly that period of seven years 
 which immediately followed the passage of 
 the tariff of 1824." 
 
 This transformation of the condition of 
 the country from gloom and distress to 
 brightness and prosperity, has been main 
 ly the work of American legislation, foster 
 ing American industry, instead of allowing 
 it to be controlled by foreign legislation, 
 cherishing foreign industry. The foes of 
 the American System, in 1824, with great 
 boldness and confidence, predicted, ist. 
 The ruin of the public revenue, and the 
 creating of a necessity to resort to direct 
 taxation. The gentleman from South 
 Carolina, (General Hayne,) I believe, 
 thought that the tariff of 1824 would op 
 erate a reduction of revenue to the large 
 amount of eight millions of dollars. 2d. 
 The destruction of our navigation. 3d. 
 The desolation of commercial cities. And; 
 4th. The augmentation of the price of ob 
 jects of consumption, and farther decline; 
 in that of the articles of our exports. 
 Every prediction which they made has> 
 failed utterly failed. Instead of the ruim 
 of the public revenue, with which they 
 
88 
 
 THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 then sought to deter us from the adoption 
 of the American System, we are now 
 threatened with its subversion, by the vast 
 amount of the public revenue produced by 
 that system. Every branch of our naviga 
 tion has increased. 
 
 Why, sir, there is scarcely an interest, 
 scarcely a vocation in society, which is not 
 embraced by the beneficence of this sys 
 tem. 
 
 It comprehends our coasting tonnage and 
 trade, from which all foreign tonnage is 
 absolutely excluded. 
 
 It includes all our foreign tonnage, with 
 the inconsiderable exception made by 
 treaties of reciprocity with a few foreign 
 powers. 
 
 It embraces our fisheries, and all our 
 hardy and enterprising fishermen. 
 
 It extends to almost every mechanic 
 
 an . * * * * * 
 
 Its History. 
 
 The subject of the American system was 
 again brought up in 1820, by the bill re 
 ported by the chairman of the committee 
 of manufactures, now a member of the 
 bench of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, and the principle was successfully 
 maintained by the representatives of the 
 people ; but the bill which they passed was 
 defeated in the Senate. It was revived in 
 1824; the whole ground carefully and de 
 liberately explored, and the bill then in 
 troduced, receiving all the sanctions of the 
 constitution, became the law of the land. 
 An amendment of the system was proposed 
 in 1828, to the history of which I refer 
 with no agreeable recollections. The bill 
 of that year, in some of its provisions, was 
 framed on principles directly adverse to 
 the declared wishes of the friends of the 
 policy of protection. I have heard, with 
 out vouching for the fact, that it was so 
 framed upon the advice of a prominent 
 citizen now abroad, with the view of ulti 
 mately defeating the bill, and with assur 
 ances that, being altogether unacceptable 
 to the friends of the American system, the 
 bill would be lost. Be that as it may, the 
 most exceptional features of the bill were 
 stamped upon it, against the earnest re 
 monstrances of the friends of the system, 
 by the votes of southern members, upon a 
 principle, I think, as unsound in legisla 
 
 tion as it is reprehensible in ethics. The 
 bill was passed, notwithstanding all this, it 
 having been deemed better to take the bad 
 along with the good which it contained, 
 than reject it altogether. Subsequent le 
 gislation has corrected the error then per 
 petrated, but still that measure is vehe 
 mently denounced by gentlemen who con 
 tributed to make it what it was. 
 
 Thus, sir, has this great system of pro 
 tection been gradually built, stone upon 
 stone, and step by step, from the Fourth of 
 July, 1789, down to the present period. In 
 every stage of its progress it has received 
 the deliberate sanction of Congress. A 
 vast majority of the people of the United 
 States has approved and continue to ap 
 prove it. Every chief magistrate of the 
 United States, from Washington to the 
 present, in some form or other, has given 
 to it the authority of his name ; and how 
 ever the opinions of the existing President 
 are interpreted south of Mason's and Dix- 
 on's line, in the north they are at least 
 understood to favor the establishment of a 
 judicious tariff. 
 
 Gentlemen deceive themselves. It is not 
 free trade that they are recommending to 
 our acceptance. It is in effect, the British 
 colonial system that we are invited to 
 adopt ; and, if their policy prevail, it will 
 lead substantially to the re-colonization of 
 these States, under the commercial domin 
 ion of Great Britain. And whom do we 
 find some of the principal supporters, out 
 of Congress, of this foreign system ? Mr. 
 President, there are some foreigners who 
 always remain exotics, and never become 
 naturalized in our country ; whilst, happily, 
 there are many others who readily attach 
 themselves to our principles and our insti 
 tutions. The honest, patient and indus 
 trious German readily unites with our peo 
 ple, establishes himself upon some of our 
 fat land, fills his capacious barn, and enjoys 
 in tranquillity the abundant fruits which 
 his diligence gathers around him, always 
 ready to fly to the standard of his adopted 
 country, or of its laws, when called -by 
 the duties of patriotism. The gay, the 
 versatile, the philosophic Frenchman, ac 
 commodating himself cheerfully to all the 
 vicissitudes of life, incorporates himself 
 without difficulty in our society. But, of 
 
THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 89 
 
 all foreigners, none amalgamate themselves 
 so quickly with our people as the natives 
 of the Emerald Isle. In some of the vis 
 ions which have passed through my im 
 agination, I have supposed that Ireland 
 was originally part and parcel of this con 
 tinent, and that, by some extraordinary 
 convulsion of nature, it was torn from 
 America, and drifting across the ocean, 
 was placed in the unfortunate vicinity of 
 Great Britain. The same open-hearted- 
 ness; the same generous hospitality; the 
 same careless and uncalculating indiffer 
 ence about human life, characterize the 
 inhabitants of both countries. 
 
 ;Tlie Law of Labor. 
 
 The great law of price is determined by 
 supply and demand. Whatever affects 
 either, affects the price.. If the supply is 
 increased, the demand remaining the 
 same, the price declines ; if the demand is 
 increased, the supply remaining the same, 
 the price advances ; if both supply and de 
 mand are undiminished, the price is sta 
 tionary, and the price is influenced exactly 
 in proportion to the degree of disturbance 
 to the demand or supply. It is therefore 
 a great error to suppose that an existing or 
 new duty necessarily becomes a component 
 element to its exact amount of price. If 
 the proportion of demand and supply are 
 varied by the duty, either in augmenting 
 the supply, or diminishing the demand, or 
 vice versa, price is affected to the extent of 
 that variation. But the duty never becomes 
 an integral part of the price, except in the 
 instances where the demand and the supply 
 remain after the duty is imposed, precisely 
 what they were before, or the demand is 
 increased and the supply remains station 
 ary. 
 
 Gentlemen have allowed to the manu 
 facturing portions of the community no 
 peace ; they have been constantly threat 
 ened with the overthrow of the American 
 System. From the year 1820, if not 
 from 1816, down to this time, they have 
 been held in a condition of constant alarm 
 and insecurity. Nothing is more prejudi 
 cial to the great interests of a nation than 
 unsettled and varying policy. 
 
 Let the country breathe, let its vast re 
 sources be developed, let its energies be 
 fully put forth, let it have tranquillity, and 
 
 my word for it, the degree of perfection in the 
 arts which it will exhibit, will be greater than 
 that which has been presented, astonishing 
 as our progress has been. Although some 
 branches of our manufactures might, and 
 in foreign markets now do, fearlessly con 
 tend with similar foreign fabrics, there are 
 many others yet in their infancy, struggling 
 with the difficulties which encompass them. 
 
 Tariff makes a Home Market. 
 
 That under the operation of the Amer 
 ican System, the products of our agricul 
 ture command a higher price than they 
 would do without it, by the creation of a 
 home market; and by the augmentation 
 of wealth produced by manufacturing in 
 dustry, which enlarges our powers of con 
 sumption both of domestic and foreign 
 articles. The importance of the home 
 market is among the established maxims 
 which are universally recognized by all 
 writers and all men. It is nearer to us ; 
 beyond the control of foreign legislation ; 
 and undisturbed by those vicissitudes to 
 which all international intercourse is more 
 or less exposed. The most stupid are sen 
 sible of the benefit of a residence in the 
 vicinity of a large manufactory, or of a 
 market town, of a good road, or of a navi 
 gable stream, which connects their farms 
 with some great capital. It is only in the 
 diversity of the vocations of the members 
 of a community that the means can be 
 found for those salutary exchanges which 
 conduce to the general prosperity. And 
 the greater that diversity, the more exten 
 sive and the more animating is the circle 
 of exchange. I conclude this part of the 
 argument with the hope that my humble 
 exertions have not been altogether unsuc 
 cessful in showing 
 
 1. That the policy which we have been 
 considering ought to continue to be re 
 garded as the genuine American System. 
 
 2. That the Free Trade System, which 
 is proposed as its substitute, ought really 
 to be considered as the British Colonial 
 System. 
 
 3. That the American System is bene 
 ficial to all parts of the Union, and abso 
 lutely necessary to much the larger 
 portion. 
 
 4. That the price of the great staple of 
 cotton, and of all our chief productions of 
 
90 
 
 THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 agriculture, has been sustained and up 
 held, and a decline averted by the Protec 
 tive System. 
 
 5. That if the foreign demand for cot 
 ton has been at all diminished by the 
 operation of that system, the diminution 
 has been more than compensated in the 
 additional demand created at home. 
 
 6. That the constant tendency of the 
 system, by creating competition among 
 ourselves, and between American and Eu 
 ropean industry, reciprocally acting upon 
 each other, is to reduce prices of manufac 
 tured objects. 
 
 7. That in point of fact, objects within 
 the scope of the policy of protection have 
 greatly fallen in price. 
 
 8. That if, in a season of peace, these 
 benefits are experienced, in a season of 
 war, when the foreign supply might be 
 cut off, they would be much more exten 
 sively felt. 
 
 9. And finally, that the "substitution of 
 the British Colonial System for the Ameri 
 can System, without benefiting any sec 
 tion of the Union, by subjecting us to a 
 foreign legislation, regulated by foreign 
 interest, would lead to the prostration of 
 our manufactures, general impoverishment, 
 and ultimate ruin." 
 
 Horace Greeley stated the question in 
 his succinct and masterly way under the 
 following propositions : 
 
 Horace Greeley's Proposition. 
 
 1. "A Nation which would be prosper 
 ous, must prosecute various branches of 
 Industry, and supply its vital Wants 
 mainly by the Labor of its own Hands. 
 
 2. There is a natural tendency in a 
 comparatively new Country to become and 
 continue an Exporter of Grain and other 
 rude Staples and an Importer of Manu 
 factures. 
 
 3. // is injurious to the New Country 
 thus to continue dependent for its supplies 
 of Clothing and Manufactured Fabrics on 
 the Old. 
 
 4. That Equilibrium between Agricul 
 ture, Manufactures and Commerce, which 
 we need, can only be maintained by Pro 
 tective Duties. 
 
 5. Protection is necessary and proper to 
 
 sustain as well as to create a beneficent 
 adjustment of our National Industry." 
 
 Diversity of Labor. 
 
 That the United States is a nation of 
 marked progress is due mainly to two 
 causes, the area of undeveloped territory 
 to allow expansion and the diversity of its 
 industries. Any nation or people, or com 
 munity that depends upon a single indus 
 try cannot have a sound basis of prosperity , 
 for when that industry is affected it 
 seriously affects its all when it is des 
 troyed, all is destroyed. The larger the 
 scale of diversity the greater is the sus 
 taining power, and vice versa. A diversi 
 fied industry constitutes the foundation of 
 all true progress, as it increases the 
 avenue of labor and trade, and provides 
 an increased market for our commodities 
 whether the products of the soil, or the 
 handiwork of machinery under the defty 
 skill of the artisan. 
 
 Nations like individuals have to pass 
 through the steps of infancy, childhood 
 and youth, to attain their full vigor of 
 manhood, and governments are the 
 parental guardians to sustain, advance, 
 protect and defend, restrain and punish 
 their people. 
 
 The Republican Party's Consistency. 
 
 Having hastily glanced at the protec 
 tive issue, as presented by the Republican 
 party, and given a brief abstract of some 
 of the reasons in favor of protecting 
 American home industry it is proper to 
 observe its devotion to its faith ever since 
 its organization. 
 
 The convention held at Chicago May 
 17, 1860 imbodied in its platform the 
 following tariff plank. 
 
 "That while providing revenue for the 
 support of the general government by 
 duties upon imports, sound policy requires 
 such an adjustment of these imports as to 
 encourage the industrials interest of the 
 whole country ; and we commend that 
 policy of national exchanges which secures 
 to the working men liberal wages, to 
 agriculture remunerative prices, to 
 mechanics and manufacturers an adequate 
 reward for their skill, labor and enterprise, 
 and to the nation commercial prosperity 
 and independence.'* 
 
THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 91 
 
 In 1872, the Republication national 
 convention which convened June 5th, at 
 Philadelphia, incorporated into its platform 
 the following continuation of the same 
 doctrine announced twelve years before : 
 
 " Among the questions which press for 
 attention is that which concerns the rela 
 tions of capital and labor, and the Repub 
 lican party recognizes the duty of so 
 shaping legislation as to secure full pro 
 tection 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." 
 
 " Revenue except so much as may be 
 derived from a tax upon tobacco and 
 liquors, should be raised by duties on im 
 portations, the details of which should be 
 so adjusted as to aid in securing remunera 
 ting wages to labor, and promote the in 
 dustries, prosperity and growth of the 
 whole country.'' 
 
 It is both proper and instructive to con 
 trast the policy of the two parties, at the 
 same periods of time, and under the same 
 conditions of exigency. Thus in 1860, 
 when the Republican party declared un 
 equivocally in favor of Protection, the 
 Democrats in their national convention 
 reaffirmed the position they took four years 
 before, as follows : 
 
 " The time has come for the people of 
 the United States to declare themselves in 
 favor of * * progressive free trade 
 throughout the world.'' 
 
 In 1872, when the question of protection 
 was discussed throughout the country, and 
 the previous record of the Democratic 
 party was damaging its prospects, it fled 
 from the position taken in 1856, and re 
 affirmed in 1860, and inserted the follow 
 ing plank in its platform to straddle the 
 issue : 
 
 " Recognizing that there are in our 
 midst, honest but irreconcilable differences 
 of opinion with regard to the respective 
 systems of protection and free trade, we 
 remit the discussion of the subject to the 
 people in their congressional districts and 
 to the decision of the Congress thereon, 
 wholly free from executive interference or 
 dictation." 
 
 June 14, 1876, the Republican conven 
 
 tion held at Cincinnati again endorsed its 
 previous policy, as follows : 
 
 " The revenue necessary for current ex 
 penditures, and the obligations of the 
 public debt, must be largely derived from 
 duties on importations, which, so far as 
 possible, should be adjusted to promote the 
 interests of American labor and advance 
 the prosperity of the whole country." 
 
 In the same year the Democratic Con 
 vention placed in its platform the following 
 ultimatum, ignoring the claims of labor, 
 insulting the sons of toil, and opening the 
 doors of competition with pauper labor : 
 
 "WE DEMAND that all custom house 
 taxation shall be for revenue ONLY." 
 
 Both parties re-affirmed their former 
 position on the tariff question in 1880, and 
 hence they now stand before the people of 
 the country as shown by their acts as 
 above given from official records. This 
 so clearly demonstrates that the prosperity 
 and even the very life of our industries is 
 in the hands of the Republican party, and 
 that ultimate Free Trade with all its con 
 comitant evils will follow Democratic 
 success, that no intelligent man need be 
 led astray by specious platitudes. 
 
 He closes Ills Argument for Protection In 
 tlie following words. 
 
 "You will understand me, then, to be 
 utterly hostile to that idol of Free Trade 
 worship, known as free or unlimited com 
 petition. The sands of my hour are run 
 ning low, and I cannot ask time to ex 
 amine this topic more closely ; yet I am 
 confident I could show that this Free Com 
 petition is a most delusive and dangerous 
 element of political economy. Bear with 
 a brief illustration : At this moment com 
 mon shirts are made in London at the 
 incredibly low price of three cents a pair. 
 Should we admit these articles free of duty, 
 and buy them because they are so cheap ? 
 Free Trade says yes ; but I say no ! Sound 
 Policy as well as Humanity forbids it. By 
 admitting them we simply reduce a large 
 and worthy and suffering class of our 
 population from the ability they now pos 
 sess of procuring a bare subsistence by 
 their labor to unavoidable destitution and 
 pauperism. They must now subsist upon 
 the charity of relatives or of the com- 
 
92 
 
 THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 munity, unless we are ready to adopt the 
 demoniac doctrine of the Free Trade 
 philosopher Malthus, that the dependent 
 poor ought to be rigorously starved to 
 death. Then what have we gained by 
 getting these articles so exorbitantly 
 cheap ? or, rather, what have we not lost ? 
 The labor which formerly produced them 
 is mainly struck out of existence ; the poor 
 widows and seamstresses among us must 
 still have a subsistence ; and the imported 
 garments must be paid for : where are the 
 profits of our speculation ? '' 
 
 Still Worse Feature* of the Case. 
 
 "But even this is not the worst feature 
 of the case. The labor which we have 
 here thrown out of employment by the 
 cheap importation of this article is now 
 ready to be employed again at any price, 
 if not one that will afford bread and 
 straw, then it must accept one that will 
 produce potatoes and rubbish ; and with 
 the product some Free Trader proceeds 
 to break down the price and destroy the 
 reward of similar labor in some other 
 portion of the earth. And thus each de 
 pression of wages produces another, and 
 that a third, and so on, making the circuit 
 of the globe, the aggravated necessities 
 of the Poor acting and reacting upon each 
 other, increasing the omnipotence of 
 Capital and deepening the dependence of 
 Labor, swelling and pampering a bloated 
 and factitious commerce, grinding down 
 and grinding down the destitute, until 
 Malthus's remedy for Poverty shall become 
 a grateful specific, and, amid the splendors 
 and luxuries of an all-devouring Com 
 mercial Feudalism, the squalid and 
 famished Millions, its dependents and 
 victims, shall welcome death as a de 
 liverer from their sufferings and despair." 
 
 Tlie Inconsistency o f Free Trade Leaders. 
 
 " I wish time permitted me to give a hasty 
 glance over the doctrines and teachings of 
 the Free Trade sophists who esteem them 
 selves the Political Economists, christen 
 their own views liberal and enlightened, 
 and complacently put ours aside as be 
 nighted and barbarous. I should delight 
 to show you how they mingle subtle fal 
 lacy with obvious truth, how they reason 
 
 acutely from assumed premises, which, 
 being mistaken or incomplete, lead to 
 false and often absurd conclusions ; how 
 they contradict and confound each other, 
 and often, from Adam Smith, their patri 
 arch, down to McCulloch and Ricardo, 
 either make admissions which undermine 
 their whole fabric, or confess themselves 
 ignorant or in the dark on points the most 
 vital to a correct understanding of the 
 subject they profess to have reduced to a 
 science. Yet, even Adam Smith, himself, 
 expressly approves and justifies the British 
 Navigation Act, the most aggressively 
 Protective measure ever enacted ; a mea 
 sure which, not being understood and 
 seasonably counteracted by other nations, 
 changed for centuries the destinies of the 
 world ; which silently sapped and over 
 threw the commercial and political great 
 ness of Holland; which silenced the thunder 
 of Van Tromp, and swept the broom from 
 his masthead. But I must not detain you 
 longer. I do not ask you to judge of this 
 matter by authority, but from facts which 
 come home to your reason and your daily 
 experience. There is not an observing 
 and strong-fninded mechanic in our city 
 who could not set any one of those doctors 
 of the law right on essential points. I 
 beg you to consider how few great practi- 
 tical statesmen they have ever been able 
 to win to their standards I might almost 
 say none ; for Huskisson was but a nomi 
 nal disciple, and expressly contravened 
 their whole system upon an attempt to 
 apply it to the corn laws ; and Calhoun is 
 but a Free Trader by location, and has 
 never yet answered his own powerful ar 
 guments in behalf of protection. 1 ' 
 
 The Roll of the Friend* of Protection. 
 
 "On the other hand, we point, you to 
 the long array of mighty names which 
 have illustrated the annals of statesman 
 ship of modern times to Chatham, Pitt 
 and the great Frederick of Prussia ; to the 
 whole array of memorable French states 
 men, including Napoleon the first of them 
 all ; to our own WASHINGTON, HAMILTON, 
 JEFFERSON and MADISON ; to our two 
 CLINTONS, TOMPKINS, to say nothing of 
 the eagle-eyed and genial-hearted living 
 master-spirit, HENRY CLAY, of our time. 
 
THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 93 
 
 The opinions and the arguments of all 
 these are on record ; it is by hearkening 
 to and heeding their counsels that we 
 shall be prepared to walk in the light of 
 experience and look forward to a glorious 
 National destiny. t} 
 
 Platform unanimously adopted at the 
 
 Republican Nominating Convention 
 
 at Chicago, June 5, 1884:. 
 
 The Republicans of the United States, 
 in Convention assembled, renew their al 
 legiance to the principles upon which they 
 have triumphed in six successive presi 
 dential elections, and congratulate the 
 American people on the attainment of so 
 many results in legislation and adminis 
 tration by which the Republican Party 
 has, after saving the Union, done so much 
 to render its institutions just, equal and 
 beneficent the safeguard of liberty and 
 the embodiment of the best thought and 
 highest purposes of our citizens. The Re 
 publican Party has gained its strength by 
 quick and faithful response to the demands 
 of the people for the freedom and the 
 equality of all men ; for a united nation 
 assuring the rights of all citizens ; for the 
 elevation of labor ; for an honest currency ; 
 for purity in legislation, and for integrity 
 and accountability in all departments of 
 the Government, and it accepts anew the 
 duty of leading in the work of progress 
 and reform. 
 
 We lament the death of President Gar- 
 field, whose sound statesmanship, long 
 conspicuous in Congress, gave promise of 
 a strong and successful administration, a 
 promise fully realized during the short 
 period of his office as President of the 
 United States, His distinguished success 
 in war and in peace has endeared him to 
 the hearts of the American people. 
 
 In the administration of President Ar 
 thur, we recognize a wise, conservative 
 and patriotic policy under which the coun 
 try has been blessed with remarkable 
 prosperity, and we believe his eminent 
 services are entitled to and will receive 
 the hearty approval of every citizen. It 
 is the first duty of a good government to 
 protect the rights and promote the inte 
 rests of its own people ; the largest diver 
 sity of industry is most productive of 
 
 general prosperity and of the comfort and 
 independence of the people. 
 
 The Tariff Plank. 
 
 We, therefore, demand that the imposi 
 tion of duties on foreign imports shall be 
 made not for " revenue only " but that, in 
 raising the requisite revenues for the Gov 
 ernment, such duties shall be so levied as 
 to afford security to our diversified indus 
 tries and protection to the rights and 
 wages of the laborer, to the end that active 
 and intelligent labor as well as capital, 
 may have its just reward, and the laboring 
 man his full share in the national pros 
 perity. 
 
 Against the so-called economical system 
 of the Democratic party, which would de 
 grade our labor to the foreign standard, 
 we enter our earnest protest ; the Demo 
 cratic party has failed completely to re 
 lieve the people of the burden of unneces 
 sary taxation by a wise reduction of the 
 surplus. 
 
 The Republican party pledges itself to 
 correct the inequalities of the tariff and to 
 reduce the surplus, not by the vicious and 
 indiscriminate process of horizontal reduc 
 tion, but by such methods as will relieve 
 the taxpayer without injuring the laborer 
 or the great productive interests of the 
 country. 
 
 We recognize the importance of sheep 
 husbandry in the United States, the serious 
 depression which it is now experiencing 
 and the danger threatening its future pros 
 perity ; and we, therefore, respect the de 
 mands of the representatives of this im 
 portant agricultural interest for a readjust 
 ment of duty upon foreign wool in view 
 that such industry shall have full and ad 
 equate industry. 
 
 We have always recommended the best 
 money known to the civilized world, and 
 we urge that an effort be made to unite all 
 commercial nations in the establishment 
 of the international standard, which shall 
 fix for all the relative value of gold and 
 silver coinage. 
 
 The regulation of commerce with for 
 eign nations and between the states is one 
 of the most important prerogatives of the 
 general Government, and the Republican 
 party distinctly announces its purpose to 
 
94 
 
 THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 support such legislation as will fully and 
 efficiently carry out the constitutional 
 power of Congress over inter-state com 
 merce. The principle of the public regu 
 lation of railway corporations is a wise 
 and salutary one for the protection of all 
 classes of people, and we favor legislation 
 that shall prevent unjust discrimination 
 and excessive charges for transportation, 
 and that shall secure to the people and to 
 the railroads alike the fair and equal pro 
 tection of the laws, 
 
 Protection to Labor. 
 
 We favor the establishment of a nation 
 al bureau of labor, the enforcement of the 
 eight-hour law, a wise and judicious sys 
 tem of general education by adequate ap 
 propriation from the national revenues 
 wherever the same is needed. 
 
 We believe that everywhere the protec 
 tion to a citizen of American birth must be 
 secured to citizens by American adoption, 
 and we favor the settlement of national 
 differences by international arbitration. 
 
 The Republican party, having its birth 
 in a hatred of slave labor, and in a desire 
 that all men may be free and equal, is un 
 alterably opposed to placing our working- 
 men in competition with any form of servile 
 labor, whether at home or abroad. In this 
 spirit we denounce the importation of con 
 tract labor, whether from Europe or Asia, 
 as an offence against the spirit of Ameri 
 can institutions, and we pledge ourselves 
 to sustain the present law restricting Chi 
 nese immigration, and to provide such 
 further legislation as is necessary to carry 
 out its purposes. 
 
 Civil Service Reform. 
 
 The reform of the civil service auspicious 
 ly begun under Republican administration 
 should be completed by the further exten 
 sion of the reform system already establish 
 ed by law to all the grades of the service 
 to which it is applicable. The spirit and 
 purpose of the reform should be observed 
 in all executive appointments, and all laws 
 at variance with the objects of existing re 
 formed legislation should be repealed, to 
 the end that the dangers of free institu 
 tions which lurk in the power of official 
 patronage may be wisely and effectively 
 avoided. 
 
 The public lands are a heritage of the 
 people of the United States, and should be 
 reserved as far as possible for small hold 
 ings by actual settlers. We are opposed 
 to the acquisition of large tracts of these 
 lands by corporations or individuals, es 
 pecially where such holdings are in the 
 hands of non-resident aliens, and we will 
 endeavor to obtain such legislation as will 
 tend to correct this evil. 
 
 We demand of Congress the speedy for 
 feiture of all land grants which have lapsed 
 by reason of non-compliance with acts of 
 incorporation, in all cases where there has 
 been no attempt in good faith to perform 
 the conditions of such grants. 
 
 The grateful thanks of the American 
 people are due to the Union solders and 
 sailors of the late war, and the Republican 
 party stands pledged to suitable pensions 
 to all who were disabled and for the wid 
 ows and orphans of those who died in the 
 war. The Republican party pledges itself 
 to the repeal of the limitation contained in 
 the Arrears act of 1879, so that a11 invalid 
 soldiers shall share alike, and their pen 
 sions shall begin with the date of disability 
 or discharge and not with the date of the 
 application. 
 
 Regarding a Foreign Policy. 
 
 The Republican party favors a policy 
 which shall keep us from entangling alli 
 ances with foreign nations,and which shall 
 give the right to expect that foreign nations 
 shall refrain from meddling in America, 
 and the policy which seeks peace can 
 trade with all powers, but especially with 
 those of the Western Hemisphere. We 
 demand the restoration of our navy to its 
 old-time strength and efficiency, that it 
 may in any sea protect the rights of Amer 
 ican citizens and the interest of American 
 commerce, and we call upon Congress to 
 remove the burdens under which American 
 shipping has been depressed, so that it 
 may again be true that we have a com 
 merce which leaves no sea unexplored, 
 and a navy which takes no law from su 
 perior force. 
 
 Resolved, That apppointments by the 
 President to offices in the territories should 
 be made from the bona fide citizens and 
 residents of the territories wherein they 
 are to serve. 
 
THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
 95 
 
 Resolved, That it is the duty of Congress 
 to enact such laws as shall promptly and 
 effectually suppress the system of po 
 lygamy within our territory and divorce 
 the political from the ecclesiastical power 
 of the so-called Mormon Church and that 
 the law so enacted should be rigidly en 
 forced by the civil authorities if possible, 
 and by the militaiy if need be. 
 
 Denouncing "Southern Outrages. 
 
 The people of the United States in their 
 organized capacity constitute a nation and 
 not a mere confederacy of states. The 
 National Government is supreme within 
 the sphere of its national duty, but the 
 states have reserved rights which should 
 be faithfully maintained ; each should be 
 guarded with jealous care so that the har 
 mony of our system of government may 
 be preserved and the Union kept inviolate. 
 The perpetuity of our institutions rests 
 upon the maintenance of a free ballot, an 
 honest count and a correct return. We 
 denounce the fraud and violence prac 
 
 ticed by the Democratic party in Southern 
 States, by which the will of the voter is 
 defeated, as dangerous to the preservation 
 of free institutions, and we solemnly ar 
 raign the Democratic party as being the 
 guilty recipient of the fruit of such fraud 
 and violence. 
 
 We extend to the Republicans of the 
 South, regardless of their former party 
 affiliations, our cordial sympathy, and 
 pledge them our most earnest efforts to 
 promote the passage of such legislation as 
 will secure to every citizen, of whatever 
 race and color, the full and complete re 
 cognition, possession and exercise of all 
 civil and political rights. 
 
 Mr. Bush, of California I move the 
 adoption of the resolutions. 
 
 The Chair The gentleman from Cali 
 fornia moves the adoption of the resolu 
 tions. The question is upon the adoption 
 of the resolutions. Those in favor of the 
 same will say yea, and contrary nay. 
 
 The resolutions were adopted unani 
 mously. 
 
THE ISSUES OF 1884. 
 
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 * In Connecticut, the vote for Sheriff is taken. In New York, the 'average vote on four of the five 
 State officers chosen, excluding Secretary of State. In Nebraska, Democratic and Anti-Monopoly vote 
 combined on Judge, f American, 707 ; scattering, 989. J Scattering, 106. In these States the vole on 
 Lieutenant-Governor was taken, as being, from special causes, a fairer test of party strength. In the 
 others the principal State officer was taken. Where State officers were not elected, the Congressional 
 vote was taken. In Georgia, Congressmen at-Large was taken. || The vote for Chief Judge, f The 
 Regular and Independent Republican vote is combined. ** Vote of the two Democratic candid ates is 
 combined. 
 
PART II. 
 
 OP 
 
 POLITICAL PARTIES, 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 POLITICAL PARTIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Colonial Parties Whig and Tory. 
 
 The parties peculiar to pur Colonial 
 times hardly have a place in American 
 politics. They divided people in senti 
 ment simply, as they did in the mother 
 country, but here there was little or no 
 power to act, and were to gather results 
 from party victories. Men were then 
 Whigs or Tories because they had been 
 prior to their emigration here, or because 
 their parents had been, or because it has 
 ever been natural to show division in in 
 dividual sentiment. Political contests, 
 however, were unknown, for none enjoyed 
 the pleasures and profits of power; the 
 crown made and unmade rulers. The 
 local self-government which our fore 
 fathers enjoyed, were secured to them by 
 their charters, and these were held to be 
 contracts not to be changed without the 
 consent of both parties. All of the inhabi 
 tants of the colonies claimed and were 
 justly entitled to the rights guaranteed by 
 the Magna Charta, and in addition to 
 these they insisted upon the supervision of 
 all internal interests and the power to levy 
 and collect taxes. These claims were con 
 ceded until their growing prosperity and 
 England's need of additional revenues 
 suggested schemes of indirect taxation. 
 Against these the colony of Plymouth pro 
 tested as early as 1636, and spasmodic pro 
 tests from all the colonies followed. These 
 increased in frequency and force with the 
 growing demands of King George III. In 
 1651 the navigation laws imposed upon the 
 colonies required both exports and imports 
 to be carried in British ships, and all who 
 
 traded were compelled to do it with Eng 
 land. In 1672 inter-colonial duties were 
 imposed, and when manufacturing sought 
 to flank this policy, their establishment 
 was forbidden by law. 
 
 The passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 
 caused high excitement, and for the first 
 time parties began to take definite shape 
 and manifest open antagonisms, and the 
 words Whig and Tory then had a plainer 
 meaning in America than in England. 
 The Stamp Act was denounced by the 
 Whigs as direct taxation, since it provided, 
 that stamps previously paid for should be 
 affixed to all legal papers. The colonies 
 resented, and so general were the protests 
 that for a time it seemed that only those 
 who owed their livings to the Crown, or 
 expected aid and comfort from it, re 
 mained with the Tories. The Whigs were 
 the patriots. The war for the rights of 
 the colonies began in 1775, and it was 
 supported by majorities in all of the Co 
 lonial Assemblies. These majorities were 
 as carefully organized then as now to pro 
 mote a popular cause, and this in the face 
 of adverse action on the part of the sev 
 eral Colonial Governors. Thus in Vir 
 ginia, Lord Dunmore had from time to 
 time, until 1773, prorogued the Virginia 
 Assembly, when it seized the opportunity 
 to pass resolves instituting a committee of 
 correspondence, and recommending joint 
 action by the legislatures of the other 
 colonies. In the next year, the same body, 
 under the lead of Henry, Randolph, Lee, 
 Washington, Wythe and other patriots, 
 officially deprecated the closing of the 
 
 3 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS, 
 
 port of Boston, and set apart a day to im 
 plore Divine interposition in behalf of the 
 colonies. The Governor dissolved the 
 House for this act, and the delegates, 89 in 
 number, repaired to a tavern, organized 
 themselves into a committee, signed arti 
 cles of association, and advised with other 
 colonial committees the expediency of 
 " appointing deputies to meet in a general 
 correspondence" really a suggestion for 
 a Congress. The idea of a Congress, how 
 ever, originated with Doctor Franklin the 
 year before, and it had then been approved 
 oy town meetings in Providence, Boston 
 and New York. The action of Virginia 
 lifted the proposal above individual advice 
 and the action of town meetings, and 
 called to it the attention of all the colo 
 nial legislatures. It was indeed fortunate 
 in the incipiency of these political move 
 ments, that the people were practically 
 unanimous. Only the far-seeing realized 
 the drift and danger, while nearly all could 
 join their voices against oppressive taxes 
 and imposts. 
 
 The war went on for colonial rights, the 
 Whigs wisely insisting that they were wil 
 ling to remain as colonists if their rights 
 should be guaranteed by the mother coun 
 try ; the Tories, chiefly fed by the Crown, 
 were willing to remain without guarantee 
 a negative position, and one which in 
 the high excitement of the times excited 
 little attention, save where the holders of 
 such views made themselves odious by the 
 enjoyment of high official position, or by 
 harsh criticism upon, or treatment of the 
 patriots. 
 
 The first Continental Congress assembled 
 in Philadelphia in September, 1774, and 
 there laid the foundations of the Republic. 
 While its assemblage was first recom 
 mended by home meetings, the cause, as 
 already shown, was taken up by the as 
 semblies of Massachusetts and Virginia. 
 Georgia alone was not represented. The 
 members were called delegates, who de 
 clared in their official papers that they 
 were " appointed by the good people of 
 these colonies." It was called the " revo- 
 lutionary government," because it derived 
 its power from the people, and not from 
 the functionaries of any existing govern 
 ment. In it each colony was allowed but 
 a single vote, regardless of the number of 
 delegates, and here began not only the 
 unit rule, but the practice which obtains 
 in the election of a President when the 
 contest reaches, under the constitution and 
 law, the National House of Representa 
 tives. The original object was to give 
 equality to the colonies as colonies. 
 
 In 1775, the second Continental Con 
 gress assembled at Philadelphia, all the 
 colonies being again represented save 
 Georgia. The delegates were chosen prin 
 cipally by conventions of the people, 
 
 though some were sent by the popular 
 branches of the colonial legislatures. In 
 July, and soon after the commencement 
 of hostilities, Georgia entered the Con 
 federacy. 
 
 The Declaration of Independence, passed 
 in 1776, drew yet plainer lines between the 
 Whigs and Tories. A gulf of hatred sepa 
 rated the opposing parties, and the Tory 
 was far more despised than the open foe, 
 when he was not such, and was the first 
 sought when he was. Men who contend 
 for liberty ever regard those who are not 
 for them as against them a feeling which 
 led to the expression of a political maxim 
 of apparent undying force, for it has since 
 found frequent repetition in every earnest 
 campaign. After the adoption of the De 
 claration by the Continental Congress, the 
 Whigs favored the most direct and abso 
 lute separation, while the Tories supported 
 the Crown. On the 7th of June, 1776, 
 Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, moved 
 the Declaration in these words: 
 
 "Resolved, That these united colonies are, 
 and of right ought to be, free and indepen 
 dent states ; that they are absolved from 
 all allegiance to the British Crown, and 
 that all political connection between them 
 and the State of Great Britain is, and 
 ought to be, totally dissolved." 
 
 Then followed preparations for the for 
 mal declaration, whicn was adopted on the 
 4th of July, 1776, in the precise language 
 submitted by Thomas Jefferson. All of 
 the state papers of the Continental Con 
 gress evince the highest talent, and the 
 evils which led to its exhibition must have 
 been long but very impatiently endured to 
 impel the study of the questions involved. 
 Possibly only the best lives in our memory 
 invite our perusal, but certain it is that 
 higher capacity was never called to the 
 performance of graver political duties in 
 the history of the world. 
 
 It has been said that the Declaration is 
 in imitation of that published by the Uni 
 ted Netherlands, but whether this be true 
 or false, the liberty-loving world has for 
 more than a century accepted it as the 
 best protest against oppression known to 
 political history. A great occasion con 
 spired with a great author to make it 
 grandly great. 
 
 Dr. Franklin, as early as July, 1775, first 
 prepared a sketch of articles of confedera 
 tion between the colonies, to continue until 
 their reconciliation with Great Britain, 
 and in failure thereof to be perpetual. 
 John Quincy Adams says this plan was 
 never discussed in Congress. June 11, 
 1776, a committee was appointed to pre 
 pare the force of a colonial confederation, 
 and the day following one member from 
 each colony was appointed to perform the 
 dutv. The report was submitted, laid 
 aside August 20, 1776, taken up April 7, 
 
PARTICULARISTS STRONG GOVERNMENT WHIGS. 
 
 1777, and debated from time to time until 
 November 15th, of the same year, when 
 the report was agreed to. It was then 
 submitted to the legislatures of the several 
 states, these being advised to authorize 
 their delegates in Congress to ratify the 
 same. On the 26th of June, 1778, the rat 
 ification was ordered to be engrossed and 
 signed by the delegates. Those of New 
 Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode 
 Island, Connecticut, New York, Penn 
 sylvania, Virginia and South Carolina 
 signed July 9th, 1778 ; those of North Car 
 olina July 21st ; Georgia July 24th ; Jersey 
 November 26th, same year; Delaware 
 February 22d and May 5th, 1779. Mary 
 land refused to ratify until the question of 
 the conflicting claims of the Union and 
 of the separate States to the property of 
 the crown-lands should be adjusted. This 
 was accomplished by the cession of the 
 lands in dispute to the United States, and 
 Maryland signed March 1st, 1781. On 
 the 2d of March, Congress assembled un 
 der the new powers, and continued to act 
 for the Confederacy until the 4th of March, 
 1789, the date of the organization of the 
 government under the Federal constitu 
 tion. Our political life has therefore three 
 periods, " the revolutionary government," 
 *' the confederation," and that of the " fed 
 eral constitution," which still obtains. 
 
 The federal constitution is the result of 
 the labors of a convention called at Phila 
 delphia in May, 1787, at a time when it 
 was feared by many that the Union was 
 in the greatest danger, from inability to 
 pay soldiers who had, in 1783, been dis 
 banded on a declaration of peace and an 
 acknowledgment of independence ; from 
 prostration of the public credit and faith 
 of the nation ; from the neglect to provide 
 for the payment of even the interest on 
 the public debt ; and from the disappoint 
 ed hopes of many who thought freedom 
 did not need to face responsibilities. A 
 large portion of the convention of 1787 
 still clung to the confederacy of the states, 
 and advocated as a substitute for the con 
 stitution a revival of the old articles of 
 confederation with additional powers to 
 Congress. A long discussion followed, 
 and a most able one, but a constitution for 
 the people, embodying a division of legis 
 lative, judicial and executive powers pre 
 vailed, and the result is now daily wit 
 nessed in the federal constitution. While 
 the revolutionary war lasted but seven 
 years, the political revolution incident to, 
 identified with and directing it, lasted 
 thirteen years. This was completed on 
 the 30th of April, 1789, the day on which 
 Washington was inaugurated as the first 
 President under the federal constitution. 
 
 The Particnlarists. 
 
 As questions of government were evolved 
 
 by the struggles for independence, the 
 Whigs, who of course greatly outnumbered 
 all others during the Revolution, naturally 
 divided in sentiment, though their divi 
 sions were not sufficiently serious to excite 
 the establishment of rival parties some 
 thing which the great majority of our fore 
 fathers were too wise to think of in time of 
 war. When the war closed, however, and 
 the question of establishing the Union was 
 brought clear to the view of all, one class 
 of the Whigs believed that state govern 
 ment should be supreme, and that no cen 
 tral power should have sufficient authority 
 to coerce a state, or keep it to the com 
 pact against its will. All accepted the 
 idea of a central government ; all realized 
 the necessity of union, but the fear that 
 the states would lose their power, or sur 
 render their independence was very great, 
 and this fear was more naturally shown by 
 both the larger and the smaller states. This 
 class of thinkers were then called Partic- 
 ularists. Their views were opposed by 
 the 
 
 Strong Government Whigs 
 
 who argued that local self-government was 
 inadequate to the establishment and per 
 petuation of political freedom, and that it 
 afforded little or no power to successfully 
 resist foreign invasion. Some of these 
 went so far as to favor a government pat 
 terned after that of England, save that it 
 should be republican in name and spirit. 
 The essential differences, if they can be re 
 duced to two sentences, were these : The 
 Particularist Whigs desired a government 
 republican in form and democratic in 
 spirit, with rights of local self-government 
 and state rights ever uppermost. The 
 Strong Government Whigs desired a gov 
 ernment republican in form, with checks 
 upon the impulses or passions of the peo 
 ple ; liberty, sternly regulated by law, and 
 that law strengthened and confirmed by ? 
 central authority the authority of the na- r 
 tional government to be final in appeals. 
 As we have stated, the weakness of the 
 confederation was acknowledged by many 
 men, and the majority, as it proved to be 
 after much agitation and discussion 
 thought it too imperfect to amend. The 
 power of the confederacy was notacknow- 
 edged by the states, its congress not re 
 spected by the people. Its requisitions 
 were disregarded, foreign trade could not 
 be successfully regulated ; foreign nations 
 refused to bind themselves by commercial 
 treaties, and there was a rapid growth of 
 very dangerous business rivalries and 
 jealousies between the several states. 
 Those which were fortunate enough, in 
 dependent of congress, to possess or se 
 cure ports for domestic or foreign com 
 merce, taxed the imports of their 'J 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 states. There was confusion which must 
 noon have approached violence, for no 
 authority beyond the limits of the state 
 was respected, and Congress was notably 
 powerless in its attempts to command aid 
 from the states to meet the payment of 
 the war debt, or the interest thereon. In 
 stead of general respect for, there was al 
 most general disregard of law on the part 
 of legislative bodies, and the people were 
 not slow in imitating their representatives. 
 Civil strife became imminent, and Shay's 
 Rebellion in Massachusetts was the first 
 warlike manifestation of the spirit which 
 was abroad in the land. 
 
 Alive to the new dangers, the Assembly 
 of Virginia in 1786, appointed commis 
 sioners to invite all the states to take part 
 in a convention for the consideration of 
 questions of commerce, and the propriety 
 of altering the Articles of Confederation. 
 This convention met at Annapolis, Sept. 
 llth, 1786. But five states sent representa 
 tives, the others regarding the movement 
 with jealousy. This convention, however, 
 adopted a report which urged the appoint 
 ment of commissioners by all the states, 
 "to devise such other provisions as shall, 
 to them seem necessary to render the con 
 dition of the Federal government adequate 
 to the exigencies of the Union ; and to re 
 port such an act for that purpose to the 
 United States in Congress assembled, as, 
 when agreed to by them and afterwards 
 confirmed by the legislatures of every state, 
 will effectually provide for the same." 
 Congress approved this action, and passed 
 resolutions favoring a meeting in conven 
 tion for the " sole and express purpose of 
 revising the Articles of Confederation, and 
 report to Congress and the State legisla 
 tures." The convention met in Philadel 
 phia in May, 1787, and continued its ses 
 sions until September 17th, of the same year. 
 The Strong Government Whigs had previ 
 ously made every possible effort for a full 
 and able representation, and the result did 
 not disappoint them, for instead of simply 
 revising the Articles of Confederation, the 
 convention framed a constitution, and sent 
 it to Congress to be submitted to that body 
 and through it to the several legislatures. 
 The act submitting it provided that, if it 
 should be ratified by nine of the thirteen 
 .states, it should be binding upon those 
 ratifying the same. Just here was started 
 the custom which has since passed into 
 law, that amendments to the national con 
 stitution shall be submitted after approval 
 by Congress, to the legislatures of the sev 
 eral states, and after approval by three- 
 fourths thereof, it shall be binding upon all 
 a very proper exercise of constitutional 
 authority, as it seems now, but which 
 would not have won popular approval 
 when Virginia proposed the Annapolis 
 convention in 1786. Indeed, the reader of 
 
 our political history must ever be impressed 
 with the fact that changes and reforms 
 ever moved slowly, and that those of slow 
 est growth seem to abide the longest. 
 
 The Federal and Anti-Federal Parties. 
 
 The Strong Government Whigs, on the 
 submission of the constitution of 1787 to 
 Congress and the legislatures, and indi 
 rectly through the latter to the people, who 
 elect the members on this issue, became 
 the Federal party, and all of its power was 
 used to promote the ratification of the in 
 strument. Its ablest men, headed by 
 Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, 
 advocated adoption before the people, and 
 their pens supplied much of the current 
 political literature of that day. Eighty- 
 five essays, still noted and quoted for their 
 ability, under the nom deplume of "Pub- 
 lius," were published in " The Federalist." 
 They were written by Hamilton, Madison 
 and Jay, and with irresistible force advo 
 cated the Federal constitution, which was 
 ratified by the nine needed states, and 
 Congress was officially informed of the fact 
 July 2d, 1788, and the first Wednesday in 
 March, 1789, was fixed as the time " for 
 commencing proceedings under the con 
 stitution." 
 
 This struggle for the first time gave the 
 Federalists an admitted majority. The 
 complexion of the State legislature prior 
 to it showed them in fact to be in a mi 
 nority, and the Particularist Whigs, or 
 Anti-Federals opposed every preliminary 
 step looking to the abandonment of the 
 Articles of Confederation and the adoption 
 of a Federal constitution. They were 
 called Anti-Federals because they opposed 
 a federal government and constitution and 
 adhered to the rights of the States and 
 those of local self-government. Doubtless 
 party rancor, then as now, led men to op 
 pose a system of government which it 
 seems they must have approved after fight 
 ing for it, but the earlier jealousies of the 
 States and the prevailing ideas of liberty 
 certainly gave the Anti-Federals a popu 
 larity which only a test so sensible as that 
 proposed could have shaken. They were 
 not without popular orators and leaders. 
 Patrick Henry, the earliest of the pa 
 triots, and " the-old-man-eloquent," Samuel 
 Adams, took special pride in espousing 
 their cause. The war questions between 
 Whig and Tory must have passed quickly 
 away, as living issues, though the news 
 papers and contemporaneous history show 
 that the old taunts and battle cries were 
 applied to the new situation with a pJain- 
 ness and virulence that must still be envied 
 by the sensational and more bitterly parti 
 san journals of our own day. To read 
 these now, and some of our facts are gath 
 
FEDERALS AND ANTI-FEDERALS. 
 
 ered from such sources, is to account for 
 the frequent use of the saying touching 
 " the ingratitude of republics," for when 
 partisan hatred could deride the still re 
 cent utterances of Henry before the startled 
 assembly of Virginians, and of Adams in 
 advocating the adoption of the Declaration, 
 there must at least to every surface view 
 have been rank ingratitude. Their good 
 names, however, survived the struggle, as 
 good names in our republic have ever sur 
 vived the passions of the law. In politics 
 the Americans then as now, hated with 
 promptness and forgave with generosity. 
 
 The Anti-Federals denied nearly all that 
 the Federals asserted. The latter had for 
 the first time assumed the aggressive, and 
 had the advantage of position. They 
 showed the deplorable condition of the 
 country, and their opponents had to bear 
 the burdens of denial at a time when nearly 
 all public and private obligations were dis 
 honored ; when labor was poorly paid, work 
 men getting but twenty-five cents a day,with 
 little to do at that ; when even the rich in 
 lands were poor in purse, and when com 
 merce on the seas was checked by the cold 
 ness of foreign nations and restricted by 
 the action of the States themselves ; when 
 manufactures were without protection of 
 any kind, and when the people thought 
 their struggle for freedom was about to end 
 in national poverty. Still Henry, and 
 Adams and Hancock, with hosts of others, 
 claimed that the aspirations of the Anti- 
 Federals were the freest, that they pointed 
 to personal liberty and local sovereignty. 
 Yet many Anti-Federals must have accept 
 ed the views of the Federals, who under 
 the circumstances must have presented the 
 better reason, and the result was as stated, 
 the ratification of the Federal constitution 
 of 1787 by three-fourths of the States of 
 the Union. After this the Anti-Federalists 
 were given a new name, that of " Close 
 Obstructionists," because they naturally 
 desired to interpret the new instrument in 
 such a way as to bend it to their views. 
 The Federalists became " Broad Construc- 
 tionists," because they interpreted the con 
 stitution in a way calculated to broaden 
 the power of the national government. 
 
 The Confederacy once dissolved, the 
 Federal party entered upon the enjoy 
 ment of full political power, but it was not 
 without its responsibilities. The govern 
 ment had to be organized upon the basis 
 of the new constitution, as upon the suc 
 cess of that organization would depend not 
 alone the stability of the government and 
 the happiness of its people, but the repu 
 tation of the party and the fame of its 
 leaders as statesmen. 
 
 Fortunately for all, party hostilities were 
 not manifested in the Presidential election. 
 All bowed to the popularity of Washing 
 ton, and he was unanimously nominated 
 
 by the congressional caucus and appointed 
 by the electoral college. He selected hia 
 cabinet from the leading minds of both 
 parties, and while himself a recognized 
 Federalist, all felt that he was acting for 
 the good of all, and in the earlier years of 
 his administration, none disputed this 
 fact. 
 
 As the new measures of the government 
 advanced, however, the anti-federalists or 
 ganized an opposition to the party in 
 power. Immediate danger had passed. 
 The constitution worked well. The laws 
 of Congress were respected; its calls for 
 revenue honored, and Washington de 
 voted much of his first and second mes 
 sages to showing the growing prosperity 
 of the country, and the respect which it 
 was beginning to excite abroad. But 
 where there is political power, there is 
 opposition in a free land, and the great 
 leaders of that day neither forfeited their 
 reputations as patriots, or their characters 
 as statesmen by the assertion of honest dif 
 ferences of opinion. Washington, Adams, 
 and Hamilton were the recognized leaders 
 of the Federalists, the firm friends of the 
 constitution. The success of this instru 
 ment modified the views of the anti- 
 Federalists, and Madison of Virginia, its 
 recognized friend when it was in prepara 
 tion, joined with others who had been its 
 friends notably, * Doctor Williamson, of 
 North Carolina, and Mr. Langdon, of 
 Georgia, in opposing the administration, 
 and soon became recognized leaders of the 
 anti-Federalists. Langdon was the Presi 
 dent pro tern, of the Senate. Jeiferson was 
 then on a mission to France, and not until 
 some years thereafter did he array himself 
 with those opposed to centralized power in 
 the nation. He returned in November, 
 
 1789, and was called to Washington's 
 cabinet as Secretary of State in March, 
 
 1790. It was a great cabinet, with Jeffer 
 son as its premier (if this term is suited to 
 a time when English political nomenclature 
 was anything but popular in the land;) 
 Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury; 
 Knox, Secretary of War, and Edmund 
 Randolph, Attorney-General. There was 
 no Secretary of the Navy until the ad 
 ministration of the elder Adams, and no 
 Secretary of the Interior. 
 
 The first session of Congress under the 
 Federal constitution, held in New York, 
 sat for nearly six months, the adjournment 
 taking place September 29th, 1789. Nearly 
 all the laws framed pointed to the organi 
 zation of the government, and the discus 
 sions were able and protracted. Indeed, 
 these discussions developed opposing views, 
 which could easily find separation on much 
 the same old lines as those which separated 
 the founders of constitutional government 
 
 * Ed win Williams in Statesman's ManHal. 
 
8 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 from those who favored the old confederate 
 methods. The Federalists, on pivotal 
 questions, at this session, carried their 
 measures only by small majorities. 
 
 Much of the second session was devoted 
 to the discussion of the able reports of 
 Hamilton, and their final adoption did 
 much to build up the credit of the nation 
 and to promote its industries. He was 
 the author of the protective system, and at 
 the first session gave definite shape to his 
 theories. He recommended the funding 
 of the war debt, the assumption of the 
 state war debts by the national government, 
 the providing of a system of revenue from 
 the collection of duties on imports, and an 
 internal excise. His advocacy of a pro 
 tective tariif was plain, for he declared it 
 to be necessary for the support of the gov 
 ernment and the encouragemvnt of manu 
 factures that duties be laid on goods, wares, 
 and merchandise imported. 
 
 The third session of the same Congress 
 was held at Philadelphia, though the seat 
 of the national government had, at the 
 previous one, been fixed on the Potomac 
 instead of the Susquehanna this after a 
 compromise with Southern members, who 
 refused to vote for the Assumption Bill 
 until the location of the capital in the 
 District of Columbia had been agreed 
 upon ; by the way, this was the first exhi 
 bition of log-rolling in Congress. To 
 complete Hamilton's financial system, a 
 national bank was incorporated. On this 
 project both the members of Congress and 
 of the cabinet were divided, but it passed, 
 and was promptly approved by Washing 
 ton. By this time it was well known that 
 Jefferson and Hamilton held opposing 
 views on many questions of government, 
 and these found their way into and influ 
 enced the action of Congress, and passed 
 naturally from thence to the people, who 
 were thus early believed to be almost 
 equally divided on the more essential po 
 litical issues. Before the close of the ses 
 sion, Vermont and Kentucky were ad 
 mitted to the Union. Vermont was the 
 first state admitted in addition to the 
 original thirteen. True, North Carolina 
 and Rhode Island had rejected the consti 
 tution, but they reconsidered their action 
 and came in the former in November, 
 1789, and the latter in May, 1790. 
 
 The election for members of the Second 
 Congress resulted in a majority in both 
 branches favorable to the administration. 
 It met at Philadelphia in October, 1791. 
 The exciting measure of the session was 
 the excise act, somewhat similar to that of 
 the previous year, but the opposition 
 wanted an issue on which to rally, they 
 accepted this, and this agitation led to vio 
 lent and in one instance warlike opposi 
 tion on the part of a portion of the people. 
 Those <ff western Pennsylvania, largely 
 
 interested in distilleries, prepared for 
 armed resistance to the excise, but at the 
 same session a national militia law had 
 been passed, and Washington took ad 
 vantage of this to suppress the " Whisky 
 Rebellion" in its incipiency. It was a 
 hasty, rash undertaking, yet was dealt with 
 so firmly that the action of the authorities 
 strengthened the law, and the respect for 
 order. The four counties which rebelled 
 did no further damage than to tar and 
 feather a government tax collector and rob 
 trim of his horse, though many threats 
 were made and the agitation continued 
 until 1794, when Washington's threatened 
 appearance at the head of fifteen thousand 
 militia settled the whole question. 
 
 The first session of the Second Congress 
 also passed the first methodic apportion 
 ment bill, which based the congressional 
 representation on the census taken in 1790, 
 the basis being 33,000 inhabitants for each 
 representative. The second session which 
 sat from November, 1792, to March, 1793, 
 was mainly occupied in a discussion of the 
 foreign and domestic relations of the coun 
 try. No important measures were adopted. 
 
 The Republican and Federal Parties. 
 
 The most serious objection to the con 
 stitution before its ratification was the ab 
 sence of a distinct bill of rights, which 
 should recognize "the equality of all 
 men, and their rights to life, liberty and 
 the pursuit of happiness," and at the first 
 session of Congress a bill was framed con 
 taining twelve articles, ten of which were 
 afterwards ratified as amendments to the 
 constitution. Yet state sovereignty, then 
 imperfectly defined, was the prevailing 
 idea in the minds of the Anti- Federalists, 
 and they took every opportunity to oppose 
 any extended delegation of authority from 
 the states of the Union. They contended 
 that the power of the state should be 
 supreme, and charged the Federalists with 
 monarchical tendencies. They opposed 
 Hamilton's national bank scheme, and 
 Jefierspn and Randolph plainly expressed 
 the opinion that it was unconstitutional 
 that a bank was not authorized by the 
 constitution, and that it would prevent the 
 states from maintaining banks. But when 
 the Bill of Rights had been incorporated 
 in and attached to the constitution as 
 amendments, Jefferson with rare political 
 sagacity withdrew all opposition to the in 
 strument itself, and the Anti-Federalists 
 gladly followed his lead, for they felt that 
 they had labored under many partisan dis 
 advantages. The constitution was from 
 the first too strong for successful resistance, 
 and when opposition was confessedly 
 abandoned the party name was changed, 
 also at the suggestion of Jefferson, to that 
 
REPUBLICANS AND FEDERALS. 
 
 9 
 
 of Republican. The Anti-Federalists were 
 at first disposed to call their party the 
 Democratic-Republicans, but finally called 
 it simply Republican, to avoid the opposite 
 of the extreme which they charged against 
 the Federalists. Each party had its taunts 
 in use, the Federalists being denounced as 
 monarchists, the Anti-Federalists as Dem 
 ocrats; the one presumed to be looking 
 forward to monarchy, the other to the rule 
 of the mob. 
 
 By 1793 partisan lines under the names 
 of Federalists and Republicans, were plain 
 ly drawn, and the schism in the cabinet 
 was more marked than ever. Personal 
 ambition may have had much to do with 
 it, for Washington had previously shown 
 his desire to retire to private life. While 
 he remained at the head of affairs he was 
 unwilling to part with Jefferson and Ham 
 ilton, and did all in his power to bring 
 about a reconciliation, but without suc 
 cess. Before the close of the first consti 
 tutional Presidency, however, Washington 
 had become convinced that the people de 
 sired him to accept a re-election, and he 
 was accordingly a candidate and unani 
 mously chosen. John Adams was re-elect 
 ed Vice-President, receiving 77 votes to 
 50 for Geo. Clinton, (5 scattering) the Re 
 publican candidate. Soon after the inau 
 guration Citizen Genet, an envoy from the 
 French republic, arrived and sought to 
 excite the sympathy of the United States 
 and involve it in a war with Great Britain. 
 Jefferson and his Republican party warmly 
 sympathized with France, and insisted 
 that gratitude for revolutionary favors 
 commanded aid to France in her struggles. 
 The Federalists, under Washington and 
 Hamilton, favored non-intervention, and 
 insisted that we should maintain friendly 
 relations with Great Britain. Washington 
 showed his usual firmness, and before the 
 expiration of the month in which Genet 
 arrived, had issued his celebrated procla 
 mation of neutrality. This has ever since 
 been the accepted foreign policy of the 
 nation. 
 
 Genet, chagrined at the issuance of this 
 proclamation, threatened to appeal to the 
 people, and made himself so obnoxious to 
 Washington that the latter demanded his 
 recall. The French government sent M. 
 Fauchet as his successor, but Genet con 
 tinued to reside in the United States, and 
 under his inspiration a number of Demo 
 cratic Societies, in imitation of the French 
 Jacobin clubs, were founded, but like all 
 such organizations in this country, they 
 were short-lived. Secret political societies 
 thrive only under despotisms. In Repub 
 lics like ours they can only live when the 
 great parties are in confusion and greatly 
 divided. They disappear with the union 
 of sentiment into two great parties. If 
 there were many parties and factions, as in 
 
 Mexico and some of the South American 
 republics, there would be even a wider 
 field for them here than there. 
 
 The French agitation showed its impress 
 upon the nation as late as 1794, when a 
 resolution to cut off intercourse with Great 
 Britain passed the House, and was de 
 feated in the Senate only by the casting 
 vote of the Vice-President. Many people 
 favored France, and to such, silly heights 
 did the excitement run that these insisted 
 on wearing a national cockade. Jefferson 
 had left the cabinet the December pre 
 vious, and had retired to his plantation in 
 Virginia, where he spent his leisure in 
 writing political essays and organizing the 
 Republican party, of which he was the ac 
 knowledged founder. Here he escaped the 
 errors of his party in Congress, but it was 
 a potent fact that his friends in official 
 station not only did not endorse the non 
 intervention policy of Washington, but 
 that they actively antagonized it in many 
 ways. The Congressional leader in these 
 movements was Mr. Madison. The policy 
 of Britain fed this opposition. The forts 
 on Lake Erie were still occupied by the 
 British soldiery in defiance of the treaty of 
 1783; American vessels were seized on 
 their way to French ports, and American 
 citizens were impressed. To avoid a war, 
 Washington sent John Jay as special en 
 voy to England. He arrived in June, 
 1794, and by November succeeded in mak 
 ing a treaty. It was ratified in June, 1795, by 
 the Senate by the constitutional majority 
 of two-thirds, though there was much de 
 clamatory opposition, and the feeling be 
 tween the Federal and Republican parties 
 ran higher than ever before. The Republi 
 cans denounced while the Federals con 
 gratulated Washington. Under this treaty 
 the British surrendered possession of all 
 American ports, and as Gen'l Wayne dur 
 ing the previous summer had conquered 
 the war- tribes and completed a treaty with 
 them, the country was again on the road 
 to prosperity. 
 
 In Washington's message of 1794, he 
 plainly censured all " self-created political 
 societies," meaning the democratic so 
 cieties formed by Genet, but this part of 
 the message the House refused to endorse, 
 the speaker giving the casting vote in the 
 negative. The Senate was in harmony 
 with the political views of the President. 
 Party spirit had by this time measurably 
 affected all classes of the people, and as 
 subjects for agitation here multiplied, the 
 opposition no longer regarded Washing 
 ton with that respect and decorum which 
 it had been the rule to manifest. His wis 
 dom as President, his patriotism, and in 
 deed his character as a man, were all 
 hotly questioned by political enemies. He 
 was even charged with corruption ,in ex 
 pending more of the public moneys than 
 
10 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 had been appropriated charges which were 
 soon shown to De groundless. 
 
 At the first session of Congress in De 
 cember, 1795, the Senate's administration 
 majority had increased, but in the House 
 the opposing Republicans had also in 
 creased their numbers. The Senate by 14 
 to 8 endorsed the message ; the House at 
 first refused but finally qualified its an 
 swers. 
 
 In March, 1796, a new political issue 
 was sprung in the House by Mr. Living 
 stone of New York, who offered a resolu 
 tion requesting of the President a copy of 
 the instructions to Mr. Jay, the envoy who 
 made the treaty with Great Britain. Alter 
 a debate of several days, more bitter than 
 any which had preceded it, the House 
 passed the resolution by 57 to 35, the Re 
 publicans voting aye, the Federals no. 
 Washington in answer, took the position 
 that the House of Representatives was not 
 part of the treaty-making power of the 
 government, and could not therefore be 
 entitled to any papers relating to such 
 treaties. The constitution had placed this 
 treaty making and ratifying power in the 
 hands of the Senate, the Cabinet and the 
 President. 
 
 This answer, now universally accepted 
 as the proper one, yet excited the House 
 and increased political animosities. The 
 Republicans charged the Federals with 
 being the "British party," and in some 
 instances hinted that they had been pur 
 chased with British gold. Indignation 
 meetings were called, but after much 
 sound and fury, it was ascertained that the 
 people really favored abiding by the treaty 
 in good faith, and finally the House, after 
 more calm and able debates, passed the 
 needed legislation to carry out the treaty 
 by a vote of 51 to 48. 
 
 In August, 1796, prior to the meeting 
 of the Congressional caucus which then 
 placed candidates for the Presidency in 
 nomination, Washington issued his cele 
 brated Farewell Address, in which he gave 
 notice that he would retire from public 
 life at the expiration of his term. He had 
 been solicited to be a candidate for re 
 election (a third term) and told that all 
 the people could unite upon him a state 
 ment which, without abating one jot, our 
 admiration for the man, would doubtless 
 have been called in question by the Re 
 publicans, who had become implacably 
 hostile to his political views, and who were 
 encouraged to believe they could win con 
 trol of the Presidency, by their rapidly in 
 creasing power in the House. Yet the ad 
 dress was everywhere received with marks 
 of admiration. Legislatures commended 
 it by resolution and ordered it to be en 
 grossed upon their records ; journals 
 praised it, and upon the strength of its 
 plain doctrines the Federalists took new 
 
 courage, and prepared to win in the Presi 
 dential battle which followed. Both parties 
 were plainly arrayed and confident, and 
 so close was the result that the leaders of 
 both were elected John Adams, the nom 
 inee of the Federalists, to the Presidency, 
 and Thomas Jefferson, the nominee of the 
 Republicans, to the Vice-Presidency. The 
 law which then obtained was that the 
 candidate who received the highest num 
 ber of electoral votes, took the first place, 
 the next highest, the second. Thomas 
 Pinckney of South Carolina was the Fed 
 eral nominee for Vice-Preside nt, and Aaron 
 Burr of the Republicans. Adams receh ed 
 71 electoral votes, Jefferson 68, Pinckney 
 59, Burr 30, scattering 48. Pinckney had 
 lost 12 votes, while Burr lost 38 a loss of 
 popularity which the latter regained four 
 years later. The first impressions which 
 our forefathers had of this man were the 
 best. 
 
 John Adams was inaugurated as Pres 
 ident in Philadelphia, at Congress Hall, 
 March 4th, 1797, and in his inaugural was 
 carelul to deny the charge that the Fed 
 eral party had any sympathy ior Lngland, 
 but reaffirmed his endorsement of the 
 policy of Washington as to strict neutral 
 ity. To this extent besought to soften the 
 asperities of the parties, and measurably 
 succeeded, though the times wore fctill 
 stormy. The French revolution had 
 reached its highest point, and our people 
 still took sides. Adams found he wculd 
 have to arm to preserve neutrality and at 
 the same time punish the aggression of 
 either of the combatants. This was our 
 first exhibition of "armed neutrality." 
 An American navy was Cjuickly raised, and 
 every preparation made ior defending the 
 rights of Americar's. An alliance \\i\h 
 France was refused, afler vhich the 
 American Minister was dismissed and the 
 French navy began to cripple our tr;;de. 
 In May, 1797, President Adams felt it his 
 duty to call an extra session of Congress, 
 which closed in July. The Semite ap 
 proved of negotiations for reecnciliation 
 with France. They were attempted but 
 proved fruitless ; in May, 179S, a lull naval 
 armament was authorized, and soon several 
 French vessels were captured before there 
 was any declaration of war. Indeed, neith 
 er power declared war, raid as soon as 
 France discovered how earnest the Ameri 
 cans were she made overtures for an ad 
 justment of difficulties, and these resulted 
 'in the treaty of 1800. 
 
 The Republicans, though warmly favor 
 ing a contest, did not heartily support that 
 inaugurated by Adams, and contended 
 after this that the militia and a small naval 
 force were sufficient for internal defense. 
 They denounced the position of the Fed 
 erals, who favored the enlargement of the 
 ariny and navy, as measures calculated to 
 
REPUBLICANS AND FEDERALS. 
 
 11 
 
 overawe public sentiment in time of peace. 
 The Federals, however, through their 
 prompt resentment of the aggressions of 
 France, had many adherents to their 
 party. They organized their power and 
 sought to perpetuate it by the passage of 
 the alien and sedition, and a naturaliza 
 tion law. 
 
 The alien and sedition law gave the 
 President authority " to order all such 
 aliens as he shall judge dangerous to the 
 peace and safety of the United States, or 
 shall have reasonable grounds to suspect 
 are concerned in any treasonable or secret 
 machinations against the government 
 thereof, to depart out of the territory of 
 the United States, within such time as 
 shall be expressed in such order." The 
 provisions which followed were in keeping 
 with that quoted, the 3d section command 
 ing every master of a ship entering a port 
 of the United States, immediately on his 
 arrival, to make report in writing to the 
 collector of customs, the names of all aliens 
 on board, etc. The act was to continue 
 in force for two years from the date of its 
 passage, and it was approved June 25th, 
 1798. 
 
 A resolution was introduced in the Sen 
 ate on the 25th of April, 1798, by Mr. 
 Hillhouse of Connecticut, to inquire what 
 provision of law ought to be made, &c., as 
 to the removal of such aliens as may be 
 dangerous to the peace of the country, &c. 
 This resolution was adopted the next day, 
 and Messrs. Hill house, Livermore and 
 Read were appointed the committee, and 
 subsequently reported the bill. It passed 
 the Senate by 16 to 7, and the House by 
 46 to 40, the Republicans in the latter 
 body resisting it warmly. The leading 
 opposing idea was that it lodged with the 
 Executive too much power, and was liable 
 to great abuse. It has frequently since, 
 in arguments against centralized power, 
 been used for illustration by political 
 speakers. 
 
 The Naturalization law, favored by the 
 Federalists, because they knew they could 
 acquire few friends either from newly ar 
 rived English or French aliens, among 
 other requirements provided that an alien 
 must reside in the United States fourteen 
 years before he could vote. The Republi 
 cans denounced this law as calculated to 
 check immigration, and dangerous to our 
 country in the fact that it caused too 
 many inhabitants to owe no allegiance. 
 They also asserted, as did those who op 
 posed Americanism later on in our history, 
 that America was properly an asylum for 
 all nations, and that those coming to 
 America should freely share all the privi 
 leges and liberties of the government. 
 
 J?hese laws and the political resentments 
 which they created gave a new and what 
 eventually proved a dangerous current to 
 
 politica. thought and action. They were 
 the immediate cause of the Kentucky and 
 Virginia resolutions of 1798, Jefferson be 
 ing the author of the former and Madison 
 of the latter. 
 
 These resolutions were full of political 
 significance, and gave tone to sectional dis 
 cussion up to the close of the war for the 
 Union. They first promulgated the doc 
 trine of nullification or secession, and 
 political writers mistake who point to Cal- 
 houn as the father of that doctrine. It 
 began with the old Republicans under the 
 leadership of Jefferson and Madison, and 
 though directly intended as protests against 
 the alien and sedition, and the naturaliza 
 tion laws of Congress, they kept one eye 
 upon the question of slavery rather that 
 interest was kept in view in their declara 
 tions, and yet the authors of both were 
 anything but warm advocates of slavery. 
 They were then striving, however, to rein 
 force the opposition to the Federal party, 
 which the administration of Adams had 
 thus far apparently weakened, and they 
 had in view the brief agitation which had 
 sprung up in 1793, five years before, on the 
 petition to Congress of a Pennsylvania 
 society " to use its powers to stop the traffic 
 in slaves." On the question of referring 
 this petition to a committee there arose a 
 sectional debate. Men took sides not be 
 cause of the party to which they belonged, 
 but the section, and for the first time the 
 North and South were arrayed against each 
 other on a question not then treated either as 
 partisan or political, but which most minds 
 then saw must soon become both partisan 
 and sectional. Some of the Southern de 
 baters, in their protests against interfer 
 ence, thus early threatened civil war. With 
 a view to better protect their rights to slave 
 property, they then advocated and suc 
 ceeded in passing the first fugitive slave 
 law. This was approved February 12, 1793. 
 
 The resolutions of 1798 will be found in 
 the book devoted to political platforms. 
 So highly were these esteemed by the Re 
 publicans of that day, and by the interests 
 whose support they so shrewdly invited, 
 that they more than counterbalanced the 
 popularity acquired by the Federals in their 
 resistance to France, and by 1800 they 
 caused a rupture in the Cabinet of Adams. 
 
 In the Presidential election of 1800 John 
 Adams was the nominee for President and 
 C. C. Pinckney for Vice-President. A 
 " Congressional Convention" of Republi 
 cans, held in Philadelphia, nominated 
 Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr as can 
 didates for these offices. On the election 
 which followed the Republicans chose 73 
 electors and the Federalists 65. Each 
 elector voted for two persons, and the Re 
 publicans so voted that they unwisely gave 
 Jefferson and Burr each 73 votes. Neither 
 being highest, it was not legally determined 
 
12 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 which should be President or Vice-Presi 
 dent, and the election had to go to the 
 House. The Federalists threw 65 votes to 
 Adams and 64 to Pinckney. The Repub 
 licans could have done the same, but Burr's 
 intrigue and ambition prevented this, and 
 the result was a p retracted contest in 
 the House, and one which put the country 
 in great peril, but which plainly pointed 
 out some of the imperfections of the elec 
 toral features of the Constitution. The 
 Federalists proposed to confess the inabil 
 ity of the House to agree through the vote 
 by States, but to this proposition the Re 
 publicans threatened armed resistance. 
 The Federalists next attempted a combina 
 tion with the friends of Aaron Burr, but 
 this specimen of bargaining to deprive a 
 nominee of the place to which it was the 
 plain intention of his party to elect him, 
 really contributed to Jefferson's popularity, 
 if not in that Congress, certainly before the 
 people. He was elected on the 36th ballot. 
 
 The bitterness of this strife, and the 
 dangers which similar ones threatened, led 
 to an abandonment of the system of each 
 Elector voting for two, the highest to be 
 President, the next highest Vice-President, 
 and an amendment was offered to the Con 
 stitution, and fully ratified by September 
 25, 1804, requiring the electors to ballot 
 separately for President and Vice-Presi 
 dent. 
 
 Jefferson was the first candidate nomi 
 nated by a Congressional caucus. It con 
 vened in 1800 at Philadelphia, and nomi 
 nated Jefferson for President and Burr for 
 Vice-President. Adams and Pinckney 
 were not nominated, but ran and were ac 
 cepted as natural leaders of their party, 
 just as Washington and Adams were be 
 fore them. 
 
 Downfall of the Federal Party. 
 
 This contest broke the power of the 
 Federal party. It had before relied upon 
 the rare sagacity and ability of its leaders, 
 but the contest in the House developed 
 such attempts at intrigue as disgusted 
 many and caused all to quarrel, Hamilton 
 having early showed his dislike to Adams. 
 As a party the Federal had been peculiarly 
 brave at times when high bravery was 
 needed. It had framed the Federal Gov 
 ernment and stood by the powers given it 
 until they were too firmly planted for even 
 newer and triumphant partisans to reck 
 lessly trifle with. It stood for non-inter 
 ference with foreign nations against the 
 eloquence of adventurers, the mad impulses 
 of mobs, the generosity of new-born free 
 men, the harangues of demagogues, and 
 best of all against those who sought to fan 
 these popular breezes to their own comfort. 
 It provided for the payment of the debt, 
 had the courage to raise revenues both 
 
 from internal and external sources, and to 
 increase expenditures, as the growth of the 
 country demanded. Though it passed out 
 of power in a cloud of intrigue and in a 
 vain grasp at the " flesh-pots," it yet had a 
 glorious history, and one which none un- 
 tinctured with the better prejudices of that 
 day, can avoid admiring. 
 
 The defeat of Adams was not unexpect 
 ed by him, yet it was greatly regretted by 
 his friends, for he was justly regarded as 
 second to no other civilian in the estab 
 lishment of the liberties of the colonies. 
 He was eloquent to a rare degree, possessed 
 natural eloquence, and made the most 
 famous speech in advocacy of the Declara 
 tion. Though the proceedings of the 
 Revolutionary Congress were secret, and 
 what was said never printed, yet Webster 
 gives his version of the noted speech of 
 Adams, and we reproduce it in Book III. 
 of this volume as one of the great speeches 
 of noted American orators. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson was inaugurated the third 
 President, in the new capitol at Washing 
 ton, on the 4th of March, 1801, and Vice- 
 President Burr took his seat in the Senate 
 the same day. Though Burr distinctly dis 
 avowed any participancy in the House 
 contest, he was distrusted by Jefferson's 
 warm friends, and jealousies rapidly 
 cropped out. Jefferson endeavored through 
 his inaugural to smooth factious and party 
 asperities,and so well were his words chosen 
 that the Federalists indulged, the hope that 
 they would not be removed from office be 
 cause of their political views. 
 
 Early in June, however, the first ques 
 tion of civil service was raised. Mr. Jeffer 
 son then removed Elizur Goodrich, a Fed 
 eralist, from the Collectorship of New 
 Haven, and appointed Samuel Bishop, a 
 Republican, to the place. Th?, citizens re 
 monstrated, saying that Goodrich was 
 prompt, reliable and able, and showed that 
 his successor was 78 years old, and too in 
 firm for the duties of the office. To these 
 remonstrances Mr. Jefferson, under date of 
 July 12th, replied in language which did 
 not then, as he did later on, plainly assert 
 the right of every administration to have 
 its friends in office. We quote the fol 
 lowing : 
 
 " Declarations by myself, in favor of 
 political tolerance, exhortations to har 
 mony and affection in social intercourse, 
 and respect for the equal rights of the 
 minority, have, on certain occasions, been 
 quoted and misconstrued into assurances 
 that the tenure of office was not to be dis 
 turbed. But could candor apply such a 
 construction ? When it is considered that, 
 during the late administration, those who 
 were not of a particular sect of politics 
 were excluded from all office j when, by a 
 steady pursuit of this measure, nearly the 
 whole offices of the United States were 
 
DOWNFALL OF THE FEDERALS. 
 
 13 
 
 monopolized by that sect ; when the public 
 sentiment at length declared itself, and 
 burst open the doors of honor and confi 
 dence to those whose opinions they ap 
 proved; was it to be imagined that this 
 monopoly of office was to be continued in 
 the hands of the minority ? Does it violate 
 their equal rights to assert some rights in 
 the majority also ? Is it political intolerance 
 to claim a proportionate share in the direc 
 tion of the public affairs ? If a due partici 
 pation of office is a matter of right, how 
 are vacancies to be obtained? Those by 
 death are few, by resignation none. Can 
 any other mode than that of removal be 
 proposed ? This is a painful office ; but it 
 is made my duty, and I meet it as such. I 
 proceed in the operation with deliberation 
 and inquiry, that it may injure the best 
 men least, and effect the purposes of justice 
 and public utility with the least private 
 distress, that it may be thrown as much as 
 possible on delinquency, on oppression, on 
 intolerance, on ante-revolutionary adhe- 
 renoe to our enemies. 
 
 " I lament sincerely that unessential dif 
 ferences of opinion should ever have been 
 deemed sufficient to interdict half the 
 society from the rights and the blessings 
 of self-government, to proscribe them as 
 unworthy of every trust. It would have 
 been to me a circumstance of great relief, 
 had I found a moderate participation of 
 office in the hands of the majority. I 
 would gladly have left to time and accident 
 to raise them to their just share. But their 
 total exclusion calls for prompter correc 
 tions. I shall correct the procedure ; but 
 that done, return with joy to that state of 
 things when the only questions concerning 
 a candidate shall be ^ Is he honest? Is he 
 capable? Is he faithful to the constitution?" 
 
 Mr. Adams had made few removals, and 
 none because of the political views held 
 by the incumbents, nearly all of whom 
 had been appointed by Washington and 
 continued through good behavior. At the 
 date of the appointment of most of them, 
 Jefferson's Republican party had no exist 
 ence; so that the reasons given in the 
 quotation do not comport with the facts. 
 Washington's rule was integrity and ca 
 pacity, for he could have no regard for 
 politics where political lines had been ob 
 literated in his own selection. Doubtless 
 these office-holders were human, and ad 
 hered with warmth to the administration 
 which they served, and this fact, and this 
 alone, must have angered the Republicans 
 and furnished them with arguments for a 
 change. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson's position, however, made 
 his later conduct natural. He was the ac 
 knowledged leader of his party, its founder 
 indeed, and that party had carried him 
 into power. He desired to keep it intact, 
 to strengthen its lines with whatever pa 
 
 tronage he had at his disposal, and he evi 
 dently regarded the cause of Adams in not 
 rewarding his friends as a mistake. It 
 was, therefore, Jefferson, and not Jackson, 
 who was the author of the theory that " to 
 the victors belong the spoils." Jackson 
 gave it a sharp and perfectly defined shape 
 by the use of these words, but the spirit 
 and principle were conceived by Jefferson, 
 who throughout his life showed far greater 
 originality in politics than any of the early 
 patriots. It was his acute sense of just 
 what was right for a growing political 
 party to do, which led him to turn the 
 thoughts of his followers into new and 
 popular directions. Seeing that they were 
 at grave disadvantage when opposing the 
 attitude of the government in its policy 
 with foreign nations; realizing that the 
 work of the Federalists in strengthening 
 the power of the new government, in pro 
 viding revenues and ways and means for 
 the payment of the debt, were good, he 
 changed the character of the opposition 
 by selecting only notoriously arbitrary 
 measures for assault and changed it even 
 more radically than this. He early saw 
 that simple opposition was not progress, 
 and that it was both wise and popular to 
 be progressive, and in all his later politi 
 cal papers he sought to make his party the 
 party favoring personal freedom, the one 
 of liberal ideas, the one which, instead of 
 shirking, should anticipate every change 
 calculated to enlarge the liberties and the 
 opportunities of citizens. These things 
 were not inconsistent with his strong views 
 in favor of local self-government ; indeed, 
 in many particulars they seemed to sup 
 port that theory, and by the union of 
 the two ideas he shrewdly arrayed po 
 litical enthusiasm by the side of politi 
 cal interest. Political sagacity more pro 
 found than this it is difficult to imagine. 
 It has not since been equalled in the his 
 tory of our land, nor do we believe in the 
 history of any other. 
 
 After the New Haven episode, so jealous 
 was Jefferson of his good name, that while 
 he confided all new appointments to the 
 hands of his political friends, he made few 
 removals, and these for apparent cause. 
 The mere statement of his position had 
 proved an invitation to the Federalists in 
 office to join his earlier friends in the sup 
 port of his administration. Many of them 
 did it, so many that the clamorings of 
 truer friends could not be hushed. With 
 a view to create a new excuse, Jefferson 
 declared that all appointments made by 
 Adams after February 14th, when the 
 House began its ballotings for President, 
 were void, these appointments belonging 
 of right to him, and from this act of 
 Adams we date the political legacies which 
 some of our Presidents have since handed 
 down to their successors. One of the 
 
14 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 magistrates whose commission had been 
 made out under Adams, sought to compel 
 Jefferson to sign it by a writ of mandamus 
 before the Supreme Court, but a " profound 
 investigation of constitutional law" in 
 duced the court not to grant the motion. 
 All commissions signed by Adams after 
 the date named were suppressed. 
 
 Jefferson's apparent bitterness against 
 the Federalists is mainly traceable to the 
 contest in the House, and his belief that 
 at one time they sought a coalition with 
 Burr. This coalition he regarded as a vio 
 lation of the understanding when he was 
 nominated, and a supposed effort to ap 
 point a provisional office he regarded as an 
 usurpation in fact. In a letter to James 
 Monroe, dated February 15th, speaking of 
 this contest, he says : 
 
 " Four days of balloting have produced 
 not a single change of a vote. Yet it is 
 confidently believed that to-morrow there 
 is to be a coalition. I know of no founda 
 tion for this belief. If they could have 
 been permitted to pass a law for putting 
 the government in the hands of an officer, 
 they would certainly have prevented an 
 election. But we thought it best to de 
 clare openly and firmly, one and all, that 
 the day such an act passed, the Middle 
 States would arm, and that no such usur 
 pation, even for a single day, should be 
 submitted to." 
 
 It is but fair to say that the Federalists 
 denied all such intentions, and that James 
 A. Bayard, of Delaware, April 3, 1806, 
 made formal oath to this denial. In this 
 he says that three States, representing 
 Federalist votes, offered to withdraw their 
 opposition if John Nicholas, of Virginia, 
 and the personal friend of Jefferson, would 
 secure pledges that the public credit should 
 be supported, the navy maintained, and 
 that subordinate public officers, employed 
 only in the execution of details, established 
 by law, should not be removed from office 
 on the ground of their public character, 
 nor without complaint against their con 
 duct. The Federalists then went so far as 
 to admit that officers of " high discretion 
 and confidence," such as members of the 
 cabinet and foreign ministers, should be 
 known friends of the administration. This 
 proposition goes to show that there is noth 
 ing very new in what are called our 
 modern politics ; that the elder Bayard, as 
 early as 1800, made a formal proposal to 
 bargain. Mr. Nicholas offered his assur 
 ance that these things would prove accep 
 table to and govern the conduct of Jeffer 
 son's administration, but he declined to con 
 sult with Jefferson on the points. General 
 Smith subsequently engaged to do it, and 
 Jefferson replied that the points given 
 corresponded with his views and inten 
 tions, and that Mr. Bayard and his friends 
 might confide in him accordingly. The 
 
 opposition of Vermont, Maryland and De 
 laware was then immediately withdrawn, 
 and Mr Jefferson was made President. 
 Gen'l Smith, twelve days later, made an 
 affidavit which substantially confirmed 
 bhat of Bayard. Latimer, the collector of 
 the port of Philadelphia, and M'Lane, col 
 lector of Wilmington, (Bayard's special 
 friend) were retained in office. He had 
 cited these two as examples of his opposi 
 tion to any change, and Jefferson seemed 
 to regard the pledges as not sacred beyond 
 the parties actually named in Bayard's ne 
 gotiations with Gen'l Smith. 
 
 This misunderstanding or misconstruc 
 tion of what in these days would be plain 
 ly called a bargain, led to considerable 
 political criticism, and Jefferson felt it ne 
 cessary to defend his cause. This he did 
 in letters to friends which both then and 
 since found their way into the public 
 prints. One of these letters, written to 
 Col. Monroe, March 7th, shows in every 
 word and line the natural politician. In 
 this he says : 
 
 "Some (removals) I know must be 
 made. They must be as few as possible, 
 done gradually, and bottomed on some 
 malversation or inherent disqualification. 
 Where we shall draw the line between all 
 and none, is not yet settled, and will not 
 be till we get our administration together: 
 and perhaps even then we shall proceed 
 a talons, balancing our measures according 
 to the impression we perceive them to 
 make. This may give you a general 
 view of our plan." 
 
 A little later on, March 28, he wrote to 
 Elbridge Gerry : 
 
 " Officers who have been guilty of gross 
 abuses of office, such as marshals packing 
 juries, etc., I shall now remove, as my 
 predecessor ought in justice to have done. 
 The instances will be few, and governed 
 by strict rule, not party passion. The 
 right of opinion shall suffer no invasion 
 from me." 
 
 Jefferson evidently tired of this subject, 
 and gradually modified his views, as shown 
 in his letter to Levi Lincoln, July 11, 
 wherein he says : 
 
 " I am satisfied that the heaping of abuse 
 on me personally, has been with the de 
 sign ana the hope of provoking me to make 
 a general sweep of all Federalists out of 
 office. But as I have carried no passion 
 into the execution of this disagreeable 
 duty, I shall suffer none to be excited. The 
 clamor which has been raised will not pro- 
 voke me to remove one more, nor deter 
 me from removing one less, than if not a 
 word had been said on the subject. In the 
 course of the summer, all which is neces 
 sary will be done ; and we may hope that, 
 this cause of offence being at an end, the 
 measures we shall pursue and propose for 
 the amelioration of the public affairs, will 
 
DOWNFALL OF THE FEDERALS. 
 
 15 
 
 be so confessedly salutary as to unite all 
 men not monarchists in principle." In 
 the same letter he warmly berates the 
 monarchical federalists, saying, " they are 
 incurables, to be taken care of in a mad 
 house if necessary, and on motives of 
 charity." 
 
 The seventh Congress assembled. Po 
 litical parties were at first nearly equally 
 divided in the Senate, but eventually 
 there was a majority for the administration. 
 Jefferson then discontinued the custom es 
 tablished by Washington of delivering in 
 person his message to Congress. The 
 change was greatly for the oetter, as it 
 afforded relief from the requirement of 
 immediate answers on the subjects con 
 tained in the message. It has ever since 
 been followed. 
 
 The seventh session of Congress, pursu 
 ant to the recommendation of President 
 Jefferson, established a uniform system of 
 naturalization, and so modified the law as 
 to make the required residence of aliens 
 five years, instead of fourteen, as in the act 
 of 1798, and to permit a declaration of in 
 tention to become a citizen at the expiration 
 of three years. By his recommendation 
 also was established the first sinking fiind 
 for the redemption of the public debt. It 
 required the setting apart annually for this 
 purpose the sum of seven millions and three 
 hundred thousand dollars. Other mea 
 sures, more partisan in their character, 
 were proposed, but Congress showed an 
 aversion to undoing what had been wisely 
 done. A favorite law of the Federalists 
 establishing circuit courts alone was re 
 pealed, and this only after a sharp debate, 
 and a close vote. The provisional army 
 had been disbanded by a law of the previ 
 ous Congress. A proposition to abolish the 
 naval department was defeated, as was that 
 to discontinue the mint establishment. 
 
 At this session the first law in relation to 
 the slave trade was passed. It was to pre 
 vent the importation of negroes, mulattoes 
 and other persons of color into any port of 
 the United States within a state which had 
 prohibited by law the admission of any 
 such person. The penalty was one thou 
 sand dollars and the forfeiture of the vessel. 
 The slave trade was not then prohibited by 
 the constitution, nor was the subject then 
 generally agitated, though it had been as 
 early as 1793, when, as previously stated, 
 an exciting sectional debate followed the 
 presentation of a petition from Pennsylva 
 nia to abolish the slave trade. 
 
 Probably the most important occurrence 
 Tinder the first administration of Jefferson 
 was that relating to the purchase and ad 
 mission of Louisiana. There had been 
 apprehensions of a war with Spain, and with 
 a view to be ready Congress had passed an 
 act authorizing the President to call upon 
 the executives of such of the states as he 
 
 might deem expedient, for detachments of 
 militia not exceeding eighty thousand, or 
 to accept the services of volunteers for a 
 term of twelve months. The disagreement 
 arose over the south-western boundary line 
 and the right of navigating the Mississippi. 
 Our government learned in the spring of 
 1802, that Spain had by a secret treaty 
 made in October, 1800, actually ceded 
 Louisiana to France. Our government had 
 in 1795 made a treaty with Spain which 
 gave us the right of deposite at New Or 
 leans for three years, but in October, 1802, 
 the Spanish authorities gave notice by 
 proclamation that this right was withdrawn. 
 Excitement followed all along the valley 
 of the Mississippi, and it was increased by 
 the belief that the withdrawal of tRe privi 
 lege was made at the suggestion of France, 
 though Spain still retained the territory, as 
 the formalities of ceding it had not been 
 gone through with. Jefferson promptly 
 took the ground that if France took pos 
 session of New Orleans, the United States 
 would immediately become allies of Eng 
 land, but suggested to Minister Livingston 
 at Paris that France might be induced to 
 cede the island of New Orleans and the 
 Floridas to the United States. It was his 
 belief, though a mistaken one, that France 
 had also acquired the Floridas. Louisiana 
 then comprised much of the territory west 
 of the Mississippi and south of the Mis 
 souri. 
 
 The Federalists in Congress seized upon 
 this question as one upon which they could 
 make an aggressive war against Jefferson's 
 administration, and resolutions were intro 
 duced asking information on the subject. 
 Jefferson, however, wisely avoided all en 
 tangling suggestions, and sent Monroe to 
 aid Livingston in effecting a purchase. 
 The treaty was formed in April, 1803, and 
 submitted by Jefferson to the Senate in 
 October following. The Republicans ral 
 lied in favor of this scheme of annexation, 
 and claimed that it was a constitutional 
 right in the government to acquire territory 
 a doctrine widely at variance with their 
 previous position, but occasions are rare 
 where parties quarrel with their administra 
 tions on pivotal measures. There was also 
 some latitude here for endorsement, as the 
 direct question of territorial acquisition had 
 not before been presented, but only hypo- 
 thetically stated in the constitutional dis 
 putations then in great fashion. Jefferson 
 would not go'so far as to say that the con 
 stitution warranted the acquisition to for 
 eign territory, but the scheme was never 
 theless his, and he stood in with his friends 
 in the political battle which followed. 
 
 The Federalists claimed that we had no 
 power to acquire territory, and that the 
 acquirement of Louisiana would give the 
 South a preponderance which would " con 
 tinue for all time (poor prophets they I), 
 
16 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 since southern would be more rapid than 
 northern development ; " that states cre 
 ated west of the Mississippi would injure 
 the commerce of New England, and they 
 even went so far as to say that the " ad 
 mission of the Western World into the 
 Union would compel the Eastern States to 
 establish an eastern empire," Doubts 
 were also raised as to the right of Louisi- 
 anians, when admitted to citizenship un 
 der our laws, as their lineage, language 
 and religion were different from our own. 
 Its inhabitants were French and descend 
 ants of French, with some Spanish Cre 
 oles, Americans, English and Germans 
 in all about 90,000, including 40,000 slaves. 
 There were many Indians of course, in a 
 territory then exceeding a million of square 
 miles a territory which, in the language 
 of First Consul Napoleon, "strengthens 
 forever the power of the United States," 
 and which will give to England a mari 
 time rival that will sooner or later humble 
 her pride " a military view of the change 
 fully justified by subsequent history. Na 
 poleon sold because of needed prepara 
 tions for war with England, and while he 
 had previously expressed a willingness to 
 take fifty million francs for it, he got sixty 
 through the shrewd diplomacy of his min 
 isters, who hid for the time their fear of 
 the capture of the port of New Orleans by 
 the English navy. 
 
 Little chance was afforded the Federal 
 ists for adverse criticism in Congress, for 
 the purchase proved so popular that the 
 
 ale greatly increased the majority in 
 branches of the eighth Congress, and 
 Jefferson called it together earlier for the 
 purpose of ratification. The Senate rati 
 fied the treaty on the 20th of October, 1803, 
 by a vote of 24 to 7, while the House 
 adopted a resolution for carrying the treaty 
 into effect by a vote of 90 to 25. Eleven 
 million dollars of the purchase money was 
 appropriated, the remaining four millions 
 being reserved for the indemnity of Amer 
 ican citizens who had sustained losses by 
 French assaults upon our commerce from 
 which fact subsequently came what is 
 known as the French Spoliation Bill. 
 
 Impeachment trials were first attempted 
 before the eighth Congress in 1803. Judge 
 Pickering, of the district court of the 
 United States for New Hampshire, was 
 impeached for occasional drunkenness, 
 and dismissed from office. Judge Chase 
 of the U. S. Supreme Court, and Judge 
 Peters of the district court of Pennsylva 
 nia, both Federalists, were charged by arti 
 cles proposed in the House with illegal 
 and arbitrary conduct in the trial of par 
 ties charged with political offenses. The 
 Federalists took alarm at these proceed 
 ings, and so vehement were their charges 
 against the Republicans of a desire to de 
 
 stroy the judiciary that their impeach* 
 ments were finally abandoned. 
 
 The Republicans closed their first na 
 tional administration with high prestige. 
 They had met several congressional re 
 verses on questions where defeat proved 
 good fortune, for the Federalists kept a 
 watchful defence, and were not always 
 wrong. The latter suffered numerically, 
 and many of their best leaders had fallen 
 in the congressional contest of 1800 and 
 1802, while the Republicans maintained 
 their own additions in talent and number. 
 
 In 1804, the candidates of both parties 
 were nominated by congressional caucuses. 
 Jefferson and Clinton were the Republi 
 can nominees ; Charles C. Pinckney and 
 Rufus King, the nominees of the Federal 
 ists, but they only received 14 out of 176 
 electoral votes. 
 
 The struggle of Napoleon in Europe 
 with the allied powers now gave Jefferson 
 an opportunity to inaugurate a foreign 
 policy. England had forbidden all trade 
 with the French and their allies, and 
 France had in return forbidden all com 
 merce with England and her colonies. 
 Both of these decrees violated our neutral 
 rights, and were calculated to destroy our 
 commerce, which by this time had become 
 quite imposing. 
 
 Congress acted promptly, and on the 21st 
 of December passed what is known as the 
 Embargo Act, under the inspiration of the 
 Republican party, which claimed that the 
 only choice of the people lay between the 
 emoargo and war, and that there was no 
 other way to obtain redress from England 
 and France. But the promised effects of 
 the measure were not realized, and so soon 
 as any dissatisfaction was manifested by 
 the people, the Federalists made the ques 
 tion a political issue. They declared it 
 unconstitutional because it was not limited 
 as to time; that it helped England as 
 against France (a cunning assertion in 
 view of the early love of the Republicans 
 for the cause of the French), and that it 
 laid violent hands on our home commerce 
 and industries. Political agitation in 
 creased the discontent, and public opinion 
 at one time turned so strongly against the 
 law that it was openly resisted on the 
 eastern coast, and treated with almost as 
 open contempt on the Canadian border. 
 The bill had passed the House by 87 to 
 35, the Senate by 19 to 9. In January, 
 1809, the then closing administration of 
 Jefferson had to change front on the ques 
 tion, and the law was repealed on the 18th 
 of March. The Republicans when they 
 changed, went all the way over, and advo 
 cated full protection by the use of a navy, 
 of all our rights on the high seas. If the 
 Federals could have recalled their old 
 leaders, or retained even a considerable 
 portion of their power, the opportunity 
 
DEMOCRATS AND FEDERALS. 
 
 17 
 
 presented by the embargo issue could 
 nave brought them back to full politicaj 
 power, but lacking these leaders, the op 
 portunity passed 
 
 Democrats and. Federals. 
 
 During the ninth Congress, which as 
 sembled on the second of December, 1805, 
 the Republicans dropped their name and 
 accepted that of " Democrats." In all 
 their earlier strifes they had been charged 
 by their opponents with desiring to run to 
 the extremes of the democratic or " mob 
 rule," and fear of too general a belief in 
 the truth of the charge led them to denials 
 and rejection of a name which the father 
 of their party had ever shown a fondness 
 for. The earlier dangers which had 
 threatened their organization, and the re 
 collection of defeats suffered in their at 
 tempts to establish a government anti-fed 
 eral and confederate in their composition, 
 had been greatly modified by later suc 
 cesses, and with a characteristic cuteness 
 peculiar to Americans they accepted an 
 epithet and sought to turn it to the best 
 account. In this they imitated the patriots 
 who accepted the epithets in the British 
 satirical song of "Yankee Doodle,", and 
 called themselves Yankees. From the 
 ninth Congress the Jeffersonian Republi 
 cans called themselves Democrats, and the 
 word Republican passed into disuse until 
 later on in the history of our political 
 parties, the opponents of the Democracy 
 accepted it as a name which well filled the 
 meaning of their attitude in the politics of 
 the country. 
 
 Mr. Randolph of Roanoke, made the 
 first schism in the Republican party under 
 Jefferson, when he and three of his friends 
 voted against the embargo act. He resisted 
 its passage with his usual earnestness, and 
 all attempts at reconciling him to the mea 
 sure were unavailing. Self-willed, strong 
 in argument and sarcasm, it is believed 
 that his cause made it even more desirable 
 for the Republicans to change name in 
 the hope of recalling some of the more 
 wayward " Democrats " who had advoca 
 ted Jacobin democracy in the years gone 
 by. The politicians of that day were 
 never short of expedients, and no man so 
 abounded in them as Jefferson himself. 
 
 Randolph improved his opportunities by 
 getting most of the Virginia members to 
 act with him against the foreign policy of 
 the administration, but he was careful not 
 to join the Federalists, and quickly denied 
 any leaning that way. The first fruit of 
 Lis faction was to bring forth Monroe as a 
 candidate for President against Madison 
 a movement which proved to be quite 
 popular in Virginia, but which Jefferson 
 flanked by bringing about a reconciliation 
 
 between Monroe and Madison. The now 
 usual Congressional caucus followed at 
 Washington, and although the Virginia 
 Legislature in its caucus previously held 
 had been unable to decide between Madi 
 son and Monroe, the Congressional body 
 chose Madison by 83 to 11, the minority 
 being divided between Clinton and Mon 
 roe, though the latter could by that time 
 hardly be considered as a candidate. This 
 action broke up Randolph's faction in 
 Virginia, but left so much bitterness be 
 hind it that a large portion attached them 
 selves to the Federalists. In the election 
 which followed Madison received 122 elec 
 toral votes against 47 for C. C. Pinckney, 
 of South Carolina, and 6 for Geo. Clinton 
 of New York. 
 
 Before Jefferson's administration closed 
 he recommended the passage of an act to 
 prohibit the African slave trade after Jan 
 uary 1st, 1808, and it was passed accord 
 ingly. He had also rejected the form of a 
 treaty received from the British minister 
 Erskine, and did this without the formality 
 of submitting it to the Senate first, be 
 cause it contained no provision on the ob 
 jectionable practice of impressing our sea 
 men ; second, * because it was accompanied 
 by a note from the British ministers, by 
 which the British government reserved to 
 itself the right of releasing itself from the 
 stipulations in favor of neutral rights, if 
 the United States submitted to the British 
 decree, or other invasion of those rights by 
 France." This rejection of the treaty by 
 Jefferson caused public excitement, and 
 the Federalists sought to arouse the com 
 mercial community against his action, and 
 cited the fact that his own trusted friends, 
 Monroe and Pinckney had negotiated it. 
 The President's party stood by him, and 
 they agreed that submission to the Senate 
 was immaterial, as its advice could not 
 bind him. This refusal to consider the 
 treaty was the first step leading to the war 
 of 1812, for embargoes followed, and Britain 
 openly claimed the right to search Amer 
 ican vessels for her deserting seamen. In 
 1807 this question was brought to issue 
 by the desertion of five British seamen 
 from the Halifax, and their enlistment on 
 the U. S. frigate Chesapeake. Four sepa 
 rate demands were made for these men, 
 but all of the commanders, knowing the 
 firm attitude of Jefferson's administration 
 against the practice, refused, as did the 
 Secretary of State refuse a fifth demand 
 on the part of the British minister. On 
 ;he 23d of June following, while the 
 Chesapeake was near the capes of Virginia, 
 Capt. Humphreys of the British ship Leo 
 nard attempted to search her for deserters. 
 Dapt. Barron denied the right of search, 
 3ut on being fired ito, lowered his flag, 
 
 *From the Statesman' 
 Williams. 
 
 Manual, Vol. 1., by Edwin. 
 
18 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Humphreys then took four men from the 
 Chesapeake, three of whom had previously 
 entered the British service, but were 
 Americans by birth, and had been form 
 ally demanded by Washington. The act 
 was a direct violation of the international 
 law, for a nation's ship at sea like its ter 
 ritory is inviolable. The British govern 
 ment disavowed the act of its officer and 
 offered apology and reparation, which 
 were accepted. This event, however, 
 strengthened Jefferson's rejection of the 
 Monroe-Pinckney treaty, and quickly stop 
 ped adverse political criticism at home. 
 Foreign affairs remained, however, in a 
 complicated state, owing to the wars be 
 tween England and the then successful 
 Napoleon, but they in no wise shook the 
 firm hold which Jefferson had upon the 
 people, nor the prestige of his party. He 
 stands in history as one of the best poli 
 ticians our land has ever seen, and then 
 as now no one could successfully draw the 
 line between the really able politician and 
 the statesman. He was accepted as both. 
 His administration closed on the 3d of 
 March, 1809, when he expressed great 
 gratification at being able to retire to pri 
 vate life. 
 
 Mr. Madison succeeded at a time when 
 the country, through fears of foreign aggres 
 sion and violence, was exceedingly gloomy 
 and despondent a feeling not encouraged 
 in the least by the statements of the Fed 
 eralists, some of whom then thought politi 
 cal criticism in hours of danger not un 
 patriotic. They described our agriculture 
 as discouraged, our fisheries abandoned, 
 our commerce restrained, our navy dis 
 mantled, our revenues destroyed at a time 
 when war was at any moment probable 
 with either France, England or Spain. 
 
 Madison, representing as he did the same 
 party, from the first resolved to follow the 
 policy of Jefferson, a fact about which there 
 was no misunderstanding. He desired to 
 avert war as long as possible with England, 
 and sought by skilful diplomacy to avert 
 the dangers presented by ooth France and 
 England in their attitude with neutrals. 
 England had declared that a man who 
 was once a subject always remained a 
 subject, and on this plea based her deter 
 mination to impress again into her service 
 all deserters from her navy. France, be 
 cause of refusal to accede to claims equally 
 at war with our rights, had authorized the 
 seizure of all American vessels entering 
 the ports of France. In May, 1810, when 
 he non-intercourse act had expired, Madi 
 son caused proposals to be made to both 
 belligerents, that if either would revoke its 
 hostile edict, the non-intercourse act should 
 be revived and enforced against the other 
 nation. This act had been passed by the 
 tenth Congress as a substitute for the em 
 bargo. France quickly accepted Madison's 
 
 proposal, and received the benefits of the 
 act, and the direct result was to increase 
 the growing hostility of England. From 
 this time forward the negotiations had more 
 the character of a diplomatic contest than 
 an attempt to maintain peace. Both coun 
 tries were upon their mettle, and early in 
 1811, Mr. Pinckney, the American minister 
 to Great Britain, was recalled, and a year 
 later a formal declaration of war was made 
 by the United States. 
 
 Just prior to this the old issue, made by 
 the Republicans against Hamilton's 
 scheme for a National Bank, was revived 
 by the fact that the charter of the bank 
 ceased on the 4th of March, 1811, and an 
 attempt was made to recharter it. A bill 
 for this purpose was introduced into Con 
 gress, but on the llth of January, 1811, it 
 was indefinitely postponed in the House, 
 by a vote of 65 to 64, while in the Senate 
 it was rejected by the casting vote of the 
 Vice-President, Geo. Clinton, on the 5th 
 of February, 1811 this notwithstanding 
 its provisions had been framed or approved 
 by Gallatin , the Secretary of the Treasury. 
 The Federalists were all strong advocates 
 of the measure, and it was so strong that 
 it divided some of the Democrats who en 
 joyed a loose rein in the contest so far as 
 the administration was concerned, the 
 President not specially caring for political 
 quarrels at a time when war was threatened 
 with a powerful foreign nation. The views 
 of the Federalists on this question descend 
 ed to the Whigs some years later, and this 
 fact led to the charges that the Whigs 
 were but Federalists in disguise. 
 
 The eleventh Congress continued the 
 large Democratic majority, as did the 
 twelfth, which met on the 4th of Novem 
 ber, 1811, Henry Clay, then an ardent 
 supporter of the policy of Madison, suc 
 ceeding to the House speakership. He had 
 previously served two short sessions in the 
 U. S. Senate, and had already acquired a 
 high reputation as an able and fluent debat 
 er. He preferred the House, at that period 
 of life, believing his powers better calcu 
 lated to win fame in the more popular rep 
 resentative hall. Calhoun was also in the 
 House at this time, and already noted for 
 the boldness of his views and their asser 
 tion. 
 
 In this Congress jealousies arose against 
 the political power of Virginia, which had 
 already named three of the four Presi 
 dents, each for two terms, and De Witt 
 Clinton, the well-known Governor of New 
 York, sought through these jealousies to 
 create a division which would carry him 
 into the Presidency. His efforts were for a 
 time warmly seconded by several northern 
 and southern states. A few months later 
 the Legislature of New York formally 
 opened the ball by nominating DeWitt 
 Clinton for the Presidency. An address 
 
THE JEFFERSON DEMOCRATS. 
 
 19 
 
 was issued by his friends, August 17th, 1812, 
 which has since become known as the Clin- 
 tonian platform, and his followers were 
 known as Clintonian Democrats. The ad 
 dress contained the first public protest 
 against the nomination of Presidential can 
 didates by Congressional caucuses. There 
 was likewise declared opposition to that 
 " official regency which prescribed tenets of 
 political faith." The efforts of particular 
 states to monopolize the principal offices 
 was denounced, as was the continuance of 
 public men for long periods in office. 
 
 Madison was nominated for a second 
 term by a Congressional caucus held at 
 Washington, in May, 1812. John Langdon 
 was nominated for Vice-President, but as 
 he declined on account of age, Elbridge 
 Gerry of Massachusetts, took his place. 
 In September of the same year a conven 
 tion of the opposition, representing eleven 
 states, was held in the city of New York, 
 which nominated De Witt Clinton, with 
 Jared Ingersoll for Vice-President. This 
 was the first national convention, partisan 
 in character, and the Federalists have the 
 credit of originating and carrying out the 
 idea. The election resulted in the success 
 of Madison, who received 128 electoral 
 votes to 89 for Clinton. 
 
 Though factious strife had been some 
 what rife, less attention was paid to poli 
 tics than to the approaching war. There 
 were new Democratic leaders in the lower 
 House, and none were more prominent 
 than Clay of Kentucky, Calhoun, Cheves 
 and Lowndes, all of South Carolina. The 
 policy of Jefferson in reducing the army 
 and navy was now greatly deplored, and 
 the defenceless condition in which it left 
 the country was the partial cause, at least a 
 stated cause of the factious feuds which fol 
 lowed. Madison sought to change this 
 policy, and he did it at the earnest solici 
 tation of Clay, Calhoun and Lowndes, who 
 were the recognized leaders of the war 
 party. They had early determined that 
 Madison should be directly identified 
 with them, and before his second nomina 
 tion had won him over to their more de 
 cided views in favor of war with England. 
 He had held back, hoping that diplomacy 
 might avert a contest, but when once con 
 vinced that war was inevitable and even 
 desirable under the circumstances, his 
 official utterances were bold and free. In 
 the June following the caucus which re- 
 nominated him, he declared in a message 
 that our flag was continually insulted on 
 the high seas ; that the right of searching 
 American vessels for British seamen was 
 still in practice, and that thousands of 
 American citizens had in this way been 
 impressed in service on foreign ships ; that 
 peacful efforts at adjustment of the diffi 
 culties had proved abortive, and that the 
 British ministry and British emissaries 
 
 had actually been intriguing for the dis 
 memberment of the Union. 
 
 The act declaring war was approved by 
 the President on the 18th of June, 1812 r 
 and is remarkably short and comprehen 
 sive. It was drawn by the attorney-general 
 of the United States, William Pinckney, 
 and is in the words following : 
 
 " An act declaring war between the United 
 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and 
 the dependencies thereof, and the United. 
 States of America and their territories. 
 
 11 Be it enacted, &c. That war be, and 
 the same is hereby declared to exist be 
 tween the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
 and Ireland, and the dependencies thereof, 
 and the United States of America, and their 
 territories ; and that the President of the 
 United States is hereby authorized to use 
 the whole land and naval force of the 
 United States to carry the same into effect, 
 and to issue to private armed vessels of the 
 United States commissions, or letters of 
 marque and general reprisal, in such form 
 as he shall think proper, and under the seal 
 of the United States, against the vessels, 
 goods, and effects, of the government of 
 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
 Ireland and the subjects thereof." 
 
 This was a soul-stirring message, but it 
 did not rally all the people as it should 
 have done. Political jealousies were very 
 great, and the frequent defeats of the Fed 
 eralists, while they tended to greatly reduce 
 their numbers and weaken their power, 
 seemed to strengthen their animosity, and 
 they could see nothing good in any act of 
 the administration. They held, especially 
 in the New England states, that the war had 
 been declared by a political party simply, 
 and not by the nation, though nearly all of 
 the Middle, and all of the Southern and 
 Western States, warmly supported it. 
 Clay estimated that nine-tenths of the peo 
 ple were in favor of the war, and under the 
 inspiration of his eloquence and the strong 
 state papers of Madison, they doubtless 
 were at first. Throughout they felt their 
 political strength, and they just as heartily 
 returned the bitterness manifested by those 
 of the Federalists who opposed the war, 
 branding them as enemies of the republic, 
 and monarchists who preferred the reign of 
 Britain. 
 
 Four Federalist representatives in Con 
 gress went so far as to issue an address, 
 opposing the war, the way in which it had 
 been declared, and denouncing it as unjust. 
 Some of the New England states refused 
 the order of the President to support it 
 with their militia, and Massachusetts sent 
 peace memorials to Congress. 
 
 A peace party was formed with a view to 
 array the religious sentiment of the coun 
 try against the war, and societies with sim 
 ilar objects were organized by the more 
 radical of the Federalists. To such an ex- 
 
20 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 treme was this opposition carried, that 
 some of the citizens of New London, Conn., 
 made a practice of giving information to 
 the enemy, by means of blue lights, of the 
 departure of American vessels. 
 
 The Hartford Convention. 
 
 This opposition finally culminated in the 
 assembling of a convention at Hartford, at 
 which delegates were present from all of the 
 New England states. They sat for three 
 weeks with closed doors, and issued an ad 
 dress which will be found in this volume 
 in the book devoted to political platforms. 
 It was charged by the Democrats that the 
 real object of the convention was to nego 
 tiate a separate treaty of peace, on behalf 
 of New England, with Great Britain, but 
 this charge was as warmly denied. The 
 exact truth has not since been discovered, 
 the fears of the participants of threatened 
 trials for treason, closing their mouths, if 
 their professions were false. The treaty of 
 Ghent, which was concluded on December 
 14th, 1814, prevented other action by the 
 Hartford convention than that stated. It 
 had assembled nine days before the treaty, 
 which is as follows : 
 
 Treaty of Ghent. 
 
 This treaty was negotiated by the Right 
 Honorable James Lord Gambler, Henry 
 Goulburn, Esq., and William Adams, Esq., 
 on the part of Great Britain, and John 
 Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry 
 Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gal- 
 latin, on behalf of the United States. 
 
 The treaty can be found on p. 218, vol. 
 8, of Little & Brown's Statutes at Large. 
 The first article provided for the restora 
 tion of all archives, records, or property 
 taken by either party from the other dur 
 ing the war. This article expressly pro 
 vides for the restoration of " slaves or other 
 private property." The second article pro 
 vided for the cessation of hostilities and 
 limitation of time of capture. The third 
 article provided for the restoration of 
 prisoners of war. 
 
 The fourth article defined the boundary 
 established by the treaty of 1783, and pro 
 vided for commissioners to mark the same. 
 
 The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth 
 articles established rules to govera the pro 
 ceedings of the commissioners. 
 
 The ninth article bound the United 
 States and His Britannic Majesty to end 
 all hostilities with Indian tribes, with whom 
 they were then respectively at war. 
 
 The tenth article reads as follows : 
 
 " Whereas the traffic in slaves is irrecon 
 cilable with the principles of humanity 
 and justice ; and, whereas, both His Ma 
 
 jesty and the United States are desirous of 
 continuing their efforts to promote its entire 
 abolition, it is hereby agreed that both the 
 contracting parties shall use their best en 
 deavors to accomplish so desirable an ob 
 ject." 
 
 The eleventh and last article provides for 
 binding effect of the treaty, upon the ex 
 change of ratifications. 
 
 The position of New England in the war 
 is explained somewhat by her exposed po 
 sition. Such of the militia as served en 
 dured great hardships, and they were al 
 most constantly called from their homes to 
 meet new dangers. Distrusting their loy 
 alty, the general government had with 
 held all supplies from the militia of Massa- 
 husetts and Connecticut for the year 1814, 
 and these States were forced to bear the 
 burden of supporting them, at the same time 
 contributing their quota of taxes to the 
 general government hardships, by the 
 way, not greater than those borne by Penn 
 sylvania and Ohio in the late war for the 
 Union, nor half as hard as those borne by 
 the border States at the same time. True, 
 the coast towns of Massachusetts were sub 
 jected to constant assault from the British 
 navy, and the people of these felt that they 
 were defenceless. It was on their petition 
 that the legislature of Massachusetts final 
 ly, by a vote of 226 to 67, adopted the report 
 favoring the calling of the Hartford Con 
 vention. A circular was then addressed to 
 the Governors of the other States, with a 
 request that it be laid before their legisla 
 tures, inviting them to appoint delegates, 
 and stating that the object was to deliber 
 ate upon the dangers to which the eastern 
 section was exposed, "and to devise, if 
 practicable, means of security and defence 
 which might be consistent with the preser 
 vation of their resources from total ruin, 
 and not repugnant to their obligations as 
 members of the Union.' 1 The italicized por 
 tion shows that there was at least then no 
 design of forming a separate treaty, or of 
 promoting disunion. The legislatures of 
 Connecticut and Rhode Island endorsed 
 the call and sent delegates. Those of New 
 Hampshire and Vermont did not, but de 
 legates were sent by local conventions. 
 These delegates, it is hardly necessary to 
 remark, were all members of the Federal 
 party, and their suspected designs and ac 
 tion made the " Hartford Convention " a 
 bye-word and reproach in the mouths of 
 Democratic orators for years thereafter. It 
 gave to the Democrats, as did the entire 
 history of the war, the prestige of superior 
 patriotism, and they profited by it as long 
 as the memory of the war of 1812 was 
 fresh. Indeed, directly after the war, all 
 men seemed to keep in constant view the 
 reluctance of the Federalists to support the 
 war, and their almost open hostility to it 
 in New England. Peace brought pros- 
 
THE CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS. 
 
 21 
 
 perity and plenty, but not oblivion of the 
 old political issues, and this was the be 
 ginning of the end of the Federal party. 
 Its decay thereafter was rapid and con 
 stant. 
 
 The eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth Con 
 gresses had continued Democratic. The 
 fourteenth began Dec. 4, 1815, with the 
 Democratic majority in the House increased 
 to 30. Clay had taken part in negotiating 
 the treaty, and on his return was again 
 elected to the House, and was for the third 
 time elected speaker. Though 65 Feder 
 alists had been elected, but 10 were given 
 to Federal candidates for speaker, this 
 party now showing a strong, and under the 
 circumstances, a very natural desire to 
 rub out party lines. The internal taxes 
 and the postage rates were reduced. 
 
 The Protective Tariff. 
 
 President Madison, in his message, had 
 urged upon Congress a revision of the 
 tariff, and pursuant to his recommendation 
 what was at the time called a protective 
 tariff was passed. Even Calhoun then 
 supported it, while Clay proclaimed that 
 protection must no longer be secondary to 
 revenue, but of primary importance. The 
 rates fixed, however, were insufficient, and 
 many American manufactures were soon 
 frustrated by excessive importations of for 
 eign manufactures. The position of Cal 
 houn and Lowndes, well known leaders 
 from South Carolina, is explained by the 
 fact that just then the proposal of a pro 
 tective tariff was popular in the south, in 
 view of the heavy duties upon raw cotton 
 which England then imposed. The Feder 
 alists in weakness changed their old posi 
 tion when they found the Democrats advo 
 cating a tariff, and the latter quoted and 
 published quite extensively Alexander 
 Hamilton's early report in favor of it. 
 Webster, in the House at the time and a 
 leading Federalist, was against the bill. 
 The parties had exchanged positions on 
 the question. 
 
 Peace brought with it another exchange 
 of positions. President Madison, although 
 he had vetoed a bill to establish a National 
 Bank in 1815, was now (in 1816) anxious 
 for the establishment of such an institution. 
 Clay had also changed his views, and 
 claimed that the experiences of the war 
 showed the necessity for a national curren 
 cy. The bill met with strong opposition 
 from a few Democrats and nearly all of the 
 Federalists (the latter having changed po 
 sition on the question since 1811), but it 
 passed and was signed by the President. 
 
 A bill to promote internal improvements, 
 advocated by Clay, was at first favored by 
 Madison, but his mind changed and he ve 
 toed the measure the first of its kind 
 passed by Congress. 
 
 The Democratic members of Congress, 
 before the adjournment of the first session, 
 held a caucus for the nomination of can 
 didates to succeed Madison and Gerry. 
 It was understood that the retiring officers 
 and their confidential friends favored 
 James Monroe of Virginia. Their wishes 
 were carried out, but not without a strug 
 gle, Wm. H. Crawford of Georgia receiv 
 ing 54 votes against 65 for Monroe. The 
 Democrats opposed to Virginia's domina 
 tion in the politics of the country, made a 
 second effort, and directed it against Monroe 
 in the caucus. Aaron Burr denounced 
 him as an improper and incompetent can 
 didate, and joined in the protest then made 
 against any nomination by a Congressional 
 caucus ; he succeeding in getting nineteen 
 Democrats to stay out of the caucus. Later 
 he advised renewed attempts to break 
 down the Congressional caucus system, and 
 before the nomination favored Andrew 
 Jackson as a means to that end. Daniel 
 B. Tompkins was nominated by the Demo 
 crats for Vice-President. The Federalists 
 named Rufus King of New York, but in 
 the election which followed he received 
 but 24 out of 217 electoral votes. The 
 Federalists divided their votes for Vice- 
 President. 
 
 Monroe was inaugurated on the 14th of 
 March, 1817, the oath being administered 
 by Chief Justice Marshall. The inaugural 
 address was so liberal in its tone that it 
 seemed to give satisfaction to men of all 
 shades of political opinion. The questions 
 which had arisen during the war no longer 
 had any practical significance, while the 
 people were anxious to give the disturbing 
 ones which ante-dated at least a season of 
 rest. Two great and opposing policies had 
 previously obtained, and singularly enough 
 each seemed exactly adapted to the times 
 when they were triumphant The Fed 
 eral power had been asserted in a govern 
 ment which had gathered renewed strength 
 during what was under the circumstances 
 a great and perilous war, and the exi 
 gencies of that war in many instances 
 compelled the Republicans or Democrats, 
 or the Democratic-Republicans as some 
 still called them, to concede points which 
 had theretofore been in sharp dispute, and 
 they did it with that facility which only 
 Americans can command in emergencies : 
 yet as a party they kept firm hold of the 
 desire to enlarge the scope of liberty in its 
 application to the citizens, and just here 
 kept their original landmark. 
 
 It is not singular then that the adminis 
 tration of Monroe opened what has ever 
 since been known in politics as the " Era 
 of Good Feeling." Party differences ra 
 pidly subsided, and political serenity was 
 the order of the day. Monroe made a tour 
 of the States, with the direct object of in 
 specting fortifications and means of de- 
 
22 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 fence, and in this way spread the good 
 feeling, without seeming to have any such 
 object. He was everywhere favorably 
 greeted by the people, and received by 
 delegations which in many instances were 
 specially made up of all shades of opinion. 
 
 The Cabinet was composed of men of 
 rare political distinction, even in that day 
 of great men. It was probably easier to 
 be great then than now, just as it is easier 
 to be a big political hero in the little State 
 of Delaware than it is in the big States of 
 New York or Pennsylvania. Yet these 
 men were universally accepted as great 
 without regard to their localities. All were 
 Republicans or Democrats, with John 
 Quincy Adams as Secretary of State, Wm. 
 H. Crawford (Monroe's competitor for the 
 nomination) as Secretary of the Treasury, 
 John C. Calhoun as Secretary of War, 
 William Wirt as Attorney General. All 
 of these united with the President in the 
 general desire to call a halt upon the 
 political asperities which were then recog 
 nized as a public evil. On one occasion, 
 during his tour, the citizens of Kennebunk 
 and its vicinity, in Maine, having in their 
 address alluded to the prospects of a politi 
 cal union among the people in support of 
 the administration, the President said in 
 reply : 
 
 " You are pleased to express a confident 
 hope that a spirit of mutual conciliation 
 may be one of the blessings which may re 
 sult from my administration. This in 
 deed would be an eminent blessing, and I 
 pray it may be realized. Nothing but 
 union is waiting to make us a great people. 
 The present time affords the happiest 
 presage that this union is fast consumma 
 ting. It cannot be otherwise ; I daily see 
 greater proofs of it. The further I ad 
 vance in my progress in the country, the 
 more I perceive that we are all Americans 
 that we compose but one family that 
 our republican institutions will be sup 
 ported and perpetuated by the united zeal 
 and patriotism of all. Nothing could 
 give me greater satisfaction than to behold 
 a perfect union among ourselves a union 
 which is necessary to restore to social in 
 tercourse its former charms, and to render 
 our happiness, as a nation, unmixed and 
 complete. To promote this desirable re 
 sult requires no compromise of principle, 
 and I promise to give it my continued at 
 tention, and my best endeavors." 
 
 Even General Jackson, since held up to 
 public view by historians as the most 
 austere and " stalwart " of all politicians, 
 caught the sweet infection of peace, and 
 thus advised President Monroe : 
 
 " Now is the time to exterminate that 
 monster, called party spirit. By select 
 ing [for cabinet officers] characters most 
 conspicuous for their probity ? virtue, 
 apacity, and firmness, without regard to 
 
 party, you will go far to, if not entirely, 
 eradicate those feelings, which, on former 
 occasions, threw so many obstacles in the 
 way of government. The chief magis 
 trate of a great and powerful nation should 
 never indulge in party feelings. His con 
 duct should be liberal and disinterested ; 
 always bearing in mind, that he acts for the 
 whole and not a part of the community." 
 
 This advice had been given with a view 
 to influence the appointment of a mixed 
 political Cabinet, but while Monroe pro 
 fessed to believe that a free government 
 could exist without political parties, he 
 nevertheless sought to bring all of the peo 
 ple into one political fold, and that the 
 Democratic. Yet he certainly and plainly 
 sought to allay factions in his own party, 
 and with this view selected Crawford for 
 the Treasury the gentleman who had 
 been so warmly supported in the nomina 
 ting struggle by the Clintonians and by all 
 who objected to the predominating in 
 fluence of Virginia in national politics. 
 
 Monroe, like his immediate predecessor, 
 accepted and acted upon the doctrines of 
 the new school of Republicans as repre 
 sented by Clay and Calhoun, both of whom 
 still favored a tariff, .while Clay had be 
 come a warm advocate of a national sys 
 tem of internal improvements. These two 
 statesmen thus early differed on some 
 questions, but they were justly regarded as 
 the leading friends and advisers of the ad 
 ministration, for to both still clung the 
 patriotic recollections of the war which 
 they had so warmly advocated and sup 
 ported, and the issue of which attested 
 their wisdom. Clay preferred to be called 
 a Republican; Calhoun preferred to be 
 called a Democrat, and just then the terms 
 were so often exchanged and mingled that 
 history is at fault in the exact designation, 
 while tradition is colored by the bias of 
 subsequent events and lives. 
 
 Monroe's first inaugural leaned toward 
 Clay's scheme of internal improvements, 
 but questioned its constitutionality. Clay 
 was next to Jefferson the most original of 
 all our statesmen and politicians. He was 
 prolific in measures, and almost resistless 
 in their advocacy, From a political stand 
 point he was the most direct author of the 
 war of 1812, for his advocacy mainly 
 brought it to the issue of arms, which 
 through him and Calhoun were substituted 
 for diplomacy. And Calhoun then stood 
 in broader view before the country than 
 since. His sectional pride and bias had 
 been rarely aroused, and like Clay he 
 seemed to act for the country as an en 
 tirety. Subsequent sectional issues changed 
 the views held of him by the people of 
 both the North and South. 
 
 We have said that Monroe leaned 
 toward internal improvements, but he 
 thought Congress was not clothed by the 
 
THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 23 
 
 Constitution with the power to authorize 
 measures supporting it, and when the op 
 portunity was presented (May 4, 1822) he 
 vetoed the bill " for the preservation and 
 repair of the Cumberland road," and ac 
 companied the veto with a most elaborate 
 message in which he discussed the consti 
 tutional aspects of the question. A plain 
 majority of the friends of the administra 
 tion, under the leadership of Clay, sup 
 ported the theory of internal improve 
 ments from the time the administration 
 began, but were reluctant to permit a divi 
 sion of the party on the question. 
 
 Mississippi and Illinois were admitted 
 to the Union during the " Era of Good 
 Feeling," without serious political disturb 
 ance, while Alabama was authorized to form 
 a state constitution and government, and 
 Arkansas was authorized as a separate 
 territorial government from part of Mis 
 souri. In 1819 President Monroe made a 
 tour through the Southern States to ex 
 amine their defenses and see and get ac 
 quainted with the people. From the first 
 inauguration of Monroe up to 1819 party 
 lines can hardly be said to have existed, 
 but in the sixteenth session of Congress, 
 which continued until May, 1820, new 
 questions of national interest arose, pro 
 minent among which were additional pro 
 tective duties for our manufactures ; inter 
 nal improvements by the government ; 
 acknowledgments of the independence of 
 the South American States. 
 
 The Monroe Doctrine. 
 
 Upon trie question of recognizing the in 
 dependence of the South American States, 
 the President made a record which has 
 ever since been quoted and denominated 
 " The Monroe Doctrine." It is embodied 
 in the following abstract of his seventh 
 annual message, under date of Dec. 2d, 
 1823: 
 
 " It was stated, at the commencement of 
 the last session, that a great eifort was then 
 making in Spain and Portugal to improve 
 the condition of the people of those coun 
 tries, and that it appeared to be conduct 
 ed with extraordinary moderation. It 
 need scarcely be remarked that the result 
 has been, so far, very different from what 
 wus then anticipated. Of events in that 
 quarter of the globe, with which we have 
 so much intercourse, and from which we 
 derive our origin, we have always been 
 anxious and interested spectators. The 
 citizens of the United States cherish 
 sentiments the most friendly in favor of the 
 liberty and happiness of their fellow men 
 on that side of the Atlantic. In the wars 
 of the European powers, in matters relat 
 ing to themselves, we have never taken any 
 part, nor does it comport with our policy 
 
 to do so. It is only when rights are in 
 vaded or seriously menaced, that we re 
 sent injuries, or make preparation for our 
 defense. With the movements in this 
 hemisphere we are of necessity more im 
 mediately connected, and by causes which 
 must be obvious to all enlightened and 
 impartial observers. The political system 
 of the allied powers is essentially different 
 in this respect from that of America. This 
 difference proceeds from that which exists 
 in their respective governments. And to 
 the defense of our own, which has been 
 achieved by the loss of so much blood and 
 treasure, and matured by the wisdom of 
 their most enlightened citizens, and under 
 which we have enjoyed unexampled felici 
 ty, this whole nation is devoted. We owe 
 it, therefore, to candor, and to the amica 
 ble relations existing between the United 
 States and those powers, to declare, that 
 we should consider any attempt on their 
 part to extend their system to any portion 
 of this hemisphere as dangerous to our 
 peace and safety. With the existing colo 
 nies or dependencies of any European 
 power we have not interfered, and shall 
 not interfere. But with the governments 
 who have declared their independence, and 
 maintained it, and whose independence we 
 have, on great consideration, and on just 
 principles, acknowledged, we could not 
 view any interposition for the purpose of 
 oppressing them, or controlling in any 
 other manner their destiny, by any Euro 
 pean power, in any other light than as the 
 manifestation of an unfriendly disposition 
 toward the United States. In the war 
 between those new governments and Spain, 
 we declared our neutrality at the time of 
 their recognition, and to this we have ad 
 hered, and shall continue to adhere, pro 
 vided no change shall occur which, in the 
 judgment of the competent authorities of 
 this government, shall make a corres 
 ponding change on the part of the United 
 States indispensable to their security. 
 
 The late events in Spain and Portugal 
 show that Europe is still unsettled. Of 
 this important fact no stronger proof can 
 be adduced, than that the allied powers 
 should have thought it proper, on a prin 
 ciple satisfactory to themselves, to have 
 interposed by force in the internal con 
 cerns of Spain. To what extent such in 
 terposition may be carried, on the same 
 principle, is a question to which all inde 
 pendent powers, whose governments differ 
 from theirs, are interested ; even those most 
 remote, and surely none more so than the 
 United States. Our policy in regard to 
 Europe, which was adopted at an early- 
 stage of the wars which have so long agi 
 tated that quarter of the globe, neverthe 
 less remains the same, which is, not to in 
 terfere in the internal concerns of any 
 of its powers ; to consider the government, 
 
24 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 de facto, as the legitimate government for 
 us: to cultivate friendly relations with it, 
 and to preserve those relations by a frank, 
 firm, and manly policy ; meeting, in all 
 instances, the just claims of every power, 
 submitting to injuries from none. But in 
 regard to these continents, circumstances 
 are eminently and conspicuously different. 
 It is impossible that the allied powers 
 should extend their political system to any 
 portion of either continent without endan 
 gering our peace and happiness ; nor can 
 any one believe, that our southern breth 
 ren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of 
 their own accord. It is equally impossible, 
 therefore, that we should behold such 
 interposition, in any form, with indiffer 
 ence. If we look to the comparative 
 strength and resources of Spain and those 
 new governments, and their distance from 
 each other, it must be obvious that she can 
 never subdue them. It is still the true 
 policy of the United States to leave the 
 parties to themselves, in the hope that 
 other powers will pursue the same course." 
 The second election of Monroe, in 1820, 
 was accomplished without a contest. Out 
 of 231 electoral votes, but one was cast 
 against him, and that for John Quincy 
 Adams. Mr. Tompkins, the candidate for 
 Vice-President, was only a little less for 
 tunate, there being 14 scattering votes 
 against him. Neither party, if indeed 
 there was a Federalist party left made any 
 nominations. 
 
 The Missouri Compromise. 
 
 The second session of the 17th Con 
 gress opened on the 4th day of March, 
 1820, with James Monroe at the head of 
 the Executive Department of the Govern 
 ment, and the Democratic party in the 
 majority in both branches of the Federal 
 Legislature. The Cabinet at that time 
 was composed of the most brilliant minds 
 of the country, indeed as most justly re 
 marked by Senator Thomas H. Benton in 
 his published review of the events of that 
 period, it would be difficult to find in any 
 government, in any country, at any time, 
 more talent and experience, more dignity 
 and decorum, more purity of private life, a 
 larger mass of information, and more ad 
 diction to business, than was comprised in 
 the list of celebrated names then consti 
 tuting the executive department of the 
 government. The legislative department 
 was equally impressive. The exciting and 
 agitating question then pending before 
 Congress was on the admission of the 
 State of Missouri into the Federal Union, 
 the subject of the issue being the attempted 
 tacking on of conditions restricting sla 
 very within her limits. She was admitted 
 without conditions under the so-called 
 compromise, which abolished it in certain 
 
 portions of the then province of Louisiana, 
 In this controversy, the compromise was 
 sustained and carried entirely by the Dem 
 ocratic Senators and members from the 
 Southern and slave-holding States aided 
 and sanctioned by the Executive, and it 
 was opposed by fifteen Senators from non- 
 slave-holding States, who represented the 
 opposite side on the political questions of 
 the day. It passed the House by a close vote 
 of 86 to 82. It has been seriously ques 
 tioned since whether this act was constitu 
 tional. The real struggle was political, and 
 for the balance of power. For a while it 
 threatened the total overthrow of all po 
 litical parties upon principle, and the sub 
 stitution of geographical parties discrimi 
 nated by the slave line, and thus destroy 
 ing the proper action of the Federal gov 
 ernment, and leading to a separation of 
 the States. It was a federal movement, ac 
 cruing to the benefit of that party, and at 
 first carried all the Northern democracy in 
 its current, giving the supremacy to their 
 adversaries. When this effect was per 
 ceived, democrats from the northern non 
 slave-holding States took early opportu 
 nity to prevent their own overthrow, by 
 voting for the admission of the States on 
 any terms, and thus prevent the eventual 
 separation of the States in the establish 
 ment of geographical parties divided by a 
 slavery and anti-slavery line. 
 
 The year 1820 marked a period of finan* 
 cial distress in the country, which soon 
 became that of the government. The army 
 was reduced, and the general expenses of 
 the departments cut down, despite which 
 measures of economy the Congress deemed 
 it necessary to authorize the President to 
 contract for a loan of five million dollars. 
 Distress was the cry of the day ; relief the 
 general demand, the chief demand com 
 ing from debtors to the Government for 
 public lands purchased under the then 
 credit system, this debt at that time ag 
 gregating twenty-three millions of dollars. 
 The banks failed, money vanished, instal 
 ments were coming due which could not 
 be met ; and the opening of Congress in 
 November, 1820, was saluted by the arrival 
 of memorials from all the new States pray 
 ing for the relief to the purchaser of the 
 public lands. The President referred to it 
 in his annual message of that year, and 
 Congress passed a measure of relief by 
 changing the system to cash sales instead 
 of credit, reducing the price of the lands, 
 and allowing present debtors to apply pay 
 ments already made to portions of the 
 land purchased, relinquishing the remain 
 der. Applications were made at that 
 time for the establishment of the pre 
 emptive system, but without effect ; the 
 new States continued to press the question 
 and finally prevailed, so that now the pre 
 emptive principle has become a fixed part 
 
THE TARIFF AMERICAN SYSTEM. 
 
 25 
 
 of our land system, permanently incorpo 
 rated with it, and to the equal advantage 
 of the settler and the government. 
 
 The session of 1820-21, is remarkable as 
 being the first at which any proposition 
 was made in Congress for the occupation 
 and settlement of our territory on the 
 Columbia river the only part then owned 
 by the United States on the Pacific coast. 
 It was made by Dr. Floyd, a representa 
 tive from Virginia, who argued that the 
 establishment of a civilized power on the 
 American coast of the Pacific could not 
 fail to produce great and wonderful bene 
 fits not only to our own country, but to 
 the people of Eastern Asia, China and 
 Japan on the opposite side of the Pacific 
 Ocean, and that the valley of the Colum 
 bia might become the granary of China 
 and Japan. This movement suggested to 
 Senator Benton, to move, for the first time 
 publicly in the United States, a resolution 
 to send ministers to the Oriental States. 
 
 At this time treaties with Mexico and 
 Spain were ratified, by which the United 
 States acquired Florida and ceded Texas ; 
 these treaties, together with the Missouri 
 compromise a measure contemporaneous 
 with them extinguished slave soil in all 
 the United States territory west of the 
 Mississippi, except in that portion which 
 was to constitute the State of Arkansas ; 
 and, including the extinction in Texas 
 consequent upon its cession to a non-slave- 
 holding power, constituted the largest ter 
 ritorial abolition of slavery that was ever 
 up to that period effected by any political 
 power of any nation. 
 
 The outside view of the slave question in 
 the United States, at this time, is that the 
 extension of slavery was then arrested, 
 circumscribed, and confined within narrow 
 territorial limits, while free States were 
 permitted an almost unlimited expansion. 
 
 In 1822 a law passed Congress abolish 
 ing the Indian factory system, which had 
 been established during Washington's ad 
 ministration, in 1796, under which the 
 Government acted as a factor or agent for 
 the sale of supplies to the Indians and the 
 purchase of furs from them ; this branch of 
 the service then belonged to the depart 
 ment of the Secretary of War. The abuses 
 discovered in it led to the discontinuance 
 of that system. 
 
 The Presidential election of 1824 was 
 approaching, the candidates were in the 
 field, their respective friends active and 
 busy, and popular topics for the canvass in 
 earnest requisition. Congress was full of 
 projects for different objects of internal 
 improvement, mainly in roads and canals, 
 and the friends of each candidate exerted 
 themselves in rivalry of each other, under 
 the supposition that their opinions would 
 stand for those of their principals. An act 
 for the preservation of the Cumberland 
 
 Road,which passed both houses of Congress, 
 met with a veto from President Monroe, 
 accompanied by a state paper in exposi- 
 tio n of his opinions upon the whole sub 
 ject of Federal interference in matters of 
 inter state commerce and roads and canals. 
 He discussed the measure in all its bear 
 ings, and plainly showed it to be uncon- 
 | stitutional. After stating the question, he 
 j examined it under every head of constitu 
 tional derivation under which its advo 
 cates claimed the power, and found it to 
 be granted by no one of them and virtually 
 prohibited by some of them. This was 
 then and has since been considered to be 
 the most elaborate and thoroughly con 
 sidered opinion upon the general question 
 which has ever been delivered by any 
 American statesman. This great state pa 
 per, delivered at a time when internal im 
 provement by the federal government had 
 become an issue in the canvass for the 
 Presidency and was ardently advocated by 
 three of the candidates and qualified by 
 two others, had an immense current in its- 
 power, carrying with it many of the old 
 strict constructionists. 
 
 The revision of the tariff, with a view to 
 the protection of home industry, and to the 
 establishment of what was then called 
 tl The American System," was one of the 
 large subjects before Congress at the ses 
 sion of 1823-24, and was the regular com 
 mencement of the heated debates on that 
 question which afterwards ripened into a 
 serious difficulty between the federal gov 
 ernment and some of the Southern States. 
 The presidential election being then de 
 pending, the subject became tinctured with 
 party politics, in which so far as that in 
 gredient was concerned, and was not con 
 trolled by other considerations, members 
 divided pretty much on the line which al 
 ways divided them on a question of con 
 structive powers. The protection of do 
 mestic industry not being among the pow 
 ers granted, was looked for in the inciden 
 tal ; and denied by the strict construction 
 ists to be a substantive term, to be exer 
 cised for the direct purpose of protection ; 
 but admitted by all at that time and ever 
 since the first tariff act of 1789, to be an 
 incident to the revenue raising power, and 
 an incident to be regarded in the exercise 
 of that power. Revenue the object, pro 
 tection the incident, had been the rule in 
 the earlier tariffs ; now that rule was sought 
 to be reversed, and to make protection the 
 object of the law, and revenue the inci 
 dent. Mr. Henry Clay was the leader in 
 the proposed revision and the champion of 
 the American system; he was ably sup 
 ported in the House by many able and 
 effective speakers ; who based their argu 
 ment on the general distress then alleged to 
 be prevalent in the country. Mr. Daniel 
 Webster was the leading speaker on the- 
 
26 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 other side, and disputed the universality 
 of the distress which had been described ; 
 and contested the propriety of high or pro 
 hibitory duties, in the present active and 
 intelligent state of the world, to stimulate 
 industry and manufacturing enterprise. 
 
 The bill was carried by a close vote in 
 both Houses. Though brought forward 
 avowedly for the protection of domestic 
 manufactures, it was not entirely supported 
 on that ground ; an increase of revenue 
 being the motive with some, the public 
 debt then being nearly ninety millions. 
 An increased protection to the products of 
 several States, as lead in Missouri and Illi 
 nois, hemp in Kentucky, iron in Pennsyl- 
 Yania, wool in Ohio and New York, com 
 manded many votes for the bill ; and the 
 impending presidential election had its in 
 fluence in its favor. 
 
 Two of the candidates, Messrs. Adams 
 and Clay, voted for and avowedly supported 
 Oeneral Jackson, who voted for the bill, 
 was for it, as tending to give a home sup 
 ply of the articles necessary in time of war, 
 And as raising revenue to pay the public 
 debt ; Mr. Crawford was opposed to it, and 
 Mr. Calhoun had withdrawn as a Presiden 
 tial candidate. The Southern planting 
 States were dissatisfied, believing that the 
 new burdens upon imports which it im 
 posed, fell upon the producers of the ex 
 ports, and tended to enrich one section of 
 the Union at the expense of another. 
 The attack and support of the bill took 
 much of a sectional aspect ; Virginia, the 
 "two Carolinas, Georgia, and some others, 
 being unanimous against it. Pennsylva 
 nia, New York, Ohio, and Kentucky being 
 unanimous for it. Massachusetts, which 
 up to this time had no small influence in 
 commerce, voted, with all, except one 
 member, against it. With this sectional 
 aspect, a tariff for protection, also began to 
 assume a political aspect, being taken un 
 der the care of the party, afterwards de 
 nominated as Whig. The bill was ap 
 proved by President Monroe; a proof that 
 that careful and strict constructionist of 
 the constitution did not consider it as de 
 prived of its revenue character by the de 
 gree of protection which it extended. 
 
 A subject which at the present time is 
 exciting much criticism, viz: proposed 
 amendments to the constitution relative to 
 the election of President and Vice-Presi 
 dent, had its origin in movements in that 
 direction taken by leading Democrats dur 
 ing the campaign of 1824. The electoral 
 -college has never been since the early elec 
 tions, an independent body free to select 
 a President and Vice- President ; though 
 in theory they have been vested with such 
 powers, in practice they have no such prac 
 tical power over the elections, and have 
 had none since their institution. In every 
 <jae the elector has been an instrument, 
 
 bound to obey a particular impulsion, and 
 disobedience to which would be attended 
 with infamy, and with every penalty which 
 public indignation could inflict. From the 
 beginning they have stood pledged to vote 
 for the candidate indicated by the public 
 will ; and have proved not only to be use 
 less, but an inconvenient intervention be 
 tween the people and the object of their 
 choice. Mr. McDuffie in the House of 
 Eepresentatives and Mr. Benton in the 
 Senate, proposed amendments ; the mode 
 of taking the direct vote to be in districts, 
 and the persons receiving the greatest 
 number of votes for President or Vice- 
 President in any district, to count one vote 
 for such office respectively which is noth 
 ing but substituting the candidates them 
 selves for their electoral representatives. 
 
 In the election of 1824 four candidates 
 were before the people for the office of 
 President, General Jackson, John Quincy 
 Adams, William H. Crawford and Henry 
 Clay. None of them received a majority 
 of the 261 electoral votes, and the election 
 devolved upon the House of Representa 
 tives. John C. Calhoun had a majority of 
 the electoral votes for the office of Vice- 
 President, and was elected. Mr. Adams 
 was elected President by the House of 
 Representatives, although General Jack 
 son was the choice of the people, having 
 received the greatest number of votes at 
 the general election. The election of Mr. 
 Adams was perfectly constitutional, and as 
 such fully submitted to by the people ; but 
 it was a violation of the demos krateo prin 
 ciple ; and that violation was equally re 
 buked. All the representatives who voted 
 against the will of their constituents, lost 
 their favor, and disappeared from public 
 life. The representation in the House of 
 Representatives was largely changed at 
 the first general election, and presented a 
 full opposition to the new President. Mr. 
 Adams himself was injured by it, and at 
 the ensuing presidential election was beat 
 en by General Jackson more than two to 
 one. 
 
 Mr. Clay, who took the lead in the 
 House for Mr. Adams, and afterwards took 
 upon himself the mission of reconciling the 
 people to his election in a series of public 
 speeches, was himself crippled in the 
 effort, lost his place in the democratic par 
 ty, and joined the Whigs (then called the 
 national republicans). The democratic 
 principle was victor over the theory of the 
 Constitution, and beneficial results ensued. 
 It vindicated the people in their right and 
 their power. It re-established parties 
 upon the basis of principle, and drew anew 
 party lines, then almost obliterated under 
 the fusion of parties during the " era of 
 good feeling," and the efforts of leading 
 men to make personal parties for them 
 selves. It showed the conservative power 
 
TENURE OF OFFICE ELIGIBILITY. 
 
 27 
 
 of our goverment to lie in the people, more 
 than in its constituted authorities. It 
 showed that they were capable of exercis 
 ing the function of self-government, and 
 lastly, it assumed the supremacy of the de 
 mocracy for a long time, and until lost by 
 causes to be referred to hereafter. The 
 Presidential election of 1824 is remarkable 
 under another aspect its results cautioned 
 all public men against future attempts to 
 govern presidential elections in the House 
 of Representatives; and it put an end to 
 the practice of caucus nominations for the 
 Presidency by members of Congress. This 
 mode of concentrating public opinion be 
 gan to be practiced as the eminent men of 
 the Revolution, to whom public opinion 
 awarded a preference, were passing away, 
 and when new men, of more equal preten 
 sions, were coming upon the stage. It was 
 tried several times with success and general 
 approbation, because public sentiment was 
 followed not led by the caucus. It was 
 attempted in 1824 and failed ; all the op 
 ponents of Mr. Crawford, by their joint 
 efforts, succeeded, and justly in the fact 
 though not in the motive, in rendering 
 these Congress caucus nominations odious 
 to the people, and broke them down. 
 They were dropped, and a different mode 
 adopted that of party nominations by 
 conventions of delegates from the States. 
 
 The administration of Mr. Adams com 
 menced with his inaugural address, in 
 which the chief topic was that of internal 
 national improvement by the federal gov 
 ernment. This declared policy of the ad 
 ministration furnished a ground of opposi 
 tion against Mr. Adams, and went to the 
 reconstruction of parties on the old line of 
 strict, or latitudinous, construction of the 
 Constitution. It was clear from the begin 
 ning that the new administration was to 
 have a settled and strong opposition, and 
 that founded in principles of government 
 the same principles, under different 
 forms, which had discriminated parties at 
 the commencement of the federal govern 
 ment. Men of the old school survivors 
 of the contest of the Adams and Jefferson 
 times, with some exceptions, divided ac 
 cordingly the federalists going for Mr. 
 Adams, the republicans against him, with 
 the mass of the younger generation. The 
 Senate by a decided majority, and the 
 House by a strong minority, were opposed 
 to the policy of the new President. 
 
 In 1826 occurred the famous debates in 
 the Senate and the House, on the proposed 
 Congress of American States, to contract 
 alliances to guard against and prevent the 
 establishment of any future European co 
 lony within its borders. The mission 
 though sanctioned was never acted upon 
 or carried out. It was authorized by very 
 nearly a party vote, the democracy as a 
 party being against it The President, Mr. 
 
 Adams, stated the objects of the Congress 
 to be as follows : " An agreement between 
 all the parties represented at the meeting, 
 that each will guard, by its own means, 
 against the establishment of any future 
 European colony within its own borders, 
 may oe advisable. This was, more than 
 two years since, announced by my prede 
 cessor to the world, as a principle result 
 ing from the emancipation of both the 
 American continents. It may be so de 
 veloped to the new southern nations, that 
 they may feel it as an essential appendage 
 to their independence." 
 
 Mr. Adams had been a member of Mr. 
 Monroe's cabinet, filling the department 
 from which the doctrine would emanate. 
 The enunciation by him as above of this 
 "Monroe Doctrine," as it is called, is very 
 different from what it has of late been sup 
 posed to be, as binding the United States 
 to guard all the territory of the New World 
 from European colonization. The mes 
 sage above quoted was written at a time 
 when the doctrine as enunciated by the 
 former President through the then Secre 
 tary was fresh in the mind of the latter, 
 and when he himself in a communication 
 to the American Senate was laying it down 
 for the adoption of all the American na 
 tions in a general congress of their depu 
 ties. According to President Adams, this 
 " Monroe Doctrine" (according to which it 
 has been of late believed that the United 
 States were to stand guard over the two 
 Americas, and repulse all intrusive colo 
 nists from their shores), was entirely con 
 fined to our own borders ; that it was only 
 proposed to get the other States of the New 
 World to agree that, each for itself, and by 
 its own means, should guard its own terri 
 tories ; and, consequently, that the United 
 States, so far from extending gratuitous 
 protection to the territories of other States, 
 would neither give, nor receive, aid in any 
 such enterprise, but that each should use 
 its own means, within its own borders, for 
 its own exemption from European colonial 
 intrusion. 
 
 No question in its day excited more in 
 temperate discussion, excitement, and feel 
 ing between the Executive and the Senate, 
 and none died out so quickly, than this, 
 relative to the proposed congress of Ameri 
 can nations. The chief advantage to be 
 derived from its retrospect and it is a real 
 one is a view of the firmness with which 
 the minority maintained the old policy of 
 the United States, to avoid entangling al 
 liances and interference with the affairs of 
 other nations ; and the exposition, by one 
 so competent as Mr. Adams, of the true 
 scope and meaning of the Monroe doc 
 trine. 
 
 At the session of 1825-26 attempt was 
 again made to procure an amendment to 
 the Constitution, ra relation to the mod* 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 of election of President and Vice-Presi 
 dent, so as to do away with all intermedi 
 ate agencies, and give the election to the 
 direct vote of the people. In the Senate 
 the matter was referred to a committee who 
 reported amendments dispensing with 
 electors, providing for districts equal in 
 number to the whole number of Senators 
 and Representatives to which the State 
 was entitled in Congress, and obviating all 
 excuses for caucuses and conventions to 
 concentrate public opinion by providing 
 that in the event of no one receiving a ma 
 jority of the whole number of district votes 
 cast, that a second election should be held 
 limited to the two .persons receiving the 
 highest number of votes ; and in case of an 
 equal division of votes on the second elec 
 tion then the House of Representatives 
 shall choose one of them for President, as 
 is prescribed by the Constitution. The 
 idea being that the first election, if not re 
 sulting in any candidate receiving a ma 
 jority, should stand for a popular nomina 
 tion a nomination by the people them 
 selves, out of which the election is almost 
 sure to be made on the second trial. The 
 same plan was suggested for choosing a 
 Vice-President, except that the Senate was 
 to finally elect, in case of failure to choose 
 at first and second elections. The amend 
 ments did not receive the requisite support 
 of two-thirds of either the Senate or the 
 House. This movement was not of a par 
 tisan character ; it was eaually supported 
 and opposed respectively by Senators and 
 Representatives of both parties. Substan 
 tially the same plan was recommended by 
 President] Jackson in his first annual mes 
 sage to Congress, December 8, 1829. 
 
 It is interesting to note that at this Ses 
 sion of 1825 and '26, attempt was made by 
 the Democrats to pass a tenure of oflice 
 bill, as applicable to government em 
 ployees and office-holders; it provided 
 
 that in all nominations made by the 
 President to the Senate, to fill vacancies 
 occasioned by an exercise of the Presi 
 dent's power to remove from ofiice, the 
 fact of the removal shall be stated to the 
 Senate at the same time that the nomina 
 tion is made, with a statement of the rea 
 sons for which such officer may have been 
 removed." It was also sought at the same 
 time to amend the Constitution to prohibit 
 the appointment of any member of Con 
 gress to any federal office of trust or profit, 
 during the period for which he was elec 
 ted ; the design being to make the mem 
 bers wholly independent of the Executive, 
 and not subservient to the latter, and in 
 capable of receiving favors in the form of 
 bestowals of official patronage. 
 
 The tariff of 1828 is an era in our politi 
 cal legislation; from it the doctrine of 
 " nullification " originated, and from that 
 date began a serious division between the 
 
 North and the South. This tariff law was 
 projected in the interest of the woolen 
 manufacturers, but ended by including all 
 manufacturing interests. The passage oi 
 this measure was brought about not because 
 it was favored by a majority, but because 
 of political exigencies. In the then ap 
 proaching presidential election, Mr. 
 Adams, who was in favor of the " Ameri 
 can System," supported by Mr. Clay (his 
 Secretary of State) was opposed by General 
 Jackson. This tariff was made an admin 
 istration measure, and became an issue in 
 the canvass. The New England States, 
 which had formerly favored free trade, on 
 account of their commercial interests, 
 changed their policy, and, led by Mr. 
 Webster, became advocates of the protec 
 tive system. The question of protective 
 tariff had now not only become political, 
 but sectional. The Southern States as a 
 section, were arrayed against the system, 
 though prior to 1816 had favored it, not 
 merely as an incident to revenue, but as a 
 substantive object. In fact these tariff 
 bills, each exceeding the other in its de 
 gree of protection, had become a regular 
 appendage of our presidential elections 
 carrying round in every cycle of four years, 
 with that returning event ; starting in 1816 
 and followed up in 1820-24, and now in 
 1828, with successive augmentations of 
 duties ; the last being often pushed as a 
 party measure, and with the visible pur 
 pose of influencing the presidential elec 
 tion. General Jackson was elected, hav 
 ing received 178 electoral votes to 83 re 
 ceived by John Quincy Adams. Mr. 
 Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, who was 
 on the ticket with Mr. Adams, was de 
 feated for the office of Vice-President, and 
 John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, was 
 elected to that office. 
 
 The election of General Jackson was a 
 triumph of democratic principle, and an 
 assertion of the people's right to govern 
 themselves. That principle had been vio 
 lated in the presidential election in the 
 House of Representatives in the session of 
 1824-25 ; and the sanction, or rebuke, of 
 that violation was a leading question in the 
 whole canvass. It was also a triumph 
 over the high protective policy, and the 
 federal internal improvement policy, and 
 the latitudinous construction of the Con 
 stitution ; and of the democracy over the 
 federalists, then called national republi 
 cans ; and was the re-establishment of par 
 ties on principle, according to the land 
 marks of the early years of the govern 
 ment. For although Mr. Adams had re 
 ceived confidence and office from Mr. 
 Madison and Mr. Monroe, and had classed 
 with the democratic party during the " era 
 of good feeling," yet he had previously 
 been federal ; and on the re-establishment 
 of old party lines which began to takeplae 
 
NULLIFICATION DEMOCRATS AND FEDERALS. 
 
 29 
 
 after the election of Mr. Adams in the 
 House of Representatives, his affinities 
 and policy became those of his former 
 party ; and as a party, with many indivi 
 dual exceptions, they became his suppor 
 ters and his strength. General Jackson, 
 on the contrary, had always been demo 
 cratic, so classing when he was a Senator 
 in Congress under the administration of 
 the first Mr. Adams ; and when party lines 
 were most straightly drawn, and upon prin 
 ciple, and as such now receiving the support 
 of men and States which took this political 
 position at that time, and maintained it for 
 years afterwards ; among the latter, notably 
 the States of Virginia and Pennsylvania. 
 
 The short session of 1829-30 was ren 
 dered famous by the long and earnest de 
 bates in the Senate on the doctrine of nul 
 lification, as it was then called. It started 
 by a resolution of inquiry introduced by 
 Mr. Foot of Connecticut; it was united 
 with a proposition to limit the sales of the 
 public lands to those then in the market 
 to suspend the surveys of the public lands 
 and to abolish the office of Surveyor- 
 General. The effect of such a resolution, 
 if sanctioned upon inquiry and carried into 
 legislative effect, would have been to check 
 emigration to the new States in the West, 
 and to check the growth and settlement of 
 these States and Territories. It was warmly 
 opposed by Western members. The de 
 bate spread and took an acrimonious turn, 
 and sectional, imputing to the quarter of 
 the Union from which it came an old and 
 early policy to check the growth of the 
 West at the outset by proposing to limit 
 the sale of the Western lands, by selling 
 no tract in advance until all in the rear 
 was sold out ; and during the debate Mr. 
 Webster referred to the famous ordinance 
 of 1787 for the government of the north 
 western territory, and especially the anti- 
 slavery clause which it contained. 
 
 Closely connected with this subject to 
 which Mr. Webster's remarks, during the 
 debate, related, was another which excited 
 some warm discussion the topic of slavery 
 and the effect of its existence or non- 
 existence in different States. Kentucky 
 and Ohio were taken for examples, and 
 the superior improvement and popula 
 tion of Ohio were attributed to its exemp 
 tion from the evils of slavery. This was 
 an excitable subject, and the more so be 
 cause the wounds of the Missouri contro 
 versy in which the North was the undis 
 puted aggressor, were still tender. Mr. 
 Hayne from South Carolina answered with 
 warmth and resented as a reflection upon 
 the Slave States this disadvantageous com 
 parison. Mr. Benton of Missouri followed 
 on the same side, and in the course of his 
 remarks said, " I regard with admiration, 
 that is to say, with wonder, the sublime 
 morality of those who cannot bear the ab 
 
 stract contemplation of slavery, at the dis 
 tance of five hundred or a thousand miles 
 off." This allusion to the Missouri con 
 troversy, and invective against the free 
 States for their part in it, by Messrs. 
 Hayne and Benton, brought a reply from 
 Mr. Webster, showing what their conduct 
 had been at the first introduction of the 
 slavery topic in the Congress of the United 
 States, and that they totally refused to in 
 terfere between master and slave in any 
 way whatever. But the topic which be 
 came the leading feature of the whole de 
 bate, and gave it an interest which cannot 
 die, was that of nullification the assumed 
 right of a State to annul an act of Congress 
 then first broached in the Senate and 
 in the discussion of which Mr. Webster 
 and Mr. Hayne were the champion 
 speakers on opposite sides the latter 
 voicing the sentiments of the Vice-Presi- 
 dent, Mr. Calhoun. This turn in the de 
 bate was brought about, by Mr. Hayne 
 having made allusion to the course of New 
 England during the war of 1812, and espe 
 cially to the assemblage known as the 
 Hartford Convention, and to which designs 
 unfriendly to the Union had been at 
 tributed. This gave Mr. Webster an op 
 portunity to retaliate, and he referred to 
 the public meetings which had just then 
 taken place in South Carolina on the sub 
 ject of the tariff, and at which resolves 
 were passed, and propositions adopted sig 
 nificant of resisistance to the act; and con 
 sequently of disloyalty to the Union. He 
 drew Mr. Hayne into their defence and 
 into an avowal of what has since obtained 
 the current name of " Nullification" He 
 said, " I understand the honorable gentle 
 man from South Carolina to maintain, that 
 it is a right of the State Legislature to inter 
 fere, whenever, in their judgment, this 
 government transcends its constitutional 
 limits, and to arrest the operation of its 
 laws,* * * * that the States may law 
 fully decide for themselves, and each State 
 for itself, whether, in a given case, the act 
 of the general government transcends its 
 powers, * * * * that if the exigency 
 of the case, in the opinion of any State 
 government require it, such State gov 
 ernment may, by its own sovereign au 
 thority, annul an act of the general -gov 
 ernment, which it deems plainly and pal 
 pably unconstitutional." Mr. Hayne was 
 evidently unprepared to admit, or fully 
 deny, the propositions as so laid down, but 
 contented himself with stating the words 
 of the Virginia Resolution of 1798, as fol 
 lows : " That this assembly doth explicitly 
 and peremptorily declare, that it views the 
 powers of the federal government as result 
 ing from the compact, to which the States 
 are parties, as limited by the plain sense 
 and intention of the instrument constituting 
 that compact, as no farther valid than they 
 
30 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 are authorized by the grants enumerated 
 in that compact, and that, in case of a de 
 liberate, palpable and dangerous exercise 
 of other powers, not granted by the said 
 compact, the States who are parties thereto 
 have the right, and are in duty bound, to 
 interpose, for arresting the progress of the 
 evil, and for maintaining, within their re 
 spective limits, the authorities, rights, and 
 liberties appertaining to them." 
 
 This resolution came to be understood 
 by Mr. Hayne and others on that side of 
 the debate, in the same sense that Mr. 
 Webster stated, as above, he understood 
 the gentleman from the South to interpret 
 it. On the other side of the question, he 
 argued that the doctrine had no foundation 
 either in the Constitution, or on the Vir 
 ginia resolutions that the Constitution 
 makes the federal government act upon 
 citizens within the States, and not upon 
 the States themselves, as in the old con 
 federation : that within their Constitution 
 al limits the laws of Congress were supreme 
 and that it was treasonable to resist 
 them with force : and that the question of 
 their constitutionality was to be decided 
 by the Supreme Court : with respect to the 
 Virginia resolutions, on which Mr. Hayne 
 relied, Mr. Webster disputed the interpre 
 tation put upon them claimed for them 
 an innocent and justifiable meaning and 
 exempted Mr. Madison from the suspicion 
 of having framed a resolution asserting the 
 right of a State legislature to annul an Act 
 of Congress, and thereby putting it in the 
 power of one State to destroy a form of 
 government which he had just labored so 
 hard to establish. 
 
 Mr. Hayne on his part gave (as the prac 
 tical part of his doctrine) the pledge of for 
 cible resistance to any attempt to enforce 
 unconstitutional laws. He said, "The 
 gentleman has called upon us to carry out 
 our scheme practically. Now, sir, if I am 
 correct in my view of this matter, then it 
 follows, of course, that the right of a State 
 being established, the federal government 
 is bound to acquiesce in a solemn decision 
 of a State, acting in its sovereign capacity, 
 at least so far as to make an appeal to the 
 people for an amendment to the Constitu 
 tion. This solemn decision of a State binds 
 the federal government, under the highest 
 constitutional obligation, not to resort to 
 any means of coercion against the citizens 
 of the dissenting State. * * * Suppose 
 Congress should pass an agrarian law, or a 
 law emancipating our slaves, or should 
 commit any other gross violation of our 
 constitutional rights, will any gentlemen 
 contend that the decision of every branch 
 of the federal government, in favor of such 
 laws, could prevent the States from de 
 claring them null and void, and protecting 
 their citizens from their operation ? * * 
 Let me assure the gentlemen that, when 
 
 ever any attempt shall be made from any 
 quarter, to enforce unconstitutional laws, 
 clearly violating our essential rights, our 
 leaders (whoever they may be) will not be 
 found reading black letter from the musty 
 pages of old law books. They will look to 
 the Constitution, and when called upon by 
 the sovereign authority of the State, to 
 preserve and protect the rights secured to 
 them by the charter of their liberties, they 
 will succeed in defending them, or ' perish 
 in the last ditch.' " 
 
 These words of Mr. Hayne seem almost 
 prophetic in view of the events of thirty 
 years later. No one then believed in any 
 thing serious in the new interpretation 
 given to the Virginia resolutions nor in 
 anything practical from nullification nor 
 in forcible resistance to the tariff laws from 
 South Carolina nor in any scheme of dis 
 union. 
 
 Mr. Webster's closing reply was a fine 
 piece of rhetoric, delivered in an elaborate 
 and artistic style, and in an apparent spirit 
 of deep seriousness. He concluded thus 
 " When my eyes shall be turned to behold, 
 for the last time, the sun in heaven, may I 
 not see him shining on the broken and dis 
 figured fragments of a once glorious 
 Union ; on States dissevered, discordant, 
 belligerent ; on a land rent with civil feuds, 
 or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood. 
 Let their last feeble and lingering glance, 
 rather, behold the gorgeous ensign of the 
 Republic, now known and honored through 
 out the earth, still full high advanced, its 
 arms and trophies streaming in their ori 
 ginal lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, 
 nor a single star obscured, bearing for ita 
 motto no such miserable interrogatory as, 
 What is all this worth? nor those other 
 words of delusion and folly, Liberty first 
 and Union afterwards; but everywhere, 
 spread all over in characters of living light, 
 blazing in all its ample folds, as they float 
 over the sea and over the land, and in 
 every wind under the whole heavens, that 
 other sentiment, dear to every true Ameri 
 can heart Liberty and Union, now and 
 forever, one and inseparable ! " 
 
 President Jackson in his first annual 
 message to Congress called attention to the 
 fact of expiration in 1836 of the charter 
 of incorporation granted by the Federal 
 government to a moneyed institution called 
 The Bank of the United States, which was 
 originally designed to assist the govern 
 ment in establishing and maintaining a 
 uniform and sound currency. He seriously 
 doubted the constitutionality and expedi 
 ency of the law creating the bank, and 
 was opposed to a renewal of the charter. 
 His view of the matter was that if such an 
 institution was deemed a necessity it should 
 be made a national one, in the sense of 
 being founded on the credit of the govern 
 ment and its revenues, and not a corpora- 
 
THE UNITED STATES BANK. 
 
 31 
 
 tion independent from and not a part of 
 the government. The House of Repre 
 sentatives was strongly in favor of the re 
 newal of the charter, and several of its 
 committees made elaborate, ample and 
 argumentative reports upon the subject. 
 These reports were the subject of news- 
 
 Eaper and pamphlet publication ; and 
 mded for their power and excellence, and 
 triumphant refutation of all the President's 
 opinions. Thus was the " war of the Bank' ' 
 commenced at once in Congress, and in the 
 public press ; and openly at the instance 
 of the Bank itself, which, forgetting its 
 position as an institution of the govern 
 ment, for the convenience of the govern 
 ment, set itself up as a power, and strug 
 gled for continued existence, by demand 
 for renewal of its charter. It allied itself 
 at the same time to the political power 
 opposed to the President, joined in all their 
 schemes of protective tariff, and national 
 internal improvement, and became the 
 head of the American system. Its moneyed 
 and political power, numerous interested 
 affiliations, and control over other banks 
 and fiscal institutions, was truly great and 
 extensive, and a power which was exer 
 cised and made to be felt during the strug 
 gle to such a degree that it threatened a 
 danger to the country and the government 
 almost amounting to a national calamity. 
 The subject of renewal of the charter 
 was agitated at every succeeding session 
 of Congress down to 1836, and many able 
 speeches made for and against it. 
 
 In the month of December, 1831, the 
 National Republicans, as the party was 
 then called which afterward took the name 
 of "whig," held its convention in Balti 
 more, and nominated candidates for Presi 
 dent and Vice-President, to be voted for 
 at the election in the autumn of the ensu 
 ing year. Henry Clay was the candidate 
 for the office of President, and John Ser 
 geant for that of Vice-President. The 
 platform or address to the people presented 
 the party issues which were to be settled 
 at the ensuing election, the chief subjects 
 being the tariff, internal improvement, re 
 moval of the Cherokee Indians, and the 
 renewal of the United States Bank charter. 
 Thus the bank question was fully presented 
 as an issue in the election by that part of 
 its friends who classed politically against 
 President Jackson. But it had also Demo 
 cratic friends without whose aid the re- 
 charter could not be got through Congress, 
 and they labored assiduously for it. The 
 first Bank of the United States, chartered 
 in 1791, was a federal measure, favored by 
 General Hamilton, opposed by Mr. Jeffer 
 son, Mr. Madison, and the Republican 
 party; and became a great landmark of 
 party, not merely for the bank itself, but 
 lor the latitudinarian construction of the 
 constitution in which it was founded, and 
 
 the precedent it established that Congress 
 might in its discretion do what it pleased, 
 under the plea of being "necessary'' to 
 carry into effect some granted power. The 
 non-renewal of the charter in 1811, was 
 the act of the Republican party, then in 
 possession of the government, and taking 
 the opportunity to terminate, upon its own 
 limitation, the existence of an institution 
 whose creation they had not been able to 
 prevent. The charter of the second bank, 
 in 1816, was the act of the Republican 
 party, and to aid them in the administra 
 tion of the government, and, as such, was 
 opposed by the Federal party not seeming 
 then to understand that, by its instincts, a 
 great moneyed corporation was in sym 
 pathy with their own party, and would 
 soon be with it in action which the bank 
 soon was and now struggled for a con 
 tinuation of its existence under the lead 
 of those who had opposed its creation and 
 against the party which effected it. Mr. 
 Webster was a Federal leader on both 
 occasions against the charter in 1816; 
 for the re-charter in 1832. The bill passed 
 the Senate after a long and arduous con 
 test; and afterwards passed the House, 
 quickly and with little or no contest at all. 
 It was sent to the President, and vetoed 
 by him July 10, 1832 ; the message stating 
 his objections being an elaborate review 
 of the subject ; the veto being based mainly 
 on the unconstitutionality of the measure. 
 The veto was sustained. Following this 
 the President after the adjournment re 
 moved from the bank the government 
 deposits, and referred to that fact in his 
 next annual message on the second day of 
 December, 1833, at the opening of the first 
 session of the twenty-third Congress. Ac 
 companying it was the report of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. Roger B. 
 Taney, afterwards Chief Justice of the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, giv 
 ing the reasons of the government for the 
 withdrawal of the public funds. Long and 
 bitter was the contest between the Presi 
 dent on the one side and the Bank and its 
 supporters in the Senate on the other side. 
 The conduct of the Bank produced dis 
 tress throughout the country, and was so 
 intended to coerce the President. Distress 
 petitions flooded Congress, and the Senate 
 even passed resolutions of censure of the 
 President. The latter, however, held firm 
 in his position. A committee of investi 
 gation was appointed by the House of 
 Representatives to inmiire into the causes 
 of the commercial embarrassment and the 
 public distress complained of in the 
 numerous distress memorials presented to 
 the two Houses during the session; and 
 whether the Bank had been instrumental, 
 through its management of money, in pro 
 ducing the distress and embarrassment of 
 which so much complaint was made ; to 
 
32 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 inquire whether the charter of the Bank 
 had been violated, and what corruptions 
 and abuses, if any, existed in its manage 
 ment ; and to inquire whether the Bank 
 had used its corporate power or money to 
 control the press, to interpose in politics, 
 or to influence elections. The committee 
 were granted ample powers for the execu 
 tion of these inquiries. It was treated 
 with disdain and contempt by the Bank 
 management ; 'refused access to the books 
 and papers, and the directors and president 
 refused to be sworn and testify. The 
 committee at the next session made report 
 of their proceedings, and asked for war 
 rants to be issued against the managers to 
 bring them before the Bar of the House to 
 answer for contempt ; but the friends of 
 the Bank in the House were able to check 
 the proceedings and prevent action being 
 taken. In the Senate, the President was 
 sought to be punished by a declination by 
 that body to confirm the President's 
 nomination of the four government direc 
 tors of the Bank, who had served the 
 previous year ; and their re-nomination 
 after that rejection again met with a similar 
 fate. In like manner his re-nomination of 
 Roger B. Taney to be Secretary of the 
 Treasury was rejected, for the action of 
 the latter in his support of the President 
 and the removal of the public deposits. 
 The Bank had lost much ground in the 
 public estimation by resisting the investi 
 gation ordered and attempted by the House 
 of Representatives, and in consequence the 
 Finance Committee of the Senate made an 
 investigation, with so weak an attempt to 
 varnish over the affairs and acts of the 
 corporation that the odious appellation of 
 " white- washing committee " was fastened 
 upon it. The downfall of the Bank 
 speedily followed ; it soon afterwards be 
 came a total financial wreck, and its assets 
 and property were seized on executions. 
 With its financial failure it vanished from 
 public view, and public interest in it and 
 concern with it died out. 
 
 About the beginning of March, 1831, a 
 pamphlet was issued in Washington, by 
 Mr. John C. Calhoun, the Vice-President, 
 and addressed to the people of the United 
 States, explaining the cause of a difference 
 which had taken place between himself 
 and the President, General Jackson, in 
 stigated as the pamphlet alleged, by Mr. 
 Van Buren, and intended to make trouble 
 between the first and second officers of the 
 government, and to effect the political 
 destruction of himself (Mr. Calhoun) for the 
 benefit of the contriver of the quarrel, the 
 then Secretary of State, and indicated as a 
 candidate for the presidential succession 
 upon the termination of Jackson's term. 
 The differences grew out of certain charges 
 against General Jackson respecting his Con 
 duct during the Seminole war which oc 
 
 curred in the administration of President 
 Monroe. The President justified himself in 
 published correspondence, but the inevita 
 ble result followed a rupture between the 
 President and Vice-President which was 
 quickly followed by a breaking up and 
 reconstructing the Cabinet. Some of 
 its members classed as the political friends 
 of Mr. Calhoun, and could hardly be ex 
 pected to remain as ministers to the Presi 
 dent. Mr. Van Buren resigned ; a new 
 Cabinet was appointed and confirmed. 
 This change in the Cabinet made a great 
 figure in the party politics of the day, and 
 filled all the opposition newspapers, and 
 had many sinister reasons assigned to it 
 all to the prejudice of General Jackson and 
 Mr. Van Buren. 
 
 It is interesting to note here that during 
 the administration of President Jackson, 
 in the year 1833, the Congress of the 
 United States, as the consequence of the 
 earnest efforts in that behalf, of Col. R. M. 
 Johnson, of Kentucky, aided by the re 
 commendation and support of the Presi 
 dent, passed the first laws, abolishing im 
 prisonment for debt, under process from 
 the Courts of the United States : the only 
 extent to which an act of Congress could 
 go, by force of its enactments ; but by force 
 of example "and influence, has led to the 
 cessation of the practice of imprisoning 
 debtors, in all, or nearly all, of the States 
 and Territories of the Union ; and without 
 the evil consequences which had been 
 dreaded from the loss of this remedy over 
 the person. The act was a total abolition of 
 the practice, leaving in full force all the re 
 medies against fraudulent evasions of debt. 
 
 The American system, and especially its 
 prominent feature of a high protective 
 tariff was put in issue, in the Presidential 
 canvass of 1832 ; and the friends of that 
 system labored diligently in Congress in 
 presenting its best points to the greatest 
 advantage ; and staking its fate upon the 
 issue of the election. It was lost; not only 
 by the result of the main contest, but by 
 that of the congressional election which 
 took place simultaneously with it. All the 
 States dissatisfied with that system, were 
 satisfied with the view of its speedy and 
 regular extinction, under the legislation of 
 the approaching session of Congress, ex 
 cepting only South Carolina. She has 
 held aloof from the Presidential contest, 
 and cast her electoral votes for persons 
 who were not candidates doing nothing 
 to aid the election of General Jackson, 
 with whom her interests were apparently 
 identified. On the 24th November, 1832, 
 two weeks after the election which de 
 cided the fate of the tariff, that State 
 issued an "Ordinance to nullify certain 
 acts of the Congress of the United 
 States, purporting to be laws laying 
 duties and imposts on the importation 
 
THE PRESIDENT'S SPECIAL MESSAGE. 
 
 33 
 
 of foreign commodities." It declared that 
 jjie Congress had exceeded its constitu 
 tional powers in imposing high and ex 
 cessive duties on the theory of "protec 
 tion," had unjustly discriminated in favor 
 of one class or employment, at the expense 
 and to the injury and oppression of other 
 classes and individuals; that said laws 
 were in consequence not binding on the 
 State and its citizens; and declaring its 
 right and purpose to enact laws to prevent 
 the enforcement and arrest the operation 
 of said acts and parts of the acts of the 
 Congress of the United States within the 
 limits of that State after the first day of 
 February following. This ordinance placed 
 the State in the attitude of forcible resist 
 ance to the laws of the United States, to 
 take effect on the first day of February 
 next ensuing a date prior to the meeting 
 of the next Congress, which the country 
 naturally expected would take some action 
 in reference to the tariff laws complained 
 of. The ordinance further provided that 
 if, in the meantime, any attempt was made 
 by the federal government to enforce the 
 obnoxious laws, except through the tribu 
 nals, all the officers of which were sworn 
 against them, the fact of such attempt was 
 to terminate the continuance of South Car 
 olina in the Union to absolve her from 
 all connection with the federal government 
 and to establish her as a separate govern 
 ment, wholly unconnected with the United 
 States or any State. The ordinance of 
 nullification was certified by the Governor 
 of South Carolina to the President of the 
 United States, and reached him in Decem 
 ber of the same year ; in consequence of 
 which he immediately issued a proclama 
 tion, exhorting the people of South Caro 
 lina to obey the laws of Congress; point 
 ing out and explaining the illegality of 
 the procedure ; stating clearly and distinct 
 ly his firm determination to enforce the 
 laws as became him as Executive, even by 
 resort to force if necessary. As a state 
 paper, it is important as it contains the 
 views of General Jackson regarding the 
 nature and character of our federal gov 
 ernment, expressed in the following lan 
 guage: "The people of the United States 
 formed the constitution, acting through 
 the State Legislatures in making the com 
 pact, to meet and discuss its provisions, 
 and acting in separate conventions when 
 they ratified those provisions; but, the 
 terms used in the constitution show it to 
 be a government in which the people of all 
 the States collectively are represented. 
 We are one people in the choice of Presi 
 dent and Vice-President. Here the States 
 have no other agency than to direct the 
 mode in which the votes shall be given. 
 The people, then, and not the 
 States, are represented in the executive 
 branch. * * * In the House 
 3 
 
 of Eepresentatives the members are all 
 representatives of the United States, not 
 representatives of the particular States 
 from which they come. They are paid by 
 the United States, not by the State, nor 
 are they accountable to it for any act done 
 in the performance of their legislative 
 functions. * * * * * 
 
 The constitution of the United States, 
 then, forms a government, not a league ; 
 and whether it be formed by a compact 
 between the States, or in any other man 
 ner, its character is the same. It is a gov 
 ernment in which all the people are repre 
 sented, which operates directly on the 
 people individually, not upon the States 
 they retained all the power they did not 
 grant. But each State, having expressly 
 parted with so many powers as to consti 
 tute, jointly with the other States, a single 
 nation, cannot, from that period, possess 
 any right to secede, because such secession 
 does not break a league, but destroys the 
 unity of the nation, and any injury to that 
 unity, is not only a breach which could 
 result from the contravention of a com 
 pact, but it is an offence against the whole 
 Union. To say that any State may at 
 pleasure secede from the Union, is to say 
 that the United States are not a nation ; 
 because it would be a solecism to contend 
 that any part of a nation might dissolve 
 its connection with the other parts, to their 
 injury or ruin, without committing any 
 offence." 
 
 Without calling on Congress for extra 
 ordinary powers, the President in his 
 annual message, merely adverted to the 
 attitude of the State, and proceeded to 
 meet the exigency by the exercise of the 
 powers he already possessed. The pro 
 ceedings in South Carolina not ceasing, 
 and taking daily a more aggravated form 
 in the organization of troops, the collec 
 tion of arms and of munitions of war, and 
 in declarations hostile to the Union, he 
 found it necessary early in January to re 
 port the facts to Congress in a special 
 message, and ask for extraordinary powers. 
 Bills for the reduction of the tariff were 
 early in the Session introduced into both 
 houses, while at the same time the Presi 
 dent, though not relaxing his efforts to 
 wards a peaceful settlement of the diffi 
 culty, made steady preparations for enforc 
 ing the law. The result of the bills offered 
 in the two Houses of Congress, was the 
 passage of Mr. Clay's " compromise " bill 
 on the 12th of February 1833, which radi 
 cally changed the whole tariff system. 
 
 The President in his message on the 
 South Carolina proceedings had recom 
 mended to Congress the revival of some 
 acts, heretofore in force, to enable him to 
 execute the laws in that State ; and the 
 Senate's committee on the judiciary had 
 reported a bill accordingly early in the 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 session. It was immediately assailed by 
 several members as violent and unconsti 
 tutional, tending to civil war, and de 
 nounced as " the bloody bill " the " force 
 bill," &c. The bill was vindicated in the 
 Senate, by its author, who showed that it 
 contained no novel principle; was sub 
 stantially a revival of laws previously in 
 force; with the authority superadded to 
 remove the office of customs from one 
 building or place to another in case of 
 need. The bill was vehemently opposed, 
 and every effort made to render it odious 
 to the people, and even extend the odium 
 to the President, and to every person 
 urging or aiding in its passage. Mr. 
 Webster justly rebuked all this vitupera 
 tion, and justified the bill, both for the 
 equity of its provisions, and the necessity 
 for enacting them. He said, that an un 
 lawful combination threatened the integ 
 rity of the Union ; that the crisis called 
 for a mild, temperate, forbearing but un- 
 flexibly firm execution of the laws ; and 
 finally, that public opinion sets with an 
 irresistible force in favor of the Union, in 
 favor of the measures recommended by 
 the President, and against the new doc 
 trines which threatened the dissolution of 
 the Union. The support which Mr. Web 
 ster gave to these measures was the regular 
 result of the principles which he laid 
 down in his first speeches against nullifi 
 cation in the debate with Mr. Hayne, and 
 he could not have done less without being 
 derelict to his own principles then avowed. 
 He supported with transcendent ability, 
 the cause of the constitution and of the 
 country, in the person of a President to 
 whom he was politically opposed, whose 
 gratitude and admiration he earned for his 
 patriotic endeavors. The country, without 
 distinction of party, felt the same ; and 
 the universality of the feeling was one of 
 the grateful instances of popular applause 
 and justice when great talents are seen 
 exerting themselves for the good of the 
 country. He was the colossal figure on 
 the political stage during that eventful 
 time; and his labors, splendid in their 
 day, survive for the benefit of distant 
 posterity. 
 
 During the discussion over the re-charter 
 of the Bank of the United States, which 
 as before mentioned, occupied the atten 
 tion of Congress for several years, the 
 country suffered from a money panic, and a 
 general financial depression and distress 
 was generally prevalent. In 1834 a mea 
 sure was introduced into the House, for 
 equalizing the value of gold and silver, 
 and legalizing the tender of foreign coin, 
 of both metals. The good effects of the 
 bill were immediately seen. Gold began 
 to flow into the country through all the 
 channels of commerce, foreign and domes 
 tic ; the mint was busy ; and specie pay 
 
 ment, which had been suspended in the 
 country for thirty years, was resumed, and 
 gold and silver became the currency of the 
 land ; inspiring confidence in all the pur 
 suits of industry. 
 
 As indicative of the position of the de 
 mocratic party at that date, on the subject 
 of the kind of money authorized by the 
 Constitution, Mr. Benton's speech in the 
 Senate is of interest. He said : " In the 
 first place, he was one of those who be 
 lieved that the government of the United 
 States was intended to be a hard money 
 government ; that it was the intention and 
 the declaration of the Constitution of the 
 United States, that the federal currency 
 should consist of gold and silver, and that 
 there is no power in Congress to issue, or 
 to authorize any company of individuals 
 to issue, any species of federal paper cur 
 rency whatsoever. Every clause in the 
 Constitution (said Mr. B.) which bears 
 upon the subject of money every early 
 statute of Congress which interprets the 
 meaning of these clauses and every his 
 toric recollection which refers to them, go 
 hand in hand in giving to that instrument 
 the meaning which this proposition ascribes 
 to it. The power granted to Congress to 
 coin money is an authority to stamp me 
 tallic money, and is not an authority for 
 emitting slips of paper containing promises 
 to pay money. The authority granted to 
 Congress to regulate the value of coin, is 
 an authority to regulate the value of the 
 metallic money, not of paper. The prohi 
 bition upon the States against making 
 anything but gold and silver a legal ten 
 der, is a moral prohibition, founded in vir 
 tue and honesty, and is just as binding 
 upon the Federal Government as upon the 
 State Governments; and that without a 
 written prohibition ; for the difference in 
 the nature of the two governments is such, 
 that the States may do all things which 
 they are not forbid to do ; and the Federal 
 Government can do nothing which it is 
 not authorized by the Constitution to do. 
 The framers of the Constitution (said Mr. 
 B.) created a hard money government. 
 They intended the new government to re 
 cognize nothing for money but gold and 
 silver ; and every word admitted into the 
 Constitution, upon the subject of money, 
 defines and establishes that sacred inten 
 tion. 
 
 Legislative enactment came quickly to 
 the aid of constitutional intention and 
 historic recollection. The fifth statute 
 passed at the first session of the first Con 
 gress that ever sat under the present Con 
 stitution was full and explicit on this head. 
 It declared, " that the fees and duties pay 
 able to the federal government shall be 
 received in gold and silver coin only." It 
 was under General Hamilton, as Secretary 
 of the Treasury, in 1791, that the policy 
 
THE INCEPTION OF THE SLAVERY QUESTION. 
 
 35 
 
 of the government underwent a change. 
 In the act constituting the Bank of the 
 United States, he brought forward his ce 
 lebrated plan for the support of the public 
 credit that plan which unfolded the en 
 tire scheme of the paper system and imme 
 diately developed the great political line 
 between the federalists and the republi 
 cans. The establishment of a national 
 bank was the leading and predominant 
 feature of that plan; and the original re 
 port of the secretary, in favor of establish 
 ing the bank, contained this fatal and de 
 plorable recommendation : " The bills and 
 notes of the bank, originally made payable, 
 or which shall have become payable, on 
 demand, in gold and silver coin, shall be 
 receivable in all payments to the United 
 States." From the moment of the adop 
 tion of this policy, the moneyed character 
 of the government stood changed and re 
 versed. Federal bank notes took the place 
 of hard money ; and the whole edifice of 
 the government slid, at once, from the solid 
 rock of gold and silver money, on which 
 its framers had placed it, into the troubled 
 and tempestuous ocean of paper currency. 
 
 The first session of the 35th Congress 
 opened December 1835. Mr. James K. 
 Polk was elected Speaker of the House by 
 a large majority over Mr. John Bell, the 
 previous Speaker ; the former being sup 
 ported by the administration party, and 
 the latter having become identified with 
 those who, on siding with Mr. Hugh L. 
 White as a candidate for the presidency, 
 were considered as having divided from 
 the democratic party. The chief subject 
 of the President's message was the rela 
 tions of our country with France relative 
 to the continued non-payment of the stip 
 ulated indemnity provided for in the treaty 
 of 1831 for French spoliations of Ameri 
 can shipping. The obligation to pay was 
 admitted, and the money even voted for 
 that purpose ; but offense was taken at the 
 President's message, and payment refused 
 until an apology should be made. The 
 President commented on this in his mes 
 sage, and the Senate had under consider 
 ation measures authorizing reprisals on 
 French shipping. At this point Great 
 Britain offered her services as mediator be 
 tween the nations, and as a result the in 
 demnity was shortly afterwards paid. 
 
 Agitation of the slavery question in the 
 United States really began about this 
 time. Evil-disposed persons had largely 
 circulated through the Southern states, 
 pamphlets and circulars tending to stir up 
 strife and insurrection ; and this had be 
 come so intolerable that it was referred to 
 by the President in his message. Congress 
 at the session of 1836 was flooded with pe 
 titions and memorials urging federal inter 
 ference to abolish slavery in the States ; 
 beginning with the petition of the Society 
 
 of Friends of Philadelphia, urging the 
 abolition of slavery in the District of Co 
 lumbia. These petitions were referred to 
 Committees after an acrimonious debate 
 as to whether they should be received or 
 not. The position of the government at 
 that time is embodied in the following 
 resolution which was adopted in the House 
 of Representatives as early as JL790, and 
 substantially re-affirmed in 1836, as fol 
 lows : "That Congress have no authority 
 to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, 
 or in the treatment of them within any of 
 the States ; it remaining with the several 
 States to provide any regulations therein 
 which humanity and true policy may re 
 quire." 
 
 In the Summer preceding the Presi 
 dential election of 1836, a measure was in 
 troduced into Congress, which became very 
 nearly a party measure, and which in its 
 results proved disastrous to the Democrat 
 ic party in after years. It was a plan for 
 distributing the public land money among 
 the States either in the shape of credit 
 distribution, or in the disguise of a deposit 
 of surplus revenue ; and this for the pur 
 pose of enhancing the value of the State 
 stocks held by the United States Bank, 
 which institution, aided by the party which 
 it favored, led by Mr. Clay, was the prime 
 mover in the plan. That gentleman was 
 the author of the scheme, and great cal 
 culations were made by the party which 
 favored the distribution upon its effect in 
 adding to their popularity. The Bill passed 
 the Senate in its original form, but met 
 with less favor in the House where it was 
 found necessary. To effectuate substan 
 tially the same end, a Senate Bill was in 
 troduced to regulate the keeping of the 
 public money in the deposit banks, and 
 this was turned into distribution of the 
 surplus public moneys with the States, in 
 proportion to their representation in Con 
 gress, to be returned when Congress should 
 call for it ; and this was called a deposit 
 with the States, and the faith of the States 
 pledged for a return of the money. It 
 was stigmatized by its opponents in Con 
 gress, as a distribution in disguise as a 
 deposit never to be reclaimed ; as a mis 
 erable evasion of the Constitution ; as an 
 attempt to debauch the people with their 
 own money ; as plundering instead of de 
 fending the country. The Bill passed both 
 houses, mainly by the efforts of a half 
 dozen aspirants to the Presidency, who 
 sought to thus increase their popularity. 
 They were doomed to disappointment in 
 this respect. Politically, it was no advan 
 tage to its numerous and emulous support 
 ers, and of no disservice to its few deter 
 mined opponents. It was a most unfortu 
 nate act, a plain evasion of the Constitu 
 tion for a bad purpose ; and it soon gave a 
 sad overthrow to the democracy and disap- 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 pointed every calculation made upon it. 
 To the States it was no advantage, raising 
 expectations which were not fulfilled, and 
 upon which many of them acted as reali 
 ties. The Bill was signed by the Presi 
 dent, but it is simple justice to him to say 
 that he did it with a repugnance of feel 
 ing, and a recoil of judgment, which it re 
 quired great efforts of his friends to over 
 come, and with a regret for it afterwards 
 which he often and publicly expressed. In 
 a party point of view, the passage of this 
 measure was the commencement of calam 
 ities, being an efficient cause in that gen 
 eral suspension of specie payments, which 
 quickly occurred, and brought so much 
 embarrassment on the Van Buren admin 
 istration, ending in the great democratic 
 defeat of 1840. 
 
 The presidential election of 1836 re 
 sulted in the choice of the democratic can 
 didate, Mr. Van Buren, who was elected 
 by 170 electoral votes ; his opponent, Gene 
 ral Harrison, receiving seventy-three elec 
 toral votes. Scattering votes were given 
 for Mr. Webster, Mr. Mangum, and Mr. 
 Hugh L. White, the last named represent 
 ing a fragment of the democracy who, in a 
 spirit of disaffection, attempted to divide 
 the democratic party and defeat Mr. Van 
 Buren. At the opening of the second ses 
 sion of the twenty-fourth Congress, Decem 
 ber, 1836, President Jackson delivered his 
 last annual message, under circumstances 
 exceedingly gratifying to him. The power 
 ful opposition in Congress had been broken 
 down, and he had the satisfaction of seeing 
 full majorities of ardent and tried friends 
 in each House. The country was in peace 
 and friendship with all the world ; all ex 
 citing questions quieted at home ; industry 
 in all its branches prosperous, and the 
 revenue abundant. And as a happy 
 sequence of this state of affairs, the Seriate 
 on the 16th of March, 1837, expunged 
 from the Journal the resolution, adopted 
 three years previously, censuring the Presi 
 dent for ordering the removal of the de 
 posits of public money in the United States 
 Bank. He retired from the presidency 
 with high honors, and died eight years 
 afterwards at his home, the celebrated 
 " Hermitage," in Tennessee, in full posses 
 sion of all his faculties, and strong to the 
 last in the ruling passion of his soul love 
 of country. 
 
 The 4th of March, 1837, ushered in an 
 other Democratic administration the be 
 ginning of the term of Martin Van Buren 
 as President of the United States. In his 
 inaugural address he commented on the 
 prosperous condition of the country, and 
 declared it to be his policy to strictly abide 
 by the Constitution as written no latitu- 
 dinarian constructions permitted, or dotibt- 
 fal powers assumed; that his political 
 chart should be the doctrines of the demo 
 
 cratic school, as understood at the original 
 formation of parties. 
 
 The President, however, was scarcely 
 settled in his new office when a financial 
 panic struck the country with irresistible 
 force. A general suspension of the banks, 
 a depreciated currency, and insolvency of 
 !;he federal treasury were at hand. The 
 public money had been placed in the cus- 
 x)dy of the local banks, and the notes of all 
 :hese banks, and of all others in the coun 
 try, were received in payment of public 
 dues. On the 10th of 'May, 1837, the 
 aanks throughout the country suspended 
 specie payments. The stoppage of the de 
 posit banks was the stoppage of the Trea 
 sury. Non-payment by the government 
 was an excuse for non-payment by others. 
 The suspension was now complete ; and it 
 was evident, and as good as admitted by 
 those who had made it, that it was the 
 effect of contrivance on the part of politi 
 cians and the so-called Bank of the United 
 States (which, after the expiration of its 
 national charter, had become a State cor 
 poration chartered by the Legislature of 
 Pennsylvania in January, 1836) for the 
 purpose of restoring themselves to power. 
 The whole proceeding became clear to 
 those who could see nothing while it was 
 in progress. Even those of the democratic 
 party whose votes had helped to do the 
 mischief, could now see that the attempt to 
 deposit forty millions with the States was 
 destruction to the deposit banks ; that the 
 repeal of President Jackson's order, known 
 as the "specie circular" requiring pay 
 ment for public lands to be in coin was to 
 fill the treasury with paper money, to be 
 found useless when wanted ; that distress 
 was purposely created to throw blame of 
 it upon the party in power; that the 
 promptitude with which the Bank of the 
 United States had been brought forward 
 as a remedy for the distress, showed that it 
 had been held in reserve for that purpose ; 
 and the delight with which the whig party 
 saluted the general calamity, showed that 
 they considered it their own passport to 
 power. Financial embarrassment and 
 general stagnation of business diminished 
 the current receipts from lands and 
 customs, and actually caused an absolute 
 deficit in the public treasury. In conse 
 quence, the President found it an inexora 
 ble necessity to issue his proclamation con 
 vening Congress in extra session. 
 
 The first session of the twenty -fifth Con 
 gress met in extra session, at the call of 
 the President, on the first Monday of Sep 
 tember, 1837. The message was a review 
 of the events and causes which had brought 
 about the panic ; a defense of the policy of 
 the " specie circular," and a recommenda 
 tion to break off all connection with any 
 bank of issue in any form ; looking to the 
 establishment of an Independent Treasury, 
 
DEMOCRATS AND WHIGS. 
 
 37 
 
 and that the Government provide for the 
 deficit in the treasury by the issue of 
 treasury notes and by withholding the de 
 posit due to the States under the act then 
 in force. The message and its recom 
 mendations were violently assailed both in 
 the Senate and House by able and effec 
 tive speakers, notably by Messrs. Clay and 
 Webster, and also by Mr. Caleb Gushing, 
 of Massachusetts, who made a formal and 
 elaborate reply to the whole document 
 under thirty -two distinct heads, and recit 
 ing therein all the points of accusation 
 against the democratic policy from the be 
 ginning of the government down to that 
 day. The result was that the measures 
 proposed by the Executive were in sub 
 stance enacted; and their passage marks 
 an era in our financial history making a 
 total and complete separation of Bank and 
 State, and firmly establishing the principle 
 that the government revenues should be 
 receivable in coin only. 
 
 The measures of consequence discussed 
 and adopted at this session, were the 
 graduation of price of public lands under 
 the pre-emption system, which was adopt 
 ed; the bill to create an independent 
 Treasury, which passed the Senate, but 
 failed in the House ; and the question of 
 the re-charter of the district banks, the 
 proportion for reserve, and the establish 
 ment of such institutions on a specie basis. 
 The slavery question was again agitated in 
 consequence of petitions from citizens and 
 societies in the Northern States, and a 
 memorial from the General Assembly of 
 Vermont, praying for the abolition of 
 slavery in the District of Columbia and 
 territories, and for the exclusion of future 
 slave states from the Union. These peti 
 tions and memorials were disposed of ad 
 versely; and Mr. Calhoun, representing 
 the ultra-Southern interest, in several able 
 speeches, approved of the Missouri com 
 promise, he urged and obtained of the 
 Senate several resolutions declaring that 
 the federal government had no power to 
 interfere with slavery in the States ; and 
 that it would be inexpedient and impolitic 
 to interfere, abolish or control it in the 
 District of Columbia and the territories. 
 These movements for and against slavery 
 in the session of 1837-38 deserve to be no 
 ticed, as of disturbing effect at the time, 
 and as having acquired new importance 
 from subsequent events. 
 
 The first session of the twenty-sixth 
 Congress opened December, 1839. The 
 organization of the House was delayed by 
 a closely and earnestly contested election 
 from the State of New Jersey. Five De 
 mocrats claiming seats as against an equal 
 number of Whigs. Neither set was admit 
 ted until after the election of Speaker, 
 which resulted in the choice of Robert M. 
 T. Hunter, of Virginia, the Whig candi 
 
 date, who was elected by the full Whig 
 vote with the aid of a few democrats 
 friends of Mr. Calhoun, who had for seve 
 ral previous sessions been acting with the 
 Whigs on several occasions. The House 
 excluding the five contested seats from 
 New Jersey, was really Democratic ; hav 
 ing 122 members, and the Whigs 113 mem 
 bers. The contest for the Speakership was 
 long and arduous, neither party adhering 
 to its original caucus candidate. Twenty 
 scattering votes, eleven of whom were 
 classed as Whigs, and nine as Democrats, 
 prevented a choice on the earlier ballots, 
 and it was really Mr. Calhoun's Democrat 
 ic friends uniting with a solid Whig vote 
 on the final ballot that gained that party 
 the election. The issue involved was a 
 vital party question as involving the or 
 ganization of the House. The chief mea 
 sure, of public importance, adopted at this 
 session of Congress was an act to provide 
 for the collection, safe-keeping, and dis 
 bursing of the public money. It practi 
 cally revolutionized the system previously 
 in force, and was a complete and effectual 
 separation of the federal treasury and the 
 Government, from the banks and moneyed 
 corporations of the States. It was violent 
 ly opposed by the Whig members, led by 
 Mr. Clay, and supported by Mr. Gushing, 
 but was finally passed in both Houses by a 
 close vote. 
 
 At this time, and in the House of Re 
 presentatives, was exhibited for the first 
 time in the history of Congress, the pre 
 sent practice of members "pairing off," as 
 it is called ; that is to say, two members of 
 opposite political parties, or of opposite 
 views on any particular subject, agreeing 
 to absent themselves from the duties of the 
 House, for the time being. The practice 
 was condemned on the floor of the House 
 by Mr. John Quincy Adams, who intro 
 duced a resolution: "That the practice, 
 first openly avowed at the present session 
 of Congress, of pairing off, involves, on 
 the part of the members resorting to it, 
 the violation of the Constitution of the 
 United States, of an express rule of this 
 House, and of the duties of both parties in 
 the transaction, to their immediate consti 
 tuents, to this House, and to their coun 
 try." This resolution was placed in the 
 calendar to take its turn, but not being 
 reached during the session, was not voted 
 on. That was the first instance of this 
 justly condemned practice, fifty years after 
 the establishment of the Government ; but 
 since then it has become common, even in 
 veterate, and is now carried to great lengths. 
 
 The last session of the twenty-sixth Con 
 gress was barren of measures, and neces*- 
 sarily so, as being the last of our adminis 
 tration superseded by the popular voice, 
 and soon to expire ; and therefore restric 
 ted by a sense of propriety, during the 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 brief remainder of its existence, to the de 
 tails of business and the routine of service. 
 The cause of this was the result of the 
 presidential election of 1840. The same 
 candidates who fought the battle of 1836 
 were again in the field. Mr. Van Buren 
 was the Democratic candidate. His ad 
 ministration had been satisfactory to his 
 party, and his nomination for a second 
 term was commended by the party in the 
 different States in appointing their dele 
 gates ; so that the proceedings of the con 
 vention which nominated him were en 
 tirely harmonious and formal in their na 
 ture. Mr. Richard M. Johnson, the ac 
 tual Vice-President, was also nominated 
 for Vice-President. 
 
 On the Whig ticket, General William 
 Henry Harrison, of Ohio, was the candi 
 date for President, and Mr. John Tyler, of 
 Virginia, for Vice-President. The lead 
 ing statesmen of the Whig party were 
 again put aside, to make way for a milita 
 ry man, prompted by the example in the 
 nomination of General Jackson, the men 
 who managed presidential elections be 
 lieving then as now that military renown 
 wag a passport to popularity and rendered 
 a candidate more sure of election. Availa 
 bility for the purpose was the only abili 
 ty asked for. Mr. Clay, the most promi 
 nent Whig in the country, and the ac 
 knowledged head of the party, was not 
 deemed available ; and though Mr. Clay 
 was a candidate before the convention, the 
 proceedings were so regulated that his 
 nomination was referred to a committee, 
 ingeniously devised and directed for the 
 afterwards avowed purpose of preventing 
 his nomination and securing that of Gene 
 ral Harrison ; and of producing the intend 
 ed result without showing the design, and 
 without leaving a trace behind to show 
 what was done. The scheme (a modifica 
 tion of which has since been applied to 
 subsequent national conventions, and out 
 of which many bitter dissensions have again 
 and again arisen) is embodied and was 
 executed in and by means of the following 
 resolution adopted by the convention : 
 " Ordered, That the delegates from each 
 State be requested to assemble as a delega 
 tion, and appoint a committee, not exceed 
 ing three in number, to receive the views 
 and opinions of such delegation, and com 
 municate the same to the assembled com- 
 mittes of all the delegations, to be by them 
 respectively reported to their principals ; 
 and that thereupon the delegates from 
 each State be requested to assemble as a 
 delegation, and ballot for candidates for 
 the offices of President and Vice-Presi 
 dent, and having done so, to commit the 
 ballot designating the votes of each candi 
 date, and by whom given, to its commit 
 tee, and thereupon all the committees 
 shall assemble and compare the several 
 
 ballots, and report the result of the same 
 to their several delegations, together with 
 such facts as may bear upon the nomina 
 tion ; and said delegation shall forthwith 
 re-assemble and ballot again for candidates 
 for the above offices, and again commit 
 the result to the above committees, and if 
 it shall appear that a majority of the bal 
 lots are for any one man for candidate for 
 President, said committee shall report the 
 result to the convention for its considera 
 tion ; but if there shall be no such majori 
 ty, then the delegation shall repeat the 
 balloting until such a majority shall be 
 obtained, and then report the same to the 
 convention for its consideration. That the 
 vote of a majority of each delegation shall 
 be reported as the vote of that State ; and 
 each State represented here shall vote its 
 full electoral vote by such delegation in 
 the committee." This was a sum in poli 
 tical algebra, whose quotient was known, 
 but the quantity unknown except to those 
 who planned it ; and the result was for 
 General Scott, 16 votes ; for Mr. Clay, 90 
 votes; for General Harrison, 148 votes. 
 And as the law of the convention implied- 
 ly requires the absorption of all minorities, 
 the 106 votes were swallowed up by the 
 148 votes and made to count for General 
 Harrison, presenting him as the unani 
 mity candidate of the convention, and the 
 defeated candidates and all their friends 
 bound to join in his support. And in this 
 way the election of 1840 was effected a 
 process certainly not within the purview 
 of those framers of the constitution who 
 supposed they were giving to the nation 
 the choice of its own chief magistrate. 
 
 The contest before the people was a 
 long and bitter one, the severest ever 
 known in the country, up to that time, and 
 scarcely equalled since. The whole Whig 
 party and the large league of suspended 
 banks, headed by the Bank of the United 
 States making its last struggle for a new 
 national charter in the effort to elect a 
 President friendly to it, were arrayed 
 against the Democrats, whose hard-money 
 policy and independent treasury schemes, 
 met with little favor in the then depressed 
 condition of the country. Meetings were 
 held in every State, county and town ; the 
 people thoroughly aroused; and every 
 argument made in favor of the respective 
 candidates and parties, which could pos 
 sibly have any effect upon the voters. The 
 canvass was a thorough one, and the elec 
 tion was carried for the Whig candidates, 
 who received 234 electoral votes coming 
 from 19 States. The remaining 60 electo 
 ral votes of the other 9 States, were given 
 to the Democratic candidate ; though the 
 popular vote was not so unevenly divided ; 
 the actual figures being 1,275,611 for the 
 Whig ticket, against 1,135,761 for the 
 Democratic ticket. It was a complete rout 
 
WHIGS AND DEMOCRATS THE HOUR RULE. 
 
 39 
 
 of the Democratic party, but without the 
 moral effect of victory. 
 
 On March 4, 1841, was inaugurated as 
 President, Gen'l Wm. H. Harrison, the 
 first Chief Magistrate elected by the Whig 
 party, and the first President who was not 
 a Democrat, since the installation of Gen'l 
 Jackson, March 4, 1829. His term was a 
 short one. He issued a call for a special 
 session of Congress to convene the 31st of 
 May following, to consider the condition 
 of the revenue and finances of the country, 
 but did not live to meet it. Taken ill 
 with a fatal malady during the last days of 
 March, he died on the 4th of April follow 
 ing, having been in office just one month. 
 He was succeeded by the Vice-President, 
 John Tyler. Then, for the first time in 
 our history as a government, the person 
 elected to the Vice-Presidency of the 
 United States, by the happening of a con 
 tingency provided for in the constitution, 
 had devolved upon him the Presidential 
 office. 
 
 The twenty-seventh Congress opened in 
 extra session at the call of the late Presi 
 dent, May 31, 1841. A Whig member- 
 Mr. White of Kentucky was elected 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 The Whigs had a majority of forty-seven 
 in the House and of seven in the Senate, 
 and with the President and Cabinet of the 
 same political party presented a harmony 
 of aspect frequently wanting during the 
 three previous administrations. The first 
 measure of the new dominant party was 
 the repeal of the independent treasury act 
 passed at the previous session; and the 
 next in order were bills to establish a sys 
 tem of bankruptcy, and for distribution of 
 public land revenue. The former was 
 more than a bankrupt law ; it was practi 
 cally an insolvent law for the abolition of 
 debts at the will of the debtor. It applied 
 to all persons in debt, allowed them to 
 institute the proceedings in the district 
 where the petitioner resided, allowed con 
 structive notices to creditors in newspapers 
 declared the abolition of the debt where 
 effects were surrendered and fraud not 
 proved ; and gave exclusive jurisdiction to 
 the federal courts, at the will of the debtor. 
 It was framed upon the model of the Eng 
 lish insolvent debtors' act of George the 
 Fourth, and embodied most of the pro 
 visions of that act, but substituting a re 
 lease from the debt instead of a release 
 from imprisonment. The bill passed by a 
 close vote in both Houses. 
 
 The land revenue distribution bill of 
 this session had its origin in the fact that 
 the States and corporations owed about two 
 hundred millions to creditors in Europe. 
 These debts were in stocks, much depre 
 ciated by the failure in many instances to 
 pay the accruing interest in some in 
 stances failure to provide for the principal. 
 
 These creditors, becoming uneasy, wished 
 the federal government to assume their 
 debts. The suggestion was made as early 
 as 1838, renewed in 1839, and in 1840 be 
 came a regular question mixed up with the 
 Presidential election of that year, and 
 openly engaging th.3 active exertions of 
 foreigners. Direct assumption was not 
 urged ; indirect by giving the public land 
 revenue to the States was the mode pur 
 sued, and the one recommended in the 
 message of President Tyler. Mr. Calhoun 
 spoke against the measure with more than 
 usual force and clearness, claiming that it 
 was unconstitutional and without warrant. 
 Mr. Benton on the same side called it a 
 squandering of the public patrimony, and 
 pointed out its inexpediency in the de 
 pleted state of the treasury, apart from its 
 other objectionable features. It passed by 
 a party vote. 
 
 This session is remarkable for the insti 
 tution of the hour rule in the House of 
 Representatives a very great limitation 
 upon the freedom of debate. It was a 
 Whig measure, adopted to prevent delay 
 in the enactment of pending bills. It was 
 a rigorous limitation, frequently acting as 
 a bar to profitable debate and checking 
 members in speeches which really impart 
 information valuable to the House and the 
 country. No doubt the license of debate 
 has been frequently abused in Congress, as 
 in all other deliberative assemblies, but the 
 incessant use of the previous question, 
 which cuts off all debate, added to the 
 hour rule which limits a speech to sixty 
 minutes (constantly reduced by interrup 
 tions) frequently results in the transaction 
 of business in ignorance of what they are 
 about by those who are doing it. 
 
 The rule worked so well in the House, 
 for the purpose for which it was devised 
 made the majority absolute master of the 
 body that Mr. Clay undertook to have 
 the same rule adopted in the Senate ; but 
 the determined opposition to it, both by 
 his political opponents and friends, led to 
 the abandonment of the attempt in that 
 chamber. 
 
 Much discussion took place at this ses 
 sion, over the bill offered in the House of 
 Representatives, for the relief of the widow 
 of the late President General Harrison 
 appropriating one year's salary. It was 
 strenuously opposed by the Democratic 
 members, as unconstitutional, on account 
 of its principle, as creating a private pen 
 sion list, and as a dangerous precedent. 
 Many able speeches were made against the 
 bill, both in the Senate and House ; among 
 others, the following extract from the 
 speech of an able Senator contains some 
 interesting facts. He said : " Look at the 
 case of Mr. Jefferson, a man than whom 
 no one that ever existed on God's earth 
 were the human family more indebted to. 
 
40 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 His furniture and his estate were sold to 
 satisfy his creditors. His posterity was 
 driven from house and home, and his bones 
 now lay in soil owned by a stranger. His 
 family are scattered : some of his descend 
 ants are married in foreign lands. Look 
 at Monroe the able, the patriotic Monroe, 
 whose services were revolutionary, whose 
 blood was spilt in the war of Independence, 
 whose life was worn out in civil service, 
 and whose estate has been sold for debt, 
 his family scattered, and his daughter 
 buried in a foreign land. Look at Madi 
 son, the model of every virtue, public or 
 private, and he would only mention in 
 connection with this subject, his love of 
 order, his economy, and his systematic 
 regularity in all his habits of business. 
 He, when his term of eight years had ex 
 pired, sent a letter to a gentleman (a son 
 of whom is now on this floor) [Mr. Pres 
 ton], enclosing a note of five thousand 
 dollars, which he requested him to en 
 dorse, and raise the money in Virginia, so 
 as to enable him to leave this city, and re 
 turn to his modest retreat his patrimonial 
 inheritance in that State. General Jack 
 son drew upon the consignee of his cot 
 ton crop in New Orleans for six thousand 
 dollars to enable him to leave the seat 
 of government without leaving creditors 
 behind him. These were honored leaders 
 of the republican party. They had all 
 been Presidents. They had made great 
 sacrifices, and left the presidency deeply 
 embarrassed ; and yet the republican party 
 who had the power and the strongest dis 
 position to relieve their necessities, felt 
 they had no right to do so by appropri 
 ating money from the public Treasury. 
 Democracy would not do this. It was 
 left for the era of federal rule and federal 
 supremacy who are now rushing the 
 country with steam power into all the 
 abuses and corruptions of a monarchy, 
 with its pensioned aristocracy and to en 
 tail upon the country a civil pension list." 
 
 There was an impatient majority in the 
 House in favor of the passage of the bill. 
 The circumstances were averse to delibera 
 tion a victorious party, come into power 
 after a heated election, seeing their elected 
 candidate dying on the threshold of his 
 administration, poor and beloved : it was a 
 case for feeling more than of judgment, es 
 pecially with the political friends of the 
 deceased but few of whom could follow 
 the counsels of the head against the impul 
 sions of the heart. 
 
 The bill passed, and was approved ; and 
 as predicted, it established a precedent 
 which has since been followed in every 
 similar case. 
 
 The subject of naval pensions received 
 more than usual consideration at this ses 
 sion. The question arose on the discussion 
 of the appropriation bill for that purpose. 
 
 A difference about a navy on the point 
 of how much and what kind had always 
 been a point of difference between the two 
 great political parties of the Union, which, 
 under whatsoever names, are always the 
 same, each preserving its identity in prin 
 ciples and policy, but here the two parties 
 divided upon an abuse which no one could 
 deny or defend. A navy pension fund had 
 been established under the act of 1832, 
 which was a just and proper law, but on 
 the 3d of March, 1837, an act was passed 
 entitled " An act for the more equitable 
 distribution of the Navy Pension Fund." 
 That act provided : I. That Invalid naval 
 pensions should commence and date back 
 to the time of receiving the inability, in 
 stead of completing the proof. II. It ex 
 tended the pensions for death to all cases 
 of death, whether incurred in the line of 
 duty or not. III. It extended the widow's 
 pensions for life, when five years had been 
 the law both in the army and navy. IV. 
 It adopted the English system of pension 
 ing children of deceased marines, until 
 they attained their majority. 
 
 The effect of this law was to absorb and 
 bankrupt the navy pension fund, a meri 
 torious fund created out of the government 
 share of prize money, relinquished for that 
 purpose, and to throw the pensions, 
 arrears as well as current and future, upon 
 the public treasury, where it was never in 
 tended they were to be. It was to repeal 
 this act, that an amendment was intro 
 duced at this session on the bringing for 
 ward of the annual appropriation bill for 
 navy pensions, and long and earnest were 
 the debates upon it. The amendment was 
 lost, the Senate dividing on party lines, 
 the Whigs against and the Democrats for 
 the amendment. The subject is instruc 
 tive, as then was practically ratified and re- 
 enacted the pernicious practice authorized 
 by the act of 1837, of granting pensions to 
 date from the time of injury and not 
 from the time of proof; and has grown up 
 to such proportions in recent years that 
 the last act of Congress appropriating 
 money for arrears of pensions, provided 
 for the payment of such an enormous sum 
 of money that it would have appalled the 
 original projectors of the act of 1837 could 
 they have seen to what their system has 
 led. 
 
 Again, at this session, the object of the 
 tariff occupied the attention of Congress. 
 The compromise act, as it was called, of 
 1833, which was composed of two parts 
 one to last nine years, for the benefit of 
 manufactures ; the other to last for ever, 
 for the benefit of the planting and con 
 suming interest was passed, as herein 
 before stated, in pursuance of an agree 
 ment between Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun 
 and their respective friends, at the time 
 the former was urging the necessity for A 
 
THE NATIONAL BANK BILL. 
 
 41 
 
 continuance of high tariff for protection 
 and revenue, and the latter was presenting 
 and justifying before Congress the nullifi 
 cation ordinance adopted by the Legisla 
 ture of South Carolina. To Mr. Clay and 
 Mr. Calhoun it was a political necessity, 
 one to get rid of a stumbling-block (which 
 protective tariff had become) ; the other to 
 escape a personal peril which his nullify 
 ing ordinance had brought upon him, and 
 with both, it was a piece of policy, to 
 enable them to combine against Mr. Van 
 Buren, by postponing their own conten 
 tion; and a device on the part of its 
 author (Mr. Clayton, of Delaware) and 
 Mr. Clay to preserve the protective system. 
 It provided for a reduction of a certain per 
 centage each year, on the duties for the 
 ensuing nine years, until the revenue was 
 reduced to 20 per cent, ad valorem on all 
 articles imported into the country. In 
 consequence the revenue was so reduced 
 that in the last year, there was little more 
 than half what the exigencies of the 
 govornment required, and different modes, 
 by loans and otherwise, were suggested to 
 meet the deficiency. The Secretary of the 
 Treasury had declared the necessity of 
 loans and taxes to carry on the govern 
 ment ; a loan bill for twelve millions had 
 been passed ; a tariff bill to raise fourteen 
 millions was depending ; and the chairman 
 of the Committee of Ways and Means, Mr. 
 Millard Fillmore, defended its necessity in 
 an able speech. His bill proposed twenty 
 per cent, additional to the existing duty 
 on certain specified articles, sufficient to 
 make up the amount wanted. This en 
 croachment on a measure so much 
 vaunted when passed, and which had been 
 kept inviolate while operating in favor of 
 one of the parties to it, naturally excited 
 complaint and opposition from the other, 
 and Mr. Gilmer, of Virginia, in a speech 
 against the new bill, said : " In referring 
 to the compromise act, the true character 
 istics of that act which recommended it 
 strongly to him, were that it contemplated 
 that duties were to be levied for revenue 
 only, and in the next place to the amount 
 only necessary to the supply of the economi 
 cal wants of the government. He begged 
 leave to call the attention of the committee 
 to the principle recognized as the lan 
 guage of the compromise, a principle which 
 ought to be recognized in all time to come 
 by every department of the government. 
 It is, that duties to be raised for revenue 
 are to be raised to such an amount only as 
 is necessary for an economical administra 
 tion of the government. Some incidental | 
 protection must necessarily be given, and 
 he, for one, coming from an anti-tariff por 
 tion of the country, would not object to 
 it." 
 
 The bill went to the Senate where it 
 found Mr Clay and Mr. Calhoun in posi 
 
 tions very different from what they occu 
 pied when the compromise act was passed 
 then united, now divided then concur 
 rent, now antagonistic, and the antago 
 nism general, upon all measures, was to be 
 special upon this one. Their connection 
 with the subject made it their function 
 to lead off in its consideration ; and their 
 antagonist positions promised sharp en 
 counters, which did not fail to come. Mr. 
 Clay said that he " observed that the 
 Senator from South Carolina based his 
 abstractions on the theories of books on 
 English authorities, and on the arguments 
 urged in favor of free trade by a certain 
 party in the British Parliament. Now he, 
 (Mr. Clay,) and his friends would not ad 
 mit of these authorities being entitled to- 
 as much weight as the universal practice 
 of nations, which in all parts of the world 
 was found to be in favor of protecting home 
 manufactures to an extent sufficient to 
 keep them in a flourishing condition. 
 This was the whole difference. The Sena 
 tor was in favor of book theory and ab 
 stractions : he (Mr. Clay) and his friends, 
 were in favor of the universal practice of 
 nations, and the wholesome and necessary 
 protection of domestic manufactures." 
 
 Mr. Calhoun in reply, referring to his 
 allusion to the success in the late election 
 of the tory party in England, said : " The 
 interests, objects, and aims of the tory 
 party there and the whig party here, are 
 identical. The identity of the two parties 
 is remarkable. The tory party are the 
 patrons of corporate monopolies ; and are 
 not you f They are advocates of a high 
 tariff; and are not you? They are support 
 ers of a national bank ; and are not you ? 
 They are for corn-laws laws oppressive 
 to the masses of the people, and favorable 
 to their own power; and are not youf 
 Witness this bill. * * * The success 
 of that party in England, and of the whig 
 party here, is the success of the great 
 money power, which concentrates the in 
 terests of the two parties, and identifies 
 their principles." 
 
 The bill was passed by a large majority, 
 upon the general ground that the govern 
 ment must have revenue. 
 
 The chief measure of the session, and the 
 great object of the whig party the one for 
 which it had labored for ten years was 
 for the re-charter of a national bank. 
 Without this all other measures would be 
 deemed to be incomplete, and the victori 
 ous election itself but little better than a 
 defeat. The President, while a member of 
 the Democratic party, had been opposed 
 to the United States Bank ; and to over 
 come any objections he might have the 
 bill was carefully prepared, and studiously 
 contrived to avoid the President's objec 
 tions, and save his consistency a point 
 upon which he was exceedingly sensitive. 
 
42 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS, 
 
 The democratic members resisted strenu 
 ously, in order to make the measure odious, 
 but successful resistance was impossible. 
 It passed both houses by a close vote ; and 
 contrary to all expectation the President 
 disapproved the act, but with such expres 
 sions of readiness to approve another bill 
 which should be free from the objections 
 which he named, as still to keep his party 
 together, and to prevent the resignation of 
 his cabinet. In his veto message the 
 President fell back upon his early opinions 
 against the constitutionality of a national 
 bank, so often and so publicly expressed. 
 
 The veto caused consternation among 
 the whig members ; and Mr. Clay openly 
 gave expression to his dissatisfaction, in 
 the debate on the veto message, in terms 
 to assert that President Tyler had violated 
 his faith to the whig party, and had been 
 led off from them by new associations. 
 He said : " And why should not President 
 Tyler have suffered the bill to become a 
 law without his signature? Without 
 meaning the slightest possible disrespect to 
 him (nothing is further from my heart than 
 the exhibition of any such feeling towards 
 that distinguished citizen, long my per 
 sonal friend), it cannot be forgotten that he 
 came into his present office under peculiar 
 circumstances. The people did not foresee 
 the contingency which has happened. 
 They voted for him as Vice President. 
 They did not, therefore, scrutinize his 
 opinions with the care which they probably 
 ought to have done, and would have done, 
 if they could have looked into futurity. If 
 the present state of the fact could have 
 been anticipated if at Harrisburg, or at 
 the polls, it had been foreseen that General 
 Harrison would die in one short month 
 after the commencement of his administra 
 tion ; so that Vice President Tyler would 
 be elevated to the presidential chair ; that 
 a bill passed by decisive majorities of the 
 first whig Congress, chartering a national 
 bank, would be presented for his sanction ; 
 and that he would veto the bill, do I 
 hazard anything when I express the con 
 viction that he would not have received a 
 solitary vote in the nominating convention, 
 nor one solitary electoral vote in any State 
 in the Union ? " 
 
 The vote was taken on the bill over 
 again, as required by the constitution, and 
 so far from receiving a two-thirds vote, it 
 received only a bare majority, and was re 
 turned to the House with a message stating 
 his objections to it, where it gave rise to 
 some violent speaking, more directed to 
 the personal conduct of the President than 
 to the objections to the bill stated in his 
 message. The veto was sustained ; and so 
 ended the second attempt to resuscitate the 
 old United States Bank under a new name. 
 This second movement to establish the 
 bank has a secret history. It almost caused 
 
 the establishment of a new party, with Mr. 
 Tyler as its head; earnest efforts having 
 been made in that behalf by many promi 
 nent Whigs and Democrats. The entire 
 cabiaet, with the exception of Mr. Webster, 
 resigned within a few days after the second 
 veto. It was a natural thing for them to 
 do, and was not unexpected. Indeed Mr. 
 Webster had resolved to tender his resigna 
 tion also, but on reconsideration determined 
 to remain and publish his reasons there 
 for in a letter to the National Intelligencer, 
 in the following words : 
 
 " Lest any misapprehension should ex 
 ist, as to the reasons which led me to differ 
 from the course pursued by my late col 
 leagues, I wish to say that I remain in my 
 place, first, because I have seen no sufficient 
 reasons for the dissolution of the late Cabi 
 net, by the voluntary act of its own mem 
 bers. I am perfectly persuaded of the ab 
 solute necessity of an institution, under the 
 authority of Congress, to aid revenue and 
 financial operations, and to give the country 
 the blessings of a good currency and cheap 
 exchanges. Notwithstanding what has 
 passed, I have confidence that the Presi 
 dent will co-operate with the legislature in 
 overcoming all difficulties in the attain 
 ment of these objects ; and it is to the 
 union of the Whig party by which I 
 mean the whole party, the Whig President, 
 the Whig Congress, and the Whig people 
 that I look for a realization of our wishes. 
 I can look nowhere else. In the second 
 place if I had seen reasons to resign my 
 office, I should not have done so, without 
 giving the President reasonable notice, and 
 affording him time to select the hands to 
 which he should confide the delicate and 
 important affairs now pending in this de 
 partment." 
 
 The conduct of the President in the 
 matter of the vetoes of the two bank bills 
 produced revolt against him in the party ; 
 and the Whigs of the two Houses of Con 
 gress held several formal meetings to con 
 sider what they should do in the new con 
 dition of affairs. An address to the people 
 of the United States was resolved upon. 
 The rejection of the bank bill gave great 
 vexation to one side, and equal exultation 
 to the other. The subject was not per 
 mitted to rest, however ; a national bank 
 waa the life the vital principle of the 
 Whig party, without which it could not 
 live as a party; it was the power which 
 was to give them power and the political 
 and financial control of the Union. A 
 second attempt was made, four days after 
 the veto, to accomplish the end by amend 
 ments to a bill relating to the currency, 
 which had been introduced early in the 
 session. Mr. Sargeant of Pennsylvania, 
 moved to strike out all after the enacting 
 clause, and insert his amendments, which 
 were substantially the same as the vetoed 
 
THE SECOND BANK BILL. 
 
 43 
 
 "bill, except changing the amount of capi 
 tal and prohibiting discounts on notes other 
 than bills of exchange. The bill was 
 pushed to a vote with astonishing rapidity, 
 and passed by a decided majority. In the 
 Senate the bill went to a select committee 
 which reported it back without alteration, 
 as had been foreseen, the committee consist 
 ing entirely of friends of the measure ; and 
 there was a majority for it on final passage. 
 Concurred in by the Senate without alter 
 ation, it was returned to the House, and 
 thence referred to the President for his 
 approval or disapproval. It was disap 
 proved and it was promulgated in language 
 intended to mean a repudiation of the 
 President, a permanent separation of the 
 Whig party from him, and to wash their 
 hands of all accountability for his acts. 
 An opening paragraph of the address set 
 forth that, for twelve years the Whigs had 
 carried on a contest for the regulation of 
 the currency, the equalization of exchanges, 
 the economical administration of the finan 
 ces, and the advancement of industry all 
 to be accomplished by means of a national 
 bank declaring these objects to be mis 
 understood by no one and the bank itself 
 held to be secured in the Presidential elec 
 tion, and its establishment the main object 
 of the extra session. The address then 
 
 Eroceeds to state how these plans were 
 ustrated : 
 
 " It is with profound and poignant regret 
 that we find ourselves called upon to in 
 voke your attention to this point. Upon 
 the great and leading measure touching 
 this question, our anxious endeavors to 
 respond to the earnest prayers of the 
 nation have been frustrated by an act as 
 unlocked for as it is to be lamented. We 
 grieve to say to you that by the exercise of 
 that power in the constitution which has 
 ever been regarded with suspicion, and 
 often with odium, by the people a power 
 which we had hoped was never to be ex 
 hibited on this subject, by a Whig Presi 
 dent we have been defeated in two at 
 tempts to create a fiscal agent, which the 
 wants of the country had demonstrated to 
 us, in the most absolute form of proof to 
 be eminently necessary and proper in the 
 present emergency. Twice have we with 
 the utmost diligence and deliberation 
 matured a plan for the collection, safe 
 keeping and disbursing of the public 
 moneys through the agency of a corpora 
 tion adapted to that end, and twice has it 
 been our fate to encounter the opposition 
 of the President, through the application 
 of the veto power. * * * We are con 
 strained to say that we find no ground to 
 justify us in the conviction that the veto 
 of the President has been interposed on 
 this question solely upon conscientious and 
 well-considered opinions of constitutional 
 acruple as to his duty in the case presented. 
 
 On the contrary, too many proofs have been 
 forced upon our observation to leave us 
 free from the apprehension that the Presi 
 dent has permitted himself to be beguiled 
 into an opinion that by this exhibition of 
 his prerogative he might be able to divert 
 the policy of his administration into a 
 channel which should lead to new political 
 combinations, and accomplish results which 
 must overthrow the present divisions of 
 party in the country ; and finally produce 
 a state of things which those who elected 
 him, at least, have never contemplated. 
 
 * -X- * * * # 
 
 In this state of things, the Whigs will 
 naturally look with anxiety to the future, 
 and inquire what are the actual relations 
 between the President and those who 
 brought him into power; and what, in 
 the opinion of their friends in Congress, 
 should be their course hereafter. * * * 
 The President by his withdrawal of confi 
 dence from his real friends in Congress 
 and from the members of his cabinet ; by 
 his bestowal of it upon others notwith 
 standing their notorious opposition to lead 
 ing measures of his administrations has 
 voluntarily separated himself from those 
 by whose exertions and suffrage he was 
 elevated to that office through which he 
 has reached his present exalted station. 
 * # * * The consequence is, that those 
 who brought the President into power can 
 be no longer, in any manner or degree, 
 justly held responsible or blamed for the 
 administration of the executive branch of 
 the government; and the President and 
 his advisers should be exclusively here 
 after deemed accountable. * * * The 
 conduct of the President has occasioned 
 bitter mortification and deep regret. Shall 
 the party, therefore, yielding to sentiments 
 of despair, abandon its duty, and submit 
 to defeat and disgrace ? Far from suffer 
 ing such dishonorable consequences, the 
 very disappointment which it has unfor 
 tunately experienced should serve only to 
 redouble its exertions, and to inspire it 
 with fresh courage to persevere with a 
 spirit unsubdued and a resolution unshak 
 en, until the prosperity of the country is 
 fully re-established, and its liberties firmly 
 secured against all danger from the abuses, 
 encroachments or usurpations of the ex 
 ecutive department of the government." 
 
 This was the manifesto, so far as it con 
 cerns the repudiation of President Tyler, 
 which Whig members of Congress put 
 forth: it was answered (under the name of 
 an address to his constituents) by Mr. 
 Gushing, in a counter special plea coun 
 ter to it on all points especially on the 
 main question of which party the Presi 
 dent was to belong to; the manifesto 
 of the Whigs assigning him to the de 
 mocracy the address of Mr. Gushing, 
 claiming him for the Whigs. It was es- 
 
44 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 pecially severe on Mr. Clay, as setting up 
 a caucus dictatorship to coerce the Presi 
 dent; and charged that the address em 
 anated from this caucus, and did not embody 
 or represent the sentiments of all Whig 
 leaders ; and referred to Mr. Webster's let 
 ter, and his remaining in the cabinet as 
 proof of this. But it was without avail 
 against the concurrent statements of the 
 retiring senators, and the confirmatory 
 statements of many members of Congress. 
 The Whig party recoiled from the Presi 
 dent, and instead of the unity predicted by 
 Mr. Webster, there was diversity and wide 
 spread dissension. The Whig party re 
 mained with Mr. Clay ; Mr. Webster re 
 tired, Mr. Gushing was sent on a foreign 
 mission, and the President, seeking to en 
 ter the democratic ranks, was refused by 
 them, and left to seek consolation in pri 
 vacy, for his political errors and omissions. 
 
 The extra session, called by President 
 Harrison, held under Mr. Tyler, domi 
 nated by Mr. Clay, commenced May 31, 
 and ended Sept. 13, 1841 and was replete 
 with disappointed calculations, and nearly 
 barren of permanent results. The Dur- 
 poses for which it was called into being, 
 failed. The first annual message of Presi 
 dent Tyler, at the opening of the regular 
 session in December, 1841, coming in so 
 soon after the termination of the extra ses 
 sion, was brief and meagre of topics, with 
 few points of interest. 
 
 In the month of March, 1842, Mr. Henry 
 Clay resigned his place in the Senate, and 
 delivered a valedictory address to that 
 body. He had intended this step upon 
 the close of the previous presidential cam 
 paign, but had postponed it to take per 
 sonal charge of tne several measures which 
 would be brought before Congress at the 
 special session the calling of which he 
 foresaw would be necessary. He resigned 
 not on account of age, or infirmity, or dis 
 inclination for public life ; but out of dis 
 gust profound and inextinguishable. He 
 had been basely defeated for the Presi 
 dential nomination, against the wishes of 
 the Whig party, of which he was the ac 
 knowledged head he had seen his leading 
 measures vetoed by the President whom 
 his party had elected the downfall of the 
 Bank for which he had so often pledged 
 himself and the insolent attacks of the 
 petty adherents of the administration in 
 the two Houses : all these causes acting on 
 his proud and lofty spirit, induced this 
 withdrawal from public life for which he 
 was so well fitted. 
 
 The address opened with a retrospect of 
 his early entrance into the Senate, and a 
 grand encomium upon its powers and dig 
 nity as he hud found it, and left it. Mem 
 ory went back to that early year, 1806, 
 when just past thirty years of age, he en 
 tered the United States Senate, and com 
 
 menced his high career a wide and lumi 
 nous horizon before him, and will and 
 talent to fill it. He said : " From the year 
 1806, the period of my entering upon this 
 noble theatre of my public service, with 
 but short intervals, down to the present 
 time, I have been engaged in the service 
 of my country. Of the nature and value 
 of those services which I may have ren 
 dered during my long career of public life, 
 it does not become me to speak. History, 
 if she deigns to notice me, and posterity 
 if a recollection of any humble service 
 which I may have rendered, shall be 
 transmitted to posterity will be the best, 
 truest, and most impartial judges ; and to 
 them I defer for a decision upon their 
 value. But, upon one subject, I may be 
 allowed to speak. As to my public acts 
 and public conduct, they are for the judg 
 ment of my fellow citizens; but my private 
 motives of action that which prompted 
 me to take the part which I may have 
 done, upon great measures during their 
 progress in* the national councils, can be 
 known only to the Great Searcher of the 
 human heart and myself; and I trust I 
 shall be pardoned for repeating again a 
 declaration which I made thirty years ago : 
 that whatever error I may have committed 
 and doubtless I have committed many 
 during my public service I may appeal 
 to the Divine Searcher of hearts for the 
 truth of the declaration which I now make, 
 with pride and confidence, that I have 
 been actuated by no personal motives 
 that I have sought no personal aggrandize 
 ment no promotion from the advocacy of 
 those various measures on which I have 
 been called to act that I have had an 
 eye, a single eye, a heart, a single heart, 
 ever devoted to what appeared to be the 
 best interests of the country." 
 
 Mr. Clay led a great party, and for a 
 long time, whether he dictated to it or not, 
 and kept it well bound together, without 
 the usual means of forming and leading 
 parties. It was surprising that, without 
 power and patronage, he was able so long 
 and so undividedly to keep so great a party 
 together, and lead it so unresistingly. He 
 had great talents, but not equal to some 
 whom he led. He had eloquence superior 
 in popular effect, but not equal in high 
 oratory to that of some others. But his 
 temperament was fervid, his will was 
 strong, and his courage daring ; and these 
 qualities, added to his talents, gave him 
 the lead and supremacy in his party, where 
 he was always dominant. The farewell 
 address made a deep impression upon the 
 Senators present ; and after its close, Mr. 
 Preston brought the ceremony to a conclu 
 sion, by moving an adjournment, which 
 was agreed to. 
 
 Again at this session was the subject of 
 the tariff considered, but this time, as a 
 
WHIGS AND DEMOCRATS. 
 
 45 
 
 matter of absolute necessity, to provide a j 
 revenue. Never before were the coffers | 
 and the credit of the treasury at so low an | 
 ebb. A deficit of fourteen millions in the j 
 treasury a total inability to borrow, j 
 either at home or abroad, the amount of 
 the loan of twelve millions authorized the ! 
 year before the treasury notes below par, I 
 and the revenues from imports inadequate 
 and decreasing. 
 
 The compromise act of 1833 in reducing j 
 the duties gradually through nine years, 
 to a fixed low rate ; the act of 1837 in dis 
 tributing the surplus revenue; and the 
 continual and continued distribution of 
 the land revenue, had brought about this 
 condition of things. The remedy was 
 sought in a bill increasing the tariff, and 
 suspending the land revenue distribution. 
 Two such bills were passed in a single 
 month, and both vetoed by the President. 
 It was now near the end of August. Con 
 gress had been in session for an unpre- 
 cedentedly long time. Adjournment could 
 not be deferred, and could not take place 
 without providing for the Treasury. The 
 compromise act and the land distribution 
 were the stumbling-blocks : it was resolved 
 to sacrifice them together ; and a bill was 
 introduced raising the duties above the 
 fixed rate of twenty per cent., and that 
 breach of the mutual assurance in relation 
 to the compromise, immediately in terms 
 of the assurance, suspended the land 
 revenue distribution to continue it sus 
 pended while duties above the compromise 
 limit continued to be levied. And as that 
 has been the case ever since, the distribu 
 tion of the land revenue has been sus 
 
 pended ever since. The bill was p; 
 and approved by the President, and Con 
 gress thereupon adjourned. 
 
 The subject of the navy was also under 
 consideration at this session. The naval 
 policy of the United States was a question 
 of party division from the origin of parties 
 in the early years of the government the 
 Federal party favoring a strong and 
 splendid navy, the Republican a moderate 
 establishment, adapted to the purposes of 
 defense more than of offense. And this 
 line of division has continued. Under the 
 Whig regime the policy for a great navy 
 developed itself. The Secretary of the 
 Navy recommended a large increase of 
 ships, seamen and officers, involving a 
 heavy expense, though the government 
 was not in a condition to warrant any such 
 expenditure, and no emergency required 
 an increase in that branch of the public 
 service. The vote was taken upon the in 
 crease proposed by the Secretary of the 
 Navy, and recommended by the President; 
 and it was carried, the yeas and nays being 
 well defined by the party line. 
 
 The first session of the twenty-eighth 
 Congress, which convened December 1843, 
 
 exhibited in its political complexion, se 
 rious losses in the Whig following. The 
 Democratic candidate for Speaker of the 
 House of Representatives, was elected over 
 the Whig candidate the vote standing 
 128 to 59. Thus an adverse majority of 
 more than two to one was the result to the 
 Whig party at the first election after the 
 extra session of 1841. The President's 
 message referred to the treaty which had 
 lately been concluded with Great Britain 
 relative to the northwestern territory ex 
 tending to the Columbia river, including 
 Oregon and settling the boundary lines; 
 and also to a pending treaty with Texas 
 for her annexation to the United States ; 
 and concluded with a recommendation 
 for the establishment of a paper currency 
 to be issued and controlled by the Federal 
 government. 
 
 For more than a year before the meeting 
 of the Democratic Presidential Conven 
 tion in Baltimore, in May 1844, it was 
 evident to leading Democrats that Martin 
 Van Buren was the choice of the party. 
 To overcome this popular current and 
 turn the tide in favor of Mr. Calhoun, who 
 desired the nomination, resort was had to 
 the pending question of the annexation 
 of Texas. Mr. Van Buren was known to 
 be against it, and Mr. Calhoun for it. To 
 gain time, the meeting of the convention 
 was postponed from December previous, 
 which had been the usual time for holding 
 such elections, until the following May. 
 The convention met, and consisted of two 
 hundred and sixty-six delegates, a decided 
 majority of whom were for Mr. Van Buren, 
 and cast their votes accordingly on the first 
 ballot. But a chairman had been selected, 
 who was adverse to his nomination ; and 
 aided by a rule adopted by the convention, 
 which required a concurrence of two-thirds 
 to effect a nomination, the opponents of 
 Mr. Van Buren were able to accomplish 
 his defeat. Mr. Calhoun had, before the 
 meeting of the convention, made known 
 his determination, in a public address, not 
 to suffer his name to go before that as 
 semblage as a candidate for the presidency, 
 and stated his reasons for so doing, which 
 were founded mainly on the manner in 
 which the convention was constituted ; his 
 objections being to the mode of choosing 
 delegates, and the manner of their giving 
 in their votes he contending for district 
 elections, and the delegates to vote indi 
 vidually. South Carolina was not repre 
 sented in the convention. After the first 
 ballot Mr. Van Buren's vote sensibly de 
 creased, until finally, Mr. James K. Polk, 
 who was a candidate for the Vice Presi 
 dency, was brought forward and nominated 
 unanimously for the chief office. Mr. 
 Geo. M. Dallas was chosen as his colleague 
 for the Vice Presidency. The nomination 
 of these gentlemen, neither of whom had 
 
46 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 been mentioned until late in the proceed- ' 
 ings of the convention, for the offices for 
 which they were finally nominated, was a 
 genuine surprise to the country. No 
 voice in favor of it had been heard ; and 
 no visible sign in the political horizon had 
 announced it. 
 
 The Whig convention nominated Henry 
 Clay, for President; and Theodore Fre- 
 linghuysen for Vice-President. 
 
 The main issues in the election which 
 ensued, were mainly the party ones of 
 Whig and Democrat, modified by the 
 tariff and Texas questions. It resulted in 
 the choice of the Democratic candidates, 
 who received 170 electoral votes as against 
 105 for their opponents; the popular 
 majority for the Democrats being 238,284, 
 in a total vote of 2,834,108. Mr. Clay re 
 ceived a larger popular vote than had been 
 given at the previous election for the 
 Whig candidate, showing that he would 
 have been elected had he then been the 
 nominee of his party ; though the popular 
 vote at this election was largely increased 
 over that of 1840. It is conceded that the 
 36 electoral votes of New York State gave 
 the election to Mr. Polk. It was carried 
 by a bare majority; due entirely to the 
 Gubernatorial candidacy of Mr. Silas 
 Wright, who had been mentioned for the 
 vice-presidential nomination in connection 
 with Mr. Van Buren, but who declined it 
 after the sacrifice of his friend and col 
 league; and resigning his seat in the 
 Senate, became a candidate for Governor 
 of New York. The election being held at 
 the same time as that for president, his 
 name and popularity brought to the presi 
 dential ticket more than enough votes to 
 make the majority that gave the electoral 
 vote of the State to the Democrats. 
 
 President Tyler's annual and last mes 
 sage to Congress, in December 1844, con 
 tained, (as did that of the previous year) 
 an elaborate paragraph on the subject of 
 Texas and Mexico; the idea being the 
 annexation of the former to the Union, and 
 the assumption of her causes of grievance 
 against the latter ; and a treaty was pend 
 ing to accomplish these objects. The 
 scheme for the annexation of Texas was 
 framed with a double aspect one looking 
 to the then pending presidential election, 
 the other to the separation of the Southern 
 States ; and as soon as the rejection of the 
 treaty was foreseen, and the nominating 
 convention had acted, the disunion aspect 
 manifested itself over many of the South 
 ern States beginning with South Carolina. 
 Before the end of May, a great meeting 
 took place at Ashley, in that State, to 
 combine the slave States in a convention 
 to unite the Southern States to Texas, if 
 Texas should not be received into the 
 Union ; and to invite the President to 
 convene Congress to arrange the terms of 
 
 the dissolution of the Union if the rejec 
 tion of the annexation should be perse 
 vered in. Eesponsive resolutions were 
 adopted in several States, and meetings 
 held. The opposition manifested, brought 
 the movement to a stand, and suppressed 
 the disunion scheme for the time being 
 only to lie in wait for future occasions. 
 But it was not before the people only that 
 this scheme for a Southern convention 
 with a view to the secession of the slave 
 States was a matter of discussion ; it was 
 the subject of debate in the Senate ; and 
 there it was further disclosed that the 
 design of the secessionists was to extend 
 the new Southern republic to the Califor- 
 nias. 
 
 The treaty of annexation was supported 
 by all the power of the administration, 
 but failed ; and it was rejected by the 
 Senate by a two-thirds vote against it. 
 Following this, a joint resolution was- 
 early brought into the House of Repre 
 sentatives for the admission of Texas as a 
 State of the Union, by legislative action ; 
 it passed the House by a fair majority, 
 but met with opposition in the Senate un 
 less coupled with a proviso for negotia 
 tion and treaty, as a condition precedent. 
 A bill authorizing the President and a 
 commissioner to be appointed to agree 
 upon the terms and conditions of said 
 admission, the question of slavery within 
 its limits, its debts, the fixing of bounda 
 ries, and the cession of territory, was 
 coupled or united with the resolution ; and 
 in this shape it was finally agreed to, and 
 became a law, with the concurrence of the 
 President, March 3, 1845. Texas was then 
 in a state of war with Mexico, though 
 at that precise point of time an armistice 
 had been agreed upon, looking to a treaty 
 of peace. The House resolution was for an 
 unqualified admission of the State; the 
 Senate amendment or bill was for negotia 
 tion ; and the bill actually passed would 
 not have been concurred in except on the 
 understanding that the incoming Presi 
 dent (whose term began March 4, 1845, 
 and who was favorable to negotiation) 
 would act under the bill, and appoint 
 commissioners accordingly. 
 
 Contrary to all expectation, the outgoing 
 President, on the last day of his term, at 
 the instigation of his Secretary of State, 
 Mr. Calhoun, assumed the execution of 
 the act providing for the admission of 
 Texas adopted the legislative clause 
 and sent out a special messenger with in 
 structions. The danger of this had been 
 foreseen, and suggested in the Senate ; but 
 close friends of Mr. Calhoun, speaking for 
 the administration, and replying to the 
 suggestion, indignantly denied it for them, 
 and declared that they would not have the 
 " audacity" to so violate the spirit and in 
 tent of the act, or so encroach upon the 
 
OREGON TREATY OF 1846. 
 
 47 
 
 rights of the new President. These state 
 ments from the friends of the Secretary and 
 President that the plan by negotiation 
 would be adopted, quieted the apprehen 
 sion of those Senators opposed to legislative 
 annexation or admission, and thus secured 
 their votes, without which the bill would 
 have failed of a majority. Thus was Texas 
 incorporated into the Union. The legisla 
 tive proposition sent by Mr. Tyler was ac 
 cepted : Texas became incorporated with 
 the United States, and in consequence the 
 state of war was established between the 
 United States and Mexico ; it only being a 
 question of time and chance when the 
 armistice should end and hostilities begin. 
 Although Mr. Calhoun was not in favor of 
 war with Mexico he believing that a 
 money payment would settle the differ 
 ences with that country the admission 
 of Texas into the Union under the legisla 
 tive annexation clause of the statute, was 
 really his act and not that of the Presi 
 dent's ; and he was, in consequence, after 
 wards openly charged in the Senate with 
 being the real author of the war which 
 followed. 
 
 The administration of President Polk 
 opened March 4, 1845 ; and on the same 
 day, the Senate being convened for the 
 purpose, the cabinet ministers were nomi 
 nated and confirmed. In December fol 
 lowing the 29th Congress was organized. 
 The House of Representatives, being 
 largely Democratic, elected the Speaker, 
 by a vote of 120, against ^70 for the Whig 
 candidate. At this session the " Ameri 
 can" party a new political organization 
 first made its appearance in the Na 
 tional councils, having elected six mem 
 bers of the House of Representatives, four 
 from New York and two from Penn 
 sylvania. The President's first annual 
 message had for its chief topic, the admis 
 sion of Texas, then accomplished, and the 
 consequent dissatisfaction of Mexico ; and 
 referring to the preparations on the part of 
 the latter with the apparent intention of 
 declaring war on the United States, either 
 by an open declaration, or by invading 
 Texas. The message also stated causes 
 which would justify this government in 
 taking the initiative in declaring war 
 mainly the non-compliance by Mexico 
 with the terms of the treaty of indemnity 
 of April 11, 1839, entered into between 
 that State and this government relative to 
 injuries to American citizens during the 
 previous eight years. He also referred to 
 the fact of a minister having been sent to 
 Mexico to endeavor to bring about a settle 
 ment of the differences between the na 
 tions, without a resort to hostilities. The 
 message concluded with a reference to the 
 negotiations with Great Britain relative to 
 the Oregon boundary ; a statement of the 
 finances and the public debt, showing the 
 
 latter to be slightly in excess of seventeen 
 millions ; and a recommendation for a re 
 vision of the tariff, with a view to revenue 
 as the object, with protection to home in 
 dustry as the incident. 
 
 At this session of Congress, the States of 
 Florida and Iowa were admitted into the 
 Union ; the former permitting slavery 
 within its borders, the latter denying it. 
 Long before this, the free and the slave 
 States were equal in number, and the prac 
 tice had grown up from a feeling of 
 jealousy and policy to keep them evenly 
 balanced of admitting one State of each 
 character at the same time. Numerically 
 the free and the slave States were thus 
 kept even : in political power a vast in 
 equality was going on the increase of 
 population being so much greater in the 
 northern than in the southern region. 
 
 The Ashburton treaty of 1842 omitted to 
 define the boundary line, and permitted, 
 or rather did not prohibit, the joint occu 
 pation of Oregon by British and American 
 settlers. This had been a subject of dis 
 pute for many years. The country on the 
 Columbia River had been claimed by both. 
 Under previous treaties the American 
 northern boundary extended " to the lati 
 tude of 49 degrees north of the equator, 
 and along that parallel indefinitely to the 
 west." Attempts were made in 1842 and 
 continuing since to 1846, to settle this 
 boundary line, by treaty with Great Britain. 
 It had been assumed that we had a divid 
 ing line, made by previous treaty, along 
 the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes from 
 the sea to the Rocky mountains. The sub 
 ject so much absorbed public attention, 
 that the Democratic National convention 
 of 1844 in its platform of principles de 
 clared for that boundary line, or war as 
 the consequence. It became known as the 
 54^40 plank, and was a canon of political 
 faith. The negotiations between the gov 
 ernments were resumed in August, 1844. 
 The Secretary of State, Mr. Calhoun, pro 
 posed a line along the parallel of 49 de 
 grees of north latitude to the summit of 
 the Rocky mountains and continuing that 
 line thence to the Pacific Ocean ; and he 
 made this proposition notwithstanding the 
 fact that the Democratic party to which he 
 belonged were then in a high state of 
 exultation for the boundary of 54 degrees 
 40 minutes, and the presidential canvass, 
 on the Democratic side, was raging upon 
 that cry. 
 
 The British Minister declined this pro 
 position in the part that carried the line 
 to the ocean, but offered to continue it 
 from the summit of the mountains to the 
 Columbia River, a distance of some three 
 hundred miles, and then follow the river 
 to the ocean. This was declined by Mr. 
 Calhoun. The President had declared in 
 his inaugural address in favor of the 54-4Q 
 
48 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 line. He was in a dilemma ; to maintain 
 that position meant war with Great Britain ; 
 to recede from it seemed impossible. The 
 proposition for the line of 49 degrees hav 
 ing been withdrawn by the American gov 
 ernment on its non-acceptance by the Brit 
 ish, had appeased the Democratic storm 
 which had been raised against the Presi 
 dent. Congress had come together under 
 the loud cry of war, in which Mr. Cass was 
 the leader, but followed by the body of 
 the democracy, and backed and cheered 
 by the whole democratic newspaper press. 
 Under the authority and order of Congress 
 notice had been served on Great Britain 
 which was to abrogate the joint occupation 
 of the country by the citizens of the two 
 powers. It was finally resolved by the 
 British Government to propose the line of 
 49 degrees, continuing to the ocean, as 
 originally offered by Mr. Calhoun ; and 
 though the President was favorable to its 
 acceptance, he could not, consistently with 
 his previous acts, accept and make a 
 treaty, on that basis. The Senate, with 
 whom lies the power, under the constitu 
 tion, of confirming or restricting all trea 
 ties, being favorable to it, without respect 
 to party Tines, resort was had, as in the 
 early practice of the Government, to the 
 President, asking the advice of the Senate 
 upon the articles of a treaty before negoti 
 ation. A message was accordingly sent to 
 the Senate, by the President, stating the 
 proposition, and asking its advice, thus 
 shifting the responsibility upon that body, 
 and making the issue of peace or war de 
 pend upon its answer. The Senate advised 
 the acceptance of the proposition, and the 
 treaty was concluded. 
 
 The conduct of the Whig Senators, 
 without whose votes the advice would not 
 have been given nor the treaty made, was 
 patriotic in preferring their country to 
 their party in preventing a war with 
 Great Britain and saving the administra 
 tion from itself and its party friends. 
 
 The second session of the 29th Congress 
 was opened in December, 1847. The 
 President's message was chiefly in relation 
 to the war with Mexico, which had been 
 declared by almost a unanimous vote in 
 Congress. Mr. Calhoun spoke against the 
 declaration in the Senate, but did not vote 
 upon it. He was sincerely opposed to the 
 war, although his conduct had produced it. 
 Had he remained in the cabinet, to do 
 which he had not concealed his wish, he 
 would, no doubt, have labored earnestly 
 to have prevented it. Many members of 
 Congress, of the same party with the ad 
 ministration, were extremely averse to the 
 war, and had interviews with the President, 
 to see if it was inevitable, before it was de 
 clared. Members were under the impression 
 that the war could not last above three 
 months. 
 
 The reason for these impressions wag 
 that an intrigue was laid, with the know 
 ledge of the Executive, for a peace, even 
 before the war was declared, and a special 
 agent dispatched to bring about a return 
 to Mexico of its exiled President, General 
 Santa Anna, and conclude a treaty of 
 peace with him, on terms favorable to the 
 United States. And for this purpose Con 
 fess granted an appropriation of three 
 millions of dollars to be placed at the dis 
 posal of the President, for negotiating for 
 a boundary which should give the United 
 States additional territory. 
 
 While this matter was pending in Con 
 gress, Mr. Wilmot of Pennsylvania intro 
 duced and moved a proviso, >l that no part 
 of the territory to be acquired should be 
 open to the introduction of slavery " It was 
 a proposition not necessary for the pur 
 pose of excluding slavery, as the only ter 
 ritory to be acquired was that of New 
 Mexico and California, where slavery was 
 already prohibited by the Mexican laws 
 and constitution. The proviso was there 
 fore nugatory, and only served to bring on 
 a slavery agitation in the United States. 
 For this purpose it was seized upon by Mr. 
 Calhoun and declared to be an outrage 
 upon and menace to the slave-holding 
 States. It occupied the attention of Con 
 gress for two sessions, and became the sub 
 ject of debate in the State Legislatures, 
 several of which passed disunion resolu 
 tions. It became the watchword of party 
 the synonym of civil war, and the dissolu 
 tion of the Union. Neither party really 
 had anything to fear or to hope from the 
 adoption of the proviso the soil was free, 
 and the Democrats were not in a position 
 to make slave territory of it, because it 
 had just enunciated as one of its cardinal 
 principles, that there was " no power in 
 Congress to legislate upon slavery in Territo 
 ries" Never did two political parties con 
 tend more furiously about nothing. Close 
 observers, who had been watching the pro 
 gress of the slavery agitation since its 
 inauguration in Congress in 1835, knew it 
 to be the means of keeping up an agitation 
 for the benefit of the political parties the 
 abolitionists on one side and the disunion- 
 ists or nullifiers on the other to accom 
 plish their own purposes. This was the 
 celebrated Wilmot Proviso, which for so 
 long a time convulsed the Union ; assisted 
 in forcing the issue between the North and 
 South on the slavery question, and almost 
 caused a dissolution of the Union. The 
 proviso was defeated ; that chance of the 
 nullifiers to force the issue was lost; an 
 other had to be made, which was speedily 
 done, by the introduction into the Senate 
 on the 19th February, 1847, by Mr. Cal 
 houn of his new slavery resolutions, de 
 claring the Territories to be the common 
 property of the several States; denying 
 
TREATY OF PEACE WITH MEXICO. 
 
 49 
 
 the right of Congress to prohibit slavery 
 in a Territory, or to pass any law which 
 would have the effect to deprive the citi 
 zens of any slave State from emigrating 
 with his property (slaves) into such Terri 
 tory. The introduction of the resolutions 
 was prefaced by an elaborate speech by 
 Mr. Calhoun, who demanded an immediate 
 vote upon them. They never came to a 
 vote ; they were evidently introduced for 
 the mere purpose of carrying a question to 
 the slave States on which they could be 
 formed into a unit against the free States ; 
 and so began the agitation which finally 
 led to the abrogation of the Missouri Com 
 promise line, and arrayed the States of one 
 section against those of the other. 
 
 The Thirtieth Congress, which assem 
 bled for its first session in December, 1847, 
 was found, so far as respects the House of 
 Representatives, to be politically adverse 
 to the administration. The Whigs were 
 in the majority, and elected the Speaker ; 
 Robert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, 
 being chosen. The President's message 
 contained a full report of the progress of 
 the war with Mexico ; the success of the 
 American arms in that conflict; the vic 
 tory of Cerro Gordo, and the capture of 
 the City of Mexico ; and that negotiations 
 were then pending for a treaty of peace. 
 The message concluded with a reference 
 to the excellent results from the indepen 
 dent treasury system. 
 
 The war with Mexico was ended by the 
 signing of a treaty of peace, in February, 
 1848, by the terms of which New Mexico 
 and Upper California were ceded to the 
 United States, and the lower Rio Grande, 
 from its mouth to El Paso, taken for the 
 boundary of Texas. For the territory thus 
 acquired, the United States agreed to pay 
 to Mexico the sum of fifteen million dol 
 lars, in five annual installments ; and be 
 sides that, assumed the claims of Ameri 
 can citizens against Mexico, limited to 
 three and a quarter million dollars, out of 
 and on account of which claims the war 
 ostensibly originated. The victories achiev 
 ed by the American commanders, Generals 
 Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, during 
 that war, won for them national reputa 
 tions, by means of which they were brought 
 prominently forward for the Presidential 
 succession. 
 
 The question of the power of Congress to 
 legislate on the subject of slavery in the 
 Territories, was again raised, at this session, 
 on the bill for the establishment of the 
 Oregon territorial government. An amend 
 ment was offered to insert a provision for 
 the extension of the Missouri compromise 
 line to the Pacific Ocean ; which line thus 
 extended was intended by the amendment 
 to be permanent, and to apply to all future 
 territories established in the West. This 
 amendment was lost, but the bill was finally 
 
 passed with an amendment incorporating 
 into it the anti-slavery clause of the ordi 
 nance of 1787. Mr. Calhoun, in the Sen 
 ate, declared that the exclusion of slavery 
 from any territory was a subversion of the 
 Union; openly proclaimed the strife be 
 tween the North and South to be ended, 
 and the separation of the States accom 
 plished. His speech was an open invoca 
 tion to disunion, and from that time forth, 
 the efforts were regular to obtain a meet 
 ing of the members from the slave States, 
 to unite in a call for a convention of the 
 slave States to redress themselves. He 
 said : " The great strife between the North 
 and the South is ended. The North is 
 determined to exclude the property of the 
 slaveholder, and, of course, the slaveholder 
 himself, from its territory. On this point 
 there seems to be no division in the North. 
 In the South, he regretted to say, there 
 was some division of sentiment. The 
 effect of this determination of the North 
 was to convert all the Southern population 
 into slaves ; and he would never consent 
 to entail that disgrace on his posterity. 
 He denounced any Southern man who 
 would not take the same course. Gentle 
 men were greatly mistaken if they sup 
 posed the Presidential question in the 
 South would override this more important 
 one. The separation of the North and the 
 South is completed. The South has now 
 a most solemn obligation to perform to 
 herself to the constitution to the Union. 
 She is bound to come to a decision not to 
 permit this to go on any further, but to 
 show that, dearly as she prizes the Union, 
 there are questions which she regards as 
 of greater importance than the Union. 
 This is not a question of territorial govern 
 ment, but a question involving the con 
 tinuance of the Union." The President, 
 n approving the Oregon bill, took occa 
 sion to send in a special message, point 
 ing out the danger to the Union from the 
 progress of the slavery agitation, and urged 
 an adherence to the principles of the ordi 
 nance of 1787 the terms of the Missouri 
 compromise of 1820 as also that involved 
 and declared in the Texas case in 1845, as 
 the means of averting that danger. 
 
 The Presidential election of 1848 was 
 coming on. The Democratic convention 
 met in Baltimore in May of that year; 
 each State being represented in the con 
 vention by the number of delegates equal 
 to the number of electoral votes it was en 
 titled to; saving only New York, which 
 sent two sets of delegates, and both were 
 excluded. The delegates were, for the 
 most part, members of Congress and office 
 holders. The two-thirds rule, adopted by 
 the previous convention, was again made 
 a law of the convention. The main ques- 
 ion which arose upon the formation of 
 the platform for the campaign, was the 
 
60 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 doctrine advanced by the Southern mem 
 bers of non-interference with slavery in 
 the States or in the Territories. The can 
 didates of the party were, Lewis Cass, of 
 Michigan, for President, and General Wm. 
 O. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice-Presi- 
 dent. 
 
 The Whig convention, taking advan 
 tage of the popularity of Genl. Zachary 
 Taylor, for his military achievements in 
 the Mexican war, then just ended ; and 
 his consequent availability as a candidate, 
 nominated him for the Presidency, over Mr. 
 Clay, Mr. Webster and General Scott, who 
 were his competitors before the convention. 
 Millard Fillinore was selected as the Vice- 
 presidential candidate. 
 
 A third convention was held, consisting 
 of the disaffected Democrats from New 
 York who had been excluded from the 
 Baltimore convention. They met at Utica, 
 New York, and nominated Martin Van 
 Bnren for President, and Charles Francis 
 Adams for Vice President. The princi 
 ples of its platform, were, that Congress 
 should abolish slavery wherever it consti 
 tutionally had the power to do so [which 
 was intended to apply to the District of 
 Columbia] that it should not interfere 
 with it in the slave States and that it 
 should prohibit it in the Territories. This 
 party became known as " Free-soilers," 
 from their doctrines thus enumerated, and 
 their party cry of " free-soil, free-speech, 
 free-labor, free-men." The result of the 
 election, as might have been foreseen, was 
 to lose New York State to the Baltimore 
 candidate, and give it to the whigs, who 
 were triumphant in the reception of 163 
 electoral votes for their candidates, against 
 127 for the democrats ; and none for ihe 
 free-soilers. 
 
 The last message of President Polk, in 
 December following, gave him the oppor 
 tunity to again urge upon Congress the 
 necessity for some measure to quiet the 
 slavery agitation, and he recommended 
 the extension of the Missouri compromise 
 line to the Pacific Ocean, passing through 
 the new Territories of California and New 
 Mexico, as a fair adjustment, to meet as 
 far as possible the views of all parties. 
 The President referred also to the state of 
 the finances; the excellent condition of 
 the public treasury; government loans, 
 commanding a high premium ; gold and 
 silver the established currency ; and the 
 business interests of the country in a pros 
 perous condition. And this was the state 
 of affairs, only one year after emergency 
 from a foreign war. It would be unfair 
 not to give credit to the President and to 
 Senator Benton and others equally promi 
 nent and courageous, who at that time had 
 to battle against the bank theory and 
 national paper money currency, as strongly 
 mrged and advocated, and to prove even 
 
 tually that the money of the Constitution 
 gold and silver was the only currency 
 to ensure a successful financial working of 
 the government, and prosperity to the peo 
 ple. 
 
 The new President, General Zachary 
 Taylor, was inaugurated March 4, 1849. 
 The Senate being convened, as usual, in 
 extra session, for the purpose, the Vice 
 President elect, Millard Fillmore, was duly 
 installed ; and the Whig cabinet officers 
 nominated by the President, promptly 
 confirmed. An additional member of the 
 Cabinet was appointed by this administra 
 tion to preside over the new " Home De 
 partment" since called the "Interior," 
 created at the previous session of Con 
 gress. 
 
 The following December Congress met 
 in regular session the 31st since the or 
 ganization of the federal government. 
 The Senate consisted of sixty members, 
 among whom were Mr. Webster, Mr. Cal- 
 houn, and Mr. Clay, who had returned to 
 public life. The House had 230 members ; 
 and although the whigs had a small ma 
 jority, the House was so divided on the 
 slavery question in its various phases, 
 that the election for Speaker resulted in 
 the choice of the Democratic candidate, 
 Mr. Cobb, of Georgia, by a majority of 
 three votes. The annual" message of the 
 President plainly showed that he compre 
 hended the dangers to the Union from a 
 continuance of sectional feeling on the 
 slavery question, and he averred his deter 
 mination to stand by the Union to the full 
 extent of his obligations and powers. At 
 the previous session Congress had spent 
 six months in endeavoring to frame a sat 
 isfactory bill providing territorial govern 
 ments for California and New Mexico, 
 and had adjourned finally without accom 
 plishing it, in consequence of inability to 
 agree upon whether the Missouri compro 
 mise line should be carried to the ocean, 
 or the territories be permitted to remain 
 as they were slavery prohibited under 
 the laws of Mexico. Mr. Calhoun brought 
 forward, in the debate, a new doctrine 
 extending the Constitution to the territory, 
 and arguing that as that instrument recog 
 nized the existence of slavery, the settlers 
 in such territory should be permitted to 
 hold their slave property taken there, and 
 be protected. Mr. Webster's answer to 
 this was that the Constitution was made 
 for States, not territories; that it cannot 
 operate anywhere, not even in the States 
 for which it was made, without acts of 
 Congress to enforce it. The proposed ex 
 tension of the constitution to territories, 
 with a view to its transportation of slaveiy 
 along with it, was futile and nugatory, 
 without the act of Congress to vitalize 
 slavery under it. The early part of the 
 year had witnessed ominous movements 
 
MR. CLAY'S COMPROMISE RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 61 
 
 nightly meetings of large numbers of mem 
 bers from the slave States, led by Mr. 
 Calhoun, to consider the state of things 
 between the North and the South. They 
 appointed committees who prepared an 
 address to the people. It was in this con 
 dition of things, that President Taylor ex 
 pressed his opinion, in his message, of the 
 remedies required. California, New 
 Mexico and Utah, had been left without 
 governments. For California, he recom 
 mended that having a sufficient popula 
 tion and having framed a constitution, 
 she be admitted as a State into the 
 Union ; and for New Mexico and Utah, 
 without mixing the slavery question with 
 their territorial governments, they be left 
 to ripen into States, and settle the slavery 
 question for themselves in their State con 
 stitutions. 
 
 With a view to meet the wishes of all 
 parties, and arrive at some definite and 
 permanent adjustment of the slavery ques 
 tion, Mr. Clay early in the session in 
 troduced compromise resolutions which 
 were practically a tacking together of the 
 several bills then on the calendar, provid 
 ing for the admission of California the 
 territorial government for Utah and New 
 Mexico the settlement of the Texas boun 
 dary slavery in the District of Columbia 
 and for a fugitive slave law. It was 
 seriously and earnestly opposed by many, 
 as being a concession to the spirit of dis 
 union a capitulation under threat of se 
 cession ; and as likely to become the source 
 of more contentions than it proposed to 
 quiet. 
 
 The resolutions were referred to a special 
 committee, who promptly reported a bill 
 embracing the comprehensive plan of com 
 promise which Mr. Clay proposed. Among 
 the resolutions offered, was the following : 
 " Resolved, that as slavery does not exist 
 by law and is not likely to be introduced 
 into any of the territory acquired by the 
 United'States from the Republic of Mexi 
 co, it is inexpedient for Congress to pro 
 vide by law either for its introduction into 
 or exclusion from any part of the said ter 
 ritory ; and that appropriate territorial 
 governments ought to be established by 
 Congress in all of the said territory, and 
 assigned as the boundaries of the proposed 
 State of California, without the adoption 
 of any restriction or condition on the sub 
 ject of slavery." Mr. Jefferson Davis of 
 Mississippi, objected that the measure gave 
 nothing to the South in the settlement of 
 the question ; and he required the exten 
 sion of the Missouri compromise line to 
 the Pacific Ocean as the least that he 
 would be willing to take, with the specific 
 recognition of the right to hold slaves in 
 the territory below that line ; and that, be 
 fore such territories are admitted into the 
 Union as States, slaves may be taken there 
 
 from any of the United States at the option 
 of their owner. 
 
 Mr. Clay in reply, said : " Coming from 
 a slave State, as I do, I owe it to myself, I 
 owe it to truth, I owe it to the subject, to 
 say that no earthly power could induce me 
 to vote for a specific measure for the in 
 troduction of slavery where it had not be 
 fore existed, either south or north of that 
 line. * * * If the citizens of those 
 territories choose to establish slavery, and 
 if they come here with constitutions es 
 tablishing slavery, I am for admitting 
 them with such provisions in their consti 
 tutions; but then it will be their own 
 work, and not ours, and their posterity 
 will have to reproach them, and not us, for 
 forming constitutions allowing the institu 
 tion of slavery to exist among them." 
 
 Mr. Seward of New York, proposed a 
 renewal of the Wilmot Proviso, in the fol 
 lowing resolution: "Neither slavery nor 
 involuntary servitude, otherwise than by 
 conviction for crime, shall ever be allowed 
 in either of said territories of Utah and 
 New Mexico ; " but his resolution was re 
 jected in the Senate by a vote of 23 yeas to 
 33 nays. Following this, Mr. Calhoun 
 had read for him in the Senate, by his 
 friend James M. Mason of Virginia, his 
 last speech. It embodied the points cov 
 ered by the address to the people, pre 
 pared by him the previous year ; the prob 
 ability of a dissolution of the Union, and 
 presenting a case to justify it. The tenor 
 of the speech is shown by the following ex 
 tracts from it: "I have, Senators, believed 
 from the first, that the agitation of the sub 
 ject of slavery would, if not prevented by 
 some timely and effective measure, end in 
 disunion. Entertaining this opinion, I 
 have, on all proper occasions, endeavored to 
 call the attention of each of the two great 
 parties which divide the country to adopt 
 some measure to prevent so great a disas 
 ter, but without success. The agitation has 
 been permitted to proceed, with almost no 
 attempt to resist it, until it has reached a 
 period when it can no longer be disguised 
 or denied that the Union is in danger. 
 You have had forced upon you the great 
 est and gravest question that can ever 
 come under your consideration : How can 
 the Union be preserved ?***** 
 Instead of being weaker, all the elements 
 in favor of agitation are stronger now than 
 they were inlS35, when it first commenced, 
 while all the elements of influence on the 
 part of the South are weaker. Unless 
 something decisive is done, I again ask 
 what is to stop this agitation, before the 
 great and final object at which it aims 
 the abolition of slavery in the States is 
 consummated ? Is it, then, not certain that 
 if something decisive is not now done to 
 arrest it, the South will be forced to choose 
 between abolition and secession ? Indeed 
 
52 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 as events are now moving, it will not re 
 quire the South to secede to dissolve the 
 Union. * * * * If the agitation goes 
 on, nothing will be left to hold the States 
 together except force." He answered the 
 question, How can the Union be saved? 
 with which his speech opened, by suggest 
 ing. " To provide for the insertion of a 
 provision in the constitution, by an amend 
 ment, which will restore to the South in 
 substance the power she possessed of pro 
 tecting herself, before the equilibrium be 
 tween the sections was destroyed by the 
 action of the government." He did not 
 state of what the amendment should con 
 sist, but later on, it was ascertained from 
 reliable sources that his idea was a dual 
 executive one President from the free, 
 and one from the slave States, the consent 
 of both of whom should be required to all 
 acts of Congress before they become laws. 
 This speech of Mr. Calhoun's, is import 
 ant as explaining many of his previous ac 
 tions ; and as furnishing a guide to those 
 who ten years afterwards attempted to 
 carry out practically the suggestions 
 thrown out by him. 
 
 Mr. Clay's compromise bill was rejected. 
 It was evident that no compromise of any 
 kind whatever on the subject of slavery, 
 under any one of its aspects separately, 
 much less under all put together, could 
 possibly be made. There was no spirit of 
 concession manifested. The numerous 
 measure3 put together in Mr. Clay's bill 
 were disconnected and separated. Each 
 measure received a separate and inde 
 pendent consideration, and with a result 
 which showed the injustice of the at 
 tempted conjunction ; for no two of them 
 were passed by the same vote, even of the 
 members of the committee which had even 
 unanimously reported favorably upon them 
 as a whole. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun died in the spring of 1850 ; 
 before the separate bill for the admission 
 of California was taken up. His death 
 took place at Washington, he having 
 reached the age of 68 years. A eulogy 
 upon him was delivered in the Senate by 
 his colleague, Mr. Butler, of South Caro 
 lina. Mr. Calhoun was the first great ad 
 vocate of the doctrine of secession. He 
 was the author of the nullification doc 
 trine, and an advocate of the extreme doc 
 trine of States Rights. He was an elo 
 quent speaker a man of strong intellect. 
 His speeches were plain, strong, concise, 
 sometimes impassioned, and always severe. 
 Daniel Webster said of him, that " he had 
 the basis, the indispensable basis of all 
 high characters, and that was unspotted 
 integrity, unimpeached honor and char 
 acter ! " 
 
 In July of this year an event took place 
 which threw a gloom over the country. 
 The President, General Taylor, contracted a 
 
 fever from exposure to the hot sun at a cele 
 bration of Independence Day, from which 
 he died four days afterwards. He was a 
 man of irreproachable private character, 
 undoubted patriotism, and established re- 
 
 Eutation for judgment and firmness. His 
 rief career showed no deficiency of poli 
 tical wisdom nor want of political training. 
 His administration was beset with difficul 
 ties, with momentous questions pending, 
 and he met the crisis with firmness and 
 determination, resolved to maintain the 
 Federal Union at all hazards. His first 
 and only annual message, the leading 
 points of which have been stated, evinces 
 a spirit to do what was right among all the 
 States. His death was a public calamity. 
 No man could have been more devoted to 
 the Union nor more opposed to the slavery 
 agitation ; and his position as a Southern 
 man and a slaveholder his military repu 
 tation, and his election by a majority of 
 the people as well as of the States, would 
 have given him a power in the settlement 
 of the pending questions of the day which 
 no President without these qualifications 
 could have possessed. 
 
 In accordance with the Constitution, the 
 office of President thus devolved upon the 
 Vice-President, Mr. Millard Fill more, who 
 was duly inaugurated July 10, 1850. The 
 new cabinet, with Daniel Webster as Se 
 cretary of State, was duly appointed and 
 confirmed by the Senate. 
 
 The bill for the admission of California 
 as a State in the Union, was called up in 
 the Senate and sought to be amended by 
 extending the Missouri Compromise line 
 through it, to the Pacific Ocean, so as to 
 authorize slavery in the State below that 
 line. The amendment was introduced and 
 pressed by Southern friends of the late 
 Mr. Calhoun, and made a test question. It 
 was lost, and the bill passed by a two- 
 third vote ; whereupon ten Southern Sena 
 tors offered a written protest, the conclud 
 ing clause of which was : '' We dissent 
 from this bill, and solemnly protest against 
 its passage, because in sanctioning mea 
 sures so contrary to former precedents, to 
 obvious policy, to the spirit and intent of 
 the constitution of the United States, for 
 the purpose of excluding the slaveholding 
 States from the territory thus to be erected 
 into a State, this government in effect de 
 clares that the exclusion of slavery from 
 the territory of the United States is an ob 
 ject so high and important as to justify a 
 disregard not only of all the principles of 
 sound policy, but also of the constitution 
 itself. Against this conclusion we must 
 now and for ever protest, as it is destruc 
 tive of the safety and liberties of those 
 whose rights have been committed to our 
 care, fatal to the peace and equality of the 
 States which we represent, and must lead, 
 if persisted in, to the dissolution of that 
 
RISE AND PROGRESS OF ABOLITION PARTY. 
 
 53 
 
 confederacy, in which the slaveholding 
 States have never sought more than 
 equality, and in which they will not be 
 content to remain with less." On objec 
 tion being made, followed by debate, the 
 Senate refused to receive the protest, or 
 permit it to be entered on the Journal. 
 The bill went to the House of Representa 
 tives, was readily passed, and promptly 
 approved by the President. Thus was 
 virtually accomplished the abrogation of 
 the Missouri compromise line ; and the ex 
 tension or non-extension of slavery was 
 then made to form a foundation for future 
 political parties. 
 
 The year 1850 was prolific with disunion 
 movements in the Southern States. The 
 Senators who had joined with Mr. Calhoun 
 in the address to the people, in 1849, 
 united with their adherents in establishing 
 at Washington a newspaper entitled "The 
 Southern Press," devoted to the agitation 
 of the slavery question ; to presenting the 
 advantages of disunion, and the organi 
 zation of a confederacy of Southern 
 States to be called the :< United States 
 South." Its constant aim was to influence 
 the South against the North, and advoca 
 ted concert of action by the States of the 
 former section. It was aided in its efforts 
 by newspapers published in the South, 
 more especially in South Carolina and 
 Mississippi. A disunion convention was 
 actually held, in Nashville, Tennessee, and 
 invited the assembly of a Southern Con 
 gress. Two States, South Carolina and 
 Mississippi responded to the appeal; 
 passed laws to carry it into effect, and the 
 former went so far as to elect its quota of 
 Representatives to the proposed new 
 Southern Congress. These occurrences 
 are referred to as showing the spirit that 
 prevailed, and the extraordinary and un 
 justifiable means used by the leaders to 
 mislead and exasperate the people. The 
 assembling of a Southern " Congress " was 
 a turning point in the progress of disunion. 
 Georgia refused to join ; and her weight as 
 a great Southern State was sufficient to cause 
 the failure of the scheme. But the seeds 
 of discord were sown, and had taken root, 
 only to spring up at a future time when 
 circumstances should be more favorable to 
 the accomplishment of the object. 
 
 Although the Congress of the United 
 States had in 1790 and again in 1836 
 formally declared the policy of the govern 
 ment to be non-interference with the States 
 in respect to the matter of slavery within 
 the limits of the respective States, the sub 
 ject continued to be agitated in conse 
 quence of petitions to Congress to abolish 
 slavery in the District of Columbia, which 
 was under the exclusive control of the fed 
 eral government; and of movements 
 throughout the United States to limit, and 
 finally abolish it. The subject first made its 
 
 appearance in national politics in 1840, when 
 a presidential ticket was nominated by a 
 party then formed favoring the abolition of 
 slavery ; it had a very slight following 
 which was increased ten-fold at the eleo 
 tion of 1844 when the same party again 
 put a ticket in the field with James G. 
 Birney of Michigan, as its candidate for 1 
 the Presidency ; who received 62,140 votes. 
 The efforts of the leaders of that faction' 
 were continued, and persisted in to such 
 an extent, that when in 1848 it nominated 
 a ticket with Gerritt Smith for President, 
 against the Democratic candidate, Martin 
 Van Buren, the former received 296,232 
 votes. In the presidential contest of 1852 
 the abolition party again nominated a 
 ticket, with John P. Hale as its candidate 
 for President, and polled 157,926 votes. 
 This large following was increased from 
 time to time, until uniting with a new 
 party then formed, called the Republican 
 party, which latter adopted a platform en 
 dorsing the views and sentiments of the 
 abolitionists, the great and decisive battle 
 for the principles involved, was fought in 
 the ensuing presidential contest of 1856 ; 
 when the candidate of the Republican 
 party, John C. Fremont, supported by the 
 entire abolition party, polled 1,341,812 
 votes. The first national platform of the 
 Abolition party, upon which it went into 
 the contest of 1840, favored the abolition 
 of slavery in the District of Columbia and 
 Territories ; the inter-state slave trade, 
 and a general opposition to slavery to the 
 full extent of constitutional power. 
 
 Following the discussion of the subject of 
 slavery, in the Senate and House of Repre 
 sentatives, brought about by the presenta 
 tion of petitions and memorials, and the 
 passage of the resolutions in 1836 rejecting 
 such petitions, the question was again 
 raised by the presentation in the House, 
 by Mr. Slade of Vermont, on the 20th 
 December 1837, of two memorials praying 
 the abolition of slavery in the District of 
 Columbia, and moving that they be re 
 ferred to a select committee. Great excite 
 ment prevailed in the chamber, and of the 
 many attempts by the Southern members 
 an adjournment was had. The next day a 
 resolution was offered that thereafter all 
 such petitions and memorials touching the 
 abolition of slavery should, when pre 
 sented, be laid on the table ; which resolu 
 tion was adopted by a large vote. During 
 the 24th Congress, the Senate pursued the 
 course of laying on the table the motion to 
 receive all abolition petitions; and both 
 Houses during the 25th Congress continued 
 the same course of conduct ; when finally 
 on the 25th of January 1840, the House 
 adopted by a vote of 114 to 108, an amend 
 ment to the rules, called the 21st Rule, 
 which provided : " that no petition, me 
 morial or resolution, or other paper, pray- 
 
54 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 ing the abolition of slavery in the District 
 of Columbia, or any state or territory, or 
 the slave-trade between the States or ter 
 ritories of the United States, in which it 
 now exists, shall be received by this 
 House, or entertained in any way what 
 ever." This rule was afterwards, on the 
 8d of December, 1844, rescinded by the 
 House, on motion of Mr. J. Quincy Adams, 
 by a vote of 108 to 80 ; and a motion to 
 re-instate it, on the 1st of December 1845, 
 was rejected by a vote of 84 to 121. 
 Within five years afterwards on the 17th 
 September 1850, the Congress of the 
 United States enacted a law, which was ap 
 proved by the President, abolishing slavery 
 in the District of Columbia. 
 
 On the 25th of February, 1850, there 
 was presented in the House of Representa 
 tives, two petitions from citizens of Penn 
 sylvania and Delaware, setting forth that 
 slavery, and the constitution which per 
 mits it, violates the Divine law; is incon 
 sistent with republican principles; that 
 its existence has brought evil upon the 
 country ; and that no union can exist with 
 States which tolerate that institution ; and 
 asking that some plan be devised for the 
 immediate, peaceful dissolution of the 
 Union. The House refused to receive and 
 consider the petitions; as did also the 
 Senate when the same petitions were pre 
 sented the same month. 
 
 The presidential election of 1852 was the 
 Last campaign in which the Whig party 
 appeared in National politics. It nomi 
 nated a ticket with General Winfield Scott 
 as its candidate for President. His oppo 
 nent on the Democratic ticket was General 
 Franklin Pierce. A third ticket was placed 
 in the field by the Abolition party, with 
 John P. Hale as its candidate for Presi 
 dent. The platform and declaration of 
 principles of the Whig party was in sub 
 stance a ratification and endorsement of 
 the several measures embraced in Mr. 
 Clay's compromise resolutions of the pre 
 vious session of Congress, before referred 
 to; and the policy of a revenue for the 
 economical administration of the govern 
 ment, to be derived mainly from duties on 
 imports, and by these means to afford pro 
 tection to American industry. The main 
 plank of the platform of the Abolition 
 party (or Independent Democrats, as they 
 were called) was for the non-extension ancl 
 gradual extinction of slavery. The Demo 
 cratic party equally adhered to the com 
 promise measure. The election resulted 
 in the choice of Franklin Pierce, by a 
 popular vote of 1,601,474, and 254 electoral 
 votes, against a popular aggregate vote of 
 1,542,403 (of which the abolitionists polled 
 157,926) and 42 electoral votes, for the 
 Whig and Abolition candidates. Mr. 
 Pierce was duly inaugurated as President, 
 March 4, 1853. 
 
 The first political parties in the United 
 States, from the establishment of the fede 
 ral government and for many years after 
 wards, were denominated Federalists and 
 Democrats, or Democratic Republicans. 
 The former was an anti-alien party. The 
 latter was made up to a large extent of 
 naturalized foreigners ; refugees from Eng 
 land, Ireland and Scotland, driven from 
 home for hostility to the government or for 
 attachment to France. Naturally, aliens 
 sought alliance with the Democratic party, 
 which favored the war against Great 
 Britain. The early party contests were 
 based on the naturalization laws ; the first 
 of which, approved March 26, 1790, re 
 quired only two years' residence in this 
 country ; a few years afterwards the time 
 was extended to five years ; and in 1798 
 the Federalists taking advantage of the 
 war fever against France, and then being 
 in power, extended the time to fourteen 
 years. (See Alien and Sedition Laws of 
 1798). Jefferson's election and Demo 
 cratic victory of 1800, brought the period 
 back to five years in 1802, and re- in forced 
 the Democratic party. The city of New 
 York, especially, from time to time became 
 filled with foreigners; thus naturalized; 
 brought into the Democratic ranks ; and 
 crowded out native Federalists from con 
 trol of the city government, and to meet 
 this condition of affairs, the first attempt 
 at a Native American organization was 
 made. Beginning in 1835; ending in 
 failure in election of Mayor in 1837, it was 
 revived in April, 1844, when the Native 
 American organization carried New York 
 city for its Mayoralty candidate by a good 
 majority. The success of the movement 
 there, caused it to spread to New Jersey 
 and Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia, it was 
 desperately opposed by the Democratic, 
 Irish and Roman Catholic element, and so 
 furiously, that it resulted in riots, in which 
 two Romish Churches were burned and 
 destroyed. The adherents of the Ameri 
 can organization were not confined to 
 Federalists or Whigs, but largely of native 
 Democrats ; and the Whigs openly voted 
 with Democratic Natives in order to secure 
 their vote for Henry Clay for the Presi 
 dency ; but when in November, 1844, New 
 York and Philadelphia both gave Native 
 majorities, and so sapped the Whig vote, 
 that both places gave majorities for the 
 Democratic Presidential electors, the 
 Whigs drew off. In 1845, at the April 
 election in New York, the natives were 
 defeated, and the new party disappeared 
 there. As a result of the autumn election 
 of 1844, the 29th Congress, which organ 
 ized in December, 1845, had six Native 
 Representatives ; four from New York and 
 two from Pennsylvania. In the 30th Con 
 gress, Pennsylvania had one. Thereafter 
 for some years, with the exception of a 
 
THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL. 
 
 55 
 
 small vote in Pennsylvania and New York, 
 Nativism disappeared. An able writer of 
 that day Hon. A. H. H. Stuart, of Vir 
 ginia published under the nom-de-plume 
 oV tl Madison " several letters in vindication 
 of the American party (revived in 1852,) in 
 which he said : " The vital principle of the 
 American party is Americanism develop 
 ing itself in a deep-rooted attachment to 
 our own country its constitution, its union, 
 and its laws to American men, and Ameri 
 can measures, and American interests or, 
 in other words, a fervent patriotism 
 which, rejecting the transcendental philan 
 thropy of abolitionists, and that kindred 
 batch of wild enthusiasts, who would seek 
 to embroil us with foreign countries, in 
 righting the wrongs of Ireland, or Hun 
 gary, or Cuba would guard with vestal 
 vigilance American institutions and Ameri 
 can interests against the baneful effects of 
 foreign influence." 
 
 About 1852, when the question of slavery 
 in the territories, and its extension or its 
 abolition in the States, was agitated and 
 causing sectional differences in the coun 
 try, many Whigs and Democrats forsook 
 their parties, and took sides on the ques 
 tions of the day. This was aggravated by 
 the large number of alien naturalized citi 
 zens constantly added to the ranks of 
 voters, who took sides with the Democrats 
 and against the Whigs. Nativism then 
 re-appeared, but in a new form that of a 
 secret fraternity. Its real name and ob 
 jects were not revealed even to its mem 
 bers, until they reached a high degree in 
 the order ; and the answer of members on 
 being questioned on these subjects was, " I 
 don't know " which gave it the popular 
 name, by which it is yet known, of " Know- 
 nothing." Its moving causes were the 
 growing power and designs of the Roman 
 Catholic Church in America ; the sudden 
 influx of aliens ; and the greed and inca 
 pacity of naturalized citizens for office. 
 Its cardinal principle was: "Americans 
 must rule America " ; and its countersign 
 was the order ^)f General Washington on a 
 critical occasion during the war : " Put 
 none but Americans on guard to-night." 
 Its early nominations were not made pub 
 lic, but were made by select committees 
 and conventions of delegates. At first 
 these nominations were confined to selec 
 tions of the best Whig or best Democrat on 
 the respective tickets ; and the choice not 
 being made known, but quietly voted for 
 by all the members of the order, the effect 
 was only visible after election, and threw 
 all calculation into chaos. For a while it 
 was really the arbiter of elections 
 
 On February 8, 1853, a bill passed the 
 House of Representatives providing a ter 
 ritorial government for Nebraska, embrac 
 ing all of what is now Kansas and 
 Nebraska. It was silent on the subject of 
 
 the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. 
 The bill was tabled in the Senate ; to be 
 revived at the following session. In the 
 Senate it was amended, on motion of Mr. 
 Douglas, to read : " That so much of the 
 8th section of an act approved March 6, 
 1820, (the Missouri compromise) * * * 
 which, being inconsistent with the princi 
 ples of non-intervention by Congress with 
 slavery in the States and Territories, as 
 recognized by the legislature of 1850, com 
 monly called the Compromise measures, is 
 hereby declared inoperative and void ; it 
 being the true intent and meaning of 
 this act not to legislate slavery into any 
 Territory or State, nor to exclude it there 
 from, but to leave the people thereof per 
 fectly free to form and regulate their 
 domestic institutions in their own way, 
 subject only to the Constitution of the 
 United States." It was further amended, 
 on motion of Senator Clayton, to prohibit 
 "alien suffrage." In the House this 
 amendment was not agreed to ; and the 
 bill finally passed without it, on the 25th 
 May, 1854. 
 
 So far as Nebraska was concerned, no 
 excitement of any kind marked the initia 
 tion of her territorial existence. The 
 persons who emigrated there seemed to 
 regard the pursuits of business as of mora 
 interest than the discussion of slavery. 
 Kansas was less fortunate. Her territory 
 became at once the battle-field of a fierce 
 political conflict between the advocates of 
 slavery, and the free soil men from the 
 North who went there to resist the estab 
 lishment of that institution in the terri 
 tory. Differences arose between the 
 Legislature and the Governor, brought 
 about by antagonisms between the Pro- 
 slavery party and the Free State party ; 
 and the condition of affairs in Kansas 
 assumed so frightful a mien in January, 
 1856, that the President sent a special 
 message to Congress on the subject, 
 January 24, 1856 ; followed by a Proclama 
 tion, February 11, 1856, " warning all un 
 lawful combinations (in the territory) tr> 
 retire peaceably to their respective abodes, 
 or he would use the power of the local 
 militia, and the available forces of the 
 United States to disperse them." 
 
 Several applications were made to Con 
 gress for several successive years, for the 
 admission of Kansas as a state in the 
 Union ; upon the basis of three separate 
 and distinct constitutions, all differing as 
 to the main questions at issue between the 
 contending factions. The name of Kansas 
 was for some years synonymous with all 
 that is lawless and anarchical. Elections 
 became mere farces, and the officers thus 
 fraudulently placed in power, used their 
 authority only for their own or their 
 party's interest. The party opposed to 
 slavery at length triumphed ; a constitution 
 
56 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 excluding slavery was adopted in 1859, 
 and Kansas was admitted into the Union 
 January 29, 1861. 
 
 Under the fugitive slave law, which was 
 passed by Congress at the session of 1850, 
 as one of the Compromise measures, intro 
 duced by Mr. Clay, a long and exciting 
 litigation occurred to test the validity and 
 constitutionality of the act, and the several 
 laws on which it depended. The suit was 
 instituted by Dred Scott, a negro slave, in 
 the Circuit Court of the United States for 
 the District of Missouri, in April Term, 
 1854, against John F. A. Sanford, his 
 alleged owner, for trespass vi et armis, in 
 holding the plaintiff and his wife and 
 daughters in slavery in said District of 
 Missouri, where by law slavery was pro 
 hibited ; they having been previously law 
 fully held in slavery by a former owner 
 Dr. 'Emerson in the State of Illinois, 
 from whence they were taken by him to 
 Missouri, and sold to the defendent, San- 
 ford. The case went up on appeal to the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, and 
 was clearly and elaborately argued. The 
 majority opinion, delivered by Chief Jus 
 tice Taney, as also the dissenting opinions, 
 are reported in full in Howard's U. S. 
 Supreme Court Eeports, Volume 19, page 
 393. In respect to the territories the Con 
 stitution grants to Congress the power " to 
 make all needful rules and regulations 
 concerning the territory and other property 
 belonging to the United States." The 
 Court was of opinion that the clause of 
 the Constitution applies only to the terri 
 tory within the original States at the time 
 the Constitution was adopted, and that it 
 did not apply to future territory acquired 
 by treaty or conquest from foreign na 
 tions. They were also of opinion that the 
 power of Congress over such future terri 
 torial acquisitions was not unlimited, that 
 the citizens of the States migrating to a 
 territory were not to be regarded as 
 colonists, subject to absolute power in 
 Congress, but as citizens of the United 
 States, with all the rights of citizenship 
 guarantied by the Constitution, and that 
 no legislation was constitutional which at 
 tempted to deprive a citizen of his 
 property on his becoming a resident of a 
 territory. This question in the case arose 
 under the act of Congress prohibiting 
 slavery in the territory of upper Louisiana, 
 (acquired from France, afterwards the 
 State), and of which the territory of 
 Missouri was formed. Any obscurity as 
 to what constitutes citizenship, will be re 
 moved by attending to the distinction be 
 tween local rights of citizenship of the 
 United States according to the Constitu 
 tion. Citizenship at large in the sense of 
 the Constitution can be conferred on a 
 foreigner only by the naturalization laws 
 of Congress. But each State, in the exer. 
 
 cise of its local and reserved sovereignty, 
 may place foreigners or other persons on 
 a footing with its own citizens, as to politi 
 cal rights and privileges to be enjoyed 
 within its own dominion. But State regu 
 lations of this character do not make the 
 persons on whom such rights are conferred 
 citizens of the United States or entitle 
 them to the privileges and immunities of 
 citizens in another State. See 5 Wheaton, 
 (U. S. Supreme Court Reports), page 49. 
 
 The Court said in The Dred Scott case, 
 above referred to, that : " The right of 
 property in a slave is distinctly and ex 
 pressly affirmed in the Constitution. The 
 right to traffic in it like the ordinary article 
 of merchandise and property was guar 
 antied to the citizens of the United States, 
 in every State that might desire it for 
 twenty years, and the government in ex 
 press terms is pledged to protect it in all 
 future time if the slave escapes from his 
 owner. This is done in plain words too 
 plain to be misunderstood, and no word 
 can be found in the Constitution which 
 gives Congress a greater power over slave 
 property, or ^hich entitles property of 
 that kind to less protection than the prop 
 erty of any other description. The only 
 power conferred is the power coupled with 
 the duty of guarding and protecting the 
 owner in his rights. Upon these considera 
 tions, it is the opinion of the Court that 
 the Act of Congress which prohibited a 
 citizen from holding and owning property 
 of this kind in the territory of the United 
 States north of the line therein mentioned, 
 is not warranted by the Constitution and 
 is therefore void ; and that neither Dred 
 Scott himself, nor any of his family were 
 made free by being carried into this terri 
 tory ; even if they had been carried there 
 by the owner with the intention of becom 
 ing a permanent resident." The abolition 
 of slavery by the 13th amendment to the 
 Constitution of the United States ratified 
 and adopted December 18, 18G5, has put 
 an end to these discussions formerly so 
 numerous. 
 
 As early as 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska 
 controversy on the territorial government 
 bill, resulted in a division of the Whig 
 party in the North. Those not sufficiently 
 opposed to slavery to enter the new Repub 
 lican party, then in its incipiency, allied 
 themselves with the Know-Nothing order, 
 which now accepting the name of Ameri 
 can party established a separate and in 
 dependent political existence. The party 
 had no hold in the West ; it was entirely 
 Middle State at this time, and polled a 
 large vote in Massachusetts, Delaware and 
 New York. In the State elections of 1855 
 the American party made a stride South 
 ward. In 1855, the absence of natural 
 ized citizens was universal in the South, 
 and even so late as 1881 the proportion of 
 
THE AMERICAN RITUAL. 
 
 57 
 
 foreign-born population in the Southern 
 States, with the exception of Florida, 
 Louisiana, and Texas was under two per 
 cent. At the early date 1855 the na- 
 tivist feeling among the Whigs of that 
 section, made it easy to transfer them to 
 the American party, which thus secured in 
 both the Eastern and Southern States, the 
 election of Governor and Legislature in 
 the States of New Hampshire, Massachu 
 setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 
 York, California and Kentucky ; and also 
 elected part of its State ticket in Mary- 
 land, and Texas ; and only lost the States 
 of Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisi 
 ana, and Texas, by small majorities against 
 it. 
 
 The order began preparations for a cam 
 paign as a National party, in 1856. It aimed 
 to introduce opposition to aliens and Ro 
 man Catholicism as a national question. 
 On the 21st of February, 1856, the Nation 
 al Council held a session at Philadelphia, 
 and proceeded to formulate a declaration of 
 principles, and make a platform, which 
 were as follows : 
 
 " An humble acknowledgement to the 
 Supreme Being, for his protecting care 
 vouchsafed to our fathers in their success 
 ful Revolutionary struggle, and hitherto 
 manifested to us, their descendants, in the 
 
 Preservation of the liberties, the indepen- 
 ence, and the union of these States. 
 
 2d. The perpetuation of the Federal 
 Union, as the palladium of our civil and 
 religious liberties, and the only sure Bul 
 wark of American independence. 
 
 3d. Americans must rule America, and 
 to this end, native-born citizens should be 
 selected for all state, federal, and munici 
 pal offices or government employment, in 
 preference to all others ; nevertheless, 
 
 4th. Persons born of American par 
 ents residing temporarily abroad, should 
 be entitled to all the rights of native-born 
 citizens ; but, 
 
 5th. No person shall be selected for po 
 litical station (whether of native or for 
 eign birth), who recognizes any allegiance 
 or obligation, of any description, to any 
 foreign prince, potentate, or power, or who 
 refuses to recognize the Federal and State 
 constitutions (each within its sphere) as 
 paramount to all other laws, as rules^of po 
 litical action. 
 
 6th. The unqualified recognition and 
 maintenance of the reserved rights of the 
 several States, and the cultivation of har 
 mony and fraternal good will, between the 
 citizens of the several States, and to this 
 end, non-interference by congress with 
 questions appertaining solely to the indi 
 vidual States, and non-intervention by each 
 State with the affairs of any other State. 
 
 7th. The recognition of the right of 
 the native-born and naturalized citizens of 
 the United States, permanently residing in 
 
 any territory thereof, to frame their con 
 stitution and laws, and to regulate their 
 domestic and social affairs in their own 
 mode, subject only to the provisions of the 
 Federal Constitution, with the privilege of 
 admission into the Union, whenever they 
 have the requisite population for one rep 
 resentative in Congress. Provided always, 
 that none but those who are citizens of the 
 United States, under the Constitution and 
 laws thereof, and who have a fixed resi 
 dence in any such territory, ought to par 
 ticipate in the formation of the Constitu 
 tion, or in the enactment of laws for said 
 Territory or State. 
 
 8th. An enforcement of the principle 
 that no State or Territory ought to admit 
 others than citizens of the United States to 
 the right of suffrage, or of holding politi 
 cal office. 
 
 9th. A change in the laws of naturali 
 zation, making a continued residence of 
 twenty-one years, of all not hereinbefore 
 provided for, an indispensable requisite for 
 citizenship hereafter, and excluding all 
 paupers, and persons convicted of crime, 
 from landing upon our shores ; but no in 
 terference with the vested rights of foreign 
 ers. 
 
 10th. Opposition to any union between 
 Church and State ; no interference with re 
 ligious faith, or worship, and no test oaths 
 for office. 
 
 llth. Free and thorough investigation 
 into any and all alleged abuses of public 
 functionaries, and a strict economy in pub 
 lic expenditures. 
 
 12th. The maintenance and enforce 
 ment of all laws constitutionally enacted, 
 until said laws shall be repealed, or shall 
 be declared null and void by competent 
 judicial authority. 
 
 The American Ritual, or Constitution, 
 rules, regulations, and ordinances of the 
 Order were as follows : 
 
 AMERICAN RITUAL. 
 
 Constitution of the National Council of the United States of 
 North America. 
 
 ART. 1st. This organization shall be 
 known by the name and title of THE 
 NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE UNITED 
 STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, and its juris 
 diction and power shall extend to all the 
 states, districts, and territories of the 
 United States of North America. 
 
 ART. 2d. The object of this organization 
 shall be to protect every American citizen 
 in the legal and proper exercise of all his 
 civil and religious rights and privileges ; 
 to resist the insidious policy of the Church 
 of Rome, and all other foreign influence 
 against our republican institutions in all 
 lawful ways ; to place in all offices of honor 
 trust, or profit, in the gift of the people, or 
 by appointment, none but native-born 
 Protestant citizens, and to protect, preserve, 
 
68 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 and uphold the union of these states and 
 the constitution of the same. 
 
 ART. 3d. Sec. 1. A person to become a 
 member of any subordinate council must 
 be twenty-one years of age ; he must be 
 lieve in the existence of a Supreme Being 
 as the Creator and preserver of the uni 
 verse. He must be a native-born citizen ; 
 a Protestant, either born of Protestant 
 parents, or reared under Protestant influ 
 ence ; and not united in marriage with a 
 Roman Catholic; provided, nevertheless, 
 that in this last respect, the state, district, 
 or territorial councils shall be authorized 
 to so construct their respective constitu 
 tions as shall best promote the interests of 
 the American cause in their several juris 
 dictions ; and provided, moreover, that no 
 member who may have a Roman Catholic 
 wife shall be eligible to office in this order ; 
 and provided, further, should any state, 
 district, or territorial council prefer the 
 words " Roman Catholic" as a disquali 
 fication to membership, in place of " Pro 
 testant" as a qualification, they may so 
 consider this constitution and govern their 
 action accordingly. 
 
 Sec. 2. There shall be an interval of 
 three weeks between the conferring of the 
 first and second degrees; and of three 
 months between the conferring of the 
 second and third degrees provided, that 
 this restriction shall not apply to those who 
 may have received the second degree pre 
 vious to the first day of December next ; 
 and provided, further, that the presidents 
 of state, district, and territorial councils 
 may grant dispensations for initiating in 
 all the degrees, officers of new councils. 
 
 Sec. 3. The national council shall hold 
 its annual meetings on the first Tuesday 
 in the month of June, at such place as may 
 be designated by the national council at 
 the previous annual meeting, and it may 
 adjourn from time to time. Special meet 
 ings may be called by the President, on the 
 written request of five delegations repre 
 senting five state councils ; provided, that 
 sixty days' notice shall be given to the 
 state councils previous to said meeting. 
 
 Sec. 4. The national council shall be 
 composed of seven delegates from each 
 state, to be chosen by the state councils ; 
 and each district or territory where a dis 
 trict or territorial council shall exist, shall 
 be entitled to send two delegates, to be 
 chosen from said council provided that in 
 the nomination of candidates for Presi 
 dent and Vice President of the United 
 States, and each state shall be entitled to 
 cast the same number of votes as they shall 
 have members in both houses of Congress. 
 In all sessions of the national council, 
 thirty-two delegates, representing thirteen 
 states, territories, or districts, shall consti 
 tute a quorum for the transaction of busi 
 ness. 
 
 Sec. 5. The national council shall be 
 vested with the following powers and privi 
 leges : 
 
 It shall be the head of the organization 
 for the United States of North America, 
 and shall fix and establish all signs, grips, 
 passwords, and such other secret work, as 
 may seem to it necessary. 
 
 It shall have the power to decide all 
 matters appertaining to national politics. 
 
 It shall have the power to exact from the 
 state councils, quarterly or annual state 
 ments as to the number of members under 
 their jurisdictions, and in relation to all 
 other matters necessary for its information. 
 
 It shall have the power to form state, 
 territorial, or district councils, and to grant 
 dispensations for the formation of such 
 bodies, when five subordinate councils shall 
 have been put in operation in any state, 
 territory, or district, and application made. 
 
 It shall have the power to determine 
 upon a mode of punishment in case of any 
 dereliction of duty on the part of its mem 
 bers or officers. 
 
 It shall have the power to adopt cabal 
 istic characters for the purpose of writing 
 or telegraphing. Said characters to be 
 communicated to the presidents of the 
 state councils, and by them to the presi 
 dents of the subordinate councils. 
 
 It shall have the power to adopt any and 
 every measure it may deem necessary to 
 secure the success of the organization; 
 provided that nothing shall be done by the 
 said national council in violation of the 
 constitution; and provided further, that 
 in all political matters, its members may 
 be instructed by the state councils, and if 
 so instructed, shall carry out such instruc 
 tions of the state councils which they repre 
 sent until overruled by a majority of the 
 national council. 
 
 Art. 4. The President shall always preside 
 over the national council when present, 
 and in his absence the Vice President shall 
 preside, and in the absence of both the 
 national council shall appoint a president 
 pro tempore; and the presiding officers may 
 at all times call a member to the chair, but 
 such appointment shall not extend be 
 yond one sitting of the national council. 
 
 Art. 5. Sec. 1. The officers of the 
 National Council shall be a President,Vice- 
 President, Chaplain, Corresponding Secre 
 tary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, and 
 two Sentinels, with such other officers as 
 the national council may see fit to appoint 
 from time to time ; and the secretaries and 
 sentinels may receive such compensation 
 as the national council shall determine. 
 
 Sec. 2. The duties of the several officers 
 created by this constitution shall be such 
 as the work of this organization prescribes. 
 
 Art. 6. Sec. 1. All officers provided for 
 by this constitution, except the sentinels, 
 shall be elected annually by ballot. The 
 
THE AMERICAN RITUAL. 
 
 59 
 
 president may appoint sentinels from time 
 to time. 
 
 Sec. 2. A majority of all the votes cast 
 shall be requisite to an election for an office. 
 
 Sec. 3. All officers and delegates of this 
 council, and of all state, district, territorial, 
 and subordinate councils, must be invested 
 with all the degrees of this order. 
 
 Sec. 4. All vacancies in the elective 
 offices shall be filled by a vote of the na 
 tional council, and only for the unexpired 
 term of the said vacancy. 
 
 Art. 7. Sec 1. The national council shall 
 entertain and decide all cases of appeal, 
 and it shall establish a form of appeal. 
 
 Sec. 2. The national council shall levy 
 a tax upon the state, district, or territorial 
 councils, for the support of the national 
 council, to be paid in such manner and at 
 such times as the national council shall 
 determine. 
 
 Art. 8. This national council may alter 
 and amend this constitution at its regular 
 annual meeting in June next, by a vote of 
 the majority of the whole number of the 
 members present. (Cincinnati, Nov. 24, 
 1854.) 
 
 RULES AND REGULATIONS. 
 
 Rule 1. Each State, District, or Terri 
 tory, in which there may exist five or 
 more subordinate councils vyorking under 
 dispensations from the National Council 
 of the United States of North America, or 
 under regular dispensations from some 
 State, District, or Territory, are duly em 
 powered to establish themselves into a 
 State, District, or Territorial council, and 
 when so established, to form for them 
 selves constitutions and by-laws for their 
 government, in pursuance of, and in con 
 sonance with the Constitution of the 
 National Council of the United States ; 
 provided, however, that all State, District, 
 or Territorial constitutions shall be subject 
 to the approval of the National Council of 
 the United States. (June, 1854.) 
 
 Rule 2. All State, District, or Terri 
 torial councils, when established, shall 
 have full power and authority to establish 
 all subordinate councils within their re 
 spective limits ; and the constitutions and 
 by-laws of all such subordinate councils 
 must be approved by their respective State, 
 District, or Territorial councils. (June, 
 1854.) 
 
 Rule 3. All State, District, or Terri 
 torial councils, when established and until 
 the formation of constitutions, shall work 
 under the constitution of the National 
 Council of the United States. (June, 
 1854.) 
 
 Rule 4. In all cases where, for the con 
 venience of the organization, two State or 
 Territorial councils may be established, 
 the two councils together shall be entitled 
 to but thirteen delegates* in the National 
 
 *NoTE. See Constitution, Art. 3, Sec. 4, p. 5. 
 
 Council of the United States the propor 
 tioned number of delegates to depend on 
 the number of members in the organiza 
 tions ; provided, that no State shall be al 
 lowed to have more than one State coun 
 cil, without the consent of the National 
 Council of the United States. (June, 
 1854.) 
 
 Rule 5. In any State, District, or Ter 
 ritory, where there may be more than one 
 organization working on the same basis, 
 (to wit, the lodges and "councils,") the 
 same shall be required to combine; the 
 officers of each organization shall resign 
 and new officers be elected ; and thereafter 
 these bodies shall be known as State coun 
 cils, and subordinate councils, and new 
 charters shall be granted to them by the 
 national council. (June, 1854.) 
 
 Rule 6. It shall be considered a penal 
 offence for any brother not an officer of a 
 subordinate council, to make use of the 
 sign or summons adopted for public noti 
 fication, except by direction of the Presi 
 dent; or for officers of a council to post 
 the same at any other time than from mid 
 night to one hour before daybreak, and 
 this rule shall be incorporated into the by 
 laws of the State, District, and Territorial 
 councils. (June, 1854.) 
 
 Rule 7. The determination of the neces 
 sity and mode of issuing the posters for 
 public notification shall be intrusted to the 
 State, District, or Territorial councils. 
 (June, 1854.) 
 
 Rule 8. The respective State, District, 
 or Territorial councils shall be required to 
 make statements of the number of mem 
 bers within their respective limits, at the 
 next meeting of this national council, and 
 annually thereafter, at the regular annual 
 meeting. (June, 1854.) 
 
 Rule 9. The delegates to the National 
 Council of the United States of North 
 America shall be entitled to three dollars 
 per day for their attendance upon the 
 national council, and for each day that 
 may be necessary in going and returning 
 from the same ; and five cents per mile for 
 every mile they may necessarily travel in 
 going to, and returning from the place of 
 meeting of the national council; to be 
 computed by the nearest mail route : which 
 shall be paid out of the treasury of the 
 national council. (November, 1854.) 
 
 Rule 10. Each State, District, or Terri 
 torial council shall be taxed four cents per 
 annum for every member in good standing 
 belonging to each subordinate council un 
 der its jurisdiction on the first day of 
 April, which shall be reported to the na 
 tional council, and paid into the national 
 treasury, on or before the first day of the 
 annual session, t.o be held in June ; and on 
 the same day in each succeeding year. 
 And the first fiscal year shall be considered 
 as commencing on the first day of Decem- 
 
60 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 ber, 1854, and ending on the fifteenth day 
 of May, 1855. (November, 1854.) 
 
 Eule 11. The following shall be the 
 key to determine and ascertain the pur 
 port of any communication that may be 
 addressed to the President of a State, Dis 
 trict, or Territorial council by the Presi 
 dent of the national council, who is hereby 
 instructed to communicate a knowledge of 
 the same to said officers : 
 
 ABCDEFGHI JKLM 
 1 7 13 19 25 2 8 14 20 26 3 9 15 
 NOPQRSTUVWXYZ 
 21 4 10 16 22 5 11 17 23 6 12 18 24 
 
 Rule 12. The clause of the article of 
 the constitution relative to belief in the 
 Supreme Being is obligatory upon every 
 State and subordinate council, as well as 
 upon each individual member. (June, 
 1854.) 
 
 Rule 13. The following shall be the 
 compensation of the officers of this coun 
 cil: 
 
 1st. The Corresponding Secretary shall 
 be paid two thousand dollars per annum, 
 from the 17th day of June, 1854. 
 
 2d. The Treasurer shall be paid five 
 hundred dollars per annum, from the 17th 
 day of June, 1854. 
 
 3d. The Sentinels shall be paid five dol 
 lars for every day they may be in attend 
 ance on the sittings of the national coun 
 cil. 
 
 4th. The Chaplain shall be paid one 
 hundred dollars per annum, from the 17th 
 day of June, 1854. 
 
 5th. The Recording Secretary shall be 
 paid five hundred dollars per annum, from 
 the 17th day of June, 1854. 
 
 6th. The Assistant Secretary shall be 
 paid five dollars per day, for every day he 
 may be in attendance on the sitting of the 
 national council. All of which is to be 
 paid out of the national treasury, on the 
 draft of the President. (November, 1854.) 
 
 SPECIAL VOTING. 
 
 Vote 1st. This national council hereby 
 grants to the State of Virginia two State 
 councils, the one to be located in Eastern 
 and the other in Western Virginia, the 
 Blue Ridge Mountains being the geo 
 graphical line between the two jurisdic 
 tions. (June, 1854.) 
 
 Vote 2d. The President shall have 
 power, till the next session of the national 
 council, to grant dispensations for the for 
 mation of State, District, or Territorial 
 councils, in form most agreeable to his 
 own discretion, upon proper application 
 being made. (June, 1854.) 
 
 Vote 3d. The seats of all delegates to 
 and members of the present national coun 
 cil shall be vacated on the first Tuesday in 
 June, 1855, at the hour of six o'clock in 
 the forenoon; and the national council 
 
 convening in annual session upon that 
 day, shall be composed exclusively of del 
 egates elected under and in accordance 
 | with the provisions of the constitution, as 
 amended at the present session of this 
 I national council ; provided, that this reso 
 lution shall not apply to the officers of the 
 national council. (November, 1854.) 
 
 Vote 4th. The Corresponding Secretary 
 of this council is authorized to have print 
 ed the names of the delegates to this 
 national council ; also, those of the Presi 
 dents of the several State, District, and 
 Territorial councils, together with their 
 address, and to forward a copy of the 
 same to each person named ; and further, 
 the Corresponding Secretaries of each 
 State, District, and Territory are requested 
 to forward a copy of their several con 
 stitutions to each other. (November, 
 1854.) 
 
 Vote 5th. In the publication of the 
 constitution and the ritual, under the di 
 rection of the committee brothers Desh- 
 ler, Damrell, and Stephens the name, 
 signs, grips, and passwords of the order 
 shall be indicated by [***], and a copy 
 of the same shall be furnished to each 
 State, District, and Territorial council, and 
 to each member of that body. (Novem 
 ber, 1854.) 
 
 Vote 6th. A copy of the constitution of 
 each State, District, and Territorial coun 
 cil, shall be submitted to this council for 
 examination. (November, 1854.) 
 
 Vote 7th. It shall be the duty of the 
 Treasurer, at each annual meeting of this 
 body, to make a report of all moneys re 
 ceived or expended in the interval. (No 
 vember, 1854.) 
 
 Vote 8th. Messrs. Gifford of Pa., Bar 
 ker of N. Y., Deshler of N. J., Williamson 
 of Va., and Stephens of Md., are appointed 
 a committee to confer with similar commit 
 tees that have been appointed for the pur 
 pose of consolidating the various American 
 orders, with power to make the necessary 
 arrangement for such consolidation sub 
 ject to the approval of this national coun 
 cil, at its next session. (November, 1854.) 
 
 Vote 9th. On receipt of the new ritual 
 by the members of this national council 
 who have received the third degree, they 
 or any of them may, and they are hereby 
 empowered to, confer the third degree upon 
 members of this body in their respective 
 states, districts, and territories, and upon 
 the presidents and other officers of their 
 state, district, and territorial councils. 
 And further, the presidents of the state, 
 district, and territorial councils shall in 
 the first instance confer the third degree 
 upon as many of the presidents and officers 
 of their subordinate councils as can be as 
 sembled together in their respective local 
 ities ; and afterwards the same may be con 
 ferred upon officers of other subordinate 
 
THE AMERICAN RITUAL. 
 
 61 
 
 councils, by any presiding officer of a coun 
 cil who shall have previously received it 
 under the provisions of the constitution. 
 (November, 1854.) 
 
 Vote 10th. To entitle any delegate to a 
 seat in this national council, at its annual 
 session in June next, he must present a 
 properly authenticated certificate that he 
 was duly elected as a delegate to the same, 
 or appointed a substitute in accordance 
 with the requirements of the constitutions 
 of state, territorial, or district councils. 
 And no delegate shall be received from 
 any state, district, or territorial council 
 which has not adopted the constitution and 
 ritual of this national council. (November, 
 1854.) 
 
 Vote llth. The committee on printing 
 the constitution and ritual is authorized to 
 have a sufficient number of the same print 
 ed for the use of the order. And no state, 
 district, or territorial council shall be al 
 lowed to reprint the same. (November, 
 1854.) 
 
 Vote 12th. The right to establish all 
 subordinate councils in any of the states, 
 districts, and territories represented in this 
 national council, shall be confined to the 
 state, district, and territorial councils 
 which they represent. (November, 1854.) 
 
 CONSTITUTION FOB THE GOVERNMENT OF 
 SUBORDINATE COUNCILS. 
 
 Art. I. Sec. 1. Each subordinate coun 
 cil shall be composed of not less than thir 
 teen members, all of whom shall have re 
 ceived all the degrees of the order, and 
 
 shall be known and recognised as 
 
 Council, No. , of the of the 
 
 county of , and State of North Caro 
 lina. 
 
 Sec. 2. No person shall be a member of 
 any subordinate council in this state, un 
 less he possesses all the qualifications, and 
 comes up to all the requirements laid down 
 in the constitution of the national council, 
 and whose wife (if he has one), is not a 
 Roman Catholic. 
 
 Sec. 3. No application for membership 
 shall be received and acted on from a per 
 son residing out of the state, or resides in 
 a county where there is a council in ex 
 istence, unless upon special cause to be 
 stated to the council, to be judged of by 
 the same ; and such person, if the reasons 
 be considered sufficient, may be initiated 
 the same night he is proposed, provided he 
 resides five miles or more from the place 
 where the council is located. But no per 
 son can vote in any council, except the one 
 of which he is a member. 
 
 Sec. 4. Every person applying for mem 
 bership, shall be voted for* by ballot, in 
 open council, if a ballot is requested by a 
 single member. If one-third of the votes 
 cast be against the applicant, he shall be 
 rejected. If any applicant be rejected, he 
 
 shall not be again proposed within six 
 months thereafter. Nothing herein con 
 tained shall be construed to prevent the 
 initiation of applicants privately, by those 
 empowered to do so, in localities where 
 there are no councils within a convenient 
 distance. 
 
 Sec. 5. Any member of one subordinate 
 council wishing to change his membership 
 to another council, shall apply to the coun 
 cil to which he belongs, either in writing 
 or orally through another member, and the 
 question shall be decided by the council. 
 If a majority are in favor of granting him 
 an honorable dismission, he shall receive 
 the same in writing, to be signed by the 
 
 E'.dent and countersigned by the secre- 
 But until a member thus receiving 
 onorable dismission has actually been 
 admitted to membership in another coun 
 cil, he shall be held subject to the disci 
 pline of the council from which he has re 
 ceived the dismission, to be dealt with by 
 the same, for any violation of the require 
 ments of the order. Before being received 
 in the council to which he wishes to trans 
 fer his membership, he shall present said 
 certificate of honorable dismission, and 
 shall be received as new members are. 
 
 Sec. 6. Applications for the second de 
 gree shall not be received except in second 
 degree councils, and voted on by second 
 and third degree members only, and ap 
 plications for the third degree shall be 
 received in third degree councils, and 
 voted on by third degree members only. 
 
 Art. II. Each subordinate council shall 
 fix on its own time and place for meeting: 
 and shall meet at least once a month, but 
 where not very inconvenient, it is recom 
 mended that they meet once a week. Thir 
 teen members shall form a quorum for 
 the transaction of business. Special meet 
 ings may be called by the president at any 
 time, at the request of four members of the 
 order. 
 
 Art. III. Sec. 1. The members of each 
 subordinate council shall consist of a pre 
 sident, vice-president, instructor, secre 
 tary, treasurer, marshal, inside and outside 
 sentinel, and shall hold their offices for the 
 term of six months, br until their succes 
 sors are elected and installed. 
 
 Sec. 2. The officers of each subordinate 
 council (except the sentinels, who shall be 
 appointed by the president), shall be elect 
 ed at the first regular meetings in January 
 and July, separately, and by ballot ; and 
 each shall receive a majority of all the 
 votes cast to entitle him to an election. 
 No member shall be elected to any office, 
 unless he be present and signify his assent 
 thereto at the time of his election. Any 
 vacancy which may occur by death, resig 
 nation, or otherwise, shall be filled at the 
 next meeting thereafter, in the manner 
 and form above described. 
 
62 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Sec. 3. The President. It sh'all be the 
 duty of the president of each subordinate 
 council, to preside in the council, and en 
 force a due observance of the constitution 
 and rules of the order, and a proper respect 
 for the state council and the national coun 
 cil ; to have sole and exclusive charge of 
 the charter and the constitution and ritual 
 of the order, which he must always have 
 with him when his council is in session, to 
 see that all officers perform their respec 
 tive duties ; to announce all ballotings to 
 the council ; to decide all questions of 
 order ; to give the casting vote in all cases 
 of a tie ; to convene special meetings when 
 deemed expedient; to draw warrants on 
 the treasurer for all sums, the payment of 
 which is ordered by the council ; and to 
 perform such other duties as are demanded 
 of him by the constitutions and ritual of 
 the order. 
 
 Sec, 4. The vice-president of each sub 
 ordinate council shall assist the president 
 in the discharge of his duties, whilst his 
 council is in session ; and, in his absence, 
 shall perform all the duties of the presi 
 dent. 
 
 Sec. 5. The instructor shall perform the 
 duties of the president in the absence of 
 the president and vice-president, and shall, 
 under the direction of the president, per 
 form such duties as may be assigned to 
 him by the ritual. 
 
 Sec. 6. The secretary shall keep an ac 
 curate record of the proceedings of the 
 council. He shall write all communica 
 tions, fill all notices, attest all warrants 
 drawn by the president for the payment of 
 money ; he shall keep a correct roll of all 
 the members of the council, together with 
 their age, residence, and occupation, in 
 the order in which they have been admit 
 ted ; he shall, at the expiration of every 
 three months, make out a report of all work 
 done during that time, which report he 
 shall forward to the secretary of the state 
 council ; and when superseded in his office 
 shall deliver all books, papers, &c., in his 
 hands to his successor. 
 
 Sec. 7. The treasurer shall hold all mo 
 neys raised exclusively for the use of the 
 state council, which he shall pay over to 
 the secretary of the state council at its 
 regular sessions, or whenever called upon 
 by the president of the state council. He 
 shall receive all moneys for the use of the 
 subordinate council, and pay all amounts 
 drawn for on him, by the president of the 
 subordinate council, if attested by the se 
 cretary. 
 
 Sec. 8. The marshal shall perform 
 such duties, under the direction of the 
 president, as may be required of him by 
 the ritual. 
 
 Sec. 9. The inside sentinel shall have 
 charge of the inner door, and act under 
 the directions of the president. He shall 
 
 admit no person, unless he can prove him 
 self a member of this order, and of the 
 same degree in which the council is opened, 
 or by order of the president, or is satisfac 
 torily vouched for. 
 
 Sec. 10. The outside sentinel shall h*fe 
 charge of the outer door, and act in ac 
 cordance with the orders of the president. 
 He shall permit no person to enter the 
 outer door unless he give the password of 
 the degree in which the council is at work, 
 or is properly vouched for. 
 
 Sec. 11. The secretary, treasurer, and 
 sentinels, shall receive such compensation 
 as the subordinate councils may each con 
 clude to allow. 
 
 Sec. 12. Each subordinate council may 
 levy its own fees for initiation, to raise a 
 fund to pay its dues to the state council, 
 and to defray its own expenses. Each 
 council may, also, at its discretion, initiate 
 without charging the usual fee, these it 
 considers unable to pay the sr.me. 
 
 Sec. 13. The president shall keep in his 
 possession the constitution and ritual of 
 the order. He shall not suffer the same 
 to go out of his possession under any pre 
 tence whatever, unless in case of absence, 
 when he may put them in the hands of 
 the vice-president or instructor, or whilst 
 the council is in session, for the informa 
 tion of a member wishing to see it, for 
 the purpose of initiation, or conferring of 
 degrees. 
 
 Art. IV. Each subordinate council shall 
 have power to adopt such by-laws, rules, 
 and regulations, for its own government, 
 as it may think proper, not inconsistent 
 with the constitutions of the national and 
 state councils. 
 
 FORM OF APPLICATION FOR A CHARTER 
 TO ORGANIZE A NEW COUNCIL. 
 
 Post Office county, 
 
 Date . 
 
 To 
 
 President of the State Council of North 
 Carolina : 
 
 We, the undersigned, members of the 
 Third Degree, being desirous of extending 
 the influence and usefulness of our organi 
 zation, do hereby ask for a warrant of dis 
 pensation, instituting and organizing us as 
 a subordinate branch of the order, under 
 the jurisdiction of the State Council of the 
 State of North Carolina, to be known and 
 
 hailed as Council No. 
 
 and to be lo 
 
 cated at , in the county of , State 
 
 of North Carolina. 
 
 And we do hereby pledge ourselves to 
 be governed by the Constitution of the 
 State Council of the State of North Caro 
 lina, and of the Grand Council of the U. 
 S. N. A., and that we will in all things con 
 form to the rules and usages of the order. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Residences. 
 
THE AMERICAN RITUAL. 
 
 63 
 
 FORM OF DISMISSION FROM ONE COUNCIL 
 TO ANOTHER. 
 
 This is to certify that Brother , a 
 
 member of Council, No. , having 
 
 made an application to change his mem 
 bership from this council to that of 
 
 Council, No. , at , in the county 
 
 of , I do hereby declare, that said 
 
 brother has received an honorable dismis 
 sion from this council, and is hereby re 
 commended for membership in Coun 
 cil, No. , in the county of , N. C. ; 
 
 provided, however, that until Brother 
 
 has been admitted to membership in said 
 council, he is to be considered subject to 
 the discipline of this council, to be dealt 
 with by the same for any violation of the 
 
 requirements of the order. This the 
 
 day of , 185 , and the year of 
 
 American Independence. 
 
 President, Council, 
 
 No. . 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 FORM OF CERTIFICATE FOR DELEGATES TO 
 THE STATE COUNCIL. 
 
 Council, No. , 
 
 county of , N. C. 
 
 This is to certify that and were 
 
 at the regular meeting of this council, held 
 
 on the , 185 , duly elected delegates 
 
 to represent this council in the next an 
 nual meeting of the state council, to be 
 held in , on the 3d Monday in Novem 
 ber next. And by virtue of the authority 
 in me reposed, I do hereby declare the 
 
 said and to be invested with all 
 
 the rights, powers, and privileges of the 
 delegates as aforesaid. This being the 
 
 day of , 185 , and the year 
 
 of our national independence. 
 
 President of 
 
 Council, No. 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 FORM OF NOTICE 
 
 From the Siihordirtate Council to the State Council, whenever 
 any Member of a Subordinate Council is excelled. 
 
 Council, No. , 
 
 county of , N. C. 
 
 To the President of the State Council of 
 North Carolina : 
 
 Sir : This is to inform you that at a 
 
 meeting of this council, held on the 
 
 day of , 185 , was duly ex 
 pelled from membership in said council, 
 and thus deprived of all the privileges, 
 rights, and benefits of this organization. 
 
 In accordance with the provisions of the 
 constitution of the state council, you are 
 hereby duly notified of the same, that you 
 may officially notify all the subordinate 
 councils of the state to be upon their guard 
 
 against the said , as one unworthy to 
 
 associate with patriotic and good men, and 
 (if expelled for violating his obligation] as 
 a perjurer to God and his country. The 
 
 said is about years of age, and 
 
 is by livelihood a 
 
 Duly certified, this the day of 
 
 185 , and in the year of our national 
 
 independence. 
 
 President of 
 
 Council, No. . 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 FIRST DEGREE COUNCIL. 
 
 To be admitted to membership in this 
 order, the applicant shall be 
 
 1st. Proposed and found acceptable. 
 
 2nd. Introduced and examined under 
 the guarantee of secrecy. 
 
 3rd. Placed under the obligation which 
 the order imposes. 
 
 4th. Required to enrol his name and 
 place of residence. 
 
 5th. Instructed in the forms and usages 
 and ceremonies of the order. 
 
 6th. Solemnly charged as to the objects 
 to be obtained, and his duties. 
 
 [A recommendation of a candidate to 
 this order shall be received only from a 
 brother of approved integrity. It shall be 
 accompanied by minute particulars as to 
 name, age, calling, and residence, and by 
 an explicit voucher for his qualifications, 
 and a personal pledge for Ir.s fidelity. 
 These particulars shall be recorded by the 
 secretary in a book kept for that purpose. 
 The recommendation may be referred, and 
 the ballot taken at such time and in such a 
 manner as the state council may prescribe ; 
 but no communication shall be made to the 
 candidate until the ballot has been declared 
 in his favor. Candidates shall be received 
 in the ante-room by the marshal and sec 
 retary.] 
 
 OUTSIDE. 
 
 Marshal. Do you believe in a Supreme 
 Being, the Creator and Preserver of the 
 universe? 
 
 Ans. I do. 
 
 Marshal. Before proceeding further, we 
 require a solemn obligation of secrecy and 
 truth. If you will take such an obligation, 
 you will lay your right hand upon the Holy 
 Bible and cross. 
 
 (When it is known that the applicant is 
 a Protestant, the cross may be omitted, or 
 affirmation may be allowed.) 
 
 OBLIGATION. 
 
 You do solemnly swear (or affirm) that 
 you will never reveal anything said or done 
 in this room, the names of any persons 
 present, nor the existence of this society, 
 whether found worthy to proceed or not, 
 and that all your declarations shall be true, 
 so help you God? 
 
 Jws. "Ido." 
 
 Marshal. Where were you born ? 
 
 Marshal. Where is your permanent 
 residence ? 
 
64 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 (If born out of the jurisdiction of the 
 United States, the answer shall be written, 
 the candidate dismissed with an admonition 
 of secrecy, and the brother vouching for 
 him suspended from all the privileges of 
 the order, unless upon satisfactory proof 
 that he has been misinformed.) 
 
 Marshal. Are you twenty-one years of 
 
 Ans. " I am." 
 
 Marshal. Were you born of Protestant 
 parents, or were you reared under Protes 
 tant influence ? 
 
 Ans. "Yes." 
 
 Marshal. If married, is your wife a Ko- 
 man Catholic ? 
 
 ("No" or "Yes" the answer to be 
 valued as the Constitution of the State 
 Council shall provide.) 
 
 Marshal. Afe you willing to use your 
 influence and vote only for native-born 
 American citizens for all offices of honor, 
 trust, or profit in the gift of the people, to 
 the exclusion of all foreigners and aliens, 
 and Roman Catholics in particular, and 
 without regard to party predilections ? 
 
 Ans. " I am." 
 
 INSIDE. 
 
 (The marshal shall then repair to the 
 council in session, and present the written 
 list of names, vouchers, and answers to the 
 president, who shall cause them to be read 
 aloud, and a vote of the council to be taken 
 on each name, in such manner as pre 
 scribed by its by-laws. If doubts arise in 
 the ante-room, they shall be referred to the 
 council. If a candidate be dismissed, he 
 shall be admonished to secrecy. The 
 candidates declared elected shall be con 
 ducted to seats within the council, apart 
 from the brethren. When all are present 
 the president by one blow of the gavel, 
 shall call to order and say :) 
 
 President. Brother marshal, introduce 
 the candidates to the vice-president. 
 
 Marshal. Worthy Vice-President, I pre 
 sent to you these candidates, who have duly 
 answered all questions. 
 
 Vice-President, rising in his place. Gen 
 tlemen, it is my office to welcome you as 
 friends. When you shall have assumed 
 the patriotic vow by which we are all bound, 
 we will embrace you as brothers. I am 
 authorized to declare that our obligations 
 enjoin nothing which is inconsistent with 
 the duty which every good man owes to 
 his Creator, his country, his family, or 
 himself. We do not compel you, against 
 your convictions, to act with us in our 
 good work ; but should you at any time 
 wish to withdraw, it will be our duty to 
 grant you a dismissal in good faith. If 
 satisfied with this assurance, you will rise 
 upon your feet (pausing till they do so], 
 place the left hand upon the breast, and 
 raise the right hand towards heaven. 
 
 (The brethren to remain seated till called 
 up.) 
 
 OBLIGATION. 
 
 In the presence of Almighty God and 
 these witnesses, you do solemnly promise 
 and swear, that you will never betray any 
 of the secrets of this society, nor commu 
 nicate them even to proper candidates, ex 
 cept within a lawful council of the order ; 
 that you never will permit any of the 
 secrets of this society to be written, or in 
 any other manner made legible, except for 
 the purpose of official instruction ; that 
 you will not vote, nor give your influence 
 for any man for any office in the gift of the 
 people, unless he be an American born 
 citizen, in favor of Americans ruling 
 America, nor if he be a Roman Catholic; 
 that you will in all political matters, so 
 far as this order is concerned, comply with 
 the will of the majority, though it may 
 conflict with your personal preference, so 
 long as it does not conflict with the Con 
 stitution of the United States of America, 
 or that of the state in which you reside ; 
 that you will not, under any circumstances 
 whatever, knowingly 'recommend an un 
 worthy person for initiation, nor suffer it 
 to be done, if in your power to prevent it ; 
 that you will not, under any circumstances, 
 expose the name of any member of this 
 order, nor reveal the existence of such an 
 association ; that you will answer an impe 
 rative notice issued by the proper authori 
 ty ; obey the command of the state council, 
 president, or his deputy, while assembled 
 by such notice, and respond to the claim 
 of a sign or cry of the order, unless it be 
 physically impossible ; and that you will 
 
 acknowledge the State Council of 
 
 as the legislative head, the ruling authori 
 ty, and the supreme tribunal of the order 
 
 in the state of , acting under the 
 
 jurisdiction of the National Council of the 
 United States of North America. 
 
 Binding yourself in the penalty of ex 
 communication from the order, the forfei 
 ture of all intercourse with its members, 
 and being denounced in all the societies of 
 the same, as a wilful traitor to your God 
 and your country. 
 
 (The president shall call up every per 
 son present, by three blows of the gavel, 
 when the candidates shall all repeat after 
 the vice-president in concert:) 
 
 All this I voluntarily and sincerely 
 promise, with a full understanding of the 
 solemn sanctions and penalties. 
 
 Vice- President. You have now taken 
 solemn oaths, and made as sacred promises 
 as man can make, that you will keep all 
 our secrets inviolate ; and we wish you dis 
 tinctly to understand that he that takes 
 these oaths and makes these promises, and 
 then violates them, leaves the foul, the 
 deep and blighting stain of perjury resting 
 on his soul. 
 
THE AMERICAN RITUAL. 
 
 65 
 
 President. (Having seated all by one 
 blow of the gavel.) Brother Instructor, 
 these new brothers having complied with 
 the demand of the order, are entitled to the 
 secrets and privileges of the same. You 
 will, therefore, invest them with every 
 thing appertaining to the first degree. 
 
 Instructor. Brothers : the practices and 
 proceedings in our order are as follows : 
 
 We have pass- words necessary to be used 
 (to obtain admission to our councils ; forms 
 (for our conduct while there ; means of re 
 cognizing each other when abroad ; means 
 of mutual protection; and methods for 
 giving notices to members. 
 
 At the outer door you will* (make any 
 ordinary alarm to attract the attention of 
 the outside sentinel). 
 
 When the wicket is opened you will 
 pronounce the (words what's the pass), in 
 a whisper. The outside sentinel will re 
 ply ( Give it], when you will give the term 
 pass-word and be admitted to the ante 
 room. You will then proceed to the inner 
 door and give (one rap). When the 
 wicket is opened, give your name, the 
 number of, and location of your council, 
 the explanation of the term pass, and the 
 degree pass-word. 
 
 If these be found correct, you will be 
 admitted ; if not, your name will be re 
 ported to the vice president, and must be 
 properly vouched for before you can gain 
 admission to the council. You will then 
 proceed to the centre of the room and ad 
 dress the (President] with the countersign, 
 which is performed thus (placing the right 
 hand diagonally across the mouth}. When 
 this salutation is recognized, you will 
 quietly take your seat. 
 
 This sign is peculiar to this degree, and 
 is never to be used outside the council 
 room, nor during the conferring of this 
 degree. When retiring, you will address 
 the ( Vice President] in the same manner, 
 and also give the degree pass-word to the 
 inside sentinel. 
 
 The " term pass-word " is ( We are]. 
 
 (The pass-word and explanation is to be 
 established by each State Council for its 
 respective subordinates.) 
 
 The " explanation " of the " term-pass," 
 to be used at the inner door, is (our 
 country's hope.} 
 
 The "degree pass-word " is (Native}. 
 
 The "traveling pass-word" is (The 
 memory of our pilgrim fathers}. 
 
 (This word is changed annually by the 
 
 * Tn the Ritual the words in parentheses are omitted. 
 In the key to the Ritual, they are written in figures 
 the alphabet used being the same as printed below. So 
 throughout. 
 
 Key to Unlock Communications. 
 
 ABCDEFGHIJKLM 
 
 1 7 13 19 25 2 8 14 20 26 3 9 15 
 NOPQBSTUVWXTZ 
 
 21 
 
 4 10 16 22 5 11 17 23 6 12 18 
 
 5 
 
 President of the National Council of the 
 United States, and is to be made and used 
 only when the brother is traveling beyond 
 the jurisdiction of his own state, district, 
 or territory. It and all other pass-words 
 must be communicated in a whisper, and 
 no brother is entitled to communicate 
 them to another, without authority from 
 the presiding officer.) 
 
 " The sign of recognition " is (grasping 
 the right lappel of the coat with the right 
 hand, the fore finger being extended in 
 wards.} 
 
 The "answer" is given by (a similar 
 action with the left hand.] 
 
 The "grip" is given by (an ordinary 
 shake of the hand). 
 
 The person challenging shall (then draw 
 the fore finger along the palm of the hand]. 
 The answer will be given by (a similar ac 
 tion forming a link by hooking together the 
 ends of the fore finger] ; when the follow 
 ing conversation ensues the challenging 
 party first saying (is that yours?) The 
 answer, (it is.) Then the response (how 
 did you get it?), followed by the rejoinder 
 (it is my birth-right). 
 
 Public notice for a meeting is given by 
 means of a (piece of white paper the shape 
 of a heart). 
 
 (In cities * the *** of the *** where the 
 meeting is to be held, will be written legi 
 bly upon the notice ; and upon the election 
 day said *** will denote the *** where 
 your presence is needed. This notice will 
 never be passed, but will be *** or thrown 
 upon the sidewalk with a *** in the 
 centre.) 
 
 If information is wanting of the object 
 of the gathering, or of the place, &c., the 
 inquirer will ask of an undoubted brother 
 (where' s when ?) The brother will give the 
 information if possessed of it ; if not it will 
 be yours and his duty to continue the in 
 quiry, and thus disseminate the call 
 throughout the brotherhood. 
 
 If the color of the paper (be red), it will 
 denote actual trouble, which requires that 
 you come prepared to meet it. 
 
 The " cry of distress " to be used only 
 in time of danger, or where the American 
 interest requires an immediate assemblage 
 of the brethren is (oh, oh, oh.) The re 
 sponse is (hio, hio, h-i-o.) 
 
 The "sign of caution" to be given 
 when a brother is speaking unguardedly 
 before a stranger is (drawing the fore fing 
 er and thumb together across the eyes, the 
 rest of the hand being closed], which sig 
 nifies " keep dark." 
 
 Brothers, you are now initiated into and 
 made acquainted with the work and or 
 ganization of a council of this degree of 
 the order ; and the marshal will present 
 
 * Concerning what is said of cities, the key to the 
 Ritual says : " Considered unnecessary to decipher what 
 is said in regard to cities." 
 
66 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 you to the worthy 
 tion. 
 
 president for admoni- 
 
 President. It has no doubt, been long 
 apparent to you, brothers, that foreign in- 
 
 of this or any other council to which you 
 may be attached, so long as they do not 
 conflict with the Constitution of the United 
 States, nor that of the State in which you 
 
 fluence and Roman Catholicism have been reside ; that you will under all crcum- 
 rnaking steady and alarming progress in j stances, if in your power so to do, attend 
 our country. You cannot have failed to I to all regular signs or summons that may 
 observe the significant transition of the | be thrown or sent to you by a brother of 
 
 foreigner and Romanist from a character 
 quiet, retiring, and even abject, to one 
 bold, threatening, turbulent, and despotic 
 in its appearance and assumptions. You 
 must have become alarmed at the 
 matic and rapidly augmenting power of 
 these dangerous and unnatural elements of 
 our national condition. So it is, brothers, 
 with others beside yourselves in every 
 state of the Union. A sense of danger has 
 struck the great heart of the nation. In 
 every city, town, and hamlet, the danger 
 has been seen and the alarm sounded. 
 And hence true men have devised this or 
 der as a means of disseminating patriotic 
 principles, of keeping alive the fire of na 
 tional virtue, of fostering the national in 
 telligence, and of advancing America and 
 the American interest on the one side, and 
 on the other of checking the strides of the 
 foreigner or alien, or thwarting the ma 
 chinations and subverting the deadly plans 
 of the papist and Jesuit. 
 
 Note. The President shall impress up 
 on the initiates the importance or secrecy, 
 the manner of proceeding in recommend 
 ing candidates for initiation, and the re 
 sponsibility of the duties which they have 
 nssumed. 
 
 SECOND DEGREE COUNCIL. 
 
 Marshal Worthy President: These 
 brothers have been duly elected to the sec 
 ond degree of this order. I present them 
 to you for obligation. 
 
 President. Brothers: You will place 
 your left hand upon your right breast, and 
 extend your right hand towards the flag of 
 our country, preparatory to obligation. 
 (Each council room should have a neat 
 American flag festooned over the platform 
 of the President.) 
 
 OBLIGATION. 
 
 You, and each of you, of your own free 
 will and accord, in the presence of Al 
 mighty God and these witnesses, your left 
 hand resting upon your right breast, and 
 your right hand extended to the flag of 
 your country, do solemnly and sincerely 
 swear, that you will not under any cir 
 cumstances disclose in any manner, nor 
 suffer it to be done by others, if in your 
 power to prevent it, the name, signs, pass 
 words, or other secrets of this degree, ex 
 cept in open council for the purpose of in 
 struction ; that you will in all things con 
 form to all tho rule* ami regulations of this 
 
 this or any other degree of this order ; that 
 you will support in all political matters, for 
 all political offices, members of this order 
 in preference to other persons ; that if it 
 may be done legally, you will, when elect 
 ed or appointed to any official station con 
 ferring on you the power to do so remove 
 all foreigners, aliens, or Roman Catholics 
 from office or place, and that you will in 
 no case appoint such to any office or place 
 in your gift. You do also promise and 
 swear that this and all other obligations 
 which you have previously taken in this 
 order shall ever be kept through life sacred 
 and inviolate. All this you promise and 
 declare, as Americans, to sustain and 
 abide by, without any hesitation or mental 
 reservation whatever. So help you God 
 and keep you steadfast. 
 
 (Each will answer " I do." 
 
 President. Brother Marshal, you will 
 now present the brothers to the instructor 
 for instructions in the second degree of the 
 order. 
 
 Marshal. Brother Instructor, by direc 
 tion of our worthy president, I present 
 these brothers before you that you may in 
 struct them in the secrets and mysteries of 
 the second degree of the order. 
 
 Instructor. Brothers, in this degree we 
 have an entering sign and a countersign. 
 At the outer door proceed (as in the first 
 degree]. At the inner door you will make 
 (two raps], and proceed as in the first de 
 gree, giving the second degree pass-word, 
 which is American, instead of that of the 
 first degree. If found to be correct, you 
 will then be admitted, and proceed (to the 
 centre of the room], giving the countersign, 
 which is made thus (extending the right 
 arm to the national flag over the president, 
 the palm of the hand being upwards}. 
 
 The sign of recognition in this degree is 
 the same as in the first degree, with the 
 addition of (the middle finger], and the re 
 sponse to be made in a (similar manner.} 
 
 Marshal, you will now present the broth 
 ers to the worthy president for admonition. 
 
 Marshal. Worthy President, I now pre 
 sent these candidates to you for admo 
 nition. 
 
 President. Brothers, you are now duly 
 initiated into the second degree of this or 
 der. Renewing the congratulations which 
 we extended to you upon your admission to 
 the first degree, we admonish you by every 
 tie that may nerve patriots, to aid us in 
 our efforts to restore the political institu- 
 
 order, and to the constitution and by-laws 1 tions of our country to their original 
 
THE AMERICAN RITUAL. 
 
 67 
 
 purity. Begin with the youth of our land. 
 Instil into their minds the lessons of our 
 country's history the glorious battles and 
 the brilliant deeds of patriotism of our 
 fathers, through which we received the in 
 estimable blessings of civil and religious 
 liberty. Point them to the example of the 
 sages and the statesmen who founded our 
 government. Implant in their bosoms an 
 ardent love for the Union. Above all else, 
 keep alive in their bosoms the memory, 
 the maxims, and the deathless example of 
 our illustrious WASHINGTON. 
 
 Brothers, recalling to your minds the 
 solemn obligations which you have sever 
 ally taken in this and the first degree, I 
 now pronounce you entitled to all the 
 privileges of membership in this the second 
 degree of our order. 
 
 THIRD DEGREE COUNCIL. 
 
 Marshal. Worthy President, these bro 
 thers having been duly elected to the third 
 degree of this order, I present them before 
 you for obligation. 
 
 President. Brothers, you will place 
 yourselves in a circle around me, each one 
 crossing your arms upon your breasts, and 
 grasping firmly each other's hands, hold 
 ing the right hand of the brother on the 
 right and the left hand of the brother on 
 the left, so as to form a circle, symbolical 
 of the links of an unbroken chain, and of 
 a ring which has no end. 
 
 Note. This degree is to be conferred 
 with the national flag elevated in the cen 
 tre of the circle, by the side of the presi 
 dent or instructor, and not on less than five 
 at any one time, in order to give it solem 
 nity, and also for the formation of the cir 
 cle except in the first instance of confer 
 ring it on the officers of the state and sub 
 ordinate councils, that they may be em 
 powered to progress with the work. 
 
 The obligation and charge in this de 
 gree may be given by the president or in 
 structor, as the president may prefer. 
 
 OBLIGATION. 
 
 You, and each of you, of your own free 
 will and accord, in the presence of Al 
 mighty God and these witnesses, with your 
 hands joined in token of that fraternal af 
 fection which should ever bind together 
 the States of this Union forming a ring, 
 in token of your determination that, so far 
 as your efforts can avail, this Union shall 
 have no end do solemnly and sincerely 
 swear [or affirm] that you will, not under 
 any circumstances disclose in any manner, 
 nor suffer it to be done by others if in your 
 power to prevent it, the name, signs, pass 
 words, or other secrets of this degree, ex 
 cept to those to whom you may prove on 
 trial to be brothers of the same' degree, or 
 
 in open council, for the purpose of instruc 
 tion ; that you do hereby solemnly declare 
 your devotion to the Union of these States ; 
 that in the discharge of your duties as 
 American citizens, you will uphold, main 
 tain, and defend it ; that you will discour 
 age and discountenance any and every at 
 tempt, coming from any and every quarter, 
 which you believe to be designed or calcu 
 lated to destroy or subvert it, or to weaken 
 its bonds ; and that you will use your influ 
 ence, so far as in your power, in endeavor 
 ing to procure an amicable and equitable 
 adjustment of all political discontente or 
 differences which may threaten its injury 
 or overthrow. You further promise and 
 swear [or affirm] that you will not vote for 
 any one to fill any office of honor, profit or 
 trust of a political character, whom you 
 know or believe to be in favor of a disso 
 lution of the Union of these States, or who 
 is endeavoring to produce that result ; that 
 you will vote for and support for all polit 
 ical offices, third or union degree members 
 of this order in preference to all others; that 
 if it may be done consistently with the 
 constitution and laws of the land, you will, 
 when elected or appointed to any official 
 station which may confer on you the power 
 to do so, remove from office or place all 
 persons whom you know or believe to be in 
 favor of a dissolution of the Union, or who 
 are endeavoring to produce that result ; and 
 that you will in no case appoint such per 
 son to any political office or place whatever. 
 All this you promise and swear [or affirm] 
 upon your honor as American citizens and 
 friends of the American Union, to sustain 
 and abide by without any hesitation or 
 mental reservation whatever. You also 
 promise and swear [or affirm] that this and 
 all other obligations which you have pre 
 viously taken in this order, shall ever be 
 kept sacred and inviolate. To all this you 
 pledge your lives, your fortunes, and your 
 sacred honors. So help you God and keep 
 you steadfast. 
 
 (Each one shall answer, " I do.") 
 
 President. Brother Marshal, you will 
 now present the brothers to the instructor 
 for final instruction in this third degree of 
 the order. 
 
 Marshal. Instructor, by direction of our 
 worthy president, I present these brothers 
 before you that you may instruct them in 
 the secrets and mysteries of this the third 
 degree of our order. 
 
 Instructor. Brothers, in this degree as 
 in the second, we have an entering pass 
 word, a degree password, and a token of 
 salutation. At the outer door (make any 
 ordinary alarm. The outside sentinel will 
 say U ; you say ni ; the sentinel will re 
 join on). This will admit you to the inner 
 I door. At the inner door you will make 
 (three) distinct (raps}. Then announce 
 your name, with the number (or name) 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 and location of the council to which you 
 belong, giving the explanation to the pass 
 word, which is (safe}. If found correct, 
 you will then be admitted, when you will 
 proceed to the centre of the room, and 
 placing the (hands on the breast with the 
 fingers interlocked], give the token of salu 
 tation, which is (by bowing to the president). 
 You will then quietly take your seat. 
 ; The sign of recognition is made by the 
 (same action as in the second degree, with 
 the addition of (the third finger), and the 
 response is made by (a similar action with 
 the left hand.) 
 
 (The grip is given by taking hold of the 
 hand in the usual way, and then by slipping 
 the finger around on the top of the thumb ; 
 then extending the little finger and pressing 
 the inside of the wrist. 'The person chal 
 lenging shall say, do you know what that is ? 
 The answer is yes. The challenging party 
 shall say, further, what is it ? The answer 
 is, Union. 
 
 [The instructor will here give the grip of 
 this degree, with explanations, and also the 
 true password of this degree, which is 
 (Union.)] 
 
 CHAKGE. 
 
 To be given by the president. 
 
 Brothers, it is with great pleasure that I 
 congratulate you upon your advancement 
 to the third degree of our order. The re 
 sponsibilities you have now assumed, are 
 more serious and weighty than those which 
 preceded, and are committed to such only 
 as have been tried and found worthy. Our 
 obligations are intended as solemn avowals 
 of our duty to the land that gave us birth ; 
 to the memories of our fathers ; and to the 
 happiness and welfare of our children. 
 Consecrating to your country a spirit un 
 selfish and a fidelity like that which dis 
 tinguished the patriots of the Revolution, 
 you have pledged your aid in cementing 
 the bonds of a Union which we trust will 
 endure for ever. Your deportment since 
 your initiation has attested your devotion 
 to the principles we desire to establish, and 
 hag inspired a confidence in your patriot 
 ism, of which we can give no higher proof 
 than your reception here. 
 
 The dangers which threaten American 
 liberty arise from foes without and from 
 enemies within. The first degree pointed 
 out the source and nature of our most im 
 minent peril, and indicated the first mea 
 sure of safety. The second degree defined 
 the next means by which, in coming time, 
 such assaults may be rendered harmless. 
 The third degree, which you have just re 
 ceived, not only reiterates the lessons of 
 the other two, but it is intended to avoid 
 and provide for a more remote, but no less 
 terrible danger, from domestic enemies to 
 our free institutions. 
 
 Our object is briefly this : to perfect an 
 
 organization modeled after that of the Con 
 stitution of the United States, and coex 
 tensive with the confederacy. Its object 
 and principles, in all matters of national 
 concern, to be uniform and identical whilst 
 in all local matters the component parts 
 shall remain independent and sovereign 
 within their respective limits. 
 
 The great result to be attained the only 
 one which can secure a perfect guarantee 
 as to our future is UNION; permanent, 
 enduring, fraternal UNION ! Allow me, then, 
 to impress upon your minds and memories 
 the touching sentiments of the Father of 
 his Country, in his Farewell Address : 
 
 " The unity of government which consti 
 tutes you one people," says Washington, 
 " is justly dear to you, for it is the main 
 pillar in the edifice of your real independ 
 ence, the support of your tranquillity at 
 home, of your peace abroad, of your safety, 
 your prosperity even that liberty you so 
 justly prize. 
 
 It is of infinite moment that 
 you should properly estimate the immense 
 value of your National Union, to your col 
 lective and individual happiness. You 
 should cherish a cordial, habitual, and im 
 movable attachment to it; accustoming 
 yourselves to think and speak of it, as the 
 palladium of your political safety and pros 
 perity ; watching for its preservation with 
 jealous anxiety; discountenancing what 
 ever may suggest even a suspicion that it 
 can in any event be abandoned ; and in 
 dignantly frowning upon the dawning of 
 every attempt to alienate any portion of 
 our country from the rest, or to enfeeble 
 the sacred ties which now bind together 
 the various parts." 
 
 Let these words of paternal advice and 
 warning, from the greatest man that ever 
 lived, sink deep into your hearts. Cherish 
 them, and teach your children to reverence 
 them, as you cherish and reverence the 
 memory of Washington himself. The 
 Union of these states is the great conserva 
 tor of that liberty so dear to the American 
 heart. Without it, our greatness as a na 
 tion would disappear, and our boasted self- 
 government prove a signal failure. The 
 very name of liberty, and the hopes of 
 struggling freedom throughout the world, 
 must perish in the wreck of this Union. 
 Devote yourselves, then, to its maintenance, 
 as our fathers did to the cause of independ 
 ence; consecrating to its support, as you 
 have sworn to do, your lives, your fortunes, 
 and your sacred honors. 
 
 Brothers : Recalling to your minds the 
 solemn obligations which you have sever 
 ally taken in this and the preceding degrees, 
 I now pronounce you entitled to all the 
 privileges of membership in this organiza 
 tion, and take pleasure in informing you 
 that you are now members of the order of 
 (the American Union.) 
 
POLITICAL NOMINATIONS IN 1856. 
 
 69 
 
 American, "Whig, Republican and Demo 
 cratic Nominations of 1856. 
 
 The American convention met the next 
 day after the session of the National Coun 
 cil of the Order, on the 22d February, 
 1856. It was composed of 227 delegates ; 
 all the States being represented except 
 Maine, Vermont, Georgia and South Car 
 olina. Hon. Millard Fillmore was nom 
 inated for President, and Andrew J. Don- 
 elson for Vice-President. 
 
 The Whig Convention met at Baltimore, 
 September, 17, 1856, and endorsed the 
 nominations made by the American par 
 ty, and in its platform declared that 
 " without adopting or referring to the pe- ! 
 culiar doctrines of the party which has j 
 already selected Mr. Fillmore as a candi- j 
 date" * * * Resolved, that in the j 
 present exigency of political affairs, we 
 are not called upon to discuss the subordi 
 nate questions of the administration in the 
 exercising of the constitutional powers of 
 the government. It is enough to know 
 that civil war is raging, and that the 
 Union is in peril ; and proclaim the con 
 viction that the restoration of Mr. Fill- 
 more to the Presidency will furnish the best 
 if not the only means of restoring peace." 
 
 The first National Convention of the 
 new Republican party met at Philadelphia, 
 June 18, 1856, and nominated John C. 
 Fremont for President, and William L. 
 Dayton for Vice-President. Since the 
 previous Presidential election, a new party 
 consisting of the disaffected former adhe 
 rents of the other parties Native and In 
 dependent Democrats, Abolitionists, and 
 Whigs opposed to slavery had sprung 
 into existence, and was called by its adhe 
 rents and friends, the Republican party. 
 
 This convention of delegates assembled 
 in pursuance of a call addressed to the 
 people of the United States, without regard 
 to past political differences or divisions, 
 who were opposed to the repeal of the 
 Missouri Compromise. To the policy of 
 President Pierce's administration : To the 
 extension of slavery into free territory : In 
 favor of the admission of Kansas as a free 
 State : Of restoring the action of the fed 
 eral government to the principles of Wash 
 ington and Jefferson. 
 
 It adopted a platform, consisting of a set 
 of resolutions, the principal one of which 
 was: "That we deny the authority of 
 Congress, of a territorial legislature, of any 
 individual, or association of individuals, 
 to give legal existence to slavery in any 
 territory of the United States, while the 
 present Constitution shall be maintained." 
 And closed with a resolution : " That we 
 invite the approbation and co-operation of 
 the men of all parties, however different 
 from us in other respects, in support of the 
 principles herein declared ; and believing 
 
 that the spirit of our institutions, as well 
 as the Constitution of our country, guar 
 anties liberty of conscience and equality of 
 rights among citizens, we oppose all legis 
 lation impairing their security." 
 
 The Democratic Convention, met at 
 Cincinnati, in May 1856, and nominated 
 James Buchanan for President, and John 
 C. Breckenridge for Vice-President. It 
 adopted a platform which contained the 
 material portions of all its previous plat 
 forms, and also defined its position on the 
 new issues of the day, and declared (1) that 
 the revenue to be raised should not exceed 
 the actual necessary expenses of the gov 
 ernment, and for the gradual extinction of 
 the public debt; (2) that the Constitution 
 does not confer upon the general govern 
 ment the power to commence and carry on 
 a general system of internal improvements ; 
 (3) for a strict construction of the powers 
 granted by the Constitution to the fedeial 
 government; (4) that Congress has no 
 power to charter a national bank ; (5) that 
 Congress has no power to interfere with 
 slavery in the States and Territories ; the 
 people of which have the exclusive right 
 and power to settle that question for them 
 selves. (6) Opposition to native American 
 ism. 
 
 At the election which followed, in No 
 vember, 1856, the Democratic candidates 
 were elected, though by a popular minority 
 vote, having received 1,838,160 popular 
 votes, and 174 electoral votes, against 
 2,215,768 popular votes, and 122 electoral 
 votes for John C. Fremont, the Republican 
 candidate, and Mr. Fillmore, the Whig and 
 American candidate. 
 
 The aggregate vote cast for Mr. Fillmore, 
 who was the nominee on both the Whig 
 and American tickets, was 874,534, and 
 his electoral vote was eight ; that of the 
 State of Maryland. This was the last na 
 tional election at which the Whigs ap 
 peared as a party, under that name ; they 
 having joined with the American and with 
 the Republican parties, and finally united 
 with the latter after the downfall and ex 
 tinction of the former. In the State elec 
 tions of that year, (1856) the American 
 party carried Rhode Island and Maryland; 
 and in the 35th Congress, which met in 
 December, 1857, the party had 15 to 20 
 Representatives and five Senators. When 
 the 36th Congress met, in 1859, it had be 
 come almost a border State or Southern 
 party, having two Senators; one from 
 Kentucky and one from Maryland; and 
 23 Representatives, five from Kentucky, 
 seven from Tennessee, three from Mary 
 land, one from Virginia, four from North 
 Carolina, two from Georgia, and one from 
 Louisiana. The American party had none 
 of the elements of persistence. It made 
 another desperate effort, however, in the 
 next Presidential campaign, but having 
 
70 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 failed to carry the South, disappeared 
 finally from politics. 
 
 The new Republican party polled a very 
 large vote 1,341,234 out of a total vote of 
 4,058,928 and its candidates received 114 
 votes out of 296, in the electoral college ; 
 having secured majorities in all the free 
 States, except Illinois, Indiana, Pennsyl 
 vania, New Jersey and California. 
 
 The successful candidate, Mr. James 
 Buchanan, was duly inaugurated as Presi 
 dent of the United States, and entered 
 upon the discharge of his duties as such, 
 March 4, 1857. 
 
 After the election of November, 1856, 
 the Republican Association of Washington 
 issued an address to the people, in which 
 the results of the election were examined, 
 and the future policy of the party stated. 
 It is an interesting paper, as laying the 
 foundation of the campaign of 1860, which 
 followed, and is here given in full : 
 
 "Republican Association of Washington. 
 
 Address to the Republicans of the United States. 
 
 " WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 1856. 
 " The Presidential contest is over, and at 
 last we have some materials to enable us 
 to form a judgment of the results. 
 
 " Seldom have two parties emerged from 
 a conflict with less of joy in the victors, 
 more of hope in the vanquished. The 
 pro-slavery party has elected its Presiden 
 tial candidate, only, however, by the votes 
 of a minority, and that of such a character 
 as to stamp the victory as the offspring of 
 sectionalism and temporary causes. The 
 Republicans, wherever able to present 
 clearly to the public the real issue of the 
 canvass slavery restriction or slavery ex- 
 / tension have carried the people with them 
 I by unprecedented majorities; almost break 
 ing up in some States the organization of 
 their adversaries. A sudden gathering to 
 gether of the people, alarmed at the in 
 roads of the slave power, rather than a 
 well organized party, with but a few 
 months to attend to the complicated de 
 tails of party warfare ; obstructed by a se 
 cret Order, which had pre-occupied the 
 field, and obtained a strong hold of the 
 national and religious prejudices of the 
 masses; opposed to an old party, com 
 mencing the canvass with the united sup 
 port of a powerful section, hardened by 
 long party drill, accustomed to victory, 
 wielding the whole power of the federal 
 administration a party which only four 
 years ago carried all but four of the States, 
 and a majority of the popular vote still, 
 under all these adverse circumstances, they 
 have triumphed in eleven, if not twelve of 
 the free States, pre-eminent for enterprise 
 and general intelligence, and containing 
 
 one half of the whole population of the coun 
 try ; given to their Presidential candidate 
 nearly three times as many electoral votes 
 as were cast by the Whig party in 1852 ; and 
 this day control the governments of fourteen 
 of the most powerful States of the Union. 
 
 "Well may our adversaries tremble in 
 the hour of their victory. 'The Demo 
 cratic and Black Republican parties,' they 
 say, 'are nearly balanced in regard to 
 power. The f<5rmer was victorious in the 
 recent struggle, but success was hardly won, 
 with the aid of important accidental ad 
 vantages. The latter has abated nothing 
 of its zeal, and has suffered no pause in its 
 preparations for another battle.' 
 
 Wi* n such numerical force, such zeal, 
 intelligence, and harmony in counsel ; with 
 so many great States, and more than a 
 million voters rallied to their standard by 
 the efforts of a few months, why may not 
 the Republicans confidently expect a vic 
 tory in the next contest? 
 
 The necessity for their organization still 
 exists in all its force. Mr. Buchanan has 
 always proved true to the demands of his 
 party. He fully accepted the Cincinnati 
 platform, and pledged himself to its policy 
 a policy of filibustering abroad, propa- 
 gandism at home. Prominent and controll 
 ing among his supporters are men com 
 mitted, by word and deed, to that policy ; 
 and what is there in his character, his an 
 tecedents, the nature of his northern sup 
 port, to authorize the expectation that he 
 will disregard their will? Nothing will be 
 so likely to restrain him and counteract 
 their extreme measures, as a vigorous and 
 growing Republican organization, as noth 
 ing would be more necessary to save the 
 cause of freedom and the Union, should he, 
 as we have every reason to believe, con 
 tinue the pro-slavery policy of the present 
 incumbent. Let us beware of folding our 
 arms, and waiting to see what he will do. 
 We know the ambition, the necessities, the 
 schemes of the slave power. Its policy ol 
 extension and aggrandizement and univer 
 sal empire, is the law of its being, not an 
 accident is settled, not fluctuating. Covert 
 or open, moderate or extreme, according to 
 circumstances, it never changes in spirit or 
 aim. With Mr. Buchanan, the elect of a 
 party controlled by this policy, administer 
 ing the government, the safety of the 
 country and of free institutions must rest in 
 the organization of the Republican party. 
 
 What, then, is the duty before us? 
 Organization, vigilance, action ; action on 
 the rostrum, through the press, at the bal 
 lot-box ; in state, county, city, and town 
 elections ; everywhere, at all times ; in every 
 election, making Republicanism, or loyal 
 ty to the policy and principles it advocates, 
 the sole political test. No primary or 
 municipal election should be suffered to 
 go by default. The party that would sue- 
 
THE KANSAS STRUGGLE. 
 
 71 
 
 ceed nationally must triumph in states 
 triumph in the state elections, must be 
 prepared by municipal success. 
 
 Next to the remaining power in the 
 states already under their control, let the 
 Republicans devote themselves to the 
 work of disseminating their principles, 
 and initiating the true course of political 
 action in the states which have decided the 
 election against them. This time we have 
 failed, for reasons nearly all of which may be 
 removed by proper effort. Many thousand 
 honest, but not well-informed voters, who 
 supported Mr. Buchanan under the delu 
 sive impression that he would favor the 
 cause of free Kansas will soon learn their 
 mistake, and be anxious to correct it. The 
 timid policy of the Republicans in New 
 Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, in post 
 poning their independent action, and tem 
 porizing with a party got up for purposes 
 not harmonizing with their own, and the 
 conduct of Mr. Fillmore's friends in either 
 voting for Mr. Buchanan, or dividing the 
 opposition by a separate ticket, can hardly 
 be repeated again. The true course of the 
 Republicans is to organize promptly, bold 
 ly, and honestly upon their own principles, 
 so clearly set forth in the Philadelphia 
 platform, and, avoiding coalitions with 
 other parties, appeal directly to the masses 
 of all parties to ignore all organizations 
 and issues which would divert the public 
 mind from the one danger that now threat 
 ens the honor and interests of the country, 
 and the subtlety of the Union slavery 
 propagandises allied with disunionism. 
 
 Let us not forget that it is not the want 
 of generous sentiment, but of sufficient in 
 formation, that prevents the American peo 
 ple from being united in action against the 
 aggressive policy of the slave power. Were 
 these simple questions submitted to-day to 
 the people of the United States : Are you 
 in favor of the extension of slavery ? Are 
 you in favor of such extension by the aid 
 or connivance of the federal government?, 
 And could they be permitted to record their 
 votes in response, without embarrassment, 
 without constraint of any kind, nineteen- 
 twentieths of the people of the free States, 
 and perhaps more than half of the people 
 of the slave States, would return a decided 
 negative to both. 
 
 Let us have faith in the people. Let us 
 believe, that at heart they are hostile to 
 the extension of slavery, desirous that 
 the territories of the Union be consecrated 
 to free labor and free institutions ; and that 
 they require only enlightenment as to the 
 most effectual means of securing this end, 
 to convert their cherished sentiment into a 
 fixed principle of action. 
 
 The times are pregnant with warning. 
 That a disunion party exists in the South, 
 no longer admits of a doubt. It accepts 
 the election of Mr. Buchanan as affording 
 
 time and means to consolidate its strength 
 and mature its plans, which comprehend 
 not only the enslavement of Kansas, and 
 the recognition of slavery in all territory of 
 the United States, but the conversion of 
 the lower half of California into a slave 
 State, the organization of a new slavery 
 territory in the Gadsden purchase, the fu 
 ture annexation of Nicaragua and subju 
 gation of Central America, and the acqui 
 sition of Cuba ; and, as the free States are 
 not expected to submit to all this, ultimate 
 dismemberment of the Union, and the for 
 mation of a great slaveholding confeder 
 acy, with foreign alliances with Brazil and 
 Russia. It may assume at first a moderate 
 tone, to prevent the sudden alienation of its 
 Northern allies ; it may delay the develop 
 ment of its plot, as it did under the Pierce 
 administration ; but the repeal of the Mis 
 souri compromise came at last, and so will 
 come upon the country inevitably the final 
 acts of the dark conspiracy. When that 
 hour shall come, then will the honest Dem 
 ocrats of the free States be driven into our 
 ranks, and the men of the slave States who 
 prefer the republic of Washington, Adams 
 and Jefferson a republic of law, order 
 and liberty to an oligarchy of slavehold 
 ers and slavery propagandists, governed by 
 Wise, Atchison, Soule, and Walker, founded 
 in fraud and violence and seeking aggran 
 dizement by the spoliation of nations, will 
 bid God speed to the labors of the Repub 
 lican party to preserve liberty and the 
 Union, one and inseparable, perpetual and 
 all powerful. 
 
 Washington, D. C., Nov. 27, 1856. 
 
 The Kansas Straggle. 
 
 It was the removal of the interdiction, 
 against slavery, in all the territory north 
 of 36 SO,' by the repeal of the Missouri 
 Compromise 'which gave legality to the 
 struggle for Kansas, and it was the doc 
 trine of popular sovereignty which gave 
 an impartial invitation to both sides to en 
 ter the struggle. The aggressive men of 
 both parties hurried emigrants to the Ter 
 ritory. Each accused the other of organ 
 ized efforts, and soon in the height of the 
 excitement these charges were rather con 
 fessed than denied. 
 
 A new question was soon evolved by the 
 struggle, for some who entered from the 
 South took their slaves with them. The 
 Free State men now contended that sla 
 very was a local institution and confined 
 to the States where it existed, and that if 
 an emigrant passed into the territory with 
 his slaves these became free. The South 
 ern view was, that slaves were recognized 
 as property by the National Constitution ; 
 that therefore their masters had a right to 
 take them there and hold them under con- 
 
72 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 stitutional guarantees, the same as any 
 other property; that to assert anything 
 else would be to deny the equality of the 
 States within their common territory, and 
 degrade them from the rank of equals to 
 that of inferiors. This last proposition 
 had such force that it would doubtless have 
 received more general recognition if the 
 North had not felt that the early compact 
 dedicating the territories north of 36 9 30' 
 to freedom, had been violated. In answer 
 to this proposition they therefore pro 
 claimed in their platforms and speeches, 
 and there was no other logical answer, 
 " that freedom was National, and slavery 
 Sectional." 
 
 We cannot enter upon a full description 
 of the scenes in Kansas, but bloodshed 
 and rapine soon followed the attempts of 
 the opposing parties to get control of its 
 government. What were called the " Bor 
 der Ruffians " by the Free State men, be 
 cause of active and warlike organization 
 in Missouri and upon its borders, in the 
 earlier parts of the struggle, seemed to 
 have the advantage. They were supported 
 by friends near at hand at all times, and 
 warlike raids were frequent. The Free 
 State men had to depend mainly upon 
 New England for supplies in arms and 
 means, but organizations were in turn 
 rapidly completed to meet their calls, and 
 the struggle soon became in the highest 
 degree critical. 
 
 The pro-slavery party sustained the 
 Territorial government appointed by the 
 administration ; the anti-slavery party re 
 pudiated it, because of its presumed com 
 mittal to slavery. The election for mem 
 bers of the Territorial legislature had been 
 attended with much violence and fraud, 
 and it was claimed that these things prop 
 erly annulled any action taken by that 
 body. A distinct and separate convention 
 was called at Topeka to frame a State con 
 stitution, and the Free State men likewise 
 elected their own Governor and Legisla 
 ture to take the place of those appointed 
 by Buchanan, and when the necessary 
 preliminaries were completed, they ap 
 plied for admission into the Union. After 
 a long and bitter struggle Congress decided 
 the question by refusing to admit Kansas 
 under the Topeka Constitution, and by re 
 cognizing the authority of the territorial 
 government. These proceedings took place 
 during the session of 1856-7, which ter 
 minated immediately before the inaugura- 
 ation of President Buchanan. 
 
 At the beginning of Buchanan's admin 
 istration in 1857, the Republicans almost 
 solidly faced the Democrats. There still 
 remained part of the division caused by 
 the American or Know-Nothing party, but 
 its membership in Congress had already 
 been compelled to show at least the ten 
 dency of their sentiments on the great 
 
 question which was now rapidly dividing 
 the two great sections of the Union. The 
 result of the long Congressional struggle 
 over the admission of Kansas and Nebras 
 ka was simply this : " That Congress was 
 neither to legislate slavery into any Terri- 
 :ory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom ; 
 out to leave the people thereof perfectly 
 free to form and regulate their domestic 
 institutions in their own way, subject only 
 to the Constitution of the United States,"* 
 and it was specially prescribed that when 
 the Territory of Kansas shall be admitted 
 as a State, it shall be admitted into the 
 Union with or without slavery as the con 
 stitution adopted should prescribe at the 
 time of admission. 
 
 This was, as it proved, but a temporary 
 settlement on the principle of popular 
 sovereignty, and was regarded at the time 
 as a triumph of the views of Stephen A. 
 Douglas by the friends of that great poli 
 tician. The more radical leaders of the 
 South looked upon it with distrust, but 
 the blood of the more excitable in both 
 sections was rapidly rising toward fever 
 beat, and the border men from the Free 
 and Slave States alike were preparing to 
 act upon a compromise which in effect in 
 vited a conflict. 
 
 The Presidential election in 1856 had 
 singularly enough encouraged the more 
 aggressive of both sections. Buchanan's 
 election was a triumph for the South; 
 Fremont's large vote showed the power of 
 a growing party as yet but partially or 
 ganized, and crippled by schisms which 
 grew out of the attempt to unite all ele 
 ments of opposition to the Democrats. 
 The general plan of the latter was now 
 changed into an attempt to unite all of the 
 free-soil elements into a party organization 
 against slavery, and from that time for 
 ward until its total abolition slavery was 
 the paramount issue in the minds of the 
 more aggressive men of the north. Lin 
 coln voiced the feelings of the Republi 
 cans when he declared in one of his Illi 
 nois speeches : 
 
 " We will, hereafter, speak for freedom, 
 and against slavery, as long as the Consti 
 tution guaranties free speech ; until every 
 where, on this wide land, the sun shall 
 shine, and the rain shall fall, and the 
 wind shall blow upon no man who goes 
 forth to unrequited toil." 
 
 In the Congressional battle over the ad 
 mission of Kansas and Nebraska, Douglas 
 was the most conspicuous figure, and the 
 language which we have quoted from 
 Buchanan's inaugural was the literal 
 meaning which Douglas had given to his 
 idea of "popular" or "squatter sover 
 eignty." 
 
 Prior to the Kansas struggle the Free 
 
 * President Buchanan's Inaugural Address. 
 
THE LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE. 
 
 73 
 
 Sellers of the North had regarded Douglas 
 as an ally of the South, and his admitted 
 ambition for the Presidency gave color to 
 this suspicion. He it was who reported 
 and carried through Congress the bill for 
 the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, a 
 measure which at that time was thought to 
 obstruct Southern designs in the territories 
 of the great West, but this repeal proved 
 in fact the first plain steps toward the free 
 dom of the territories. Having repealed 
 that compromise, something must take its 
 place, and what better than "popular 
 sovereignty," thought Douglas. Terri 
 tories contiguous to the Slave States, or in 
 the same latitude, would thus naturally 
 revert to slavery ; while those farther north, 
 and at that time least likely of early set 
 tlement, would be dedicated to freedom. 
 There was a grave miscalculation just here. 
 Slave-owners were not apt to change their 
 homesteads, and could not with either 
 profit or convenience carry their property 
 to new lands which might or might not be 
 fruitful in the crops best adapted to slave 
 labor. Slave-owners were few in number 
 compared with the free citizens of the 
 North and the thousands of immigrants 
 annually landing on our shores. People 
 who had once moved from the New Eng 
 land or Middle States westward, were 
 rather fond of it, and many of these 
 swelled the tide which constantly sought 
 homes in the territories ; and where these 
 did not go in person their sons and daugh 
 ters were quite willing to imitate the early 
 adventures of their parents. All these 
 counted for the North under the doctrine 
 of " popular sovereignty," and it was the 
 failure of that doctrine to aid the South 
 which from this time forward caused that 
 section to mistrust the friendship of 
 Douglas. 
 
 No political writer has since questioned 
 his motives, and we doubt if it can be done 
 successfully. His view&may have under 
 gone some change since 1850, and it would 
 be singular if they had not ; for a mind as 
 discerning as his could hardly fail to note 
 the changes going on all about him, and 
 no where more rapidly than in his own 
 State. He thought his doctrine at least 
 adapted to the time, and he stood by it 
 with rare bravery and ability. If it had 
 been accepted by the Republicans, it would 
 have been fatal to their organization as a 
 party. We doubt the ability of any party 
 to stand long upon any mere compromise, 
 made to suit the exigencies and avoid the 
 dangers of the moment. It may be said 
 that our government, first based on a con 
 federacy and then a constitution, with a 
 system of checks and balances, with a di 
 vision of power between the people and 
 the States, is but a compromise ; but the 
 assertion will not hold good. These things 
 were adopted because of a belief at the 
 
 time that they were in themselves right, or 
 as nearly right as those who participated 
 in their adoption were given to see the 
 right. There was certainly no attempt at 
 a division of^ right and wrong, and the 
 closest investigation will show nothing be 
 yond a surrender of power for the good of 
 all, which is in itself the very essence and 
 beginning of government. 
 
 We have said that Douglas fought 
 bravely for his idea, and every movement 
 in his most remarkable campaign with 
 Lincoln for the U. S. Senate demonstrated 
 the fact. The times were full of agitation 
 and excitement, and these were increased 
 when it became apparent that Buchanan's 
 administration would aid the effort to 
 make Kansas a slave State. Douglas was 
 the first to see that the application of ad 
 ministration machinery to his principle, 
 would degrade and rob it of its fairness. 
 He therefore resented Buchanan's inter 
 ference, and in turn Buchanan's friends 
 sought to degrade him by removing him 
 from the chairmanship of the Senate Com 
 mittee on Territories, the position which 
 had given him marked control over all 
 questions pertaining to the organization of 
 territories and the admission of new 
 States. 
 
 The Lincoln and Douglas Debate. 
 
 The Senatorial term of Douglas was 
 drawing near to its close, when in July, 
 1858, he left Washington to enter upon the 
 canvass for re-election. The Republican 
 State Convention of Illinois had in the 
 month previous met at Springfield, and 
 nominated Abraham Lincoln as a candi 
 date for United States Senator, this with a 
 view to pledge all Republican members of 
 the Legislature to vote for him a practice 
 since gone into disuse in most of the States, 
 because of the rivalries which it engenders 
 and the aggravation of the dangers of de 
 feat sure to follow in the selection of a can 
 didate in advance. " First get your goose, 
 then cook it," inelegantly describes the 
 basic principles of improved political tac 
 tics. But the Republicans, particularly of 
 the western part of Illinois, had a double 
 purpose in the selection of Lincoln. He 
 was not as radical as they, but he well re 
 presented the growing Republican senti 
 ment, and he best of all men could cope 
 with Douglas on the stump in a canvass 
 which they desired should attract the at 
 tention of the Nation, and give shape to 
 the sentiment of the North on all questions 
 
 the Missouri compromise having led them, 
 or the more radical portion of them, to 
 despise all compromise measures. 
 The plan of the Illinois Republicans, if 
 
74 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 indeed it was a well-settled plan, accom 
 plished even more than was anticipated, 
 though it did not result in immediate suc 
 cess. It gave to the debate which followed 
 between Lincoln and Douglas a world-wide 
 celebrity, and did more to educate and 
 train the anti-slavery sentiment, taken in 
 connection with the ever-growing excite 
 ment in Kansas, than anything that could 
 have happened. 
 
 Lincoln's speech before the convention 
 which nominated him, gave the first clear 
 expression to the idea tljat there was an 
 "irrepressible conflict" between freedom 
 and slavery. Wm. H. Seward on October 
 25th following, at Rochester, N. Y., ex 
 pressed the same idea in these words : 
 
 " It is an irrepressible conflict between 
 opposing and enduring forces, and it means 
 that the United States will sooner or later 
 become either an entire slaveholding Na 
 tion, or an entirely free labor Nation." 
 
 Lincoln's words at Springfield, in July, 
 1858, were : 
 
 " If we could first know where we are, 
 And whither we are tending, we could bet 
 ter judge what to do, and how to do it. 
 We are now far into the fifth year, since a 
 policy was initiated with the avowed object, 
 and confident promise of putting an end to 
 the slavery agitation. Under the operation 
 of that policy, that agitation has not only 
 not ceased, but has constantly augmented. 
 In my opinion it will not cease, until a 
 crisis shall have been reached and passed. 
 'A house divided against itself cannot 
 stand.' I believe this government cannot 
 endure permanently half slave and half 
 free. I do not expect the Union to be dis 
 solved I do not expect the house to fall 
 but I do expect it will cease to be divided. 
 It will become all one thing, or all the 
 other. Either the opponents of slavery 
 will arrest the further spread of it, and 
 place it where the public mind shall rest 
 in the belief that it is in the course of ulti 
 mate extinction ; or its advocates will push 
 it forward, till it shall become alike lawful 
 in all the States, old as well as new North 
 as well as South." 
 
 Douglas arrived in Chicago on the 9th 
 of July, and was warmly received by en 
 thusiastic friends. His doctrine of " pop 
 ular sovereignty " had all the attractions 
 of novelty and apparent fairness. For 
 months it divided many Republicans, and 
 at one time the New York Tribune showed 
 indications of endorsing the position of 
 Douglas a fact probably traceable to the 
 attitude of jealousy and hostility manifested ; 
 toward him by the Buchanan administra- j 
 tion. Neither of the great debaters were i 
 to be wholly free in the coming contest. 
 Douglas was undermined by Buchanan, 
 who fen red him as a rival, and by the more 
 hitter friends of slavery, who could not see 
 that the new doctrine was safely in their 
 
 interest ; but these things were dwarfed in 
 the State conflict, and those who shared 
 such feelings had to make at least a show 
 of friendship until they saw the result. 
 Lincoln was at first handicapped by the 
 doubts of that class of Republicans who 
 thought " popular sovereignty " not bad 
 Republican doctrine. 
 
 On the arrival of Douglas he replied to 
 Lincoln's Springfield speech ; on the 16th 
 he spoke at Bloomington, and on the 17th, 
 in the afternoon, at Springfield. Lincoln 
 had heard all three speeches, and replied 
 to the last on the night of the day of its 
 delivery. He next addressed to Douglas 
 the following challenge to debate : 
 
 CHICAGO, July 24th, 1858. 
 
 HON. S. A. DOUGLAS: My Dear Sir: 
 Will it be agreeable to you to make an ar 
 rangement to divide time, and address the 
 same audience, during the present canvass? 
 etc. Mr. Judd is authorized to receive 
 your answer, and if agreeable to you, to en 
 ter into terms of such agreement, etc. 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Douglas promptly accepted the chal 
 lenge, and it was arranged that there should 
 be seven joint debates, each alternately 
 opening and closing, the opening speech 
 to occupy one hour, the reply one hour 
 and a half, and the closing half an hour. 
 They spoke at Ottawa, August 21st ; Free- 
 port, August 27th ; Jonesboro', September 
 15th ; Charleston, September 18th ; Gales- 
 burg, October 7th ; Quincy, October 13th ; 
 and Alton, October 15th. We give in 
 Book III of this volume their closing 
 speeches in full. 
 
 Great crowds attended, and some of the 
 more enterprising daily journals gave pho 
 nographic reports of the speeches. The 
 enthusiasm of the North soon ran in Lin 
 coln's favor, though Douglas had hosts of 
 friends ; but then the growing and the 
 aggressive party was the Republican, and 
 even the novelty of a new and attractive 
 doctrine like that of " popular sovereignty" 
 could not long divert their attention. The 
 prize suspended in view of the combat 
 ants was the United States Senatorship, 
 and to close political observers this was 
 plainly within the grasp of Douglas by 
 reason of an apportionment which would 
 give his party a majority in the Legisla 
 ture, even though the popular majority 
 should be twenty thousand against him 
 a system of apportionment, by the way, 
 not confined to Illinois alone, or not pecu 
 liar to it in the work of any of the great par 
 ties at any period when party lines were 
 drawn. 
 
 Buchanan closely watched the fight, and 
 it was charged and is still believed by the 
 friends of the " Little Giant," that the 
 
THE LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE. 
 
 75 
 
 administration secretly employed" its pa 
 tronage and power to defeat him. Certain 
 it is that a lew prominent Democrats de 
 serted the standard of Douglas, and that 
 some of them were rewarded. In the heat 
 of the battle, however, Douglas' friends 
 were careless of the views of the adminis 
 tration. He was a greater leader than 
 Buchanan, and in Illinois at least he over 
 shadowed the administration. He lacked 
 ;f neither money nor friends. Special trains 
 of cars, banners, cannon, bands, proces 
 sions, were all supplied with lavish hands. 
 The democracy of Illinois, nor yet of any 
 other State, ever did so well before or 
 since, and if the administration had been 
 with him this enthusiasm might have 
 spread to all other States and given his 
 doctrine a larger and more glorious life. 
 Only the border States of the South, how 
 ever, saw opportunity and glory in it, 
 while the office-holders in other sections 
 stood off and awaited results. 
 
 Lincoln's position was different. He, 
 doubtless, early realized that his chances 
 for election were remote indeed, with the 
 apportionment as it was, and he sought to 
 impress the nation with the truth of his 
 convictions, and this without other dis 
 play than the force of their statement and 
 publication. Always a modest man, he 
 was never more so than in this great battle. 
 He declared that he did not care for the 
 local result, and in the light of what tran 
 spired, the position was wisely taken. 
 Douglas was apparently just as earnest, 
 though more ambitious; for he declared 
 in the vehemence of the advocacy of his 
 doctrine, that " he did not care whether 
 slavery was voted up or voted down." 
 Douglas had more to lose than Lincoln 
 a place which his high abilities had hon- 
 ored in the United States Senate, and 
 \which intriguing enemies in his own party 
 made him doubly anxious to hold. Beaten, 
 and he was out of the field for the Presi 
 dency, with his enthroned rival a candi 
 date for re-election. Successful, and that 
 rival must leave the field, with himself in 
 direct command of a great majority of the 
 party. This view must have then been 
 presented, but the rapid rise in public feel 
 ing made it in part incorrect. The calcu 
 lation of Douglas that he could at one 
 and the same time retain the good will of 
 all his political friends in Illinois and 
 those of the South failed him, though he 
 did at the time, and until his death, better 
 represent the majority of his party in the 
 whole country than any other leader. 
 
 At the election which followed the de 
 bate, the popular choice in the State as a 
 whole was for Lincoln by 126,084 to 121,- 
 940 for Douglas; but the apportionment 
 of 1850 gave to Douglas a plain majority 
 of the Senators and Representatives. 
 At the Freeport meeting, August 27th, 
 
 there were sharp questions and answers 
 between the debaters. They were brought 
 on by Lincoln, who, after alluding to some 
 questions propounded to him at Ottawa, 
 said : 
 
 " I now propose that I will answer any 
 of the interrogatories, upon condition that 
 he will answer questions from me not ex 
 ceeding the same number, to which I give 
 him an opportunity to respond. The judge 
 remains silent ; I now say that I will an 
 swer his interrogatories, whether he an 
 swer mine or not, and that after I have 
 done so I shall propound mine to him. 
 
 " I have supposed myself, since the or 
 ganization or the Republican party at 
 Bloomington in May, 1856, bound as a 
 party man by the platforms of the party, 
 there, and since. If, in any interrogatories 
 which I shall answer, I go beyond the 
 scope of what is within these platforms, it 
 will be perceived that no one is responsible 
 but myself. 
 
 " Having said thus much, I will take up 
 the judge's interrogatories as I find them 
 printed in the Chicago Times, and answer 
 them seriatim. In order that there may 
 be no mistake about it, I have copied the 
 interrogatories in writing, and also my 
 answers to them. The first one of these 
 interrogatories is in these words : 
 
 Question 1. I desire to know whether 
 Lincoln to-day stands, as he did in 1854, 
 in favor of the unconditional repeal of the 
 Fugitive Slave Law ? 
 
 Answer. I do not now, nor ever did, 
 stand in favor of the unconditional repeal 
 of the Fugitive Slave Law. 
 
 Q. 2. I desire him to answer whether 
 he stands pledged to-day, as he did in 1854, 
 against the admission of any more slave 
 States into the Union, even if the people 
 want them ? 
 
 A. I do not now, nor ever did, stand 
 pledged against the admission of any more 
 slave States into the Union. 
 
 Q. 3 I want to know, whether he stands 
 ledged against the admission of a new 
 tate into the Union, with such a Consti 
 tution as the people of the State may see 
 fit to make? 
 
 A. I do not stand pledged against the 
 admission of a new State into the Union, 
 with such a Constitution as the people of 
 the State may see fit to make. 
 
 Q. 4. I want to know whether he stands 
 to-day pledged to the abolition of slavery 
 in the District of Columbia? 
 
 A. I do not stand to-day pledged to the 
 abolition of slavery in the District of Co 
 lumbia. 
 
 Q. 5. I desire him to answer whether 
 he stands pledged to the prohibition of the 
 slave trade between the different States ? ^ 
 
 A. I do not stand pledged to prohibi 
 tion of the slave trade between the different 
 States. 
 
76 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Q. 6. I desire to know whether he 
 stands pledged to prohibit slavery in all 
 the Territories of the United States, North 
 as well as South of the Missouri Compro 
 mise line ? 
 
 A. I am impliedly, if not expressly, 
 pledged to a belief in the RIGHT and DUTY 
 of Congress to prohibit slavery in all of the 
 United States' Territories. 
 
 Q. 7. I desire him to answer, whether 
 he is opposed to the acquisition of any new 
 territory, unless slavery is first prohibited 
 therein ? 
 
 A. I am not generally opposed to honest 
 acquisition of territory ; and in any given 
 case, I would or would not oppose such ac 
 quisition, according as I might think such 
 acquisition would or would not aggravate 
 the slavery question among ourselves. 
 
 " Now, my friends, it will be perceived 
 upon an examination of these questions 
 and answers, that so far, I have only an 
 swered that I was not pledged to this, that, 
 or the other. 
 
 The judge has not framed his interroga 
 tories to ask me anything more than this 
 and I have answered in strict accordance 
 with the interrogatories, and have answered 
 truly, that I am not pledged at all upon 
 any of the points to which I have an 
 swered. But I am not disposed to hang 
 upon the exact form of his interrogatories. 
 I am rather disposed to take up, at least 
 some of these questions, and state what I 
 really think upon them. 
 
 " The fourth one is in regard to the abo 
 lition of slavery in the District of Colum 
 bia. In relation to that, I have my mind 
 very distinctly made up. I should be very 
 glad to see slavery abolished in the Dis 
 trict of Columbia. I believe that Congress 
 possesses the constitutional power to abolish 
 it. Yet, as a member of Congress, I should 
 not, with my present views, be in favor of 
 endeavoring to abolish slavery in the Dis 
 trict of Columbia, unless it should be upon 
 these conditions : FIRST, That the aboli 
 tion should be gradual ; SECOND, That it 
 should be on a vote of a majority of quali 
 fied voters in the District; and THIRD, 
 That compensation should be made to un 
 willing owners. With these three condi 
 tions, I confess I would be exceedingly 
 glad to see Congress abolish slavery in 
 the District of Columbia, and in the lan 
 guage of Henry Clay, 'sweep from our 
 Capital that foul blot upon our nation.' " 
 
 I now proceed to propound to the judge 
 the interrogatories, so far as I have framed 
 them. I will bring forward a new in 
 stalment when I get them ready. I will 
 bring now only four. The first one is : 
 
 1. If the people of Kansas shall, by 
 means entirely unobjectionable in all other 
 respects, adopt a State Constitution and 
 ask admission into the Union under it 
 before they have the requisite number of 
 
 inhabitants, according to the English bill 
 some ninety-three thousand will he 
 vote to admit them? 
 
 2. Can the people of the United States 
 Territory, in any lawful way, against the 
 wish of any citizen of the United States, 
 exclude slavery from its limits prior to the 
 formation of a State Constitution ? 
 
 3. If the Supreme Court of the United 
 States shall decide that States cannot ex 
 clude slavery from their limits, are you in | 
 favor of acquiescing in, adopting and fol 
 lowing such decision as a rule of political 
 action ? 
 
 4. Are you in favor of acquiring addi 
 tional territory in disregard of how much 
 acquisition may affect the nation on the 
 slavery question? 
 
 To these questions Mr. Douglas said: 
 " In reference to Kansas, it is my opinion 
 that, as she has population enough to con 
 stitute a slave State, she has people enough 
 for a free State. I hold it to be a sacred 
 rule of universal application, to require a 
 Territory to contain the requisite popula 
 tion for a member of Congress, before it is 
 admitted as a State into the Union. 
 
 2. " It matters not what way the Supreme 
 Court may hereafter decide, as to the ab 
 stract question whether slavery may or 
 may not go into a Territory under the 
 Constitution, the people have the lawful 
 means to introduce it, or exclude it as they 
 please, for the reason that slavery cannot 
 exist a day, or an hour, anywhere, unless 
 it is supported by local police regulations. 
 These police regulations can only be estab 
 lished by the local legislature, and if the 
 people are opposed to slavery, they will 
 elect representatives to that bo'dy, who will, 
 by unfriendly legislation, effectually pre 
 vent the introduction of it into their midst. 
 If, on the contrary, they are for it, their 
 legislation will favor its extension. Hence, 
 no matter what the decision of the Su 
 preme Court may be on that abstract 
 question, still the right of the people to 
 make a slave Territory or a free Terri 
 tory is perfect and complete under the 
 Nebraska bill. 
 
 " 8. The third question which Mr. Lin 
 coln presented is, if the Supreme Court of 
 the United States shall decide that a State 
 of this Union cannot exclude slavery from 
 its own limits, will I submit to it? I am 
 amazed that Mr. Lincoln should ask such 
 a question. 
 
 He casts an imputation upon the Su 
 preme Court of the United States by sup 
 posing that they would violate the consti 
 tution of the United States. I tell him 
 that such a thing is not possible. It would 
 be an act of moral treason that no man on 
 the bench could ever descend to. Mr. 
 Lincoln, himself, would never, in his par 
 tisan feelings, so far forget what was right 
 as to be guilty of such an act. 
 
THE KANSAS STRUGGLE. 
 
 77 
 
 4. With our natural increase, growing 
 with a rapidity unknown in any other part 
 of the globe, with the tide of emigration 
 that is fleeing from despotism in the old 
 world, to seek refuge in our own, there is 
 a constant torrent pouring into this coun 
 try that requires more land, more terri- 
 x>ry upon which to settle, and just as fast 
 is our interests and our destiny require 
 ai additional territory in the North, in the 
 ftouth, or on the Island of the Ocean, I 
 am for it, and when we require it, will 
 leave the people, according to the Nebraska 
 bill, free to do as they please on the sub 
 ject of slavery, and every other ques 
 tion." 
 
 The bitterness of the feelings aroused by 
 the canvass and boldness of Douglas, can 
 both be well shown by a brief abstract 
 from his speech at Freeport. He had per 
 sisted in calling the Republicans " Black 
 Republicans," although the crowd, the 
 great majority of which was there against 
 him, insisted that he should say " White 
 Republican." In response to these oft re 
 peated demands, he said : 
 
 "Now, there are a great many Black 
 Republicans of you who do not know this 
 thing was done. ("White, white, and 
 great clamor)." I wish to remind you that 
 while Mr. Lincoln was speaking, there 
 was not a Democrat vulgar and black 
 guard enough to interrupt him. But I 
 know that the shoe is pinching you. I am 
 clinching Lincoln now, and you are scared 
 to death for the result. I have seen this 
 thing before. I have seen men make ap 
 pointments for discussions and the mo 
 ment their man has been heard, try to in 
 terrupt and prevent a fair hearing of the 
 other side. I have seen your mobs before 
 and defy your wrath. (Tremendous ap- 
 \ plause. ) 
 
 "_My friends, do not cheer, for I need 
 my whole time. 
 
 " I have been put to severe tests. I have 
 stood by my principles in fair weather and 
 in foul, in the sunshine and in the rain. 
 I have defended the great principle of 
 self-government here among you when 
 Northern sentiment ran in a torrent against 
 me, and I have defended that same great 
 principle when Southern sentiment came 
 down like an avalanche upon me. I was 
 not afraid of any test they put to me. I 
 knew I was right I knew my principles 
 were sound I knew that the people would 
 see in the end that I had done right, and 
 I knew that the God of Heaven would 
 smile upon me if I was faithful in the per 
 formance of my duty." 
 
 As an illustration of the earnestness of 
 Lincoln's position we need only quote two 
 paragraphs from his speech at Alton : 
 
 "Is slavery wrong? That is the real 
 issue. That is the issue that will continue 
 in this country when these poor tongues of 
 
 Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. 
 It is the eternal struggle between these two 
 principles right and wrong throughout 
 the world. They are two principles that 
 have stood face to face from the beginning 
 of time ; and will ever continue to struggle. 
 The one is the common right of humanity, 
 and the other the divine right of Kings. 
 It is the same principle in whatever shape 
 it develops itself. It is the same spirit that 
 says, ' you work and toil, and earn bread, 
 and I'll eat it.' No matter in what shape 
 it comes, whether from the mouth of a 
 King who seeks to bestride the people of 
 his own nation and life by the fruit of their 
 labor, or from one race of men as an 
 apology for enslaving another race, it is 
 the same tyrannical principle." 
 
 And again : 
 
 "On this subject of treating it as a 
 wrong, and limiting its spread, let me say a 
 word. Has anything ever threatened the 
 existence of this Union save and except 
 this very institution of slavery? What is 
 it that we hold most dear among us ? Our 
 own liberty and prosperity. What has 
 ever threatened our liberty and prosperity 
 save and except this institution of slavery ? 
 If this is true, how do you propose to im 
 prove the condition of things? by enlarging 
 slavery ? by spreading it out and making 
 it bigger ? You may have a wen or cancer 
 upon your person and not be able to cut it 
 out, lest you bleed to death ; but surely it 
 is no way to cure it, to engraft it and 
 spread it over your whole body. That is 
 no proper way of treating what you regard 
 a wrong. You see this peaceful way of 
 dealing with it as a wrong restricting the 
 spread of it, and not allowing it to go into 
 new countries where it has not already 
 existed. That is the peaceful way, the 
 old-fashioned way, the way in which 
 the fathers themselves set us the ex 
 ample." 
 
 The administration of Pierce had left 
 that of Buchanan a dangerous legacy. He 
 found the pro-slavery party in Congress 
 temporarily triumphant, it is true, and 
 supported by the action of Congress in re 
 jecting the Topeka constitution and rec 
 ognizing the territorial government, but 
 he found that that decision was not accep 
 table either to the majority of the people 
 in the country or to a rapidly rising anti- 
 slavery sentiment in the North. Yet he 
 saw but one course to pursue, and that was 
 to sustain the territorial government, which 
 had issued the call for the Lecpmpton con 
 vention. He was supported in this view 
 t>y the action of the Supreme Court, which 
 had decided that slavery existed in Kansas 
 under the constitution of the United States, 
 and that the people therein could only re 
 lieve themselves of it by the election of 
 delegates who would prohibit it in the 
 constitution to be framed by the Lecomp- 
 
78 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 ton convention. The Free State men re 
 fused to recognize the call, made little, if 
 any, preparation for the election, yet on 
 the last day a number of them voted for 
 State officials and a member of Congress 
 under the Lecompton constitution. This 
 had the effect of suspending hostilities be 
 tween the parties, yet peace was actually 
 maintained only by the intervention of 
 U. S. troops, under the command of Col. 
 Sumner, who afterwards won distinction 
 in the war of the rebellion. The Free 
 State people stood firmly by their Topeka 
 constitution, and refused to vote on ques 
 tions affecting delegates to the Lecompton 
 convention. They had no confidence in 
 Governor Walker, the appointee of Presi 
 dent Buchanan, and his proclamations 
 passed unheeded. They recognized their 
 own Governor Robinson, who in a message 
 dated December 7th, 1857, explained and 
 defended their position in these words : 
 
 " The convention which framed the con 
 stitution at Topeka originated with the 
 people of Kansas territory. They have 
 adopted and ratified the same twice by a 
 direct vote, and also indirectly through two 
 elections of State officers and members of 
 the State Legislature. Yet it has pleased 
 the administration to regard the whole 
 proceeding as revolutionary." 
 
 The Lecompton convention, proclaimed 
 by Governor Walker to be lawfully con 
 stituted, met for the second time, Sept. 4th, 
 1857, and proceeded to frame a constitu 
 tion, and adjourned finally Nov. 7th. A 
 large majority of the delegates, as in the 
 first, were of course pro-slavery, because 
 of the refusal of the anti-slavery men to 
 participate in the election. It refused to 
 submit the whole constitution to the people, 
 it is said, in opposition to the desire of 
 President Buchanan, and part of his 
 Cabinet. It submitted only the question 
 of whether or not slavery should exist in 
 the new State, and this they were required 
 to do under the Kansas-Nebraska act, if 
 indeed they were not required to submit it 
 all. Yet such was the hostility of the 
 pro-slavery men to submission, that it was 
 only by three majority the proposition to 
 submit the main question was adopted a 
 confession in advance that the result was 
 not likely to favor their side of the con 
 troversy. But six weeks' time was also 
 allowed for preparation, the election being 
 ordered for Dec. 21st, 1857. Still another 
 advantage was taken in the printing of the 
 ballots, as ordered by the convention. The 
 method prescribed was to endorse the bal 
 lots, "Constitution with Slavery," and 
 " Constitution with no Slavery, thus com 
 pelling the voter, however adverse his 
 views, as to other parts of the Constitution, 
 to vote for it as a whole. As a consequence, 
 (at least this was given as one of the rea 
 sons,) the Free State men as a rule refused 
 
 to participate in the election, and the result 
 as returned was 6,143 votes in favor of 
 slavery, and 589 against it. The constitu 
 tion was announced as adopted, an election 
 was ordered on the first Monday of Janu 
 ary, 1858, for State officers, members of the 
 Legislature, and a member of Congress. 
 The opponents of the Lecompton constitu 
 tion did not now refrain from voting, partly 
 because of their desire to secure the repre 
 sentative in Congress, but mainly to secure 
 an opportunity, as advised by their State 
 officers, to vote down the Lecompton con 
 stitution. Both parties warmly contested 
 the result, but the Free State men won, and 
 with their general victory secured a large 
 majority in the Legislature. 
 
 The ballots of the Free State men were 
 now headed with the words " Against the 
 Lecompton Constitution," and they re 
 turned 10,226 votes against it, to 134 for 
 it with slavery, and 24 for it against slavery. 
 This return was certified by J. W. Denver, 
 " Secretary and Acting Governor," and its 
 validity was endorsed by Douglas in his 
 report from the Senate Territorial Com 
 mittee. It was in better accord with his 
 idea of popular sovereignty, as it showed 
 almost twice as large a vote as that cast 
 under the Lecompton plan, the fairness of 
 the return not being disputed, while that 
 of the month previous was disputed. 
 
 But their previous refusal to vote on the 
 Lecompton constitution gave their oppo 
 nents an advantage in position strangely at 
 variance with the wishes of a majority of 
 the people. The President of that conven 
 tion, J. Calhoun, forwarded the document 
 to the President with an official request 
 that it be submitted to Congress. This 
 was done in a message dated 2d February, 
 1858, and the President recommended the 
 admission of Kansas under it. 
 
 This message occasioned a violent debate 
 in Congress, which continued for three 
 months. It was replete with sectional 
 abuse and bitterness, and nearly all the 
 members of both Houses participated. It 
 finally closed with the passage of the 
 " Act for the admission of the State of 
 Kansas into the Union," passed May 4th, 
 1858. This Act had been reported by a 
 committee of conference of both Houses, 
 and was passed in the Senate by 31 to 22, 
 and in the House by 112 to 103. There 
 was a strict party vote in the Senate with 
 the exception of Mr. Douglas, C. E. Stuart 
 of Michigan, and D. C. Broderick of Cal 
 ifornia, who voted with the Republican 
 minority. In the House several anti- 
 Lecompton democrats voted with the Re 
 publican minority. These were Messrs. 
 Adrian of New Jersey ; Chapman of Penn 
 sylvania ; Clark of New York ; Cockerill 
 of Ohio ; Davis of Indiana ; Harris of Il 
 linois ; Raskin of New York : Hickman 
 of Pennsylvania; McKibben of California; 
 
THE KANSAS STRUGGLE. 
 
 79 
 
 Marshall of Illinois; Morgan of New 
 York ; Morris, Shaw, and Smith of Illinois. 
 The Americans who voted with the Repub 
 licans were Crittenden of Kentucky ; Davis 
 of Maryland ; Marshall of Kentucky ; 
 Ricaud of Maryland ; Underwood of Ken 
 tucky. A number of those previously 
 classed as Anti-Lecompton Democrats 
 voted against their colleagues of the same 
 faction, and consequently against the bill. 
 These were Messrs. Cockerill, Gwesheck, 
 Hall, Lawrence, Pendleton and Cox of 
 Ohio ; English and Foley of Indiana ; and 
 Jones of Pennsylvania. The Americans 
 who voted against the bill were Kennedy 
 of Maryland ; Anderson of Missouri ; Eus- 
 tis of Louisiana ; Gilmer of North Caro 
 lina ; Hill of Georgia ; Maynard, Ready 
 and Zollicoffer of Tennessee ; and Trippe 
 of Georgia. 
 
 Lecompton Constitution. 
 
 The following are the political features 
 of the Lecompton constitution : 
 
 ARTICLE VII. Slavery. 
 
 SEC. 1. The right of property is before 
 and higher than any constitutional sanc 
 tion, and the right of the owner of a slave 
 to such slave and its increase is the same, 
 and as inviolable as the right of the owner 
 of any property whatever. 
 
 SEC. 2. The legislature shall have no 
 power to pass laws for the emancipation 
 of slaves without the consent of the 
 owners, or without paying the owners 
 previous to their emancipation a full 
 equivalent in money for the slaves so 
 emancipated. They shall have no power 
 to prevent emigrants to the state from 
 bringing with them such persons as are 
 deemed slaves by the laws of any one of 
 the United States or territories, so long as 
 any person of the same age or description 
 shall be continued in slavery by the laws 
 of this state : Provided, That such person 
 or slave be the bona fide property of such 
 emigrants : And provided, also, That laws 
 may be passed to prohibit the introduc 
 tion into this state of slaves who have 
 committed high crimes in other states or 
 territories. They shall have power to pass 
 laws to permit the owners of slaves to 
 emancipate them, saving the rights of 
 creditors, and preventing them from be 
 coming a public charge. They shall have 
 power to oblige the owners of slaves to 
 treat them with humanity, to provide for 
 them necessary food and clothing, to ab 
 stain from all injuries to them extending 
 to life or limb, and, in case of their neglect 
 or refusal to comply with the direction of 
 such laws, to have such slave or slaves 
 sold for the benefit of the owner or 
 owners. 
 
 SEC. 3. In the prosecution of slaves for 
 crimes of higher grade than petit larceny, 
 the legislature shall have no power to de 
 prive them of an impartial trial by a petit 
 jury. 
 
 SEC. 4. Any person who shall mali 
 ciously dismember, or deprive a slave of 
 life, shall suffer such punishment as would 
 be inflicted in case the like offence had 
 been committed on a free white person, 
 and on the like proof, except in case of, 
 insurrection of such slave. { 
 
 Free Negroes. 
 
 Bill of Rights, SEC. 23. Free negroes 
 shall not be allowed to live in this state 
 under any circumstances. 
 
 ARTICLE VIII. Elections and Rights of 
 
 SEC. 1. Every male citizen of the 
 United States, above the age of twenty- 
 one years, having resided in this state one 
 year, and in the county, city, or town in 
 which he may offer to vote, three months 
 next preceding any election, shall have 
 the qualifications of an elector, and be en 
 titled to vote at all elections. And every 
 male citizen of the United States, above 
 the age aforesaid, who may be a resident 
 of the state at the time this constitution 
 shall be adopted, shall have the right of 
 voting as aforesaid ; but no such citizen or 
 inhabitant shall be entitled to vote ex 
 cept in the county in which he shall 
 actually reside at the time of the elec 
 tion. 
 
 The Topelta Constitution. 
 
 The following are the political features 
 of the Topeka constitution : 
 
 Slavery. t 
 
 Bill of Rights, SEC. 6. There shall btf 
 
 no slavery in this state, nor involuntary 
 
 servitude, unless for the punishment of 
 
 crime. , 
 
 Amendments to the Constitution. 
 
 SEC. 1. All propositions for amend 
 ments to the constitution shall be made 
 by the General Assembly. 
 
 SE( 2. A concurrence of two-thirds of 
 the members elected to each house shall be 
 necessary, after which such proposed 
 amendments shall be again referred to the 
 legislature elected next succeeding said 
 publication. If passed by the second 
 legislature by a majority of two-thirds of 
 the members elected to each house, such 
 amendments shall be republished as afore 
 said, for at least six months prior to the 
 next general election, at which election 
 such proposed amendments shall be sub 
 mitted to the people for their approval or 
 
*0 
 
 AMERICAN .POLITICS. 
 
 rejection ; and if a majority of the electors 
 voting at such election shall adopt such 
 amendments, the same shall become a part 
 of the constitution. 
 
 SEC. 3. When more than one amend 
 ment is submitted at the same time, they 
 shall be so submitted as to enable the 
 electors to vote upon each amendment 
 separately. No convention for the forma 
 tion of a new constitution shall be called, 
 and no amendment to the constitution 
 shall be, by the general assembly, made 
 before the year 1865, nor more than once 
 in five years thereafter. 
 
 Submission of Constitution to the People. 
 Schedule, SEC. 2. That this constitution 
 shall be submitted to the people of Kansas 
 for ratification on the 15th day of Decem 
 ber next. That each qualified elector 
 shall express his assent or dissent to the 
 constitution by voting a written or printed 
 ticket, labelled "Constitution," or "No 
 Constitution;" which election shall be 
 held by the same judges, and conducted 
 under the same regulations and restric 
 tions as is hereinafter provided for the 
 election of members of the general 
 assembly. 
 
 Tlie Douglas Amendment. 
 
 The following is the Douglas amend 
 ment, which really formed the basis of the 
 bill for admission : 
 
 " It being the true intent and meaning 
 of this act not to legislate slavery into any 
 state or territory, nor to exclude it there 
 from, but to leave the people thereof per 
 fectly free to form and regulate their 
 domestic institutions in their own way, 
 subject only to the Constitution of the 
 United States." 
 
 The bill which passed on the 4th of May 
 was known as the English bill, and it met 
 the approval of Buchanan. To the measure 
 was attached "a fundamental condition 
 precedent," which arose from the fact that 
 the ordinance of the convention accom 
 panying the constitution claimed for the 
 new State a cession of the public lands six 
 times greater than had been granted to 
 other States, amounting in all to 23,500,- 
 000 acres. In lieu of this Congress pro 
 posed to submit to a vote of the people a 
 proposition specifying the number of acres 
 and the purposes for which the money 
 arising from their sale were to be used, and 
 the acceptance of this was to be followed 
 by a proclamation that "thereafter, and 
 without further proceedings from Congress 
 the admission of the State of Kansas, into 
 the Union, upon an equal footing with the 
 original States in all respects whatever, 
 shall be complete and absolute." The con 
 dition was never fulfilled, for the people at 
 the election on the 2d of August, 1858, 
 
 rejected it by a majority of 9,513, and Kan 
 sas was not admitted under the Lecompton 
 constitution. 
 
 Finally, and after continued agitation, 
 more peaceful, however, than that which 
 characterized the earlier stages of the strug 
 gle, the territorial legislature of Kansas 
 called an election for delegates to meet and 
 form a constitution. They assembled in 
 convention at Wyandot, in July, 1859, and 
 sported a constitution prohibiting slavery, 
 his was adopted by a majority exceeding 
 4000, and under it Kansas was admitted to 
 the Union on the 29th of January, 1861. 
 
 The comparative quiet between the re 
 jection of the English proposition and the 
 adoption of the Wyandot constitution, was 
 at one time violently disturbed by a raid 
 made by John Brown at Harper's Ferry, 
 with a view to excite the slaves to insur 
 rection. This failed, but not before Gov. 
 Wise, of Virginia, had mustered his militia, 
 and called for the aid of United States 
 troops. The more radical anti-slavery men 
 of the North were at first shocked by the 
 audacity of an offense which many looked 
 upon as an act of treason, but the anxiety 
 of Virginia to hang Brown and all his 
 followers who had been captured alive, 
 changed a feeling of conservatism in the 
 North to one of sympathy for Brown and 
 deeper hatred of slavery. It is but fair to 
 say that it engendered hostility to the 
 Union in the South. The right and wrong 
 of slavery was thereafter more generally 
 discussed than ever. The talent of the 
 South favored.it; while, with at least a 
 large measure of truth it can be said that 
 the talent of the North opposed it. So 
 bitter grew the feeling that soon the 
 churches of the sections began to divide, 
 no other political question having ever be 
 fore disturbed the Union. 
 
 We have not pretended to give a com 
 plete history of the Kansas trouble either 
 in that State or in Congress, nor yet a full 
 history of the many issues raised on ques 
 tions which were but subsidiary to the 
 main one of slavery. Our object is to show 
 the relation of the political parties through 
 out that struggle, for we are dealing with 
 the history of parties from a national view, 
 and not with battles and the minor ques 
 tions or details of parliamentary struggles. 
 The contest had cemented the Democrats 
 of the South as it had the Republicans of 
 the North ; it divided both the Democrats 
 of the North and the Americans in all 
 sections. John Bell, of Tennessee, and 
 Sam Houston of Texas, recognized leaders 
 of the Americans, had shown their sym 
 pathy with the new stand taken by Doug 
 las, as early as 1854. Bell, however, was 
 less decided than Houston, and took his 
 position with many qualifications. Hous 
 ton opposed even the repeal of the Mis 
 souri Compromise, and made the last speech 
 
THE CHARLESTON CONVENTION. 
 
 81 
 
 .against it in the Senate. He closed with 
 these words: 
 
 " In the discharge of my duty I have 
 acted fearlessly. The events of the future 
 are left in the hands of a wise Providence, 
 and, in my opinion, on the decision which 
 we make upon this question must depend 
 union or disunion." 
 
 These sentiments were shared by many 
 Americans, and the great majority of them 
 drifted into the Eepublican party. The 
 Abolitionists from the beginning of the 
 struggle, allied themselves with the Repub 
 licans, a few of their leaders proclaiming, 
 however, that this party was not sufficiently 
 advanced in its views. 
 
 The Charleston Convention. 
 
 Such was the condition of the parties 
 when the Democratic national convention 
 met at Charleston, S. C., on the 23d of 
 April, 1860, it being then the custom of 
 the Democratic party, as it is of all major 
 ity parties, to call its convention first. It 
 was composed of delegates from all the 
 thirty-three States of the Union, the whole 
 number of votes being 303. After the ex 
 ample of former Democratic conventions 
 it adopted the two-third rule, and 202 votes 
 were required to make nominations for 
 President and Vice-President. Caleb Gush 
 ing, of Mass., presided. From the first a 
 radical difference of opinion was exhibited 
 among the members on the question of 
 slavery in the Territories. Almost the 
 entire Southern and a minority of the 
 Northern portion believed in the Dred 
 Scott decision, and held that slave property 
 was as valid under the constitution as any 
 other class of property. The Douglas 
 delegates stood firmly by the theory of 
 popular sovereignty, and avowed their in 
 difference to the fact whether it would lead 
 to the protection of slave property in the 
 territories or not. On the second day a 
 committee on resolutions consisting of one 
 member from each State, selected by the 
 State delegates, was named, and then a 
 resolution was resolved unanimously " that 
 'this convention will not proceed to ballot 
 ' for a candidate for the Presidency until the 
 platform shall have been adopted." On 
 the fifth day the committee on resolutions 
 presented majority and minority reports. 
 
 After a long discussion on the respective 
 merits of the two reports, they were both, 
 on motion of Mr. Bigler, of Pennsylvania, 
 re-committed to the Committee on Reso 
 lutions, with a view, if possible, to promote 
 harmony ; but this proved to be impracti 
 cable. On the sixth day of the Conven 
 tion (Saturday, April 28th,) at an evening 
 session, Mr. Avery, of North Carolina, and 
 Mr. Samuels, of Iowa, from the majority 
 6 
 
 and minority of the committee, again made 
 opposite and conflicting reports on the 
 question of slavery in the Territories. On 
 this question the committee had divided 
 from the beginning, the one portion em 
 bracing the fifteen members from the 
 slaveholding States, with those from Cali 
 fornia and Oregon, and the other consist 
 ing of the members from all the free States 
 east of the Rocky Mountains. On all other 
 questions both reports substantially agreed. 
 
 The following is the report of the major 
 ity made on this subject by Mr. Avery, of 
 North Carolina, the chairman of the com 
 mittee: "Resolved, That the platform 
 adopted by the Democratic party at Cin 
 cinnati be affirmed with the following ex 
 planatory resolutions : 1st. That the Gov 
 ernment of a Territory, organized by an 
 act of Congress, is provisional and tempo 
 rary, and during its existence all citizens 
 of the United States have an .equal right 
 to settle with their property in the Terri 
 tory, without their rights, either of person 
 or property, being destroyed or impaired 
 by Congressional or Territorial legislation. 
 2d. That it is the duty of the Federal Gov 
 ernment, in all its departments, to protect, 
 when necessary, the rights of persons and 
 property in the Territories, and wherever 
 else its constitutional authority extends. 
 3d. That when the settlers in a Territory 
 having an adequate population form a 
 State Constitution, the right of sovereignty 
 commences, and being consummated by 
 admission into the Union, they stand on 
 an equal footing with the people of other 
 States, and the State thus organized ought 
 to be admitted into the Federal Union 
 whether its constitution prohibits or recog 
 nizes the institution of slavery." 
 
 The following is the report of the minor 
 ity, made by Mr. Samuels, of Iowa. After 
 re-affirming the Cincinnati platform by 
 the first resolution, it proceeds: "Inas 
 much as differences of opinion exist in the 
 Democratic party, as to the nature and ex 
 tent of the powers of a Territorial Legisla 
 ture, and as to the powers and duties of 
 Congress, under the Constitution of the 
 United States, over the institution of 
 slavery within the Territories, Resolved, 
 That the Democratic party will abide by 
 the decisions of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States upon questions of constitu 
 tional law." 
 
 After some preliminary remarks, Mr. 
 Samuels moved the adoption of the minor 
 ity report as a substitute for that of the 
 majority. This gave rise to an earnest 
 and excited debate. The difference be 
 tween the parties was radical and irrecon 
 cilable. The South insisted that the Cin 
 cinnati platform, whose true construction 
 in regard to slavery in the Territories had 
 always been denied by a portion of the 
 Democratic party, should be explained and 
 
82 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 settled by an express recognition of the 
 principles decided by the Supreme Court. 
 The North, on the other hand, refused to 
 recognize this decision, and still main 
 tained the power to be inherent in the 
 people of a Territory to deal with the 
 question of slavery according to their own 
 discretion. The vote was then taken, and 
 the minority report was substituted for 
 that of the majority by a vote of one hun 
 dred and sixty-five to one hundred and 
 thirty-eight. The delegates from the six 
 New England States, as well as from New 
 York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, 
 Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, fourteen 
 free States, cast their entire vote in favor 
 of the minority report. New Jersey and 
 Pennsylvania alone among the free States 
 east of the Rocky Mountains, refused to 
 vote as States, but their delegates voted as 
 individuals. 
 
 The means employed to attain this end 
 were skillfully devised by the minority of 
 the Pennsylvania delegation in favor of 
 nominating Mr. Douglas. The entire del 
 egation had, strangely enough, placed this 
 power in their hands, by selecting two of 
 their number, Messrs. Cessna and Wright, 
 to represent the whole on the two most im 
 portant committees of the Convention 
 that of organization and that of resolu 
 tions. These gentlemen, by adroitness and 
 parliamentary tact, succeeded in abrogat 
 ing the former practice of casting the vote 
 of the State as a unit. In this manner, 
 whilst New York indorsed with her entire 
 thirty-five votes the peculiar views of Mr. 
 Douglas, notwithstanding there was in her 
 delegation a majority of only five votes in 
 their favor on the question of Territorial 
 sovereignty, the effective strength of Penn 
 sylvania recognizing the judgment of the 
 Supreme Court, was reduced to three votes, 
 this being the majority of fifteen on the 
 one side over twelve on the other. 
 
 The question next in order before the 
 Convention was upon the adoption of the 
 second resolution of the minority of the 
 committee, which had been substituted for 
 the report of the majority. On this ques 
 tion Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkan 
 sas, Texas, Florida, and Mississippi re 
 fused to vote. Indeed, it soon appeared 
 that on the question of the final adoption 
 of this second resolution, which in fact 
 amounted to nothing, it had scarcely any 
 friends of either party in the Convention. 
 The Douglas party, without explanation 
 or addition, voted against it. On the other 
 hand, the old Democracy could not vote 
 for it without admitting that the Supreme 
 Court had not already placed the right 
 over slave property in the Territories on 
 the same footing with all other property, 
 and therefore they also voted against it. 
 In consequence the resolution was nega 
 tived by a vote of only twenty-one in its 
 
 favor to two hundred and thirty-eight. 
 Had the seven Southern States just men 
 tioned voted, the negatives would have 
 amounted to two hundred and eighty-two, 
 or more than thirteen to one. Thus both 
 the majority and the minority resolutions 
 on the Territorial question were rejected, 
 and nothing remained before the Conven 
 tion except the Cincinnati platform. 
 
 At this stage of the proceedings (April 
 30th), the States of Louisiana, Alabama, 
 South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Tex 
 as, and Arkansas, having assigned their 
 reasons for the act, withdrew in succession 
 from the Convention. After these seven 
 States had retired, the delegation from 
 Virginia made an effort to restore har 
 mony. Mr. Russell, their chairman, ad 
 dressed the Convention and portrayed the 
 alarming nature of the crisis. He ex 
 pressed his fears that we were on the eve 
 of a revolution, and if this Convention 
 should prove a failure it would be the last 
 National Convention of any party which 
 would ever assemble in the IJniteo! States. 
 " Virginia," said he, " stands in the midst 
 of her sister States, in garments red with 
 the blood of her children slain in the first 
 outbreak of the 'irrepressible conflict.' 
 But, sir, not when her children fell at mid 
 night beneath the weapon of the assassin, 
 was her heart penetrated with so profound 
 a grief as that which will wring it when 
 she is obliged to choose between a sepa 
 rate destiny with the South, and her com 
 mon destiny with the entire Republic." 
 
 Mr. Russell was not then prepared to 
 answer, in behalf of his delegation, whether 
 the events of the day (the defeat of the 
 majority report, and the withdrawal of the 
 seven States) were sufficient to justify her 
 in taking the irrevocable step in question. 
 In order, therefore, that they might have 
 time to deliberate, and if they thought 
 proper make an effort to restore harmony 
 in the Convention, he expressed a desire 
 that it might adjourn and afford them an 
 opportunity for consultation. The Con 
 vention accordingly adjourned until the 
 next day, Tuesday, May 1st ; and imme 
 diately after its reassembling the delega 
 tion from Georgia, making the eighth 
 State, also withdrew. 
 
 In the mean time the Virginia delega 
 tion had consulted among themselves, and 
 had conferred with the delegation of the 
 other Southern States which still remained 
 in the Convention, as to the best mode of 
 restoring harmony. In consequence Mr. 
 Howard, of Tennessee, stated to the Con 
 vention that " he had a proposition to pre 
 sent in behalf of the delegation from Ten 
 nessee, whenever, under parliamentary 
 rules, it would be proper to present it." 
 In this Tennessee was joined by Kentucky 
 and Virginia. He should propose the fol 
 lowing resolution whenever it would be in 
 
THE CHARLESTON CONVENTION. 
 
 83 
 
 order : ' Resolved, That the citizens of the 
 United States have an equal right to set 
 tle with their property in the Territories 
 of the United States ; and that, under the 
 decision of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, which we recognize as the 
 correct exposition of the Constitution of 
 the United States, neither the rights of 
 person nor property can be destroyed or 
 inpaired by Congressional or Territorial 
 legislation.' 1J 
 
 On a subsequent day (May 3d), Mr. Rus- 
 sell informed the Convention that this re 
 solution had, "he believed, received the 
 approbation of all the delegations from 
 the Southern States which remained in 
 the Convention, and also received the ap 
 probation of the delegation from New 
 York. He was informed there was strength 
 enough to pass it when in order." 
 
 Mr. Howard, however, in vain attempted 
 to obtain a vote on his resolution. When 
 he moved to take it up on the evening of 
 the day it had been offered, he was met by 
 cries of "Not in order/' "Not in order." 
 The manifest purpose was to postpone its 
 consideration until the hour should arrive 
 which had been fixed by a previous order 
 of the Convention, in opposition to its first 
 order on the same subject, for the balloting 
 to commence for a Presidential candidate, 
 when it would be too late. This the friends 
 of Mr. Douglas accomplished, and no vote 
 was ever taken upon it either at Charleston 
 or Baltimore. 
 
 Before the balloting commenced Mr. 
 Howard succeeded, in the face of strong 
 opposition, with the aid of the thirty-five 
 votes from New York, in obtaining a vote 
 of the Convention in re-affirmance of the 
 two-thirds rule. On his motion they re 
 solved, by 141, to 112 votes, " that the Pre 
 sident of the Convention be and he is here 
 by directed not to declare any person 
 nominated for the office of President or 
 Vice-President, unless he shall have re 
 ceived a number of votes equal to two- 
 thirds of the votes of all the electoral col 
 leges." It was well known at the time 
 that this resolution rendered the regular 
 nomination of Mr. Douglas impossible. 
 
 The balloting then commenced (Tuesday 
 evening, May 1st), on the eighth day of the 
 session. Necessary to a nomination, under 
 jthe two-thirds rule, 202 votes. On the 
 first ballot Mr. -Douglas received 145 
 votes j. Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, 42 ; Mr. 
 Guthrie, of Kentucky, 35 J ; Mr. Johnson, 
 of Tennessee, 12 ; Mr. Dickinson, of New 
 York, 7; Mr. Lane, of Oregon, 6; Mr. 
 Toucey, of Connecticut, 2; Mr. Davis, of 
 Mississippi, 1J, and Mr. Pearce, of Mary 
 land, 1 vote. 
 
 The voting continued until May 3d, 
 during which there were fifty-four addi 
 tional ballotings. Mr. Douglas never rose 
 to more than 152, and ended in 151 
 
 votes, 202 votes being necessary to a nomi 
 nation. 
 
 Until 1824 nominations had been made 
 by Congressional caucus. In these none 
 participated except Senators and Demo 
 cratic States, and Representatives from 
 Democratic Congressional districts. The 
 simple majority rule governed in these 
 caucuses, because it was morally certain 
 that, composed as they were, no candidate 
 could be selected against the will of the 
 Democratic States on whom his election 
 depended. But when a change was made 
 to National Conventions, it was at once 
 perceived that if a mere majority could 
 nominate, then the delegates from Anti- 
 Democratic States might be mainly instru 
 mental in nominating a candidate for 
 whom they could not give a single electo 
 ral vote. Whilst it would have been harsh 
 and inexpedient to exclude these States 
 from the Convention altogether, it would 
 have been unjust to confer on them a con 
 trolling power over the nomination. To 
 compromise this difficulty, the two-thirds 
 rule was adopted. Under its operation it 
 would be almost impossible that a candi 
 date could be selected, without the votes 
 of a simple majority of delegates from the 
 Democratic States. This was the argu 
 ment of its friends. 
 
 It had now become manifest that it was 
 impossible to make a nomination at 
 Charleston. The friends of Mr. Douglas 
 adhered to him and would vote for him 
 and him alone, whilst his opponents, ap 
 prehending the effect of his principles 
 should he be elected President, were equally 
 determined to vote against his nomination. 
 
 In the hope that some compromise 
 might yet be effected, the Convention, on 
 the motion of Mr. Russell, of Virginia, 
 resolved to adjourn to meet at Baltimore on 
 Monday, the 18th June ; and it was " re 
 spectfully recommended to the Democratic 
 party of the several States, to make pro 
 vision for supplying all vacancies in their 
 respective delegations to this Convention 
 when it shall re-assemble." 
 
 The Convention re-assembled at Balti 
 more on the 18th June, 1860, according to 
 its adjournment, and Mr. Gushing, the 
 President, took the chair. 
 
 Immediately after the reorganization of 
 the Convention, Mr. Howard, of Tennes 
 see, offered a resolution, " that the Presi* 
 dent of this Convention direct the ser- 
 geant-at-arms to issue tickets of admission 
 to the delegates of the Convention, as orig 
 inally constituted and organized at Charles 
 ton." Thus the vitally important question 
 was distinctly presented. It soon, how 
 ever, became manifest that no such reso 
 lution could prevail. In the absence of 
 the delegates who had withdrawn at 
 Charleston, the friends of Mr. Douglas 
 constituted a controlling majority. At the 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 threshold they resisted the admission of 
 the original delegates, and contended that 
 by withdrawing they had irrevocably re 
 signed their seats. In support of this po 
 sition, they relied upon the language of 
 the resolution adjourning the Convention 
 to Baltimore, which, as we have seen, 
 "recommended to the Democratic party 
 of the several States to make provision for 
 supplying all vacancies in their respective 
 delegations to this Convention, when it 
 shall reassemble." On the other hand, 
 the advocates of their readmission con 
 tended that a simple withdrawal of the 
 delegates was not a final renunciation of 
 their seats, but they were still entitled to 
 reoccupy them, whenever, in their judg 
 ment, this course would be best calculated 
 to restore the harmony and promote the 
 success of the Democratic party ; that the 
 Convention had no right to interpose be 
 tween them and the Democracy of their 
 respective States ; that being directly re 
 sponsible to this Democracy, it alone could 
 accept their resignation ; that no such re 
 signation had ever been made, and their 
 authority therefore continued in full force, 
 and this, too, with the approbation of their 
 constituents. 
 
 In the mean time, after the adjournment 
 from Charleston to Baltimore, the friends 
 of Mr. Douglas, in several of these States, 
 had proceeded to elect delegates to take 
 the place of those who had withdrawn 
 from the Convention. Indeed, it was 
 manifest at the time, and has since been 
 clearly proved by the event, that these 
 delegates represented but a small minority 
 of the party in their respective States. 
 These new delegates, nevertheless,appeared 
 and demanded seats. * 
 
 After a long and ardent debate, the 
 Convention adopted a resolution, offered 
 by Mr. Church, of New York, and modi 
 fied on motion of Mr. Gilmore, of Penn 
 sylvania, as a substitute for that of Mr. 
 Howard, to refer " the credentials of all 
 persons claiming seats in this Convention, 
 made vacant by the secession of delegates 
 at Charleston, to the Committee on Cre 
 dentials.'' They thus prejudged the ques 
 tion, by deciding that the seats of these 
 delegates had been made and were still 
 vacant. The Committee on Credentials 
 had been originally composed of one dele- 
 'gate from each of the thirty-three States, 
 but the number was now reduced to twen 
 ty-five, in consequence of the exclusion of 
 eight of its members from the States of 
 Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Car 
 olina, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and 
 Florida. The committee, therefore, now 
 stood 16 to 9 in favor of the nomination of 
 Mr. Douglas, instead of 17 to 16 against it, 
 according to its original organization. 
 
 * From Mr. Buchanan's Administration on the eve of 
 ttw Rebellion, published by 1). Appleton & Co., 1866. 
 
 The committee, through their chairman, 
 Mr. Krum, of Missouri, made their report 
 on the 21st June, and Governor Stevens, of 
 Oregon, at the same time presented a 
 minority report, signed by himself and 
 eight other members. 
 
 It is unnecessary to give in detail these 
 conflicting reports. It is sufficient to state 
 that whilst the report of the majority 
 maintained that the delegates, by with 
 drawing at Charleston, had resigned their 
 seats, and these were still vacant ; that of 
 the minority, on the contrary, asserted the 
 right of these delegates to resume their 
 seats in the Convention, by virtue of their 
 original appointment. 
 
 On the next day (June 22), the impor 
 tant decision was made between the con 
 flicting reports. Mr. Stevens moved to 
 substitute the minority report for that of 
 the majority, and his motion was rejected 
 by a vote of 100 to 150. Of course no 
 vote was given from any of the excluded 
 States, except one half vote from each of 
 the parties in Arkansas. 
 
 The resolutions of the majority were then 
 adopted in succession. Among other mo 
 tions of similar character, a motion had 
 been made by a delegate in the majority 
 to reconsider the vote by which the Con 
 vention had adopted the minority report, 
 as a substitute for that of the majority, 
 and to lay his own motion on the table. 
 This is a common mode resorted to, ac 
 cording to parliamentary tactics, of de 
 feating every hope of a reconsideration of 
 the pending question, and rendering the 
 first decision final. 
 
 Mr. Cessna with this view called for a 
 vote on laying the motion to reconsider on 
 the table. Should this be negatived, then 
 the question of reconsideration would be 
 open. The President stated the question 
 to be first " on laying on the table the mo 
 tion to reconsider the vote by which the 
 Convention refused to amend the majority 
 report of the Committee on Credentials by 
 substituting the report of the minority." 
 On this question New York, for the first 
 time since the meeting at Baltimore, voted 
 with the minority and changed it into a 
 majority. "When New York was called," 
 says the report of the proceedings, " and re 
 sponded thirty-five votes" (in the nega 
 tive) " the response was greeted with loud 
 cheers and applause." The result of the 
 vote was 113 to 138 " so the Convention 
 refused to lay on the table the motion to 
 reconsider the minority report." The Con 
 vention then adjourned until evening, on 
 motion of Mr. Cochrane, of New York, 
 amidst great excitement and confusion. ^ 
 
 This vote of New York, appearing to in 
 dicate a purpose to harmonize the party by 
 admitting the original delegates from the 
 eight absent States, was not altogether un 
 expected. Although voting as a unit, it 
 
THE CHARLESTON CONVENTION. 
 
 85 
 
 was known that her delegation were greatly 
 divided among themselves. The exact 
 strength of the minority was afterwards 
 stated by Mr. Bartlett, one of its members, 
 in the Breckinridge Convention. He said: 
 " Upon all questions and especially upon 
 the adoption of the majority report on cre 
 dentials, in which we had a long contest, 
 the line was strictly drawn, and there were 
 thirty on one side and forty on the other." 
 
 The position of New York casting an un 
 divided vote of thirty-five, with Dean Rich 
 mond at their head, had been a controlling 
 power from the commencement. 
 
 Strong expectations were, therefore, now 
 entertained that after the New York dele 
 gation had recorded their vote against a 
 motion which would have killed the mi 
 nority report beyond hope of revival, they 
 would now follow this up by taking the 
 next step in advance and voting for its re 
 consideration and adoption. On the even 
 ing of the very same day, however, they 
 reversed their course and voted against its 
 reconsideration. They were then cheered 
 by the opposite party from that which had 
 cheered them in the morning. Thus the 
 action of the Convention in favor of the 
 majority report became final and conclu 
 sive. 
 
 Mr. Cessna, of Pennsylvania, at once 
 moved " that the Convention do now pro 
 ceed to nominate candidates for President 
 and Vice-President of the United States." 
 
 Mr. Russell rose and stated, " It has be 
 come my duty now, by direction of a large 
 majority of the delegation from Virginia, 
 respectfully to inform you and this body, 
 that it is not consistent with their convic 
 tions of duty to participate longer in its 
 deliberations." 
 
 Mr. Lander next stated " that it became 
 his duty, as one of the delegates from North 
 Carolina, to say that a very large majority 
 of the delegation from that State were 
 compelled to retire permanently from this 
 Convention, on account, as he conceived, 
 of the unjust course that had been pursued 
 toward some of their fellow-citizens of the 
 South. The South had heretofore relied 
 upon the Northern Democracy to give them 
 the rights which were justly due them ; but 
 the vote to-day had satisfied the majority 
 of the North Carolina delegation that these 
 rights were now refused them, and, this 
 being the case, they could no longer re 
 main in the Convention." 
 
 Then followed in succession the with 
 drawal of the delegations from Tennessee, 
 Kentucky, Maryland, California, Oregon, 
 and Arkansas. The Convention now ad 
 journed at half-past-ten o'clock until the 
 next morning at ten. 
 
 Soon after the assembling of the Con 
 vention, the President, Mr. Gushing, whilst 
 tendering his thanks to its members for 
 their candid and honorable support in th.e 
 
 performance of his duties, stated that not 
 withstanding the retirement of the delega 
 tions of several of the States at Charleston, 
 in his solicitude to maintain the harmony 
 and union of the Democratic party, he 
 had continued in his post of labor. " To 
 that end and in that sense," said he, " I 
 had the honor to meet you, gentlemen, here 
 at Baltimore. But circumstances have 
 since transpired which compel me to pause. 
 The delegations of a majority of the States 
 have, either in whole or in part, in one 
 form or another, ceased to participate in 
 the deliberations of the Convention. * * 
 * In the present circumstances, I deem 
 it a duty of self-respect, and I deem it 
 still more a duty to this Convention, as at 
 present organized, * * * to resign my 
 seat as President of this Convention, in 
 order to take my place on the floor as a 
 member of the delegation from Massachu 
 setts. * * * I deem this above all a 
 duty which I owe to the members of this 
 Convention, as to whom no longer would 
 my action represent the will of a majority 
 of the Convention." 
 
 Governor Tod, of Ohio, one of the Vice- 
 Presidents, then took the vacant chair, and 
 was greeted with hearty and long-continued 
 cheers and applause from members of the 
 Convention. 
 
 Mr. Butler, of Massachusetts, now an 
 nounced that a portion of the Massachu 
 setts delegation desired to retire, but was 
 interrupted by cries of "No," "No," 
 " Call the roll." Mr. Cessna called for the 
 original question, to wit, that the Conven 
 tion now proceed to a nomination for Pres 
 ident and Vice-President. 
 
 The President here ordered the Secre 
 tary to call the States. Maine, New Hamp 
 shire, and Vermont were called, and they 
 gave an unbroken vote for Stephen A. 
 Douglas. When Massachusetts was called, 
 Mr. Butler rose and said he had a respect 
 ful paper in his hand which he would 
 desire the President to have read. A scene 
 of great confusion thereupon ensued, cries 
 of " I object" being heard upon all sides. 
 Mr. Butler, not to be baffled, contended 
 for his right at this stage to make remarks 
 pertinent to the matter, and cited in his 
 support the practice of the Conventions at 
 Baltimore in 1848 and 1852, and at Cin 
 cinnati in 1856. He finally prevailed, and 
 was permitted to procee \. He then said 
 he " would now withdra v from the Con 
 vention, upon the ground that there had 
 been a withdrawal, in who. s or in part, of 
 a majority of the States; and further, 
 which was a matter more personal to him 
 self, he could not sit in a convention where 
 the African slave trade, which was piracy 
 according to the laws of his country, was 
 openly advocated." 
 
 Mr* Butler then retired, followed by 
 General Gushing and four others of the 
 
86 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS 
 
 Massachusetts delegation. All of these 
 had voted with the South and against 
 Douglas. 
 
 The balloting now proceeded. Mr. 
 Douglas received 1732- votes ; Mr. Guthrie 
 9 ; Mr. Breckinridge 6 ; Mr. Bocock and 
 Mr. Seymour each 1 ; and Mr. Dickerson 
 and Mr. Wise each half a vote. On the 
 next and last ballot Mr. Douglas received 
 181.} votes, eight of those in the minority 
 having changed their votes in his i'avor. 
 
 To account for this number, it is proper 
 to state that a few delegates from five of 
 the eight States which had withdrawn still 
 remained in the Convention. On the last 
 ballot Mr. Douglas received all of their 
 votes, to wit : 3 of the 15 votes of Virginia, 
 1 of the 10 votes of North Carolina, 1 of 
 the 3 votes of Arkansas, 3 of the 12 votes 
 of Tennessee, 3 of the 12 votes of Ken 
 tucky, and 2} of the 8 votes of Maryland, 
 making in the aggregate 14 votes. To 
 this number may be added the 9 votes of 
 the new delegates from Alabama and the 
 6 from Louisiana, which had been admitted 
 to the exclusion of the original dele- 
 
 Mr. Douglas was accordingly declared 
 to be the regular nominee of the Democra 
 tic party of the Union, upon the motion of 
 Mr. Church, of New York, when, accord 
 ing to the report of the proceedings, " The 
 whole body rose to its feet, hats were 
 waved in the air, and many tossed aloft ; 
 shouts, screams, and yells, and every 
 boisterous mode of expressing approbation 
 and unanimity, were resorted to." 
 
 Senator Fitzpatrick, of Alabama, was 
 then unanimously nominated as the 
 candidate for Vice-President ; and the 
 Convention adjourned sine die on the 23d 
 June, the sixth and last day of its ses 
 sion. On the same day, but after the ad 
 journment, Mr. Fitzpatrick declined the 
 nomination, and it was immediately con 
 ferred on Mr. Herschel V. Johnson, of 
 Georgia, by the Executive Committee. 
 Thus ended the Douglas Convention. 
 
 But another Convention assembled at 
 Baltimore on the same 23d June, styling 
 itself the " National Democratic Conven 
 tion." It was composed chiefly of the 
 delegates who had just withdrawn from 
 the Douglas Convention, and the original 
 delegates from Alabama and Louisiana. 
 One of their first acts was to abrogate the 
 two-third rule, as had been done by the 
 Douglas Convention. Both acted under 
 the same necessity, because the preserva 
 tion of this rule would have prevented a 
 nomination by either. 
 
 Mr. Gushing was elected and took the 
 chair as President. In his opening ad 
 dress he said: "Gentlemen of the Con 
 vention, we assemble here, delegates to the 
 National Democratic Convention, duly 
 accredited thereto from more than twenty 
 
 States of the Union, for the purpose of 
 nominating candidates of the Democratic 
 party for the offices of President and Vice- 
 President of the United States, for the 
 purpose of announcing the principles of 
 the party, and for the purpose of continu 
 ing and re-establishing that party upon . 
 the firm foundations of the Constitution, 
 the Union, and the coequal rights of the 
 several States." 
 
 Mr. Avery, of North Carolina, who had 
 reported the majority resolutions at 
 Charleston, now reported the same from 
 the committee of this body, and they 
 "were adopted unanimously, amid great 
 applause." 
 
 The Convention then proceeded to select 
 their candidates. Mr. Loring, on behalf 
 of the delegates from Massachusetts, who 
 with Mr. Butler had retired from the 
 Douglas Convention, nominated John C. 
 Breckinridge, of Kentucky, which Mr. 
 Dent, representing the Pennsylvania dele 
 gation present, "most heartily seconded." 
 Mr. Ward, from the Alabama delegation, 
 nominated K. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia ; 
 Mr. Ewing, from that of Tennessee, nomi 
 nated Mr. Dickinson, of New York ; and 
 Mr. Stevens, from Oregon, nominated 
 General Joseph Lane. Eventually all 
 these names were withdrawn except that 
 of Mr. Breckinridge, and he received the 
 nomination by a unanimous vote. The 
 whole number of votes cast in his favor 
 from twenty States was 103^. 
 
 General Lane was unanimously nomi 
 nated as the candidate for Vice-President. 
 Thus terminated the Breckinridge Conven 
 tion. 
 
 Tin- Chicago Republican Convention. 
 
 The Eepublicans had named May 16th, 
 1860, as the date and Chicago as the place 
 for holding their second National Conven 
 tion. They had been greatly encouraged 
 by the vote for Fremont and "Dayton, and, 
 what had now become apparent as an ir 
 reconcilable division of the Democracy, 
 encouraged them in the belief that they 
 could elect their candidates. Those of the 
 great West were especially enthusiastic, 
 and had contributed freely to the erection 
 of an immense " Wigwam," capable of 
 holding ten thousand people, at Chicago. 
 All the Northern States were fully repre 
 sented, and there were besides partial de 
 legations from Delaware, Maryland, Ken 
 tucky, Missouri and Virginia, with occa 
 sional delegates from other Slave States, 
 there being none, however, from the Gulf 
 States. David Wilmot, of Penna., author 
 of the Wilmot proviso, was made tempo 
 rary chairman, and George Ashman, of 
 Mass., permanent President. No differ 
 ences were excited by the report of the com 
 mittee on platform,' and the proceedings 
 
THE AMERICAN CONVENTION. 
 
 87 
 
 throughout were characterized by great 
 harmony, though there was a somewhat 
 sharp contest for the Presidential nomina 
 tion. The prominent candidates were Win. 
 H. Seward, of New York ; Abraham Lin 
 coln, of Illinois ; Salmon P. Chase, of 
 Ohio ; Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, 
 and Edward Bates, of Missouri. There 
 ' were three ballots, Mr. Lincoln receiving 
 in the last 354 out of 446 votes. Mr. Sew 
 ard led the vote at the beginning, but he 
 was strongly opposed by gentlemen in his 
 own State as prominent as Horace Greeley 
 and Thurlow Weed, and his nomination 
 was thought to be inexpedient. Lincoln's 
 successful debate with Douglas was still 
 fresh in the minds of the delegates, and 
 every addition to his vote so heightened 
 the enthusiasm that the convention was 
 finally carried "off its feet," the delegations 
 rapidly changing on the last ballot. Lin 
 coln had been a known candidate but a 
 month or two before, while Seward's name 
 had been everywhere canvassed, and where 
 opposed in the Eastern and Middle States, 
 it was mainly because of the belief that his 
 views on slavery were too radical. He was 
 more strongly favored by the Abolition 
 branch of the party than any other candi- 
 didate. When the news of his success was 
 first conveyed to Mr. Lincoln he was sit 
 ting in the office of the State Journal, at 
 Springfiald, which was connected by a 
 telegraph wire with the Wigwam. On the 
 close of the third ballot a despatch was 
 handed Mr. Lincoln. He read it in silence, 
 and then announcing the result said: 
 " There is a little woman down at our 
 house would like to hear this I'll go down 
 and tell her," and he started amid the 
 shout? of personal admirers. Hannibal 
 Hamlin, of Maine, was nominated for Vice- 
 President with much unanimity, and the 
 Chicago Convention closed its work in a 
 single day. 
 
 The American Convention. 
 
 A "Constitutional Union/' really an 
 American Convention, had met at Balti 
 more on the 9th of May. Twenty States 
 were represented, and John Bell, of Ten- 
 ne3see, and Edward Everett, of Massachu 
 setts, were named for the Presidency and 
 Vice-Presidency. Their friends, though 
 known to be less in number than either those 
 of Douglas, Lincoln or Breckinridge, yet 
 made a vigorous canvass in the hope that 
 the election would be thrown into the 
 House, and that there a compromise in the 
 vote by States would naturally turn toward 
 their candidates. The result of the great 
 contest is elsewhere given in our Tabulated 
 History of Politics. 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES INVOLVED. 
 
 Lincoln received large majorities in 
 nearly all of the free States, his popular 
 
 vote being 1,866,452; electoral vote, 180. 
 Douglas was next in the popular estimate, 
 receiving 1,375,157 votes, with but 12 elec 
 tors. Breckinridge had 847,953 votes, with 
 76 electors ; Bell, with 570,631 votes, had 
 39 electors. 
 
 The principles involved in the contro 
 versy are given at length in the Book of 
 Platforms, and were briefly these: The 
 Republican party asserted that slavery 
 should not be extended to the territories"; 
 that it could exist only by virtue of local 
 and positive law; that freedom was na 
 tional ; that slavery was morally wrong, 
 and the nation should at least anticipate 
 its gradual extinction. The Douglas wing 
 of the Democratic party adhered to the 
 doctrine of popular sovereignty, and 
 claimed that in its exercise in the terri 
 tories they were indifferent whether slavery 
 was voted up or down. The Breckinridge 
 wing of the Democratic party asserted both 
 the moral and legal right to hold slaves, 
 and to carry them to the territories, and 
 that no power save the national constitu 
 tion could prohibit or interfere with it out 
 side of State lines. The Americans sup 
 porting Bell, adhered to their peculiar 
 doctrines touching emigration and natural 
 ization, but had abandoned, in most of the 
 States, the secrecy and oaths of the Know- 
 Nothing order. They were evasive and 
 non-committal on the slavery question. 
 
 Preparing for Secession. 
 
 Secession, up to this time, had not been 
 regarded as treasonable in all sections and 
 at all times. As shown in many previous 
 pages, it had been threatened by the Hart 
 ford Convention ; certainly by some of the 
 people of New England who opposed the 
 war of 1812. Some of the more extreme 
 Abolitionists had favored a division of the 
 sections. The South, particularly the Gulf 
 States, had encouraged a secret organiza 
 tion, known as the " Order of the Lone 
 Star," previous to and at the time of the 
 annexation of Texas. One of its objects 
 was to acquire Cuba, so as to extend slave 
 territory. The Gulf States needed more 
 slaves, and though the law made partici- 
 pancy in the slave trade piracy, many car 
 goes had been landed in parts of the Gulf 
 without protest or prosecution, just prior 
 to the election of 1860. Calhoun had 
 threatened, thirty years before, nullifica 
 tion, and before that again, secession in 
 the event of the passage of the Public 
 Land Bill. Jefferson and Madison had 
 indicated that doctrine of State Bights on 
 which secession was based in the Kentucky 
 and Virginia resolutions of 1798, facts 
 which were daily discussed by the people 
 of the South during this most exciting of 
 all Presidential campaigns. 
 
 The leaders in the South had anticipated 
 defeat at the election, and many of them 
 
88 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 made early preparations for the withdrawal 
 of their States from the Union. Some of 
 the more extreme anti-slavery men of the 
 North, noting these preparations, for a 
 time favored a plan of letting the South 
 go in peace. South Carolina was the first 
 to adopt a secession ordinance, and before 
 it did so, Horace Greeley said in the New 
 York Tribune: 
 
 "If the Declaration of Independence 
 justified the secession from the British 
 Empire of three millions of colonists in 
 1776, we can not see why it would not jus 
 tify the secession of five millions of South 
 rons from the Federal Union in 1861." 
 
 These views, however, soon fell into dis 
 favor throughout the North, and the period 
 of indecision on either side ceased when 
 Fort Sumter was fired upon. The Gulf 
 States openly made their preparations as 
 soon as the result of the Presidential elec 
 tion was known, as a rule pursuant to a 
 previous understanding. The following, 
 condensed from Hon. Edward McPher- 
 son's " Political History of the United States 
 of America during the Great Rebellion," is 
 a correct statement of the movements 
 which followed, in the several Southern 
 States: 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 November 5th, 1860. Legislature met 
 to choose Presidential electors, who voted 
 for Breckinridge and Lane for President 
 and Vice President. Gov. William H. 
 Gist recommended in his message that in 
 the event of Abraham Lincoln's election 
 to the Presidency, a convention of the 
 people of the State be immediately called 
 to consider and determine for themselves 
 the mode and measure of redress. He ex 
 pressed the opinion that the only alterna 
 tive left is the " secession of South Caro 
 lina from the Federal Union." 
 
 7th. United States officials resigned at 
 Charleston. 
 
 10th. U. S. Senators James H. Ham 
 mond and James Chestnut, Jr., resigned 
 their seats in the Senate. Convention 
 called to meet Dec. 17th. Delegates to be 
 elected Dec. 6th. 
 
 13th. Collection of debts due to citi 
 zens of non-slaveholding States stayed. 
 Francis W. Pickens elected Governor. 
 
 17th. Ordinance of Secession adopted 
 unanimously. 
 
 21st. Commissioners appointed (Barn- 
 well, Adams, and Orr) to proceed to 
 Washington to treat for the possession of 
 U. S. Government property within the lim 
 its of South Carolina. Commissioners ap 
 pointed to the other slaveholding States. 
 Southern Congress proposed. 
 
 24th. Representatives in Congress with 
 drew. 
 
 Gov. Pickens issued a proclamation 
 " announcing the repeal, Dec. 20th, 1860, 
 
 by the good people of South Carolina," of 
 the Ordinance of May 23d, 1788, and " the 
 dissolution of the union between the State 
 of South Carolina and other States under 
 the name of the United States of Ameri 
 ca," and proclaiming to the world " that 
 the State of South Carolina is, as she has 
 a right to be, a separate, sovereign, free 
 and independent State, and, as such, has a; 
 right to levy war, conclude peace, negotiate 
 treaties, leagues, or covenants, and to do 
 all acts whatsoever that rightfully apper 
 tain to a free and independent State. 
 
 " Done in the eighty-fifth year of the 
 sovereignty and independence of South 
 Carolina." 
 
 Jan. 3d, 1861. South Carolina Com 
 missioners left Washington. 
 
 4th. Convention appointed T. J. With 
 ers, L. M. Keitt, W. W. Boyce, Jas. Chest 
 nut, Jr., R. B. Rhett, Jr., R. W. Barnwell, 
 and C. G. Memminger, delegates to South 
 ern Congress. 
 
 5th. Convention adjourned, subject to 
 the call of the Governor. 
 
 14th. Legislature declared that any at 
 tempt to reinforce Fort Sumter would be 
 considered an open act of hostility and a 
 declaration of war. Approved the Gov 
 ernor's action in firing on the Star of the 
 West. Accepted the services of the Cataw- 
 ba Indians. 
 
 27th. Received Judge Robertson, Com 
 missioner from Virginia, but rejected the 
 proposition for a conference and co-oper 
 ative action. 
 
 March 26th. Convention met in Charles 
 ton. 
 
 April 3d. Ratified "Confederate" Con 
 stitution yeas 114, nays 16. 
 
 8th. Transferred forts, etc., to "Con 
 federate " government. 
 
 GEORGIA. 
 
 November 8th, 1860. Legislature met 
 pursuant to previous arrangement. 
 
 18th. Convention called. Legislature 
 appropriated $1,000,000 to arm the State. 
 
 Dec. 3d. Resolutions adopted in the Leg 
 islature proposing a conference of the 
 Southern States at Atlanta, Feb. 20th. 
 
 January 17th, 1861. Convention met. 
 Received Commissioners from South Caro 
 lina ind Alabama 
 
 18th. Resolutions declaring it the right 
 and duty of Georgia to secede, adopted 
 yeas 165, nays 130. 
 
 19th. Ordinance of Secession passed 
 yeas 208, nays 89. 
 
 21st. Senators and Representatives in 
 Congress withdrew. 
 
 24th. Elected Delegates to Southern 
 Congress at Montgomery, Alabama. 
 
 28th. Elected Commissioners to other 
 Slaveholding States. 
 
 29th. Adopted an address " to the South 
 and the world." 
 
PREPARING FOR SECESSION. 
 
 89 
 
 March 7th. Convention reassembled. 
 
 16th. Ratified the " Confederate " Consti 
 tutionyeas 96, nays 5. 
 
 20th. Ordinance passed authorizing the 
 " Confederate" government to occupy, use 
 and possess the forts, navy yards, arsenals, 
 and custom houses within the limits of said 
 State. 
 
 April 26th. Governor Brown issued a 
 proclamation ordering the repudiation by 
 Hie citizens of Georgia of all debts due 
 Northern men. 
 
 MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 November 26th, 1860. Legislature met 
 Nov. 26th, and adjourned Nov. 30th. Elec 
 tion for Convention fixed for Dec. 20th. 
 Convention to meet Jan 7th. Convention 
 bills and secession resolutions passed unani 
 mously. Commissioners appointed to other 
 Slaveholding States to secure "their co 
 operation in effecting measures for their 
 common defence and safety." 
 
 Jan. 7th, 1861. Convention assembled. 
 
 9th. Ordinance of Secession passed 
 yeas 84, nays 15. 
 
 In the ordinance the people of the State 
 of Mississippi express their consent to form 
 a federal union with such of the States as 
 have seceded or may secede from the Union 
 of the United States of America, upon the 
 basis of the present Constitution of the 
 United States, except such parts thereof as 
 embrace other portions than such seceding 
 States. 
 
 10th. Commissioners from other States 
 received. Resolutions adopted, recogniz 
 ing South Carolina as sovereign and inde 
 pendent. 
 
 Jan. 12th. Representatives in Congress 
 withdrew. 
 
 19th. The committee on the Confederacy 
 in the Legislature reported resolutions to 
 provide for a Southern Confederacy, and 
 to establish a provisional government for 
 seceding States and States hereafter seced 
 ing. 
 
 21st. Senators in Congress withdrew. 
 
 March 30th. Ratified "Confederate" 
 Constitution yeas 78, nays 7. 
 
 FLORIDA. 
 
 November 26th, 1860. Legislature met. 
 Governor M. S. Perry recommended imme 
 diate secession. 
 
 Dec. 1st. Convention bill passed. 
 
 Jan. 3d, 1861. Convention met. 
 
 7th. Commissioners from South Carolina 
 and Alabama received and heard. 
 
 10th. Ordinance of Secession passed 
 yeas 62, nays 7. 
 
 18th. Delegates appointed to Southern 
 Congress at Montgomery. 
 
 21st. Senators and Representatives in 
 Congress withdrew. 
 
 Feb. 14th. Act passed by the Legisla 
 ture declaring that after any actual collision 
 
 between Federal troops and those in the 
 employ of Florida, the act of holding office 
 under the Federal government shall be 
 declared treason, and the person convicted 
 shall suffer death. Transferred control of 
 government property captured, to the " Con 
 federate" government. 
 
 LOUISIANA. \ 
 
 December 10th, 1860. Legislature met. 
 
 llth. Convention called for Jan. 23d. 
 Military bill passed. 
 
 12th. Commissioners from Mississippi re 
 ceived and heard. Governor instructed to 
 communicate with Governors of other 
 southern States. 
 
 Jan 23d, 1861. Convention met and 
 organized. Received and heard Commis 
 sioners from South Carolina and Alabama. 
 
 25th. Ordinance of Secession passed 
 yeas 113, nays 17. Convention refused to 
 submit the ordinance to the people by a 
 vote of 84 to 45. This was subsequently 
 reconsidered, and the ordinance was sub 
 mitted. The vote upon it as declared was 
 20,448 in favor, and 17,296 against. 
 
 Feb. 5th. Senators withdrew from Con 
 gress, also the Representatives, except John 
 E. Bouligny. State flag adopted. Pilots 
 at the Balize prohibited from bringing over 
 the bar any United States vessels of war. 
 
 March 7th. Ordinance adopted in secret 
 session transferring to " Confederate " States 
 government $536,000, being the amount of 
 bullion in the U. S. mint and customs 
 seized by the State. 
 
 16th. An ordinance voted down, submit 
 ting the " Confederate " Constitution to the 
 people yeas 26, nays 74. 
 
 21st. Ratified the "Confederate "Consti 
 tution yeas 101, nays 7. Governor author 
 ized to transfer the arms and property 
 captured from the United States to the 
 " Confederate " Government. 
 
 27th. Convention adjourned sine die. 
 
 ALABAMA. 
 
 January 7th, 1861. Convention met. 
 
 8th. Received and heard the Commis 
 sioner from South Carolina. 
 
 llth. Ordinance of Secession passed in 
 secret session yeas 61, nays 39. Proposi 
 tion to submit ordinance to the people lost 
 yeas 47, nays 53. 
 
 14th. Legislature met pursuant to pre 
 vious action. 
 
 19th. Delegates elected to the Southern 
 Congress. 
 
 21st. Representatives and Senators in 
 Congress withdrew. ^ 
 
 26th. Commissioners appointed to treat 
 with the United States Government relative 
 to the United States forts, arsenals, etc., 
 within the State. 
 
 The Convention requested the people of 
 the States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, 
 North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, 
 
90 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, 
 Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Mis 
 souri to meet the people of Alabama by 
 their delegate^ in Convention,February 4th, 
 18G1, at Montgomery, for the purpose t of 
 consulting as to the most effectual mode of 
 securing concerted or harmonious action in 
 whatever measures may be deemed most 
 desirable for their common peace and 
 security. Military bill passed. Commis 
 sioners appointed to other Slaveholding 
 States. 
 
 March 4th. Convention re-assembled. 
 
 13th. Katified "Confederate" Constitu 
 tion, yeas 87, nays 6. Transferred control 
 forts, of arsenals, etc., to " Confederate" 
 Government. 
 
 ARKANSAS. 
 
 January 16th, 1861. Legislature passed 
 Convention bill. Vote of the people on 
 the Convention was 27,412 for it, and 15,- 
 826 against it. 
 
 February 18th. Delegates elected. 
 
 March 4th. Convention met. 
 
 18th. The Ordinance of Secession de 
 feated yeas 35, nays 39. The convention 
 effected a compromise by agreeing to sub 
 mit the question of co-operation or seces 
 sion to the people on the 1st Monday in 
 August. 
 
 May 6th. Passed Secession Ordinance 
 yeas 69, nays 1. Authorized her delegates 
 to the Provisional Congress, to transfer the 
 arsenal at Little Rock and hospital at Na 
 poleon to the " Confederate " Government. 
 
 . TEXAS. 
 
 January 21st, 1861. Legislature met. 
 
 28th. People's State Convention met. 
 
 29th. Legislature passed a resolution de 
 claring that the Federal Government has 
 no power to coerce a Sovereign State after 
 she has pronounced her separation from 
 the Federal Union. 
 
 February 1st. Ordinance of Secession 
 passed in Convention yeas 166, nays 7. 
 Military bill passed. 
 
 7th. Ordinance passed, forming the foun 
 dation of a Southern Confederacy. Dele 
 gates to the Southern Congress elected. 
 Also an act passed submitting the Ordi 
 nance of Secession to a vote of the people. 
 
 23d. Secession Ordinance voted on by 
 the people ; adopted by a vote of 34,794 in 
 favor, and 11,235 against it. 
 
 March 4th. Convention declared the 
 State out of the Union. Gov. Houston 
 issued a proclamation to that effect. 
 
 16th. Convention by a vote of- 127 to 4 
 deposed Gov. Houston, declaring his seat 
 vacant. Gov. Houston issued a proclama 
 tion to the people protesting against this 
 action of the Convention. 
 
 20th. Legislature confirmed the action 
 of the Convention in deposing Gov. Hous 
 ton by a vote of 53 to 11. Transferred 
 
 forts, etc., to "Confederate" Government 
 23d. Ratified the " Confederate" Consti 
 tution yeas 68, nays 2. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 November 20th, 1860. Legislature met 
 Gov. Ellis recommended that the Legisla 
 ture invite a conference of the Southern 
 States, or failing in that, send one or more 
 delegates to the neighboring States so as to 
 secure concert of action. He recommended 
 a thorough reorganization of the militia, 
 and the enrollment of all persons between 
 18 and 45 years, and the organization of a 
 corps of ten thousand men ; also, a Con 
 vention, to assemble immediately after the 
 proposed consultation with other Southern 
 States shall have terminated. 
 
 December 9th, Joint Committee on Fed 
 eral Relations agreed to report a Conven 
 tion Bill. 
 
 17th. Bill appropriating $300,000 to 
 arm the State, debated. 
 
 18th. Senate passed above bill yeas, 
 41, nays, 3. 
 
 20th. Commissioners from Alabama and 
 Mississippi received and heard the latter, 
 J. Thompson, by letter. 
 
 22d. Senate bill to arm the State failed 
 to pass the House. 
 
 22d. Adjourned till January 7th. 
 
 January 8th, 1861. Senate Bill arming 
 the State passed the House, yeas, 73, nays, 
 26. 
 
 30th. Passed Convention Bill election 
 to take place February 28th. No Secession 
 Ordinance 4.0 be valid without being rati 
 fied by a majority of the qualified voters of 
 the State. 
 
 31st. Elected Thos. L. Clingman United 
 States Senator, 
 
 February 13th. Commissioners from 
 Georgia publicly received. 
 
 20th. Mr. Hoke elected Adjutant Gen 
 eral of the State. Military Bill passed. 
 
 28th. Election of Delegates to Conven 
 tion took place. 
 
 28th. The vote for a Convention was 
 46,671; against 47,333 majority against a 
 Convention 661. 
 
 May 1st. Extra session of the Legisla 
 ture met at the call of Gov. Ellis. The 
 same day they passed a Convention Bill, 
 ordering the election of delegates on the 
 15th. 
 
 2d. Legislature adjourned. 
 
 13th. Election of delegates to the Con 
 vention took place. 
 
 20th. Convention met at Raleigh. 
 
 21st. Ordinance of Secession passed; 
 also the " Confederate " Constitution rati 
 fied. 
 
 June 5th. Ordinance passed, ceded the 
 arsenal at Fayetteville, and transferred 
 magazines, etc., to the "Confederate" 
 Government. 
 
PREPARING FOR SECESSION. 
 
 91 
 
 TENNESSEE. 
 
 January 6th, 1861. Legislature met. 
 
 12ih. Passed Convention Bill. 
 
 30th. Commissioners to Washington 
 appointed. 
 
 February 8th. People voted no Conven 
 tion : 67,360 to 54,156. 
 
 May 1st. Legislature passed a joint re 
 solution authorizing the Governor to ap 
 point Commissioners to enter into a mili 
 tary league with the authorities of the 
 " Confederate " States. 
 
 7th. Legislature in secret session rati 
 fied the league entered into by A. O. W. 
 Totten, Gustavus A. Henry, Washington 
 Barrow, Commissioners for Tennessee, and 
 Henry W. Hilliard, Commissioner for 
 "Confederate" States, stipulating that 
 Tennessee until she became a member of 
 the Confederacy placed the whole military 
 force of the State under the control of the 
 President of .the " Confederate" States, and 
 turned over to the " Confederate " States 
 all the public property, naval stores and 
 munitions of war. Passed the Senate, 
 yeas 14, nays 6, absent and not voting 5 ; 
 the House, yeas 42, nays 15, absent and 
 not voting, 18. Also a Declaration of In 
 dependence and Ordinance dissolving the 
 Federal relations between Tennessee and 
 the United States, and an ordinance adopt 
 ing and ratifying the Confederate Consti 
 tution, these two latter to be voted on by 
 the people on June 8th were passed. 
 
 June 24th. Gov. Isham G. Harris de 
 clared Tennessee out of the Union, the 
 vote for Separation being 104,019 against 
 47,238. 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 January 7th, 1861. Legislature con 
 vened. 
 
 8th. Anti-coercion resolution passed. 
 
 9th. Resolution passed, asking that the 
 status quo be maintained. 
 
 10th. The Governor transmitted a des 
 patch from the Mississippi Convention, an 
 nouncing its unconditional secession from 
 the Union, and desiring on the basis of the 
 old Constitution to form a new union with 
 the seceding States. The House adopted 
 yeas 77, nays 61, an amendment submit 
 ting to a vote of the people the question of 
 referring for their decision any action of 
 the Convention dissolving Virginia's con 
 nection with the Union, or changing its 
 organic law. The Richmond Enquirer 
 denounce 1 " the emasculation of the Con 
 vention Bill as imperilling all that Virgin 
 ians held most sacred and dear." 
 
 16th. Commissioners Hopkins and Gil- 
 mer of Alabama received in the Legisla 
 ture. 
 
 17th. Resolutions passed proposing the 
 Crittenden resolutions as a basis for adjust 
 ment, and requesting General Government 
 to avoid collision with Southern States. 
 
 Gov. Letcher communicated the Resolu 
 tions of the Legislature of New York, ex 
 pressing the utmost disdain, and saying 
 that " the threat conveyed can inspire no 
 terror in freemen." The resolutions were 
 directed to be returned to the Governor of 
 New York. 
 
 18th. $1,000,000 appropriated for the 
 defence of the State. 
 
 19th. Passed resolve that if all efforts 
 to reconcile the differences of the country 
 fail, every consideration of honor and in 
 terest demands that Virginia shall unite 
 her destinies with her sister slaveholding 
 States. Also that no reconstruction of the 
 Union can be permanent or satisfactory, 
 which will not secure to each section self- 
 protecting power against any invasion of 
 the Federal Union upon the reserved rights 
 of either. (See Hunter's proposition for 
 adjustment.) 
 
 21st. Replied to Commissioners Hop 
 kins and Giliner, expressing inability to 
 make a definite response until after the 
 meeting of the State Convention. 
 
 22d. The Governor transmitted the re 
 solutions of the Legislature of Ohio, with 
 unfavorable comment. His message was 
 tabled by a small majority. 
 
 30th. The House of Delegates to-day 
 tabled the resolutions of the Pennsylvania 
 Legislature, but referred those of Tennes 
 see to the Committee on Federal Relations. 
 
 February 20th. The resolutions of the 
 Legislature of Michigan were returned 
 without comment. 
 
 28th. Ex-President Tyler and James A. 
 Seddon, Commissioners to the Peace Con 
 gress, presented their report, and denounced 
 the recommendation of that body as a de 
 lusion and a sham, and as an insult and an 
 offense to the South. 
 
 Proceedings of Virginia Convention. 
 
 February 4th. Election of delegates to 
 the Convention. 
 
 13th. Convention met. 
 
 14th. Credentials of John S. Preston, 
 Commissioner from South Carolina, Fulton 
 Anderson from Mississippi, and Henry L. 
 Benning from Georgia, were received. 
 
 18th. Commissioners from Mississippi 
 and Georgia heard ; both pictured the dan 
 ger of Virginia remaining with the North; 
 neither contemplated such an event as re 
 union. 
 
 19th. The Commissioner from South 
 Carolina was heard. He said his people 
 believed the Union unnatural and mon 
 strous, and declared that there was no 
 human force no sanctity of human touch, 
 that could re-unite the people of the 
 North with the people of the South that 
 it could never be done unless the economy 
 of God were changed. 
 
92 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 20th. A committee reported that in all 
 but sixteen counties, the majority for sub 
 mitting the action of the Convention to a 
 vote of the people was 52,857. Numerous 
 resolutions on Federal Relations intro 
 duced, generally expressing 'attachment to 
 the Union, but denouncing coercion. 
 
 26th. Mr. Goggin of Bedford, in his 
 speech, denied the right of secession, but 
 admitted a revolutionary remedy for wrongs 
 committed upon a State or section, and 
 said wherever Virginia went he was with 
 her. 
 
 March 2d. Mr. Goode of Bedford offered 
 a resolution that, as the powers delegated 
 to the General Government by Virginia 
 had been perverted to her injury, and as 
 the Crittenden propositions as a basis of 
 adjustment had been rejected by their 
 Northern confederates, therefore every 
 consideration of duty, interest, honor and 
 patriotism requires that Virginia should de 
 clare her connection with the Government 
 to be dissolved. 
 
 5th. The thanks of the State were voted 
 to Hon. John J. Crittenden, by yeas 107, 
 nays 16, for his efforts to bring about an 
 honorable adjustment of the national diffi 
 culties. Mr. Harvie of Amelia offered a 
 resolution, requesting Legislature to make 
 needftil appropriations to resist any attempt 
 of the Federal authorities to hold, occupy 
 or possess the property and places claimed 
 by the United States in any of the seceded 
 States, or those that may withdraw or col 
 lect duties or imposts in the same. 
 
 9th. Three reports were made from the 
 Committee on Federal Relations. The 
 majority proposed to submit to the other 
 States certain amendments to the Constitu 
 tion, awaiting the response of non-slave- 
 holding States before determining whether 
 " she will resume the powers granted by 
 her under the Constitution of the United 
 States, and throw herself upon her reserved 
 rights ; meanwhile insisting that no coer 
 cion be attempted, the Federal forts in se 
 ceded States be not reinforced, duties be 
 not collected, etc.," and proposing a Con 
 vention at Frankfort, Kentucky, the last 
 Monday in May, of the States of Delaware, 
 Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, 
 Kentucky, Missouri and Arkansas. Henry 
 A. Wise differed in details, and went fur 
 ther in the same direction. Messrs. Lewis 
 E. Harvie, Robert L. Montague and Sam 
 uel C. Williams recommended the immedi 
 ate passage of an Ordinance of Secession. 
 Mr. Barbour of Culpeper insisted upon the 
 immediate adoption by the non-si avehold- 
 ing States of needed guarantees of safety, 
 and provided for the appointment of three 
 Commissioners to confer with the Confed 
 erate authorities at Montgomery. 
 
 19th. Committee on Federal Relations 
 reported proposed amendments to the 
 Constitution, which were the substitute of 
 
 Mr. Franklin of Pa., in "Peace Confer 
 ence," changed by using the expression 
 " involuntary servitude " in place of " per 
 sons held to service." The right of owners 
 of slaves is not to be impaired by congres 
 sional or territorial law, or any pre-exist 
 ing law in territory hereafter acquired. 
 
 Involuntary servitude, except for crime, 
 to be prohibited north of 3630', but shall 
 not be prohibited by Congress or any Ter 
 ritorial legislature south of that line. The 
 third section has some verbal alterations, 
 providing somewhat better security for 
 
 Eroperty in transit. The fifth section pro- 
 ibits the importation of slaves from places 
 beyond the limits of the United States. 
 The sixth makes some verbal changes in 
 relation to remuneration for fugitives by 
 Congress, and erases the clause relative to 
 the securing of privileges and immunities. 
 The seventh forbids the granting of the 
 elective franchise and right to hold office 
 to persons of the African race. The eighth 
 provides that none of these amendments, 
 nor the third paragraph of the second sec 
 tion of the first article of the Constitution, 
 nor the third paragraph of the second sec 
 tion of the fourth article thereof, shall be 
 amended or abolished without the consent 
 of all the States. 
 
 25th. The Committee of the Whole re 
 fused (yeas 4, nays 116) to strike out the 
 majority report and insert Mr. Carlile's 
 " Peace Conference " substitute. 
 
 26th. The Constitution of the " Confede 
 rate" States, proposed by Mr. Hall as a sub 
 stitute for the report of the committee, re 
 jected yeas 9, nays 78. 
 
 28th. The first and second resolutions 
 reported by the committee adopted. 
 
 April 6th. The ninth resolution of the 
 majority report came up. Mr. Bouldin 
 offered an amendment striking out the 
 whole, and inserting a substitute declaring 
 that the independence of the seceded 
 States should be acknowledged without 
 delav, which was lost yeas 68, nays 71. 
 
 9tn. Mr. Wise's substitute for the tenth 
 resolution, to the effect that Virginia re 
 cognizes the independence of the seceding 
 States was adopted yeas 128, nays 20. 
 
 April 17. Ordinance of Secession passed 
 in secret session yeas 88, nays 55, one 
 excused, and eight not voting. 
 
 Same day the Commissioners adopted 
 and ratified the Constitution of the Provi 
 sional Government of the " Confederate" 
 States of America, this ordinance to cease 
 to have legal effect if the people of Vir 
 ginia voting upon the Ordinance of Seces 
 sion should reject it. 
 
 25th. A Convention was made between 
 Commissioners of Virginia, chosen by the 
 Convention, and A. H. Stephens, Commis 
 sioner for " Confederates," stipulating that 
 Virginia until she became a member of the 
 Confederacy should place her military 
 
PREPARING FOR SECESSION. 
 
 93 
 
 force under the direction of the President 
 of the "Confederate" States; also turn 
 over to " Confederate " States all her pub 
 lic property, naval stores, and munitions of 
 war. Signed by J. Tyler, W. B. Preston, 
 S. McD. Moore, James P. Holcombe, Jas. 
 I C. Bruce, Lewis E. Harvie for Virginia ; 
 ' and A. H. Stephens for " Confederate " 
 States. 
 
 June 25th. Secession vote announced as 
 123,884 for, and 32,134 against. 
 
 July. The Convention passed an ordi 
 nance to the effect that any citizen of Vir 
 ginia holding office under the Government 
 of the United States after the 31st of July, 
 1861, should be forever banished from the 
 State, and be declared an alien enemy. 
 Also that any citizen of Virginia, hereafter 
 undertaking to represent the State of Vir 
 ginia in the Congress of the United States, 
 should, in addition to the above penalties, 
 be considered guilty of treason, and his 
 property be liable to confiscation. A pro 
 vision was inserted exempting from the 
 penalties of the act all officers of theUnited 
 States outside of the United States, or of 
 the Confederate States, until after July 
 1st, 1862. 
 
 KENTUCKY. 
 
 December 12th, 1860. Indiana militia 
 offer their services to quell servile insur 
 rection. Gov. Magoffin declines accepting 
 them. 
 
 January 17th, 1861. Legislature con 
 vened. 
 
 22d. The House by a vote of 87 to 6 re 
 solved to resist the invasion of the South 
 at all hazards. 
 
 27th. Legislature adopted the Virginia 
 resolutions requiring the Federal Govern 
 ment to protect Slavery in the Territories 
 and to guarantee the right of transit of 
 slaves through the Free States. 
 
 February 2d. The Senate passed by a 
 vote of 25 to 11, resolutions appealing to 
 the Southern States to stop the revolution, 
 protesting against Federal coercion and 
 providing that the Legislature reassemble 
 on the 24th of April to hear the responses 
 from sister States, also in favor of making 
 an application to call a National Conven 
 tion for proposing amendments to the Con 
 stitution of the United States, also by a 
 vote of 25 to 14 declared it inexpedient at 
 this time to call a State Convention. 
 
 5th. The House by a vote of 54 to 40 
 passed the above resolutions. 
 
 March 22d. State Rights Convention as 
 sembled. Adopted resolutions denouncing 
 any attempt on the part of the Govern 
 ment to collect revenue as coercion ; and 
 affirming that, in case of any such attempt, 
 the border States should make common 
 cause with the Southern Confederacy. 
 They also recommended a border State 
 Convention. 
 
 April 24th. Gov. Magoffin called an extra 
 session of the Legislature. 
 
 May 20th. Gov. Magoffin issued a neu 
 trality proclamation. 
 
 September llth. The House of Repre 
 sentatives by a vote of 71 to 26, adopted a 
 resolution directing the Governor to issue 
 a proclamation ordering the Confederate 
 troops to evacuate Kentucky soil. The 
 Governor vetoed the resolution, which 
 was afterwards passed over his veto, and 
 accordingly he issued the required procla 
 mation. 
 
 October 29th. Southern Conference met 
 at Russellville. H. C. Burnett elected 
 Chairman, E. McKee Secretary, T. S. 
 Bryan Assistant Secretary. Remained in 
 secret session two days and then adjourned 
 sine die. A series of resolutions reported 
 by G. W. Johnson were adopted. They 
 recite the unconstitutional and oppressive 
 acts of the Legislature, proclaim revolu 
 tion, provide for a Sovereignty Convention 
 at Russellville, on the 18th of November, 
 recommend the organization of county 
 guards, to be placed in the service of and 
 paid by the Confederate States Govern 
 ment ; pledge resistance to all Federal and 
 State taxes, for the prosecution of the war 
 on the part of the United States ; and ap 
 point Robert McKee, John C. Breckin- 
 ridge, Humphrey Marshall, Geo. W. Ew- 
 ing, H. W. Bruce, Geo. B. Hodge, William 
 Preston, Geo. W. Johnson, Blanton Dun 
 can, and P. B. Thompson to carry out the 
 resolutions. 
 
 November 18th. Convention met and 
 remained in session three days. 
 
 20th. It passed a Declaration of Inde 
 pendence and an Ordinance of Secession. 
 A Provisional Government consisting of a 
 Governor, Legislative Council of ten, a 
 Treasurer, and an Auditor were agreed 
 upon. Geo. W. Johnson was chosen Gov 
 ernor. Legislative Council were : Willis 
 B. Machen, John W. Crockett, James P. 
 Bates, Jas. S. Chrisman, Phil. B. Thomp 
 son, J. P. Burnside, H. W. Bruce, J. W. 
 Moore, E. M. Bruce, Geo. B. Hodge. 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 
 Nov. 27th, 1860. Gov. Hicks declined 
 to call a special session of the Legislature, 
 in response to a request for such convening 
 from Thomas G. Pratt, Sprigg Harwood, 
 J. S. Franklin, N. H. Green, Llewellyn 
 Boyle, and J. Pinkney. 
 
 December 19th. Gov. Hicks replied to 
 A. H. Handy, Commissioner from Missis 
 sippi, declining to accept the programme 
 of Secession. 
 
 20th. Wm. H. Collins, Esq., of Balti 
 more, issued an address to the people, in 
 favor of the Union, and in March a second 
 address. 
 
 31st. The " Clipper " denied the exist 
 ence of an organization in Maryland to 
 
94 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 prevent the inauguration of President Lin 
 coln. 
 
 A. H. Handy of Mississippi addressed 
 citizens of Baltimore in favor of disunion. 
 
 January 3d, 1861. Henry Winter Davis 
 issued an address in favor of the Union. 
 
 3d. Numerous Union meetings in vari 
 ous part of the State. Gov. Hicks issued 
 jin address to the people against seces 
 sion. 
 
 llth. John C. Legrand in a letter to 
 Hon. Reverdy Johnson replied to the 
 Union speech of the latter. 
 
 14th. James Carroll, former Democratic 
 candidate for Governor, announced his de 
 sire to go with the seceding States. 
 
 IGth. Win. A. Spencer, in a letter to 
 Walter S. Cox, Esq., declared against the 
 right of Secession but for a Convention. 
 
 16. Marshal Kane, in a letter to Mayor 
 Berrett, denied that any organization ex 
 ists to prevent the inauguration of Presi 
 dent Lincoln, and said that the President 
 elect would need no armed escort in pass 
 ing through or sojourning within the limits 
 of Baltimore and Maryland. 
 
 24th. Coleman Yellott declared for a 
 Convention. 
 
 30th. Messrs. John B. Brooke, President 
 of the Senate, and E. G. Kilbourn, Speaker 
 of the House of Delegates, asked the Gov 
 ernor to convene the Legislature in re 
 sponse to public meetings. Senator Ken 
 nedy published his opinion that Mary 
 land must go with Virginia. 
 
 February 18th. State Conference Con 
 vention held, and insisted upon a meeting 
 of the Legislature. At a meeting in How- 
 ard Co., which Speaker E. G. Kilbourn 
 addressed, a resolution was adopted that 
 "immediate steps ought to be taken for 
 the establishment of a Southern Confed 
 eracy, by consultation and co-operation 
 with such other Southern and Slave States 
 as may be ready therefor." 
 
 April 21st. Gov. Hicks wrote to Gen. 
 Butler, advising that he do not land his 
 troops at Annapolis. Butler replied that 
 he intended to land there and march 
 thence to Washington. Gov. Hicks pro 
 tested against this and also against his 
 having taken forcible possession of the 
 Annapolis and Elkridge railroad. 
 
 24th. A special election of ten delegates 
 to the Legislature took place at Baltimore. 
 The total vote cast in all the wards was 
 9,249. The total vote cast at the Presi 
 dential election in November, 1860, was 
 30,148. 
 
 26th. Legislature reassembled at Fred 
 erick, Annapolis being occupied by Union 
 troops. 
 
 29th. Gov. Hicks sent a message to the 
 Legislature communicating to them the 
 correspondence between himself and Gen. 
 Butler and the Secretary of War relative 
 to the landing of troops at Annapolis, 
 
 The House of Delegates voted against 
 Secession, 53 to 13. Senate unanimously. 
 
 May 2d. The Committee on Federal Re 
 lations, " in view of the seizure of the 
 railroads by the General Government and 
 the erection of fortifications," presented 
 resolutions appointing Commissioners to 
 the President to ascertain whether smy be 
 coming arrangements with the General 
 Government are practicable, for the main 
 tenance of the peace and honor of the 
 State and the security of its inhabitants. 
 The report was adopted, and Otho Scott, 
 Robt. M. McLane, and Wm. J. Ross were 
 appointed such Commissioners. 
 
 Mr. Yellott in the Senate introduced a 
 bill to appoint a Board of Public Safety. 
 The powers given to the Board included 
 the expenditure of the two millions of dol 
 lars proposed by Mr. Brune for the defence 
 of the State, and the entire control of the 
 military, including the removal and ap 
 pointment of commissioned officers. It 
 was ordered to a second reading by a vote 
 of 14 to 8. The Board was to consist of 
 Ezekiel F. Chambers, Enoch Louis Lowe, 
 John V. L. MacMahon, Thomas G. Pratt, 
 Walter Mitchell, and Thomas Winans. 
 Gov. Hicks was made ex-officio a member 
 of the Board. This measure was strongly 
 pressed by the Disunionists for a long 
 time, but they were finally compelled to 
 give way, and the bill never passed. 
 
 6th. The Commissioners reported the 
 result of their interview with the Presi 
 dent, and expressed the opinion that some 
 modification of the course of the General 
 Government towards Maryland ought to 
 be expected. 
 
 10th. The House of Delegates passed a 
 series of resolutions reported by the Com 
 mittee on Federal Relations by a vote of 
 43 to 12. The resolutions declare that 
 Maryland protests against the war, and 
 does earnestly beseech and implore the 
 President of the United States to make 
 peace with the " Confederate " States ; 
 also, that " the State of Maryland desires 
 the peaceful and immediate recogition of 
 the independence of the Confederate 
 States." Those who voted in the negative 
 are Messrs. Medders, Lawson, Keene, 
 Routzahn, Naill, Wilson of Harford, Bay- 
 less, McCoy, Fiery, Stake, McCleary, and 
 Gorsuch. 
 
 13th. Both Houses adopted a resolution 
 providing for a committee of eight mem 
 bers, (four from each House) to visit the 
 President of the United States and the 
 President of the Southern Confederacy. 
 The committee to visit President Davis 
 were instructed to convey the assurance 
 that Maryland sympathizes with the Con 
 federate States, and that the people of 
 Maryland are enlisted with their whole 
 hearts on the side of reconciliation and 
 peace. 
 
PREPARING FOR SECESSION. 
 
 95 
 
 June llth. Messrs. McKaig, Yellott and 
 Harding, Commissioners to visit President 
 Davis, presented their report ; accompany 
 ing which is a letter from Jefferson Davis, 
 expressing his gratification to hear that 
 the State of Maryland was in sympathy 
 with themselves, was enlisted on the side 
 of peace and reconciliation, and avowing 
 his perfect willingness for a cessation of 
 hostilities, and a readiness to receive any 
 proposition for peace from the United 
 States Government. 
 
 20th. The House of Delegates, and June 
 22d, the Senate adopted resolutions un 
 qualifiedly protesting against the arrest of 
 Ross Winans and sundry other citizens of 
 Maryland, as an "oppressive and tyran 
 nical assertion and exercise of military 
 jurisdiction within the limits of Maryland, 
 over the persons and property of her citi 
 zens, by the Government of the United 
 States." 
 
 MISSOURI. 
 
 January 15th, 1861. Senate passed Con 
 vention Bill yeas 31, nays 2. Passed 
 House also. 
 
 February 28th. Convention met ; motion 
 to go into secret session, defeated. A reso 
 lution requiring members to take an oath 
 to support the Constitution of the United 
 States and the State of Missouri, was lost 
 65 against 30. 
 
 March 4. Resolution passed, 64 yeas, 35 
 nays, appointing committee to notify Mr. 
 Glenn, Commissioner of Georgia, that the 
 Convention was ready to hear any com 
 munication from his State. Mr. Glenn was 
 introduced, read Georgia's articles of se 
 cession, and made a speech urging Mis 
 souri to join her. 
 
 5th. Resolutions were read, ordering 
 that the protest of St. Louis against co 
 ercion be reduced to writing, and a copy 
 sent to the President of the United States; 
 also, resolutions were adopted informing the 
 Commissioner from Georgia that Missouri 
 dissented from the position taken by that 
 State, and refused to share the honors of 
 secession with her. 
 
 6th. Resolutions were offered by several 
 members and referred, calling a Conven 
 tion of the Southern States which have 
 not seceded, to meet at Nashville, April 
 15th, providing for such amendments to 
 the Constitution of the United States as 
 shall secure to all the States equal rights 
 in the Union, and declaring strongly 
 against secession. 
 
 9th. The Committee on Federal Rela 
 tions reported a series of resolutions, set 
 ting forth that at present there is no ade 
 quate cause to impel Missouri to leave the 
 Union, but that on the contrary she will 
 labor for such an adjustment of existing 
 troubles as will secure peace and the rights 
 and equality of all the States ; that the 
 
 people of Missouri regard the amendments 
 to the Constitution proposed by Mr. Crit- 
 tenden, with their extension to territory 
 hereafter to be required, a basis of adjust 
 ment which would forever remove all diffi 
 culties ; and that it is expedient for the 
 Legislature to call a Convention for pro 
 posing amendments to the Constitution. 
 
 The Senate passed resolutions that their 
 Senators be instructed, and their Repre 
 sentatives requested, to oppose the pas 
 sage of all acts granting supplies of men 
 and money to coerce the seceding States 
 into submission or subjugation ; and that, 
 should such acts be passed by Congress, 
 their Senators be instructed, and their Re 
 presentatives requested, to retire from the 
 halls of Congress. 
 
 16th. An amendment of the fifth resolu 
 tion of the majority report of the Com 
 mittee on Federal Relations, asserting that 
 Missouri would never countenance nor aid 
 a seceding State in making war upon the 
 General Government, nor provide men 
 and money for the purpose of aiding the 
 General Government to coerce a seceding 
 State, was voted down. 
 
 27th. The following resolution was 
 passed by a vote in the House of 62 against 
 42: 
 
 Resolved, That it is inexpedient for the 
 General Assembly to take any steps for 
 calling a National Convention to propose 
 amendments to the Constitution, as recom 
 mended by the State Convention. 
 
 July 22d. The Convention reassembled. 
 
 23d. Resolution passed, by a vote of 65 
 to 21, declaring the office of President, 
 held by General Sterling Price at the last 
 session of the Convention, vacant. A 
 committee of seven were appointed to re 
 port what action they deem it advisable to 
 take in the dislocated condition of the 
 State. 
 
 25th. The committee presented their re 
 port. It alludes at length to the present 
 unparalleled condition of things, the reck 
 less course of the recent Government, and 
 flight of the Governor and other State 
 officers from the capitol. It declares the 
 offices of Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, 
 and Secretary of State vacant, and pro 
 vides that their vacancies shall be filled by 
 the Convention, the officers so appointed 
 to hold their positions till August, 1862, 
 at which time it provides for a special elec 
 tion by the people. It repeals the ninth 
 section of the sixth article of the Consti 
 tution, and provides that the Supreme 
 Court of the State shall consist of seven 
 members ; and that four members, in ad 
 dition to the three now comprising the 
 Court, shall be appointed by the Governor 
 chosen by this Convention to hold office 
 till 1862, when the people shall decide 
 whether the change shall be permanent. 
 It abolishes the State Legislature, and or- 
 
96 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 dams that in case, before the 1st of August, 
 1862, the Governor chosen by this Con 
 vention shall consider the public exigen 
 cies demand, he shall order a special elec 
 tion for the members of the State Legisla 
 ture. It recommends the passage of an 
 ordinance repealing the following bills, 
 passed by the Legislature in secret session, 
 (in Mayjast : The military fund bill, the 
 bill to suspend the distribution of the 
 school fund, and the bill for cultivating 
 friendly relations with the Indian tribes. 
 It repeals the bill authorizing the appoint 
 ment of one major-general of the Missouri 
 militia, and revives the militia law of 1859. 
 
 A resolution was passed that a commit 
 tee of seven be appointed by the President 
 to prepare an address to the people of the 
 State of Missouri. 
 
 November 26th. Jefferson Davis trans 
 mitted to the " Confederate " Congress a 
 message concerning the secession of Mis 
 souri. It was accompanied by a letter 
 from Governor Jackson, and also by an 
 act dissolving the union with the United 
 States, and an act ratifying the Constitu 
 tion of the Provisional Government of the 
 Confederate States; also, the Convention 
 between the Commissioners of Missouri 
 and the Commissioners of the Confederate 
 States. Congress unanimously ratified the 
 Convention entered into between the Hon. 
 R. M. T. Hunter for the rebel Government 
 and the Commissioners for Missouri. 
 
 Inter-State Commissioners. 
 
 The seceding States, as part of their plan 
 of operation, appointed Commissioners to 
 visit other slaveholding States. They 
 were as follows, as announced in the news 
 papers : 
 
 South Carolina. 
 
 To Alabama, A. P. Calhoun. 
 
 To Georgia, James L. Orr, Ex-M. C. 
 
 To Florida, L. W. Spratt. 
 
 To Mississippi, M. L. Bonham, Ex-M. C. 
 
 To Louisiana, J. L. Manning. 
 
 To Arkansas, A. C. Spain. 
 
 To Texas, J. B. Kershaw. 
 
 To Virginia, John S. Preston. 
 
 Alabama. 
 
 To North Carolina, Isham W. Garrett. 
 To Mississippi, E. W. Pettus. 
 To South Carolina, J. A. Elmore. 
 To Maryland, A. F. Hopkins. 
 To Virginia, Frank Gilmer. 
 To Tennessee, L. Pope Walker. 
 To Kentucky, Stephen F. Hale. 
 To Arkansas, John Anthony Winston. 
 
 Georgia. 
 
 To Missouri, Luther J. Glenn. 
 To Virginia, Henry L. Benning. 
 
 . Mississippi. 
 
 To South Carolina, C. E. Hooker. 
 To Alabama, Jos. W. Matthews, Ex-Gov. 
 To Georgia, William L. Harris. 
 To Louisiana, Wirt Adams. 
 To Texas, H. H. Miller. 
 To Arkansas, George E. Fall. 
 To Florida, E. M. Yerger. 
 To Tennessee, T. J. Wharton, Att'y-Gen. 
 To Kentucky ,W. S. Featherstone, Ex-M. C. 
 To North Carolina, Jacob Thompson, Ex- 
 
 M. C. 
 
 To Virginia, Fulton Anderson. 
 To Maryland, A. H. Handy, Judge. 
 To Delaware, Henry Dickinson. 
 To Missouri, Russell. 
 
 Southern Congress* 
 
 This body, composed of Deputies elected 
 by the Conventions of the Seceding States, 
 met at Montgomery, Alabama, February 
 4th, 1861, to organize a Southern Confed 
 eracy. Each State had a representation 
 equal to the number of members of the 
 Thirty-sixth Congress. The members 
 were: 
 
 South Carolina. 
 
 Robert W. Barnwell, Ex-U. S. Senator. 
 R. Barnwell Rhett, " " " 
 James Chestnut, jr., " " " 
 Lawrence M. Keitt, Ex-M. C. 
 William W. Boyce, " " 
 Wn. Porcher Miles, " " 
 C. G. Memminger. 
 Thomas J Withers. 
 
 Alabama. 
 W. P. Chilton. 
 Stephen F. Hale. 
 David P. Lewis. 
 Thomas Fearn, 
 Richard W. Walker. 
 Robert H. Smith. 
 Colin J. McRae. 
 John Gill Shorter. 
 J. L. M. Curry, Ex-M. C. 
 
 Florida. 
 J. Patten Anderson, Ex-Delegate from 
 
 Washington Territory. 
 Jackson Morton, Ex-U. S. Senator. 
 James Powers, 
 
 Mississippi. 
 W. S. Wilson. 
 Wiley P. Harris, Ex-M. C. 
 James T. Harrison. 
 Walter Brooke, Ex-U. S. Senator. 
 William S. Barry, Ex-M. C. 
 A. M. Clayton. 
 
 Georgia. 
 
 Robert Toombs, Ex-U. S. Senator. 
 Howell Cobb, Ex-M. C. 
 
 Martin J. Crawford, 
 Augustus R Wright, " 
 
PREPARING FOR SECESSION. 
 
 9T 
 
 Augustus H. Keenan. 
 
 Benjamin H. Hill. 
 
 Francis S. Bartow. 
 
 E. A. Nisbet. 
 
 Thomas R. R. Cobb. 
 
 Alexander H. Stephens, Ex-M. 0. 
 
 Louisiana. 
 Duncan F. Kenner. 
 Charles M. Conrad, Ex-U. S. Senator. 
 Henry Marshall. 
 John Perkins, jr. 
 G. E. Sparrow. 
 E. De Clouet. 
 
 Texas. 
 
 (Admitted March 2d, 1861.) 
 
 Louis T. Wigfall, Ex-U. S. Senator. 
 
 John Hemphill, " 
 
 John H. Reagan, Ex-M. C. 
 
 T. N. Waul. 
 
 John Gregg. 
 
 W. S. Oldiiam. 
 
 W. B. Ochiltree. 
 
 Proceedings of the Southern Congress. 
 
 February 4th, 1881. Howell Cobb of 
 Georgia elected President, Johnson J. 
 Hooper of Alabama, Secretary. Mr. Cobb 
 announced that secession " is now a fixed 
 and irrevocable fact, and the separation is 
 perfect, complete and perpetual." 
 
 6th. David L. Swain, M. W. Ransom, 
 and John L. Bridgers, were admitted as 
 Commissioners from North Carolina, un 
 der resolutions of the General Assembly of 
 that State, passed January 29th, 1861, " to 
 effect an honorable and amicable adjust 
 ment of all the difficulties that disturb 
 the country, upon the basis of the Critten- 
 den resolutions, as modified by the Legis 
 lature of Virginia," and to consult with 
 the delegates to the Southern Congress 
 for their "common peace, honor and 
 safety." 
 
 7th. Congress notified that the State of 
 Alabama had placed $500,000 at its dispo 
 sal, as a loan to the provisional government 
 of the Confederacy of Seceding States. 
 
 8th. The Constitution of the Provisional 
 Government adopted. * 
 
 *The Provisional Constitution adopted by the Seceded 
 States differs from the Constitution of the'United States 
 in several important particulars. The alterations and 
 additions are as follows : 
 
 ALTERATIONS. 
 
 1st. The Provisional Constitution differs from the other 
 in this : That the legislative powers of the Provisional 
 Government are vested in the Congress now assembled. 
 and this body exercises all the functions that are exer 
 cised by either or both branches of the United States 
 Government. 
 
 2d. The Provisional President holds his office for one 
 year, unless sooner superseded by the establishment of a 
 permanent Government. 
 
 3d. Each State is erected into a distinct judicial din- j 
 trict, the judge having all the powers heretofore vested; 
 in the district and circuit courts ; and the several district I 
 judges together compose the supreme bench a majority j 
 of them constituting a quorum. 
 
 9th. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, 
 elected Provisional President of the Con 
 federate States of America, and Alexander 
 H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President. 
 The question of attacking Fort Sumter has 
 been referred to the Congress. 
 
 llth. Mr. Stephens announced his ac 
 ceptance. Committee appointed to prepare 
 a permanent Constitution. 
 
 12th. The Congress assumed "charge 
 of all questions and difficulties now exist 
 ing between the sovereign States of this 
 Confederacy and the Government of the 
 United States, relating to the occupation ot 
 forts, arsenals, navy yards, custom-houses, 
 and all other public establishments." The 
 resolution was directed to be communicated 
 to the Governors of the respective States of 
 the Confederacy. 
 
 15th. Official copy of the Texas Ordi 
 nance of Secession presented. 
 
 16th. President Davis arrived and re 
 ceived with salute, etc. 
 
 18th. President Davis inaugurated. 
 
 19th. Tariff law passed. 
 
 21st. Robert Toombs appointed Secre 
 tary of the State ; C. G. Memminger, Secre 
 tary of the Treasury ; L. Pope Walker, of 
 
 4th. Whenever the word " Union " occurs in th 
 United States Constitution the word " Confederacy " to 
 substituted. 
 
 THE FOLLOWING ARE THE ADDITIONS. 
 
 1 st. The President may veto any separate appropriation 
 without vetoing the whole bill in which it is con 
 tained. 
 
 2d. The African slave-trade is prohibited. 
 
 3d. Congress is empowered to prohibit the introduction 
 of slaves from any State not a member of thia Confed- 
 racy. 
 
 4th. All appropriations must be upon the demand of 
 the President or heads of departments. 
 
 OMISSIONS. 
 
 1st, There is no prohibition on members of Congrew 
 lolding other offices of honor and emolument under tha 
 Provisional Government. 
 
 2d. There is no provision for a neutral spot for th 
 oeation of a scat of government, or for sites for forts, ar- 
 renals, and dock -yards ; consequently there is no refarenc* 
 made to the territorial powers of the Provisional Govern 
 ment. 
 
 3d. The section in the old Constitution in reference to 
 :apitation and other direct tax is omitted ; also, the sec- 
 ion providing that no tax or duty shall be laid on any 
 exports. 
 
 4th. The prohibition on States keeping troops or ships 
 of war in time of peace is omitted 
 
 5th. The Constitution being provisional merely, no 
 provision is made for its ratification. 
 
 AMENDMENTS. 
 
 1st. The fugitive slave clause of the old Constitution i* 
 so amended as to contain the word "slave," and to pro- 
 vide for full compensation in cases of abduction of forci 
 ble rescue on the part of the State in which such abduc 
 tion or rescue may take place. 
 
 2d. Congress, by a vote of two-thirds, may at any time 
 alter or amend the Constitution. 
 
 TEMPORARY PROVISIONS. 
 
 1st. The Provisional Government is required to tak 
 immediate steps for the settlement of all matters between 
 the States forming it and their other late confederates of 
 the United Spates in relation to the public property and 
 the public debt. 
 
 lid. Montgomery is made the temporary seat of govern 
 ment. 
 
 3d. This Constitution is to continue one year, unleac 
 altered by a two thirds vote or superseded by a perm*- 
 neat Government, 
 
98 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Alabama, Secretary of War ; Stephen R. 
 Mallory , Secretary of the Navy ; J udah P. 
 Benjamin, Attorney-General, and John H. 
 Reagan, Postmaster-General ; Philip Clay 
 ton, of Georgia appointed Assistant Secre 
 tary of the Treasury, and Wm. M. Browne, 
 late of the Washington Constitution, 
 Assistant Secretary of State. 
 
 March 2d. The Texas Deputies re 
 ceived. 
 
 The Confederate States. 
 
 The Confederate States was the name of 
 the government formed in 1861 by the 
 seven States which first seceded. Bellige 
 rent rights were accorded to it by the lead 
 ing naval powers, but it was never recog 
 nized as a government, notwithstanding 
 the persevering efforts of its agents near 
 the principal courts. This result was mainly 
 due to the diplomacy of the federal Sec 
 retary of State, Wm H. Seward, to the 
 proclamations of emancipation in 1862-3, 
 which secured the sympathy of the best 
 elements of Great Britain and France for 
 the federal government, and the obstinate 
 persistence of the federal government in 
 avoiding, as far as possible, any recognition 
 of the existence, even de facto, of a con 
 federate government. The federal generals 
 in the field, in their communications with 
 confederate officers, did not hesitate, upon 
 occasion, even to give " president " Davis 
 his official title, but no such embarrassing 
 precedent was ever admitted by the civil 
 government of the United States. It at 
 first endeavored, until checked by active 
 preparations for retaliation, to treat the 
 crews of confederate privateers as pirates ; 
 it avoided any official communication with 
 the confederate government, even when 
 compelled to exchange prisoners, confining 
 its negotiations to the confederate commis 
 sioners of exchange ; and, by its persistent 
 policy in this direction, it succeeded, with 
 out any formal declaration, in impressing 
 upon foreign governments the belief that 
 any recognition of the confederate States 
 as a separate people would be actively re 
 sented by the government of the United 
 States as an act of excessive unfriendliness. 
 The federal courts have steadily held the 
 same ground, that " the confederate states 
 was an unlawful assemblage, without cor 
 porate power;" and that, though the 
 separate States were still in existence and 
 were indestructible, their state govern 
 ments, while they chose to act as part of 
 the confederate States, did not exist, even 
 de facto. Early in January, 1861, while 
 only South Carolina had actually seceded, 
 though other Southern States had called 
 conventions to consider the question, the 
 Senators of the seven States farthest South 
 practically assumed control of the whole 
 movement, and their energy and unswer 
 
 ving singleness of purpose, aided by the 
 telegraph, secured a rapidity of execution 
 to which no other very extensive conspi 
 racy of history can afford a parallel. The 
 ordinance of secession was a negative in 
 strument, purporting to withdraw the state 
 from the Union and to deny the authority 
 of the federal government over the people 
 of the State ; the cardinal object of the 
 senatorial group was to hurry the forma- 
 mation of a new national government, as 
 an organized political reality which would 
 rally the outright secessionists, claim the 
 allegiance of the doubtful mass, and coerce 
 those who still remained recalcitrant. At 
 the head of the senatorial group, and of 
 its executive committee, was Jefferson 
 Davis, Senator from Mississippi, and natu 
 rally the first official step toward the for 
 mation of a new government came from 
 the Mississippi Legislature, where a com 
 mittee reported, January 19th, 1861, reso 
 lutions in favor of a congress of delegates 
 from the seceding States to provide for a 
 southern confederacy, and to establish a 
 provisional government, therefore. The 
 other seceding States at once accepted the 
 proposal, through their State conventions, 
 which also appointed the delegates on the 
 ground that the people had intrusted the 
 State conventions with unlimited pow 
 ers. The new government therefore began 
 its existence without any popular ratio of 
 representation, and with only such popular 
 ratification as popular acquiescence gave. 
 The provisional congress met Feb. 4th, at 
 Montgomery, Ala., with delegates from 
 South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisi 
 ana, Florida and Mississippi. The Texas 
 delegates were not appointed until Feb. 
 14th. Feb, 8th, a provisional constitution 
 was adopted, being the constitution of the 
 United States, with some changes. Feb. 
 9th, Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was 
 unanimously chosen provisional president, 
 and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, 
 provisional vice-president, each State hav 
 ing one vote, as in all other proceedings of 
 the body. By acts of Feb. 9th and 12th, 
 the laws and revenue officers of the United 
 States were continued in the confederate 
 States until changed. Feb. 18th, the 
 president and vice-president were inaugu 
 rated. Feb. 20th-26th, executive depart 
 ments and a confederate regular army were 
 organized, and provision was made for 
 borrowing money. March llth, the per 
 manent constitution was adopted by 
 Congress. 
 
 The Internal legislation of the provi - 
 sional congress was, at first, mainly the 
 adaptation of the civil service in the South 
 ern States to the uses of the new govern 
 ment. Wherever possible, judges, post 
 masters, and civil as well as military and 
 naval officers, who had resigned from the 
 service of the United States, were given 
 
BUCHANAN'S VIEWS. 
 
 99 
 
 an equal or higher rank in the confederate 
 service. Postmasters were directed to make 
 their final accounting to the United States, 
 May 31st, thereafter accounting to the Con 
 federate States. April 29th, the provi 
 sional congress, which had adjourned March 
 16th, re-assembled at Montgomery, having 
 been convoked by President Davis in con 
 sequence of President Lincoln's prepa 
 rations to enforce federal authority in the 
 South. Davis' message announced that 
 all the seceding States had ratified the 
 permanent constitution ; that Virginia, 
 which had not yet seceded and entered in 
 to alliance with the confederacy, and that 
 other States, were expected to follow the 
 same plan. He concluded by declaring 
 that " all we ask is to be let alone." May 
 6th, an act was passed recognizing the ex 
 istence of war with the United States. 
 Congress adjourned May 22d, re-convened 
 at Richmond, Va., July 20th, and ad 
 journed August 22d, until November 18th. 
 Its legislation had been mainly military 
 and financial. Virginia, North Carolina, 
 Tennessee and Arkansas, had passed ordi 
 nances of secession, and been admitted to 
 the confederacy. (See the States named, 
 and secession.) Although Missouri and 
 Kentucky had not seceded, delegates from 
 these States were admitted in December 
 1861. Nov. 6, 1861, at an election under 
 the permanent constitution, Davis and 
 Stephens were again chosen to their re 
 spective offices by a unanimous electoral 
 vote. Feb. 18th, 1862, the provisional con 
 gress (of one house) gave way to the per 
 manent congress, and Davis and Stephens 
 were inaugurated February 22nd. The 
 cabinet, with the successive Secretaries of 
 each department, was as follows, including 
 both the provisional and permanent cabi 
 nets : 
 
 State Department. Robert Toombs, 
 Georgia, February 21st, 1861 ; R. M. T. 
 Hunter, Virginia, July 30th, 1861 ; Judah 
 P. Benjamin, Louisiana, February 7th, 
 1862. 
 
 Treasury Department. Charles G. Mem- 
 minger, South Carolina, February 21st, 
 1861, and M.irch 22d, 1862; James L. 
 Trenholm, South Carolina, June 13th, 
 1861. 
 
 War Department. L. Pope Walker, 
 Mississippi, February 21st, 1861 ; Judah P. 
 Benjamin, Louisiana, November 10th. 
 1861 ; James A. Seddon, Virginia, March 
 22d, 1862; John C. Breckinridge, Ken 
 tucky, February 15th, 1865. 
 
 Navy Department. Stephen R. Mallory, 
 Florida, March 4th, 1861, and March 22d. 
 
 Attorney General. Judah P. Benjamin, 
 Louisiana, February 21st, 1861 ; Thomas 
 H. Watts, Alabama, September 10th, 1861, 
 and March 22nd, 1862; George Davis, 
 North Carolina, November 10th, 1863. 
 
 Postmaster- General. Henry J. Elliot, 
 
 Mississippi, February 21st, 1865 ; John H. 
 Reagan, Texas, March 6th, 1861, arid 
 March 22d, 1862. 
 
 The provisional Congress held four ses 
 sions, as follows: 1. February 4-Mareh 
 16th, 1861 ; 2. April 29-May22d, 1861 j 3. 
 I July 20-August 22d, 1861 ; and 4. Novem 
 ber"! 8th, 1861-February 17th, 1862. 
 
 Under the permanent Constitution there 
 were two Congresses. The first Congress 
 held four sessions, as follows : 1. Febru 
 ary 18- April 21st, 1862; 2. August 12- 
 October 13th, 1862; 3. January 12-May 
 8th 1863 ; and 4. December 7, 1863-Feb- 
 ruary 18th, 1864. The second Congress 
 held two sessions, as follows : 1. May 2- 
 June 15th, 1864 ; and 2. From November 
 7th, 1864, until the hasty and final ad 
 journment, March 18th, 1865. 
 
 In the first Congress members chosen by 
 rump State conventions, or by regiments in 
 the confederate service, sat for districts in 
 Missouri and Kentucky, though these 
 States had never seceded. There were 
 thus thirteen States in all represented at 
 the close of the first Congress ; but, as the 
 area of the Confederacy narrowed before 
 the advance of the Federal armies, the va 
 cancies in the second Congress became 
 significantly more numerous. At its best 
 estate the Confederate Senate numbered 
 26, and the house 106, as follows: Ala 
 bama, 9 ; Arkansas, 4 ; Florida, 2 ; Geor 
 gia, 10 ; Kentucky, 12 ; Louisiana, 6 ; Mis 
 sissippi, 1 ; Missouri, 7 ; North Carolina, 
 10; South Carolina, 6; Tennessee, 11; 
 Texas, 6 ; Virginia, 16. In both Con 
 gresses Thomas S. Bocock, of Virginia, was 
 Speaker of the House.* 
 
 For four months between the Presiden 
 tial election and the inauguration of Mr. 
 Lincoln those favoring secession in the 
 South had practical control of their sec 
 tion, for while President Buchanan hesi 
 tated as to his constitutional powers, the 
 more active partisans in his Cabinet were 
 aiding their Southern friends in every 
 aractical way. In answer to the visit- 
 ng Commissioners from South Carolina, 
 Messrs. R. W. Barn well, J. H. Adams and 
 Jas. L. Orr, who formally submitted that 
 State's ordinance of secession, and de 
 manded possession of the forts in Charles 
 ton harbor, Buchanan said : 
 
 "In answer to this communication, I 
 lave to say that my position as President 
 of the United States was clearly defined in 
 ;he message to Congress on the 3d inst. 
 [n that I stated that ' apart from the exe 
 cution of the laws, so far as this may be 
 Dracticable, the Executive has no authority 
 *> decide what shall be the relations be- 
 ;ween the Federal Government and South 
 Carolina. He has been invested with no 
 such discretion. He possesses no power to 
 
 * From Lalor's Thu~>ictop<xdin of Pnlitioal Science, pub* 
 liahed by Bund & McNally, Chicago, 111. 
 
100 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 change the relations heretofore existing 
 between them, much less to acknowledge 
 the independence of that State. This 
 would be to invest a mere executive officer 
 with the power of recognizing the dissolu 
 tion of the Confederacy among our thirty- 
 three sovereign States. It bears no re 
 semblance to the recognition of a foreign 
 de facto Government, involving no such 
 responsibility. Any attempt to do this 
 would, on his part, be a naked act of 
 usurpation. It is, therefore, my duty to 
 submit to Congress the whole question in 
 all its bearings.' 
 
 "Such is my opinion still. I could, 
 therefore, meet you only as private gentle 
 men of the highest character, and was en 
 tirely willing to communicate to Congress 
 any proposition you might have to make 
 to that body upon the subject. Of this you 
 were well aware. It was my earnest desire 
 that such a disposition might be made of 
 the whole subject by Congress, who alone 
 possess the power, as to prevent the inau 
 guration of a civil war between the parties 
 in regard to the possession of the Federal 
 forts in the harbor of Charleston." 
 
 Further correspondence followed between 
 the President and other seceding State Com 
 missioners, and the attitude of the former 
 led to the following changes in his Cabi 
 net: December 12th, 1860, LEWIS CASS 
 resigned as Secretary of State, because the 
 President declined to reinforce the forts in 
 Charleston harbor. December 17th, JERE 
 MIAH S. BLACK was appointed his suc 
 cessor. 
 
 December 10th, HOWELL COBB, resigned 
 as Secretary of the Treasury " his duty to 
 Georgia requiring it." December 12th, 
 PHILIP F. THOMAS was appointed his suc- 
 ceisor, and resigned, January llth, 1861, 
 because differing from the President and a 
 majority of tfi~e Cabinet, "in the measures 
 which have been adopted in reference to 
 the recent condition of things in South 
 Carolina," especially "touching the au 
 thority, under existing laws, to enforce the 
 collection of the customs at the port of 
 Charleston." January llth, 1861, JOHN A. 
 Dix appointed his successor. 
 
 29th, JOHN B. FLOYD resigned as Secre 
 tary of War, because, after the transfer of 
 Major Anderson's command from Fort 
 Moultrie to Fort Sumter, the President de 
 clined "to withdraw the garrison from the 
 harbor of Charleston altogether." 
 
 December 31st, JOSEPH HOLT, Postmas 
 ter-General, was entrusted with the tem 
 porary charge of the War Department, and 
 January 18th, 1861, was appointed Secre 
 tary of War. 
 
 January 8th, 1861, JACOB THOMPSON 
 resigned as Secretary of the Interior, be 
 cause "additional troops, he had heard, 
 have been ordered to Charleston" in the 
 Star of the West 
 
 December 17th, I860,' JEREMIAH S. 
 BLACK resigned as Attorney-General, and 
 EDWIN M. STANTON, December 20th, was 
 appointed his successor. 
 
 January 18th, 1861, JOSEPH HOLT re 
 signed as Postmaster-General, and HO 
 RATIO KING, February 12th, 1861, was ap 
 pointed his successor. 
 
 President Buchanan, in his annual mes 
 sage of December 3d, 1860, appealed to 
 Congress to institute an amendment to the 
 constitution recognizing the rights of the 
 Southern States in regard to slavery in the 
 territories, and as this document embraced 
 the views which subsequently led to such 
 a general discussion of the right of seces 
 sion and the right to coerce a State, we 
 make a liberal quotation from it: 
 
 " I have purposely confined my remarks 
 to revolutionary resistance, because it has 
 been claimed within the last few years that 
 any State, whenever this shall be its 
 sovereign will and pleasure, may secede 
 from the Union in accordance with the 
 Constitution, and without any violation of 
 the constitutional rights of the other mem 
 bers of the Confederacy. That as each be 
 came parties to the Union by the vote of 
 its own people assembled in convention, 
 so any one of them may retire from the 
 Union in a similar manner by the vote of 
 such a convention. 
 
 " In order to justify secession as a con 
 stitutional remedy, it must be on the prin 
 ciple that the Federal Government is a 
 mere voluntary association of States, to be 
 dissolved at pleasure by any one of the 
 contracting parties. If this be so, the 
 Confederacy is a rope of sand, to be pene 
 trated and dissolved by the first adverse 
 wave of public opinion in any of the States. 
 In this manner our thirty-three States may 
 resolve themselves into as many petty, 
 jarring, and hostile republics, each one re 
 tiring from the Union without responsi 
 bility whenever any sudden excitement 
 might impel them to such a course. By 
 this process a Union might be entirely 
 broken into fragments in a few weeks, 
 which cost our forefathers many years of 
 toil, privation, and blood to establish. 
 
 <l Such a principle is wholly inconsistent 
 with the history as well as the character of 
 the Federal Constitution. After it was 
 framed with the greatest deliberation and 
 care, it was submitted to conventions of 
 the people of the several States for ratifi 
 cation. Its provisions were discussed at 
 length in these bodies, composed of the 
 first men of the country. Its opponents 
 contended that it conferred powers upon 
 the Federal Government dangerous to the 
 rights of the States, whilst its advocates 
 maintained that, under a foir construction 
 of the instrument, there was no foundation 
 for such apprehensions. In that mighty 
 struggle between the first intellects of thia 
 
BUCHANAN'S VIEWS. 
 
 101 
 
 or any other country, it never occurred to 
 any individual, either among its opponents 
 or advocates, to assert or even to intimate 
 that their efforts were all vain labor, be 
 cause the moment that any State felt her 
 self aggrieved she might secede from the 
 Union. What a crashing argument would 
 this have proved against those who dreaded 
 that the rights of the States would be en 
 dangered by the Constitution. The truth 
 is, that it was not until some years after 
 the origin of the Federal Government that 
 sujh a proposition was first advanced. It 
 was afterwards met and refuted by the 
 conclusive arguments of General Jackson, 
 who, in his message of the 16th of January, 
 1833, transmitting the nullifying ordinance 
 of South Carolina to Congress, employs the 
 following language : * The right of the peo 
 ple of a single State to absolve themselves 
 at will and without the consent of the 
 other States from their most solemn obli 
 gations, and hazard the liberty and happi 
 ness of the millions composing this Union, 
 cannot be acknowledged. Such authority 
 is believed to be utterly repugnant both to 
 the principles upon which the General 
 Government is constituted, and to the ob 
 jects which it was expressly formed to 
 attain.' 
 
 " It is not pretended that any clause in 
 the Constitution gives countenance to such 
 a theory. It is altogether founded upon 
 inference, not from any language con 
 tained in the instrument itself, but from 
 the sovereign character of the several 
 States by which it was ratified. But it is 
 beyond the power of a State like an indi 
 vidual, to yield a portion of its sovereign 
 rights to secure the remainder? In the 
 language of Mr. Madison, who has been 
 called the father of the Constitution, ' It 
 was formed by the States that is, by the 
 people in each of the States acting in their 
 highest sovereign capacity, and formed con 
 sequently by the same authority which 
 formed the State constitutions.' 'Nor is 
 the Government of the United States, 
 created by the Constitution, less a Govern 
 ment, in the strict sense of the term with 
 in the sphere of its powers, than the gov 
 ernments created by the constitutions of 
 the States are within their several spheres. 
 It is like them organized into legislative, 
 executive, and judiciary departments. It 
 operates, like them, directly on persons 
 and things ; and, like them, it has at com 
 mand a physical force for executing the 
 powers committed to it.' 
 
 " It was intended to be perpetual, and 
 not to be annulled at the pleasure of any 
 one of the contracting parties. The old 
 Articles of Confederation were entitled 
 ' Articles of Confederation and Perpetual 
 Union between the States ; ' and by the 
 thirteenth article it is expressly declared 
 that ' the articles of this confederation 
 
 shall be inviolably observed "by every 
 State, and the Union shall be perpetual.' 
 The preamble to the constitution of the 
 United States, having express reference to 
 the Articles of Confederation, recites that 
 it was established 'in order to form a more 
 perfect union.' And yet it is contended 
 that this ' more perfect union ' does not in 
 clude the essseutial attribute of perpe 
 tuity. 
 
 "But that the Union was designed to 
 be perpetual, appears conclusively from 
 the nature and extent of the powers con 
 ferred by the Constitution of the Federal 
 Government. These powers embrace the 
 very highest attributes of national sov 
 ereignty. They place both the sword and 
 purse under its control. Congress has 
 power to make war and to make peace ; to 
 raise and support armies and navies, and 
 to conclude treaties with foreign govern 
 ments. It is invested with the power to 
 coin money, and to regulate the value 
 thereof, and to regulate commerce with 
 foreign nations and among the several 
 States. It is not necessary to enumerate 
 the other high powers which have been 
 conferred upon the Federal Government. 
 In order to carry the enumerated powers 
 into effect, Congress possesses the exclusive 
 right to lay and collect duties on imports, 
 and, in common with the States, to lay 
 and collect all other taxes. 
 
 " But the Constitution has not only con 
 ferred these high powers upon Congress, 
 but it has adopted effectual means to re 
 strain the States from interfering with their 
 exercise. For that purpose it has in strong 
 prohibitory language expressly declared 
 that ' no State shall enter into any treaty, 
 alliance, or confederation ; grant letters of 
 marque and reprisal; coin money; emit 
 bills of credit; make anything but gold 
 and silver coin a tender in payment of 
 debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post 
 facto law, or law impairing the obligation 
 of contracts.' Moreover, * without the con 
 sent of Congress no State shall lay any im 
 posts or duties on any imports or exports, 
 except what may be absolutely necessary 
 for executing its inspection laws,' and if 
 they exceed this amount, the excess shall 
 belong to the United States. And 'no 
 State shall, without the consent of Con 
 gress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops 
 or ships of war in time of peace, enter into 
 any agreement or compact with another 
 State, or with a foreign power, or engage 
 in war, unless actually invaded or in such 
 imminent danger as will not admit of 
 delay.' 
 
 " In order still further to secure the un 
 interrupted exercise of these high powers 
 against State interposition, it is provided 
 ' that this Constitution and the laws of the 
 United States which shall be made in pur 
 suance thereof, and all treaties made or 
 
102 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 which shall be made under the authority 
 of the United States, shall be the supreme 
 law of the land; and the judges in every 
 State shall be bound thereby, any thing in 
 the Constitution or laws of any State to the 
 contrary notwithstanding/ 
 
 " The solemn sanction of religion has 
 been superadded to the obligations of 
 official duty, and all Senators and Repre 
 sentatives of the United States, all mem 
 bers of State Legislatures, and all execu 
 tive and judicial officers, ' both of the 
 United States and of the several States, 
 shall be bound by oath or affirmation to 
 support this Constitution.' 
 
 "In order to carry into effect these 
 powers, the Constitution has established a 
 perfect Government in all its forms, legis 
 lative, executive, and judicial ; and this 
 Government to the extent of its powers 
 acts directly upon the individual citizens 
 of every State, and executes its own de 
 crees by the agency of its own officers. In 
 this respect it differs entirely from the 
 Government under the old confederation, 
 which was confined to making requisitions 
 on the States in their sovereign character. 
 This left it in the discretion of each 
 whether to obey or refuse, and they often 
 declined to comply with such requisitions. 
 It thus became necessary, for the purpose 
 of removing this barrier, and ' in order to 
 form a more perfect union,' to establish a 
 Government which could act directly upon 
 the people and execute its own laws with 
 out the intermediate agency of the States. 
 This has been accomplished by the Con 
 stitution of the United States. In short, 
 the Government created by the Constitu 
 tion, and deriving its authority from the 
 sovereign people of each of the several 
 States, has precisely the same right to 
 exercise its power over the people of all 
 these States in the enumerated cases, that 
 each one of them possesses over subjects 
 not delegated to the United States, but 
 'reserved to the States respectively or to 
 the people.' 
 
 " To the extent of the delegated powers 
 the Constitution of the United States is as 
 much a part of the constitution of each 
 State, and is as binding upon its people, 
 as though it had been textually inserted 
 therein. 
 
 " This Government, therefore, is a great 
 and powerful Government, invested with 
 all the attributes of sovereignty over the 
 special subjects to which its authority ex 
 tends. Its framers never intended to im 
 plant in its bosom the seeds of its own 
 destruction nor were they at its creation 
 guilty of the absurdity of providing for its 
 own dissolution. It was not intended by 
 its framers to be the baseless fabric of a 
 vision, which, at the touch of the en 
 chanter, would vanish into thin air, but a 
 substantial and mighty fabric, capable of 
 
 resisting the slow decay of time, and of 
 defying the storms of ages. Indeed, well 
 may the jealous patriots of that day have 
 indulged fears that a Government of such 
 high power might violate the reserved rights 
 of the States, and wisely did they adopt 
 the rule of a strict construction of thes-e 
 powers to prevent the danger. But they did 
 not fear, nor had they any reason to imagine 
 that the Constitution would ever be so in 
 terpreted as to enable any State by her 
 own act, and without the consent of her 
 sister States, to discharge her people 
 from all or any of their federal obliga 
 tions. 
 
 "It may be asked, then, are the people 
 of the States without redress against the 
 tyranny and oppression of the Federal 
 Government? By no means. The right 
 of resistance on the part of the governed 
 against the oppression of their govern 
 ments cannot be denied. It exists inde 
 pendently of all constitutions, and has been 
 exercised at all periods of the world's his 
 tory. Under it, old governments have been 
 destroyed and new ones have taken their 
 place. It is embodied in strong and ex 
 press language in our own Declaration of 
 Independence. But the distinction must 
 ever be observed that this is revolution 
 against an established Government, and 
 not a voluntary secession from it by virtue 
 of an inherent constitutional right. In 
 short, let us look the danger fairly in the 
 face; secession is neither more nor less 
 than revolution. It may or it may not be 
 a justifiable revolution ; but still it is rev 
 olution." 
 
 The President having thus attempted to 
 demonstrate that the Constitution affords 
 no warrant for secession, but that this was 
 inconsistent both with its letter and spirit, 
 then defines his own position. He says: 
 
 " What, in the mean time, is the respon 
 sibility and true position of the Executive ? 
 He is bound by solemn oath, before God 
 and the country, 'to take care that the 
 laws be faithfully executed,' and from this 
 obligation he cannot be absolved by any 
 human power. But what if the perfor 
 mance of this duty, in whole or in part, 
 has been rendered impracticable by events 
 over which he could have exercised no 
 control? Such, at the present moment, is 
 the case throughout the State of South 
 Carolina, so far as the laws of the United 
 States to secure the administration of jus 
 tice by means of the Federal judiciary are 
 concerned. All the Federal officers within 
 its limits, through whose agency alone 
 these laws can be carried into execution, 
 have already resigned. We no longer 
 have a district judge, a district attorney, 
 or a marshal in South Carolina. In fact, 
 the whole machinery of the Federal gov 
 ernment necessary for the distribution of 
 remedial justice among the people has been 
 
BUCHANAN'S VIEWS. 
 
 103 
 
 demolished, and it would be difficult, if 
 not impossible, to replace it. 
 
 " The only acts of Congress on the stat 
 ute book bearing upon this subject are 
 those of the 28th Februrry, 1795, and 3rd 
 March, 1807. These authorize the Presi 
 dent, after he shall have ascertained that 
 the marshal, with his posse comitatus, is 
 unable to execute civil or criminal process 
 in any particular case, to call forth the 
 militia and employ the army and navy to 
 aid him in performing this service, having 
 first by proclamation commanded the in 
 surgents ' to disperse and retire peaceably 
 to their respective abodes within a limited 
 time/ This duty cannot by possibility be 
 performed in a State where no judicial au 
 thority exists to issue process, and where 
 there is no marshal to execute it, and 
 where, even if there were such an officer, 
 the entire population would constitute one 
 solid combination to resist him. 
 
 " The bare enumeration of these provi 
 sions proves how inadequate they are with 
 out further legislation to overcome a united 
 opposition in a single State, not to speak 
 of other States who may place themselves 
 in a similar attitude. Congress alone has 
 power to decide whether the present laws 
 can or cannot be amended so as to carry 
 out more effectually the objects of the 
 Constitution. 
 
 " The same insuperable obstacles do not 
 lie in the way of executing the laws for the 
 collection of customs. The revenue still 
 continues to be collected, as heretofore, at 
 the custom-house in Charleston, and should 
 the collector unfortunately resign, a suc 
 cessor may be appointed to perform this 
 duty. 
 
 " Then, in regard to the property of the 
 United States in South Carolina. This has 
 been purchased for a fair equivalent, ' by 
 the consent of the Legislature of the 
 State/ ' for the erection of forts, magazines, 
 arsenals,' &c., and over these the authority 
 'to exercise exclusive legislation' has been 
 expressly granted by the Constitution to 
 Congress. It is not believed that any at 
 tempt will be made to expel the United 
 States from this property by force ; but if 
 in this I should prove to be mistaken, the 
 officer in command of the forts has re 
 ceived orders to act strictly on the defen 
 sive. In such a contingency the respon 
 sibility for consequences would rightfully 
 rest upon the heads of the assailants. 
 
 " Apart from the execution of the laws, 
 so far as this may be practicable, the Ex 
 ecutive has no authority to decide what 
 shall be the relations between the Federal 
 Government and South Carolina. He has 
 been invested with no such discretion. He 
 possesses no power to change the relations 
 heretofore existing between them, much 
 less to acknowledge the independence of 
 that State. This would be to invest a mere 
 
 executive officer with the power of recog 
 nizing the dissolution of the Confederacy 
 among our thirty-three sovereign States. 
 It bears no relation to the recognition of a 
 foreign de facto Government, involving no 
 such responsibility. Any attempt to do 
 this would, on his part, be a naked act of 
 usurpation. It is, therefore, my duty to 
 submit to Congress the whole question in 
 all its bearings." 
 
 Then follows the opinion expressed in 
 the message, that the Constitution has con 
 ferred no power on the Federal Govern 
 ment to coerce a State to remain in the 
 Union. The following is the language : 
 "The question fairly stated is, 'Has the 
 Constitution delegated to Congress the 
 power to coerce a State into submission 
 which is attempting to withdraw, or has 
 actually withdrawn from the Confedera 
 cy?' If answered in the affirmative, it 
 must be on the principle that the power 
 has been conferred upon Congress to make 
 war against a State. 
 
 " After much serious reflection, I have 
 arrived at the conclusion that no such 
 power has been delegated to Congress or 
 to any other department of the Federal 
 Government. It is manifest, upon an in 
 spection of the Constitution, that this is 
 not among the specific and enumerated 
 powers granted to Congress; and it is 
 equally apparent that its exercise is not 
 ' necessary and proper for carrying into 
 execution ' any one of these powers. So far 
 from this power having been delegated to 
 Congress, it was expressly refused by the 
 Convention which framed the Constitu 
 tion. 
 
 " It appears from the proceedings of that 
 body that on the 31st May, 1787, the 
 clause ' authorizing an exertion of the force 
 of the whole against a delinquent State ' 
 came up for consideration. Mr. Madison 
 opposed it in a brief but powerful speech, 
 from which I shall extract but a single 
 sentence. He observed : ' The use of force 
 against a State would look more like a 
 declaration of war than an infliction of 
 punishment, and would probably be con 
 sidered by the party attacked as a dissolu 
 tion of all previous compacts by which it 
 might be bound.' Upon his motion the 
 clause was unanimously postponed, and 
 was never, I believe, again presented. Soon 
 afterwards, on the 8th June, 1787, when 
 incidentally adverting to the subject^ he 
 said: 'Any government for the United 
 States, formed on the supposed practica 
 bility of using force against the unconsti 
 tutional proceedings of the States, would 
 prove as visionary and fallacious as the 
 government of Congress,' evidently mean 
 ing the then existing Congress of the old 
 confederation." 
 
 At the time of the delivery of this mes 
 sage the excitement was very high. The 
 
104 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 extreme Southerners differed from it, in so 
 far as it disputed both the right of revolu 
 tion and secession under the circumstances, 
 but quickly made a party battle-cry of the 
 denial of the right of the National Gov 
 ernment to coerce a State a view which 
 for a time won the President additional 
 friends, but which in the end solidified all 
 friends of the Union against his adminis 
 tration. To show the doubt which this 
 ingenious theory caused, we quote from the 
 speech of Senator Andrew Johnson, of 
 Tennessee (subsequently Vice-President 
 and acting President), delivered Dec. 18th, 
 1860, (Congressional Globe, page 119) : 
 
 " I do not believe the Federal Govern 
 ment has the power to coerce a State, for 
 by the eleventh amendment of the Con 
 stitution of the United States it is expressly 
 provided that you cannot even put one of 
 the States of this confederacy before one 
 of the courts of the country as a party. 
 As a State, the Federal Government has 
 no power to coerce it ; but it is a member 
 of the compact to which it agreed in com 
 mon with the other States, and this Gov 
 ernment has the right to pass laws, and to 
 enforce those laws upon individuals within 
 the limits of each State. While the one 
 proposition is clear, the other is equally so. 
 This Government can, by the Constitution 
 of the country, and by the laws enacted in 
 conformity with the Constitution, operate 
 upon individuals, and has the right and 
 power, not to coerce a State, but to enforce 
 and execute the law upon individuals 
 within the limits of a State." 
 
 Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, 
 publicly objected to the message because of 
 its earnest argument against secession, and 
 the determination expressed to collect the 
 revenue in the ports of South Carolina, by 
 means of a naval force, and to defend the 
 public property. From this moment they 
 alienated themselves from the President. 
 Soon thereafter, when he refused to with 
 draw Major Anderson from Fort Sumter, 
 on the demand of the self-styled South 
 Carolina Commissioners, the separation be 
 came complete. For more than two months 
 before the close of the session all friendly 
 intercourse between them and the Presi 
 dent, whether of a political or social cha 
 racter, had ceased. 
 
 The Crlttenden Compromise. 
 
 Congress referred the request in the 
 message, to adopt amendments to the con 
 stitution recognizing the rights of the 
 Blave States to take slavery into the terri 
 tories to a committee of thirteen, consisting 
 of five Republicans : Messrs. Seward, Col- 
 lamer, Wade, Doolittle, and Grimes ; five 
 from slave-holding States : Messrs. Powell, 
 Hunter, Crittenden, Toombs, and Davis ; 
 and three Northern Democrats; Messrs. 
 Pouglas, Bigler, and Bright. The latter 
 
 three were intended to act as mediators 
 between the extreme parties on the com 
 mittee. 
 
 The committee first met on the 21st De 
 cember, 1860, and preliminary to any other 
 proceeding, they " resolved that no propo 
 sition shall be reported as adopted, unless 
 sustained by a majority of each of the 
 classes of the committee ; Senators of the 
 Republican party to constitute one class, 
 and Senators of the other parties to con 
 stitute the other class." This resolution 
 was passed, because any report they might 
 make to the Senate would be in vain unless 
 sanctioned by at least a majority of the five 
 Republican Senators. On the next day 
 (the 22d), Mr. Crittenden submitted to the 
 committee " A Joint Resolution " (the 
 same which he had two days before pre 
 sented to the Senate), " proposing certain 
 amendments to the Constitution of the 
 United States," now known as the Critten 
 den Compromise. This was truly a com 
 promise of conflicting claims, beVause it 
 proposed that the South should surrender 
 their adjudged right to take slaves into all 
 our Territories, provided the North would 
 recognize this right in the Territories south 
 of the old Missouri Compromise line. 
 The committee rejected this compromise, 
 every one of its five Republican members, 
 together with Messrs. Davis and Toombs, 
 from the cotton States, having voted 
 against it. Indeed, not one of all "the Re 
 publicans in the Senate, at any period or 
 in any form, voted in its favor. 
 
 The committee, having failed to arrive 
 at a satisfactory conclusion, reported their 
 disagreement to the Senate on the 31st 
 December, 1860, in a resolution declaring 
 that they had "not been able to agree 
 upon any general plan of adjustment." 
 
 Mr. Crittenden did not despair of 
 ultimate success, notwithstanding his de 
 feat before the Committee of Thirteen. 
 After this, indeed, he could no longer ex 
 pect to carry his compromise as an amend 
 ment to the Constitution by the necessary 
 two-thirds vote of Congress. It was, 
 therefore, postponed by the Senate on his 
 own motion. As a substitute for it he 
 submitted to the Senate, on the 3d 
 January, 1861, a joint resolution, which 
 might be passed by a majority of both 
 Houses. This was to refer his rejected 
 amendment, by an ordinary act of Con 
 gress, to a direct vote of the people of the 
 several States. 
 
 He offered his resolution in the following 
 language : " Whereas the Union is in 
 danger, and, owing to the unhappy divi 
 sion existing in Congress, it would be dif 
 ficult, if not impossible, for that body to 
 concur in both its branches by the re 
 quisite majority, so as to enable it either 
 to adopt suoh measures of legislation, or 
 to recommend to the States such amend- 
 
THE CRITTENDEN COMPROMISE. 
 
 105 
 
 ments to the Constitution, as are deemed 
 necessary and proper to avert that danger ; 
 and whereas in so great an emergency the 
 opinion and judgment of the people ought 
 to be heard, and would be the best and 
 surest guide to their Representatives ; 
 Therefore, Resolved, That provision ought 
 to be made by law without delay for tak 
 ing the sense of the people and submitting 
 to their vote the following resolution [the 
 same as in his former amendment], as the 
 basis for the final and permanent settle 
 ment of those disputes that now disturb 
 the peace of the country and threaten the 
 existence of the Union." 
 
 Memorials in its favor poured into Con 
 gress from portions of the North, even 
 from New England. One of these pre 
 sented to the Senate was from " the Mayor 
 and members of the Board of Aldermen 
 and the Common Council of the city of 
 Boston, and over 22,000 citizens of the 
 State of Massachusetts, praying the adop 
 tion of the compromise measures proposed 
 by Mr. Crittenden." It may be proper 
 here to observe that the resolution of Mr. 
 Crittenden did not provide in detail for 
 holding elections by which " the sense of 
 the people " could be ascertained. To sup 
 ply this omission, Senator Bigler, of 
 Pennsylvania, on the 14th January, 1861, 
 brought in " A bill to provide for taking 
 the sense of the people of the United 
 States on certain proposed amendments to 
 the Constitution of the United States;" 
 but never was he able to induce the Senate 
 even to consider this bill. 
 
 President Buchanan exerted all his in 
 fluence in favor of these measures. In his 
 special message to Congress of the 8th of 
 January, 1831, after depicting the conse 
 quences which had already resulted to the 
 country from the bare apprehension of 
 civil war and the dissolution of the Union, 
 he savs : 
 
 " Let the question be transferred from 
 political assemblies to the ballot-box, and 
 the people themselves would speedily re 
 dress the serious grievances which the 
 South have suffered. But, in Heaven's 
 name, let the trial be made before we 
 plunge into armed conflict upon the mere 
 assumption that there is no other alterna 
 tive. Time is a great conservative power. 
 Let us pause at this momentous point, and 
 afford the people, both North and South, 
 an opportunity for reflection. Would that 
 South Carolina had been convinced of this 
 truth before her precipitate action 1 I, 
 therefore, appeal through you to the peo 
 ple of th 3 country, to declare in their 
 might that the Union must and shall be 
 preserved by all constitutional means. I 
 most earnestly recommend that you devote 
 yourselves exclusively to the question how 
 this can be accomplished in peace. All 
 other questions, when compared with this, 
 
 sink into insignificance. The present is no 
 time for palliatives; action, prompt action 
 is required. A delay in Congress to pre 
 scribe or to recommend a distinct and 
 practical proposition for conciliation, may 
 drive us to a point from which it will be 
 almost impossible to recede. 
 
 " A common ground on which concilia 
 tion and harmony can be produced is 
 surely not unattainable. The proposition 
 to compromise by letting the North have 
 exclusive control of the territory above a 
 certain line, and to give Southern institu 
 tions protection below that line, ought to 
 receive universal approbation. In itself, 
 indeed, it may not be entirely satisfactory, 
 but when the alternative is between a 
 reasonable concession on both sides and a 
 dissolution of the Union, it is an imputa 
 tion on the patriotism of Congress to assert 
 that its members will hesitate for a mo 
 ment." 
 
 This recommendation was totally disre 
 garded. On the 14th January, 1861, Mr. 
 Crittenden made an unsuccessful attempt 
 to have it considered, but it was postponed 
 until the day following. On this day it 
 was again postponed by the vote of every 
 Republican Senator present, in order to 
 make way for the Pacific Railroad bill. On 
 the third attempt (January 16,) he suc 
 ceeded, but by a majority of a single vote, 
 in bringing his resolution before the body. 
 Every Republican Senator present voted 
 against its consideration. Mr. Clark, a 
 Republican Senator from New Hampshire, 
 moved to strike out the entire preamble 
 and resolution of Mr. Crittenden, and in 
 lieu thereof insert as a substitute a pream 
 ble and resolution in accordance with the 
 Chicago platform. This motion prevailed 
 by a vote of 25 to 23, every Republican 
 Senator present having voted in its favor. 
 Thus Mr. Crittenden's proposition to refer 
 the question to the people was buried 
 under the Clark amendment. This con 
 tinued to be its position for more than six 
 weeks, until the day before the final ad 
 journment of Congress, 2d March, when 
 the proposition itself was defeated by a 
 vote of 19 in the affirmative against 20 in 
 the negative. 
 
 The Clark Amendment prevailed only 
 in consequence of the refusal of six Seces 
 sion Senators to vote against it. These 
 were Messrs. Benjamin and Slidell, of 
 Louisiana ; Mr. Iverson, of Georgia ; 
 Messrs. Hem phi 11 and Wigfall, of Texas ; 
 and Mr. Johnson, of Arkansas. Had these 
 gentlemen voted with the border slave- 
 holding States and the other Democratic 
 Senators, the Clark Amendment would 
 hare been defeated, and the Senate would 
 then have been brought to a direct vote 
 on the Crittenden resolution. 
 
 It is proper far reference that the names 
 of those Senators who constituted the ma- 
 
106 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 jority on this question, should be placed 
 upon record. Every vote given from the 
 six New England States was in opposition 
 to Mr. Crittenden's resolution. The.se con 
 sisted of Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire ; 
 Messrs. Surnner and Wilson, of Massachu 
 setts ; Mr. Anthony, of Rhode Island ; 
 Messrs. Dixon and Foster, of Connecticut ; 
 Mr. Foot, of Vermont ; and Mr. Fessen- 
 den, of Maine. The remaining twelve 
 votes, in order to make up the 20, were 
 given by Messrs. Bingham and Wade, of 
 Ohio ; Mr. Trumbull, of Illinois ; Messrs. 
 Bingham and Chandler, of Michigan ; 
 Messrs. Grimes and Harlan, of Iowa ; 
 Messrs. Doolittle and Durkee, of Wiscon 
 sin ; Mr. Wilkinson, of Minnesota ; Mr. 
 King, of New York ; and Mr. Ten Eyck, 
 of New Jersey. The Republicans not 
 voting were Hale of New Hampshire ; 
 Simmons of Rhode Island ; Col lamer of 
 Vermont; Seward of New York, and 
 Cameron of Pennsylvania. They refrained 
 from various motives, but in the majority 
 of instances because they disbelieved In 
 any effort to compromise, for nearly .all 
 were recognized leaders of the more radi 
 cal sentiment, and in favor of coercion of 
 the South by energetic use of the war 
 powers of the government. This was spe 
 cially true of Hale, Seward, and General 
 Cameron, shortly after Secretary of War, 
 and the first Cabinet officer who favored 
 the raising of an immense army and the 
 early liberation and arming of the slaves. 
 
 On December 4th, 1860, on motion of 
 Mr. Boteler of Virginia, so much of Presi 
 dent Buchanan's message as related to the 
 perilous condition of the country, was re 
 ferred to a special committee of one from 
 each State, as follows : 
 
 Corwin of Ohio ; Millson of Virginia ; 
 Adams of Massachusetts; Winslow of 
 North Carolina ; Humphrey of New York ; : 
 Boyce of South Carolina; Campbell of | 
 Pennsylvania; Love of Georgia; Ferry of 
 Connecticut ; Davis of Maryland ; Robin 
 son of Rhode Island ; Whiteley of Dela 
 ware ; Tappan of New Hampshire ; Strat- 
 ton of New Jersey ; Bristow of Kentucky ; 
 Morrill of Vermont ; Nelson of Tennessee ; 
 Dunn of Indiana; Taylor of Louisiana; 
 Davis of Mississippi; Kellogg of Illinois; 
 Houston of Alabama; Morse of Maine; 
 Phelps of Missouri ; Rust of Arkansas ; 
 Howard of Michigan ; Hawkins of Florida ; 
 Hamilton of Texas ; Washburn of Wiscon 
 sin ; Curtis of Iowa ; Burch of California; 
 Windorn of Minnesota ; Stout of Oregon. 
 
 Messrs. Hawkins and Boyce asked to be 
 excused from service on the Committee, 
 but the House refused. 
 
 From this Committee Mr. Corwin report 
 ed, January 14th, 1861, a series of proposi 
 tions with a written statement in advocacy 
 thereof. Several minorrity reports were 
 presented, but the following Joint Reso 
 
 lution is the only one which secured the 
 assent of both Houses. 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. 
 
 Be it resolved by the Senate and House of 
 Representatives of the United States of 
 America in Congress assembled, two-thirds 
 of both Houses concurring, That the fol 
 lowing article be proposed to the Legisla 
 tures of the several States as an amend 
 ment to the Constitution of the United 
 States, which, when ratified by three- 
 fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid, 
 to all intents and purposes, as a part of the 
 said Constitution, namely: 
 
 ART. XII. No amendment shall be 
 made to the Constitution which will auth 
 orize or give to Congress the power to 
 abolish or interfere within any State, with 
 the domestic institutions thereof, including 
 that of persons held to labor or service by 
 the laws of said State. 
 
 The Legislatures of Ohio and Maryland 
 agreed to the amendment promptly, but 
 events followed so rapidly, that the atten^ 
 tion of other States was drawn from it, and 
 nothing came of this, the only Congres^ 
 sional movement endorsed which looked to 
 reconciliation. Other propositions came 
 from the Border and individual states, but 
 all alike failed. 
 
 Tin- Peace Convention. 
 
 The General Assembly of Virginia, OR 
 the 19th of January, adopted resolutions 
 inviting Representatives of the several 
 States to assemble in a Peace Convention 
 at Washington, which met on the 4th of 
 February. It was composed of 133 Com 
 missioners, many from the border States, 
 and the object of these was to prevail upon 
 their associates from the North to unite 
 with them in such recommendations to 
 Congress as would prevent their own States 
 from seceding and enable them to bring 
 back six of the cotton States which had 
 already seceded. 
 
 One month only of the session of Con 
 gress remained. Within this brief period 
 it was necessary that the Convention 
 should recommend amendments to the 
 Constitution in sufficient time to enable 
 both Houses to act upon them before their 
 final adjournment. It was also essential 
 to success that these amendments should 
 be sustained by a decided majority of the 
 commissioners both from the Northern 
 and the border States. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 6th February, a re 
 solution was adopted,* on motion of Mr. 
 Guthrie, of Kentucky, to refer the resolu> 
 tions of the General Assembly of Virginia, 
 and all other kindred subjects, to a com 
 mittee to consist of one commissioner 
 
 * Official Journal of the Convention, pp. 9 and 10. 
 
THE PEACE CONVENTION. 
 
 107 
 
 from each State, to be selected by the 
 respective State delegations ; and to pre 
 vent delay they were instructed to report 
 on or before the Friday following (the 8th), 
 " what they may deem right, necessary, 
 and proper to restore harmony and pre 
 serve the Union." 
 
 This committee, instead of reporting on 
 the day appointed, did not report until 
 Friday, the 15th February. 
 
 The amendments reported by a majority 
 of the committee, through Mr. Guthrie, 
 their chairman, were substantially the 
 same with the Crittenden Compromise; 
 but on motion of Mr. Johnson, of Mary 
 land, the general terms of the first and by far 
 the most important section were restricted 
 to the present Territories of the United 
 States. On motion of Mr. Franklin, of 
 Pennsylvania, this section was further 
 amended, but not materially changed, by 
 the adoption of the substitute offered by 
 him. Nearly in this form it was afterwards 
 adopted by the Convention. * The follow 
 ing is a copy : " In all the present territory 
 of the United States north of the parallel' 
 of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes of 
 north latitude, involuntary servitude, ex 
 cept in punishment of crime, is prohibited. 
 In all the present territory south of that 
 line, the status of persons held to involun 
 tary service or labor, as it now exists, shall 
 not be changed; nor shall any law be 
 passed by Congress or the Territorial Le 
 gislature to hinder or prevent the taking 
 of such persons from any of the States of 
 this Union to said territory, nor to impair 
 the rights arising from said relation; but 
 the same shall be subject to judicial cogni 
 zance in the Federal courts, according to 
 the course of the common law. When any 
 Territory north or south of said line, with 
 in such boundary as Congress may pre 
 scribe, shall contain a population equal to 
 that required for a member of Congress, it 
 shall, if its form of government be repub 
 lican, be admitted into the Union on an 
 equal footing with the original States, with 
 or without involuntary servitude, as the 
 Constitution of such State may provide." 
 
 Mr. Baldwin, of Connecticut, and Mr. 
 Seddon, of Virginia, made minority re 
 ports, which they proposed to substitute 
 for that of the majority. Mr. Baldwin's 
 report was a recommendation "to the 
 several States to unite with Kentucky in 
 her application to Congress to call a Con 
 vention for proposing amendments to the 
 Constitution of the United States, to be 
 submitted to the Legislatures of the several 
 States, or to Conventions therein, for rati 
 fication, as the one or the other mode of 
 ratification may be proposed by Congress, 
 in accordance with the provisions in the 
 fifth article of the Constitution.'' 
 
 The proposition of Mr. Baldwin, re 
 ceived the votes of eight of the twenty -one 
 
 States. These consisted of the whole of 
 the New England States, except Rhode 
 Island, and of Illinois, Iowa, and New 
 York, all being free States. 
 
 The first amendment reported by Mr. 
 Seddon differed from that of the majority 
 inasmuch as it embraced not only the 
 present but all future Territories. This 
 was rejected. His second amendment, 
 which, however, was never voted upon by 
 the Convention, went so far as distinctly 
 to recognize the right of secession. 
 
 More than ten days were consumed in 
 discussion and in voting upon various pro 
 positions offered by individual commis 
 sioners. The final vote was not reached 
 until Tuesday, the 26th February, when 
 it was taken on the first vitally important 
 section, as amended. 
 
 This section, on which all the rest de 
 pended, was negatived by a vote of eight 
 States to eleven. Those which voted in 
 its favor were Delaware, Kentucky, Mary 
 land, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
 Rhode Island, and Tennessee. And those 
 iii the negative were Connecticut, Illinois, 
 Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, 
 New York, North Carolina, New Hamp 
 shire, Vermont, and Virginia. "It is but 
 justice to say that Messrs. Ruffin and More- 
 head, of North Carolina, and Messrs. Rives 
 and Summers, of Virginia, two of the five 
 commissioners from each of these States, 
 declared their dissent from the vote of 
 their respective States. So, also, did 
 Messrs. Bronson, Corning, Dodge, Wool, 
 and Granger, five of the eleven New York 
 commissioners, dissent from the vote of 
 their State. On the other hand, Messrs. 
 Meredith and Wilmot, two of the seven 
 commissioners from Pennsylvania, dis 
 sented from the majority in voting in favor 
 of the section. Thus would the Conven 
 tion have terminated but for the inter 
 position of Illinois. Immediately after 
 the section had been negatived, the com 
 missioners from that State made a motion 
 to reconsider the vote, and this prevailed. 
 The Convention afterwards adjourned un 
 til the next morning. When they reassem 
 bled (February 27,) the first section was 
 adopted, but only by a majority of nine to 
 eight States, nine being less than a ma 
 jority, of the States represented. This 
 change was effected by a change of the vote 
 of Illinois from the negative to the affirm 
 ative, by Missouri withholding her vote, 
 and by a tie in the New York commis 
 sioners, on account of the absence of one 
 of their number, rendering it impossible 
 for the State to vote. Still Virginia and 
 North Carolina, and Connecticut, Maine, 
 Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Ver 
 mont, persisted in voting in the negative. 
 From the nature of this vote, it was mani 
 festly impossible that two-thirds of both 
 Houses of Congress should act favorably 
 
108 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 on the amendment, even if the delay had 
 not already rendered such action imprac 
 ticable before the close of the session. 
 
 The remaining sections of the amend 
 ment were carried by small majorities. 
 The Convention, on the same day, through 
 Mr. Tyler, their President, communicated 
 to the Senate and House of Representa 
 tives the amendment they had adopted, 
 embracing all the sections, with a request 
 that it might be submitted by Congress, 
 under the Constitution, to the several State 
 Legislatures. In the Senate this was im 
 mediately referred to a select committee, 
 on motion of Mr. Crittenden. The com 
 mittee, on the next day (28th Feb.), re 
 ported a joint resolution proposing it as an 
 amendment to the Constitution, but he was 
 never able to bring the Senate to a direct 
 vote upon it. Failing in this, he made a 
 motion to substitute the amendment of the 
 Peace Convention for his own. 
 
 Mr. Critten den's reasons failed to con 
 vince the Senate, and his motion was re 
 jected by a large majority (28 to 7). Then 
 next in succession came the memorable 
 vote on Mr. Crittenden's own resolution, 
 and it was in its turn defeated, as we have 
 already stated, by a majority of 20 against 
 19. 
 
 In the House of Representatives, the 
 amendment proposed bv the Convention 
 was treated with still less consideration 
 than it had been by the Senate. The 
 Speaker was refused leave even to present 
 it. Every effort made for this purpose 
 was successfully resisted by leading Repub 
 lican members. The consequence is that 
 a copy of it does not even appear in the 
 Journal. 
 
 The refusal to pass the Crittenden or any 
 other Compromise heightened the excite 
 ment in the South, where many showed 
 great reluctance to dividing the Union. 
 Georgia, though one of thd cotton States, 
 under the influence of conservative men 
 like Alex. H. Stephens, showed greater 
 concern for the Union than any other, and 
 it took all the influence of spirits like that 
 of Robert Toombs to bring her to favor 
 secession. She was the most powerful of 
 the cotton States and the richest, as she is 
 to-day. On the 22d of December, 1860, 
 Robert Toombs sent the following exciting 
 telegraphic manifesto from Washington : 
 
 fellow- Citizens of Georgia : I came here 
 to secure your constitutional rights, or to 
 demonstrate to you that you can get no 
 guarantees for these rights from your North 
 ern Confederates. 
 
 The whole subject was referred to a com 
 mittee of thirteen in the Senate yesterday. 
 I was appointed on the committee and ac 
 cepted the trust. I submitted propositions 
 which, so far from receiving decided sup 
 port from a single member of the Repub 
 lican party on the committee, were all 
 
 treated with either derision or contempt. 
 The vote was then taken in committee on 
 the amendments to the Constitution, pro 
 posed by Hon. J. J. Crittenden of Ken 
 tucky, and each and all of them were voted 
 against, unanimously, by the Black Re 
 publican members of the committee. 
 
 In addition to these facts, a majority of 
 the Black Republican members of the 
 committee declared distinctly that they 
 had no guarantees to offer, which was si 
 lently acquiesced in by the other members. 
 
 The Black Republican members of this 
 Committee of Thirteen are representative 
 men of their party and section, and to the 
 extent of my information, truly represent 
 the Committee of Thirty -three in the House, 
 which on Tuesday adjourned for a week 
 without coming to any vote, after solemnly 
 pledging themselves to vote on all proposi 
 tions then before them on that date. 
 
 That committee is controlled by Black 
 Republicans, your enemies, who only seek to 
 amuse you with delusive hope until your 
 election, in order that you may defeat the 
 friends of secession. If you are deceived 
 by them, it shall not be my fault. I have 
 put the test fairly and frankly. It is de 
 cisive against you ; and now I tell you up 
 on the faith of a true man that all further 
 looking to the North for security for your 
 constitutional rights in the Union ought to 
 be instantly abandoned. It is fraught with 
 nothing but ruin to yourselves and your 
 posterity. 
 
 Secession by the fourth of March next 
 should be thundered from the ballot-box 
 by the unanimous voice of Georgia on the 
 second day of January next. Such a voice 
 will be your best guarantee for LIBERTY, 
 
 SECURITY, TRANQUILLITY and GLORY. 
 
 ROBERT TOOMBS. 
 
 IMPORTANT TELEGRAPHIC CORRESPOND 
 ENCE. 
 
 Atlanta, Georgia, December 26th, 1860. 
 Hon. S. A. Douglas or Hon. J. J. Critttn- 
 den : 
 
 Mr. Toombs's despatch of the 22d inst. 
 unsettled conservatives here. Is there any 
 hope for Southern rights in the Union ? We 
 are for the Union of our fathers, if South 
 ern rights can be preserved in it. If not, 
 we are for secession. Can we yet hope 
 the Union will be preserved on this prin 
 ciple? You are looked to in this emer 
 gency. Give us your views by despatch 
 and oblige 
 
 WILLIAM EZZARD. 
 
 ROBERT W. SIMS. 
 
 JAMES P. HAMBLETON. 
 
 THOMAS S. POWELL. 
 
 S. G. HOWELL. 
 
 J. A. HAYDEN. 
 
 G. W. ADAIR. 
 
 R. C. HONLESTER. 
 
SECESSION.. 
 
 109 
 
 Washington, December 29th, 1860. 
 In reply to your inquiry, we have hopes 
 that the rights of the South, and of every 
 State and section, may be protected within 
 the Union. Don't give up the ship. Don't 
 despair of the Eepublic. 
 
 J. J. CRITTENDES". 
 S. A. DOUGLAS. 
 
 Congress, amid excitement which the 
 above dispatches indicate, and which was 
 general, remained for several weeks com 
 paratively inactive. Buchanan sent mes 
 sages, but his suggestions were distrusted 
 by the Republicans, who stood firm in the 
 conviction that when Lincoln took his seat, 
 and the new Congress came in, they could 
 pass measures calculated to restore the 
 property of and protect the integrity of the 
 Union. None of them believed in the 
 right of secession ; all had lost faith in 
 compromises, and all of this party repudi 
 ated the theory that Congress had no right 
 to coerce a State. The revival of these 
 questions, revived also the logical thoughts 
 of Webster in his great reply to Hayne, 
 and the way in which he then, expanded 
 the constitution was now accepted as the 
 proper doctrine of Republicanism on that 
 question. No partisan sophistry could 
 shake the convictions made by Webster, 
 and so apt were his arguments in their 
 application to every new development that 
 they supplied every logical want in the 
 Northern mind. Republican orators and 
 newspapers quoted and endorsed, until 
 nearly every reading mind was imbued 
 with the same sentiments, until in fact the 
 Northern Democrats, and at all times the 
 Douglas Democrats, were ready to stand 
 by the flaw of the Union. George W. 
 Curtis, in Harper's Weekly (a journal which 
 at the time graphically illustrated the best 
 Union thoughts and sentiments), in an 
 issue as late as January 12th, 1872, well 
 described the power of Webster's grand 
 ability * over a crisis which he did not live 
 to see, Mr. Curtis says : 
 
 " The Avar for the Union was a vindica 
 tion of that theory of its nature which 
 Webster had maintained in a memorably 
 impregnable and conclusive manner. His 
 second speech on Foot's resolution the 
 reply to Hayne was the most famous 
 and effective speech ever delivered in this 
 country. It stated clearly and fixed firmly 
 in the American mind the theory of the 
 government, which was not, indeed, origi 
 nal with Webster, but which is nowhere 
 else presented with such complete and in 
 exorable reason as in this speech. If the 
 poet be the man who is so consummate a 
 master of expression that he only says per- 
 
 * The text nf Webster's speech In reply to Hayne, now 
 accepted as the greatest constitutional exposition ever 
 made by any American orator, will be found to our book 
 evoted to Great Speeches ou Great Issues. 
 
 fectly what everybody thinks, upon this 
 great occasion the orator was the poet. He 
 spoke the profound but often obscured and 
 dimly conceived conviction of a nation. 
 He made the whole argument of the civil 
 war a generation before the war occurred, 
 and it hus remained unanswered and un 
 answerable. Mr. Everett, in his discourse 
 at the dedication of the statute of Webster, 
 in the State-House grounds in Boston in 
 1859, described the orator at the delivery 
 of this great speech. The evening before 
 he seemed to be so careless that Mr. Ever 
 ett feared that he might not be fully aware 
 of the gravity of the occasion. But when 
 the hour came, the man was there. ' As I 
 saw him in the evening, if I may borrow 
 an illustration from his favorite amuse 
 ment/ said Mr. Everett, ' he was as un 
 concerned and as free of spirit as some here 
 have often seen him while floating in his 
 fishing-boat along a hazy shore, gently 
 rocking on the tranquil tide, dropping his 
 line here and there with the varying for 
 tune of the sport. The next morning he 
 was like some mighty admiral, dark and 
 terrible, casting the long shadow of his 
 frowning tiers far over the sea, that seemed 
 to sink beneath him; his broad pennant 
 streaming at the main, the Stars and Stripes 
 at the fore, the mizzen, and the peak, and 
 bearing down like a tempest upon his an 
 tagonist, with all his canvas strained to the 
 wind, and all his thunders roaring from 
 his broadsides.' This passage well sug 
 gests that indescribable impression of great 
 oratory which Rufus Choate, in his eulogy 
 of Webster at Dartmouth College, conveys 
 by a felicitous citation of what Quintilian 
 says of Hortensius, that there was some 
 spell in the spoken word which the reader 
 misses." 
 
 As we have remarked, the Republicans 
 were awaiting the coming of a near and 
 greater power to themselves, and at the 
 same time jealously watching the move 
 ments of the friends of the South in Con 
 gress and in the President's Cabinet. It 
 needed all their watchfulness to prevent 
 advantages which the secessionists thought 
 they had a right to take. Thus Jefferson 
 Davis, on January 9th, 1860, introduced 
 to the senate a bill " to authorize the sale 
 of public arms to the several States and 
 Territories," and as secession became more 
 arobable he sought to press its passage, but 
 Bailed. Floyd, the Secretary of War, was 
 far more successful, and his conduct was 
 made the subject of the following historic 
 and most remarkable report : 
 
 Transfer of U. S. Arms South in 1859-60. 
 
 Report (Abstract of) made by Mr. B. 
 Stanton, from the Committee on Military 
 
110 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Affairs, in House of Representatives, Feb. 
 18th, 1861. 
 
 The Committee on Military Affairs, to 
 whom was referred the resolution of the 
 House of Representatives of 31st of De 
 cember last, instructing said committee to 
 inquire and report to the House, how, to 
 whom, and at what price, the public arms 
 distributed since the first day of January, 
 A. D. 1860, have been disposed of; and 
 also into the condition of the forts, arsenals, 
 dock-yards, etc., etc., submit the following 
 report : 
 
 That it appears from the papers herewith 
 submitted, that Mr. Floyd, the late Secre 
 tary of War, by the authority or under 
 color of the law of March 3d, 1825, author 
 izing the Secretary of War to sell any arms, 
 ammunition, or other military stores which 
 should be found unsuitable for the public 
 service, sold to sundry persons and States 
 31,610 flint-lock muskets, altered to per 
 cussion, at $2.50 each, between the 1st 
 day of January, A. D. 1860, and the 1st day 
 of January, A.D., 1861. It will be seen from 
 the testimony of Colonel Craig and Captain 
 Maynadier, that they differ as to whether 
 the arms so sold had been found, " upon 
 proper inspection, to be unsuitable for the 
 public service." 
 
 Whilst the Committtee do not deem it 
 important to decide this question, they say, 
 that in their judgment it would require a 
 very liberal construction of the law to 
 bring these sales within its provisions. 
 
 It also appears that on the 21st day of 
 November last, Mr. Belknap made applica 
 tion to the Secretary of War for the pur 
 chase of from one to two hundred and fifty 
 thousand United States muskets, flint-locks 
 and altered to percussion, at $2.15 each; 
 but the Secretary alleges that the acceptance 
 was made under a misapprehension of the 
 price bid, he supposing it was $2.50 each, 
 instead of $2.15. 
 
 Mr. Belknap denies all knowledge of any 
 mistake or misapprehension, and insists 
 upon the performance of his contract. 
 
 The present Secretary refuses to recog 
 nize the contract, and the muskets have 
 not been delivered to Mr. Belknap. 
 
 Mr. Belknap testifies that the muskets 
 were intended for the Sardinian govern 
 ment. 
 
 It will appear by the papers herewith 
 submitted, that on the 29th of December, 
 1859, the Secretary of War ordered the 
 transfer of 65,000 percussion muskets, 40- 
 000 muskets altered to percussion, and 10- 
 000 percussion rifles, from the Springfield 
 Armory and the Watertown and Water- 
 vliet Arsenals, to the Arsenals at Fayette- 
 ville, N. C., Charleston, S. C., Augusta, Ga., 
 Mount Vernon, Ala., and Baton Rous^e, 
 La., and that these arms were distributed 
 during the spring of 1860 as follow* : 
 
 To Charleston Arsenal, 
 To Nun h Carolina Arsenal, 
 To Augusta Arsenal, 
 To Mount Vernon Arsenal, 
 To Baton Rouge Arse ual, 
 
 Percussion Altered 
 
 muskets. 
 5,720 
 9/.20 
 7,C20 
 6,7.0 
 11,420 
 
 9,'20 
 15480 
 12,380 
 
 9,280 
 18,580 
 
 Rifles. 
 ,000 
 2,000 
 2,000 
 2,000 
 2,'JOO 
 
 65,000 40,000 10,000 
 
 All of these arms, except those sent to 
 the North Carolina Arsenal,* have been 
 seized by the authorities of the several 
 States of South Carolina, Alabama, Loui 
 siana and Georgia, and are no longer in 
 possession of the United States. 
 
 It will appear by the testimony herewith 
 presented, that on the 20th of October last 
 the Secretary of War ordered forty colum- 
 biads and four thirty-two pounders to be 
 sent from the Arsenal at Pittsburg to the 
 fort on Ship Island, on the coast of Missis 
 sippi, then in an unfinished condition, and 
 seventy columbiads and seven thirty-two 
 pounders to be sent from the same Arsenal 
 to the fort at Galveston, in Texas, the 
 building of which had scarcely been com 
 menced. 
 
 This order was given to the Secretary of 
 War, without any report from the Engineei 
 department showing that said works were 
 ready for their armament, or that the guns 
 were needed at either of said points. 
 
 It will be seen by the testimony of Cap 
 tain Wright, of the Engineer department, 
 that the fort at Galveston cannot be ready 
 for its entire armament in less than about 
 five years, nor for any part of it in less than 
 two ; and that the fort at Ship Island will 
 require an appropriation of $85,000 and 
 one year's time before it can be ready for 
 any part of its armament. This last named 
 fort has been taken possession of by the 
 State authorities of Mississippi. 
 
 The order of the late Secretary of War 
 (Floyd) was countermanded by the present 
 Secretary (Holt) before it had been fully 
 executed by the shipment of said guns from 
 Pittsburgh 
 
 It will be seen by a communication from 
 the Ordnance office of the 21st of January 
 last, that by the last returns there were re 
 maining in the United States arsenals and 
 armories the following small arms, viz : 
 Percussion muskets and muskets 
 
 altered to percussion of calibre 
 
 69 ........................................ 499,554 
 
 Percussion rifles, calibre 54 .......... 42,01 1 
 
 Total .................................. 541,565 
 
 * These were afterwards seized. 
 
 t The attempted removal of these heavy Rims from Al 
 legheny Arsenal, late in December, I860, crwited intense 
 excitement. A monster mass meeting assembled at the 
 call of the Mayor of the city, and citizens of all parties 
 aided in the effort to prevent the shipment. Through 
 the interposition of Hon. .1 K. Moorheftd, Hon. R. Mc- 
 Knight, Judge Shaler. Judge Wilkins. Judge Shannon, 
 and others inquiry was instituted, and a revocation of 
 the order obtained. The Secessionists in Congress bitterly 
 complained of the " mob law" which thus interfered with 
 the routine of governmental affair8.-McPhen)on's Uibtory. 
 
SECESSION. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Of these 60,878 were deposited in th 
 arsenals of South Carolina, Alabama, an 
 Louisiana, and are in the possession of th 
 authorities of those States, reducing th 
 number in possession of the United State 
 to 480,687. 
 
 Since the date of said communication 
 the following additional forts and militar; 
 po^ts have been taken possession of b; 
 
 Parties acting under the authority of th 
 tates in which they are respectively situ 
 ated, viz : 
 
 Fort Moultrie, South Carolina. 
 
 Fort Morgan, Alabama. 
 
 Baton Rouge Barracks, Louisiana. 
 
 Fort Jackson, Louisiana. 
 
 Fort St. Philip, " 
 
 Fort Pike, Louisiana. 
 
 Oglethorpe Barracks, Georgia. 
 
 And the department has been unofficially 
 advised that the arsenal at Chattahoochee 
 Forts McRea and Barrancas, and Barracks 
 hive been seized by the authorities o 
 Florida. 
 
 To what further extent the small arms 
 in possession of the United States may 
 have been reduced by these figures, your 
 committee have not been advised. 
 
 The whole number of the sea-board forts 
 in the United States is fifty-seven ; their 
 appropriate garrison in war would require 
 26,420 men ; their actual garrison at this 
 time is 1,334 men, 1,308 of whom are in 
 the forts at Governor's Island, New York ; 
 Fort McHenry, Maryland; Fort Monroe, 
 Virginia, and at Alcatraz Island, California, 
 in the harbor of San Francisco. 
 
 From the facts elicited, it is certain that 
 the regular military force of the United 
 States, is wholly inadequate to the pro 
 tection of the forts, arsenals, dockyards, 
 and other property of the United States 
 in the present disturbed condition of 
 the country. The regular army numbers 
 only 18,000 men when recruited to its 
 maximum strength, and the whole of this 
 force is required for the protection of the 
 border settlements against Indian depreda 
 tions. Unless it is the intention or Con 
 gress that the forts, arsenals, dock-yards 
 and other public property, shall be exposed 
 to capture and spoliation, the President 
 must be armed with additional force for 
 their protection. 
 
 In the opinion of the Committee the law 
 of February 28th, 1795, confers upon the 
 President ample power to call out the mili 
 tia, to execute the laws and protect the public 
 property. But as the late Attorney-General 
 has given a different opinion, the Commit 
 tee to remove all doubt upon the subject, 
 report the accompanying bill, etc. 
 
 OTHER ITEMS. 
 
 Statement of Arms distributed &// Sale since the first of 
 /0/warjf, I860, to wttoni soM an I the place ivhence sold. 
 
 To whom sold. 
 J. W. Zacharie & Co.. 
 
 James T. Ames 
 
 Captain G. Barry 
 
 W. C. N. Swift.. 
 
 do 
 
 State of Alabama .... 
 
 do 
 
 State of Virginia 
 
 Phillips county, Ark 
 G. li. Lamar 
 
 Kb. 
 
 ...4,000 
 ...1,000 
 .... 
 .... 400 
 .... 80 
 ...1 000 
 ....2,500 
 
 ... 60 
 
 .10,000 
 
 1860. Arsenals. 
 
 Date of Sale. Where sold. 
 Feb 3 St. Louis. 
 New York. 
 St. Louis. 
 Springfield. 
 
 do. 
 Baton Rouge. 
 
 do. 
 Washington. 
 
 Mar. 14 
 June 11 
 Aug. 31 
 Nov. 13 
 Sep. 27 
 Nov. 14 
 Nov. 6 
 Nov. 16 
 Nov. 24 
 
 St. Louis. 
 Watervliet. 
 
 The arms were all flinMock muskets 
 altered to percussion, and were all sold at 
 $2.50 each, except those purchased by Cap 
 tain G. Barry and by the Phillips county 
 volunteers, for which $2 each were paid. 
 
 The Mobile Advertiser says: "During 
 the past year 135,430 muskets have been 
 quietly transferred from the Northern Ar 
 senal at Springfield alone, to those in the 
 Southern States. We are much obliged to 
 Secretary Floyd for the foresight he has 
 thus displayed in disarming the North and 
 tipping the South for this emergency. 
 :ere is no telling the quantity of arms 
 and munitions which were sent South from 
 other Northern arsenals. There is no doubt 
 jut that every man in the South who can 
 carry a gun can now be supplied from pri 
 vate or public sources. The Springfield 
 contribution alone would arm all the mili- 
 iamen of Alabama and Mississippi." 
 
 General Scott, in his letter of December 
 2d, 1862, on the early history of the Rebel- 
 ion, states that " Rhode Island, Delaware 
 
 and Texas had not drawn, at the end of 
 1860, their annual quotas of arms for that 
 r ear, and Massachusetts, Tennessee, and 
 Kentucky only in part; Virginia, South 
 Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, 
 ^ouisiana, Mississippi and Kansas were, by 
 
 order of the Secretary of War, supplied 
 vith their quotas for 1861 in advance, and 
 Pennsylvania and Maryland in part." 
 This advance of arms to eight Southern 
 
 States is in addition to the transfer, about 
 he same time, of 115,000 muskets to South- 
 rn arsenals, as per Mr. Stanton's report. 
 Governor Letcher of Virginia, in his 
 Message of December, 1861, says, that for 
 ome time prior to secession, he had been 
 ngaged in purchasing arms, ammunition, 
 tc. ; among which were 13 Parrott rifled 
 annon, and 5,000 muskets. He desired to 
 uy from the United States Government 
 0,000 more, when buying the 5,000, but 
 e says "the authorities declined to sell 
 hem to us, although five times the number 
 "ere then in the arsenal at Washington. " 
 Had Jefferson Davis' bill relative to the 
 urchase of arms become a law, the result 
 
 might have been different. 
 
 This and similar action on the part of 
 le South, especially the attempted seizure 
 
 and occupation of forts, convinced many 
 
112 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 of the Republicans that no compromise 
 could endure, however earnest its advo 
 cates from the Border States, and this 
 earnestness was unquestioned. Besides 
 their attachment to the Union, they knew 
 that in the threatened war they would be 
 the greatest sufferers, with their people di 
 vided neighbor against neighbor, their 
 lands laid waste, and their houses destroy 
 ed. They had every motive for earnest- 
 ' ness in the effort to conciliate the disagree 
 ing sections. 
 
 The oddest partisan feature in the en 
 tire preliminary and political struggle was 
 the attempt, in the parlance of the day, of 
 " New York to secede from New York" 
 an oddity verified by Mayor Wood's recom 
 mendation in favor of the eecession of New 
 York city, made January 6th, 1861. The 
 document deserves a place in this history, 
 as it shows the views of a portion of the 
 citizens then, and an exposition of their 
 interests as presented by a citizen before 
 and since named by repeated elections to 
 Congress. 
 
 Mayor Wood's Secession Message. 
 
 To the Honorable the Common Council : 
 
 GENTLEMEN: We are entering upon 
 the public duties of the year under circum 
 stances as unprecedented as they are 
 gloomy and painful to contemplate. The 
 great trading and producing interests of 
 not only the city of New York, but of the 
 entire country, are prostrated by a mone 
 tary crisis ; and although similar calami 
 ties have before befallen us, it is the first 
 time that they have emanated from causes 
 having no other origin than that which 
 may be traced to political disturbances. 
 Truly, may it now be said, " We are in the 
 midst of a revolution bloodless AS YET." 
 Whether the dreadful alternative implied 
 as probable in the conclusion of this pro 
 phetic quotation may be averted, " no hu 
 man ken can divine." It is quite certain 
 that the severity of the storm is unexam 
 pled in our history, and if the disintegra 
 tion of the Federal Government, with the 
 consequent destruction of all the material 
 interests of the people shall not follow, it 
 will be owing more to the interposition of 
 Divine Providence, than to the inherent 
 preventive power of our institutions, or 
 the intervention of any other human 
 agency. 
 
 It would seem that a dissolution of the 
 Federal Union is inevitable. Having been 
 formed originally on a basis of general and 
 mutual protection, but separate local inde 
 pendence each State reserving the entire 
 and absolute control of its own domestic 
 affairs, it is evidently impossible to keep 
 them together longer than they deem 
 themselves fairly treated by each other, or 
 
 longer than the interests, honor and fra 
 ternity of the people of the several States 
 are satisfied. Being a Government created 
 by opinion, its continuance is dependent 
 upon the continuance of the sentiment 
 which formed it. It cannot be preserved 
 by coercion or held together by force. A 
 resort to this last dreadful alternative 
 would of itself destroy not only the Gov 
 ernment, but the lives and property of the 
 people. 
 
 If these forebodings shall be realized, 
 and a separation of the States shall occur, 
 momentous considerations will be pre 
 sented to the corporate authorities of this 
 city. We must provide for the new re 
 lations which will necessarily grow out of 
 the new condition of public affairs. 
 
 It will not only be necessary for us to 
 settle the relations which we shall hold to 
 other cities and States, but to establish, if 
 we can, new ones with a portion of our 
 own State. Being the child of the Union, 
 having drawn our sustenance from its 
 bosom, and arisen to our present power 
 and strength through the vigor of our 
 mother when deprived of her maternal 
 advantages, we must rely upon our own 
 resources and assume a position predicated 
 upon the new phase which public affairs 
 will present, and upon the inherent 
 strength which our geographical, commer 
 cial, political, and financial pre-eminence 
 imparts to us. 
 
 With our aggrieved brethren of the 
 Slave States, we have friendly relations 
 and a common sympathy. We have not 
 participated in the warfare upon their con 
 stitutional rights or their domestic insti 
 tutions. While other portions of our State 
 have unfortunately been imbued with the 
 fanatical spirit which actuates a portion 
 of the people of New England, the city of 
 New York has unfalteringly preserved the 
 integrity of its principles in adherence to 
 the compromises of the Constitution and 
 the equal rights of the people of all the 
 States. We have respected the local in 
 terests of every section, at no time oppress 
 ing, but all the while aiding in the devel 
 opment of the resources of the whole 
 country. Our ships have penetrated to 
 every clime, and so have New York capi 
 tal, energy and enterprise found their way 
 to every State, and, indeed, to almost every 
 county and town of the American Union. 
 If we have derived sustenance from the 
 Union, so have we in return disseminated 
 blessings for the common benefit of all. 
 Therefore, New York has a right to ex 
 pect, and should endeavor to preserve a 
 continuance of uninterrupted intercourse 
 with every section. 
 
 It is, however, folly to disguise the fact 
 that, judging from the past, New York may 
 have more cause of apprehension from the 
 aggressive legislation of our own State 
 
CONGRESS ON THE EVE OF THE REBELLION. 
 
 113 
 
 than from external dangers. We have 
 already largely suffered from this cause. 
 For the past five years, our interests and 
 corporate rights have been repeatedly 
 trampled upon. Being an integral portion 
 of the State, it has been assumed, and in 
 effect tacitly admitted on our part by non- 
 resistance, that all political and govern 
 mental power over us rested in the State 
 Legislature. Even the common right of 
 taxing ourselves for our own government, 
 has been yielded, and we are not permit 
 ted to do so without this authority. * * * 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the political 
 connection between the people of the city 
 and the State has been used by the latter 
 to our injury. The Legislature, in which 
 the present partizan majority has the 
 power, has become the instrument by 
 which we are plundered to enrich their 
 speculators, lobby agents, and Abolition 
 politicians. Laws are passed through their 
 malign influence by which, under forms of 
 legal enactment, our burdens have been 
 increased, pur substance eaten out, and 
 our municipal liberties destroyed. Self- 
 government, though guaranteed by the 
 State Constitution, and left to every other 
 county and city, has been taken from us 
 by this foreign power, whose dependents 
 have been sent among us to destroy our 
 liberties by subverting our political sys 
 tem. 
 
 How we shall rid ourselves of this odi 
 ous and oppressive connection, it is not 
 for me to determine. It is certain that a 
 dissolution cannot be peacefully accom 
 plished, except by the consent of the 
 Legislature itself. Whether this can be 
 obtained or not, is, in my judgment, doubt 
 ful. Deriving so much advantage from 
 its power over the city, it is not probable 
 that a partizan majority will consent to a 
 separation and the resort to force by vio 
 lence and revolution must not be thought 
 of for an instant. We have been distin 
 guished as an orderly and law-abiding 
 people. Let us do nothing to forfeit this 
 character, or to add to the present dis 
 tracted condition of public affairs. 
 
 Much, no doubt, can be said in favor of 
 the justice and policy of a separation. It 
 may be said that secession or revolution in 
 any of the United States would be subver 
 sive of all Federal authority, and, so far 
 as the Central Government is concerned, 
 the resolving of the community into its 
 original elements that, if part of the 
 States form new combinations and Gov 
 ernments, other States may do the same. 
 California and her sisters of the Pacific 
 will no doubt set up an independent Re 
 public and husband their own rich min 
 eral resources. The Western States, equally 
 rich in cereals and other agricultural pro 
 ducts, will probably do the same. Then 
 it may be said, why should not New York 
 8 
 
 city, instead of supporting by her contri 
 butions in revenue two-thirds of the ex 
 penses of the United States, become also 
 equally independent r As a free city, with 
 but nominal duty on imports, her local 
 Government could be supported without 
 taxation upon her people. Thus we could 
 live free from taxes, and have cheap goods 
 nearly duty free. In this she would have 
 the whole and united support of the 
 Southern States, as well as all the other 
 States to whose interests and rights under 
 the Constitution she has always been true. 
 
 It is well for individuals or communi 
 ties to look every danger vsquare in the 
 face, and to meet it calmly and bravely. 
 As dreadful as the severing of the bonds 
 that have hitherto united the States has 
 been in contemplation, it is now appar 
 ently a stern and inevitable fact. We 
 have now to meet it with all the conse 
 quences, whatever they may be. If the 
 Confederacy is broken up the Government 
 is dissolved, and it behooves every distinct 
 community, as well as every individual, to 
 take care of themselves. 
 
 When Disunion has become a fixed and 
 certain fact, why may not New York dis 
 rupt the bands which bind her to a venal 
 and corrupt master to a people and a 
 party that have plundered her revenues, 
 attempted to ruin her commerce, taken 
 away the power of self-government, and 
 destroyed the Confederacy of which she 
 was the proud Empire City? Amid the 
 gloom which the present and prospective 
 condition of things must cast over the 
 country, New York, as a Free City, may 
 shed the only light and hope of a future 
 reconstruction of our once blessed Con 
 federacy. 
 
 But I am not prepared to recommend 
 the violence implied in these views. In 
 stating this argument in favor of freedom, 
 " peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must,** 
 let me not be misunderstood. The redress 
 can be found only in appeals to the mag 
 nanimity of the people of the whole State. 
 The events of the past two months have 
 no doubt effected a change in the popular 
 sentiment of the State and National poli 
 tics. This change may bring us the de 
 sired relief, and we may be able to obtain 
 a repeal of the law to which I have re 
 ferred, and a consequent restoration of our 
 corporate rights. 
 
 FERNANDO WOOD, Mayor. 
 
 January 6th, 1861. 
 
 Congress on the Eve of the Rebellion. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that all of 
 the propositions, whether for compromise, 
 authority to suppress insurrection, or new 
 laws to collect duties, had to be considered 
 by the Second Session of the 36th Con 
 gress, which was then, with the exception 
 
114 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 of the Republicans, a few Americans, and 
 the anti-Lecompton men, supporting the 
 administration of Buchanan. No Congress 
 ever had so many and such grave proposi 
 tions presented to it, and none ever showed 
 more exciting political divisions. It was 
 composed of the following persons, some 
 of whom survive, and most of whom are 
 historic characters : 
 
 SENATE. 
 
 JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE, of Kentucky, 
 Vice- President; 
 
 Maine H. Hamlin,* W. P. Fessenden. 
 
 New Hampshire John P. Hale, Daniel 
 Clark. 
 
 Vermont Solomon Foot, J. Collamer. 
 
 Massachusetts Henry Wilson, Charles 
 Sumner. 
 
 Rhode Island James F. Simmons, H. 
 B. Anthony. 
 
 Connecticut L. S. Foster, Jas. Dixon. 
 
 New York William H. Seward, Preston 
 King. 
 
 New Jersey J. C. Ten Eyck, J. R. Thom 
 son. 
 
 Pennsylvania S. Cameron, Wm. Bigler. 
 
 Delaware J. A. Bayard, W. Saulsbury. 
 
 Maryland J. A. Pearce, A. Kennedy. 
 
 Virginia R. M. T. Hunter, James M. 
 Mason. 
 
 South Carolina Jas. Chesnut,f James 
 H. Hammond.f 
 
 North Carolina Thomas Bragg, T. L. 
 Clingman. 
 
 Alabama B. Fitzpatrick, C. C. Clay, Jr. 
 
 Mississippi A. G. Brown, Jeff. Davis. 
 
 Louisiana J. P. Benjamin. John Sli- 
 dell. 
 
 Tennessee A. O. P. Nicholson, A. John 
 son. 
 
 Arkansas R. W. Johnson, W. K. Se 
 bastian. 
 
 Kentucky L. W. Powell, J. J. Critten- 
 den. 
 
 Missouri Jas. S. Green, Trusten Polk. 
 
 OhioE. F. Wade, Geo. E. Pugh. 
 
 Indiana J. D. Bright, G. N. Fitch. 
 
 Illinois S. A. Douglas, L. Trumbull. 
 
 Michigan Z. Chandler, K. S. Bingham. 
 
 Florida D. L. Yulee, S. R, Mallory. 
 
 Georgia Alfred Iverson, Robt. Toombs. 
 
 Texas John Hemphill, L. T. Wigfall. 
 
 Wisconsin Charles Durkee, J. R. Doo- 
 little. 
 
 Iowa J. M. Grimes, Jas. Harlan. 
 
 California M. S. Latham. William M. 
 Gwin. 
 
 Minnesota H. M. Rice, M. S. Wilkin 
 son. 
 
 Oregon Joseph Lane, Edward D. Ba 
 ker. 
 
 *Rignfd January 17th, 1861, and succeeded by Hon. 
 Lot M. llurrill. 
 
 t Did not attend. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 WILLIAM PENXINGTON, of New Jersey, 
 
 Ci 1 * * 
 
 speaker. 
 
 Maine D. E. Somes, John J. Perry, E 
 B. French, F. H. Morse, Israel Washburn, 
 Jr.,* S. C. Foster. 
 
 New Hampshire Gilman Marston, M. 
 W. Tappan, T. M. Edwards. 
 
 Vermont E. P. Walton, J. S. Merrill, 
 H. E. Royce. 
 
 Massachusetts Thomas D. Eliot, James 
 Buffinton, Charles Francis Adams, Alexan 
 der H. Rice, Anson Burlingame, John B. 
 Alley, Daniel W. Gooch, Charles R. Train, 
 Eli Thayer, Charles Delano, Henry L. 
 Dawes. 
 
 Rhode Island C. Robinson, W. D. 
 Brayton. 
 
 Connecticut Dwight Loomis, John 
 Woodruff, Alfred A. Burnham, Orris S. 
 Ferry. 
 
 Delaware W. G. Whiteley. 
 
 New York Luther C. Carter, James 
 Humphreys, Daniel E. Sickles, W. B. Ma- 
 clay, Thomas J. Barr, John Cochrane, 
 Gorge Briggs, Horace F. Clark, John B. 
 Haskin, Chas. H. Van Wyck, William S. 
 Kenyon, Charles L. Beale, Abm. B. Olin, 
 John H..Reynolds, Jas. B. McKean, G. W. 
 Palmer, Francis E. Spinner, Clark B. 
 Cochrane, James H. Graham, Richard 
 Franchot, Roscoe Conkling, R. H. Duell, 
 M. Ludley Lee, Charles B. Hoard, Chas. 
 
 B. Sedgwick, M. Butterfield, Emory B. 
 Pottle, Alfred Wells, William Irvine, Al 
 fred Ely, Augustus Frank, Edwin R. Rey 
 nolds, Elbridge G. Spaulding Reuben E. 
 Fenton. 
 
 New Jersey John T. Nixon, John L. N. 
 Stratton, Garnett B. Adrain, Jetur R. 
 Riggs, Wm. Pennington (Speaker). 
 
 Pennsylvania Thomas B. Florence, E 
 Joy Morris, John P. Verree, William Mill- 
 ward, John Wood, John Hickman, Henry 
 
 C. Longnecker, Jacob K. McKenty, Thacl- 
 deus Stevens, John W. Kellinger, James 
 H. Campbell, George W. Scranton, Wil 
 liam H. Dimmick, Galusha A. Grow, 
 James T. Hale, Benjamin F. Junkin, 
 Edward McPherson, Samuel S. Blair, 
 John Covode, William Montgomery, 
 James fc. Moorhead, Robert McKnight, 
 William Stewart, Chapin Hall, Elijah 
 Babbitt. 
 
 Maryland Jas. A. Stewart, J. M. Harrs, 
 H. W. Davis, J. M. Kunkel, G. W. 
 Hughes. 
 
 Virginia John S. Millson, Muscoe R. 
 II. Garnett, Daniel C. De Jarnette, Roger 
 A. Pryor, Thomas S. Bocock, William 
 Smith, Alex. R. Boteler, John T. Harris, 
 Albert G. Jenkins, Shelton F. Leake, 
 Henry A. Edmundson, Elbert S. Martin, 
 Sherrard Clemens. 
 
 * Resigned and succeeded January 2d, 1861, by He*. 
 Stephen Coburn. 
 
SECESSION. 
 
 115 
 
 South Carolina John McQueen, Wm. 
 Porcher Miles, Lawrence M. Keitt, Mill- 
 edge L. Bonham, John D. Ash more, Win. 
 W. Boyce. 
 
 North Carolina W. N. H. Smith, Thos. 
 Ruffin, W. Winslow, L. O'B. Branch, 
 John A. Gilmer, Jas. M. Leach, Burton 
 Craige, Z. B. Vance. 
 
 Georgia Peter E. Love, M. J. Crawford, 
 Thos. Hardeman, Jr., L. J. Gartrell, J. W. 
 H. Underwood, James Jackson, Joshua 
 Hill, John J. Jones. 
 
 Alabama Jas. L. Pugh, David Clopton, 
 Sydenh. Moore, Geo. S. Houston, W. R, 
 W. Cobb, J. A. Stalhvorth, J. L. M. Curry. 
 
 Mississippi L. Q. C. Lamar, Reuben 
 Davis, William Barksdale, O. R. Single 
 ton, John J. McRae. 
 
 Louisiana John E. Bouligny, Miles 
 Taylor, T. G. Davidson, John M. Landrum. 
 
 0/uo G. H. Pendleton, John A. Gur- 
 ley, C. L. Vallandigham, William Allen, 
 James M. Ashley, Wm. Howard, Thomas 
 Cor win, Benj. Stanton, John Carey, C. A. 
 Trimble, Chas. D. Martin, Saml. S. Cox, 
 John Sherman, H. G. Blake, William Hel- 
 mick, C. B. Tompkins, T. C. Theaker, S. 
 Edgerton, Edward Wade, John Hutchins, 
 John A. Bingham. 
 
 Kentucky Henry C. Burnett, Green 
 Adams, S. O. Peyton, F. M. Bristow, W. 
 C. Anderson, Robert Mallory, Wm. E. 
 Simms, L. T. Moore, John Y. Brown, J. 
 W. Stevenson. 
 
 Tennessee T. A. R.. Nelson, Horace 
 Maynard, R. B. Brabson, William B. 
 Stokes, Robert Hatton, James H. Thomas, 
 John V. Wright, James M. Quarles, Em 
 erson Etheridge, Wm. T. Avery. 
 
 Indiana Wm. E. Niblack, Wm. H. 
 English, Wm. M'Kee Dunn, Wm. S. Hol- 
 rnan, David Kilgore, Albert G. Porter, 
 John G. Davis, James Wilson, Schuyler 
 Col fax, Chas. Case, John U. Pettit. 
 
 Illinois E. B. Washburne, J. F. Farns- 
 worth, Owen Lovejoy, Win. Kellogg, I. N. 
 Morris, John A. McClernand, James C. 
 Robinson, P. B. Fouke, John A. Logan. 
 
 Arkansas Thomas C. Hindman, Albert 
 Rust, 
 
 Missouri J. R. Barrett, T. L. Anderson, 
 John B. Clark, James Craig, L. H. Wood- 
 son, John S. Phelps, John W. Noell. 
 
 Michigan William A. Howard, Henry 
 Waldron, F. W. Kellogg, De W. C. Leach. 
 
 Florida George S. Hawkins. 
 
 Texas John H. Regan, A. J. Hamilton. 
 
 Iowa S. R. Curtis, Wm. Vandever. 
 
 California Charles L. Scott, John C. 
 Burch. 
 
 Wisconsin John F. Porter, C. C. Wash 
 burne, C. II. Larrabee. 
 
 Minnesota Cyrus Aldrich, Win. Win- 
 dom. 
 
 Oregon Lansing Stout. 
 
 Kansas Martin F. Conway, (sworn Jan. 
 80th, 1861). 
 
 MB. LINCOLN'S VIEWS. 
 
 While the various propositions above 
 given were under consideration, Mr. Lin 
 coln was of course an interested observer 
 from his home in Illinois, where he 
 awaited the legal time for taking his seat 
 as President. His views on the efforts at 
 compromise were sought by the editor of 
 the New York Tribune, and expressed as 
 follows : 
 
 " ' I will suffer death before I will con 
 sent or advise my friends to consent to 
 any concession or compromise which looks 
 like buying the privilege of taking posses 
 sion of the Government to which we have 
 a constitutional right ; because, whatever 
 I might think of the merits of the various 
 propositions before Congress, I should re 
 gard any concession in the face of menace 
 as the destruction of the government it 
 self, and a consent on all hands that our 
 system shall be brought down to a level 
 with the existing disorganized state of af 
 fairs in Mexico. But this thing will here 
 after be, as it is now, in the hands of the 
 people; and if they desire to call a conven 
 tion to remove any grievances complained 
 of, or to give new guarantees for the per 
 manence of vested rights, it is not mine to 
 oppose.' " 
 
 JUDGE BLACK'S VIEWS. 
 
 Jeremiah S. Black, of Pennsylvania, 
 was then Buchanan's Attorney General, 
 and as his position has since been made 
 the subject of lengthy controversy, it is 
 pertinent to give the following copious ex 
 tract from his " Opinion upon the Powers 
 of the President," in response to an official 
 inquiry from the Executive : 
 
 The existing laws put and keep the 
 Federal Government strictly on the defen 
 sive. You can use force only to repel an 
 assault on the public property, and aid the 
 courts in the performance of their duty. 
 If the means given you to collect the 
 revenue and execute the other laws be in 
 sufficient for that purpose, Congress may 
 xtend and make them more effectual to 
 that end. 
 
 If one of the States should declare her 
 independence, your action cannot depend 
 upon the rightful ness of the cause upon 
 which such declaration is based. Whether 
 the retirement of a State from the Union 
 be the exercise of a right reserved in the 
 onstitution or a revolutionary movement, 
 it is certain that you have not in either 
 case the authority to recognize her in 
 dependence or to absolve her from her 
 Federal obligations. Congress or the 
 other States in convention assembled must 
 take such measures as may be necessary 
 and proper. In such an event I see no 
 course for you but to go straight onward 
 in the path you have hitherto trodden, 
 that is, execute the laws .to the extent of 
 
116 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 the defensive means placed in your hands, 
 and act generally upon the assumption 
 that the present constitutional relations 
 between the States and the Federal Gov 
 ernment continue to exist until a new order 
 of things shall be established, either by 
 law or force. 
 
 Whether Congress has the constitutional 
 right to make war against one or more 
 States, and require the Executive of the 
 Federal Government to carry it on by 
 means of force to be drawn from the other 
 States, is a question for Congress itself to 
 consider. It must be admitted that no 
 such power is expressly given ; nor are 
 there any words in the Constitution which 
 imply it. Among the powers enumerated 
 in article I. section 8, is that " to declare 
 war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, 
 and to make rules concerning captures on 
 land and water." This certainly means 
 nothing more than the power to commence, 
 and carry on hostilities against the foreign 
 enemies of the nation. Another clause in 
 the same section gives Congress the power 
 " to provide for Calling forth the militia," 
 and to use them within the limits of the 
 State. But this power is so restricted by 
 the words which immediately follow, that 
 it can be exercised only for one of the fol 
 lowing purposes : 1. To execute the laws 
 of the Union; that is, to aid the Federal 
 officers in the performance of their regular 
 duties. 2. To suppress insurrections against 
 the States ; but this is confined by article 
 IV. section 4, to cases in which the State 
 herself shall apply for assistance against 
 her own people. 3. To repel the invasion 
 of a State by enemies who come from 
 abroad to assail her in her own territory. 
 All these provisions are made to protect 
 the States, not to authorize an attack by 
 one part of the country upon another ; to 
 preserve their peace, ana not to plunge 
 them into civil war. Our forefathers do 
 not seem to have thought that war was 
 calculated "to form a more perfect union, 
 establish justice, insure domestic tran 
 quillity, provide for the common defence, 
 promote the general welfare, and secure 
 the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 
 our posterity." There was undoubtedly a 
 strong and universal conviction among the 
 men who framed and ratified the Constitu 
 tion, that military force would not only be 
 useless, but pernicious as a means of hold 
 ing the States together. 
 
 If it be true that war cannot be declared, 
 nor a system of general hostilities carried 
 on by the central government against a 
 State, then it seems to follow that an 
 attempt to do so would be ipso facto nn ex 
 pulsion of such State from the Union. 
 Being treated as an alien and an enemy, 
 she would be compelled to act accordingly. 
 And if Congress shall break up the present 
 Union by unconstitutionally putting strife 
 
 and enmity, and armed hostility, between 
 different sections of the country, instead of 
 the " domestic tranquillity " which the 
 Constitution was meant to insure, will not 
 all the States be absolved from their 
 Federal obligations? Is any portion of 
 the people oound to contribute their 
 money or their blood to carry on a contest 
 like that? 
 
 The right of the General Government to 
 preserve itself in its whole constitutional 
 vigor by repelling a direct and positive 
 aggression upon its property or its officers, 
 cannot be denied. But this is a totally 
 different thing from an offensive war to 
 punish the people for the political mis 
 deeds of their State governments, or to 
 prevent a threatened violation of the Con 
 stitution, or to enforce an acknowledgment 
 that the Government of the United States 
 is supreme. The States are colleagues of 
 one another, and if some of them shall 
 conquer the rest and hold them as sub 
 jugated provinces, it would totally destroy 
 the whole theory upon which they are 
 now connected. 
 
 If this view of the subject be as correct 
 as I think it is, then the Union must 
 totally perish at the moment when Con 
 gress shall arm one part of the people 
 against another for any purpose beyond 
 that of merely protecting the General 
 Government in the exercise of its proper 
 constitutional functions. I am, very re 
 spectfully, yours, etc., 
 
 J. S. BLACK. 
 To the President of the United States. 
 
 The above expressions from Lincoln and 
 Black well state the position of the Repub 
 lican and the administration Democrats 
 on the eve of the rebellion, and they are 
 given for that purpose. The views of the 
 original secessionists are given in South 
 Carolina's declaration. Those oi the con 
 servatives of the South who hesitated and 
 leaned toward the U^nion, were best ex 
 pressed before the Convention of Georgia 
 in the 
 
 SPEECH OF ALEX. H. STEPHENS. 
 
 This step (of secession) once taken can 
 never be recalled ; and all the baleful and 
 withering consequences that must follow, 
 will rest on the convention for all coming 
 time. When we and our posterity shall 
 see our lovely South desolated by the de 
 mon of war, which this act of yours will in 
 evitably invite and call forth ; when our 
 green fields of waving harvest shall be 
 trodden down by the murderous soldiery 
 and fiery car of war sweeping over our 
 land ; our temples of justice laid in ashes ; 
 all the horrors and desolations of war upon 
 us ; who but this Convention trill be held re 
 sponsible for it ? and who but him who 
 shall have given his vote for this unwise 
 
SECESSION. 
 
 117 
 
 and ill-timed measure, as I honestly think 
 and believe, shall be held to strict account 
 for this suicidal act by the present genera 
 tion, and probably cursed and execrated by 
 posterity for all coming time, for the wide 
 and desolating ruin that will inevitably 
 follow this act you now propose to perpe 
 trate? Pause, I entreat you, and consider 
 for a moment what reasons you can give 
 that will even satisfy yourselves in calmer 
 moments what reason you can give to 
 your fellow sufferers in the calamity that 
 it will bring upon us. What reasons can you 
 give to the nations of the earth to justify it ? 
 They will be the calm and deliberate 
 judges in the case; and what cause or one 
 overt act can you name or point, on which 
 to rest the plea of justification? What 
 right has the North assailed f What inter 
 est of the South has been invaded ? What 
 justice has been denied? and what claim 
 founded in justice and right has been 
 withheld? Can either of you to-day name 
 one governmental act of wrong, deliber 
 ately and purposely done by the govern 
 ment of Washington, of which the South 
 has a right to complain ? I challenge the 
 answer. While on the other hand, let me 
 show the facts (and believe me, gentlemen, 
 I am not here the advocate of the North ; 
 but I am here the friend, the firm friend, 
 and lover of the South and her institutions, 
 and for this reason I speak thus plainly 
 and faithfully for yours, mine, and every 
 other man's interest, the words of truth 
 and soberness), of which I wish you to 
 judge, and I will only state facts which are 
 clear and undeniable, and which now 
 stand as records authentic in the history of 
 our country. When we of the South de 
 manded the slave-trade, or the importation 
 of Africans for the cultivation of our lands, 
 did they not yield the right for twenty 
 years ? When we asked a three-fifths rep 
 resentation in Congress for our slaves, was 
 it not granted ? When we asked and de 
 manded the return of any fugitive from 
 justice, or the recovery of those persons 
 owing labor or allegiance, was it not incor 
 porated in the Constitution, and again rat 
 ified and strengthened by the Fugitive 
 Slave Law of 1850? But do you reply 
 that in many instances they have violated 
 this compact, and have not been faithful 
 to their engagements? As individual and 
 local communities, they may have done so ; 
 but not by the sanction of Government ; 
 for that has always been true to Southern 
 interests. Again, gentlemen, look at 
 another act : when we have asked that 
 more territory should be added, that we 
 might spread the institution of slavery, 
 have they not yielded to our demands in 
 giving us Louisiana, Florida and Texas, 
 out of which four States have been carved, 
 and ample territory for four more to be add 
 ed in due time, if you by this unwise and 
 
 impolitic act do not destroy this hope, and 
 perhaps, by it lose all, and have your last 
 slave wrenched from you by stern military 
 rule, as South America and Mexico were ; 
 or by the vindictive decree of a universal 
 emancipation, which may reasonably be ex 
 pected to follow f 
 
 But, again, gentlemen, what have we to 
 gain by this proposed change of our rela 
 tion to the General Government? We 
 have always had the control of it, and can 
 yet, if we remain in it, and are as united 
 as we have been. We have had a majority 
 of the Presidents chosen from the South ; 
 as well as the control and management of 
 most of those chosen from the North. We 
 have had sixty years of Southern Presi 
 dents to their twenty-four, thus controlling 
 the Executive department. So of the 
 Judges of the Supreme Court, we have had 
 eighteen from the South, and but eleven 
 from the North; although nearly four- 
 fifths of the judicial business has arisen in 
 the Free States, yet a majority of the Court 
 has always been from the South. This we 
 have required so as to guard against any 
 interpretation of the Constitution unfa 
 vorable to us. In like manner we have 
 been equally watchful to guard our inter 
 ests in the Legislative branch of Govern 
 ment. In choosing the presiding Presi 
 dents (pro tern.} of the Senate, we have 
 had twenty-four to their eleven. Speaker? 
 of the House we have had twenty-three, 
 and they twelve. While the majority of 
 the Representatives, from their greater 
 population, have always been from the 
 North, yet we have so generally secured 
 the Speaker, because he, to a great extent, 
 shapes and controls the legislation of the 
 country. Nor have we had less control in 
 every other department of the General 
 Government. Attorney-Generals we have 
 had fourteen, while the North have had 
 but five. Foreign ministers we have had 
 eighty-six, and they but fifty-four. While 
 three-fourths of the business which de 
 mands diplomatic agents abroad is clearly 
 from the Free States, from their greater 
 commercial interest, yet we have had the 
 principal embassies so as to secure the 
 world-markets for our cotton, tobacco, and 
 sugar on the best possible terms. We have 
 had a vast majority of the higher offices of 
 both army and navy, while a larger pro 
 portion of the soldiers and sailors were 
 drawn from the North. Equally so of 
 Clerks, Auditors, and Comptrollers filling 
 the executive department, the records show 
 for the last fifty years that of the three 
 thousand thus employed, we have had 
 more than two-thirds of the same, while 
 we have but one-third of the white popu 
 lation of the Republic. 
 
 Again, look at another item, and one, b* 
 assured, in which we have a great anc 
 vital interest; it is that of revenue, O] 
 
118 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 means of supporting Government. From of- 
 ficial documents, we learn that a fraction 
 over three-fourths of the revenue collected 
 for the support of the Government has 
 uniformly been raised from the North. 
 
 Pause now while you can, gentlemen, 
 and contemplate carefully and candidly 
 these important items. Look at another 
 necessary branch of Government, and 
 learn from stern statistical facts how mat 
 ters stand in that department. I mean the 
 mail and Post-Office privileges that we 
 now enjoy under the General Government 
 as it has been for years past. The expense 
 for the transportation of the mail in the 
 Free States was, by the report of the Post 
 master- General for the year 1860 a little 
 over $13,000,000, while the income was 
 $19,000,000. But in the Slave States the 
 transportation of the mail was $14,7 16,000, 
 while the revenue from the same was $8,- 
 001,026, leaving a deficit of $6,704,974, to 
 be supplied by the North for our accom 
 modation, and without it we must have 
 been entirely cut off from this most essen 
 tial branch of Government. 
 
 Leaving but of view, for the present, the 
 countless millions of dollars you must ex 
 pend in a war with the North ; with tens 
 of thousands of your sons and brothers 
 slain in battle, and offered up as sacrifices 
 upon the altar of your ambition and for 
 what, we ask again ? Is it for the over 
 throw of the American Government, es 
 tablished by our common ancestry, cement 
 ed and built up by their sweat and blood, 
 and founded on the broad principles of 
 Rigid, Justice and Humanity f And as, 
 such, I must declare here, as I have often 
 done before, and which has been repeated 
 by the greatest and wisest of statesmen and 
 patriots in this and other lands, that it is 
 the best and freest Government the most 
 equal in its rights, the most just in its de 
 cisions, the most lenient in its measures, 
 and the most aspiring in its principles to 
 elevate the race of men, that the sun of 
 heaven ever shone upon. Now, for you to 
 attempt to overthrow such a government 
 as this, under which we have lived for 
 more than three-quarters of a century in 
 which we have gained our wealth, our 
 standing as a nation, our domestic safety 
 while the elements of peril are around us, 
 with peace and tranquillity accompanied 
 with unbounded prosperity and rights un- 
 assailed is the height of madness, folly, 
 and wickedness, to which 1 can neither 
 lend my sanction nor my vote." 
 
 The seven seceding States (South Caro 
 lina, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Ala 
 bama, Louisiana and Texas,) as shown by 
 data previously given, organized their 
 Provisional Government, with Jefferson 
 Davis, the most radical secession leader, as 
 President; and Alex. H. Stephens, the 
 most conservative leader, as Vice Presi 
 
 dent. The reasons for these selections 
 were obvious ; the first met the views of 
 the cotton States, the other example was 
 needed in securing the secession of other 
 States. The Convention adopted a consti 
 tution, the substance of which is given 
 elsewhere in this work. Stephens delivered 
 a speech at Savannah, March 21st, 1861, in 
 explanation and vindication of this instru 
 ment, which says all that need be said 
 about it : 
 
 " The new Constitution has put at rest 
 forever all the agitating questions relating 
 to our peculiar institutions African 
 slavery as it exists among us the proper 
 status of the negro in our form of civiliza 
 tion. This was the immediate cause of the 
 late rupture and present revolution. Jeffer 
 son, in his forecast, had anticipated this as 
 the ' rock upon which the old Union would 
 split.' He was right. What was conjec 
 ture with him, is now a realized fact. But 
 whether he fully comprehended the great 
 truth upon which that rock stood and 
 stands, may be doubted. The prevailing 
 ideas entertained by him and most of the 
 leading statesmen at the time of the for 
 mation of the old Constitution, were that 
 the enslavement of the African was in 
 violation of the laws of nature : that it 
 was wrong in principle, socially, morally, 
 and politically. It was an evil they knew 
 not well how to deal with, but the general 
 opinion of the men of that day was, that 
 somehow or other, in the order of Provi 
 dence, the institution would be evanescent 
 and pass away. This idea, though not in 
 corporated in the Constitution, was the 
 prevailing idea at the time. The Constitu 
 tion, it is true, secured every essential 
 guarantee to the institution while it should 
 last, and hence no argument can be justly 
 used against the constitutional guarantees 
 thus secured, because of the common sen 
 timent of the day. Those ideas, however, 
 were fundamentally wrong. They rested 
 upon the assumption of the equality of 
 races. This was an error. It was a sandy 
 foundation, and the idea of a government 
 built upon it ; when the ' storm came and 
 the wind blew, it fell.' 
 
 "Our new Government is founded upon 
 exactly the opposite idea ; its foundations 
 are laid, its corner-stone rests upon the 
 great truth that the negro is not equal to 
 the white man. That slavery subordina 
 tion to the superior race, is his natural and 
 normal condition. This, our new Govern 
 ment, is the first, in the history of the 
 world, based upon this great physical and 
 moral truth. This truth has been slow in 
 the process of its development, like all 
 other truths in the various departments of 
 science. It- has been so even amongst us. 
 Many who hear me, perhaps, can recollect 
 well, that this truth was not generally ad 
 mitted, even within their day. The errors 
 
SECESSION. 
 
 119 
 
 of the past generation still clung to many 
 as late as twenty years ago. Those at the 
 North who still cling to these errors, with 
 a zeal above knowledged, we justly denom 
 inate fanatics. * 
 
 " In the conflict thus far, success has 
 been, on our side, complete throughout the 
 length and breadth of the Confederate 
 States. It is upon this, as I have stated, 
 our actual fabric is firmly planted ; and I 
 cannot permit myself to doubt the ultimate 
 success of a full recognition of this prin 
 ciple throughout the civilized and enlight 
 ened world. 
 
 " As I have stated, the truth of this prin 
 ciple may be slow in development, as all 
 truths are, and ever have been, in the var 
 ious branches of science. It was so with 
 the principles announced by Galileo it 
 was so with Adam Smith and his principles 
 of political economy it was so with Har 
 vey and his theory of the circulation of 
 the blood. It is stated that not a single one 
 of the medical profession, living at the 
 time of the announcement of the truths 
 made by him, admitted them. Now they 
 are universally acknowledged. May we not, 
 therefore, look with confidence to the ulti 
 mate universal acknowledgment of the 
 truths upon which our system rests. It is 
 the first government ever instituted upon 
 principles of strict conformity to nature, 
 and the ordination of Providence, in fur 
 nishing the materials of human society. 
 Many governments have been founded 
 upon the principle of certain classes ; but 
 the classes thus enslaved, were of the same 
 race, and in violation of the laws of nature. 
 Our system commits no such violation of 
 nature's laws. The negro, by nature, or by 
 the curse against Canaan, is fitted for that 
 condition which he occupies in our sys 
 tem. The architect, in the construction of 
 buildings, lays the foundation with the 
 proper materials, the granite ; then comes 
 the brick or the marble. The substratum 
 of our society is made of the material 
 fitted by nature for it, and by experience 
 we know that it is best, not only for the 
 superior, but for the inferior race that it 
 should be so. It is, indeed, in conformity 
 with the ordinance of the Creator. It is 
 not for us to inquire into the wisdom of 
 His ordinances, or to question them. For 
 His own purposes He has made one race 
 to differ from another, as He has made 
 ' one star to differ from another star in 
 glory.' 
 
 " The great objects of humanity are best 
 attained when conformed to His laws and 
 decrees, in the formation of governments, 
 as well as in all things else. Our Confed 
 eracy is founded upon principles in strict 
 conformity with these laws. This stone 
 which was first rejected by the first builders 
 ' is become the chief stone of the corner ' in 
 our new edifice. 
 
 "The progress of disintegration in the 
 old Union may be expected to go on with 
 almost absolute certainty. We are now 
 the nucleus of a growing power, which, if 
 we are true to ourselves, our destiny, and 
 high mission, will become the controlling 
 power on this continent. To what extent 
 accessions will go on in the process of time, 
 or where it will end, the future will deter 
 mine." 
 
 It was determined by the secession of 
 eleven States in all, the Border States ex 
 cept Missouri, remaining in the Union, and 
 West Virginia dividing from old Virginia 
 for the purpose of keeping her place in the 
 Union. 
 
 The leaders of the Confederacy relied to 
 a great extent upon the fact that President 
 Buchanan, in his several messages and re 
 plies to commissioners, and in the expla 
 nation of the law by his Attorney-General, 
 had tied his own hands against any attempt 
 to reinforce the garrisons in the Southern 
 forts, and they acted upon this faith and 
 made preparations for their capture. The 
 refusal of the administration to reinforce 
 Fort Moultrie caused the resignation of 
 General Cass, and by this time the Cabinet 
 was far from harmonious. As early as the 
 10th of December, Howell Cobb resigned 
 as Secretary of the Treasury, because of 
 his " duty to Georgia ; " January 26th, 
 John B. Floyd resigned because Buchanan 
 would not withdraw the troops from South 
 ern forts ; and before that, Attorney Gene 
 ral Black, without publicly expressing his 
 views, also resigned. Mr. Buchanan saw 
 the wreck around him, and his adminis 
 tration closed in profound regret on the 
 part of many of his northern friends, and, 
 doubtless, on his own part. His early 
 policy, and indeed up to the close of 1860, 
 must have been unsatisfactory even to 
 himself, for he supplied the vacancies in 
 his cabinet by devoted Unionists by Philip 
 F. Thomas of Maryland, Gen'l Dix of New 
 York, Joseph Holt of Kentucky, and Ed 
 win M. Stanton of Pennsylvania men who 
 held in their hands the key to nearly every 
 situation, and who did much to protect and 
 restore the Union of the States. In the 
 eyes of the North, the very last acts of 
 Buchanan were the best. 
 
 With the close of Buchanan's adminis 
 tration all eyes turned to Lincoln, and 
 fears were entertained that the date fixed 
 by law for the counting of the electoral 
 vote February 15th, 1861 would inau 
 gurate violence and bloodshed at the seat 
 of government. It passed, however, peace 
 ably. Both Houses met at 12 hiirh noon 
 in the hall of the House, Vice-President 
 Breckinridge and Speaker Pennington, 
 both democrats, sitting side by side, and 
 the count was made without serious chal 
 lenge or question. 
 
 Oa the llth of Februarv Mr. Lincoln 
 
120 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 left his home for Washington, intending 
 to perform the journey in easy stages. On 
 parting with his friends at Springfield, he 
 said: 
 
 " My Friends : No one, in my position, 
 can realize the sadness I feel at this part 
 ing. To this people I owe all that I am. 
 Here I have lived more than a quarter of 
 a century. Here my children were born, 
 and here one of them lies buried. I know 
 not how soon I shall see you again. I go 
 to assume a task more difficult than that 
 which has devolved upon any other man 
 since the days of Washington. He never 
 would have succeeded except for the aid 
 of Divine Providence, upon which he at 
 all times relied. I feel that I cannot suc 
 ceed without the same Divine blessing 
 which sustained him; and on the same 
 Almighty Being I place my reliance for 
 support. And I hope you, my friends, 
 will all pray that I might receive that Di 
 vine assistance, without which I cannot 
 succeed, but with which success is certain. 
 Again, I bid you all an affectionate fare 
 well." 
 
 Lincoln passed through Indiana, Ohio, 
 New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania 
 on his way to the Capitol. Because of 
 threats made that he should not reach the 
 Capitol alive, some friends in Illinois em- 
 
 S loved a detective to visit Washington and 
 altimore in advance of his arrival, and 
 he it was who discovered a conspiracy in 
 Baltimore to mob and assassinate him. He 
 therefore passed through^ Baltimore in the 
 night, two days earlier than was antici 
 pated, and reached Washington in safety. 
 On the 22d of February he spoke at Inde 
 pendence Hall and said : 
 
 " All the political sentiments I entertain 
 have been drawn, so far as I have been 
 able to draw them, from the sentiments 
 which originated in, and were given to the 
 world from, this hall. I never had a feel 
 ing, politically, that did not spring from 
 the sentiments embodied in the Declara 
 tion of Independence. 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 "It was not the mere matter of the sepa 
 ration of the Colonies from the mother 
 land, but that sentiment in the Declaration 
 of Independence, which gave liberty, nol 
 alone to the people of this country, but, ] 
 hope, to the world for all future time. I' 
 was that which gave promise that, in dui 
 time, the weight would be lifted from the 
 shoulders of men. This is the sentimen" 
 embodied in the Declaration of Indepen 
 dence. Now, my friends, can this country 
 be saved upon that basis? If it can, I wil 
 consider myself one of the happiest mer 
 in the world, if I can help to save it. If i 
 cannot be saved upon that principle, i 
 will be truly awful I But if this country 
 cannot be saved without giving up the 
 principle, I was about to say, I wouk 
 
 ather be assassinated on the spot than 
 urrender it.' * 
 
 '. have said nothing but what I am willing 
 o live by, and if it be the pleasure of Al 
 mighty God, to die by ! " 
 
 Lincoln's First Administration. 
 
 Such was the feeling of insecurity that 
 he President-elect was followed to Wash- 
 ngton by many watchful friends, while 
 jren'l Scott, Col. Sumner, Major Hunter 
 and the members of Buchanan's Cabinet 
 [uickly made such arrangements as secured 
 lis safety. Prior to his inauguration he 
 ,ook every opportunity to quell the still 
 rising political excitement by assuring the 
 Southern people of his kindly feelings, and 
 on the 27th of February,* "when waited 
 upon by the Mayor and Common Council 
 of Washington, he assured them, and 
 hrough them the South, that he had no 
 disposition to treat them in any other way 
 han as neighbors, and that he had no dis 
 position to withhold from them any consti 
 tutional right. He assured the people that 
 liey would have all of their rights under 
 *he Constitution ' not grudgingly, but 
 reely and fairly.' " 
 
 He was peacefully inaugurated on the 
 4th of March, and yet Washington was 
 rowded as never before by excited multi 
 tudes. The writer himself witnessed the 
 military arrangements of Gen'l Scott for 
 preserving the peace, and with armed ca 
 valry lining every curb stone on the line 
 of march, it would have been difficult in 
 deed to start or continue a riot, though it 
 was apparent that many in the throng were 
 ready to do it if occasion offered. 
 
 The inaugural ceremonies were more 
 than usually impressive. On the eastern 
 front of the capitol, surrounded by such of 
 the members of the Senate and House who 
 had not resigned their seats and 'entered 
 the Confederacy, the Diplomatic Corps, the 
 Judges of the Supreme Court, headed by 
 Chief Justice Taney, the author of the 
 Dred Scott decision ; the higher officers of 
 Army and Navy, while close by the side of 
 the new President stood the retiring one 
 James Buchanan tall, dignified, reserved, 
 and to the eye of the close observer appa 
 rently deeply grieved at the part his party 
 and position had compelled him to play in 
 a National drama which was now reaching 
 still another crisis. Near by. too, stood 
 Douglas (holding Lincoln's hat) more 
 gloomy than was his wont, but determined 
 as he had ever been. Next to the two 
 Presidents he was most observed. 
 
 If the country could then have been 
 pacified, Lincoln's inaugural was well cal 
 culated to do it. That it exercised a 
 wholesome influence in behalf of the Union, 
 
 * From the " History of Abrnliam Lincoln and the 
 Overthrow of Slavery," by lion. Isaac N. Arnold. 
 
MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 121 
 
 and especially in the border States, soon 
 became apparent. Indeed, its sentiments 
 seemed for weeks to check the wild spirit 
 of secession in the cotton States, and it 
 took all the efforts of their most fiery ora 
 tors to rekindle the flame which seemed to 
 have been at its highest when Major An 
 derson was compelled to evacuate Fort 
 Moultrie. 
 
 It is but proper in this connection, to 
 make a few quotations from the inaugural 
 address, for Lincoln then, as he did during 
 the remainder of his life, better reflected 
 the more popular Republican sentiment 
 than any other leader. The very first 
 thought was upon the theme uppermost in 
 the minds of all. We quote : 
 
 " Apprehension seems to exist among 
 the people of the Southern States that by 
 the accession of a Republican Administra 
 tion their property and their peace and 
 personal security are to be endangered. 
 There has never been any reasonable cause 
 for such apprehension. Indeed, the most 
 ample evidence to the contrary has all the 
 while existed and been open to their in 
 spection. It is found in nearly all the pub 
 lished speeches of him who now addresses 
 you. I do but quote from one of those 
 speeches when I declare that * I have no 
 purpose directly or indirectly, to interfere 
 with the institution of slavery in the States 
 where it exists. I believe I have no law 
 ful right to do so, and I have no inclina 
 tion to do so.' Those who nominated and 
 elected me did so with full knowledge that 
 I had made this and many similar decla 
 rations, and had never recanted them. And 
 more than this, they placed in the platform 
 for my acceptance, and as a law to them 
 selves and to me, the clear and emphatic 
 resolution which I now read : 
 
 ' Resolved, That the maintenance invio 
 late of the rights of the States, and es 
 pecially the right of each State to order 
 and control its own domestic institutions 
 according to its own judgment exclusively, 
 is essential to the balance of power on which 
 the perfection and endurance of our politi 
 cal fabric depend, and we denounce the 
 lawless invasion by armed force of the soil 
 of any State or Territory, no matter under 
 what pretext, as among the gravest of 
 crimes.' 
 
 I now reiterate these sentiments ; and in 
 doing so, I only press upon the public at 
 tention the most conclusive evidence of 
 which the case is susceptible, that the prop 
 erty, peace, and security of no section are 
 to be in anywise endangered by the now 
 incoming Administration. I add, too, that 
 all the protection which, consistently with 
 the Constitution and the laws, can be given, 
 will be cheerfully given to all the States 
 when lawfully demanded, for whatever 
 cause as cheerfully to one section as to 
 another." 
 
 After conveying this peaceful assurance, 
 he argued the question in his own way, and 
 in a way matchless for its homely force : 
 
 " Physically speaking, we cannot isepa- 
 rate. We cannot remove our respective 
 sections from each other, nor build an im 
 passable wall between them. A husband 
 and wife may be divorced, and go out of 
 the presence and beyond the reach of each 
 other ; but the different parts of our coun 
 try cannot do this. They cannot but re 
 main face to face ; and intercourse, either 
 amicable or hostile, must continue between 
 them. Is it possible, then, to make that in 
 tercourse more advantageous or more satis 
 factory after separation than before ? Can 
 aliens make treaties easier than friends can 
 make laws ? Can treaties be more faith 
 fully enforced between aliens than laws can 
 among friends ? Suppose you go to war, 
 you cannot fight always ; and when after 
 much loss on both sides, and no gain on 
 either, you cease fighting, the identical old 
 questions, as to terms of intercourse, are 
 again upon you. 
 
 " This country, with its institutions, be 
 longs to the people who inhabit it. When 
 ever they shall grow weary of the existing 
 Government they can exercise their con 
 stitutional right of amending it, or their 
 revolutionary right to dismember or over 
 throw it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact 
 that many worthy and patriotic citizens are 
 desirous of having the National C^nstitu- 
 tion amended. While I make no recom 
 mendation of amendments, I fully recog 
 nize the rightful authority of the people 
 over the whole subject, to be exercised in 
 either of the modes prescribed in the in 
 strument itself; and I should under exist 
 ing circumstances, favor rather than op 
 pose a fair opportunity being afforded the 
 people to act upon it. I will venture to add 
 that to me the convention mode seems pref 
 erable, in that it allows amendments to ori 
 ginate with the people themselves, instead 
 of only permitting them to take or reject 
 propositions originated by others, not es 
 pecially chosen for the purpose, and which 
 might not be precisely such as they would 
 wish to either accept or refuse. I under 
 stand a proposed amendment to the Con 
 stitution which amendment, however, I 
 have not seen has passed Congress, to the 
 effect that the Federal Government shall 
 never interfere with the domestic institu 
 tions of the States, including that of per 
 sons held to service. To avoid misconstruc 
 tion of what I have said, I depart from my 
 purpose not to speak of particular amend 
 ments so far as to say that, holding such a 
 provision now to be implied constitutional 
 law, I have no objection to its being made 
 express and irrevocable. 
 
 " The Chief Magistrate derives all his 
 authority from the people, and they have 
 conferred none uoon him to fix terms for 
 
122 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 the separation of the States. The people 
 themselves can do this also if they choose ; 
 but the Executive, as such, has nothing to 
 do with it. His duty is to administer the 
 present Government, as it came to his hands, 
 and to transmit it, unimpaired by him, to 
 his successor. 
 
 " In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow- 
 countrymen, and not in mine, is the mo 
 mentous issue of civil war. The Govern- 
 jnent will not assail you. You can have no 
 conflict without being yourselves the ag 
 gressors. You have no oath registered in 
 heaven to destroy the Government, while I 
 shall have the most solemn one to ' pre 
 serve, protect and defend it.' 
 
 "I am loth to close. We are not ene 
 mies but friends. We must not be ene 
 mies. Though passion may have strained, 
 it must not break our bonds of affection. 
 The mystic chords of memory, stretching 
 from every battle-field and patriot grave to 
 every living heart and hearth-stone, all 
 over this broad land, will yet swell the 
 chorus of the union, when again touched, 
 as surely they will be, by the better angels 
 of our nature." 
 
 Lincoln appointed a Cabinet in thorough 
 accord with his own views, and well suited 
 to whatever shades of difference there were 
 in the Republican party. Wm. H. Seward, 
 Secretary of State, and Salmon P. Chase 
 represented the more advanced anti-slavery 
 element ; General Simon Cameron, Secre 
 tary of War, from the first saw only a pro 
 longed war in which superior Northern 
 resources and appliances would surely win, 
 while Seward expressed the view that " all 
 troubles would be over in three months ;" 
 Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy ; 
 Caleb B. Smith of the Interior; Edward 
 Bates, Attorney General, and Montgomery 
 Blair, Postmaster General, represented the 
 more conservative Republican view the 
 two last named being well adapted to 
 retaining the National hold on the Border 
 States. 
 
 Political events now rapidly succeeded 
 each other. As early as March 11, John 
 Forsyth of Alabama and Martin J. Craw 
 ford of Georgia, submitted to the Secretary 
 of State a proposition for an unofficial inter 
 view. Mr. Seward the next day, from 
 "purely public considerations," declined. 
 On the 13th the same gentlemen sent a 
 sealed communication, saying they had 
 been duly accredited by the Confederate 
 government as Commissioners, to negotiate 
 for a speedy adjustment of all questions 
 growing out of the political separation of 
 seven States, which had formed a govern 
 ment of their own, etc. They closed thh 
 remarkable document by requesting the 
 Secretary of State to appoint as early a day 
 as possible in order that they mav present 
 to the President of the United States the 
 credentials which they bear, and the objects 
 
 of the mission with which they are charged. 
 
 Mr. Seward's reply in substance, said 
 that his " official duties were confined, 
 ; subject to the direction of the President, to 
 the conducting of the foreign relations of 
 the country, and do not at all embrace 
 domestic questions or questions arising be 
 tween the several States and the Federal 
 Government, is unable to comply with the 
 request of Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford, 
 to appoint a day on which they may pre 
 sent the evidences of their authority and 
 the object of their visit to the President of 
 the United States. On the contrary, he is 
 obliged to state to Messrs. Forsyth and 
 Crawford that he has no authority, nor is 
 he at liberty to recognize them as cliploma- 
 tic agents, or hold correspondence or other 
 communication with them." 
 
 An extended correspondence followed, 
 but the administration in all similar cases, 
 refused to recognize the Confederacy as a 
 government in any way. On the 13th 
 of April the President granted an inter 
 view to Wm. Ballard Preston, Alex. H. 
 Stuart, and George W. Randolph, who had 
 been sent by the Convention of Virginia, 
 then in session, under a resolution recited 
 in the President's reply, the text of which 
 is herewith given : 
 
 GENTLEMEN: As a committee of the 
 Virginia Convention, now in session, you 
 present me a preamble and resolution in 
 these words : 
 
 " Whereas, in the opinion of this Con 
 vention, the uncertainty which prevails in 
 the public mind as to the policy which the 
 Federal Executive intends to pursue toward 
 the seceded States is extremely injurious 
 to the industrial and commercial interests 
 of the country, tends to keep up an excite 
 ment which is unfavorable to the adjust 
 ment of pending difficulties, and threatens a 
 disturbance of the public peace : Therefore, 
 
 "Resolved, That a committee of three 
 delegates be appointed to wait on the Pre 
 sident of the United States, present to him 
 this preamble and resolution, and respect 
 fully ask him to communicate to this Con 
 vention the policy which the Federal Exe 
 cutive intends to pursue in regard to the 
 Confederate States." 
 
 " In answer I have to say, that, having 
 at the beginning of my official term ex 
 pressed my intended policy as plainly as I 
 was able, it is with deep regret and some 
 mortification I now learn that there is 
 great and injurious uncertainty in the pub 
 lic mind as to what that policy is, and 
 what course I. intend to pursue. 
 
 " Not having as yet seen occasion to 
 change, it is now my purpose to pursue the 
 course marked out in the inaugural address. 
 I commend a careful consideration of the 
 whole document as the best expression I 
 can give of my purposes. As I then and 
 therein said, I now repeat : 
 
MB. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 123 
 
 " The power confided to me will be used 
 to hold, occupy, and possess the property 
 and places belonging to the Government, 
 and to collect the duties and imposts ; but 
 beyond what is necessary for these objects 
 there will be no invasion, no using of force 
 against or among the people anywhere." 
 
 " By the words ' property and places be 
 longing to the Government' I chiefly 
 allude to the military posts and property 
 which were in the possession of the Govern 
 ment when it came into my hands. 
 
 " But if, as now appears to be true, in 
 
 gursuit of a purpose to drive the United 
 tates authority from these places, an un- 
 Srovoked assault has been made upon Fort 
 umter, I shall hold myself at liberty to 
 repossess, if I can, like places which had 
 been seized before the Government was 
 devolved upon me. And, in any event, I 
 shall, to the best of my ability, repel force 
 by force. 
 
 " In case it proves true that Fort Sum- 
 ter has been assaulted, as is reported, I 
 shall perhaps cause the United States mails 
 to be withdrawn from all the States which 
 claim to have seceded, believing that the 
 commencement of actual war against the 
 Government justifies and possibly demands 
 it." 
 
 " I scarcely need to say that I consider 
 the military posts and property situated 
 within the States which claim to have 
 seceded as yet belonging to the Govern 
 ment of the United States as much as they 
 did before the supposed socession. 
 
 " Whatever else I may do for the pur 
 pose, I shall not attempt to collect the 
 duties and imports by any armed invasion 
 of any part o the country not meaning 
 by this, however, that I may not land a 
 force deemed nacessary to relieve a fort 
 upon the border of the country. 
 
 " From the fast that I have quoted a 
 part of the inaugural address, it must not 
 inferred that I repudiate any other part, 
 the whole of which I reaffirm, except so 
 far as what I now say of the mails may be 
 regarded as a modification." 
 
 We have given the above as not only 
 fair but interesting samples of the semi 
 official and official transactions and corre 
 spondence of the tims. To give more 
 could not aid to the interest of what is but 
 a description of the political situation. 
 
 The Barder states and some others were 
 "halting between two opinions." North 
 Carolina at first voted down a proposition 
 to secede by 46,671 for, to 47,333 against, 
 but the secessionists called another con 
 vention in May, the work of which the 
 peoole ratified, the minority, however, 
 being very large. 
 
 Bafore Lincoln had entered office most 
 of the Southern forts, arsenals, docks, cus 
 tom houses, etc., had been seized, and now 
 that preparations were being made for ac 
 
 tive warfare by the Confederacy, many offi 
 cers of the army and navy resigned or de 
 serted, and joined it. The most notable 
 were General Robert E. Lee, who for a 
 time hesitated as to his " duty," and Gene 
 ral David E. Twiggs, the second officer in 
 rank in the United States Army, but who 
 had purposely been placed by Secretary 
 Floyd in command of the Department of 
 Texas to facilitate his joining the Con 
 federacy, which he intended to do from 
 the beginning. All officers were permitted 
 to go, the administration not seeking to 
 restrain any, under the belief that until 
 some open act of war was committed it 
 ought to remain on the defensive. This 
 was wise political policy, for it did more 
 than all else to hold the Border States, the 
 position of which Douglas understood fully 
 as well as any statesman of that hour. It 
 is remarked of Douglas (in Arnold's " His 
 tory of Abraham Lincoln") that as early 
 as January 1, 1861, he said to 'General 
 Charles Stewart, of New York, who had 
 made a New Year's call at his residence in 
 Washington, and inquired, " What will be 
 the result of the efforts of Jefferson Davis, 
 and his associates, to divide the Union ?" 
 " Rising, and looking," says my informant, 
 "like one inspired, Douglas replied, 'The 
 cotton States are making an effort to draw 
 in the border States to their schemes of 
 secession, and I am but too fearful they 
 will succeed. If they do succeed, there 
 will be the most terrible civil war the 
 world has ever seen, lasting for yearV 
 Pausing a moment, he exclaimed, ' Vir 
 ginia will become a charnel house, but tli3 
 end will be the triumph of the Union 
 cause. One of their first efforts will be to 
 take possession of this Capitol to give them 
 prestige abroad, but they will never suc 
 ceed in taking it the North will rise en 
 masse to defend it ; but Washington will 
 become a city of hospitals the churches 
 will be used for the sick and wounded 
 ven this house (Minnesota block, after 
 wards, and during the war, the Douglas 
 Hospital) may be devoted to- that purpose 
 Defore the end of the war.' The friend to 
 vhom this was said inquired, 'What justi 
 fication for all this?' Douglas replied, 
 'There is NO justification, nor any pretense 
 of any if they remain in the Union, I will 
 go as far as the Constitution will permit, to 
 maintain their just rights, and I do not 
 doubt a majority of Congress would do the 
 same. But/ said he, again rising on his 
 feet, and extending his arm, ' if the South 
 ern States attempt to secede from this 
 Union, without further cause, I am in fa 
 vor of their having just so many slaves, 
 and just so much slave territory, as they 
 can hold at the point of the bayonet, and 
 
 NO MORE.' " 
 
 In the border states of Maryland, Vir- 
 inia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Mis- 
 
124 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 souri there were sharp political contests 
 between the friends of secession and of 
 the Union. Ultimately the Unionists tri 
 umphed in Maryland, Kentucky and Mis 
 souri in the latter state by the active aid 
 of U. S. troops in Maryland and Ken 
 tucky by military orders to arrest any mem 
 bers of the Legislature conspiring to take 
 their states out. In Tennessee, the Union 
 men, under the lead of Andrew Johnson, 
 Governor ("Parson") Brownlow, Horace 
 Maynard and others, who made a most gal 
 lant fight to keep the state in, and they had 
 the sympathy of the majority of the people 
 of East Tennessee. The Secessionists took 
 Virginia out April 17th, and North Caro 
 lina May 20th. The leading Southerners 
 encouraged the timid and hesitating by 
 saying the North would not make war; 
 that the political divisions would be too 
 great there, and they were supported in this 
 view by the speeches and letters of lead 
 ers like Clement L. Vallandigham. On 
 the other hand they roused the excitable 
 by warlike preparations, and, as we have 
 stated, to prevent reconsideration on the 
 part of those who had seceded, resolved 
 to fire upon Sumter. Beauregard acted 
 under direct instructions from the govern 
 ment at Montgomery when he notified Ma 
 jor Anderson on the llth of April to sur 
 render Fort Sumter. Anderson replied that 
 he would evacuate on the 15th, but the 
 original summons called for surrender by 
 the 12th, and they opened their fire in ad 
 vance of the time fixed for evacuation a 
 fact which clearly established the purpose 
 to bring about a collision. It was this ag 
 gressive spirit which aroused and united 
 the North, and made extensive political 
 division therein impossible. 
 
 The Southern leaders, ever anxious for 
 the active aid of the Border States, soon 
 saw that they could only acquire it through 
 higher sectional excitement than any yet 
 cultivated, and they acted accordingly. 
 Roger A. Pryor, in a speech at Richmond 
 April 10th, gave expression to this thought, 
 when he said in response to a serenade : 
 
 " Gentlemen, I thank you, especially 
 that you have at last annihilated this ac 
 cursed Union, [applause,] reeking with 
 corruption, and insolent with excess of 
 tyranny. Thank God, it is at last blasted 
 and riven by the lightning wrath of an 
 outraged and indignant people. [Loud 
 applause.] Not only is it gone, but gone 
 forever. [Cries of ' You're right,' and ap 
 plause.] In the expressive language of 
 (Scripture, it is water spilt upon the ground, 
 which cannot be gathered up [Applause.] 
 Like Lucifer, son of the morning, it has 
 fallen, never to rise again. [Continued 
 applause. ] For my part, gentlemen, if Abra 
 ham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin to 
 morrow were to abdicate their office and 
 were to give me a blank sheet of paper to 
 
 write the conditions of reannexation to the 
 defunct Union, 1 would scornfully spurn 
 the overture. * * * * I invoke 
 you, and I make it in some sort a personal 
 appeal personal so far as it tends to our 
 assistance in Virginia I do invoke you, 
 in your demonstrations of popular opinion, 
 in your exhibitions of official intent, to 
 give no countenance to this idea of recon 
 struction. [Many voices, emphatically, 
 ' Never,' and applause.] In Virginia they 
 all say, if reduced to the dread dilemma of 
 this memorable alternative, they will es 
 pouse the cause of the South as against the 
 interest of the Northern Confederacy, but 
 they whisper of reconstruction, and they 
 say Virginia must abide in the Union, with 
 the idea of reconstructing the Union which 
 you have annihilated. I pray you, gentle 
 men, rob them of that idea. Proclaim to 
 the world that upon no condition, and 
 under no circumstance, will South Carolina 
 ever again enter into political association 
 with the Abolitionists of New England. 
 [Cries of ' Never," and applause.] 
 
 " Do not distrust Virginia. As sure as 
 to-morrow's sun will rise upon us, just so 
 sure will Virginia be a member of this 
 Southern Confederation. [Applause.] And 
 I will tell you, gentlemen, what will put her 
 in the Southern Confederation in less than 
 an hour by Shrewsbury clock STRIKE A 
 BLOW! [Tremendous applause.] The very 
 moment that blood is shed, old Virginia will 
 make common cause with her sisters of the 
 South. [Applause.] It is impossible she 
 should do otherwise." 
 
 Warlike efforts were likewise used to 
 keep some of the states firmly to their pur 
 pose. Hon. Jeremiah Clemens, formerly 
 United States Senator from Alabama, and 
 a member of the Alabama Seceding Con 
 vention who resisted the movement until 
 adopted by the body, at an adjourned Re 
 construction meeting held at Huntsville, 
 Ala., March 13, 1864, made this significant 
 statement : 
 
 Mr. Clemens, in adjourning the meeting, 
 said he would tell the Alabamians how 
 their state was got out of the Union. " In 
 1861," said Mr. C., " shortly after the Con 
 federate Government was put in operation, 
 I was in the city of Montgomery. One 
 day I stepped into the office of the Secre 
 tary of War, General Walker, and found 
 there, engaged in a very excited discussion, 
 Mr. Jefferson Davis, Mr. Memminger, Mr. 
 Benjamin, Mr. Gilchrist, a member of our 
 Legislature from Loundcs county, and a 
 number of other prominent gentlemen. 
 They were discussing the propriety of im 
 mediately opening fire on Fort Sumter, to 
 which General Walker, the Secretary of 
 War, appeared to be opposed. Mr. Gil 
 christ said to him. ' Sir, unless you sprinkle 
 blood in the face of the people of Alabama 
 they will be back in the old Union in less 
 
MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 125 
 
 than ten days ! ' The next day General 
 Beauregard opened his batteries on Sumter, 
 and Alabama was saved to the Confed 
 eracy." 
 
 When the news flashed along the wires 
 that Sumter had been fired upon, Lincoln 
 immediately used his war powers and is 
 sued a call for 75,000 troops. All of the 
 northern governors responded with prompt 
 ness and enthusiasm ; but this was not true 
 of the governors of the southern states 
 which at that time had not seceded, and 
 the Border States. 
 
 We take from McPharson's admirable 
 condensation, the evasive or hostile replies 
 of the Governors referred to, and follow it 
 with his statement of the military calls and 
 legislation of both governments, but for 
 the purposes of this work omit details 
 which are too extended. 
 
 REPLIES OF SOUTHERN STATE GOVERNORS 
 
 TO LINCOLN'S CALL FOR 75,000 TROOPS. 
 
 Governor BURTON, of Delaware, ksued 
 a proclamation, April 28, recommending 
 the formation of volunteer companies for 
 the protection of the lives and property of 
 the people of Delaware against violence of 
 any sort to which they may be exposed, 
 the companies not being subject to be or 
 dered by the Executive into the United 
 States service, the law not vesting him 
 with such authority, but having the option 
 of offering their services to the General 
 Government for the defence of its capital 
 and the support of the Constitution and 
 laws of the country. 
 
 Governor HICKS, of Maryland, May 14, 
 issued a proclamation for the troops, stat 
 ing that the four regiments would be de 
 tailed to serve within the limits of Mary 
 land or for the defence of the capital of the 
 United States. 
 
 Governor LETCHER, of Virginia, replied 
 that "The militia of Virginia will not be 
 furnished to the powers of Washington for 
 any such use or purpose as they have in 
 view. Your object is to subjugate the 
 southern States, and a requisition made 
 upon me for such an object an object, in 
 my judgment, not within the purview of 
 the Constitution or the act of 1795 will 
 not be complied with. You have chosen 
 to inaugurate civil war, and having done 
 o we will meet it in a spirit as determined 
 as the Administration has exhibited to 
 ward the South." 
 
 Governor ELLIS, of North Carolina, re 
 plied April 15 : 
 
 " Your dispatch is received, and if gen 
 uine which its extraordinary character 
 leads me to doubt I have to say in reply 
 that I regard the levy of troops made by 
 the Administration, for the purpose of sub 
 jugating the States of the South, as in vio 
 lation of the Constitution and a usurpation 
 of power. I can be no party to this wicked 
 
 violation of the laws of the country, and 
 to this war upon the liberties of a free peo 
 ple. You can get no troops from North 
 Carolina. I will reply more in detail when 
 your call is received by mail.'' 
 
 Governor MAGOFFIN, of Kentucky, re 
 plied, April 15 : 
 
 " Your dispatch is received. In answer 
 I say emphatically, Kentucky will furnish 
 no troops for the wicked purpose of subdu 
 ing her sister Southern States." 
 
 Governor HARRIS, of Tennessee, replied, 
 April 18: 
 
 " Tennessee will not furnish a single man 
 for coercion, but fifty thousand, if necessa 
 ry, for the defence of our rights or those of 
 our southern brethren." 
 
 Governor JACKSON, of Missouri, replied : 
 
 " Your requisition is illegal, unconstitu 
 tional, revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical, 
 and cannot be complied with." 
 
 Governor RECTOR, of Arkansas, replied, 
 April 22 : 
 
 " None will be furnished. The demand 
 is only adding insult to injury." 
 
 ALL OTHER CALLS FOR TROOPS. 
 
 May 3, 1861 The President called for 
 thirty-nine volunteer regiments of infantry 
 and one regiment of cavalry, with a mini 
 mum aggregate of 34,506 officers and en 
 listed men, and a maximum of 42,034; and 
 for the enlistment of 18,000 seamen. 
 
 May 3, 1861 The President directed an 
 increase of the regular army by eight regi 
 ments of infantry, one of cavalry, and one 
 of artillery minimum aggregate, 18,054; 
 maximum, 22,714. 
 
 August 6 Congress legalized this in- 
 rease, and all the acts, orders, and pro 
 clamations respecting the Army and Navy. 
 
 July 22 and 25, 1861 Congress author 
 ized the enlistment of 500,000 volunteers. 
 
 September 17, 1861 Commanding offi 
 cer at Hatteras Inlet, N. C., authorized to 
 enlist a regiment of loyal North Carolini 
 ans. 
 
 November 7, 1861 The Governor of 
 Missouri was authorized to raise a force of 
 State militia for State defence. 
 
 December 3, 1861 The Secretary of 
 War directed that no more regiments, bat 
 teries, or independent companies be raised 
 by the Governors of States, except upon 
 the special requisition of the War Depart 
 ment. 
 
 July 2, 1862 The President called for 
 three hundred thousand volunteers. 
 
 Under the act of July 17, 1862. 
 
 August 4, 1862 The President ordered 
 a draft of three hundred thousand militia, 
 for nine months unless sooner discharged ; 
 and directed that if any State shall not, by 
 the 15th of August, furnish its quota of the 
 additional 300,000 authorized by law, the 
 deficiency of volunteers in that State will 
 also be made up by special draft from the 
 
126 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 militia. Wednesday, September 3, was 
 subsequently fixed for the draft. 
 
 May 8, 1863 Proclamation issued, de 
 fining the relations of aliens to the con 
 scription act, holding all aliens who have 
 declared on oath their intention to become 
 citizens and may be in the country within 
 sixty-five days from date, and all who have 
 declared their intention to become citizens 
 and have voted. 
 
 June 15, 1863 One hundred thousand 
 men, for six months, called to repel the 
 invasion of Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, 
 and Pennsylvania. 
 
 October 17, 1863 A proclamation was 
 issued for 300,000 volunteers, to serve for 
 three years or the war, not, however, ex 
 ceeding three years, to fill the places of 
 those whose terms expire " during the 
 coming year," these being in addition to 
 the men raised by the present draft. In 
 States in default under this call, January 5, 
 1864, a draft shall be made on that day. 
 
 February 1, 1864 Draft for 500,000 men 
 for three years or during the war, ordered 
 for March 10, 1864. 
 
 March 14, 1864 Draft for 200,000 ad 
 ditional for the army, navy and marine 
 corps, ordered for April 15, 1864, to supply 
 the force required for the navy and to pro 
 vide an adequate reserve force for all con 
 tingencies. 
 
 April 23, 186485,000 one hundred day 
 men accepted, tendered by the Governors 
 of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wis 
 consin ; 30,000, 20,000, 20,000, 10,000 and 
 5,000 being tendered respectively. 
 
 UNION MILITARY LEGISLATION. 
 
 1861, July 22 The President was au 
 thorized to accept the services of volun 
 teers, not exceeding five hundred thousand, 
 for a period not exceeding three years. 
 July 27, this authority was duplicated. 
 
 1861, July 27 Nine regiments of in 
 fantry, one of cavalry, and one of artillery, 
 added to the regular army. 
 
 August 5 Passed bill approving and 
 legalizing the orders of the President re 
 specting the army and navy, issued from 
 4th of March to that date. 
 
 1862, July 17 Authorized the President, 
 when calling forth the militia of the States, 
 to specify the period of such service, not 
 exceeding nine months; and if by reason 
 of defects in existing laws or in the execu 
 tion of them, it shall be found necessary 
 to provide for enrolling the militia, the 
 President was authorized to make all 
 necessary regulations, the enrollment to in 
 clude all able bodied male citizens between 
 eighteen and forty-five, and to be appor 
 tioned according to representative popula 
 tion. He was authorized, in addition to 
 the volunteers now authorized, to accept 
 100,000 infantry, for nine months; also, for 
 twelve months,' to fill up old regiments, as 
 
 many as may be presented for the pur 
 pose. 
 
 1863, February 7 Authorized the Gov 
 ernor of Kentucky, by the consent and 
 under the direction of the President, to 
 raise twenty thousand volunteers, for 
 twelve months, for service within the 
 limits of the State, for repelling invasion, 
 suppressing insurrection, and guarding and 
 protecting the public property two regi 
 ments to be mounted riflemen. With the 
 consent of the President, these troops may 
 be attached to, and become a part of, the 
 body of three years' volunteers. 
 
 1863, March 3 The conscription act 
 passed. It included as a part of the na 
 tional forces, all able bodied male citizens 
 -of the United States, and persons of for- 
 "eign birth who shall have declared on oath 
 their intention to become citizens under 
 and in pursuance of the laws thereof, be 
 tween the ages of twenty-one and forty- 
 five years, except such as are rejected as 
 physically or mentally unfit for the service ; 
 also, the Vice President, the judges of the 
 various courts of the United States, the 
 heads of the various executive departments 
 of the Government, and the Governors of 
 the several States ; also, the only son liable 
 to military service, of a widow dependent 
 upon his labor for support ; also, the only 
 son of aged or infirm parent or parents, 
 dependent upon his labor for support ; 
 also, where there are two or more sons of 
 aged or infirm parents, subject to draft, the 
 father, or if he be dead, the mother, may 
 elect which son shall be exempt ; also, the 
 only brother of children not twelve years 
 old, having neither father nor mother, de 
 pendent upon his labor for support ; also, 
 the father of motherless children under 
 twelve years of age, dependent upon his 
 labor for support; also, where there are a 
 father and sons in the same family and 
 household, and two of them are in military 
 service of the United States as non-com 
 missioned officers, musicians, or privates, 
 the residue of such family ; provided that 
 no person who has been convicted of any 
 felony shall be enrolled or permitted to 
 serve in said forces. It divided the forces 
 into two classes : 1st, those between twenty 
 and thirty-five and all unmarried persons 
 above thirty-five and under forty-five ; 2d, 
 all others liable to military duty. It di 
 vided the country into districts, in each of 
 which an enrollment board was established. 
 The persons enrolled were made subject to 
 be called into the military service ior two 
 years from July 1, 1863, and continue in 
 service for three years. A drafted person 
 was allowed to furnish an acceptable sub 
 stitute, or pay $300, and be discharged 
 from further liability under that draft. 
 Persons failing to report, to be considered 
 deserters. All persons drafted shall be as 
 signed by the President to military duty 
 
MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 127 
 
 in such corps, regiments, or branches of 
 "the service as the exigencies of the service 
 may require. 
 
 1864, Feb. 24 Provided for equalizing 
 the draft by calculating the quota of each 
 district or precinct and counting the num 
 ber previously furnished by it. Any per 
 son enrolled may furnish an acceptable 
 substitute who is not liable to draft, nor, 
 at any time, in the military or naval ser 
 vice of the United States ; and such per 
 son so furnishing a substitute shall be ex 
 empt from draft during the time for which 
 such substitute shall not be liable to draft, 
 not exceeding the time for which such sub 
 stitute shall have been accepted. If such 
 substitute is liable to draft, the name of 
 the person furnishing him shall again be 
 placed on the roll and shall be liable to 
 draft in future calls, but not until the pre 
 sent enrollment shall be exhausted. The 
 exemptions are limited to such as are re 
 jected as physically or mentally unfit for the 
 service ; to persons actually in the military 
 or naval service of the Government, and 
 all persons who have served in the military 
 or naval service two years during the pre 
 sent war and been honorably discharged 
 therefrom. 
 
 The separate enrollment of classes is re 
 pealed and the two classes consolidated. 
 
 Members of religious denominations, 
 who shall by oath or affirmation declare 
 that they are conscientiously opposed to 
 the bearing of arms, and who are pro 
 hibited from doing so by the rules and 
 articles of faith and practice of said re 
 ligious denomination, shall when drafted, 
 be considered non-combatants, and be as 
 signed to duty in the hospitals, or the care 
 of freedmen, or shall pay $300 to the 
 benefit of sick and wounded soldiers, if 
 they give proof that their deportment has 
 been uniformly consistent with their de 
 claration. 
 
 No alien who has voted in county, State 
 or Territory shall, because of alienage, be 
 exempt from draft. 
 
 " All able-bodied male colored persons 
 between the ages of twenty and forty-five 
 years, resident in the United States, shall 
 be enrolled according to the provisions of 
 this act, and of the act to which this is an 
 amendment, and form part of the national 
 forces ; and when a slave of a loyal master 
 shall be drafted and mustered into the ser 
 vice of the United States, his master shall 
 have a certificate thereof; and thereupon 
 such slave shall be free, and the bounty of 
 one hundred dollars, now payable by law 
 for each drafted man, shall be paid to the 
 person to whom such drafted person was 
 owing service or labor at the time of his 
 muster into the service of the United States. 
 The Secretary of War shall appoint a com 
 mission in each of the slave States repre- 
 icnted in Congress, charged to award to 
 
 ! each loyal person to whom a colored volun 
 teer may owe service a just compensation, 
 not exceeding three hundred dollars, for 
 each such colored volunteer, payable out 
 of the fund derived from commuta 
 tions, and every such colored volunteer 
 on being mustered into the service shail be 
 free. And in all cases where men of color 
 have been enlisted, or have volunteered in 
 the military service of the United States, 
 all the provisions of this act so far as the 
 payment of bounty and compensation are 
 provided, shall be equally applicable, as to 
 those who may be hereafter recruited. But 
 men of color, drafted or enlisted, or who 
 may volunteer into the military service, 
 while they shall be credited on the quotas 
 of the several States, or sub-divisions of 
 States, wherein they are respectively draft 
 ed, enlisted, or shall volunteer, shall not 
 be assigned as State troops, but shall 
 be mustered into regiments or companies 
 as United States colored troops." 
 
 1864, Feb. 29 Bill passed reviving the 
 grade of Lieutenant General in the army, 
 and Major General Ulysses S. Grant was 
 appointed March 2d. 
 
 1864, June 15 All persons of color shall 
 receive the same pay and emoluments, ex 
 cept bounty, as other soldiers of the regular 
 or volunteer army from and after Jan. 1, 
 1864, the President to fix the bounty for 
 those hereafter mustered, not exceeding 
 $100. 
 
 1864, June 20 The monthly pay of pri 
 vates and non-commissioned officers was 
 fixed as follows, on and after May 1 : 
 
 Sergeant majors, twenty-six dollars ; 
 quartermaster and commissary sergeants of 
 Cavalry, artillery, and infantry, twenty- 
 two dollars ; first sergeants of cavalry, 
 artillery, and infantry, twenty-four dollars ; 
 sergeants of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, 
 twenty dollars; sergeants of ordnance, 
 sappers and miners, and pontoniers, thirty- 
 four dollars; corporals of ordnance, sap 
 pers and miners, and pontoniers, twenty 
 dollars ; privates of engineers and ordnance 
 of the first class, eighteen dollars, and of 
 the second class, sixteen dollars ; corporals 
 of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, eighteen 
 dollars ; chief buglers of cavalry, twenty- 
 three dollars ; buglers, sixteen dollars ; far 
 riers and blacksmiths, of cavalry, and arti 
 ficers of artillery, eighteen dollars ; privates 
 of cavalry, artillery and infantry, sixteen 
 dollars; principal musicians of artillery 
 and infantry, twenty-two dollars; leaders 
 of brigade and regimental bands, seventy- 
 five dollars; musicians, sixteen dollars; 
 hospital stewards of the first class, thirty- 
 three dollars ; hospital stewards of the 
 second class, twenty- five dollars ; hospital 
 stewnrds of the third class, twenty-three 
 dollars." 
 
 July 4 This bill became a Inw : 
 Be, it enacted, &c. That the President of 
 
128 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 the United States may, at his discretion, nt ] 
 any time hereafter call for any number of 
 men as volunteers for the respective terms 
 of one, two, and three years for military 
 service ; and any such volunteer, or, in case 
 of draft, as hereinafter provided, any sub 
 stitute, shall be credited to the town, town 
 ship, ward of a city, precinct, or election 
 district, or of a county not so subdivided 
 towards the quota of which he may have 
 volunteered or engaged as a substitute; 
 .and every volunteer who is accepted and 
 mustered into the service for a term of one 
 year, unless sooner discharged, shall re 
 ceive, and be paid by the United States, a 
 bounty of one hundred dollars ; and if for 
 a term of two years, unless sooner dis 
 charged, a bounty of two hundred dollars ; 
 and if for a term of three years, unless 
 sooner discharged, a bounty of three hun 
 dred dollars; one third of which bounty 
 shall be paid to the soldier at the time of 
 his being mustered into the service, one- 
 third at the expiration of one-half of his 
 term of service, and one-third at the expi 
 ration of his term of service. And in case 
 of his death while in service, the residue of 
 his bounty unpaid shall be paid to his 
 widow, if he shall have left a widow ; if 
 not, to his children ; or if there be none, to 
 his mother, if she be a widow. 
 
 -X- * * * # -X- * 
 
 SEC. 8. That all persons in the naval 
 service of the United States, who have en 
 tered said service during the present rebel 
 lion, who have not been credited to the 
 quota of any town, district, ward, or State, 
 by reason of their being in said service and 
 not enrolled prior to February twenty-four, 
 eighteen hundred and sixty-four, shall be 
 enrolled and credited to the quotas of the 
 town, ward, district, or State, in which 
 they respectively reside, upon satisfactory 
 proof of their residence made to the Secre 
 tary of War. 
 
 "CONFEDERATE" MILITARY LEGISLATION. 
 
 February 28, 1861, (four days before the 
 inauguration of Mr. Lincoln) The "Con 
 federate " Congress passed a bill provid 
 ing 
 
 1st. To enable the Government of the 
 Confederate States to maintain its jurisdic 
 tion over all questions of peace and war, 
 and to provide for the public defence, the 
 President be, and he is hereby authorized 
 and directed to assume control of all mili 
 tary operations in every State, having re 
 ference to a connection with questions be 
 tween the said States, or any of them, and 
 Powers foreign to themselves. 
 
 2d. The President was authorized to re 
 ceive from the several States the arms and 
 munitions of war which have been ac 
 quired from the United States. 
 
 3d. He was authorized to receive into 
 Government service such forces in the ser 
 
 vice of the States, as may be tendered, in 
 such number as he may require, for any 
 time not less than twelve months, unless 
 sooner discharged. 
 
 March 6, 1861 The President was au 
 thorized to employ the militia, military and 
 naval forces of the Confederate States to 
 repel invasion, maintain rightful possession 
 of the territory, and secure public tran 
 quillity and independence against threat 
 ened assault, to the extent of 100,000 
 men, to serve for twelve months. 
 
 May 4, 1861 One regiment of Zouaves 
 authorized. 
 
 May 6, 1861 Letters of marque and re 
 prisal authorized. 
 
 1861, August 8 The Congress author 
 ized the President to accept the services of 
 400,000 volunteers, to serve for not less 
 than twelve months nor more than three 
 years after they shall be mustered into ser 
 vice, unless sooner discharged. 
 
 The liichmond Enquirer of that date an 
 nounced that it was ascertained from offi 
 cial data, before the passage of the bill, 
 that there were not less than 210,000 men 
 then in the field. 
 
 August 21 Volunteers authorized for 
 local defence and special service. 
 
 1862, January Publishers of newspa 
 pers, or other printed matter are prohibited 
 from giving the number, disposition, move 
 ment, or destination of the land or naval 
 forces, or description of vessel, or battery, 
 fortification, engine of war, or signal, un 
 less first authorized by the President or 
 Congress, or the Secretary of War or Navy, 
 or commanding officer of post, district, or 
 expedition. The penalty is a fine of $1,000 
 and imprisonment not over twelve months. 
 
 1862, February The Committee on Na 
 val Affairs were instructed to inquire into 
 the expediency of placing at the disposal 
 of the President five millions of dollars to 
 build gunboats. 
 
 . 1862 Bill passed to " regulate the de 
 struction of property under military neces 
 sity," referring particularly to cotton and 
 tobacco. The authorities are authorized to 
 destroy it to keep it from the enemy ; and 
 owners, destroying it for the same purpose, 
 are to be indemnified upon proof of the 
 value and the circumstances of the de. 
 struction. 
 
 1862, April 16 The first "conscription" 
 bill became a law. 
 
 1864, February. The second conscription 
 bill became a law. 
 
 The Richmond Sentinel of February 17, 
 1864, contains a synopsis of what is called 
 the military bill, heretofore forbidden to be 
 printed : 
 
 The first section provides that all white 
 men residents of the Confederate States, 
 between the ages of seventeen and fifty, 
 shall be in the military service for the war. 
 
 The second section provides that all be- 
 
MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 129 
 
 tween eighteen and forty-five, now in ser 
 vice, shall be continued during the war in 
 the same regiments, battalions, and com 
 panies to which they belong at the passage 
 of this act, with the organization, officers, 
 &c., provided that companies from one State 
 organized against their consent, expressed 
 at the time, with regrets, &c., from another 
 State, shall have the privilege of being 
 transferred to the same arm in a regiment 
 from their own State, and men can be trans 
 ferred to a company from their own State. 
 
 Section three gives a bounty eight months 
 hence of $100 in rebel bonds. 
 
 Section four provides that no person 
 shall be relieved from the operations of this 
 act heretofore discharged for disability, nor 
 shall those who furnished substitutes be ex 
 empted, where no disability now exists ; but 
 exempts religious persons who have paid 
 an exemption tax. * 
 
 The tenth section provides that no per 
 son shall be exempt except the following : 
 ministers, superintendents of deaf, dumo, 
 and blind, or insane asylums ; one editor to 
 each newspaper, and such employees as he 
 may swear to be indispensable ; the Con 
 federate and State public printers, and the 
 journeymen printers necessary to perform 
 the public printing ; one apothecary to each 
 drug store, who was and has been contin 
 uously doing business as such since Octo 
 ber 10, 1862; physicians over 30 years of 
 age of seven years' practice, not including 
 dentists ; presidents and teachers of col 
 leges, academies and schools, who have not 
 less than thirty pupils; superintendents 
 of public hospitals established by law, and 
 such physicians and nurses as may be in 
 dispensable for their efficient management. 
 
 One agriculturist on such farm where 
 there is no Avhite male adult not liable to 
 duty employing fifteen able-bodied slaves, 
 between sixteen and fifty years of age, up 
 on the following conditions : 
 
 The party exempted shall give bonds to 
 deliver to the Government in the next 
 twelve months, 100 pounds of bacon, or its 
 equivalent in salt pork, at Government se 
 lection, and 100 pounds of beef for each such 
 able-bodied slave employed on said farm 
 at commissioner's rates. 
 
 In certain cases this may be commuted 
 in grain or other provisions. 
 
 The person shall further bind himself to 
 sell all surplus provisions now on hand, or 
 which he may raise, to the Government, or 
 the families of soldiers, at commissioner's 
 rates, the person to be allowed a credit of 
 25 per cent, on any amount he may deliver 
 in three months from the passage of this 
 act; Provided that no enrollment since Feb. 
 1, 1864, shall deprive the person enrolled 
 from the benefit of this exemption. 
 
 In addition to the above, the Secretary 
 of War is authorized to make such details 
 as the public security requires. 
 9 
 
 The vote in the House of Representa 
 tives was yeas, 41 ; nays, 31. 
 
 GUERRILLAS. 
 
 1862, April 21 The President was au 
 thorized to commission such officers as he 
 may deem proper, with authority to form 
 bands of partisan rangers, in companies, 
 battalions or regiments, either as infantry 
 or cavalry, to receive the same pay, rations, 
 and quarters, and be subject to the same 
 regulations as other soldiers. For any arms 
 and munitions of war captured from the 
 enemy by any body of partisan rangers, 
 and delivered to any quartermaster at des 
 ignated place, the rangers shall pay their 
 full value.* 
 
 The following resolution, in relation to 
 partisan service, was adopted by the Vir 
 ginia Legislature, May 17, 1862 : 
 
 Whereas, this General Assembly places 
 a high estimate upon the value of the ran 
 ger or partisan service in prosecuting the 
 present war to a successful issue, and re 
 gards it as perfectly legitimate ; and it be 
 ing understood that a Federal commander 
 on the northern border of Virginia has in 
 timated his purpose, if such service is not 
 discontinued, to lay waste by fire the por 
 tion of our territory at present under his 
 power. 
 
 Resolved by the General Assembly, That; 
 in its opinion, the policy of employing such 
 rangers and partisans ought to be carried 
 out energetically, both by the authorities 
 of this State and of the Confederate States, 
 without the slightest regard to such threats. 
 
 By another act, the President was au 
 thorized, in addition to the volunteer force 
 authorized under existing laws, to accept 
 the services of volunteers who may offer 
 them, without regard to the place of en 
 listment, to serve for and during the exist 
 ing war. 
 
 1862, May 27 Major General John B. 
 Floyd was authorized by the Legislature of 
 Virginia, to raise ten thousand men, not 
 now in service or liable to draft, for twelve 
 months. 
 
 1862, September 27 The President was 
 authorized to call out and place in the mil 
 itary service for three years, all white men 
 who are residents, between the ages of 
 thirty-five and forty-five, at the time the 
 call may be made, not legally exempt. And 
 such authority shall exist in the President, 
 during the present war, as to all persons 
 who now are, or hereafter may become 
 eighteen years of age, and all persons be 
 tween eighteen and forty-five, once en 
 rolled, shall serve their full time. 
 
 * 1864, February 15 Repealed the above act, but pro- 
 Tided for continuing organizations of partisan rangers 
 arting as regular cavalry and so to continue ; and author 
 ising the Secretary of War to provide for uniting all 
 bands of partisan rangers with other organizations and 
 bringing them under the general diucipliue of the pro 
 visional army. 
 
130 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 THE TWENTY-NEGRO EXEMPTION LAW. 
 
 1862, October 11 Exempted certain 
 
 . classes, described in the repealing law of 
 
 the next session, as follows : 
 
 The dissatisfaction of the people with an 
 act passed by the Confederate Congress, at 
 its last session, by which persons owning a 
 certain number of slaves were exempted 
 from the operation of the conscription law, 
 has led the members at the present session 
 to reconsider their work, and already one 
 branch has passed a bill for the repeal of 
 the obnoxious law. This bill provides as 
 follows : 
 
 " The Congress of the Confederate States 
 do enact, That so much of the act ap 
 proved October 11, 1862, as exempts from 
 military service ' one person, either as 
 agent, owner, or overseer, on each planta 
 tion on which one white person is required 
 to be kept by the laws or ordinances of any 
 State, and on which there is no white male 
 adult not liable to military service, and in 
 States having 110 such law, one person, as 
 agent, owner, or overseer on such planta 
 tion of twenty negroes, and on which there 
 is no white male adult not liable to mili 
 tary service ;' and also the following clause 
 in said act, to wit : ' and furthermore, for 
 additional police of every twenty negroes, 
 on two or more plantations, within five 
 miles of each other, and each having less 
 than twenty negroes, and on which there 
 is no white male adult not liable to military 
 duty, one person, being the oldest of the 
 owners or overseers on such plantations,' 
 be and the same are hereby repealed ; and 
 the persons so hitherto exempted by said 
 clauses of said act are hereby made subject 
 to military duty in the same manner that 
 they would be had said clauses never been 
 embraced in said act." 
 
 THE POSITION OF DOUGLAS. 
 
 After the President had issued his first 
 call, Douglas saw the danger to which the 
 Capitol was exposed, and he promptly 
 called upon Lincoln to express his fuil 
 approval of the call. Knowing his politi 
 cal value and that of his following Lin 
 coln asked him to dictate a despatch to the 
 Associated Press, which he did in these 
 words, the original being left in the posses 
 sion of Hon. George Ashmun of Massachu 
 setts : 
 
 " April 18, 1861, Senator Douglas, called 
 on the President, and had an interesting 
 conversation, on the present condition of 
 the country. The substance of it was, on 
 the part of Mr. Douglas, that while he was 
 unalterably opposed to the administration 
 in all its political issues, he was prepared 
 to fully sustain the President, in the exercise 
 of all his Constitutional functions, to pre 
 serve the Union, maintain the Government, 
 and defend the Federal Capitol. A firm po 
 licy and prompt action was necessary. The 
 
 Capitol was in danger, and must be de 
 fended at all hazards, and at any expense 
 of men and money. He spoke of the pre 
 sent and future, without any reference to 
 the past." 
 
 Douglas followed this with a great speech 
 at Chicago, in which he uttered a sentence 
 that was soon quoted on nearly every 
 Northern tongue. It was simply this, 
 " that there now could be but two parties, 
 patriots and traitors." It needed nothing 
 more to rally the Douglas Democrats by 
 the side of the Administration, and in the 
 general feeling of patriotism awakened not 
 only this class of Democrats, but many 
 Northern supporters of Breckinridge also 
 enlisted in the Union armies. The leaders 
 who stood aloof and gave their sympathies 
 to the South, were stigmatized as " Copper 
 heads," and these where they were so im 
 pudent as to give expression to their hos 
 tility, were as odious to the mass of North 
 erners as the Unionists of Tennessee and 
 North Carolina were to the Secessionists 
 with this difference that the latter were 
 compelled to seek refuge in their moun 
 tains, while the Northern leader who 
 sought to give "aid and comfort to the 
 enemy " was either placed under arrest by 
 the government or proscribed politically 
 by his neighbors. Civil war is ever thus. 
 Let us now pass to 
 
 THE POLITICAL LEGISLATION INCIDENT TO 
 THE WAR. 
 
 The first session of the 37th Congress 
 began July 4, 1861, and closed Aug. 6. 
 The second began December 2, 1861, and 
 closed July 17, 1862. The third began 
 December 1, 1862 and closed March 4, 
 1863. 
 
 All of these sessions of Congress were 
 really embarrassed by the number of vol 
 unteers offering from the North, and suffi 
 ciently rapid provision could not be made 
 for them. And as illustrative of how 
 political lines had been broken, it need 
 only be remarked that Benjamin F. Butler, 
 the leader of the Northern wing of Breck- 
 inridge's supporters, was commissioned as 
 the first commander of the forces which 
 Massachusetts sent to the field. New York, 
 Pennsylvania, Ohio the great West all 
 the States, more than met all early require 
 ments. So rapid were enlistments that no 
 song was as popular as that beginning- 
 with the lines : 
 
 ** We are coming, Father Abraham, 
 Six hundred thousand strong." 
 
 The first session of the 37th Congress 
 was a special one, called by the President. 
 McPherson, in his classification of the 
 membership, shows the changes in a body 
 made historic, if such a thing can be, not 
 only by its membership present, but that 
 which had gone or made itself subject to 
 
MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 131 
 
 expulsion by siding with the Confederacy. 
 We quote the list so concisely and correct 
 ly presented: 
 
 MEMBERS OF THE 37TH CONGRESS. 
 March 4, 1861, to March 4, 1863. 
 
 HANNIBAL HAMLIN, of Maine, Presi 
 dent of the Senate. 
 
 SENATORS. 
 
 Maine Lot M. Morrill, Wm. Pitt Fes- 
 eenden. 
 
 New Hampshire John P. Hale, Daniel 
 Clark. 
 
 Vermont Solomon Foot, Jacob Colla- 
 mer. 
 
 Massachusetts Charles Sumner, Henry 
 Wilson. 
 
 Rhode Island James F. Simmons,* 
 Henry B. Anthony. 
 
 Connecticut James Dixon, Lafayette S. 
 Foster. 
 
 New York Preston King, Ira Harris. 
 
 New Jersey John B. Thomson,* John 
 C. Ten Eyck. 
 
 Pennsylvania David Wilmot, Edgar 
 Cowan. 
 
 Delaware James A. Bayard, Willard 
 Saulsbury. 
 
 Maryland Anthony Kennedy, James A. 
 Pearce.* 
 
 Virginia.* 
 
 Ohio Benjamin F. Wade, John Sher 
 man. 
 
 Kentucky Lazarus W. Powell, John C. 
 Breckinridge.* 
 
 Tennessee Andrew Johnson. 
 
 Indiana Jesse D. Bright,* Henry S. 
 Lane. 
 
 Illinois O. H. Browning,* Lyman 
 Trumbull. 
 
 Missouri Trusten Polk,* Waldo P. 
 Johnson.* 
 
 Michigan Z. Chandler, K. S. Bing- 
 ham.* 
 
 Iowa James W. Grimes, James Harlan. 
 
 Wisconsin James R. Doolittle, Timothy 
 O. Howe. 
 
 California Milton S. Latham, James 
 A. McDougall. 
 
 Minnesota Henry M. Rice, Morton S. 
 Wilkinson. 
 
 Oregon Edward D. Baker,* James W. 
 Nesmith. 
 
 Kansas James H. Lane, S. C. Pomeroy. 
 
 REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 GALUSHA A. GROW, of Pennsylvania, 
 Speaker of the House. 
 
 Maine John N. Goodwin, Charles W. 
 Walton,* Samuel C. Fessenden, Anson P. 
 Morrill, John H. Rice, Frederick A. Pike. 
 
 New Hampshire Gilman Marston, Ed 
 ward H. Rollins, Thomas M. Edwards. 
 
 Vermont E. P. Walton, Jr., Justin S. 
 Morrill, Portus Baxter. 
 
 * Se memorandum at the end of liat. 
 
 Massachusetts Thomas D. Eliot, James 
 Buffinton, Benjamin F. Thomas, Alexan 
 der H. Rice, William Appleton,* John B. 
 Alley, Daniel W. Gooch, Charles R. Train, 
 Goldsmith F. Bailey,* Charles Delano, 
 Henry L. Dawes. 
 
 Rhode Island William P. Sheffield, 
 George H. Browne. 
 
 Connecticut Dwight Loomis, James E. 
 English, Alfred A. Burnham,* George C. 
 Woodruff. 
 
 New York Edward H. Smith, Moses F. 
 Odell, Benjamin Wood, James E. Kerri 
 gan, William Wall, Frederick A. Conk- 
 ling, Elijah Ward, Isaac C. Delaplaine, 
 Edward Haight, Charles II. Van Wyck, 
 John B. Steele, Stephen Baker, Abraham 
 B. Olin, Erastus Corning, James B. Mc- 
 Kean, William A. Wheeler, Socrates N. 
 Sherman, Chauncey Vibbard, Richard 
 Franchot, Roscoe Conkling, R. Holland 
 Duell, William E. Lansing, Ambrose W. 
 Clark, Charles B. Sedgwick, Theodore M. 
 Pomeroy, Jacob P. Chamberlain, Alexan 
 der S. Diven, Robert B. Van Valkenburgh, 
 Alfred Ely, Augustus Frank, Burt Van 
 Horn, Elbridge G. Spalding, Reuben E. 
 Fenton. 
 
 New Jersey John T. Nixon, John L. N. 
 Stratton, William G. Steele, George T. 
 Cobb, Nehemiah Perry. 
 
 Pennsylvania William E. Lehman, 
 Charles 'J. Biddle,* John P. Verree, Wil 
 liam D. Kelley, William Morris Davis, 
 John Hickman, Thomas B. Cooper,* Syd- 
 enham E. Ancona, Thaddeus Stevens, John 
 W. Killinger, James H. Campbell, Hen- 
 drick B. Wright, Philip Johnson, Galusha 
 A. Grow, James T. Hale, Joseph Baily, 
 Edward McPherson, Samuel S. Blair, John 
 Covode, Jesse Lazear, James K. Moorhend, 
 Robert McKnight, John W. Wallace, John 
 Patton, Elijah Babbitt. 
 
 Delaware George P. Fisher. 
 
 Maryland John W. Crisfield, Edwin H. 
 Webster, Cornelius L. L. Leary, Henry 
 May, Francis Thomas, Charles B. Calvert. 
 
 Virginia Charles H. Upton,* William 
 G. Brown, John S. Carlile,* Kellian V. 
 Whaley. 
 
 Ohio George H. Pendleton, John A. 
 Gurley, Clement L. Vallandigham, William 
 Allen, James M. Ashley, Chilton A. White, 
 Richard A. Harrison, Samuel Shella- 
 barger, Warren P. Noble, Carey A. Trim 
 ble, Valentine B. Horton, Samuel S. Cox, 
 Samuel T. Worcester, Harrison G. Blake, 
 Robert H. Nugen, William P. Cutler, 
 James R. Morris, Sidney Edgerton, Albert 
 G. Riddle, John Hutchins, John A. Bing- 
 ham. 
 
 Kentucky Henry C. Burnett,* James S. 
 Jackson,* Henry Grider, Aaron Harding, 
 Charles A. Wickliffe, George W. Dunlap, 
 Robert Mallory, John J. Crittenden, Wil 
 liam H. Wadsworth, John W. Menzies. 
 
 See memorandum at end of list. 
 
132 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Tennessee Horace Maynard,* Andrew 
 J. Clements,* George W. Bridges.* 
 
 Indiana John Law, James A. Cravens, 
 W. McKee Dunn, William S. Holman, 
 George W. Julian, Albert G. Porter, Dan 
 iel W. Voorhees, Albert S. White, Schuyler 
 Colfax, William Mitchell, John P. C. 
 Shanks. 
 
 Illinois Elihu B. Washburne, Isaac N. 
 Arnold, Owen Lovejoy, William Kellogg, 
 William A. Richardson,* John A. Mc- 
 Clernancl,* James C. Robinson, Philip B. 
 Fouke, John A. Logan.* 
 
 Missouri Francis P. Blair, Jr., James 
 S. Rollins, John B. Clark,* Elijah H. Nor 
 ton, John W. Reid * John S. Phelps * 
 John W. No-ell. 
 
 Michigan Bradley F. Granger, Fer 
 nando C. Bearnan, Francis W. Kellogg, 
 Rowland E. Trowbridge. 
 
 Iowa Samuel R. Curtis,* William Van- 
 dever. 
 
 Wisconsin John F. Potter, Luther Han- 
 chett,* A. Scott Sloan. 
 
 Minnesota Cyrus Aldrich, William Win- 
 dom. 
 
 Oregon Andrew J. Thayer.* 
 
 Kansas Martin F. Conway. 
 
 MEMORANDUM OF CHANGES. 
 
 The following changes took place during 
 the Congress : 
 
 IN SENATE. 
 
 Rhode Island 1862, Dec. 1, Samuel G. 
 Arnold succeeded James F. Simmons, re 
 signed. 
 
 New Jersey 1862, Dec. 1, Richard S. 
 Field succeeded, by appointment, John R. 
 Thompson, deceased Sept. 12, 1862. 1863, 
 Jan. 21, James, W. Wall, succeeded, by 
 election, Richard S. Field. 
 
 Maryland 1863, Jan. 14, Thomas H. 
 Hicks, first by appointment and then by 
 election succeeded James A. Pearce, de 
 ceased Dec. 20, 1862. 
 
 Virginia 1861, July 13, John S. Carlile 
 and Waitman T. Willey, sworn in place of 
 Robert M. T. Hunter and James M. Mason, 
 withdrawn and abdicated. 
 
 Kentucky 1861, Dec. 23, Garrett Davis 
 succeeded John C. Breckinridge, expelled 
 December 4. 
 
 Indiana 1862, March 3, Joseph A. 
 Wright succeeded Jesse D. Bright, expelled 
 Feb. 5, 1863, Jan. 22, David Turpie, super 
 seded, by election, Joseph A. Wright. 
 
 Illinois 1863, Jan. 30, William A. Rich 
 ardson superseded, by election, O. H. 
 Browning. 
 
 Missouri 1861, Jan. 24, R. Wilson suc 
 ceeded Waldo P. Johnson, expelled Jan. 
 10. 1862, Jan. 29, John B. Henderson suc 
 ceeded Trusten Polk, expelled Jan. 10. 
 
 Michigan 1862, Jan. 17, Jacob M. How 
 ard succeeded K. S. Bingham, deceased 
 October 5, 1861. 
 
 * See memorandum at end of list. 
 
 Oregon 1862, Dec. 1, Benjamin F. Hard 
 ing succeeded Edward D. Baker, deceased 
 Oct. 21, 1862. 
 
 IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
 
 Maine 1862, December 1, Thomas A. 
 D. Fessenden succeeded Charles W. Wal 
 ton, resigned May 26, 1862. 
 
 Massachusetts 1861, December 1, Amasa 
 Walker succeeded Goldsmith F. Bailey, 
 deceased May 8, 1862 ; 1861, December 2, 
 Samuel Hooper succeeded William Apple- 
 ton, resigned. 
 
 Connecticut 1861, December 2, Alfred 
 A. Burnham qualified. 
 
 Pennsylvania 1861, December 2,Charles 
 J. Biddle qualified ; 1862, June 3, John D. 
 Stiles succeeded Thomas B. Cooper, de 
 ceased April 4, 1862. 
 
 Virginia, 1861, July 13, John S. Carlile 
 resigned to take a seat in the Senate ; 1861, 
 December 2, Jacob B. Blair, succeeded John 
 S. Carlile, resigned; 1862, February 28, 
 Charles H. Upton unseated by a vote of 
 the House; 1862, May 6, Joseph Segar 
 qualified. 
 
 Kentucky 1862, December, 1, George H. 
 Yeaman succeeded James S. Jackson, de 
 ceased ; 1862, March 10, Samuel L. Casey 
 succeeded Henry C. Burnett, expelled De 
 cember 3, 1861. 
 
 Tennessee 1861, December 2, Horace 
 Maynard qualified ; 1862, January 13, An 
 drew J. Clements qualified ; 1863, Febru 
 ary 25, George W. Bridges qualified. 
 
 Illinois 1861, December 12, A. L. Knapp 
 qualified, in place of J. A. McClernand, re 
 signed; 1862, June 2, William J. Allen 
 qualified, in place of John A. Logan, re 
 signed ; 1863, January 30, William A. Rich 
 ardson withdrew to take a seat in the 
 Senate. 
 
 Missouri 1862, January 21, Thomas L. 
 Price succeeded John W. Reid, expelled 
 December 2, 1861 ; 1862, January 20, Wil 
 liam A. Hall succeeded John B. Clark, ex 
 pelled July 13, 1861 ; 1862, May 9, John S. 
 Phelps qualified. 
 
 Iowa 1861, December 2, James F. Wil 
 son succeeded Samuel R. Curtis, resigned 
 August 4, 1861. 
 
 Wisconsin 1863, January 26, Walter D. 
 Mclndoe succeeded Luther Hanchett, de 
 ceased November 24, 1862. 
 
 Oregon 1861, July 30, George K. Shiel 
 succeeded Andrew J. Thayer, unseated. 
 
 Louisiana 1863, February 17, Michael 
 Hahn qualified ; 1863, February 23, Ben 
 jamin F. Flanders qualified. 
 
 Lincoln, in his message, recited the 
 events which had transpired since his 
 inauguration, and asked Congress to con 
 fer upon him the power to make the conflict 
 short and decisive. He wanted 400,000 
 men, and four hundred millions of money, 
 remarking that " the people will save their 
 
MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 government if the government itself will 
 do its part only indifferently well." Con 
 gress responded by adding an hundred 
 thousand to each request. 
 
 There were exciting debates and scenes 
 during this session, for many of the South 
 ern leaders remained, either through hesi 
 tancy or with a view to check legislation 
 and aid their section by adverse criticism 
 on the measures proposed. Most promi 
 nent in the latter list was John C. Breckin- 
 ridge, late Vice President and now Senator 
 from Kentucky. With singular boldness 
 and eloquence he opposed every war mea 
 sure, and spoke with the undisguised pur 
 pose of aiding the South. He continued 
 this course until the close of the extra 
 session, when he accepted a General's 
 commission in the Confederate army. But 
 before its close, Senator Baker of Oregon, 
 angered at his general course, said in reply 
 to one of Breckinridge's speeches, Aug. 1st : 
 
 " What would the Senator from Ken 
 tucky, have? These speeches of his, sown 
 broadcast over the land, what clear distinct 
 meaning have they? Are they not intend 
 ed for disorganization in our very midst? 
 Are they not intended to destroy our zeal ? 
 Are they not intended to animate our 
 enemies ? Sir, are they not words of bril 
 liant polished TREASON, even in the very 
 Capitol of the Republic ?" [Here there were 
 such manifestations of applause in the gal 
 leries, as were with difficulty suppressed.] 
 
 Mr. Baker resumed, and turning directly 
 to Mr. Breckinridge, inquired : 
 
 " What would have been thought, if, in 
 another Capitol, in another republic, in a 
 yet more martial age, a Senator as grave, 
 not more eloquent or dignified than the 
 Senator from Kentucky, yet with the 
 Roman purple flowing over his shoulders, 
 had risen in his place, surrounded by all 
 the illustrations of Roman glory, and de 
 clared that the cause of the advancing 
 Hannibal was just, and that Carthage ought 
 to be dealt with in terms of peace ? What 
 would have been thought if, after the bat 
 tle of Cannae, a Senator there had risen in 
 his place, and denounced every levy of the 
 Roman people, every expenditure of its 
 treasure, and every appeal to the old recol 
 lections and the old glories ?" 
 
 There was a silence so profound through 
 out the Senate and galleries, that a pinfall 
 could have been heard, while every eye 
 was fixed upon Breckinridge. Fessenden 
 exclaimed in deep low tones, " he would 
 have been hurled from the Tarpeian Rock !" 
 
 Baker resumed : 
 
 " Sir, a Senator himself learned far more 
 than myself, in such lore, (Mr. Fessenden) 
 tells me, in a low voice, tl he would have 
 been hurled from the Tarpeian Rock." 
 It is a grand commentary upon the 
 American Constitution, that we permit 
 these words of the Senator from Ken 
 
 tucky, to be uttered. I ask the Senator 
 to recollect, to what, save to send aid 
 and comfort to the enemy, do these pre 
 dictions amount to ? Every word thus utter 
 ed, falls as a note of inspiration upon every 
 Confederate ear. Every sound thus utter 
 ed, is a word, (and falling from his lips, a 
 mighty word) of kindling and triumph to 
 the foe that determines to advance." 
 
 The Republicans of the North were the 
 distinctive "war party," i. e., they gave 
 unqualified support to every demand made 
 by the Lincoln administration. Most of 
 the Democrats, acting as citizens, did like 
 wise, but many of those in official position, 
 assuming the prerogative of a minority, 
 took the liberty in Congress and State 
 Legislature to criticise the more important 
 war measures, and the extremists went so 
 far, in many instances, as to organize oppo 
 sition, and to encourage it among their 
 constituents. Thus in the States bordering 
 the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, organized 
 and individual efforts were made to encour 
 age desertions, and the " Knights of the 
 Golden Circle," and the " Sons of Liberty," 
 secret societies composed of Northern sym 
 pathizers with the South, formed many 
 troublesome conspiracies. Through their 
 action troops were even enlisted in South 
 ern Indiana, Illinois and Missouri for the 
 Confederate armies, while the border States 
 in the Union sent whole regiments to bat 
 tle for the South. The " Knights of th 
 Golden Circle " conspired to release Con 
 federate prisoners of war, and invited Mor 
 gan to raid their States. One of the worst 
 forms of opposition took shape in a con 
 spiracy to resist the draft in New York 
 city. The fury of the mob was several 
 days beyond control, and troops had to be 
 recalled from the front to suppress it. The 
 riot was really political, the prejudices of 
 the mob under cover pf resistance to the 
 draft, being vented on the negroes, many 
 of whom were killed before adequate num 
 bers could be sent to their succor. The 
 civil authorities of the city were charged 
 with winking at the occurrence, and it was 
 afterwards ascertained that Confederate 
 agents really organized the riot as a move 
 ment to " take the enemy in the rear." 
 
 The Republican was as distinctively the 
 war party during the Great Rebellion, as 
 the Whigs were during the Revolution, the 
 Democratic-Republicans during the War 
 of 1812, and the Democrats during the 
 War with Mexico, and, as in all of these 
 war decades, kept the majority sentiment 
 of the country with them. This is such a 
 plain statement of facts that it is neither 
 partisan to assert, nor a mark of party- 
 fealty to deny. The history is indelibly 
 written. It is stamped upon nearly every 
 war measure, and certainly upon every 
 political measure incident to growing out 
 of the rebellion. 
 
134 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 These were exciting and memorable 
 scenes in the several sessions of the 37th 
 Congress. During the first many Southern 
 Senators and Representatives withdrew 
 alter angry statements of their reasons, 
 generally in obedience to calls from their 
 States or immediate homes. In this way 
 the majority was changed. Others re 
 mained until the close of the first session, 
 and then more quietly entered the rebellion. 
 We have shown that of this class was 
 Breckinridge, who thought he could do 
 more good for his cause in the Federal 
 Congress than elsewhere, and it is well for 
 the Union that most of his colleagues dis 
 agreed with him as to the propriety and 
 wisdom of his policy. If all had followed 
 his lead or imitated his example, the war 
 would in all probability have closed in an 
 other compromise, or possibly in the ac 
 complishment of southern separations. 
 These men could have so obstructed legis 
 lation as to make all its early periods far 
 more discouraging than they were. As it 
 was the Confederates had all the advan 
 tages of a free and fair start, and the effect 
 was traceable in all of the early battles 
 and negotiations with foreign powers. 
 There was one way in which these advan 
 tages could have been supported and con 
 tinued. Breckenridge, shrewd and able 
 politician as he was, saw that the way was 
 to keep Southern Representatives in Con 
 gress, at least as long as Northern senti 
 ment would abide it, and in this way win 
 victories at the very fountain-head of 
 power. But at the close of the extra ses 
 sion this view had become unpopular at 
 both ends of the line, and even Brecken 
 ridge abandoned it and sought to hide his 
 original purpose by immediate service in 
 the Confederate armies. 
 
 It will be noted that those who vacated 
 their seats to enter the Confederacy were 
 afterwards expelled. In this connection a 
 curious incident can be related, occuring 
 as late as the Senate session of 1882 : 
 
 The widow of the late Senator Nichol 
 son, of Tennessee, who was in the Senate 
 when Tennessee seceded, a short time ago 
 sent a petition to Congress asking that the 
 salary of her late husband, after he return 
 ed to Tennessee, might be paid to her. 
 Mr. Nicholson's term would have expired 
 in 1865 had he remained in his seat. He 
 did not appear at the special session of 
 Congress convened in July, 1861, and with 
 other Senators from the South was expelled 
 from the Senate on July llth of that year. 
 The Senate Committee on Claims, after 
 examining the case thoroughly, submitted 
 to the Senate an adverse report. After 
 giving a concise history of the case the 
 committee say : " We do not deem it 
 proper, after the expiration of twenty years, 
 to pass special acts of Congress to compen 
 sate the Senators and Representatives who 
 
 seceded in 1861 for their services in the 
 early part of that year. We recommend 
 that the claim of the petitioner be disal 
 lowed." 
 
 The Sessions of the 37th Congress 
 changed the political course of many pub 
 lic men. It made the Southern believers 
 in secession still more vehement ; it sepa 
 rated the Southern Unionists from their 
 former friends, and created a wall of fire 
 between them ; it changed the temper of 
 Northern Abolitionists, in so far as to drive 
 from them all spirit of faction, all pride of 
 methods, and compelled them to unite with 
 a republican sentiment which was making 
 sure advances from the original declara 
 tion that slavery should not be extended 
 to the Territories, to emancipation, and, 
 finally, to the arming of the slaves. It 
 changed many Northern Democrats, and 
 from the ranks of these, even in represen 
 tative positions, the lines of the Repub 
 licans were constantly strengthened on 
 pivotal questions. On the 27th of July 
 Breckinridge had said in a speech : " When 
 traitors become numerous enough treason 
 becomes respectable." Senator Andrew 
 Johnson, of Tennessee, replied to this, and 
 said : " God being willing, whether traitors 
 be many or few, as I have hitherto waged 
 war against traitors and treason, I intend 
 to continue it to the end." And yet John 
 son had the year before warmly supported 
 Breckinridge in his presidential campaign. 
 
 Among the more conspicuous Republi 
 cans and anti-Lecompton Democrats in 
 this session were Charles Sumner, a man 
 who then exceeded all others in scholarly 
 attainments and as an orator, though he 
 was not strong in current debate. Great 
 care and preparation marked every impor 
 tant effort, but no man's speeches were 
 more admired throughout the North, and 
 hated throughout the South, than those of 
 Charles Sumner. An air of romance sur 
 rounded the man, because he was the first 
 victim of a senatorial outrage, when beaten 
 by Brooks of South Carolina ; but, sneered 
 his political enemies, " no man more care 
 fully preserved his wounds for exhibition 
 to a sympathetic world." He had some 
 minor weaknesses, which were constantly 
 displayed, and these centred in egotism 
 and high personal pride not very popular 
 traits but no enemy was so malicious as 
 to deny his greatness. 
 
 Fessenden of Maine was one of the great 
 lights of that day. He was apt, almost 
 beyond example, in debate, and was a re 
 cognized leader of the Republicans until, 
 in the attempt to impeach President John 
 son, he disagreed with the majority of his 
 party and stepped " down and out." Yet 
 no one questioned his integrity, and all be 
 lieved that his vote was cast on this ques 
 tion in a line with his convictions. The 
 leading character in the House was Thad- 
 
MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 135 
 
 deus Stevens, an original Abolitionist in 
 sentiment, but a man eminently practical 
 and shrewd in all his methods. 
 
 The chances of politics often carry men 
 into the Presidential Chair, into Cabinets, 
 and with later and demoralizing frequency 
 into Senate seats ; but chance never makes 
 a Commoner, and Thaddeus Stevens was 
 throughout the war, and up to the hour of 
 his death, recognized as the great Com 
 moner of the Northern people. He led in 
 every House battle, and a more unflinch 
 ing party leader was never known to par 
 liamentary bodies. Limp and infirm, he 
 was not liable to personal assault, even in 
 days when such assaults were common; 
 but when on one occasion his fiery tongue 
 had so exasperated the Southerners in 
 Congress as to make them show their 
 knives and pistols, he stepped out into the 
 aisle, and facing, bid them defiance. He 
 was a Radical of the Radicals, and con 
 stantly contended that the government 
 the better to preserve itself could travel 
 outside of the Constitution. What cannot 
 be said of any other man in history, can 
 be said of Thaddeus Stevens. When he 
 lay dead, carried thus from Washington to 
 his home in Lancaster, with all of his 
 people knowing that he was dead, he was, 
 on the day following the arrival of his 
 corpse, and within a few squares of his re 
 sidence, unanimously renominated by the 
 Republicans for Congress. If more poetic 
 and less practical sections or lands than the 
 North had such a hero, hallowed by such 
 an incident, both the name and the inci 
 dent would travel down the ages in song 
 and story.* 
 
 The " rising " man in the 87th Congress 
 was Schuyler Col fax, of Indiana, elected 
 Speaker of the 38th, and subsequently 
 Vice President. A great parliamentarian, 
 he was gifted with rare eloquence, and 
 with a kind which won friends without 
 oifending enemies something too rare to 
 last. In the House were also Justin S. 
 Morrill, the author of the Tariff Bill which 
 supplied the " sinews of war," Henry L. 
 Dawes of Massachusetts, then " the man of 
 Statistics" and the "watch-dog of the 
 treasury." Roscoe Conkling was then the 
 admitted leader of the New York delega 
 tion, as he was the admitted mental 
 superior of any other in subsequent terms 
 in the Senate, up to the time of his resigna 
 tion in 1881. Reuben E. Fenton, his 
 factional opponent, was also there. Ohio 
 was strongly represented in both parties 
 Pendleton, Cox and Vallandigham on the 
 side of the Democrats ; Bingham and Ash 
 ley on the part of the Republicans. Illi 
 nois showed four prominent anti-Lecomp- 
 ton supporters of the administration 
 
 *This incident, was related to the writer by Col. A. K. 
 McClure of Philadelphia, who was in Lancaster at the 
 time. 
 
 Douglas in the Senate; Logan, McCler- 
 nand and Richardson in the House; while 
 prominent among the Republicans were 
 Lovejoy (an original Abolitionist), Wash- 
 burne, a candidate for the Presidential 
 nomination in 1880 Kellogg and Arnold. 
 John F. Potter was one of the prominent 
 Wisconsin men, who had won additional 
 fame by accepting the challenge to duel of 
 Roger A. Pryor of Virginia, and naming 
 the American rifle as the weapon. Fortu 
 nately the duel did not come off. Penn 
 sylvania had then, as she still has, Judge 
 Kelley of Philadelphia, chairman of Ways 
 and Means in the 46th Congress ; also 
 Edward McPherson, frequently since Clerk 
 of the House, temporary President of the 
 Cincinnati Convention, whose decision 
 overthrew the unit rule, and author of 
 several valuable political works, some of 
 which we freely quote in this history. 
 John Hickman, subsequently a Republi 
 can, but one of the ^earliest of the anti- 
 Lecompton Democrats, was an admitted 
 leader, a man of rare force and eloquence. 
 So radical did he become that he refused 
 to support the re-election cf Lincoln. He 
 was succeeded by John M. Broomall, who 
 made several fine speeches in favor of 
 the constitutional amendments touching 
 slavery and civil rights. Here also were 
 James Campbell, Hendricks B. Wright, 
 John Covode, James K. Morehead, and 
 Speaker Grow the father of the Home 
 stead Bill, which will be found in Book 
 V., giving the Existing Political Laws. 
 At this session Senator Trumbull of 
 Illinois, renewed the agitation of the 
 slavery question, by reporting from the 
 Judiciary Committee of which he was 
 Chairman, a bill to confiscate all property 
 and free all slaves used for insurrectionary 
 purposes.* Breckinridge fought the bill, 
 as indeed he did all bills coming from the 
 Republicans, and said if passed it would 
 eventuate in "the loosening of all bonds." 
 Among the facts stated in support of the 
 measure was this, that the Confederates 
 had at Bull Run used the negroes and 
 slares against the Union army a state 
 ment never well established. The bill 
 passed the Senate by 33 to 6, and on the 
 3d of August passed the House, though 
 several Republicans there voted against it, 
 fearing a too rapid advance would preju 
 dice the Union cause. Indeed this fear 
 was entertained by Lincoln when he re 
 commended 
 
 COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION 
 
 in the second session of the 37th Congress, 
 which recommendation excited official dis 
 cussion almost up to the time the emanci 
 pation proclamation was issued as a war 
 necessity. The idea of compensated eman- 
 
 * Arnold's "History of Abraham Lincoln. 1 * 
 
136 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 cipation originated with or was first form 
 ulated by James B. McKean of New York, 
 who on Feb. llth, 1861, at the 2d session 
 of the 36th Congress, introduced the fol 
 lowing resolution : 
 
 WHEREAS, The "Gulf States" have as 
 sumed to secede from the Union, and it is 
 deemed important to prevent the " border 
 slave States " from following their exam 
 ple ; and whereas it is believed that those 
 who are inflexibly opposed to any measure 
 of compromise or concession that involves, 
 or may involve, a sacrifice of principle or 
 the extension of slavery, would neverthe 
 less cheerfully concur in any lawful 
 measure for the emancipation of the slaves : 
 Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the select committee of 
 five be instructed to inquire whether, by 
 the consent of the people, or of the State 
 governments, or by compensating the 
 slaveholders, it be practicable for the Gen 
 eral Government to procure the emancipa 
 tion of the slaves in some, or all, of the "bor 
 der States ;" and if so, to report a bill for 
 that purpose. 
 
 Lincoln was so strongly impressed with 
 the fact, in the earlier struggles of the war, 
 that great good would follow compensated 
 emancipation, that on March 2d, 1862, he 
 sent a special message to the 2d session of 
 the 37th Congress, in which he said : 
 
 " I recommend the adoption of a joint 
 resolution by your honorable bodies, which 
 shall be substantially as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the United States ought 
 to co-operate with any State which may 
 adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giv 
 ing to such State pecuniary aid, to be used 
 by such State in its discretion, to compen 
 sate for the inconveniences, public and 
 private, produced by such change of sys 
 tem. 
 
 " If the proposition contained in the 
 resolution does not meet the approval of 
 Congress and the country, there is the end ; 
 but if it does command such approval, I 
 deem it of importance that the States and 
 people immediately interested should be 
 at once distinctly notified of the fact, so 
 that they may begin to consider whether 
 to accept or reject it. The Federal Govern 
 ment would find its highest interest in such 
 a measure, as one of the most efficient 
 means of self-preservation. The leaders of 
 the existing insurrection entertain the hope 
 that this Government will ultimately be 
 forced to acknowledge the independence 
 of some part of the disaffected region, and 
 that all the slave States north of such part 
 will then say, 'the Union for which we 
 have struggled being already gone, we now 
 choose to go with the southern section.' 
 To deprive them of this hope, substantially 
 ends the rebellion ; and the initiation of 
 emancipation completely deprives them of 
 it as to all the States initiating it. The 
 
 point is not that all the States tolerating 
 slavery would very soon, if at all, initiate 
 emancipation; but that, while the offer 
 is equally made to all, the more northern 
 shall, by such initiation, make it certain 
 to the more southern that in no event will 
 the former ever join the latter in their pro 
 posed confederacy. I say ' initiation/ be 
 cause, in my judgment, gradual, and not 
 sudden emancipation, is better for all. In 
 the mere financial or pecuniary view, any 
 member of Congress, with the census 
 tables and Treasury reports before him, 
 can readily see for himself how very soon 
 the current expenditures of this war would 
 purchase, at fair valuation, all the slaves 
 in any named State. Such a proposition 
 on the part of the General Government 
 sets up no claim of a right by Federal 
 authority to interfere with slavery within 
 State limits, referring, as it does the abso 
 lute control of the subject in each case to 
 the State and its people immediately in 
 terested. It is proposed as a matter of per 
 fectly free choice with them. 
 
 " In the annual message last December, 
 I thought fit to say, ' the Union must be 
 preserved; and hence all indispensable 
 means must be employed.' I said this not 
 hastily, but deliberately. War has been 
 made, and continues to be an indispensa 
 ble means to this end. A practical reac- 
 knowledgment of the national authority 
 would render the war unnecessary, and it 
 would at once cease. If, however, resist 
 ance continues, the war must also continue; 
 and it is impossible to foresee all the inci 
 dents which may attend, and all the ruin 
 which may follow it. Such as may seem 
 indispensable, or may obviously promise 
 great efficiency toward ending the strug 
 gle, must and will come. 
 
 " The proposition now made, though an 
 offer only, I hope it may be esteemed no 
 offence to ask whether the pecuniary con 
 sideration tendered would not be of more 
 value to the States and private persons 
 concerned, than are the institution, and 
 property in it, in the present aspect of 
 affairs ? 
 
 " While it is true that the adoption of 
 the proposed resolution would be merely 
 initiatory, and not within itself a practical 
 measure, it is recommended in the hope 
 that it would soon lead to important prac 
 tical results. In full view of my great re 
 sponsibility to my God and to my country, 
 I earnestly beg the attention of Congress 
 and the people to the subject." 
 
 Mr. Conkling called the question up in 
 the House March 10th, and under a sus 
 pension of the rules, it was passed by 97 to 
 36. It passed the Senate April 2, by 32 to 
 10, the Republicans, as a rule, voting for 
 it, the Democrats, as a rule, voting against 
 it; and this was true even of those in the 
 Border States. 
 
COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION. 
 
 1ST 
 
 The fact last stated excited the notice of 
 President Lincoln, and in July, 1862, he 
 sought an interview with the Border State 
 Congressmen, the result of which is con 
 tained in McPhersoii's Political History of 
 the Great Rebellion, as follows : 
 
 The President's Appeal to the Border 
 States. 
 
 The ^Representatives and Senators of 
 the border slaveholding States, having, by 
 special invitation of the President, been 
 convened at the Executive Mansion, on 
 Saturday morning last, (July 12,) Mr. 
 Lincoln addressed them as follows from a 
 written paper held in his hand : 
 
 " GENTLEMEN : After the adjournment 
 of Congress, now near, I shall have no 
 opportunity of seeing you for several 
 months. Believing that you of the border 
 States hold more power for good than any 
 other equal number of members, I feel it 
 a duty which I cannot justifiably waive, to 
 make this appeal to you. 
 
 "I intend no reproach or complaint 
 when I assure you that, in my opinion, if 
 you all had voted for the resolution in the 
 gradual emancipation message of last 
 March, the war would now be substantially 
 ended. And the plan therein proposed is 
 yet one of the most potent and swift means 
 of ending it. Let the States which are in 
 rebellion see definitely and certainly that 
 in no event will the States you represent 
 ever join their proposed Confederacy, and 
 they cannot much longer maintain the 
 contest. But you cannot divest them of 
 their hope to ultimately have you with 
 them so long as you show a determination 
 to perpetuate the institution within your 
 own States. Beat them at elections, as 
 you have overwhelmingly done, and, noth 
 ing daunted, they still claim you as their 
 own. You and I know what the lever of 
 their power is. Break that lever before 
 their faces, and they can shake you no 
 more forever. 
 
 "Most of you have treated me with 
 kindness and consideration, and I trust 
 you will not now think I improperly touch 
 what is exclusively your own, when, for 
 the sake of the whole country, I ask, ' Can 
 you, for your States, do better than to take 
 the course I urge ? ' Discarding punctilio 
 and maxims adapted to more manageable 
 times, and looking only to the unprece- 
 dentedly stern facts of our case, can you do 
 better in any possible event? You prefer 
 that the constitutional relations of the 
 States to the nation shall be practically 
 restored without disturbance of the insti 
 tution ; and, if this were done, my whole 
 duty, in this respect, under the Constitu 
 tion and my oath of office, would be per 
 formed. But it is not done, and we are 
 
 trying to accomplish it by war. The 
 incidents of the war cannot be avoided. 
 If the war continues long, as it must, if 
 the object be not sooner attained, the in 
 stitution in your States will be ex 
 tinguished by mere friction and abrasion 
 by the mere incidents of the war. It 
 will be gone, and you will have nothing 
 valuable in lieu of it. Much of its value 
 is gone already. How much better for 
 you and for your people to take the step 
 which at once shortens the war and 
 secures substantial compensation for that 
 which is sure to be wholly lost in any 
 other event! How much better to thus 
 save the money which else we sink forever 
 in the war! How much better to do it 
 while Ve can, lest the war ere long render 
 us pecuniarily unable to do it ! How much 
 better for you, as seller, and the nation, as 
 buyer, to sell out and buy out that without 
 which the war could never have been, 
 than to sink both the thing to be sold and 
 the price of it in cutting one another's 
 throats ! 
 
 " I do not speak of emancipation at once, 
 but of a decision at once to emancipate 
 gradually. Room in South America for 
 colonization can be obtained cheaply and 
 in abundance, and when numbers shall be 
 large enough to be company and encour 
 agement for one another, the freed people 
 will not be so reluctant to go. 
 
 " I am pressed with a difficulty not yet 
 mentioned, one which threatens division 
 among those who, united, are none too 
 strong. An instance of it is known to 
 you. General Hunter is an honest man. 
 He was, and I hope still is, my friend. I 
 valued him none the less for his agreeing 
 with me in the general wish that all men 
 everywhere could be freed. He proclaimed 
 all men free within certain States, and I 
 repudiated the proclamation. He expected 
 more good and less harm from the measure 
 than I could believe would follow. Yet, 
 in repudiating it, I gave dissatisfaction, if 
 not offence, to many whose support the 
 country cannot afford to lose. And this is 
 not the end of it. The 'pressure in this 
 direction is still upon me, and is increas 
 ing. By conceding what I now ask you 
 can relieve me, and, much more, can re 
 lieve the country in this important point. 
 
 " Upon these considerations I have 
 again begged your attention to the mes 
 sage of March last. Before leaving the 
 Capitol, consider and discuss it among 
 yourselves. You are patriots and states 
 men, and as such I pray you consider this 
 proposition ; and at the least commend it 
 to the consideration of your States and 
 people. As you would perpetuate popular 
 government for the best people in the 
 world, I beseech you that you do in no 
 wise omit this. Our common country ia 
 in great peril, demanding the loftiest 
 
138 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 views and boldest action to bring a speedy 
 relief. Once relieved, its form of govern 
 ment is saved to the world, its beloved 
 history and cherished memories are vin 
 dicated, and its happy future fully assured 
 and rendered inconceivably grand. To 
 you, more than to any others, the privi 
 lege is given to assure that happiness and 
 swell that grandeur, and to link your own 
 names therewith forever." 
 
 At the conclusion of these remarks 
 some conversation was had between the 
 President and several members of the 
 delegations from the border States, in 
 which it was represented that these States 
 could not be expected to move in so great 
 a matter as that brought to their notice in 
 the foregoing address while as yet the 
 Congress had taken no step beyond the 
 passage of a resolution, expressive rather 
 of a sentiment than presenting a substan 
 tial and reliable basis of action. 
 
 The President acknowledged the force 
 of this view, and admitted that the border 
 States were entitled to expect a substantial 
 pledge of pecuniary aid as the condition 
 of taking into consideration a proposition 
 so important in its relations to their social 
 system. 
 
 It was further represented, in the con 
 ference, that the people of the border 
 States were interested in knowing the 
 great importance which the President 
 attached to the policy in question, while it 
 was equally due to the country, to the 
 President, and to themselves, that the 
 representatives of the border slave-holding 
 States should publicly announce the mo 
 tives under which they were called to act, 
 and the considerations of public policy 
 urged upon them and their constituents by 
 the President. 
 
 With a view to such a statement of their 
 position, the members thus addressed met 
 in council to deliberate on the reply they 
 should make to the President, and, as the 
 result of a comparison of opinions among 
 themselves, they determined upon the 
 adoption of a majority and minority an 
 swer. 
 
 REPLY OF THE MAJORITY. 
 
 The following paper was yesterday sent to 
 the President, signed by the majority of 
 the Representatives from the border slave- 
 holding States : 
 
 WASHINGTON, July 14, 1862. 
 To the PRESIDENT : 
 
 The undersigned, Representatives of 
 Kentucky, Virginia, Missouri, and Mary 
 land, in the two Houses of Congress, have 
 listened to your address with the profound 
 sensibility naturally inspired by the high 
 source from which it emanates, the earn 
 estness which marked its delivery, and 
 the overwhelming importance of the sub 
 
 ject of which it treats. We have given it 
 a most respectful consideration, and now 
 lay before you our response. We regret 
 that want of time has not permitted us to 
 make it more perfect. 
 
 We have not been wanting, Mr. Presi 
 dent, in respect to you, and in devotion to 
 the Constitution and the Union. We 
 have not been indifferent to the great dif 
 ficulties surrounding you, compared with 
 which all former national troubles have 
 been but as the summer cloud; and we 
 have freely given you our sympathy and 
 support. Repudiating the dangerous here 
 sies of the secessionists, we believed, with 
 you, that the war on their part is aggressive 
 and wicked, and the objects for which it 
 was to be prosecuted on ours, defined by 
 your message at the opening of the pres 
 ent Congress, to be such as all good men 
 should approve. We have not hesitated 
 to vote all supplies necessary to carry it on 
 vigorously. We have voted all the men 
 and money you have asked for, and even 
 more ; we have imposed onerous taxes on 
 our people, and they are paying them 
 with cheerfulness and alacrity; we have 
 encouraged enlistments and sent to the 
 field many of our best men ; and some of 
 our number have offered their persons to 
 the enemy as pledges of their sincerity and 
 devotion to the country. 
 
 We have done all this under the most 
 discouraging circumstances, and in the 
 face of measures most distasteful to us 
 and injurious to the interests we repre 
 sent, and in the hearing of doctrines 
 avowed by those who claim to be your 
 friends, must be abhorrent to us and our 
 constituents. But, for all this, we have 
 never faltered, nor shall we as long as we 
 have a Constitution to defend and a Gov 
 ernment which protects us. And we are 
 ready for renewed efforts, and even greater 
 sacrifices, yea, any sacrifice, when we are 
 satisfied it is required to preserve our 
 admirable form of government and the 
 
 Ericeless blessings of constitutional li- 
 erty. 
 
 A few of our number voted for the 
 resolution recommended by your message 
 of the 6th of March last, the greater por 
 tion of us did not, and we will briefly 
 state the prominent reasons which in 
 fluenced our action. 
 
 In the first place, it proposed a radical 
 change of our social system, and was hur 
 ried through both Houses with undue 
 haste, without reasonable time for consid 
 eration and debate, and with no time at 
 all for consultation with our constituents, 
 whose interests it deeply involved. It 
 seemed like an interference by this Gov 
 ernment with a question which peculiarly 
 and exclusively belonged to our respective 
 States, on which they had not sought ad 
 vice or solicited aid. Many of us doubted 
 
COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION. 
 
 139 
 
 the constitutional power of this Govern 
 ment to make appropriations of money for 
 the object designated, and all of us thought 
 our finances were in no condition to bear 
 the immense outlay which its adoption 
 and faithful execution would impose upon 
 the national Treasury. If we pause but 
 a moment to think of the debt its accept 
 ance would have entailed, we are appalled 
 by its magnitude. The proposition was 
 addressed to all the States, and embraced 
 the whole number of slaves. 
 
 According to the census of 1860 there 
 were then nearly four million slaves in the 
 country ; from natural increase they exceed 
 that number now. At even the low average 
 of $300, the price fixed by the emancipa 
 tion act for the slaves of this District, and 
 greatly below their real worth, their value 
 runs up to the enormous sum of $1,200,- 
 000,000 ; and if to that we add the cost of 
 deportation and colonization, at $100 each, 
 which is but a fraction more than is ac 
 tually paid by the Maryland Colonization 
 Society, we have $400,000,000 more. We 
 were not willing to impose a tax on our 
 people sufficient to pay the interest on that 
 sum, in addition to the vast and daily in 
 creasing debt already fixed upon them by 
 the exigencies of the war, and if we had 
 been willing, the country could not bear it. 
 Stated in this form the proposition is noth 
 ing less than the deportation from the 
 country of $1,600,000,000 worth of produc 
 ing labor, and the substitution in its place 
 of an interest-bearing debt of the same 
 amount. 
 
 But, if we are told that it was expected 
 that only the States we represent would 
 accept the proposition, we respectfully 
 submit that even then it involves a sum 
 too great for the financial ability of this 
 Government at this time. According to 
 the census of 1860 
 
 Slaves. 
 
 Kentucky had 225,490 
 
 Maryland 87,188 
 
 Virginia 490,887 
 
 Delaware 1,798 
 
 Missouri 114,965 
 
 Tennessee 275,784 
 
 Making in the whole 1,196,112 
 
 At the same rate of valuation 
 
 these would amount to.... $358,933,500 
 Add for deportation and colo 
 nization $100 each 118,244,533 
 
 And we have the enormous 
 sum of. $478,038,133 
 
 We did not feel that we should be justi 
 fied in voting for a measure which, if car 
 ried out, would add this vast amount to 
 our public debt at a moment when the 
 Treasury was reeling under the enormous 
 expenditure of the war. 
 
 Again, it seemed to us that this resolu 
 tion was but the annunciation of a senti 
 ment which could not or was not likely to 
 be reduced to an actual tangible proposi 
 tion. No movement was then made to 
 provide and appropriate the funds required 
 to carry it into effect ; and we were not en 
 couraged to believe that funds would be 
 provided. And our belief has been fully 
 justified by subsequent events. Not to 
 mention other circumstances, it is quite 
 sufficient for our purpose to bring to your 
 notice the fact that, while this resolution 
 was under consideration in the Senate, our 
 colleague, the Senator from Kentucky, 
 moved an amendment appropriating $500,- 
 000 to the object therein designated, and it 
 was voted down with great unanimity. What 
 confidence, then, could we reasonably feel 
 that if we committed ourselves to the 
 policy it proposed, our constituents would 
 reap the fruits of the promise held out ; 
 and on what ground could we, as fair men, 
 approach them and challenge their sup 
 port? 
 
 The right to hold slaves is a right apper 
 taining to all the States of this Union. 
 They have the right to cherish or abolish 
 the institution, as their tastes or their in 
 terests may prompt, and no one is autho 
 rized to question the right or limit the en 
 joyment. And no one has more clearly 
 affirmed that right than you have. Your 
 inaugural address does you great honor in 
 this respect, and inspired the country with 
 confidence in your fairness and respect for 
 the law. Our States are in the enjoyment 
 of that right. We do not feel called on to 
 defend the institution or to affirm it is one 
 which ought to be cherished ; perhaps, if 
 we were to make the attempt, we might 
 find that we differ even among ourselves. 
 It is enough for our purpose to know that 
 it is a right ; and, so knowing, we did not 
 see why we should now be expected to 
 yield it. We had contributed our full 
 share to relieve the country at this terrible 
 crisis ; we had done as much as had been 
 required of others in like circumstances ; 
 and we did not see why .sacrifices should 
 be expected of us from which others, no 
 more loyal, were exempt. Nor could we 
 see what good the nation would derive 
 from it. 
 
 Such a sacrifice submitted to by us 
 would not have strengthened the arm of 
 this Government or weakened that of the 
 enemy. It was not necessary as a pledge 
 of our loyalty, for that had been mani 
 fested beyond a reasonable doubt, in every 
 form, and at every place possible. There 
 was not the remotest probability that the 
 States we represent would join in the re 
 bellion, nor is there now, or of their elect 
 ing to go with the southern section in the 
 event of a recognition of the independence 
 of any part of the disaffected region. Our 
 
140 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 States are fixed unalterably in their reso 
 lution to adhere to and support the Union. 
 They see no safety for themselves, and no 
 hope for constitutional liberty but by its 
 preservation. They will, under no cir 
 cumstances, consent to its dissolution ; and 
 we do them no more than justice when we 
 assure you that, while the war is conducted 
 to prevent that deplorable catastrophe, 
 they will sustain it as long as they can 
 muster a man or command a dollar. Nor 
 will they ever consent, in any event, to 
 unite with the Southern Confederacy. The 
 bitter fruits of the peculiar doctrines of 
 that region will forever prevent them from 
 placing their security and happiness in the 
 custody of an association which has incor 
 porated in its organic law the seeds of its 
 own destruction. 
 ****** * * 
 
 Mr. President, we have stated with frank 
 ness and candor the reasons on which we 
 forbore to vote for the resolution you have 
 mentioned ; but you have again presented 
 this proposition, and appealed to us with 
 an earnestness and eloquence which have 
 not failed to impress us, to " consider it, 
 and at the least to commend it to the con 
 sideration of our States and people." Thus 
 appealed to by the Chief Magistrate of our 
 beloved country, in the hour of its greatest 
 peril, we cannot wholly decline. We are 
 willing to trust every question relating to 
 their interest. and happiness to the con 
 sideration and ultimate judgment of our 
 own people. While differing from you as 
 to the necessity of emancipating the slaves 
 of our States as a means of putting down 
 the rebellion, and while protesting against 
 the propriety of any extra-territorial inter 
 ference to induce the people of our States 
 to adopt any particular line of policy on a 
 subject which peculiarly and exclusively 
 belongs to them, yet, when you and our 
 brethren of the loyal States sincerely be 
 lieve that the retention of slavery by us is 
 an obstacle to peace and national harmony, 
 and are willing to contribute pecuniary aid 
 to compensate our States and people for 
 the inconveniences produced by such a 
 change of system, we are not unwilling 
 that our people shall consider the propriety 
 of putting it aside. 
 
 But we have already said that we re 
 garded this resolution as the utterance of 
 a sentiment, and we had no confidence 
 that it would assume the shape of a tangi 
 ble, practical proposition, which would 
 yield the fruits of the sacrifice it required. 
 Our people are influenced by the same 
 want of confidence, and will not consider 
 the proposition in its present impalpable 
 form. The interest they are asked to give 
 up is to them of much importance, and 
 they ought not to be expected even to en 
 tertain the proposal until they are assured 
 that when they accept it their just expect 
 
 ations will not be frustrated. We regard 
 your plan as a proposition from the Nation 
 to the States to exercise an admitted con 
 stitutional right in a particular manner 
 and yield up a valuable interest. Before 
 they ought to consider the proposition, it 
 should be presented in such a tangible, 
 practical, efficient shape as to command 
 their confidence that its fruits are contin 
 gent only upon their acceptance. We can 
 not trust anything to the contingencies of 
 future legislation. 
 
 If Congress, by proper and necessary 
 legislation, shall provide sufficient funds 
 and place them at your disposal, to be ap 
 plied by you to the payment of any of our 
 States or the citizens thereof who shall 
 adopt the abolishment of slavery, either 
 gradual or immediate, as they may deter 
 mine, and the expense of deportation and 
 colonization of the liberated slaves, then 
 will our State and people take this propo 
 sition into careful consideration, for such 
 decision as in their judgment is demanded 
 by their interest, their honor, and their 
 duty to the whole country. We have the 
 honor to be, with great respect, 
 
 C. A. WICKLIFFE, Ch'n, 
 GARRETT DAVIS, 
 K. WILSON, 
 J. J. CRITTENDEN, 
 JOHN S. CARLILE, 
 J. W. CRISFIELD, 
 J. S. JACKSON, 
 H. GRIDER, 
 JOHN S. PHELPS, 
 FRANCIS THOMAS, 
 CHAS. B. CALVERT, 
 C. L. LEARY, 
 EDWIN H. WEBSTER, 
 E. MALLORY, 
 AARON HARDING, 
 JAMES S. ROLLINS, 
 J. W. MENZIES, 
 THOMAS L. PRICE, 
 G. W. DUNLAP, 
 WM. A. HALL. 
 
 Others of the minority, among them Sen 
 ator Henderson and Horace Maynard, for 
 warded separate replies, but all rejecting 
 the idea of compensated emancipation. 
 Still Lincoln adhered to and advocated it 
 in his recent annual message sent to Con 
 gress, Dec. 1, 1862, from which we take 
 the following paragraphs, which are in 
 themselves at once curious and interesting : 
 
 " We have two million nine hundred and 
 sixty-three thousand square miles. Europe 
 has three million and eight hundred thou 
 sand, with a population averaging seventy- 
 three and one- third persons to the square 
 mile. Why may not our country, at some 
 time, average as many? Is it less fertile? 
 Has it more waste surface, by mountains, 
 rivers, lakes, deserts, or other causes? Is 
 it inferior to Europe in any natural ad- 
 
EMANCIPATION. 
 
 141 
 
 vantage ? If, then, we are at some time to 
 be as populous as Europe, how soon ? As 
 to when this may be, we can judge by the 
 past and the present ; as to when it will be, 
 if ever, depends much on whether we 
 maintain the Union. Several of our States 
 are already above the average of Europe 
 seventy-three and a third to the square 
 mile. Massachusetts has 157 ; Rhode 
 Island, 133 ; Connecticut, 99 ; New York 
 and New Jersey, each, 80. Also two other 
 great states, Pennsylvania and Ohio, are 
 not far below, the former having 63 and 
 the latter 59. The states already above 
 the European average, except New York, 
 have increased in as rapid a ratio, since 
 passing that point, as ever before ; while 
 no one of them is equal to some other parts 
 of our country in natural capacity for sus 
 taining a dense population. 
 
 "Taking the nation in the aggregate, 
 and we find its population and ratio of in 
 crease, for the several decennial periods, to 
 be as follows : 
 
 1790 3,929,827 Ratio of increase. 
 
 1800 5,305,937 35.02 per cent. 
 
 1810 7,239,814 36.45 " 
 
 1820 9,638,131 33.13 " 
 
 1830 12,866,020 33.49 " 
 
 1840 17,069,453 32.67 " 
 
 1850 23,191,876 35.87 " 
 
 1860 31,443,790 35.58 " 
 
 This shows an annual decennial increase 
 of 34.69 per cent, in population through 
 the seventy years from our first to our last 
 census yet taken. It is seen that the ratio 
 of increase, at no one of these seven periods 
 is either two per cent, below or two per 
 cent, above the average ; thus showing how 
 inflexible, and, consequently, how reliable, 
 the law of increase in our case is. Assum 
 ing that it will continue, gives the follow 
 ing results : 
 
 1870 42,323,341 
 
 1880 56,967,216 
 
 1890 76,677,872 
 
 1900 103,208,415 
 
 1910 138,918,526 
 
 1920 186,984,335 
 
 1930 251,680,914 
 
 "These figures show that our country 
 may be as populous as Europe now is at 
 some point between 1920 and 1930 say 
 about 1925 our territory, at seventy-three 
 and a third persons to the square mile, be 
 ing of capacity to contain 217,186,000. 
 
 And we will reach this, too, if we do 
 not ourselves relinquish the chance by the 
 folly and evils of disunion, or by long and 
 exhausting war springing from the only 
 great element of national discord among 
 us. While it cannot be foreseen exactly 
 how much one huge example of secession, 
 breeding lesser ones indefinitely, would re 
 tard population, civilization, and prosperity 
 
 no one can doubt that the extent of it 
 would be very great and injurious. 
 
 The proposed emancipation would short 
 en the war, perpetuate peace, insure this 
 increase of population, and proportionately 
 the wealth of the country. With these, we 
 should pay all the emancipation would cost, 
 together with our other debt, easier than 
 we should pay our other debt without it. 
 If we had allowed our old national debt to 
 run at six per cent, per annum, simple in 
 terest, from the end of our revolutionary 
 struggle until to-day, without paying any 
 thing on either principal or interest, each 
 man of us would owe less upon that debt 
 now than each man owed upon it then; 
 and this because our increase of men 
 through the whole period has been greater 
 than six per cent. ; has run faster than the 
 interest upon the debt. Thus, time alone 
 relieves a debtor nation, so long as its popu 
 lation increases faster than unpaid interest 
 accumulates on its debt. 
 
 "This fact would be no excuse for de 
 laying payment of what is justly due ; but 
 it shows the great importance of time in 
 this connection the great advantage of a 
 policy by which we shall not have to pay 
 until we number a hundred millions, what, 
 by a different policy, we would have to pay 
 now, when we number but thirty-one mil 
 lions. In a word, it shows that a dollar 
 will be much harder to pay for the war 
 than will be a dollar for emancipation on 
 the proposed plan. And then the latter 
 will cost no blood, no precious life. It will 
 be a saving of both." 
 
 Various propositions and measures re 
 lating to compensated emancipation, were 
 afterwards considered in both Houses, but 
 it was in March, 1863, dropped after a 
 refusal of the House to suspend the rules 
 for the consideration of the subject. 
 
 Emancipation as a War Necessity. 
 
 Before the idea of compensated emanci 
 pation had been dropped, and it was con 
 stantly discouraged by the Democrats and 
 Border Statesmen, President Lincoln had 
 determined upon a more radical policy, 
 and on the 22d of September, 1862, issued 
 his celebrated proclamation declaring that 
 he would emancipate " all persons held aa 
 slaves within any State or designated part 
 of a State, the people whereof shall be in 
 rebellion against the United States" by 
 the first of January, 1863, if such sections 
 were not " in good faith represented in 
 Congress." He followed this by actual 
 emancipation at the time stated. 
 
 Proclamation of Sept. 33, 1863. 
 
 I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the 
 United States of America, and Commander- 
 in-Chief of the army and navy thereof, do 
 
142 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, 
 as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted 
 for the object of practically restoring the 
 constitutional relation between the United 
 States and each of the States and the peo 
 ple thereof, in which States that relation 
 is or may be suspended or disturbed. 
 
 That it is my purpose, upon the next 
 meeting of Congress, to again recommend 
 the adoption of a practical measure tender 
 ing pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or 
 rejection of all slave States, so called, the 
 people thereof may not then be in rebellion 
 against the United States, and which States 
 may then have voluntarily adopted, or 
 thereafter may voluntarily adopt, imme 
 diate or gradual abolishment of slavery 
 within their respected limits ; and that the 
 effort to colonize persons of African descent 
 with their consent upon this continent or 
 elsewhere, with the previously obtained 
 consent of the Governments existing there, 
 will be continued. 
 
 That on the first day of January, in the 
 year of our Lord one thousand eight hun 
 dred and sixty-three, all persons held as 
 slaves within any State or designated part 
 of a State, the people whereof shall then be 
 in rebellion against the United States, shall 
 be then, thenceforward, and forever free ; 
 and the Executive Government of the 
 United States, including the military and 
 naval authority thereof, will recognize and 
 maintain the freedom of such persons, and 
 will do no act or acts to repress such per 
 sons, or any of them, in any efforts they 
 may make for their actual freedom. 
 
 That the Executive will, on the first day 
 of January aforesaid, by proclamation, de 
 signate the States and parts of States, if 
 any, in which the people thereof respective 
 ly, shall then be in rebellion against the 
 United States ; and the fact that any State, 
 or the people thereof, shall on that day be, 
 in good faith, represented in the Congress 
 of the United States by members chosen 
 thereto at elections wherein a majority of 
 the qualified voters of such State shall have 
 participated, shall, in the absence of strong 
 countervailing testimony, be deemed con 
 clusive evidence that such State, and the 
 people thereof, are not in rebellion against 
 the United States. 
 
 That attention is hereby called to an act 
 of Congress entitled " An act to make an 
 additional article of war," approved March 
 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and 
 figures following : 
 
 lt Be it enacted by the Senate and House 
 of Representatives of the United States 
 of America in Congress assembled, That 
 nereafter the following shall be promulga 
 ted as an additional article of war, for the 
 government of the army of the United 
 States, and shall be obeyed and observed 
 as such. 
 
 " AETIOLE . All officers or persons in 
 
 the military or naval service of the United 
 States are prohibited from employing any 
 of the forces under their respective com 
 mands for the purpose of returning fugi 
 tives from service or labor who may have 
 escaped from any persons to whom such 
 service or labor is claimed to be due, and 
 any officer who shall be found guilty by a 
 court-martial of violating this article shall 
 be dismissed from the service. 
 
 "SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That 
 this act " shall take effect from and after its 
 passage." 
 
 Also to the ninth and tenth sections of 
 an act entitled " An act to suppress insur 
 rection, to punish treason and rebellion, to 
 seize and confiscate property of rebels, and 
 for other purposes," approved July 17, 
 1862, and which sections are in the words 
 and figures following : 
 
 " SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That 
 all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be 
 engaged in rebellion against the Govern 
 ment of the United States or who shall in 
 any way give aid or comfort thereto, escap 
 ing from such persons and taking refuge 
 within the lines of the army ; and all slaves 
 captured from such persons or deserted by 
 them, and coming under the control of the 
 Government of the United States; and 
 all slaves of such persons found on [or] 
 being within any place occupied by rebel 
 forces and afterwards occupied by the 
 forces of the United States, shall be deem 
 ed captives of war, and shall be forever 
 free of their servitude, and not again held 
 as slaves. 
 
 " SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That 
 no slave escaping into any State, Territory, 
 or the District of Columbia, from any other 
 State, shall be delivered up, or in any way 
 impeded or hindered of his liberty, except 
 for crime, or some offence against the laws, 
 unless the person claiming said fugitive 
 shall first make oath that the person to 
 whom the labor or service of sucn fugitive 
 is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, 
 and has not borne arms against the United 
 States in the present rebellion, nor in any 
 way given aid and comfort thereto ; and no 
 person engaged in the military or naval 
 service of the United States shall, under 
 any pretence whatever, assume to decide 
 on the validity of the claim of any person 
 to the service or labor of any other per 
 son, or surrender up any such person to 
 the claimant, on pain of being dismissed 
 from the service." 
 
 And I do hereby enjoin upon and order 
 all persons engaged in the military and na 
 val service of the United States to observe, 
 obey, and enforce, within their respective 
 spheres of service, the act and sections 
 above recited. 
 
 And the Executive will in due time 
 recommend that all citizens of the 
 United States who shall have remained 
 
EMANCIPATION. 
 
 143 
 
 loyal thereto throughout the rebellion shall 
 (upon the restoration of the constitutional 
 relation between the United States and 
 their respective States and people, if that 
 relation shall have been suspended or dis 
 turbed) be compensated for all losses by 
 acts of the United States, including the 
 loss of slaves. 
 
 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set 
 my hand, and caused the seal of the United 
 States to be affixed. 
 
 Done at the city of Washington this 
 twenty-second day of September, in the 
 year of our Lord one thousand eight hun 
 dred and sixty-two, and of the indepen 
 dence of the United States the eighty- 
 seventh. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 By the President : 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. 
 
 Proclamation of January 1, 1863. 
 
 WHEREAS, on the twenty -second day of 
 September, in the year of our Lord one 
 thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, 
 a proclamation was issued by the Presi 
 dent of the United States, containing 
 among other things, the following, to wit : 
 
 " That on the first day of January, in 
 the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
 hundred and sixty-three, all persons held 
 as slaves within any State or designated 
 part of a State, the 'people whereof shall 
 then be in rebellion against the United 
 States, shall be then, thenceforward, and 
 forever, free ; and the Executive Govern 
 ment of the United States, including the 
 military and naval authority thereof, will 
 recognize and maintain the freedom of 
 such persons, and will do no act or acts to 
 repress such persons, or any of them, in any 
 efforts they may make for their actual free 
 dom. 
 
 "That the Executive will, on the first 
 day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, 
 designate the States and parts of States, if 
 any, in which the people thereof, respec 
 tively, shall then be in rebellion against 
 the United States ; and the fact that any 
 State, or the people thereof, shall on that 
 day be in good faith represented in the 
 Congress of the United States, by mem 
 bers chosen thereto at elections wherein a 
 majority of the qualified voters of such 
 States shall have participated, shall, in the 
 absence of strong countervailing testi 
 mony, be deemed conclusive evidence 
 that such State, and the people thereof, are 
 then in rebellion against the United 
 States." 
 
 Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 
 President of the United States, by virtue 
 of the power in me vested as Commander- 
 in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the 
 United States, in time of actual armed re 
 bellion against the authority and Govern 
 
 ment of the United States, and as a fit and 
 necessary war measure for suppressing said 
 rebellion, do, on this first day of January, 
 in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
 hundred and sixty-three, and in accord 
 ance with my purpose so to do, publicly 
 proclaimed for the full period of one hun 
 dred days from the day first above men 
 tioned, order and designate as the States 
 and parts of States wherein the people 
 thereof, respectively, are this day in rebel 
 lion against the United States, the follow 
 ing, to wit: 
 
 Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the 
 parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemiues, Jef 
 ferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, 
 Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, La- 
 fourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, 
 including the city of New Orleans,) Mis 
 sissippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South 
 Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, 
 (except the forty-eight counties designated 
 as West Virginia, and also the counties of 
 Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Eliza 
 beth City, York, Princess Ann, and Nor 
 folk, including the cities of Norfolk and 
 Portsmouth,) and which excepted parts 
 are for the present left precisely as if this 
 proclamation were not issued. 
 
 And by virtue of the power and for the 
 purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare 
 that all persons held as slaves within said 
 designated States and parts of States are, 
 and henceforward shall be, free ; and that 
 the Executive Government of the United 
 States, including the military and naval 
 authorities thereof, will recognize and 
 maintain the freedom of said persons. 
 
 And I hereby enjoin upon the people so 
 declared to be free to abstain from all vio 
 lence, unless in necessary self-defence ; and 
 I recommend to them that, in all cases 
 when allowed, they labor faithfully for 
 reasonable wages. 
 
 And I further declare and make known 
 that such j>ersons, of suitable condition, 
 will be received into the armed service of 
 the United States to garrison forts, positions, 
 stations, and other places, and to man 
 vessels of all sorts in said service. 
 
 And upon this act, sincerely believed to 
 be an act of justice, warranted by the Con 
 stitution upon military necessity, I invoke 
 the considerate judgment of mankind and 
 the gracious favor of Almighty God. 
 
 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set 
 my hand and caused the seal of the United 
 States to be affixed. 
 
 Done at the city of Washington this 
 first day of January, in the year of our 
 Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
 sixty-three, and of the independence of 
 the United States of America the eighty- 
 seventh. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 By the President : 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD, 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
144 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 These proclamations were followed by 
 many attempts on the part of the Demo 
 crats to declare them null and void, but all 
 such were tabled. The House on the 15th 
 of December, 1862, endorsed the first by 
 a vote of 78 to 51, almost a strict party 
 vote. Two classed as Democrats, voted for 
 emancipation Haight and Noell; seven 
 classed as Republicans, voted against it 
 Granger, Harrison, Leary, Maynard, Benj. 
 F. Thomas, Francis Thomas, and Whaley. 
 
 Just previous to the issuance of the first 
 proclamation a meeting of the Governors 
 of the Northern States had been called to 
 consider how best their States could aid 
 the general conduct of the war. Some of 
 them had conferred with the President, 
 and while that meeting and the date of the 
 emancipation proclamation are the same, 
 it was publicly denied on the floor of Con 
 gress by Mr. Boutwell (June 25, 1864,) 
 that the proclamation was the result of 
 that meeting of the Governors. That they 
 fully endorsed and knew of it, however, is 
 shown by the following 
 
 Address of loyal Governors to the President. 
 
 Adopted at a meeting of Governors of 
 loyal States, held to take measures for 
 the more active support of the Govern 
 ment, at Altoona, Pennsylvania, on the 
 22d day of September, 1862. 
 
 After nearly one year and a half spent 
 in contest with an armed and gigantic re 
 bellion against the national Government of 
 the United States, the dutv and purpose of 
 the loyal States and people continue, and 
 must always remain as they were at its 
 origin namely, to restore and perpetuate 
 the authority of this Government and the 
 life of the nation. No matter what con 
 sequences are involved in our fidelity, this 
 work of restoring the Republic, preserving 
 the institutions of democratic liberty, and 
 justifying the hopes and toils of our fathers 
 shall not fail to be performed. 
 
 And we pledge without hesitation, to the 
 President of the United States, the most 
 loyal and cordial support, hereafter as 
 heretofore, in the exercise of the functions 
 of his great office. We recognize in him 
 the Chief Executive Magistrate of the 
 nation, the Commander-in-chief of the 
 Army and Navy of the United States, their 
 responsible and constitutional head, whose 
 rightful authority and power, as well as the 
 constitutional powers of Congress, must be 
 rigorously and religiously guarded and 
 preserved, as the condition on which alone 
 our form of Government and the constitu 
 tional rights and liberties of the people 
 themselves can be saved from the wreck of 
 anarchy or from the gulf of despotism. 
 
 In submission to the laws which may 
 have been or which may be duly enacted, 
 
 and to the lawful orders of the President, 
 co-operating always in our own spheres 
 with the national Government, we mean to 
 continue in the most vigorous exercise of 
 all our lawful and proper powers, contend 
 ing against treason, rebellion, and the pub 
 lic enemies, and, whether in public life or 
 in private station, supporting the arms of 
 the Union, until its cause shall conquer, 
 until final victory shall perch upon its 
 standard, or the rebel foe shall yield a 
 dutiful, rightful, and unconditional sub 
 mission. 
 
 And, impressed with the conviction that 
 an army of reserve ought, until the war 
 shall end, to be constantly kept on foot, to 
 be raised, armed, equipped, and trained at 
 home, and ready for emergencies, we re 
 spectfully ask the President to call for such 
 a force of volunteers for one year's service, 
 of not less than one hundred thousand in 
 the aggregate, the quota of each State to 
 be raised after it shall have filled its quota 
 of the requisitions already made, both for 
 volunteers and militia. We believe that 
 this would be a measure of military pru 
 dence, while it would greatly promote the 
 military education of the people. 
 
 We hail with heartfelt gratitude and en 
 couraged hope the proclamation of the 
 President, issued on the 22d instant, de 
 claring emancipated from their bondage 
 all persons held to service or labor as 
 slaves in the rebel States, whose rebellion 
 shall last until the first day of January 
 now next ensuing. The right of any per 
 son to retain authority to compel any por 
 tion of the subjects of the national Gov 
 ernment to rebel against it, or to maintain 
 its enemies, implies in those who are al 
 lowed possession of such authority the 
 right to rebel themselves; and therefore 
 the right to establish martial law or mili 
 tary government in a State or territory in 
 rebellion implies the right and the duty 
 of the Government to liberate the minds 
 of all men living therein by appropriate 
 proclamations and assurances of protection, 
 in order that all who are capable, intel 
 lectually and morally, of loyalty and 
 obedience, may not be forced into treason 
 as the unwilling tools of rebellious traitors. 
 To have continued indefinitely the most 
 efficient cause, support, and stay of the re 
 bellion, would have been, in our judg 
 ment, unjust to the loyal people whose 
 treasure and lives are made a willing sacri 
 fice on the altar of patrotism would have 
 discriminated against the wife who is com 
 pelled to surrender her husband, against 
 the parent who is to surrender his child to 
 the hardships of the camp and the perils 
 of battle, in favor of rebel masters per 
 mitted to retain their slaves. It would 
 have been a final decision alike against 
 humanity, justice, the rights and dignity 
 of the Government, and against sound and 
 
REPEAL OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW. 
 
 145 
 
 wise national policy. The decision of the 
 President to strike at the root of the re 
 bellion will lend new vigor to the efforts 
 and new life and hope to the hearts of the 
 people. Cordially tendering to the Presi 
 dent our respectful assurance of personal 
 and official confidence, we trust and be 
 lieve that the policy now inaugurated will 
 be crowned with success, will give speedy 
 and triumphant victories over our enemies, 
 and secure to this nation and this people 
 the blessing and favor of Almighty God. 
 We believe that the blood of the heroes 
 who have already fallen, and those who 
 may yet give their lives to their country, 
 will not have been shed in vain. 
 
 The splendid valor of our soldiers, their 
 patient endurance, their manly patriotism, 
 and their devotion to duty, demand from 
 us and from all their countrymen the 
 homage of the sincerest gratitude and the 
 pledge of our constant reinforcement and 
 support. A just regard for these brave 
 men, whom we have contributed to place 
 in the field, and for the importance of the 
 duties which may lawfully pertain to us 
 hereafter, has called us into friendly con 
 ference. And now, presenting to our 
 national Chief Magistrate this conclusion 
 of our deliberations, we devote ourselves to 
 our country's service, and we will surround 
 the President with our constant support, 
 trusting that the fidelity and zeal or the 
 loyal States and people will always assure 
 him that he will be constantly maintained 
 in pursuing with the utmost vigor this war 
 for the preservation of the national life 
 and the hope of humanity. 
 
 A. G. 
 
 JOHN A. ANDREW, 
 
 RICHARD YATES, 
 
 ISRAEL WASHBURNE, JR., 
 
 EDWARD SOLOMON, 
 
 SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD, 
 
 O. P. MORTON, 
 
 By D. G. ROSE, his representative, 
 
 WM. SPRAGUE, 
 
 F. H. PEIRPOINT, 
 
 DAVID TOD, 
 
 N. S. BERRY, 
 
 AUSTIN BLAIR. 
 
 Repeal of the Fugitive Slave T.avv. 
 
 The first fugitive slave law passed was 
 that of February 12th, 1793, the second and 
 last that of September 18th, 1850. Vari 
 ous efforts had been made to repeal the lat 
 ter before the war of the rebellion, with 
 out a prospect of success. The situation 
 was now different. The war spirit was 
 high, and both Houses of Congress were in 
 the hands of the Republicans as early as 
 December, 1861, but all of them were not 
 then ready to vote for repeal, while the 
 
 Democrats were at first solidly against it. 
 The bill had passed the Senate in 1850 by 
 27 yeas to 12 nays ; the House by 109 yeas 
 to 76 nays, and yet as late as 1861 such was 
 still the desire of many not to offend the 
 political prejudices of the Border States 
 and of Democrats whose aid was counted 
 upon in the war, that sufficient votes could 
 not be had until June, 1864, to pass the re 
 pealing bill. Republican sentiment ad 
 vanced very slowly in the early years of 
 the war, when the struggle looked doubt 
 ful and when there was a strong desire to 
 hold for the Union every man and county 
 not irrevocably against it ; when success 
 could be foreseen the advances were more 
 rapid, but never as rapid as the more rad 
 ical leaders desired. The record of Con 
 gress in the repeal of the Fugitive Slave 
 Law will illustrate this political fact, in 
 itself worthy of grave study by the poli 
 tician and statesman, and therefore we give 
 it as compiled by McPherson : 
 
 Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress.* 
 
 In Senate, 1861, December 26 Mr. 
 Howe, of Wisconsin, introduced a bill to 
 repeal the fugitive slave law ; which was 
 referred to the Committee on the Judici 
 ary. 
 
 1862, May 24 Mr. Wilson, of Massachu 
 setts, introduced a bill to amend the fugi 
 tive slave law ; which was ordered to be 
 printed and lie on the table. 
 
 June 10 Mr. Wilson moved to take up 
 the bill ; which was agreed to Yeas 25, 
 nays 10, as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Browning, 
 Chandler, Clark, Cowan, Dixon, Doolittle, 
 Fessenden, Foot, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, 
 Harris, Howard, Howe, King, Lane of Kan 
 sas, Morrill, Pomeroy, Simmons, Sumner, 
 Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilson, of 
 Massachusetts. 25. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Carlile, Davis, Latham, 
 
 * On the 23d of July, 1861, the Attorney General, in 
 answer to a letter from the United States Marshal of 
 Kansas, inquiring whether he should assist in the execu 
 tion of the fugitive slave law, wrote : 
 
 ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, July 23, 1861. 
 J. L. McDoWBLL, U. S Marshal, Kansas : 
 
 Your letter, of the llth of July, received 19th, (under 
 frank of Senator Lane, of Kansas,) asks advice whether 
 you should give your official services in the execution of 
 the fugitive slave law. 
 
 It is the President's constitutional duty to " take care 
 that the laws be faithfully executed." That means all the 
 laws. He has no right to discriminate, no right to exe 
 cute the laws he likes, and leave unexecuted those he 
 dislikes. And of course you and I, his subordinates, can 
 have no wider latitude of discretion than he has. Mis 
 souri is a State in the Union. The insurrectionary dis 
 orders in Missouri are but individual crimes, and do not 
 change the legal status of the State, nor change its rights 
 and obligations as a member of the Union. 
 
 A refusal by a ministerial officer to execute any law 
 which properly belongs to his office, is an official misde 
 meanor, of which I have no doubt the President would 
 take notice. Very respectfully 
 
 EDWARD BATES. 
 
146 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 McDougall, Nesmith, Powell, Saulsbury, 
 Stark, Willey, Wright 10.* 
 
 The bill was to secure to claimed fugi 
 tives a right to a jury trial in the district 
 court for the United States for the district 
 in which they may be, and to require the 
 claimant to prove his loyalty. The bill 
 repeals sections 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of the act 
 of 1850, and that part of section 5, which 
 authorizes the summoning of the posse 
 comitatus. When a warrant of return is 
 made either on jury trial or confession of 
 the party in the presence of counsel, hav 
 ing been warned of his rights, the fugitive 
 is to be surrendered to the claimant, or the 
 marshal where necessary, who shall remove 
 him to the boundary line of the district, 
 and there deliver him to the claimant. The 
 bill was not further considered. 
 
 In House, 1861, December 20 Mr. 
 Julian offered this resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That the Judiciary Committee 
 be instructed to report a bill, so amending 
 the fugitive slave law enacted in 1850 as to 
 forbid the recapture or return of any fu 
 gitive from labor without satisfactory proof 
 first made that the claimant of such fugi 
 tive is loyal to the Government. 
 
 Mr. Holman moved to table the resolu 
 tion, which was disagreed to yeas 39, nays 
 78, as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Ancona, Joseph Baity, 
 Biddle, George H. Browne, Cobb, Cooper, 
 Cox, Cravens, Crittenden, Dunlap, English. 
 Fouke, Grider, Harding, Holman, Johnson, 
 Law, Lazear, Leary, Lehman, Mallory, Mor 
 ris, Noble, Noell, Norton, Nugen, Odell, 
 Pendleton, Robinson, Shiel, John B. Steele, 
 William G. Steele, Vallandigham, Wads- 
 worth, Webster, Chilton A. White, Wick- 
 liffe, Woodruff, Wright 39. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, 
 Babbitt, Baker, Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, 
 Francis P. Blair, Samuel S. Blair, Blake, 
 Buffinton, Burnham, Chamberlain, Clark, 
 Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Roscoe 
 Conkling, Cutler, Davis, Dawes, Delano, 
 Duell, Edwards, Eliot, Fessenden, Fran- 
 chot, Frank, Gooch, Goodwin, Gurley, 
 Hale, Hanchett, Harrison, Hooper, Hutch- 
 ins^ Julian, William Kellogg, Lansing, 
 Loomis, Lovejoy, McKnight, McPherson, 
 Marston, Mitchell, Moorhead, Anson P. 
 Morrill, Justin S. Morrill, Olin, Patton, 
 Pike, Pomeroy, Porter, John H. Rice, Rid 
 dle, Edward H. Rollins, Sargent, Sedg- 
 wick, Shanks, Shellabarger, Sherman, 
 Sloan, Spaulding, Stevens, Benjamin F. 
 Thomas, Train, Vandever. Wall, Wallace, 
 Walton, Washburne, Wheeler, Whaley, 
 Ubert S. White, Wilson, Windom, Wor 
 cester 78. 
 
 The resolution was then adopted yeas 
 78, nays 39. 
 
 1862, June 9 Mr. Julian, of Indiana, 
 
 Republicans in Roman,- Democrats in Italic*. 
 
 introduced into the House a resolution in 
 structing the Judiciary Committee to re 
 port a bill for the purpose of repealing the 
 fugitive slave law ; which was tabled yeas 
 66, nays 51, as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. William J. Allen, Anco 
 na, Baily, Biddle, Francis P. Blair, Jacob 
 B. Blair, George H. Browne, William G, 
 Brown, Burnham, Calvert, Casey, Clem 
 ents, Cobb, Corning, Crittenden, Delano, 
 Diven, Granger, Grider, Haight, Hale, 
 Harding, Holman, Johnson, William Kel 
 logg, Kerrigan, Knapp, Lazear, Low, May- 
 nard, Menzies, Moorhead, Morris, Noble, 
 Noell, Norton, Odell, Pendleton, John S. 
 Phelps, Timothy G. Phelps, Porter, Rich 
 ardson, Robinson, James S. Rollins, Sar 
 gent, Segar, Sheffield, Shiel, Smith, JohnB. 
 Steele, William G. Steele, Benjamin F. 
 Thomas, Francis Thomas, Trimble, Val- 
 landigham^erree, Vibbard, Voorhees, Wads- 
 worth, Webster, Chilton A. White, Wick- 
 liffe, Wood, Woodruff, Worcester, Wright 
 66. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Baker, 
 Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Blake, Buffin 
 ton, Chamberlain, Colfax, Frederick A. 
 Conkling, Davis, Dawes, Edg^rton, Ed 
 wards, Eliot, Ely, Franchot, Gooch, Good 
 win, Hanchett, Hutchins, Julian, Kelley, 
 Francis W. Kellogg, Lansing, Lovejoy, 
 McKnight, McPherson, Mitchell, Anson P. 
 Morrill, Pike, Pomeroy, Potter, Alexander 
 H. Rice, John H. Rice, Riddle, Edward H. 
 Rollins, Shellabarger, Sloan, Spaulding, 
 Stevens, Train, Trowbridge, Van Horn, 
 Van Valkenburgh,Wall, Wallace, Wash 
 burne, Albert S. White, Windom -61. 
 
 Same day Mr. Colfax, of Indiana, of 
 fered this resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee on the Ju 
 diciary be instructed to report a bill modi 
 fying the fugitive slave law so as to require 
 a jury trial in all cases where the person 
 claimed denies under oath that he is a slave, 
 and also requiring any claimant under such 
 act to prove that he has been loyal to the 
 Government during the present rebellion. 
 
 Which was agreed to yeas 77, nays 43, 
 as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, 
 Ashley, Babbitt, Baker, Baxter, Beaman, 
 Bingham, Francis P. Blair, Blake, Buffin 
 ton, Burnham, Chamberlain, Colfax, Fred 
 erick A. Conkling, Davis, Dawes, Delano, 
 Diven, Edgerton, Edwards, Eliot, Ely, 
 Franchot, Gooch, Goodwin, Granger, Gur 
 ley, Haight, Hale, Hanchett, Hutchins, 
 Julian, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, Wil 
 liam Kellogg, Lansing, Loomis, Lovejoy, 
 Lowe, McKnight, McPherson, Mitchell, 
 Anson P. Morrill, Justin S. Morrill, Nixon, 
 Timothy G. Phelps, Pike, Pomeroy, Por 
 ter, Potter, Alexander H. Rice, John H. 
 Rice, Riddle, Edward H. Rollins, Sargent, 
 Shanks, Sheffield, Shellabarger, Sloan, 
 Spaulding, Stevens, Stratton, Benjamin F. 
 
REPEAL OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS. 
 
 147 
 
 Thorn: j, Train, Trimble, Trowbridge, Van 
 Valkeuburgh, Verree, Wall, Wallace, 
 Washburne, Albert, S. White, Wilson, 
 Windom, Worcester 77. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. William J. Allen, Ancona, 
 Baily, Biddle, Jacob B. Blair, William G. 
 Brown, Calvert, Casey, Clements, Cobb, 
 Corning, Crittenden, Fouke, Grider, Hard 
 ing, Holman, Johnson, Knapp, Maynard, 
 Menzies, Noble, Noell, Norton, Pendleton, 
 John S. Phelps, Richardson, Robinson, 
 James S Rollins, Segar, Shiel, Smith, John 
 B. Steele, William G. Steele, Francis Thom 
 as, Vallandigham, Vibbard, Voorhees, Wads- 
 worth, Webster, Chilian A. White, Wick- 
 liffe, Wood, Wright. 43. 
 
 Tlilrd. Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. 
 
 In Senate, 1863, February 11 Mr. Ten 
 Eyck, from the Committee on the Judici 
 ary, to whom was referred a bill, intro 
 duced by Senator Howe, in second session, 
 December 26, 1861, to repeal the fugitive 
 slave act of 1850, reported it back without 
 amendment, and with a recommendation 
 that it do not pass. 
 
 First Session, Thirty-Eighth Congress. 
 
 In House, 1863, Dec. 14. Mr. Julian, of 
 Indiana, offered this resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee on the Ju 
 diciary be instructed to report a bill for a 
 repeal of the third and fourth sections of 
 the " act respecting fugitives from justice 
 and persons escaping from the service of 
 their masters," approved February 12, 1793, 
 and the act to amend and supplementary 
 to the aforesaid act, approved September 
 18, 1850. 
 
 Mr. Holman moved that the resolution 
 lie upon the table, which was agreed to 
 yeas 81, nays 73, as follows: 
 
 YEAS Messrs. James C. Allen, William 
 J. Allen, Ancona, Anderson, Baily, Au 
 gustus C. Baldwin, Jacob B. Blair, Bliss, 
 Brooks, James S. Brown, William G. Browne, 
 Clay, Cobb, Coffroth, Cox, Cravens, Creswell, 
 Dawson, Demming, Denison, Eden, Edger- 
 ton, Eldridge, English, Finck, Ganson, 
 Grider, Griswold, Hall, Harding, Harring 
 ton, Benjamin G. Harris, Charles M. Har 
 ris, Higby, Holman, Hutchins, William 
 Johnson, Kernan, King, Knapp, Law, La- 
 zear, Le Blond, Long, Mallory, Marcy, Mar 
 vin, McBride, McDowell, McKinney, Wil 
 liam H. Miller, James R. Morris, Morrison, 
 Nelson, Noble, Odell, John O'Neil, Pendle 
 ton, William H. Randall, Robinson, Rogers, 
 James S. Rollins, Ross, Scott, Smith, Smith- 
 ers, Stebbins, John B. Steele, Stuart, Sweat, 
 Thomas, Voorhees, Wadsworth, Ward, 
 Wheeler, Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, 
 Williams, Winfield, Fernando Wood, Yea- 
 man 81. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, 
 Arnold, Ashley, John D. Baldwin, Baxter, 
 Beaman, Blaine, Blow, Boutwell, Boyd, 
 
 Brandegee, Broomall, Ambrose W. Clark, 
 Freeman Clark, Cole, Henry Winter Da- 
 vis, Dawes, Dixon, Donnelly, Driggs, Du- 
 mont, Eckley, Elior, Farnswori.li, -teuton, 
 Frank, Garfield, Gooch, Grinndt, Hooper, 
 Hotchkiss, Asahel W. Hubbard, John H. 
 Hubbard, Hulburd, Jenckes, Julian, Fran 
 cis W. Kellogg, Orlando Kellogg, Loan, 
 Longyear, Lovejoy, McClurg, Mclndoe, 
 Samuel F. Miller, Moorhead, Mom 11, 
 Amos Myers, Leonard Myers, Norton, 
 Charles O'Neill, Orth, Patterson,Pike, Poin- 
 eroy, Price, Alexander H. Rice, John H. 
 Rice, Edward H. Rollins, Schenck, 
 Seofield, Shannon, Spalding, Thayer, 
 Van Valkenburgh, Elihu B. Wash 
 burne, William B. Wash burn, Whaley, 
 Wilder, Wilson, Windom, Woodbidge 73. 
 < 1864, June 6, Mr. Hubbard, of Connec 
 ticut, offered this resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee on the Ju 
 diciary be instructed to report to this 
 House a bill for the repeal of all acts and 
 parts of acts which provide for the rendi 
 tion of fugitive slaves, and that they have 
 leave to make such report at any time. 
 
 Which went over under the rule. May 
 30, he had made an ineffectual effort to 
 offer it, Mr. Holman objecting. 
 
 REPEALING BILLS. 
 
 1864, April 19, the Senate considered the 
 bill to repeal all acts for the rendition of 
 fugitives from service or labor. The bill 
 was taken up yeas 26, nays 10. 
 
 Mr. Sherman moved to amend by insert 
 ing these words at the end of the bill : 
 
 Except the act approved February 12, 
 1793, entitled " An act respecting fugitives 
 from justice, and persons escaping from the 
 service of their masters." 
 
 Which was agreed to yeas 24, nays 17, 
 as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile^ Col- 
 lamer, Cowan, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, 
 Foster, Harris, Henderson, Hendricks, 
 Howe, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, McDou- 
 gall, Ncsmith, Powell, Riddle, Saulsbury, 
 Sherman, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van Win 
 kle, Willey 24. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Clark, 
 Conness, Fessenden, Grimes, Hale, How 
 ard, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, 
 Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sprague, Simmer, Wil 
 kinson, Wilson 17. 
 
 Mr. Saulsbury moved to add these sec 
 tions : 
 
 And be it further enacted, That no white 
 inhabitant of the United States shall be 
 arrested, or imprisoned, or held to answer 
 fora capital or otherwise infamous crime, 
 except in cases arising in the land or na 
 val forces, or in the militia when in actual 
 service in time of war or public danger, 
 without due process of law. 
 
 And be it further enacted, That no per 
 son engaged in the executive, legislative, 
 
148 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 or judicial departments of the Government 
 of the United States, or holding any office 
 or trust recognized in the Constitution of 
 the United States, and no person in mili 
 tary or naval service of the United States, 
 shall, without due process of law, arrest or 
 imprison any white inhabitant of the Uni 
 ted States who is not, or has not been, or 
 shall not at the time of such arrest or im 
 prisonment be, engaged in levying war 
 against the United States, or in adhering 
 to the enemies of the United States, giv 
 ing them aid and comfort, nor aid, abet, 
 procure or advise the same, except in cases 
 arising in the land or naval forces, or in 
 the militia when in actual service in time 
 of war or public danger. And any person 
 as aforesaid so arresting, or imprisoning, or 
 holding, as aforesaid, as in this and the 
 second section of this act mentioned, or 
 aiding, abetting, or procuring, or advising 
 the same, shall be deemed guilty of fel 
 ony, and, upon conviction thereof in any 
 court of competent jurisdiction, shall be 
 imprisoned for a term of not less than one 
 nor more than five years, shall pay a fine of 
 not less than $1,000 nor more than $5000, 
 and shall be forever incapable of holding 
 any office or public trust under the Gov 
 ernment of the United States. 
 
 Mr. HALE moved to strike out the word 
 "white" wherever it occurs; which was 
 agreed to. 
 
 The amendment of Mr. SAULSBURY, as 
 amended, was then disagreed to yeas 9, 
 nays 27, as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Cowan, 
 Davis, Hendricks, McDougall, Poivell, Rid 
 dle, Saulsbury 9. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Clark, Colla- 
 mer, Conness, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foster, 
 Grimes, Hale, Harris, Howard, Howe, Lane 
 of Indiana, Lane, of Kansas, Morgan, Mor- 
 rill, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sherman, Sprague, 
 Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van Win 
 kle, Wilkinson, Willey, Wilson 27. 
 
 Mr. CONFESS moved to table the bill ; 
 which was disagreed to yeas 9, (Messrs. 
 Buckalew, Carlile, Conness, Davis, Hen 
 dricks, Nesmith, Powell, Riddle, Saulsbury,} 
 nays 31. 
 
 It was not again acted upon. 
 
 1864, June 13 The House passed this 
 bill, introduced by Mr. SPALDING, of Ohio, 
 and reported from the Committee on the 
 Judiciary by Mr. MORRIS, of New York 
 as follows : 
 
 Be it enacted, etc., that sections three and 
 four of an act entitled " An act respecting 
 fugitives from justice and persons escaping 
 from the service of their masters," passec 
 February 12, 1793, and an Act entitled 
 " An act to amend, and supplementary to 
 the act entitled ' An act respecting fugi 
 tives from justice, and persons escaping 
 from their masters,' passed February 12 
 
 1793," passed September 18, 1850, be, and 
 he same are hereby, repealed. 
 
 Yeas 86, nays 60, as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, Ar 
 nold, Ashley, John D. Baldwin, Baxter, 
 3eaman, Elaine, Blair, Blow, Boutwell, 
 3oyd, Brandegee, Broomall, Ambrose W. 
 Clarke, Freeeman Clark, Cobb, Cole, Cres- 
 well, Henry Winter Davis, Thomas T. Da- 
 avis, Dawes, Dixon, Donnelly,Driggs, Eck- 
 ey, Eliot, Farnsworth, Fenton, Frank, Gar- 
 ield, Gooch, Griswold, Higby, Hooper, 
 Sotchkiss, Asahel W. Hubbard, John K. 
 Hubbard, Hulburd, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Ju- 
 iaii, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, O. Kel- 
 
 gg, Littlejohn, Loan, Longyear, Marvin, 
 
 cClurg, Mclndoe, Samuel F. Miller, 
 Moorhead, Morrill, Daniel Morris, Amos 
 Myers, Leonard Myers, Norton, Charles 
 O'Neill, Orth, Patterson, Perham, Pike, 
 Price, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, 
 Schenck, Scofield, Shannon, Sloan, Spald- 
 ing, Starr, Stevens, Thayer, Thomas, Tracy, 
 Upson, Van Valkenburgh, Webster, Wha- 
 ley, Williams, Wilder, Wilson, Windom, 
 Woodbridge 86. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. James C. Allen, William 
 J. Allen, Ancona, Augustus C. Baldwin, 
 Bliss, Brooks, James . Brown, Chanler, 
 Cqfroth, Cox, Cravens, Dawson, Denison, 
 Eden, Edgerton, Eldridge, English, Finck, 
 Ganson, Grider, Harding, Harrington, 
 Charles M. Harris, Herrick, Holman, 
 Hutchins, Kalbfleisch, Kernan, King, Knapp, 
 Law, Lazear, Le Blond, Mallory, Marcy, 
 McDowell, McKinney, Wm. H. Miller, James 
 R. Morris, Morrison, Odell, Pendleton, 
 Pruyn, Radford, Robinson, Jas. S. Rollins, 
 Ross, Smithers, John B. Steele, Wm. G. 
 Steele, Stiles, Strouse, Stuart, Sweat, Wads- 
 worth, Ward, Wheeler, Chilton A. White, 
 Joseph W. White, Fernando Wood 60. 
 
 June 22 This bill was taken up in the 
 Senate, when Mr. SAULSBURY moved this 
 substitute : 
 
 That no person held to service or labor 
 in one State, under the laws thereof, escap 
 ing into another, shall, in consequence of 
 any law or regulation therein, be discharged 
 from such service or labor, but shall be de 
 livered up on claim of the party to whom 
 such service or labor may be due ; and 
 Congress shall pass all necessary and pro 
 per laws for the rendition of all such per 
 sons who shall so, as aforesaid, escape. 
 
 Which was rejected yeas 9, nays 29, as 
 follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Buckalcw, Carlile, Cowan, 
 Davis, Me Don gall, Powell, Richardson, 
 Riddle, Saulsbury 9. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Chand 
 ler, Clark, Conness, Dixon, Foot, Grimes, 
 Hale, Harlan, Harris, Hicks, Howard, 
 Howe, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, Lane 
 of Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, Pomeroy, 
 Ramsey, Sprague, Sumner, Ten Eyck, 
 Trumbull, Van Winkle, Wade, Willey 29. 
 
FINANCIAL LEGISLATION INTERNAL TAXES. 149 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON, of Maryland, moved an 
 amendment to substitute a clause repeal 
 ing the act of 1850 ; which was rejected 
 yeas 17, nays 22, as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs.. Buckalew,Carlile, Cowan 
 D.ivis, Harris, Hicks, Johnson, Lane o 
 Indiana, McDougall, Powell, Richardson 
 Riddle, Szulsbury, Ten Eyck, Trumbull 
 Van Winkle, Willey 17. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Chand 
 ler, Clark, Conness, Dixon, Fessenden 
 Foot, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Howard 
 Howe, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, MorrilL 
 Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sprague, Sumner, Wade 
 Wilson 22. 
 
 The bill then passed yeas 27, nays 12. 
 as follows: 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Chand 
 ler, Clark, Conness, Dixon, Fessenden, 
 Foot, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, Hicks, 
 Howard, Howe, Lane of Indiana, Lane of 
 Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, Pomeroy, Ram 
 sey, Sprague, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trum 
 bull, Wade, Wilson 27. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Cowan, 
 Davis, Johnson, McDougall, Powell, Rich 
 ardson, Riddle, Saulsbury, Van Winkle, 
 Willey 12. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President, approved 
 it, June 23, 1834 
 
 Scward as Secretary of State. 
 
 Win. H. Seward was a master in diplo 
 macy and Statecraft, and to his skill the 
 Unionists were indebted for all avoidance 
 of serious foreign complications while the 
 war was going o i. The most notable case 
 coming under his supervision was that of 
 the capture of Mason an J Slidell, by Com 
 modore Wilkas, who, on the 8th of Novem 
 ber, 1831, had intercepted the Trent with 
 Szn Jacinto. The prisoners were Confed 
 erate agents on their way to St. James and 
 St. Cloud. Both had been prominent Sen 
 ators, early secessionists, and the popular 
 impulse of ths North was to hold and pun 
 ish them. Both Lincoln and Seward wisely 
 resisted the passions of the hour, and when 
 Great Britain demanded their release 
 under the treaty of Ghent, wherein the 
 right of future search of vessels was dis 
 avowed, Saward yielded, and referring to 
 the terms of the treity, said : 
 
 " If I decide this case in favor of my 
 own Government, I must disavow its most 
 cherished principles, and reverse and for 
 ever abandon its essential policy. The 
 country cannot afford tjie sacrifice. If I 
 maintain those principles and adhere to 
 that policy, I must surrender the case 
 itself/ 
 
 The North, with high confidence in their 
 President and Cabinet, readily conceded 
 the wisdom of the argument, especially as 
 it was clinched in the newspapers of the 
 day by one of Lincoln's homely remarks : 
 
 " One war at a time." A war with Great 
 Britain was thus happily avoided. 
 
 With the incidents of the war, however, 
 save as they affected politics and politi 
 cians, this work has little to do, and we 
 therefore pass the suspension of the writ of 
 habeas corpus, which suspension was em 
 ployed in breaking up the Maryland Legis 
 lature and other bodies when they con 
 templated secession, and it facilitated the 
 arrest and punishment of men throughout 
 the North who were suspected of giving 
 "aid and comfort to the enemy." The 
 alleged arbitrary character of these arrests 
 caused much complaint from Democratic 
 Senators and Representatives, but the right 
 was fully enforced in the face of every form 
 of protest until the war closed. The mo4 
 prominent arrest was that of Clement L. 
 Vallandigham, member of Congress from 
 Ohio, who was sent into the Southern lines. 
 From thence he went to Canada, and when 
 a candidate for Governor in Ohio, was de 
 feated by over 100,000 majority. 
 
 Financial Legislation Internal Taxes* 
 
 The Financial legislation during the 
 war was as follows : 
 
 1860, December 17 Authorized an issue 
 of $10,000,000 in TREASURY NOTES, to be 
 redeemed after the expiration of one year 
 from the date of issue, and bearing such a 
 rate of interest as may be offered by the 
 lowest bidders. Authority was given to 
 issue these notes in payment of warrants in 
 favor of public creditors at their par value, 
 rearing six per cent, interest per annum. 
 
 1861, February 8 Authorized a LOAN of 
 ^25,000,000, bearing interest at a rate not 
 exceeding six per cent, per annum, and 
 reimbursable within a period not beyond 
 ;wenty years nor less than ten years. This, 
 oan was made for the payment of the cur 
 rent expenses, and was to be awarded to 
 
 he most favorable bidders. 
 
 March 2 Authorized a LOAN of $10,- 
 )00,000, bearing interest at a rate not ex 
 ceeding six per cent, per annum, and re- 
 mbursable after the expiration of ten 
 /ears from July 1, 1861. In case propo- 
 als for the loan were not acceptable, au- 
 hority was given to issue the ^ whole 
 amount in TREASURY NOTES, bearing in- 
 erest at a rate not exceeding six per cent, 
 per annum. Authority was also given to 
 ubstitute TREASURE NOTES for the whole 
 >r any part of the loans for which the Sec- 
 etary was by law authorized to contract 
 ind issue bonds, at the time of the passage 
 f this act, and such treasury notes were to 
 >e made receivable in payment of all pub 
 ic dues, and redeemable at any time 
 vithin two years from March 2, 1861. 
 
 March 2 Authorized an issue, should 
 he Secretary of the Treasury deem it ex 
 pedient, of $2,800,000 in coupon BONDS, 
 >earing interest at the rate of six per cent, 
 
150 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 per annum, and redeemable in twenty 
 Years, for the payment of expenses incurred 
 by the Territories of Washington and 
 Oregon in the suppression of Indian hos 
 tilities during the year 1855-'56. 
 
 July 17 Authorized a loan of $250,000,- 
 000, lor which could be issued BONDS bear 
 ing interest at a rate not exceeding 7 per 
 cent, per annum, irredeemable for twenty 
 years, and after that redeemable at the 
 pleasure of the United States. 
 
 TREASURY NOTES bearing interest at the 
 rate of 7.30 per cent, per annum, payable 
 three years after date ; and 
 
 United States NOTES without interest, 
 payable on demand, to the extent of $50,- 
 000,000. (Increased by act of February 
 12, 1862, to $60,000,000.) 
 
 The bonds and treasury NOTES to be is 
 sued in such proportions of each as the 
 Secretary may deem advisable. 
 
 August 5 -"Authorized an issue of BONDS 
 bearing 6 per cent, interest per annum, 
 and payable at the pleasure of the United 
 States alter twenty years from date, which 
 may be issued in exchange for 7.30 trea 
 sury notes ; but no such bonds to be issued 
 for a less sum than $500, and the whole 
 amount of such bonds not to exceed the 
 whole amount of 7.30 treasury notes issued. 
 
 February 6, 18G2 Making $50,000,000 
 of notes, of denominations less than $5, a 
 legal tender, as recommended by Secretary 
 Chase, was passed January 17, 1862. In 
 the House it received the votes of the Ke- 
 publicans generally, and 38 Democrats. 
 In the Senate it had 30 votes for to 1 
 against, that of Senator Powell. 
 
 18G2, February 25 Authorized the issue 
 of $15,000,000 in legal tender United States 
 NOTES, $50,000,000 of which to be in lieu 
 of demand notes issued under act of July 
 17, 1861, $500,000,000 in 6 per cent, bonds, 
 redeemable aftr five years, and payable 
 twenty years from date, which may be ex 
 changed for United States notes, and a 
 temporary loan of $25,000,000 in United 
 States notes for not less than thirty days, 
 payable after ten days' notice at 5 per 
 cent, interest per annum. 
 
 March 17 Authorized an increase of 
 TEMPORARY LOANS of $25,000,000, bearing 
 interest at a rate not exceeding 5 per cent, 
 per annum. 
 
 July 11 Authorized a further increase 
 of TEMPORARY LOANS of $50,000,000, mak 
 ing the whole amount authorized $100,- 
 000,000. 
 
 March 1 Authorized an issue of CER 
 TIFICATES OF INDEBTEDNESS, payable one 
 year from date, in settlement of audited 
 claims against the Government Interest 
 6 per cent, per annum, payable in gold on 
 those issued prior to March 4, 1863, and in 
 lawful currency on those issued on and 
 after that date. Amount of issue not 
 specified. 
 
 1862, July 11 Authorized an additional 
 issue of $150,000,0f<0 legal tender NOTES, 
 $35,000,000 of which might be in denomi 
 nations less than five dollars. Fifty mil 
 lion dollars of this issue to be reserved to 
 pay temporary loans promptly in case of 
 emergency. 
 
 July 17 Authorized an issue of NOTES 
 of the fractional part of one dollar, receiv 
 able in payment of all dues, except cus 
 toms, less than five dollars. Amount of 
 issue not specified. 
 
 1863, January 17 Authorized the issue 
 of $100,000,000 in United States NOTES for 
 the immediate payment of the army and 
 navy; such notes to be a part of the 
 amount provided for in any bill that may 
 hereafter be passed by this Congress. The 
 amount in this resolution is included in 
 act of March 3, 1863. 
 
 March 3 Authorized a LOAN of 300,- 
 000,000 for this and $600,000,000 for next 
 fiscal year, for which could be issued bonds 
 running not less than ten nor more than 
 forty years, principal and interest payable 
 in coin, bearing interest at a rate not ex 
 ceeding 6 per cent, per annum, payable on 
 bonds not exceeding $100, annually, and on 
 all others scmi-annually. And TREASURY 
 NOTES (to the amount of $400,600,000) not 
 exceeding three years to run, with interest 
 not over 6 per cent, per annum, principal 
 and interest payable in lawful money, 
 which may be made a legal tender for 
 their face value, excluding interest, cr 
 convertible into United States notes. And 
 a further issue of $150,000,000 in United 
 States NOTES for the purpose of converting 
 the Treasury notes which may be issued 
 under this act, and for no other purpose. 
 And a further issue, if necessary, for the 
 payment of the army and navy, and other 
 creditors of the Government, of $150,000,- 
 000 in United States NOTES, which amount 
 includes the $100,000,000 authorized by 
 the joint resolution of Congress, January 
 17, 1863. The whole amount of bonds, 
 treasury notes, and United States rotes 
 issued under this act not to exceed the 
 sum of $900,000,000. 
 
 March 3 Authorized to issue not ex 
 ceeding $50,000,000 in FRACTIONAL CUR 
 RENCY, (in lieu of postage or other stamps,) 
 exchangeable for United States notes in 
 sums not less than three dollars, and re 
 ceivable for any dues to the United States 
 less than five dollars, except duties on im 
 ports. The whole amount issued, includ 
 ing postage and other stamps issued as 
 currency, not to exceed $50,000,000. 
 Authority was given to prepare it in the 
 Treasury Department, under the supervi 
 sion of the Secretary. 
 
 1864, March 3 Authorized, in lieu of so 
 much of the loan of March 3, 1863, a LOAN 
 of $20<>,000,000 for the current fiscal year, 
 for which may be issued bonds redeemable 
 
INTERNAL TAXES. 
 
 151 
 
 after five and within forty years, principal 
 and interest payable in coin, bearing interest 
 at a rate not exceeding 6 per cent, per an 
 num, payable annually on bonds not over 
 $100, and on all others semi-annually. 
 These bonds to be exempt from taxation 
 by or under State or municipal authority. 
 
 1864, June 30 Authorized a LOAN of 
 $100,000,000, for which may be issued 
 bonds, redeemable after five nor more than 
 thirty years, or if deemed expedient, made 
 payable at any period not more than forty 
 years from date interest not exceeding six 
 per cent, semi-annually, in coin. 
 
 Pending the loan bill of June 22, 1862, 
 before the House in Committee of the 
 Whole, and the question being on the first 
 section, authorizing a loan of $400,000,000, 
 closing with this clause : 
 
 And all bonds, Treasury notes, and oth 
 er obligations of the United States shall be 
 exempt from taxation by or under state or 
 municipal authority. 
 
 There was a sharp political controversy 
 on this question, but the House finally 
 agreed to it by 77 to 71. Party lines were 
 not then distinctly drawn on financial issues. 
 
 INTERNAL TAXES. 
 
 The system of internal revenue taxes 
 imposed during the war did not evenly 
 divide parties until near its close, when 
 Democrats were generally arrayed against 
 these taxes. They cannot, from the record, 
 be correctly classed as political issues, yet 
 their adoption and the feelings since en 
 gendered by them, makes a brief summary 
 of the record essential. 
 
 First Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. 
 
 The bill to provide increased revenue 
 from imports, &c., passed the House August 
 2, 1861 yeas 89, nays 39. 
 
 Same day, it passed the Senate yeas 34, 
 nays 8, (Messrs. Breckinridge, Bright, John 
 son, of Missouri, Kennedy, Latham, Polk, 
 Powell, Saulsbury.}* 
 
 Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. 
 
 The Internal Revenue Act 0/1862. 
 
 1862, April 8 The House passed the bill 
 to provide internal revenue, support the 
 Government, and pay interest on the public 
 debt yeas 126, nays 15. The NAYS were : 
 
 Messrs. William Allen, George JET. Browne, 
 Buffinton, Cox, Kerrigan, Knapp, Law, 
 Norton, Pendleton, Richardson, Shiel, Val- 
 landigham, Voorhees, Chilton A. White, 
 Wickliffe15. 
 
 June 6 The bill passed in the Senate- 
 yeas 37, nay 1, (Mr. Powell.} 
 
 First Session Thirty-Eighth Congress. 
 
 Internal Revenue Act of 1864. 
 
 April 28 The House passed the act of 
 
 1864 yeas 110, nays 39. The NAYS were : 
 
 Messrs. James C." Allen, William J. Allen, 
 
 * Democrats in italics. 
 
 Ancona, Brooks, Chanler, Cox, Dawson, 
 Denison, Eden, Eldridge, Finck, Harring 
 ton, Benjamin G. Harris, Herrick, Philip 
 Johnson, William Johnson, Knapp, Law, Le 
 Blond, Long, Marcy, McDowell, McKin- 
 ney, James R. Morris, Morrison, Noble, John 
 O'Neil, Pendleton, Perry, Robinson, Ross, 
 Stiles, Strouse, Stuart, Voorhees, Ward, Chil 
 ton A. White, Joseph W. White, Fernando 
 Wood 39. 
 
 June 6 The Senate amended and passed 
 the bill yeas 22, nays 3, (Messrs. Davis, 
 Hendricks, Powell.) 
 
 The bill, as finally agreed upon by a 
 Committee of Conference, passed without 
 a division. 
 
 Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. 
 
 Tariff Act of 1862. 
 
 In House 1862, July 1 The House 
 passed, without a division, a bill increasing 
 temporarily the duties on imports, and for 
 other purposes. 
 
 July 8 The Senate passed it without a 
 division. 
 
 THE TARIFF ACT OF 1864. 
 
 June 4 The House passed the bill 
 yeas 81, nays 28. The NAYS were : 
 
 Messrs. James C. Allen, Bliss, James S. 
 Brown, Cox, Edgerton, Eldridge, Finck, 
 Grider, Harding, Harrington, 'Chas. M. 
 Harris, Herrick, Holman, Hutchins, Le 
 Blond, Long, Mallory, Marcy, McDoicell, 
 Morrison, Noble, Pendleton, Perry, Pruyii, 
 Ross, Wadsworth, Chilton A. White, Joseph 
 W. White -28. 
 
 June 17 The Senate passed the bill 
 yeas 22, nays 5, (Messrs. Buckalew, Hen 
 dricks, McDougall, Powell, Richardson.} 
 
 Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. 
 
 Taxes in Insurrectionary District*, 1862. 
 
 1862, May 12 The bill for the collec 
 tion of taxes in the insurrectionary dis 
 tricts passed the Senate yeas 32, nays 3, 
 as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Browning, 
 Chandler, Clark, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, 
 Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Harlan, Harris, 
 Henderson, Howe, King, Lane of Indiana, 
 Lane of Kansas, Latham, McDougall, Mor- 
 rill, Nesmith, Pomeroy, Rice, Sherma'n, 
 Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, 
 Wilkinson, Willey, Wilson, of Massachu 
 setts, Wright 32. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Howard, Powell, Sauls- 
 bur]/ 3. 
 
 May 28 The bill passed House yeas 
 98, nays 17. The NAYS were : 
 
 Messrs. Biddle, Calvert, Cravens, Johnson, 
 Kerrigan, Law, Mallory, Menzies, Noble, 
 Norton, Pendleton, Perrif, Francis Thomas 
 VallandigJiam, Ward, Wicklife, Wood 17. 
 
 The Democrats who voted Aye were : 
 
 Messrs. Ancona, Baily, Cobb, English, 
 Haight } Holman, Lehman, Odell, Phelps t 
 * Democrats in italica. 
 
152 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Richardson, James S. Rollins, Sheffield, 
 Smith, John B. Steele, Wm. G. Steele. 
 
 TAXES IN INSURRECTIONARY DISTRICTS, 
 
 1864. 
 
 In Senate, June 27 The bill passed the 
 Senate without a division. 
 
 July 2 It passed the House without a 
 division. 
 
 Many financial measures and proposi 
 tions were rejected, and we shall not at 
 tempt to give the record on these. All 
 that were passed and went into operation 
 can be more readily understood by a glance 
 at our Tabulated History, in Book VII., 
 which gives a full view of the financial 
 history and sets out all the loans and reve 
 nues., We ought not to close this review, 
 however, without giving here a tabulated 
 statement, from " McPherson's History of 
 the Great Rebellion," of 
 
 The Confederate Debt. 
 
 December 31, 1862, the receipts of the 
 Treasury from the commencement of the 
 " Permanent Government " (February 18, 
 1862,) were as follows: 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Patent fund $13,920 00 
 
 Customs 668,566 00 
 
 Miscellaneous 2,291,812 00 
 
 Repayments of disbursing offi 
 cers 3,839,263 00 
 
 Interest on loans 26,583 00 
 
 Call loan certificates .... 59,742,796 00 
 
 One hundred million loan . . 41,398,286 00 
 
 Treasury notes 215,554,885 00 
 
 Interest bearing notes . . . 113,740.000 00 
 
 War tax ' 16,664,513 00 
 
 I<oan 28th of February, 1861 . 1,375,476 00 
 Coin received from Bank of 
 
 Louisiana 2,539,799 00 
 
 Total $457,855,704 00 
 
 Total debt up to December 31, 
 
 1862 656,105,100 00 
 
 Estimated amount at that date 
 necessary to support the Gov 
 ernment to July, 1863, was 357,929,229 00 
 
 Up to December 31, 1862, the issues of 
 the Treasury were : 
 
 Notes $440,678,510 00 
 
 Redeemed 30,193,479 50 
 
 Outstanding $410,485,030 50 
 
 From January 1, 1863, to September 30, 
 1863, the receipts of the Treasury were : 
 
 For 8 per cent, stock .... $107,292,900 70 
 
 For 7 per cent, stock . . . 
 
 For 6 per cent, stock . . , 
 
 For 5 per cent, stock . . , 
 
 For 4 per cent, stock . . 
 
 Cotton certificates .... 
 
 Interest on loans . . . 
 
 War tax . 
 
 38,757,650 70 
 6,810,050 00 
 22,992,900 00 
 482,200 00 
 2,000,000 00 
 140,210 00 
 4,128,988 97 
 
 Treasury notes 391,623,530 00 
 
 Sequestration 1,862,550 27 
 
 Customs 934,798 68 
 
 Export duty on cotton . . . 8,101 78 
 
 Patent fund 10,794 04 
 
 Miscellaneous, including re 
 payments by disbursing offi 
 cers 24,498,217 93 
 
 Total $601,522,893 12 
 
 EXPENDITURES DURING THAT TIME. 
 
 War Department $377,988,24400 
 
 Navy Department 38,437,661 00 
 
 Civil, miscellaneous, etc . . . 11,629,27800 
 
 Customs 56,636 00 
 
 Public debt 32,212,290 00 
 
 Notes cancelled and redeemed 59,044.449 00 
 
 Total expenditures . 
 Total receipts . . . 
 
 . $519,368,559 00 
 . 601,522,893 00 
 
 Balance in treasury . 
 
 $82,154,334 00 
 
 But from this amount is to be deducted the 
 amount of all Treasury notes that have been 
 funded, but which have not yet received a true 
 estimation, $65,000,000 ; total remaining, $17,- 
 154,334. 
 
 CONDITION OF THE TREASURY, JANUARY 
 1, 1864. 
 
 Jan. 25 The Secretary of the Treasury 
 (C. G. Memminger) laid before the Senate 
 a statement in reply to a resolution of the 
 20th, asking information relative to the 
 funded debt, to call certificates, to non-in 
 terest and interest-bearing Treasury notes, 
 and other financial matters. From this it 
 appears that, January, 1864, the funded 
 debt was as follows : 
 
 Act Feb. 28, 1861,8 $ cent., 15,000,000 00 
 
 Act May 16, 1861, 8 "ft cent , 8,774.900 00 
 
 Act Aug. 19, 1861, 8 %} cent., 100,000,000 00 
 
 ActApr.l2,1862,8f(CPnt., 3,612,300 00 
 
 Act Feb. 20, 1868, 8 fl cent., 95,785,000 00 
 
 Act Feb. 20, 1863, 7$ cent., 63,615,750 00 
 
 Act Mar 23, 1863, 6 ty cent , 2,831,700 00 
 
 Act April 30, 1863 (cotton 
 
 interest coupons) 8,252,000 00 
 
 8297,87 ',650 00 
 
 Call certificates 89,'206,770 00 
 
 Non-interest bearing Treasury notes out 
 standing: 
 
 Act May 16, 1861 Payable 
 
 two years after date 8,320,875 00 
 
 Act Aug. 19, 1861- General 
 currency 189,719,251 00 
 
 Act Oct. 13, 1861 All de 
 nominations 131,028,366 50 
 
 Act March 23 All denomi 
 nations 391,829,702 50 
 
 720,898,095 00 
 
 Interest-bearing Treasury notes outstand 
 ing 102,465,450 00 
 
 Amount of Treasury notes 
 under $5, outstanding 
 Jan. 1, 1864, viz: 
 
 Act April 17, 1862, denomi 
 nations of 1 and $ 2 4,860,277 50 
 
 Act Oct. 13,1 862, 8 1 and $ 2 2,344,800 00 
 
 Act March 23, 1863, 50 
 cents 
 
 Total under $ 5 
 
 .. 3,419,000 00 
 
 10,424,077 90 
 
 Total debt, Jan. 1, 1864 $1,220,866,012 50 
 
CONFEDERATE TAXES, 
 
 153 
 
 ITS CONDITION, MARCH 31, 1864. 
 
 The Register of the Treasury, Robert 
 Tyler, gave a statement, which appeared 
 in the Richmond Sentinel after the passage 
 of the funding law, which gives the amount 
 of outstanding non-interest-bearing Trea 
 sury notes, March 31, 1864, as $796,264,403, 
 as follows : 
 
 Act May 16, 1861 Ten-year 
 
 notes $7,201,375 00 
 
 Act Aug. 19, 1861 General 
 
 currency 154,365,631 00 
 
 Act Apr. 19, 1862 ones and 
 
 twos 4,516,509 00 
 
 Act Oct. 18, 1862 General 
 
 currency 118,997,321 60 
 
 Act Mar. 23, 1863 General 
 
 currency ........ 511,182,566 50 
 
 Total 1796,264,403 00 
 
 He also publishes this statement of the 
 issue of non-interest-bearing Treasury 
 notes since the organization of the "Con 
 federate " government : 
 
 Fifty cents $911,258 50 
 
 Ones 4,882,000 00 
 
 Twos 6,086,320 00 
 
 Fives 79,090,315 00 
 
 Tens 157,982,750 00 
 
 Twenties 217,425,120 00 
 
 Fifties 188,088,200 00 
 
 Total $973,277,363 60 
 
 Confederate Taxes. 
 
 We also append as full and fair a state 
 ment of Confederate taxes as can be pro 
 cured, beginning with a summary of the 
 act authorizing the issue of Treasury notes 
 and bonds, and providing a war tax for 
 their redemption : 
 
 THE TAX ACT OF JULY, 1861. 
 
 The Richmond Enquirer gives the fol 
 lowing summary of the act authorizing 
 the issue of Treasury notes and bonds, and 
 providing a war tax for their redemption : 
 
 Section one authorizes the issue of 
 Treasury notes, payable to bearer at the 
 expiration of six months after the ratifica 
 tion of a treaty of peace between the Con 
 federate States and the United States. 
 The notes are not to be of a less denomi 
 nation than five dollars, to be re-issued at 
 pleasure, to be received in payment of all 
 public dues, except the export duty on cot 
 ton, and the whole issue outstanding at 
 one time, including the amount issued 
 under former acts, are not to exceed one 
 hundred millions of dollars. 
 
 Section two provides that, for the pur 
 pose of funding the said notes, or for the 
 purpose of purchasing specie or military 
 stores, &c., bonds may be issued, payable 
 not more than twenty years after date, to 
 
 the amount of one hundred millions of dol 
 lars, and bearing an interest of eight per 
 cent, per annum. This amount includes 
 the thirty millions already authorized to 
 IDC issued. The bonds are not to be issued 
 in less amounts than $100, except when the 
 subscription is for a less amount, when 
 they may be issued as low as $50. 
 
 Section three provides that holders of 
 Treasury notes may at any time exchange 
 them for bonds. 
 
 Section four provides that, for the special 
 purpose of paying the principal and Inter 
 est of the public debt, and of supporting 
 the Government, a war tax shall be as 
 sessed and levied of fifty cents upon each 
 one hundred dollars in value of the follow 
 ing property in the Confederate States, 
 namely : Real estate of all kinds ; slaves ; 
 merchandise ; bank stocks ; railroad and 
 other corporation stocks; money at in 
 terest or invested by individuals in the 
 purchase of bills, notes, and other securi 
 ties for money, except the bonds of the 
 Confederate States of America, and cash 
 on hand or on deposit in bank or elsewhere ; 
 cattle, horses, and mules; gold watches, 
 gold and silver plate; pianos and pleasure 
 carriages: Provided, however, That when 
 the taxable property, herein above enu 
 merated, of any head of a family is of value 
 less than five hundred dollars, such tax 
 able property shall be exempt from taxa 
 tion under this act. It provides further 
 that the property of colleges, schools, and 
 religious associations shall be exempt. 
 
 The remaining sections provide for the 
 collection of the tax. 
 
 THE TAX ACT OF DECEMBER 19, 1861. 
 
 An act supplementary to an act to authorize 
 the issue of Treasury notes, and to pro- 
 vide a war tax for their redemption. 
 SEC. 1. The Congress of the Confederate 
 States of America do enact, That the Sec 
 retary of the Treasury is hereby authorized 
 to pay over to the several banks, which 
 have made advances to the Government, 
 in anticipation of the issue of Treasury 
 notes, a sufficient amount, not exceeding 
 $10,000,000, for the principal and interest 
 due upon the said advance, according to 
 the engagements made with them. 
 
 SEC. 2. The time affixed by the said act 
 for making assignments is hereby extend 
 ed to the 1st day of January next, and the 
 time for the completion and delivery of the 
 lists is extended to the 1st day of March 
 next, and the time for the report of the 
 said lists to the chief collector is extended 
 to the 1st day of May next ; and in cases 
 where the time thus fixed shall be found 
 insufficient, the Secretary of the Treasury 
 shall have power to make further exten 
 sion, as circumstances may require. 
 
 SEC. 3. The cash on hand, or on deposit 
 in the bank, or elsewhere, mentioned in 
 
154 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 the fourth section of said act, is hereby de 
 clared to be subject to assessment and tax 
 ation, and the money at interest, or invest 
 ed by individuals in the purchase of bills, 
 notes, and other securities for money, shall 
 be deemed to include securities for money 
 belonging to non-residents, and such se 
 curities shall be returned, and the tax 
 thereon paid by any agent or trustee hay 
 ing the same in possession or under his 
 control. The term merchandise shall be 
 construed to include merchandise belong 
 ing to any non-resident, and the property 
 shall be returned, and the tax paid by any 
 person having the same in possession as 
 agent, attorney, or consignee: Provided, 
 That the words "money at interest," as 
 used in the act to which this act is an 
 amendment, shall be so construed as to in 
 clude all notes, or other evidences of debt, 
 bearing interest, without reference to the 
 consideration of the same. The exception 
 allowed by the twentieth section for agri 
 cultural products shall be construed to em 
 brace such products only when in the 
 hands of the producer, or held for his ac 
 count. But no tax shall be assessed or 
 levied on any money at interest when the 
 notes, bond, bill, or other security taken 
 for its payment, shall be worthless from 
 the insolvency and total inability to pay 
 of the payer or obligor, or person liable to 
 make such payment ; and all securities for 
 money payable under this act shall be 
 assessed according to their value, and the 
 assessor shall have the same power to as 
 certain the value of such securities as the 
 law confers upon him with respect to other 
 property. 
 
 SEC. 4. That an amount of money, not 
 exceeding $25,000, shall be and the same 
 is hereby appropriated, out of any money 
 in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, 
 to be disbursed under the authority of the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, to the chief 
 State tax collectors, for such expenses as 
 shall be actually incurred for salaries of 
 clerks, office hire, stationery, and inciden 
 tal charges; but the books and printing 
 required shall be at the expense of the de 
 partment, and subject to its approval. 
 
 SEC. 5. The lien for the tax shall attach 
 from the date of the assessment, and shall 
 follow the same into every State in the 
 Confederacy ; and in case any person shall 
 attempt to remove any property which may 
 be liable to tax, beyond the jurisdiction of 
 the State in which the tax is payable, 
 without payment of the tax, the collector 
 of the district may distrain upon and sell 
 the same, in the same manner as is pro 
 vided in cases where default is made in 
 the payment of the tax. 
 
 SEC. 6. On the report of any chief col 
 lector, that any county, town or district, 
 or any part thereof, is occupied by the 
 public enemy, or has been so occupied as 
 
 to occasion destruction of crops or property, 
 the Secretary of the Treasury may suspend 
 the collection of tax in such region until 
 the same can be reported to Congress, and 
 its action had thereon. 
 
 SEC. 7. In case any of the Confederate 
 States shall undertake to pay the tax to be 
 collected within its limits before the time 
 at which the district collectors shall enter 
 upon the discharge of their duties, the 
 Secretary of the Treasury may suspend the 
 appointment of such collectors, and may 
 direct the chief collector to appoint assess 
 ors, and to take proper measures for the 
 making and perfecting the returns, assess 
 ments and lists required by law; and the 
 returns, assessments and lists so made, 
 shall have the same legal validity, to all 
 intents and purposes, as if made according 
 to the provisions of the act to which this 
 act is supplementary. 
 
 SEC. 8. That tax lists already given, 
 varying from the provisions of this act, 
 shall be corrected so as to conform thereto. 
 
 THE TAX ACT OF APRIL 24, 18G3. 
 [From the Richmond Whig, April 21.] 
 
 We present below a synopsis of the bill 
 to lay taxes for the common defence and 
 to carry on the government of the Confed 
 erate States, which has passed both 
 branches of Congress. It is substantially 
 the bill proposed by the committee on 
 conference : 
 
 1. The first section imposes a tax of 
 eight per cent, upon the value of all naval 
 stores, salt, wines and spirituous liquors, 
 tobacco, manufactured or unmanufactured, 
 cotton, wool, flour, sugar, molasses, syrup, 
 rice, and other agricultural products, held 
 or owned on the 1st day of July next, and 
 not necessary for family consumption for 
 the unexpired portion of the year 1863, 
 and of the growth or production of any 
 year preceding the year 1863 ; and a tax 
 of one per cent, upon all moneys, bank 
 notes or other currency on hand or on de 
 posit on the 1st day of July next, and on 
 the value of all credits on which the in 
 terest has not been paid, and not employed 
 in a business, the income derived from 
 which is taxed under the provisions of this 
 act: Provided, That all moneys owned, 
 held or deposited beyond the limits of the 
 Confederate States shall be valued at the 
 current rate of exchange in Confederate 
 treasury notes. The tax to be assessed on 
 the first day of July and collected on the 
 first day of October next, or as soon there 
 after as may be practicable. 
 
 2. Every person engaged, or intending 
 to engage, in any business named in the 
 fifth section, shall, within sixty clays alter 
 the passage of the act, or at the time of be 
 ginning business, and on the first of Janu 
 ary in each year thereafter, register with 
 the district collector a true account of the 
 
CONFEDERATE TAXES. 
 
 155 
 
 name and residence of each person, firm, 
 or corporation engaged or interested in the 
 business, with a statement of the time for 
 which, and the place and manner in which 
 the same is to be conducted, &c. At the 
 time of the registry there shall be paid the 
 specific tax for the year ending on the 
 next 31st of December, and such other tax 
 as may be due upon sales or receipts in 
 such business. 
 
 3. Any person failing to make such 
 registry and pay such tax, shall, in addi 
 tion to all other taxes upon his business im 
 posed by the act, pay double the amount 
 of the specific tax on such business, and a 
 like sum for every thirty days of such 
 failure. 
 
 4. Kequires a separate registry and tax 
 for each business mentioned in the fifth 
 section, and for each place of conducting 
 the same ; but no tax for mere storage of 
 goods at a place other than the registered 
 place of business. A new registry required 
 upon every change in the place of conduct 
 ing a registered business, upon the death 
 of any person conducting the same, or 
 upon the transfer of the business to an 
 other, but no additional tax. 
 
 5. Imposing the following taxes for the 
 year ending 31st of December, 1863, and 
 for each year thereafter : 
 
 Bankers shall pay $500. 
 
 Auctioneers, retail dealers, tobacconists, 
 podlers, cattle brokers, apothecaries, pho 
 tographers, and confectioners, $50, and 
 t-.vo and a half per centum on the gross 
 amount of sales made. 
 
 Wholesale dealers in liquors, $200, and 
 five per centum on gross amount of sales. 
 Ketail dealers in liquors, $100, and ten per 
 centum on gross amount of sales. 
 
 Wholesale dealers in groceries, goods, 
 wares, merchandise, &c., $200, and two 
 and a half per centum. 
 
 Pawnbrokers, money and exchange bro 
 kers, $200. 
 
 Distillers, $200, and twenty per centum. 
 Brewers, $100, and two and a half per cen 
 tum. 
 
 Hotels, inns, taverns, and eating-houses, 
 first class, $500 ; second class, $300 ; third 
 class, $200 ; fourth class, 100 ; fifth class, 
 $30. Every house where food or refresh 
 ments are sold, and every boarding house 
 where there shall be six boarders or more, 
 shall be deemed an eating house under 
 this act. 
 
 Commercial brokers or commission mer 
 chants, $200, and two and a half per cen 
 tum. 
 
 Theatres, $500, and five per centum on 
 all receipts. Each circus, $100, and $10 
 for each exhibition. Jugglers and other 
 persons exhibiting shows, i|50. 
 
 Bowling alleys and billiard rooms, $40 
 for each alley or table registered. 
 
 Livery stable keepers, lawyers, physi 
 cians, surgeons, and dentists, $50. 
 
 Butchers and bakers, $50, and one per 
 centum. 
 
 6. Every person registered and taxed is 
 required to make returns of the gross 
 amount of sales from the passage of the act 
 to the 30th of June, and every three months 
 thereafter. 
 
 7. A tax upon all salaries, except of per 
 sons in the military or naval service, of one 
 per cent, when not exceeding $1,500, and 
 two per cent, upon an excess over that 
 amount : Provided, That no taxes shall be 
 imposed by virtue of this act on the salary 
 of any person receiving a salary not ex 
 ceeding $1,000 per annum, or at a like rate 
 for another period of time, longer or 
 shorter. 
 
 8. Provides that the tax on annual in 
 comes, between $500 and $1,500, shall be 
 five per cent. ; between $1,500 and $3,000, 
 five per cent, on the first $1,500 and ten 
 per cent, on the excess ; between $3,000 
 and $5,000, ten per cent. ; between $5,000 
 and $10,000, twelve and a half per cent. ; 
 over $10,000, fifteen per cent., subject to 
 the following deductions : On incomes de 
 rived from rents of real estate, manufac 
 turing, and mining establishments, &c., a 
 sum sufficient for necessary annual repairs ; 
 on incomes from any mining or manufac 
 turing business, the rent, (if rented,) cost 
 of labor actually hired, and raw material ; 
 on incomes from navigating enterprises, 
 the hire of the vessel, or allowance for 
 wear and tear of the same, not exceeding 
 ten per cent. ; on incomes derived from the 
 sale of merchandise or any other property, 
 the prime cost of transportation, salaries of 
 clerks, and rent of buildings ; on incomes 
 from any other occupation, the salaries of 
 clerks, rent, cost of labor, material, &c. ; 
 and in case of mutual insurance compa 
 nies, the amount of losses paid by them 
 during the year. Incomes derived from 
 other sources are subject to no deductions 
 whatever. 
 
 All joint stock companies and corpora 
 tions shall pay one tenth of the dividend 
 and reserved fund annually. If the an 
 nual earnings shall give a profit of more 
 than ten and less than twenty per cent, on 
 capital stock, one eighth to be paid ; if 
 more than twenty per cent, one sixth. 
 The tax to be collected on the 1st of Janu 
 ary next, and of each year thereafter. 
 
 9. Relates to estimates and deductions, 
 investigations, referees, &c. 
 
 10. A tax of ten per cent, on all profits 
 in 1862 by the purchase and sale of flour, 
 corn, bacon, pork, oats, hay, rice, salt, iron 
 or the manufactures of iron, sugar, mo 
 lasses made of cane, butter, woolen cloths, 
 shoes, boots, blankets, and cotton cloths. 
 Does not apply to regular retail business. 
 
 11. Each farmer, after reserving for his 
 
156 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 own use fifty bushels sweet and fifty 
 bushels Irish potatoes, one hundred bushels 
 corn or fifty bushels wheat produced this 
 year, shall pay and deliver to the Con 
 federate Government one tenth of the 
 grain, potatoes, forage, sugar, molasses, cot 
 ton, wool, and tobacco produced. After 
 reserving twenty bushels peas or beans he 
 shall deliver one tenth thereof. 
 
 12. Every farmer, planter, or grazier, one 
 tenth of the hogs slaughtered by him, in 
 cured bacon, at the rate of sixty pounds of 
 bacon to one hundred pounds of pork ; one 
 per cent, upon the value of all neat cattle, 
 horses, mules, not used in cultivation, and 
 asses, to be paid by the owners of the same ; 
 beeves sold to be taxed as income. 
 
 13. Gives in detail the duties of post 
 quartermasters under the act. 
 
 14. Relates to the duties of assessors and 
 collectors. 
 
 15. Makes trustees, guardians, &c., re 
 sponsible for taxes due from estates, &c., 
 under their control. 
 
 16. Exempts the income and moneys of 
 hospitals, asylums churches, schools, and 
 colleges from taxation under the act. 
 
 17. Authorizes the Secretary of the Trea 
 sury to make all rules and regulations ne 
 cessary to the operation of the act. 
 
 18. Provides that the act shall be in 
 force for two years from the expiration of 
 the present year, unless sooner repealed ; 
 that the tax on naval stores, flour, wool, 
 cotton, tobacco, and other agricultural pro 
 ducts of the growth of any year preceding 
 1863, imposed in the first section, shall be le 
 vied and collected only for the present year. 
 
 The tax act of February 17, 1864, levies, 
 in addition to the above rates, the follow 
 ing, as stated in the Richmond Sentinel of 
 February, 1864: 
 
 SEC. 1. Upon the value of real, personal, 
 and mixed property, of every kind and de 
 scription, except the exemptions hereafter 
 to be named, five per cent. ; the tax levied 
 on property employed in agriculture to be 
 credited by the value of property in kind. 
 
 On gold and silver ware, plate, jewels, 
 and watches, ten per cent. 
 
 The tax to be levied on the value of 
 property in 1860, except in the case of 
 land, slaves, cotton, and tobacco, pur 
 chased since January 1st, 1862, upon which 
 the tax shall be levied on the price paid. 
 
 SEC. 2. A tax of five per cent, on the 
 value of all shares in joint stock companies 
 of any kind, whether incorporated or not. 
 The shares to be valued at their market 
 value at the time of assessment. 
 
 SEC. 3. Upon the market value of gold 
 and silver coin or bullion, five per cent. ; 
 also the same upon moneys held abroad, or 
 all bills of exchange drawn therefor. 
 
 A tax of five per cent, on all solvent 
 credits, and on all bank bills and papers 
 used as currency, except non-interest-bear 
 
 ing Confederate Treasury notes, and not 
 employed in a registered business taxed 
 twenty-five per cent. 
 
 SEC. 4. Profits in trade and business 
 taxed as follows : 
 
 On the purchase and sale of agricultural 
 products and mercantile wares generally, 
 from January 1, 1863, to January 1, 1865, 
 ten per cent, in addition to the tax under 
 the act of April 24, 1863. 
 
 The same on the purchase and sale of 
 coin, exchange, stocks, notes, and credits 
 of any kind, and any property not in 
 cluded in the foregoing. 
 
 On the amount of profits exceeding 
 twenty-five per cent, of any bank, banking 
 company, or joint stock company of any de 
 scription, incorporated or not, twenty-five 
 per cent, on such excess. 
 
 SEC. 5. The following are exempted 
 from taxation. 
 
 Five hundred dollars' worth of property 
 for each head of a family, and a hundred 
 dollars additional for each minor child; 
 and for each son in the army or navy, or 
 who has fallen in the service, and a mem 
 ber of the family when he enlisted, the 
 further sum of $500. 
 
 One thousand dollars of the property 
 of the widow or minor children of any 
 officer, soldier, sailor, or marine, who has 
 died in the service. 
 
 A like amount of property of any offi 
 cer, soldier, sailor, or marine, engaged in 
 the service, or who has been disabled 
 therein, provided said property, exclusive 
 of furniture, does not exceed in value $1,000. 
 
 When property has been injured or de 
 stroyed by the enemy, or the owner unable 
 temporarily to use or occupy it by reason 
 of the presence or proximity of the enemy, 
 the assessment may be reduced in propor 
 tion to the damage sustained by the owner, 
 and the tax in the same ratio by the dis 
 trict collector. 
 
 SEC. 6. The taxes on property for 1864 
 to be assessed as on the day of the passage 
 of this act, and collected the 1st of June 
 next, with ninety days extension west of 
 the Mississippi. The additional tax on 
 incomes or profits for 1863, to be paid 
 forthwith ; the tax on incomes, &c., for 1864, 
 to be collected according to the acts of 1863. 
 
 SEC. 7. Exempts from tax on income for 
 1864, all property herein taxed ad valorem. 
 The tax on Confederate bonds in no case 
 to exceed the interest payable on the 
 same; and said bonds exempt from tax 
 when held by minors or lunatics, if the in 
 terest do not exceed one thousand dollars. 
 
 THE TAX LAW. 
 
 We learn that, according to the construc 
 tion of the recent tax law in the Treasury 
 Department, tax payers will be required to 
 state the articles and objects subjected to a 
 specific or ad valorem tax, held, owned, or 
 
CONFEDERATE TAXES. 
 
 157 
 
 possessed by them on the 17th day of Febru 
 ary, 1864, the date of the act. 
 
 The daily wages of detailed soldiers and 
 other employes of the Government are not 
 liable to taxation as income, although they 
 may amount, in the aggregate, to the sum 
 of $1,000 per annum. 
 
 A tax additional to both the above was 
 imposed as follows, June 1, 1864: 
 
 A bill to provide supplies for the army, and 
 to prescribe the mode of making im 
 pressments. 
 
 SEC. 1. The Congress of the Confederate 
 States of America do enact, Every person 
 required to pay a tax in kind, under the 
 provisions of the " Act to lay taxes for the 
 common defense and carry on the Govern 
 ment of the Confederate States," approved 
 April 24, 1863, and the act amendatory 
 thereof, approved February 17, 1864, shall, 
 in addition to the one tenth required by 
 said acts to be paid as a tax in kind, de 
 liver to the Confederate Government, of 
 the products of the present year and of the 
 year 1865, one other tenth of the several 
 products taxed in kind by the acts afore 
 said, which additional one tenth shall be 
 ascertained, assessed and collected, in all 
 respects, as is provided by law for the said 
 tax in kind, and shall be paid for, on de 
 livery, by the Post-Quartermasters in the 
 several districts at the assessed value there 
 of, except that payment for cotton and to 
 bacco shall be made by the agents of the 
 Treasury Department appointed to receive 
 the same. 
 
 SEC. 2. The supplies necessary to the 
 support of the producer and his family, and 
 to carry on his ordinary business, shall be 
 exempted from the contribution required 
 by the preceding section, and from the ad 
 ditional impressments authorized by the 
 act : Provided, however. That nothing here 
 in contained shall be construed to repeal 
 or affect the provisions of an act entitled 
 " An act to authorize the impressment of 
 meat for the use of the army, under certain 
 circumstances," approved Feb. 17, 1864, 
 and if the amount of any article or product 
 so necessary cannot be agreed upon be 
 tween the assessor and the producer, it 
 shall be ascertained and determined by 
 disinterested freeholders of the vicinage, as 
 is provided in cases of disagreement as to 
 the estimates and assessments of tax in 
 kind. If required by the assessor, such 
 freeholder shall ascertain whether a pro 
 ducer, who is found unable to furnish the 
 additional one tenth of any one product, 
 cannot supply the deficiency by the de 
 livery of an equivalent in other products, 
 and upon what terms such commutation 
 shall be made. Any commutation thus 
 awarded shall be enforced and collected, in 
 all respects, as is provided for any other 
 contribution required by this act. 
 
 SEC. 3. The Secretary of War may, at 
 his discretion, decline to assess, or, after 
 assessment, may decline to collect the 
 whole or any part of the additional one 
 tenth herein provided for, in any district 
 or locality; and it shall be his duty 
 promptly to give notice of any such de 
 termination, specifying, with reasonable 
 certainty, the district or locality and the 
 product, or the proportion thereof, as to 
 which he so declines. 
 
 SEC. 4. The products received for the 
 contribution herein required, shall be dis 
 posed of and accounted for in the same 
 manner as those received for the tax in 
 kind; and the Secretary of War may, 
 whenever the exigencies of the public ser 
 vice will allow, authorize the sale of pro 
 ducts received from either source, to pub 
 lic officers or agents charged in any State 
 with the duty of providing for the families 
 of soldiers. Such sale shall be at the 
 prices paid or assessed for the products 
 sold, including the actual cost of collec 
 tions. 
 
 SEC. 5. If, in addition to the tax in kind 
 and the contribution herein required, the 
 necessities of the army or the good of the 
 service shall require other supplies of food 
 or forage, or any other private property, 
 and the same cannot be procured by con 
 tract, then impressments may be made of 
 such supplies or other property, either for 
 absolute ownership or for temporary use, 
 as the public necessities may require. Such 
 impressments shall be made in accordance 
 with the provisions, and subject to the re 
 strictions of the existing impressment laws, 
 except so far as is herein otherwise pro 
 vided. 
 
 SEC. 6. The right and the duty of mak 
 ing impressments is hereby confided exclu 
 sively to the officers and agents charged in 
 the several districts with the assessment 
 and collection of the tax in kind and of 
 the contribution herein required ; and all 
 officers and soldiers in any department of 
 the army are hereby expressly prohibited 
 from undertaking in any manner to inter 
 fere with these officers and agents in any 
 part of their duties in respect to the tax in 
 kind, the contribution, or the impressment 
 herein provided for: Provided, That this 
 prohibition shall not be applicable to any 
 district, county, or parish in which there 
 shall be no officer or agent charged with 
 the appointment and collection of the tax 
 in kind. 
 
 SEC. 7. Supplies or other property taken 
 by impressment shall be paid for by the 
 post quartermasters in the several districts, 
 and shall be disposed of and accounted for 
 by them as is required in respect to the tax 
 in kind and the contribution herein re 
 quired ; and it shall be the duty of the 
 post quartermasters to equalize and appor 
 tion the impressments within their dis- 
 
158 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 tricts, as far as practicable, so as to avoid 
 oppressing any portion of the community. 
 
 SEC. 8. If any one not authorized by law 
 to collect the tax in kind or the contribu 
 tion herein required, or to make impress 
 ments, shall undertake, on any pretence of 
 such authority, to seize or impress, or to 
 collect or receive any such property, or 
 shall, on any such pretence, actually obtain 
 such property, he shall, upon conviction 
 thereof, be punished by fine not exceeding 
 five times the value of such property, and 
 be imprisoned not exceeding five years, at 
 the discretion of the court having jurisdic 
 tion. And it shall be the duty of all offi 
 cers and agents charged with the assess 
 ment and collection of the tax in kind 
 and of the contribution herein required, 
 promptly to report, through the 4 post quar 
 termasters in the several districts, any vio 
 lation or disregard of the provisions of this 
 act by any officer or soldier in the service 
 of the Confederate States. 
 
 SEC. 9. That it shall not be lawful to 
 impress any sheep, milch cows, brood mares, 
 stud horses, jacks, bulls, or other stock 
 kept or necessary for raising horses, mules, 
 or cattle. 
 
 The following is the vote by which the 
 bill passed the Senate : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Caperton, Graham, 
 Haynes, Jemison, Johnson (Ark.), John 
 son (Mo.), Mitchell, Orr, Walker, Watson 
 10. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Baker, Burnett, Henry, 
 Hunter, Maxwell, Semmes, Sparrow 7. 
 
 Admitting West Virginia. 
 
 An important political movement in the 
 early years of the war was the separation 
 of West Virginia from the mother State, 
 which had seceded, and her admission in 
 to the Union. 
 
 SECOND SESSION, THIRTY-SEVENTH CON 
 GRESS. 
 
 In Senate, 1862, July 14. The bill pro 
 viding for the admission of the State of 
 West Virginia into the Union, passed 
 yeas 23, nays 17, as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Clark, Colla- 
 mer, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, 
 Harlan, Harris, Howe, Lane of Indiana, 
 Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Pomeroy, Rice, 
 Sherman, Simmons, Ten Eyck, Wade, 
 Wilkinson, Willey, Wilson of Massachu 
 setts 23. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Bayard, Browning, Gar- 
 Hie, Chandler, Cowan, Davis, Howard, 
 Kennedy, King, McDouyal, Powell, Sauls- 
 burr/, Stark, Sumner, Trumbull, Wilson of 
 Missouri, Wright 17. 
 
 During the pendency of this bill, July 
 14, 1862, Mr, Sumner moved to strike from 
 the first section of the second article the 
 words : " the children of all slaves born 
 
 within the limits of said State shall be free," 
 and insert: 
 
 Within the limits of the said State there 
 shall be neither slavery nor involuntary 
 servitude, otherwise than in punishment of 
 crimes whereof the party shall be duly 
 convicted. 
 
 Which was rejected yeas 11, nays 24, as 
 follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Chandler, Clark, Grimes, 
 King, Lane of Kansas, Porneroy, Sumner, 
 Trumbull, Wilkinson, Wilmot, Wilson, 
 of Massachusetts--!!. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Anthony, J?ayard,Brown- 
 ing, Carlile, Collamer, Doolittle, Foot Fos 
 ter, Harris, Henderson, Howe, Kennedy, 
 Lane of Indiana, Powell, Rice, Saulsbury, 
 Sherman, Simmons, Stark, Ten Eyck, 
 Wade, Wiley, Wilson of Missouri, Wright 
 --24. 
 
 Mr. Willey proposed to strike out all 
 after the word " That" in the first section, 
 and insert: 
 
 That the State of West Virginia be, and 
 is hereby, declared to be one of the United 
 States of America, and admitted into the 
 Union on an equal footing with the origi 
 nal States in all respects whatever, and un 
 til the next general census shall be entitled 
 to three members in the House of Repre 
 sentatives of the United States : Provided 
 always, That this act shall not take effect 
 until after the proclamation of the Presi 
 dent of the United States hereinafter pro 
 vided for. 
 
 SEC. 2. It being represented to Congress 
 that since the convention of the 26th of 
 November, 1861, that framed and proposed 
 the constitution for the said State of West 
 Virginia, the people thereof have expressed 
 a wish to change the seventh section of the 
 eleventh article of said constitution by 
 striking out the same, and inserting the 
 following in its place, namely, " The chil 
 dren of slaves born within the limits of 
 this State after the 4th day of July, 1863, 
 shall be free, and no slave shall be permit 
 ted to come into the State for permanent 
 residence therein :" therefore, 
 
 Be it further enacted, That whenever 
 the people of West Virginia shall, through 
 their said convention, and by a vote to be 
 taken at an election to be held within the 
 limits of the State at such time as the con 
 vention may provide, make and ratify the 
 change aforesaid and properly certify the 
 same under the hand of the president of 
 the convention, it shall be lawful for the 
 President of the United States to issue his 
 proclamation stating the fact, and there 
 upon this act shall take effect and be in 
 force from and after sixty days from the 
 date of said proclamation. 
 
 Mr Lane of Kansas moved to amend the 
 amendment by inserting after the word 
 "Heiein,'- and before the word, ft There 
 fore" the words: 
 
COLOR IN WAR POLITICS. 
 
 159 
 
 And that all slaves within tlie said State 
 who shall at the time aforesaid be under 
 the age of ten years shall be free when 
 they arrive at the age of twenty-one years 
 and all slaves over ten and under twenty 
 one yea^s shall be free when they arrive ai 
 the age of twenty -five years. 
 
 Which was agreed to yeas 25, nays 12 
 as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Clark, Colla- 
 mer, Doolittle, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Har- 
 lan, Harris, Howard, Howe, King, Lane o 
 Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Pome- 
 roy, Sherman, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck 
 TrumbuU, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilmot, Wil 
 son, of Massachusetts 25. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Browning, Carlile, Davis 
 Henderson, Kennedy, McDougall, Powell, 
 Saulsbury, Stark Willey, Wilson of Mis 
 souri, Wright 12. 
 
 The amendment as amended was then 
 agreed to. 
 
 A motion to postpone the bill to the first 
 Monday of the next December was lost 
 yeas 17, nays 23. 
 
 In House, July 16 The bill was post 
 poned until the second Tuesday of the 
 next December yeas 63, nays 33. 
 
 THIRD SESSION, THIRTY-SEVENTH CON 
 GRESS. 
 
 1868, Dec. 10, the House passed the bill 
 yeas 96, nays 57. 
 
 1868, April 20, the President issued a 
 proclamation announcing the compliance, 
 by West Virginia, of the conditions of ad 
 mission. 
 
 COLOR IN WAR POLITICS. 
 
 Emancipation and its attendant agita 
 tions brought to the front a new class of 
 political questions, which can best be 
 grouped under the above caption. The 
 following is a summary of the legislation : 
 
 Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. 
 
 To Remove Disqualification of Color in Carrying the Mails. 
 
 In Senate, 1862, April 11 -The Senate 
 considered a bill " to remove all disquali 
 fication of color in , carrying the mails of 
 the United States." It directed that after 
 the passage of the act no person, by reason 
 of color, shall be disqualified from em 
 ployment in carrying the mails, and all 
 acts and parts of acts establishing such dis 
 qualification, including especially the 
 seventh section of the act of March 3 1825 
 are hereby repealed. 
 
 The vote in the Senate was, yeas 24, nays 
 11, as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Browning 
 Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Dixon, Doolit 
 tle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, 
 Howard, Howe, King, Lane of Kansas 
 Morrill, Pomeroy, Sherman, Simmons 
 
 Sumner, Wade, Wilkinson, and Wilson of 
 Massachusetts 24. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Davis, Henderson, Ken 
 nedy, Lane of Indiana, Latham, Nesmith, 
 Powell, Stark, Willey, Wilson of Missouri. 
 Wright-11.* 
 
 In House, May 21 It was considered in 
 the House and laid on the table yeas 83, 
 nays 43. 
 
 First Session, Thirty-Eighth Congress. 
 
 1864, February 26 The Senate con 
 sidered the bill the question being on 
 agreeing to a new section proposed by the 
 Committee on Post Offices and Post Eoads 
 as follows : 
 
 SEC. 2. That in the courts of the United 
 States there shall be no exclusion of any 
 witness on account of color. 
 
 Mr. Powell moved to amend by inserting 
 after the word "States" the words: "in 
 all cases for robbing or violating the mails 
 of the United States." 
 
 No further progress was made on the 
 bill. 
 
 NEGRO SUFFRAGE IN MONTANA TERRI 
 TORY. 
 
 1864, March 18 The House passed,with- 
 out a division, a bill in the usual form, to 
 provide a temporary government for the 
 Territory of Montana. 
 
 March 31 The Senate considered it, 
 when Mr. Wilkinson moved to strike from 
 the second line of the fifth section, (defin 
 ing the qualifications of voters,) the words 
 " white male inhabitant " and insert the 
 words : " male citizen of the United States, 
 and those who have declared their inten 
 tion to become such ;" which was agreed 
 to yeas 22, nays 17, as follows: 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Brown, Chandler, Clark, 
 Collamer,Cpnness, Dixon, Fessenden, Foot, 
 Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, 
 Howard, Howe, Morgan, Morrill, Pome 
 roy, Sumner, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilson 
 22. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Buakalew, Carlile, Cowan, 
 Davis, Harding, Henderson, Johnson, Lane 
 of Indiana, Nesmith, Powell, Riddle, Sauls- 
 bury, Sherman, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van 
 Winkle, Willey 17. 
 
 The bill was then passed yeas 29, nays 
 8,(Messrs. Suckalew, Davis, Johnson, Powell, 
 Riddle, Saulsbury, Van Winkle, Willey.) 
 
 April 15 The Senate adopted the report 
 of the Committee of Conference on the 
 Montana bill, which recommended the 
 Senate to recede from their second amend 
 ment, and the House to agree to the first 
 and third amendments of the Senate, (in 
 cluding the above.) 
 
 April 15 Mr. Beaman presented the re 
 port of the Committee of Conference on 
 he Montana bill, a feature of which was 
 that the House should recede from its dis- 
 
 * Republican* iu roman; Democrats in italic* 
 
160 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 agreement to the Senate amendment strik 
 ing out the word " white " in the descrip 
 tion of those authorized to vote. 
 
 Mr. Holman moved that the report be 
 tabled ; which was lost by the casting vote 
 of the Speaker yeas 66, nays 66. 
 
 Upon agreeing to the report the yeas 
 were 54, nays 85. 
 
 On motion to adhere to its amendments, 
 and ask another Committee of Conference, 
 Mr. Webster moved instructions : 
 
 And that said committee be instructed 
 to agree to no report that authorizes any 
 other than free white male citizens, and 
 those who have declared their intention to 
 become such, to vote. 
 
 Which was agreed to yeas 75, nays 67. 
 
 April 15 The Senate declined the con 
 ference upon the terms proposed by the 
 House resolution of that day. 
 
 April 18 The House proposed a further 
 free conference, to which, April 25, the 
 Senate acceded. 
 
 May 17 In Senate, Mr. Morrill sub 
 mitted a report from the Conference Com 
 mittee who recommend that qualified 
 voters shall be : 
 
 All citizens of the United States, and 
 those who have declared their intention to 
 become such, and who are otherwise de 
 scribed and qualified under the fifth sec 
 tion of the act of Congress providing for a 
 temporary government for the Territory of 
 Idaho approved March 3, 1863. 
 
 The report was concurred in yeas 26, 
 nays 13. 
 
 May 20 The above report was made by 
 Mr. Webster in the House, and agreed to 
 yeas 102, nays 26. 
 
 IN WASHINGTON CITY.* 
 
 1864, May 6 The Senate considered the 
 bill for the registration of voters in the city 
 of Washington, when 
 
 Mr. Cowan moved to insert the word 
 "white" in the first section, so as to con 
 fine the right of voting to white male 
 citizens. 
 
 May 12 Mr. Morrill moved to amend 
 the amendment by striking out the words 
 
 *In I860 a vote was had in the State of New York on 
 a proposition to permit negro suffrage without a property 
 qualification. The result of the city was yeas 1,640, 
 nays 37,47 ' . In the State yeas 197,505. nays 337,984. 
 In 1864 a like proposition was defeated yeas 85,406, nays 
 224,336. 
 
 In 1862, in August, a rote was, had in the State of Illi 
 nois, on several propositions relating to negroes and 
 mulnttoes. with this result : 
 
 Fcr excluding them from the State 171.893 
 
 Against 71,306 
 
 100,587 
 
 Against granting them suffrage or right 
 
 to office 21',920 
 
 For 35,649 
 
 176,271 
 
 For the enactment of laws to prohibit 
 them from going to, or voting in, the 
 State 198,938 
 
 Against 44,414 
 
 154,524 
 
 From McFhcnon'8 Ilittory of the Great 
 
 And shall have paid all serial taxes and 
 all taxes on personal property properly as 
 sessed against him, shall be entitled to 
 vote for mayor, collector, register, members 
 of the board of aldermen and board of 
 common council, and assessor, and for 
 every officer authorized to be elected at 
 any election under any act or acts to which 
 this is amendatory or supplementary, 
 and inserting the words 
 
 And shall within the year next preced 
 ing the election have paid a tax, or been 
 assessed with a part of the revenue of the 
 District, county, or cities, therein, or been 
 exempt from taxation having- taxable 
 estate, and who can read and write with 
 facility, shall enjoy the privileges of an 
 elector. 
 
 May 26 Mr. Sumner moved to amend 
 the bill by adding this proviso : 
 
 Provided , That there shall be no exclu 
 sion of any person from the registry on ac' 
 count of color. 
 
 May 27 Mr. Harlan moved to amend 
 the amendment by making the word " per' 
 son" read "persons," and adding the 
 words 
 
 Who have borne arms in the military 
 service of the United States, and have been 
 honorably discharged therefrom. 
 
 Which was agreed to yeas 26, nays 12, 
 as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Chandler, 
 Clark, Collamer, Conness, Dixon, Fessen- 
 den, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, 
 Harris, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, Lane 
 of Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, Pomeroy, 
 Ramsey, Sherman, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, 
 Wade, Willey, Wilson 26. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Buckaleiv, Carlile, Cow 
 an, Davis, Hendricks, McDougall, Powell 
 Richardson, Saulsbury, Sumner, Van 
 Winkle, Wilkinson 12. 
 
 May 28 Mr. Sumner moved to add 
 these words to the last proviso : 
 
 And provided further, That all persons, 
 without distinction of color, who shall, 
 within the year next preceding the election, 
 have paid a tax on any estate, or been as 
 sessed with a part of the revenue of said 
 District, or been exempt from taxation 
 having taxable estate, and who can read 
 and write with facility, shall enjoy the 
 privilege of an elector. But no person 
 now entitled to vote in the said District, 
 continuing to reside therein, shall be dis 
 franchised hereby. 
 
 Which was rejected yeas 8, nays 27, as 
 follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Clark, Lane of 
 Kansas, Morgan, Pomeroy, Eamsey, Sum 
 ner, Wilkinson 8. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Colla 
 mer, Cowan, Davis, Dixon, Fessenden, 
 Foot.Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Har 
 ris, Hendricks, Hicks, Johnson, Lane of 
 Indiana, McDougall, Morrill, Powell, Sauls- 
 
COLOR IN WAR POLITICS. 
 
 161 
 
 
 bury, Sherman, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van 
 Winkle, Willey, Wilson 27. 
 
 The other proposition of Mr. Sumner, 
 amended on motion of Mr. Harlan, was 
 then rejected yeas 18, nays 20, as follows: 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Chandler, 
 Clark, Dixon, Foot, Foster, Hale, Harlan, 
 Howard, Howe, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, 
 Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sherman, Sumner, 
 Wilkinson, Wilson 18. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Co 
 wan, Davis, Grimes, Harris, Hendricks, 
 Hicks, Johnson, Lane of Indiana, McDou- 
 gall, Morrill, Nesmith, Powell, Richardson, 
 Saulsbury, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van 
 Winkle, Willey 20. 
 
 The bill then passed the Senate, and 
 afterward the House, without amendment. 
 
 Third Session, Thirty-Seventh Congress. 
 
 Excluding Colored Persons from Cars. 
 
 In Senate 1863, February 27 Pending 
 a supplement to the charter of the Wash 
 ington and Alexandria Railroad Company, 
 Mr. Sumner offered this proviso to the 
 first section : 
 
 That no person shall be excluded from 
 the cars on account of color. 
 
 Which was agreed to yeas 19, nays 18, 
 as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Arnold, Chandler, Clark, 
 Fessenden, Foot, Grimes, Harris, Howard, 
 King, Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Pomeroy, 
 Sumner, Ten Eyek, Trumbull, Wade, Wil 
 kinson, Wilmot, Wilson, of Massachusetts 
 19. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Bayard, Car- 
 lile, Cowan, Davis, Henderson, Hicks, 
 Howe, Kennedy, Lane of Indiana, Latham, 
 McDougall, Powell, Richardson, Saulsbury, 
 Turpie, Willey, Wilson of Missouri 18. 
 
 March 2. The House concurred in the 
 amendment without debate, under the pre 
 vious question. 
 
 First Session, Thirty-Eighth Congress. 
 
 In Senate 1864, February 10 Mr. 
 Sumner offered the following : 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee on tne 
 District of Columbia be directed to con 
 sider the expediency of further providing 
 by law against the exclusion of colored 
 persons from the equal enjoyment of all 
 railroad privileges in the District of Colum 
 bia. 
 
 Which was agreed to yeas 30, nays 10. 
 
 February 24 Mr. Willey, from the 
 Committee on the District of Columbia, 
 made this report, and the committee were 
 discharged: 
 
 The Committee on the District of Co 
 lumbia, who were required by resolution 
 of the Senate, passed February 8, 1864, 
 " to consider the expediency of further 
 providing by law against the exclusion of 
 colored persons from the equal enjoyment 
 of all railroad privileges in the District of 
 11 
 
 Columbia," have had the matter thus re 
 ferred to them under consideration, and 
 beg leave to report : 
 
 The act entitled " An act to incorporate 
 the Washington and Georgetown Railroad 
 Company," approved May 17, 1862, makes 
 no distinction as to passengers over said 
 road on account of the color of the pas 
 sengers, and that in the opinion of the 
 committee colored persons are entitled to 
 all the privileges of said road which 
 other persons have, and to all remedies for 
 any denial or breach of such privileges 
 which belongs to any person. 
 
 The committee therefore ask to be dis 
 charged from the further consideration of 
 the premises. 
 
 March 17 The Senate considered the 
 bill to incorporate the Metropolitan Rail 
 road Company, in the District of Columbia, 
 the pending question being an amendment, 
 offered by Mr. Sumner, to add to the four 
 teenth section the words : 
 
 Provided, That there shall be no regula 
 tion excluding any person from any car on 
 account of color. 
 
 Which was agreed to yeas 19, nays 17, 
 as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Clark, 
 Conness, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, 
 Harlan, Howe, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, 
 Morrill, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sumner, Wade, 
 Wilkinson, Wilson 19. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Davis, 
 Doolittle, Harding, Harris, Hendricks, 
 Johnson, Lane of Indiana, Powell, Riddle t 
 Saulsbury, Sherman, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, 
 Van Winkle, Willey 17. * 
 
 The bill then passed the Senate. 
 
 June 19 The House refused to strike 
 out the proviso last adopted in the Senate 
 yeas 60, nays 76. 
 
 And the bill passed the House and was 
 approved by the President. 
 
 Second Session, Thirty- Seventh Congress* 
 
 Colored Persons as Witnesses* 
 
 In Senate Pending the confiscation bill, 
 June 28, 1862. 
 
 Mr. Sumner moved these words as an 
 addition to the 14th section : 
 
 And in all the proceedings under this 
 act there shall be no exclusion of any wit 
 ness on account of color. 
 
 Which was rejected yeas 14, nays 25, 
 as follows : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Chandler, Grimes, Har 
 lan, Howard, King, Lane of Kansas, Mor 
 rill, Pomeroy, Sumner, Trumbull, Wade, 
 Wilkinson, Wilmot 14. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Anthony, Browning, 
 Carlile, Clark, Collainer, Cowan, Davis, 
 Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, 
 Harris, Henderson, Lane of Indiana, NeS' 
 mith, Pearce, Powell, Sherman, Simmons, 
 Stark, Ten Eyck, Willey, Wilson of Mis 
 souri, Wright -25. 
 
162 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Pending the consideration of the supple 
 ment to the emancipation bill for the Dis 
 trict of Columbia, 
 
 1862, July 7 Mr. Sumner moved a new 
 section : 
 
 That in all the judicial proceedings in 
 the District of Columbia there shall be no 
 exclusion of any witness on account of 
 color. 
 
 Which was adopted yeas 25, nays 11. 
 
 The bill then passed yeas 29, nays 6 ; 
 (Messrs. Carlile, Davis, Kennedy, Powell, 
 Wilson, of Missouri, Wright.) 
 
 July 9 The bill passed the House 
 yeas 69, nays 36. There was no separate 
 vote on the above proposition. 
 
 Pending the consideration in the Senate 
 of the House bill in relation to the com 
 petency of witnesses in trials of equity and 
 admiralty, 
 
 1862, July 15 Mr. Sumner offered this 
 proviso to the first section : 
 
 Provided, That there shall be no exclu- 
 lion of any witness on account of color. 
 
 Which was rejected yeas 14, nays 23. 
 
 First Session, Thirty-Eighth Congress. 
 
 1864, June 25 Pending the civil appro 
 priation bill, in Committee of the Whole, 
 Mr. Sumner offered this proviso : 
 
 Provided, That in the courts of the 
 United States there shall be no exclusion 
 of any witness on account of color. 
 
 Mr. Buckalew moved to add : 
 
 Nor in civil actions because he is a party 
 to or interested in the issue tried. 
 
 Which was agreed to ; and the amend 
 ment as amended was agreed to yeas 22, 
 nays 16. 
 
 The Senate subsequently concurred in 
 this amendment yeas 29, nays 10. 
 
 IN HOUSE. 
 
 June 29 The question being on agree 
 ing to the amendment, 
 
 Mr. Mallory moved to add this proviso 
 to the section amended in the Senate : 
 
 Provided, That negro testimony shall 
 only be taken in the United States courts 
 in those States the laws of which authorize 
 such testimony. 
 
 Which was rejected yeas 47, nays 66. 
 
 The amendment of the Senate was then 
 agreed to yeas 67, nays 48. 
 
 COLORED SCHOOLS. 
 
 June 8. The House passed a bilHo pro 
 vide for the public instruction of youth in 
 Washington city, with an amendment pro 
 viding for separate schools for the colored 
 children, by setting apart such a propor 
 tion of the entire school fund as the num 
 ber of colored children between the ages of 
 six and seventeen bear to the whole num 
 ber of children in the District. The bill, 
 with amendments, passed both Houses 
 without a division. 
 
 On all of these questions of color, the 
 Democrats invariably, on test votes, were 
 found against any concession of rights to 
 the negro. These were frequently aided 
 by some Republicans, more conservative 
 than their colleagues, or representing closer 
 districts where political prejudices would 
 affect their return to their seats. It will 
 be observed that on nearly all these ques 
 tions Senator Charles Sumner took the 
 lead. He was at that time pre-eminently 
 the Moses of the colored man, and led him 
 from one right to another through Sena 
 torial difficulties, which by the way, were 
 never as strong as that in the House, where 
 Thaddeus Stevens was the boldest cham 
 pion of " the rights of the black man." In 
 the field, rather in the direction of what 
 should be done with the " contrabands " 
 and escaped slaves, the Secretary of War, 
 General Cameron, was their most radical 
 friend, and his instructions were so out 
 spoken that Lincoln had to modify them. 
 As early as December 1, 1861, General 
 Cameron wrote : 
 
 " While it is plain that the slave prop 
 erty of the South is justly subjected to all 
 the consequences of this rebellious war, 
 and that the Government would be untrue 
 to its trust in not employing all the rights 
 and powers of war to bring it to a speedy 
 close, the details of the plan for doing so r 
 like all other military measures, must, in 
 a great degree, be left to be determined by 
 particular exigencies. The disposition of 
 other property belonging to the rebels that 
 becomes subject to our arms is governed by 
 the circumstances of the case. The Gov 
 ernment has no power to hold slaves, none 
 to restrain a slave of his liberty, or to ex 
 act his service. It has a right, however, 
 to use the voluntary service of slaves lib 
 erated by war from their rebel masters, like 
 any other property of the rebels, in what 
 ever mode may be most efficient for the de 
 fence of the Government, the prosecution 
 of the war, and the suppression of rebel 
 lion. It is clearly a right of the govern 
 ment to arm slaves when it may become 
 necessary as it is to take gunpowder from 
 the enemy. Whether it is expedient to do 
 so is purely a military question. The right 
 is unquestionable by the laws of war. The 
 expediency must be determined by circum 
 stances, keeping in view the great object 
 of overcoming the rebels, re-establishing 
 the laws, and restoring peace to the na 
 tion. 
 
 " It is vain and idle for the Government 
 to carry on this war, or hope to maintain 
 its existence against rebellious force, with 
 out enjoying all the rights and powers of 
 war. . As has been said, the right to de 
 prive the rebels of their property in slaves 
 and slave labor is as clear and absolute as 
 the right to take forage from the field, or 
 cotton from the warehouse, or powder and 
 
COLOR IN WAR POLITICS. 
 
 16$ 
 
 arms from the magazine. To leave the 
 enemy in the possession of such property 
 as forage and cotton and military stores, 
 and the means of constantly reproducing 
 them, would be madness. It is, therefore, 
 equal madness to leave them in peaceful 
 and secure possession of slave property, 
 more valuable and efficient to them for war 
 than forage, cotton and military stores. 
 Such policy would be national suicide. 
 What to do with that species of property 
 is a question that time and circumstances 
 will solve, and need not be anticipated 
 further than to repeat that they cannot be 
 held by the Government as slaves. It would 
 be useless to keep them as prisoners of war ; 
 and self-preservation, the highest duty of 
 a Government, or of individuals, demands 
 that they should be disposed of or em 
 ployed in the most effective manner that 
 will tend most speedily to suppress the in 
 surrection and restore the authority of the 
 Government. If it shall be found that the 
 men who have been held by the rebels as 
 slaves are capable of bearing arms and per 
 forming efficient military service, it is the 
 right, and may become the duty, of this 
 Government to arm and equip them, and 
 employ their services against the rebels, 
 under proper military regulations, disci 
 pline and command. 
 
 " But in whatever manner they may be 
 used by the Government, it is plain that, 
 once liberated by the rebellious act of their 
 masters, they should never again be re 
 stored to bondage. By the master's trea 
 son and rebellion he forfeits all right to 
 the labor and service of his slave ; and the 
 slave of the rebellious master, by his ser 
 vice to the Government, becomes justly en 
 titled to freedom and protection. 
 
 "The disposition to be made of the 
 slaves of rebels, after the close of the war, 
 can be safely left to the wisdom and pat 
 riotism of Congress. The representatives 
 of the people will unquestionably secure 
 to the loyal slaveholders every right to 
 which they are entitled under the Consti 
 tution of the country." 
 
 [Subsequent events proved the wisdom 
 of this policy, and it was eventually adopt 
 ed by an Administration which proclaimed 
 its policy " to move not ahead but with the 
 people."] 
 
 President Lincoln and his Cabinet mod 
 ified the above language so as to make it 
 read: 
 
 "It is already a grave question what 
 shall be done with those slaves who were 
 abandoned by their owners on the advance 
 of our troops into southern territory, as at 
 Beaufort district, in South Carolina. The 
 number left within our control at that 
 point is very considerable, and similar 
 cases will probably occur. What shall be 
 done with them ? Can we afford to send 
 them forward to their masters, to be by 
 
 them armed against us, or used in pro* 
 ducing supplies to sustain the rebellion ? 
 Their labor may be useful to us ; withheld 
 from the enemy it lessens his military re 
 sources, and withholding them has no ten- 
 dency to induce the horrors of insurrec 
 tion, even in the rebel communities. They 
 constitute a military resource, and, being 
 such, that they should not be turned over 
 to the enemy is too plain to discuss. Why 
 deprive him of supplies by a blockade, and 
 voluntarily give him men to produce 
 them? 
 
 " The disposition to be made of the 
 slaves of rebels, after the close of the war, 
 can be safely left to the wisdom and pat 
 riotism of Congress. The Representatives 
 of the people will unquestionably secure to 
 the loyal slaveholders every right to which 
 they are entitled under the Constitution of 
 the country." 
 
 Secretary Cameron was at all times in 
 favor of " carrying the war into Africa," 
 and it was this stern view of the situation 
 which eventually led him to sanction 
 measures which brought him into plainer 
 differences with the Administration. Lin 
 coln took offense at the printing of his re 
 port before submitting it to him. As a re 
 sult he resigned and went to Russia as 
 Minister, on his return being again elected 
 to the United States Senate a place which 
 he filled until the winter of 1877, when he 
 resigned, and his son, J. Donald Cameron, 
 was elected to the vacancy, and re-elected 
 for the term ending in 1885. General B. 
 F. Butler was the author of the " contra 
 band " idea. A year later the views of the 
 Administration became more radical on 
 questions of color, and July 22, 1862, Sec 
 retary Stanton ordered all Generals in 
 command " to seize and use any property, 
 real or personal, which may be necessary 
 or convenient for their several commands, 
 for supplies, or for other military purposes ; 
 and that while property may be destroyed 
 for proper military objects, none shall be 
 destroyed in wantonness or malice. 
 
 " Second. That military and naval com 
 manders shall employ as laborers, within 
 and from said States, so many persons of 
 African descent as can be advantageously 
 used for military or naval purposes, giving 
 them reasonable wages for their labor. 
 
 " Third. That, as to both property, and 
 persons of African descent, accounts shall 
 be kept sufficiently accurate and in detail 
 to show quantities and amounts, and from 
 whom both property and such persons 
 shall have come, as a basis upon which 
 compensation can be made in proper cases ; 
 and the several departments of this Gov 
 ernment shall attend to and perform their 
 appropriate parts towards the execution of 
 these orders." 
 
 The manner and language employed by 
 General McClellan in promulgating this 
 
1*64 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 order to the Army of the Potomac, led to 
 his political differences with the Adminis 
 tration, and in the end caused him to be 
 the Democratic candidate for President in 
 1864, against Lincoln. His language is 
 peculiar and some of it worthy of presenta- j 
 tion as of political importance. He said : I 
 
 " Inhabitants, especially women and | 
 children, remaining peaceably at their 
 homes, must not be molested ; and wher 
 ever commanding officers find families 
 peculiarly exposed in their persons or 
 property to marauding from this army, they 
 will, as heretofore, so far as they can do 
 with safety and without detriment to the 
 service, post guards for their protection. 
 
 " In protecting private property, no refer 
 ence is intended to persons held to service 
 or labor by reason of African descent. 
 Such persons will be regarded by this 
 army, as they heretofore have been, as oc 
 cupying simply a peculiar legal status 
 under State laws, which condition the mili 
 tary authorities of the United States are 
 not required to regard at all in districts 
 where military operations are made neces 
 sary by the rebellious action of the State 
 governments. 
 
 " Persons subject to suspicion of hostile 
 purposes, residing or being near our forces, 
 will be, as heretofore, subject to arrest and 
 detention, until the cause or necessity is 
 removed. All such arrested parties will 
 be sent, as usual, to the Provost Marshal 
 General, with a statement of the facts in 
 each case. 
 
 "The general commanding takes this 
 occasion to remind the officers and soldiers 
 of this army that we are engaged in sup 
 porting the Constitution and the laws of 
 the United States and suppressing rebel 
 lion against their authority; that we are 
 not engaged in a war of rapine, revenge, 
 or subjugation ; that this is not a contest 
 against populations, but against armed 
 forces and political organizations ; that it 
 is a struggle carried on with the United 
 States, and should be conducted by us upon 
 the highest principles known to Christian 
 civilization." 
 
 At this time such were the prejudices of 
 Union soldiers against negroes, because of 
 growing political agitation in the North, 
 that many would loudly jeer them when 
 seen within the lines. The feeling was 
 even greater in the ranks of civilians, and 
 yet Congress moved along, step by step. 
 The 37th abolished slavery in the District 
 of Columbia ; prohibited it in all the terri 
 tories ; confirmed the freedom of the slaves 
 owned by those in arms against the govern 
 ment; authorized the employment of 
 colored men in fortifications, their enlist 
 ment, etc. ; and enacted an additional 
 article of war, which prohibited any officer 
 from returning or aiding the return of any 
 fugitive slave. These were rapid strides, 
 
 but not as rapid as were demanded by the 
 more radical wing of the Republican party. 
 We have shown that most of them were 
 opposed by the Democrats, not solidly sure 
 where they were plainly political, but this 
 party became less solid as the war ad 
 vanced. 
 
 Senator Wilson was the author of the 
 bill to abolish slavery in the District of 
 Columbia. It excited much debate, and 
 the range of the speeches covered the en 
 tire question of slavery. Those from the 
 Border States opposed it (a few Republicans 
 and all Democrats) but some of the Demo 
 crats of the North supported it. The vote 
 in the Senate was 29 for to 6 against. In 
 the House Frank P. Blair, Jr., advocated 
 colonization in connection with the bill, 
 but his idea met with little favor. Crit- 
 tenden, Wicklifie and Vallandigham were 
 prominent in opposition. Its most promi 
 nent advocates were Stevens of Pennsyl 
 vania, and Bingham of Ohio. The vote 
 was 92 for to 38 against. 
 
 The bill of Arnold, of Illinois, " to ren 
 der freedom national and slavery sectional," 
 the leading idea in the platform of the 
 convention which nominated Lincoln, pro 
 hibited slavery in " all the Territories of 
 the United States then existing, or there 
 after to be formed or acquired in any way." 
 It was vehemently opposed, but passed 
 with some modifications by 58 ayes to 50 
 noes, and it also passed the Senate. 
 
 In the Spring of 1862 General David 
 Hunter brought the question of the enlist 
 ment of colored troops to a direct issue by 
 raising a regiment of them. On the 9th of 
 June following, Mr. Wickliffe of Ken 
 tucky, succeeded in getting the House to 
 adopt a resolution of inquiry. Corres 
 pondence followed with General Hunter. 
 He confessed the fact, stated that " he found 
 his authority in the instructions of Secre 
 tary Cameron, and said that he hoped by 
 fall to enroll about fifty thousand of these 
 hardy and devoted soldiers." When this 
 reply was read in the House it was greeted 
 with shouts of laughter from the Republi 
 cans, and signs of anger from the others. 
 A great debate followed on the amendment 
 to the bill providing for the calling out of 
 the militia, clothing the President with full 
 power to enlist colored troops, and to pro 
 claim "he, his mother, and wife and chil 
 dren forever free," after such enlistment. 
 Preston King, of New York, was the author 
 of this amendment. Davis, of Kentucky, 
 and Carlisle of West Virginia, were promi 
 nent Senators in opposition; while Ten 
 Eyck, of New Jersey, Sherman of Ohio, 
 and Browning of Illinois sought to modify 
 it. Garrett Davis said in opposition : 
 
 " Do you expect us to give our sanc 
 tion and approval to these things ? No, no I 
 We would regard their authors as our worst 
 enemies ; and there is no f ircign despot- 
 
COLOR IN WAR POLITICS. 
 
 165 
 
 ism that could come to our rescue, that we 
 would not fondly embrace, before we would 
 submit to any such condition of things." 
 
 Senator Fessenden of Maine, in advo 
 cacy of the amendment, said : 
 
 " I tell the President from my place here 
 as a Senator, and I tell the generals of our 
 army, they must reverse their practices 
 and course of proceeding on this subject. 
 * * * Treat your enemies as enemies, as 
 the worst of enemies, and avail yourselves 
 like men of every power which God has 
 placed in your hands, to accomplish your 
 purpose, within the rules of civilized war 
 fare." 
 
 The bill passed, so modified, as to give 
 freedom to all who should perform military 
 service, but restricting liberty to the fami 
 lies of such only as belonged to rebel mas 
 ters. It^passed the House July 16th, 1862, 
 and received the sanction of the President, 
 who said : "And the promise made must 
 be kept!" General Hunter for his part in 
 beginning colored enlistments, was out 
 lawed by the Confederate Congress. Hunter 
 followed with an order freeing the slaves 
 in South Carolina. 
 
 In January, 1863, pursuant to a sugges 
 tion in the annual report of Secretary 
 Stanton, who was by this time as radical 
 as his predecessor in office, the House 
 passed a bill authorizing the President to 
 enroll into the land and naval service such 
 number of volunteers of African descent 
 as he might deem useful to suppress the 
 rebellion, and for such term as he might 
 prescribe, not exceeding five years. The 
 slaves of loyal citizens in the Border 
 States were excluded from the provisions 
 of this bill. In the Senate an adverse re 
 port was made on the ground that the 
 President already possessed these powers. 
 
 In January, 1863, Senator Wilson, who 
 was by this time chairman of the Military 
 Committee of the Senate, secured the pas 
 sage of a bill which authorized a draft for 
 the National forces from the ranks of all 
 male citizens, and those of foreign birth 
 who had declared their intentions, etc. 
 The bill contained the usual exemp 
 tions. 
 
 CONFEDERATE USE OF COLORED MEN. 
 
 In June, 1861, the rebel Legislature of 
 Tennessee passed this enlistment bill, 
 which became a law : 
 
 SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the General 
 Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That 
 from and after the passage of this act the 
 Governor shall be, and he is hereby, 
 authorized, at his discretion, to receive 
 into the military service of the State all 
 male free persons of color between the ages 
 of fifteen and fifty, or such numbers as 
 may be necessary, who may be sound in 
 mind and body, and capable of actual ser- 
 yice. 
 
 2. That such free persons of color shall 
 receive, each, eight dollars per month, as 
 pay, and such persons shall be entitled to 
 draw, each, one ration per day, and shall 
 be entitled to a yearly allowance each for 
 clothing. 
 
 3. That, in order to carry out the provi 
 sions of this act, it shall be the duty of the 
 sheriffs of the several counties in this 
 State to collect accurate information as to 
 the number and condition, with the names 
 of free persons of color, subject to the pro 
 visions of this act, and shall, as it is prac 
 ticable, report the same in writing to the 
 Governor. 
 
 4. That a failure or refusal of the 
 sheriffs, or any one or more of them, to 
 perform the duties required, shall be 
 deemed an offence, and on conviction 
 thereof shall be punished as a misde 
 meanor. 
 
 5. That in the event a sufficient number 
 of free persons of color to meet the wants 
 of the State shall not tender their services, 
 the Governor is empowered, through the 
 sheriffs of the different counties, to press 
 such persons until the requisite number is 
 obtained. 
 
 6. That when any mess of volunteers 
 shall keep a servant to wait on the mem 
 bers o the mess, each servant shall be al- 
 lowed'one ration. 
 
 This act to take effect from and after its 
 passage. 
 
 W. C. WHITTHORNE, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 B. L. STOVALL, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 Passed June 28, 1861. 
 
 1862, November 2 Governor Joseph E. 
 Brown, of Georgia, issued a call announc 
 ing that if a sufficient supply of negroes be 
 not tendered within ten days, General 
 Mercer will, in pursuance of authority 
 given him, proceed to impress, and asking 
 of every planter of Georgia a tender of one 
 fifth of his negroes to complete the fortifi 
 cations around Savannah. This one fifth 
 is estimated at 15,000. 
 
 1863. The Governor of South Carolina 
 in July, issued a proclamation for 3,000 
 negroes to work on the fortifications, " the 
 need for them being pressing." 
 
 THE CHANGING SENTIMENT OF CONGRESS. 
 
 In the Rebel House of Representatives, 
 December 29th, Mr. DARGAN, of Alabama, 
 introduced a bill to receive into the mili 
 tary service all that portion of population 
 in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and 
 Florida, known as " Creoles." 
 
 Mr. Dargan supported the bill in some 
 remarks. He said the Creoles were a 
 mixed-blooded race. Under the treaty of 
 Paris in 1803, and the treaty of Spain in 
 1810, they were recognized as freemen. 
 
166 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Many of them owned large estates, and 
 were intelligent men. They were as much 
 devoted to our cause as any class of men in 
 the South, and were even anxious to go | 
 into service. They had applied to him to j 
 be received into service, and he had ap 
 plied to Mr. Randolph, then Secretary of 
 War. Mr. Randolph decided against the 
 application, on the ground that it might 
 famish to the enemy a pretext of arming our 
 slaves against us. Some time after this 
 he was again applied to by them, and he 
 went to the present Secretary of War, Mr. 
 Seddon, and laid the matter before him. 
 Mr. Seddon refused to entertain the 
 proposition, on the ground that it did not 
 come up before him through the military 
 authorities. To obviate this objection, 
 Gen. Maury, at Mobile, soon afterwards 
 represented their wishes to the War De 
 partment. Mr. Seddon refused the offer of 
 their services, on the ground that it would 
 be incompatible with the position we occu 
 pied before the world ; that it could not be 
 done. 
 
 Mr. Dargan said he differed with the 
 Secretary of War. He cared not for " the 
 world." He cared no more for their 
 opinions than they did for ours. He was 
 anxious to bring into service every free 
 man, be he who he may, willing to strike 
 for our cause. He saw no objection to 
 employing Creoles ; they would form a 
 potent element in our army. In his dis 
 trict alone a brigade of them could be 
 raised. The crisis had been brought upon 
 us by the enemy, and he believed the time 
 would yet come when the question would 
 not be the Union or no Union, but 
 whether Southern men should be permitted 
 to live at all. In resisting subjugation by 
 such a barbarous foe he was for employing 
 all our available force. He would go 
 further and say that he was for arming and 
 putting the slaves into military service. He 
 was in favor even of emlpoying them as a 
 military arm in the defence of the country. 
 
 1864. The Mayor of Charleston, Charles 
 Macbeth, summons all slaveholders within 
 the city to furnish to the military authori 
 ties forthwith, one-fourth of all their male 
 slaves between the ages of fifteen and fifty, 
 to labor upon the fortifications. The penalty 
 announced, in case of failure to comply 
 with this requisition is a fine of $200 for 
 every slave not forthcoming. Compensa 
 tion is allowed at the rate of $400 a year. 
 
 All free male persons of color between 
 the ages of fifteen and fifty are required to 
 give themselves up for the same purpose. 
 Those not complying will be imprisoned, 
 and set to work upon the fortifications 
 along the coast. To free negroes no other 
 compensation than rations is allowed. 
 
 NEGROES IN THE ARMY. 
 
 copy of " An act to increase the efficiency 
 of the army by the employment of free 
 negroes ^nd slaves in certain capacities," 
 lately passed by the Rebel Congress. The 
 negroes are to perform " such duties as the 
 Secretary of War or Commanding General 
 may prescribe.'' The first section is as 
 follows : 
 
 Ttie Congress of the Confederate States of 
 America do enact, That all male free ne 
 groes, and other free persons of color, not 
 including those who are free under the 
 treaty of Paris, of 1803, or under the treaty 
 of Spain, of 1819, resident in the Confed 
 erate States, between the ages of eighteen 
 and fifty years, shall be held liable to per 
 form such duties with the army, or in con 
 nection with the military defences of the 
 country, in the way of work upon the 
 fortifications, or in government works for 
 the production or preparation of materials 
 of war, or in military hospitals, as the Sec 
 retary of War or the Commanding General 
 of the Trans-Mississippi Department may, 
 from time to time, prescribe; and while 
 engaged in the performances of such duties 
 shall receive rations and clothing and 
 compensation at the rate of eleven dollars 
 a month, under such rules and regulations 
 as the said Secretary may establish : Pro 
 vided, That the Secretary of War or the 
 Commanding General of the Trans-Missis 
 sippi Department, with the approval of the 
 President, may exempt from the opera 
 tions of this act such free negroes as the 
 interests of the country may require should 
 be exempted, or such as he may think 
 proper, to exempt on the ground of justice, 
 equity or necessity. 
 
 The third section provides that when 
 the Secretary of War shall be unable to 
 procure the services of slaves in any mili 
 tary department, then he is authorized to 
 impress the services of as many male 
 slaves, not to exceed twenty thousand, as 
 may be required, from time to time, to dis 
 charge the duties indicated in the first sec 
 tion of the act. 
 
 The owner of the slave is to be paid for 
 his services ; or, if he be killed or escape 
 to the enemy," the owner shall receive his 
 full value. 
 
 Governor Smith, of Virginia, has made 
 a call for five thousand male slaves to work 
 on the batteries, to be drawn from fifty 
 counties. The call for this force has been 
 made by the President under a resolution 
 of Congress. 
 
 " CONFEDERATE " LEGISLATION UPON NE 
 GRO PRISONERS AND THEIR WHITE 
 OFFICERS WHEN CAPTURED.* 
 
 1863, May 1 An act was approved de 
 claring that the commissioned officers of 
 
 *December 23, 1862 Jefferson Davis issued a proclft- 
 
 nn -n i ITIT n* ' -I mation of outlawry against Major General B. F. ButUi: 
 
 The Richmond pre^S publish the Official the last two clauses of which are : 
 
COLOR IN WAR POLITICS. 
 
 167 
 
 the enemy ought not to be delivered to the 
 authorities of the respective States, (as 
 suggested in Davis's message ; ) but all cap 
 tives taken by the Confederate forces ought 
 to be dealt with and disposed of by the 
 Confederate Government. 
 
 President Lincoln's emancipation pro 
 clamations of September 22, 1862, and 
 January 1, 1863, were resolved to be in 
 consistent with the usages of war among 
 civilized nations, and should be re 
 pressed by retaliation ; and the President 
 is authorized to cause full and complete 
 retaliation for every such violation, in such 
 manner and to such extent as he may think 
 proper. 
 
 Every white commissioned officer com 
 manding negroes or mulattoes in arms 
 against the Confederate States shall be 
 deemed as inciting servile insurrection, 
 and shall, if captured, be put to death, or 
 be otherwise punished, at the discretion of 
 the court. 
 
 Every person charged with an offence 
 made punishable under the act shall be 
 tried by the military court of the army or 
 corps of troops capturing him ; and, after 
 conviction, the President may commute the 
 punishment in such manner and on such 
 terms as he may deem proper. 
 
 All negroes and mulattoes who shall be 
 engaged in war or taken in arms against 
 the Confederate States, or shall give aid or 
 comfort to the enemies of the Confederate 
 States, shall, when captured in the Con 
 federate States, be delivered to the author 
 ities of the State or States in which they 
 shall be captured, to be dealt with accord 
 ing to the present or future laws of such 
 State or States. 
 
 Passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. 
 
 The first amendment to the Constitution 
 growing out of the war, and one of its di 
 rect results, was that of abolishing slavery. 
 It was first introduced to the House De 
 cember 14th, 1863, by James M. Ashley of 
 Ohio. Similar measures were introduced 
 by James M. Wilson, Senators Henderson, 
 Sumner and others. On the 10th of Feb 
 ruary, Senator Trumbull reported Hen 
 derson's joint resolution amended as fol 
 lows : 
 
 " That the following article be proposed 
 to the Legislatures of the several States, as 
 an amendment to the Constitution of the 
 United States,, which, when ratified by 
 three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be 
 
 Third. That all negro slaves captured in arms be at 
 once delivered over to the executive authorities of the 
 respective States to which they belong, to be dealt with 
 according to the laws of said States. 
 
 Fourth. That the like orders be executed in all cases 
 with respect to all commissioned officers of the United 
 States when found serving in company with said slaves 
 in insurrection against the authorities of the different 
 States of this Confederacy. 
 
 valid to all intents and purposes as a part 
 of the said Constitution, namely : 
 
 " ART. 13, Sec. 1. Neither slavery nor 
 involuntary servitude except as a punish 
 ment for crime, whereof the party shall 
 have been duly convicted, shall exist with 
 in the United States, or any place subject 
 to their jurisdiction. 
 
 Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to 
 enforce this article by appropriate legisla 
 tion.*' 
 
 The Senate began the consideration of 
 the question March 28th, Senator Trumbull 
 opening the debate in favor of the amend 
 ment. He predicted that within a year 
 the necessary number of States would rat 
 ify it. Wilson of Massachusetts made a 
 long and able speech in favor. Davis of 
 Kentucky and Saulsbury of Delaware led 
 the opposition, but Reverdy Johnson, an 
 independent Democratic Senator from 
 Maryland, surprised all by his bold sup 
 port of the measure. Among other things 
 he said : 
 
 " I think history will bear me out in the 
 statement, that if the men by whom that 
 Constitution was framed, and the people 
 by whom it was adopted, had anticipated 
 the times in which we live, they would 
 have provided by constitutional enactment, 
 that that evil and that sin should in some 
 comparatively unremote day be removed. 
 Without recurring to authority, the writ 
 ings public or private of the men of that 
 day, it is sufficient for my purpose to state 
 what the facts will justify me in saying, 
 that every man of them who largely par 
 ticipated in the deliberations of the Con 
 vention by which the Constitution was 
 adopted, earnestly desired, not only upon 
 grounds of political economy, not only up 
 on reasons material in their character, but 
 upon grounds of morality and religion, 
 that sooner or later the institution should 
 terminate." 
 
 Senator McDougall of California, op 
 posed the amendment. Harlan of Iowa, 
 Hale of New Hampshire, and Sumner, 
 made characteristic speeches in favor. 
 Saulsbury advocated the divine right of 
 slavery. It passed April 8th, by 38 ayes to 
 6 noes, the latter comprising Davis and 
 Powell of Kentucky ; McDougall of Cali 
 fornia ; Hendricks of Indiana ; Saulsbury 
 and Riddle of Delaware. 
 
 Arnold o.f Illinois, was the first to se 
 cure the adoption in the House (Feb. 15, 
 1864,) of a resolution to abolish slavery; 
 but the Constitutional amendment required 
 a two-thirds vote, and this it was difficult 
 to obtain, though all the power of the Ad 
 ministration was bent to that purpose. The 
 discussion began May 31st ; the vote was 
 reached June 15th, but it then failed of 
 the required two-thirds 93 for to 65 
 against, 23 not voting. Its more pro 
 nounced advocates were Arnold, Ashley, 
 
168 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Bropmall, Stevens, and Kelly of Pennsyl 
 vania; Farnsworth and Ingersoll of Illi 
 nois, and many others. Its ablest oppo 
 nents were Holman, Wood, Mallory, Cox 
 and Pendleton the latter rallying nearly 
 all of the Democrats against it. Its Dem 
 ocratic friends were McAllister and Bailey 
 of Pennsylvania; Cobb of Wisconsin; 
 Griswold and Odell of New York. Before 
 the vote was announced Ashley changed 
 his vote so as to move a reconsideration and 
 keep control of the question. At the next 
 session it was passed, receiving every Ee- 
 publican and 16 Democratic votes, 8 Dem 
 ocrats purposely refraining, so that it would 
 surely pass. 
 
 Admission of Representatives 
 
 from Louisiana. 
 
 The capture of New Orleans by Admiral 
 Farragut, led to the enrollment of 60,000 
 citizens of Louisiana as citizens of the 
 United States. The President thereupon 
 appointed a Military Governor for the en 
 tire State, and this Governor ordered an 
 election for members of Congress under 
 the old State constitution. This was held 
 Dec. 3, 1862, when Messrs. Flanders and 
 Hahn were returned, neither receiving 
 3,000 votes. They received certificates, pre 
 sented them, and thus opened up a new 
 and grave political question. The Demo 
 crats opposed their admission on grounds 
 so well stated by Voorhees of Indiana, that 
 we quote them : 
 
 "Understand this principle. If the 
 Southern Confederacy is a foreign power, 
 an independent nationality to-day, and you 
 have conquered back the territory of Lou 
 isiana, you may then substitute a new sys 
 tem of laws in the place of the laws of that 
 State. You may then supplant her civil in 
 stitutions by institutions made anew for her 
 by the proper authority of this Government 
 not by the executive but by the legisla 
 tive branch of the Government, assisted by 
 the Executive simply to the extent of sign 
 ing his name to the bills of legislation. If 
 the Chairman of the Committee of Ways 
 and Means, (Mr. Stevens) is correct ; if the 
 gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Conway) is 
 correct, and this assumed power in the 
 South is a power of the earth, and stands 
 to-day upon equal terms of nationality 
 with ourselves, and reconquer back State 
 by State its territory by the power of arms, 
 then we may govern them independently 
 of their local laws. But if the theory we 
 have been proceeding upon here, that this 
 Union is unbroken ; that no States have 
 sundered the bonds that bind us together; 
 
 their parts, as you are to uphold the laws 
 of Pennsylvania or New York, or any 
 other State whose civil policy has not been 
 disturbed." 
 
 Michael Hahn, one of the Representa 
 tives elect, closed a very effective speech, 
 which secured the personal good will of 
 the House in favor of his admission, in 
 these words : 
 
 "And even, sir, within the limits of the 
 dreary and desolated region of the rebel 
 lion itself, despair, which has already tak 
 en hold of the people, will gain additional 
 power and strength, at the reception of the 
 news that Louisiana sends a message 'of 
 peace, good-will, and hearty fellowship to 
 the Union. This intelligence will sound 
 more joyful to patriot ears than all the 
 oft repeated tidings of 'Union victories/ 
 And of all victories, this will be the most 
 glorious, useful and solid, for it speaks of re 
 organization, soon to become the great and 
 difficult problem with which our statesmen 
 will have to familiarize themselves, and 
 when this shall have commenced, we will 
 be able to realize that God, in his infinite 
 mercy has looked down upon our misfor 
 tunes, and in a spirit of paternal love and 
 pity, has addressed us in the language as 
 cribed to him by our own gifted Longfel 
 low: 
 
 " I am weary of your quarrels, 
 Weary of your wars and bloodshed, 
 Weary of your prayers for vengeance, 
 Of your wranglings and dissensions ; 
 All your strength is in your Union, 
 All your danger is in discord, 
 Therefore, be at peace, henceforward, 
 And as brothers live together." 
 
 Mr. Speaker, Louisiana ever loyal, hon 
 orable Louisiana seeks no greater bles 
 sing in the future, than to remain a part of 
 this great and glorious Union. She has 
 stood by you in the darkest hours of the 
 rebellion ; and she intends to stand by you. 
 Sir, raise your eyes to the gorgeous ceil 
 ings which ornament this Hall, and look 
 upon her fair and lovely escutcheon. Care 
 fully read the patriotic words which sur 
 round her affectionate pelican family, and 
 you will find there inscribed, ' Justice f 
 Union, Confidence.' Those words have 
 with us no idle meaning; and would to 
 God that other members of this Union r 
 could properly appreciate our motto, our 
 motives and our position ! " 
 
 The debate attracted much attention, 
 because of the novelty of a question upon 
 which, it has since been contended, would 
 have turned a different plan of reconstruct 
 ing the rebellious States if the President's 
 plans had not been destroyed by his assas 
 sination. Dawes, of Massachusetts, was 
 
 that no successful disunion has yet taken I the Chairman of the Committee on Elec- 
 place, if that theory is still to prevail in tions, and he closed the debate in favor of 
 these halls, then this cannot be done. You admission. The vote stood 92 for to 44 
 are as much bound to uphold the laws of against, almost a strict party test, the 
 Louisiana in all their extent and in all Democrats voting no. 
 
RECONSTRUCTION. 
 
 169 
 
 RECONSTRUCTION. 
 
 In the House as early as Dec. 15, 1863, 
 Henry Winter Davis moved that so much 
 of the President's message as relates to 
 the duty of the United States to guaranty 
 a Republican form of government to the 
 States in which the governments recog 
 nized by the United States have been ab 
 rogated or overthrown, be referred to a 
 select committee of nine to report the bills 
 necessary and proper for carrying into ex 
 ecution the foregoing guarantee,was passed, 
 and on May 4th, 1864, the House adopted 
 the first reconstruction bill by 74 yeas to 
 66 nays a strict party vote.* The Senate 
 passed it by yeas 18, nays 14 Doolittle, 
 Henderson, Lane of Indiana, Ten Eyck, 
 Trumbull, and Van Winkle voting with 
 the Democrats against it. 
 
 The bill authorizes the President to ap 
 point in each of the States declared in re 
 bellion, a Provisional Governorjwith the 
 pay and emoluments of a brigadier ; to be 
 charged with the civil administration until 
 a State government therein shall be recog 
 nized. As soon as the military resistance 
 to the United States shall have been sup 
 pressed, and the people sufficiently re 
 turned to their obedience to the Constitu 
 tion and laws, the Governor shall direct 
 the marshal of the United States to enroll 
 all the white male citizens of the United 
 States, resident in the State in their re 
 spective counties, and whenever a majority 
 of them take the oath of allegiance, the 
 loyal people of the State shall be entitled 
 to elect delegates to a convention to act 
 upon the re-establishment of a State gov 
 ernment the proclamation to contain de 
 tails prescribed. Qualified voters in the 
 army may vote in their camps. No person 
 who has held or exercised any civil, mili 
 tary, State, or Confederate office, under the 
 rebel occupation, and who has voluntarily 
 borne arms against the United States, shall 
 vote or be eligible as a delegate. The 
 convention is required to insert in the con 
 stitution' provisions 
 
 1st. No person who has held or exercised 
 any civil or military office, (except offices 
 merely ministerial and military offices be 
 low a colonel,) State or Confederate, under 
 the usurping power, shall vote for, or be 
 a member of the legislature or governor. 
 
 2d. Involuntary servitude is forever pro 
 hibited, and the freedom of all persons is 
 guarantied in said State. 
 
 3d. No debt, State or Confederate, cre 
 ated by or under the sanction of the usurp 
 ing power, shall be recognized or paid by 
 the State. 
 
 Upon the adoption of the constitution by 
 the convention, and its ratification by the 
 electors of the State, the Provisional Gov- 
 
 * McPherson's History, page 317. 
 
 ernor shall so certify to the President, who, 
 after obtaining the assent of Congress, 
 shall, by proclamation, recognize the gov 
 ernment as established, and none other, as 
 the constitutional government of the State; 
 and from the date of such recognition, and 
 not before, Senators and Representatives 
 and electors for President and Vice-Presi- 
 dent may be elected in such State. Until 
 re-organization the Provisional Governor 
 shall enforce the laws of the Union and of 
 the State before the rebellion. 
 
 The remaining sections are as follows : 
 
 SEC. 12. That all persons held to invol 
 untary servitude or labor in the States 
 aforesaid are hereby emancipated and dis 
 charged therefrom, and they and their pos 
 terity shall be forever free. And if any 
 such persons or their posterity shall be re 
 strained of liberty, under pretence of any 
 claim to such service or labor, the courts 
 of the United States shall, on habeas cor 
 pus, discharge them. 
 
 SEC. 13. That if any person declared free 
 by this act, or any law of the United States, 
 or any proclamation of the President, be 
 restrained of liberty, with intent to be held 
 in or reduced to involuntary servitude or 
 labor, the person convicted before a court 
 of competent jurisdiction of such act shall 
 be punished by fine of not less than $1,500, 
 and be imprisoned not less than five, nor 
 more than twenty years. 
 
 SEC. 14. That every person who shall 
 hereafter hold or exercise any office, civil 
 or military, except offices merely minis 
 terial and military offices below the grade 
 of colonel, in the rebel service, State or 
 Confederate, is hereby declared not to be 
 a citizen of the United States. 
 
 Lincoln's Proclamation on Reconstruction, 
 
 President Lincoln failed to sign the above 
 bill because it reached him less than one 
 hiour before final adjournment, and there 
 upon issued a proclamation which closed 
 as follows : 
 
 '' Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, 
 President of the United States, do pro 
 claim, declare, and make known, that, 
 while I am (as I was in December last, 
 when by proclamation I propounded a plan 
 for restoration) unprepared, by a formal 
 approval of this bill, to be inflexibly com 
 mitted to any single plan of restoration ; 
 and, while I am also unprepared to declare 
 that the free State constitutions and gov 
 ernments already adopted and installed in 
 Arkansas and Louisiana shall be set aside 
 and held for nought, thereby repelling and 
 discouraging the loyal citizens who have 
 set up the same as to further effort, or to 
 declare a constitutional competency in 
 Congress to abolish slavery in States, but 
 am at the same time sincerelv hoping and 
 
170 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 expecting that a constitutional amendment 
 abolishing slavery throughout the nation 
 may be adopted, nevertheless I am fully 
 satisfied with the system for restoration 
 contained in the bill as one very proper 
 plan for the loyal people of any State 
 choosing to adopt it, and that I am, and at 
 all times shall be, prepared to give the Ex 
 ecutive aid and assistance to any such peo 
 ple, so soon as the military resistance to 
 the United States shall have been sup 
 pressed in any such State, and the people 
 thereof shall have sufficiently returned to 
 their obedience to the Constitution and 
 laws of the United States, in which cases 
 Military Governors will be appointed, with 
 directions to proceed according to the bill." 
 
 Admission of Arkansas. 
 
 On the 10th of June, 1864, introduced a 
 joint resolution for the recognition of the 
 free State government of Arkansas. A 
 new State government had then been or 
 ganized, with Isaac Murphy, Governor, 
 who was reported to have received nearly 
 16,000 votes at a called election. The 
 other State officers are : 
 
 Lieutenant Governor, C. C. Bliss ; Secre 
 tary of State, R. J. T. White ; Auditor, J. 
 B. Berry ; Treasurer, E. D. Ayers ; Attor 
 ney General, C. T. Jordan ; Judges of the 
 Supreme Court, T. D. W. Yowley, C. A. 
 Harper, E. Baker. 
 
 The Legislature also elected Senators, 
 but neither Senators nor Eepresentatives 
 obtained their seats. Trumbull, from the 
 Senate Judiciary Committee, made a long 
 report touching the admission of the Sen 
 ators, which closed as follows : 
 
 " When the rebellion in Arkansas shall 
 have been so far suppressed that the loy 
 al inhabitants thereof shall be free to re 
 establish their State government upon a 
 republican foundation, or to recognize the 
 one already set up, and by the aid and not 
 in subordination to the military to main 
 tain the same, they will then, and not be 
 fore, in the opinion of your committee, be 
 entitled to a representation in Congress, 
 and to participate in the administration of 
 the Federal Government. Believing that 
 such a state of things did not at the time 
 the claimants were elected, and does not 
 now, exist in the State of Arkansas, the 
 committee recommend for adoption the 
 following resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, That William M. Fishback 
 and Elisha Baxter are not entitled to seats 
 as Senators from the State of Arkansas." 
 
 1864, June 29 The resolution of the 
 Committee on the Judiciary was adopted 
 yeas 27, nays 6. 
 
 President Lincoln was known to favor 
 the immediate admission of Arkansas anc 
 Louisiana, but the refusal of the Senate to 
 
 admit the Arkansas Senators raised an is- 
 ue which partially divided the Republi- 
 cans in both Houses, some of whom fa 
 vored forcible reconstruction through the 
 aid of Military Governors and the machin 
 ery of new State governments, while others 
 opposed. The views of those opposed to 
 the President's policy are well stated in a 
 3aper signed by Benjamin F. Wade and 
 EEenry Winter Davis, published in the New 
 York Tribune, August 5th, 1864. From 
 this we take the more pithy extracts : 
 
 The President, by preventing this bill 
 from becoming a law, holds the electoral 
 votes of the rebel States at the dictation of 
 lis personal ambition. 
 
 If those votes turn the balance in his 
 favor, is it to be supposed that his compe 
 titor, defeated by such means, will ac 
 quiesce ? 
 
 If the rebel majority assert their su 
 premacy in those States, and send votes 
 which elect an enemy of the Government, 
 will we not repel his claims ? 
 
 And is not civil war for the Presidency 
 inaugurated by the votes of rebel States ? 
 
 Seriously impressed with these dangers, 
 Congress, " the proper constitutional au 
 thority" formally declared that there are 
 no State governments in the rebel States, 
 and provided for their erection at a proper 
 time ; and both the Senate and the House 
 of Representatives rejected the Senators 
 and Representatives chosen under the au 
 thority of what the President calls the 
 free constitution and government of Ar 
 kansas. 
 
 The President's proclamation " holds for 
 naught " this judgment, and discards the 
 authority of the Supreme Court, and strides 
 headlong toward the anarchy his pro 
 clamation of the 8th of December inaugu 
 rated. 
 
 If electors for President be allowed to 
 be chosen in either of those States, a sinis 
 ter light will be cast on the motives which 
 induced the President to " hold for naught " 
 the will of Congress rather than his gov 
 ernment in Louisiana and Arkansas. 
 
 That judgment of Congress which the 
 President defies was the exercise of an 
 authority exclusively vested in Congress 
 by the Constitution to determine what is 
 the established government in a State, and 
 in its own nature and by the highest judi 
 cial authority binding on all other depart 
 ments of the Government. 
 
 A more studied outrage on the legisla 
 tive authority of the people has never been 
 perpetrated. 
 
 Congress passed a bill ; the President re 
 fused to approve it, and then by proclama 
 tion puts as much of it in force as he sees 
 fit, and proposes to execute those parts by 
 officers unknown to the laws of the United 
 States and not subject t" A * -> confirmation 
 of the Senate ! 
 
RECONSTRUCTION. 
 
 171 
 
 The bill directed the appointment of 
 Provisional Governors by and with the ad 
 vice and consent of the Senate. 
 
 The President, after defeating the law, 
 proposes to appoint without law, and with 
 out the advice and consent of the Senate, 
 Military Governors for the rebel States ! 
 
 He has already exercised this dictatorial 
 usurpation in Louisiana, and he defeated 
 the bill to prevent its limitation. * * * 
 * The President has greatly presumed on 
 the forbearance which the supporters of 
 Ms Administration have so long practiced, 
 in view of the arduous conflict in which 
 we are engaged, and the reckless ferocity 
 of our political opponents. 
 
 But he must understand that our sup 
 port is of a cause and not of a man ; that 
 the authority of Congress is paramount 
 and must be respected; that the whole 
 body of the Union men of Congress will 
 not submit to be impeached by him of 
 rash and unconstitutional legislation ; and 
 if he wishes our support, he must confine 
 himself to his executive duties to obey 
 and execute, not make the laws to sup 
 press by arms armed rebellion, and leave 
 political reorganization to Congress. 
 
 If the supporters of the Government 
 fail to insist on this, they become responsi 
 ble for the usurpations which they fail to 
 rebuke, and are justly liable to the indig 
 nation of the people whose rights and 
 security, committed to their keeping, they 
 sacrifice. 
 
 Let them consider the remedy for these 
 usurpations, and, having found it, fear 
 lessly execute it. 
 
 The question, as presented in 1864, now 
 passed temporarily from public considera 
 tion because of greater interest in the 
 closing events of the war and the Presi- 
 ydential succession. The passage of the 
 14th or anti-slavery amendment by the 
 States also intervened. This was officially 
 announced on the 18th of December 1865, 
 by Mr. Seward, 27 of the then 36 States 
 having ratified, as follows : Illinois, Rhode 
 Island, Michigan, Maryland, New York, 
 West Virginia, Maine, Kansas, Massachu 
 setts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Mis 
 souri, Nevada, Indiana, Louisiana, Minne 
 sota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Tennessee, Ar 
 kansas, Connecticut, New Hampshire, 
 South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, 
 and Georgia. 
 
 TEXT OF THE RECONSTRUCTION MEASURES. 
 
 1 ! t h Constitutional Amendment. 
 
 Jtimt Resolution proponing an Amendment to the Constitu 
 tion of the United States. 
 
 Be it resolved by the Senate and House of 
 Representatives of the United States of 
 America, in Congress assembled, (two- 
 thirds of both houses concurring,) That 
 
 the following article be proposed to the 
 Legislatures of the several States as an 
 amendment to the Constitution of the 
 United States, which, when ratified by 
 three-fourths of said Legislatures, shall be 
 valid as part of the Constitution, namely : 
 [Here follows the 14th amendment. See 
 Book IV.] 
 
 Reconstruction Act of Thirty-Ninth Con 
 gress. 
 
 An Act to provide for the more efficient government of the 
 rebel States. 
 
 Whereas no legal State governments or 
 adequate protection for life or property now 
 exists in the rebel States of Virginia, 
 North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, 
 Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, 
 Texas, and Arkansas ; and whereas it is 
 necessary that peace and good order 
 should be enforced in said States until 
 loyal and republican State governments 
 can be legally established : Therefore 
 
 Be it enacted, &c., That said rebel States 
 shall be divided into military districts and 
 made subject to the military authority of 
 the United States, as hereinafter prescribed, 
 and for that purpose Virginia shall consti 
 tute the first district ; North Carolina and 
 South Carolina the second district ; Geor 
 gia, Alabama, and Florida the third dis 
 trict ; Mississippi and Arkansas the fourth 
 district ; and Louisiana and Texas the fifth 
 district. 
 
 SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the 
 President to assign to the command of 
 each of said districts an officer of the army, 
 not below the rank' of brigadier general, 
 and to detail a sufficient military force to 
 enable such officer to perform his duties 
 and enforce his authority within the dis 
 trict to which he is assigned. 
 
 SEC. 3. That it shall be the duty of each 
 officer assigned as aforesaid to protect all 
 persons in their rights of person and 
 property, to suppress insurrection, disor 
 der, and violence, and to punish, or cause 
 to be punished, all disturbers of the public 
 peace and criminals, and to this end he 
 may allow local civil tribunals to take 
 jurisdiction of and to try offenders, or, 
 when in his judgment it may be necessary 
 for the trial of offenders, he shall have 
 power to organize military commissions 
 or tribunals for that purpose ; and all in 
 terference under color of State authority 
 with the exercise of military authority un 
 der this act shall be null and void. 
 
 SEC. 4. That all persons put under mili 
 tary arrest by virtue of this act shall be 
 tried without unnecessary delay, and no 
 cruel or unusual punishment shall be in 
 flicted ; and no sentence of any military 
 commission or tribunal hereby authorized, 
 affecting the life or liberty of any person, 
 shall be executed until it is approved by 
 the officer in command of the district, and 
 
172 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 the laws and regulations for the govern 
 ment of the army shall not be affected by 
 this act, except in so far as they conflict 
 with its provisions: Provided, That no 
 sentence of death under the provisions of 
 this act shall be carried into effect without 
 the approval of the President. 
 
 SEC. 5. That when the people of any one 
 of said rebel States shall have formed a 
 constitution of government in conformity 
 with the Constitution of the United States 
 in all respects, framed by a convention of 
 delegates elected by the male citizens of 
 said State twenty-one years old and up 
 ward, of whatever race, color, or previous 
 condition, who have been resident in said 
 State for one year previous to the day of 
 such election, except such as may be dis 
 franchised for participation in the rebel 
 lion, or for felony at common law, and 
 when such constitution shall provide that 
 the elective franchise shall be enjoyed by 
 all such persons as have the qualifications 
 herein stated for electors of delegates, and 
 when such constitution shall be ratified by 
 a majority of the persons voting on the 
 question of ratification who are qualified as 
 electors for delegates, and when such con 
 stitution shall have been submitted to 
 Congress for examination and approval, 
 and Congress shall have approved the 
 same, and when said State, by a vote of its 
 legislature elected under said constitution, 
 shall have adopted the amendment to the 
 Constitution of the United States, proposed 
 by the Thirty-ninth Congress, and known 
 as article fourteen, and when said article 
 shall have become a part of the Constitu 
 tion of the United States, said State shall 
 be declared entitled to representation in 
 Congress, and Senators and Kepresenta- 
 tives shall be admitted therefrom on their 
 taking the oaths prescribed by law, and 
 then and thereafter the preceding sections 
 of this act shall be inoperative in said 
 State : Provided, That no person excluded 
 from the privilege of holding office by said 
 proposed amendment to the Constitution 
 of the United States shall be eligible to 
 election as a member of the convention to 
 frame a constitution for any of said rebel 
 States, nor shall any such person vote for 
 members of such convention. 
 
 SEC. 6. That until the people of said rebel 
 States shall be by law admitted to repre 
 sentation in the Congress of the United 
 States, any civil governments which may 
 exist therein shall be deemed provisional 
 only, and in all respects subject to the 
 paramount authority of the United States 
 at any time to abolish, modify, control, or 
 supersede the same ; and in all elections to 
 any office under such provisional govern 
 ments all persons shall be entitled to vote, 
 and none others, who are entitled to vote 
 under the provisions of the fifth section of 
 this act ; and no person shall be eligible to 
 
 any office under any such provisional goy- 
 ernments who would be disqualified from 
 holding office under the provisions of the 
 third article of said constitutional amend 
 ment. 
 Passed March 2, 1867. 
 
 Supplemental Reconstruction Act of For 
 tieth Congress. 
 
 AN ACT supplementary to an act entitled 
 " An act to provide for the more efficient 
 government of the rebel States/' passed 
 March second, eighteen hundred and 
 sixty-seven, and to facilitate restora 
 tion. 
 
 Be it enacted, &c., That before the first 
 day of September, eighteen hundred and 
 sixty-seven, the commanding general in 
 each district defined by an act entitled 
 " An act to provide for the more efficient 
 government of the rebel States," passed 
 March second, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
 seven, shall cause a registration to be 
 made of the male citizens of the United 
 States, twenty-one years of age and up 
 wards, resident in each county or parish 
 in the State or States included in his dis 
 trict, which registration shall include only 
 those persons who are qualified to vote for 
 delegates by the act aforesaid, and who 
 shall have taken and subscribed the fol 
 lowing oath or affirmation : "I, , 
 
 do solemnly swear, (or affirm,) in the 
 presence of Almighty God, that I am a 
 
 citizen of the State of ; that I have 
 
 resided in said State for months 
 
 next preceding this day, and now reside in 
 
 the county of , or the parish of 
 
 , in said State, (as the case maybe;) 
 
 that I am twenty-one years old ; that I 
 have not been disfranchised for participa 
 tion in any rebellion or civil war against 
 the United States, nor for felony commited 
 against the laws of any State or of the 
 United States ; that I have never been a 
 member of any State legislature, nor held 
 any executive or judicial office in any 
 State and afterwards engaged in insurrec 
 tion or rebellion against the United States, 
 or given aid or comfort to the enemies 
 thereof; that I have never taken an oath 
 as a member of Congress of the United 
 States, or as an officer of the United States, 
 or as a member of any State legislature, or 
 as an executive or judicial officer of any 
 State, to support the Constitution of the 
 United States, and afterwards engaged in 
 insurrection or rebellion against the 
 United States or given aid or comfort to 
 the enemies thereof; that I will faithfully 
 support the Constitution and obey the 
 laws of the United States, and will, to the 
 best of my ability, encourage others so to 
 do, so help me God;" which oath or affirm 
 ation may be administered by any register 
 ing officer. 
 
RECONSTRUCTION. 
 
 173 
 
 SEC. 2. That after the completion of the 
 registration hereby provided for in any 
 State, at such time and places therein as 
 the commanding general shall appoint and 
 direct, of which at least thirty days' public 
 notice shall be given, an election shall be 
 held of delegates to a convention for the 
 purpose of establishing a constitution and 
 civil government for such State loyal to 
 the Union, said convention in each State, 
 /except Virginia, to consist of the same 
 'number of members as the most numerous 
 branch of the State legislature of such 
 State in the year eighteen hundred and 
 sixty, to be apportioned among the several 
 districts, counties, or parishes of such 
 State by the commanding general, giving 
 to each representation in the ratio of voters 
 or registered as aforesaid, as nearly as may 
 be. The convention in Virginia shall con 
 sist of the same number of members as 
 represented the territory now constituting 
 Virginia in the most numerous branch of 
 the legislature of said State in the year 
 eighteen hundred and sixty, to be ap 
 pointed as aforesaid. 
 
 SEC. 3. That at said election the regis 
 tered voters of each State shall vote for or 
 against a convention to form a constitution 
 therefor under this act. Those voting in 
 favor of such a convention shall have 
 written or printed on the ballots by which 
 they vote for delegates, as aforesaid, the 
 words " For a convention," and those vot 
 ing against such a convention shall have 
 written or printed on such ballots the 
 words " Against a convention." The per 
 son appointed to superintend said election, 
 and to make return of the votes given 
 thereat, as herein provided, shall count 
 and make return of the votes given for and 
 against a convention ; and the command 
 ing general to whom the same shall have 
 been returned shall ascertain and declare 
 the total vote in each State for and against 
 a convention. If a majority of the votes 
 given on that question shall be for a con 
 vention, then such convention shall be held 
 as hereinafter provided; but if a majority 
 of said votes shall be against a convention, 
 then no such convention shall be held un 
 der this act : Provided, That such con 
 vention shall not be held unless a majority 
 of all such registered voters shall have 
 voted on the question of holding such con 
 vention. 
 
 SEC. 4. That the commanding general of 
 each district shall appoint as many boards 
 of registration as may be necessary, con 
 sisting of three loyal officers or persons, to 
 make and complete the registration, su 
 perintend the election, and make return to 
 him of the votes, lists of voters, and of the 
 persons elected as delegates by a plurality 
 of the votes cast at said election ; and upon 
 receiving said returns he shall open the 
 same, ascertain the persons elected as dele 
 
 gates according to the returns of the offi 
 cers who conducted said election, and 
 make proclamation thereof; and if a ma 
 jority of the votes given on that question 
 shall be for a convention, the commanding 
 general, within sixty days from the date of 
 election, shall notify the delegates to as 
 semble in convention, at a time and place 
 to be mentioned in the notification, and 
 said convention, when organized, shall pro 
 ceed to frame a constitution and civil gov 
 ernment according to the provisions of this 
 act and the act to which it is supplement 
 ary ; and when the same shall have been 
 so framed, said constitution shall be sub 
 mitted by the convention for ratification to 
 the persons registered under the provisions 
 of this act at an election to be conducted 
 by the officers or persons appointed or to 
 be appointed by the commanding general, 
 as hereinbefore provided, and to be held 
 after the expiration of thirty days from the 
 date of notice thereof, to be given by said 
 convention ; and the returns thereof shall 
 be made to the commanding general of the 
 district. 
 
 SEC. 5. That if, according to said re 
 turns, the constitution shall be ratified by 
 a majority of the votes of the registered 
 electors qualified as herein specified, cast 
 at said election, (at least one-half of all the 
 registered voters voting upon the question 
 of such ratification,) the president of the 
 convention shall transmit a copy of the 
 same, duly certified, to the President of 
 the United States, who shall forthwith 
 transmit the same to Congress, if then in 
 session, and if not in session, then imme 
 diately upon its next assembling ; and if it 
 shall, moreover, appear to Congress that 
 the election was one at which all the reg 
 istered and qualified electors in the State 
 had an opportunity to vote freely and with 
 out restraint, fear, or the influence of fraud; 
 and if the Congress shall be satisfied that 
 such constitution meets the approval of a 
 majority of all the qualified electors in the 
 State, and if the said constitution shall be 
 declared by Congress to be in conformity 
 with the provisions of the act to which this 
 is supplementary, and the other provisions 
 of said act shall have been complied with, 
 and the said constitution shall be approved 
 by Congress, the State shall be declared 
 entitled to representation, and Senators 
 and Representatives shall be admitted 
 therefrom as therein provided. 
 
 SEC. 6. That all elections in the States 
 mentioned in the said " Act to provide for 
 the more efficient government of the rebel 
 States," shall, during the operation of said 
 act, be by ballot ; and all officers making 
 the said registration of voters and conduct 
 ing said elections shall, before entering 
 upon the discharge of their duties, take 
 and subscribe the oath prescribed by the 
 act approved July second, eighteen hun- 
 
174 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 dred and sixty-two, entitled "An act to 
 prescribe an oath of office : * Provided, That 
 if any person shall knowingly and falsely 
 take and subscribe any oath in this act 
 prescribed, such person so offending and 
 being thereof duly convicted, shall be sub 
 ject to the pains, penalties, and disabilities 
 which by law are provided for the punish 
 ment of the crime of wilful and corrupt 
 perjury. 
 
 SEC. 7. That all expenses incurred by 
 the several commanding generals, or by 
 virtue of any orders issued, or appoint 
 ments made, by them, under or by virtue 
 of this act, shall be paid out of any moneys 
 in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. 
 
 SEC. 8. That the convention for each 
 State shall prescribe the fees, ialary, and 
 compensation to be paid to all delegates 
 and other officers and agents herein au 
 thorized or necessary to carry into effect 
 the purposes of this act not herein other 
 wise provided for, and shall provide for 
 the levy and collection of such taxes on 
 the property in such State as may be ne 
 cessary to pay the same. 
 
 SEC. 9. That the word article, in the 
 sixth section of the act to which this is 
 supplementary, shall be construed to mean 
 section. 
 
 Passed March 23, 1867. 
 
 Votes of State Legislatures on the Four 
 teenth. Constitutional Amendment.-;- 
 
 LOYAL STATES. 
 Ratified Twenty-one States. 
 
 Maine SENATE, January 16, 1867, yeas 
 
 * This act is in these words : 
 
 Be it enacted, &c., That hereafter every person elected 
 or appointed to any office of honor or profit under the 
 government of the United States, either in the civil, mili 
 tary, or naval departments of the public service, except 
 ing the President of the United States, shall, before en 
 tering upon the duties of such office, and before being 
 entitled to any of the salary or other emoluments there 
 of, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation : 
 " I, A B, do solemnly swear 'or affirm) that I have never 
 voluntarily borne arms against the United States since I 
 have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily 
 given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to 
 persons engaged in armed hostility thereto ; that I have 
 never sought nor accepted nor attempted to exercise the 
 functions of any office whatever, under any authority or 
 pretended authority, in hostility to the United States ; 
 that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pre 
 tended government, authority, power, or constitution 
 within the United States, hostile or inimical thereto ; 
 and I do further swear for affirm) that, to the best of my 
 knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the 
 Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, 
 foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and al 
 legiance to the same ; that I take this obligation freely, 
 without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, 
 and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties 
 of the office on which I am about to enter ; so help me 
 God ;" which said oath, so taken and signed, shall be 
 preserved among the files of the Court, House of Con 
 gress, or Department to which the said office may apper 
 tain. And any person who slrall falsely take the said 
 oath shall be guilty of perjury, and on conviction, in ad 
 dition to the penalties now prescribed for that offense, 
 shall be deprived of his office, and rendered incapable 
 forever after, of holding any office or place under the 
 United States. 
 
 f Compiled by Hon. Edward McPhereon in his Hand 
 Book of Politics for 1868. 
 
 31, nays ; HOUSE, January 11, 1867, yeas. 
 126, nays 12. 
 
 New Hampshire SENATE, July 6, 1866, 
 yeas 9, nays 3 ; HOUSE, June 28, 1866, yeas- 
 207, nays 112. 
 
 Vermont SENATE, October 23, 1866, 
 yeas 28, nays 0; HOUSE, October 30,. 
 
 1866, yeas 199, nays 11. 
 Massachusetts SENATE, March 20, 1867, 
 
 yeas 27, nays 6 ; HOUSE, March 14, 1867, 
 yeas 120, nays 20. 
 
 Rhode Island SENATE, February 5, 
 
 1867, yeas 26, nays 2 ; HOUSE, February 7, 
 1867, yeas 60, nays 9 
 
 Connecticut SENATE, June 25, 1866,. 
 yeas 11, nays 6; HOUSE, June 29, 1866, 
 yeas 131, nays 92. 
 
 New York SENATE, January 3, 1867, 
 yeas 23, nays 3 ; HOUSE, January 10, 1867, 
 yeas 76, nays 40. 
 
 New Jersey SENATE, September 11, 1866 r 
 yeas 11, nays 10; HOUSE, September 11, 
 
 1866, yeas 34, nays 24. 
 
 Pennsylvania SENATE, January 17, 
 
 1867, yeas 20, nays 9 ; HOUSE, February 6, 
 1867, yeas 58, nays 29. 
 
 West Virginia SENATE, January 15, 
 1867, yeas 15, nays 3 ; HOUSE, January 16, 
 1867, yeas 43, nays 11. 
 
 Ohio SENATE, January 3, 1867, yeas 21, 
 nays 12; HOUSE, January 4, 1867, yeas 54, 
 nays 25. 
 
 Tennessee SENATE, July 11, 1866, yeas 
 15, nays 6 ; HOUSE, July 12, 1866, yeas 
 43, nays 11. ' 
 
 Indiana SENATE, January 16, 1867, 
 yeas 29, nays 18 ; HOUSE, January 23, 
 1867, yeas , nays . 
 
 Illinois SENATE, January 10, 1867, 
 yeas 17, nays 7 ; HOUSE, January 15, 1867, 
 yeas 59, nays 25. 
 
 Michigan SCNATE, 1867, yeas 25, 
 
 nays 1 ; HOUSE, 1867, yeas 77, nays 
 
 15. 
 
 Missouri SENATE, January 5, 1867, 
 yeas 26, nays 6 ; HOUSE, January 8, 1867, 
 yeas 85, nays 34. 
 
 Minnesota SENATE, January 16, 1867, 
 yeas 16, nays 5 ; HOUSE, January 15, 1867, 
 yeas 40, nays 6. 
 
 Kansas SENATE, January 11, 1867, 
 unanimously ; HOUSE, January 10, 1867, 
 yeas, 75, nays 7. 
 
 Wisconsin SENATE, January 23, 1867, 
 yeas 22, nays 10; HOUSE, February 7, 
 1867, yeas 72, nays 12. 
 
 Oregon* Senate, , 1866, yeas 13, 
 
 nays 7; House, September 19, 1866, yeas 
 25, nays 22. 
 
 Nevada* SENATE, January 22, 1867, 
 yeas 14, nays 2 ; HOUSE, January 11, 1867, 
 yeas 34, nays 4. 
 
 Bejected Three States. 
 
 Delaware SENATE, ; HOU8B, 
 
 February 7, 1867, yeas 6, nays 15. 
 
 'Unofficial. 
 
GENERAL McCLELLAN'S LETTERS. 
 
 175 
 
 Maryland SENATE, March 23, 1867, 
 yeas 4, nays 13 ; HOUSE, March 23, 1867, 
 yeas 12, nays 45. 
 
 Kentucky SENATE, January 8, 1867, 
 yeas 7, nays 24 ; HOUSE, January 8, 1867, 
 yeas 26, nays 62. 
 
 Not acted Three States. 
 
 Iowa, California, Nebraska. 
 
 INSURRECTIONARY STATES. 
 
 Rejected Ten States. 
 
 Virginia SENATE, January 9, 1867, 
 unanimously ; HOUSE, January 9, 1867, 1 
 for amendment. 
 
 North Carolina SENATE, December 13, 
 1866, yeas 1, nays 44 ; HOUSE, December 
 13, 1866, yeas 10, nays 93. 
 
 South Carolina SENATE ; 
 
 HOUSE, December 20, 1866, yeas 1, nays 95. 
 
 Georgia SENATE, November 9, 1866, 
 yeas 0, 'nays 36 ; HOUSE, November 9, 1866, 
 yeas 2, nays 131. 
 
 Florida SENATE, December 3, 1866, 
 yeas 0, nays 20 ; HOUSE, December 1, 1866, 
 yeas 0, nays 49. 
 
 Alabama SENATE, December 7, 1866, 
 yeas 2, nays 27; HOUSE, December 7, 
 1866, yeas 8, nays 69. 
 
 Mississippi SENATE, January 30, 1867, 
 yeas 0, nays 27 ; HOUSE, January 25, 1867, 
 yeas 0, nays 88. 
 
 Louisiana SENATE, February 5, 1867, 
 unanimously ; HOUSE, February 6, 1867, 
 unanimously. 
 
 Texas SENATE, ; HOUSE, Oc 
 tober 13, 1866, yeas 5, nays 67. 
 
 Arkansas SENATE, December 15, 1866, 
 yeas 1, nays 24; HOUSE, December 17, 
 1866, yeas 2, nays 68. 
 
 The passage of the 14th Amendment and 
 of the Reconstruction Acts, was followed 
 by Presi dential proclamations dated August 
 20, 1866, declaring the insurrection at an 
 end in Texas, and civil authority existing 
 throughout the whole of the United 
 States. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1864. 
 
 The Republican National Convention 
 met at Baltimore, June 7th, 1864, and re- 
 nominated President Lincoln unanimous 
 ly, save the vote of Missouri, which was 
 cast for Gen. Grant. Hannibal Hamlin, 
 the old Vice-President, was not re-nomi 
 nated, because of a desire to give part of 
 the ticket to the Union men of the South, 
 who pressed Senator Andrew Johnson of 
 Tennessee. "Parson" Brownlow made a 
 strong appeal in his behalf, and by his elo 
 quence captured a majority of the Con 
 vention. 
 
 The Democratic National Convention 
 met at Chicago, August 29th, 1864, and 
 nominated General George B. McClellan, 
 of New Jersey, for President, and George 
 H. Pendleton, of Ohio, for Vice-President. 
 General McClellan was made available for 
 the Democratic nomination through cer 
 
 tain political letters which he had written 
 on points of difference between himself and 
 the Lincoln administration. Two of these 
 letters are sufficient to show his own and 
 the views of the party which nominated 
 him, in the canvass which followed : 
 
 Gen. McClellan '8 Letters. 
 
 On Political Administration, July 7, 1862. 
 
 HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, 
 CAMP NEAR HARBISON'S LANDING, VA., July 7, 1862. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT : You have been fully 
 informed that the rebel army is in the 
 front, with the purpose of overwhelming 
 us by attacking our positions or reducing 
 us by blocking our river communications. 
 I cannot but regard our condition as criti 
 cal, and I earnestly desire, in view of pos 
 sible contingencies, to lay before your ex 
 cellency, for your private consideration, 
 my general views concerning the existing 
 state of the rebellion, although they do 
 not strictly relate to the situation of this 
 army, or strictly come within the scope of 
 my official duties. These views amount to 
 convictions, and are deeply impressed upon 
 my mind and heart. Our cause must never 
 be abandoned ; it is the cause of free in 
 stitutions and self-government. The Con 
 stitution and the Union must be preserved, 
 whatever may be the cost in time, treasure, 
 and blood. If secession is successful, other 
 dissolutions are clearly to be seen in the 
 future. Let neither military disaster, polit 
 ical faction, nor foreign war shake your 
 settled purpose to enforce the equal opera 
 tion of the laws of the United States upon 
 the people of every State. 
 
 The time has come when the govern 
 ment must determine upon a civil and 
 military policy, covering the whole ground 
 of our national trouble. 
 
 The responsibility of determining, de 
 claring, and supporting such civil and mil 
 itary policy, and of directing the whole 
 course of national affairs in regard to the 
 rebellion, must now be assumed and exer 
 cised by you, or our cause will be lost. The 
 Constitution gives you power, even for the 
 present terrible exigency. 
 
 This rebellion has assumed the charac 
 ter of a war ; as such it should be regarded, 
 and it should be conducted upon the high 
 est principles known to Christian civiliza 
 tion. It should not be a war looking to 
 the subjugation of the people of any State, 
 in any event. It should not be at all a 
 war upon population, but against armed 
 forces and political organizations. Neither 
 confiscation of property, political execu 
 tions of persons, territorial organization of 
 States, or forcible abolition of slavery, 
 should be contemplated for a moment. 
 
 In prosecuting the war, all private 
 property and unarmed persons should be 
 strictly protected, subject only to the ne 
 cessity of military operations ; all privatt 
 
176 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 property taken for military use should be 
 paid or receipted for; pillage and waste 
 should be treated as high crimes ; all un 
 necessary trespass sternly prohibited, and 
 offensive demeanor by the military towards 
 citizens promptly rebuked. Military ar 
 rests should not be tolerated, except in 
 places where active hostilities exist ; and 
 oaths, not required by enactments, consti 
 tutionally made, should be neither de 
 manded nor received. 
 
 Military government should be confined 
 to the preservation of public order and the 
 protection of political right. Military 
 power should not be allowed to interfere 
 with the relations of servitude, either by 
 supporting or impairing the authority of 
 the master, except for repressing disorder, 
 as in other cases. Slaves, contraband under 
 the act of Congress, seeking military pro 
 tection, should receive it. The right of 
 the government to appropriate permaneiit- 
 
 r'o its own service claims to slave labor 
 uld be asserted, and the the right of the 
 owner to compensation therefor should be 
 recognized. This principle might be ex 
 tended, upon grounds of military necessity 
 and security, to all the slaves of a particu 
 lar State, thus working manumission in 
 such State ; and in Missouri, perhaps in 
 Western Virginia also, and possibly even 
 in Maryland, the expediency of such a 
 measure is only a question of time. A 
 system of policy thus constitutional, and 
 pervaded by the influences of Christianity 
 and freedom, would receive the support of 
 almost all truly loyal men, would deeply 
 impress the rebel masses and all foreign 
 nations, and it might be humbly hoped 
 that it would commend itself to the favor 
 of the Almighty. 
 
 Unless the principles governing the 
 future conduct of our struggle shall be 
 made known and approved, the effort to 
 obtain requisite forces will be almost hope 
 less. A declaration of radical views, es 
 pecially upon slavery, will rapidly disin 
 tegrate our present armies. The policy of 
 the government must be supported by con 
 centrations of military power. The na 
 tional forces should not be dispersed in 
 expeditions, posts of occupation, and nu 
 merous armies, but should be mainly col 
 lected into masses, and brought to bear 
 upon the armies of the Confederate States. 
 Those armies thoroughly defeated, the 
 political structure which they support 
 would soon cease to exist. 
 
 In carrying out any system of policy 
 which you may form, you will require a 
 commander-in-chief of the army, one who 
 possesses your confidence, understands 
 your views, and who is competent to exe 
 cute your orders, by directing the military 
 forces of the nation to the accomplishment 
 of the objects by you proposed. I do not 
 ask that place for myself. I am willing to 
 
 serve you in such position as you may as 
 sign me, and I will do so as faithfully as 
 ever subordinate served superior. 
 
 I may be on the brink of eternity ; and 
 as I hope forgiveness from my Maker, I 
 have written this letter with sincerity to 
 wards you and from love for my country. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN, 
 
 Major- General Commanding. 
 His Excellency A. LINCOLN, President. 
 
 IN FAVOR OF THE ELECTION OF GEORGE 
 
 W. WOODWARD AS GOVERNOR OF 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, October 12, 1863. 
 
 DEAR SIR: My attention has been 
 called to an article in the Philadelphia 
 Press, asserting that I had written to the 
 managers of a Democratic meeting at 
 Allentown, disapproving the objects of the 
 meeting, and that if I voted or spoke it 
 would be in favor of Governor Curtin, nnd 
 I am informed that similar assertions have 
 been made throughout the State. 
 
 It has been my earnest endeavor hereto 
 fore to avoid participation in party politics. 
 1 had determined to adhere to this course, 
 but it is obvious that I cannot longer 
 maintain silence under such misrepresen 
 tations. I therefore request you to deny 
 that I have written any such letter, or 
 entertained any such views as those at 
 tributed to me in the Philadelphia Press, 
 and I desire to state clearly and distinctly, 
 that having some days ago had a full con 
 versation with Judge Woodward, I find 
 that our views agree, and I regard his elec 
 tion as Governor of Pennsylvania called 
 for by the interests of the nation. 
 
 I understand Judge Woodward to be in 
 favor of the prosecution of the war with all 
 the means at the command of the loyal 
 States, until the military power of the re 
 bellion is destroyed. I understand him to 
 be of the opinion that while the war is 
 urged with all possible decision and 
 energy, the policy directing it should be 
 in consonance with the principles of 
 humanity and civilization, working no in 
 jury to private rights and property not 
 demanded by military necessity and recog 
 nized by military law among civilized na 
 tions. 
 
 And, finally, I understand him to agree 
 with me in the opinion that the sole great 
 objects of this war are the restoration of 
 the unity of the nation, the preservation of 
 the Constitution, and the supremacy of 
 the laws of the country. Believing our 
 opinions entirely agree upon these points, 
 I would, were it in my power, give to 
 Judge Woodward my voice and vote. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, yours, 
 
 GEORGE B. MCCLELLAH. 
 Hon. CHARLES J. BIDDLE. 
 
LINCOLN'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 177 
 
 The views of Mr. Lincoln were well 
 known ; they were felt in the general con 
 duct of the war. The Republicans adopted 
 as one of their maxims the words of their 
 candidate, " that it was dangerous to swap 
 horses while crossing a stream." The cam 
 paign was exciting, and was watched by 
 both armies with interest and anxiety. In 
 this election, by virtue of an act of Con 
 gress, the soldiers in the field were per 
 mitted to vote, and a large majority of 
 every branch of the service sustained the 
 Administration, though two years before 
 General McClellan had been the idol of 
 the Army of the Potomac. Lincoln and 
 Johnson received 212 electoral votes, 
 against 21 for McClellan and Pendleton. 
 
 Lincoln's Second Administration. 
 
 In President Lincoln's second inaugural 
 address, delivered on the 4th of March, 
 1865, he spoke the following words, since 
 oft quoted as typical of the kindly disposi 
 tion of the man believed by his party to be 
 the greatest President since Washington : 
 " With malice toward none, with charity 
 for all, with firmness in the right, as God 
 gives us to see the right, let us strive on to 
 finish the work we are in, to bind up the 
 Nation's wounds, to care for him who shall 
 have borne the battle, and for his widow 
 and orphans to do all which may achieve 
 a just and lasting peace among ourselves 
 and with all nations." 
 
 Lincoln could well afford to show that 
 generosity which never comes more prop 
 erly than from the hands of the victor. 
 His policy was about to end in a great 
 triumph. In less than five weeks later on 
 General Lee had surrendered the main 
 army of the South to General Grant at 
 Appomattox, on terms at once magnani 
 mous and so briefly stated that they won 
 the admiration of both armies, for the 
 rebels had been permitted to retain their 
 horses and side arms, and to go at once to 
 their homes, not to be disturbed by United 
 States authority so long as they observed 
 their paroles and the laws in force where 
 they resided. Lee's surrender was rapidly 
 followed by that of all Southern troops. 
 
 Next came a grave political work the 
 actual reconstruction of the States lately in 
 rebellion. This work gave renewed fresh 
 ness to the leading political issues incident 
 to the war, and likewise gave rise to new 
 issues. It was claimed at once that Lin 
 coln had a reconstruction policy of his 
 own, because of his anxiety for the prompt 
 admission of Louisiana and Arkansas, but 
 it had certainly never taken definite shape, 
 nor was there time to get such a policy in 
 shape, between the surrender of Lee and 
 his own assassination. On the night of 
 the 15th of April, six days after the sur 
 render, J. Wilkes Booth shot him while 
 
 12 
 
 sitting in a box in Ford's theatre. The 
 nation stood appalled at the deed. No 
 man was ever more sincerely mourned in 
 all sections and by all classes. The South 
 ern leaders thought that this rash act had 
 lost to them a life which had never been 
 harsh, and while firm, was ever generous. 
 The North had looked upon him as "Father 
 Abraham," and all who viewed the result 
 of the shooting from sectional or partisan 
 standpoints, thought his policy of " keep 
 ing with the people," would have shielded 
 every proper interest. No public man ever 
 felt less " pride of opinion" than Lincoln, 
 and we do believe, had he lived, that he 
 would have shaped events, as he did dur 
 ing the war, to the best interests of the 
 victors, but without unnecessary agitation 
 or harshness. All attempts of writers to 
 evolve from his proclamation a reconstruc 
 tion policy, applicable to peace, have been 
 vain and impotent. He had none which 
 would not have changed with changing 
 circumstances. A " policy " in an execu 
 tive office is too often but another name for 
 executive egotism, and Lincoln was almost 
 absolutely free from that weakness. 
 
 On the morning of Mr. Lincoln's death, 
 indeed within the same hour (and very 
 properly so under the circumstances), the 
 Vice President Andrew Johnson was in 
 augurated as President. The excitement 
 was painfully high, and the new President, 
 in speeches, interviews and proclamations 
 if possible added to it. From evidence 
 in the Bureau of Military Justice he 
 thought the assassination of Lincoln, and 
 the attempted assassination of Secretary 
 Seward had been procured by Jefferson 
 Davis, Clement C. Clay, Jacob Thompson, 
 Geo. N. Saunders, Beverly Tucker, Wm. C. 
 Cleary, and " other rebels and traitors 
 harbored in Canada." The evidence, how 
 ever, fully drawn out in the trial of the co- 
 conspirators of J. Wilkes Booth, showed 
 that the scheme was hair-brained, and 
 from no responsible political source. The 
 proclamation, however, gave keenness to 
 the search for the fugitive Davis, and he 
 was soon captured while making his way 
 through Georgia to the Florida coast with 
 the intention of escaping from the country. 
 He was imprisoned in Fortress Monroe, 
 and an indictment for treason was found 
 against him, but he remained a close pris 
 oner for nearly two years, until times when 
 political policies had been changed or 
 modified. Horace Greeley was one of his 
 bondsmen. By this time there was grave 
 doubt whether he could be legally con 
 victed, * " now that the charge of inciting 
 Wilkes Booth's crime had been tacitly 
 abandoned. Mr. Webster (in his Bunker 
 Hill oration) had only given clearer ex 
 pression to the American doctrine, that, 
 
 * From Greeley's Recollections of a Busy Life, page 413j, 
 
178 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 after a revolt has levied a regular army, 
 and fought therewith a pitched battle, its 
 champions, even though utterly defeated, 
 cannot be tried and convicted as traitors. 
 This may be an extreme statement; but 
 surely a rebellion which has for years main 
 tained great armies, levied taxes and con 
 scriptions, negotiated loans, fought scores 
 of sanguinary battles with alternate suc 
 cesses and reverses, and exchanged tens of 
 thousands of prisoners of war, can hardly fail 
 to have achieved thereby the position and 
 the rights of a lawful belligerent." This 
 view, as then presented by Greeley, was 
 accepted by President Johnson, who from 
 intemperate denunciation had become the 
 friend of his old friends in the South. 
 Greeley's view was not generally accepted 
 by the North, though most of the leading 
 men of both parties hoped the responsi 
 bility of a trial would be avoided by the 
 escape and flight of the prisoner. But he 
 was confident by this time, and sought a 
 trial. He was never tried, and the best 
 reason for the fact is given in Judge Un 
 derwood's testimony before a Congressional 
 Committee (and the Judge was a Republi 
 can) " that no conviction was possible, ex 
 cept by packing a jury.*' 
 
 Andrew Johnson. 
 
 On the 29th of April, 1865, President 
 Johnson issued a proclamation removing 
 all restrictions upon internal, domestic and 
 coastwise and commercial intercourse in 
 all Southern States east of the Mississippi ; 
 the blockade was removed May 22, and on 
 May 29 a proclamation of amnesty was 
 issued, with fourteen classes excepted 
 therefrom, and the requirement of an 
 " iron-clad oath " from those accepting its 
 provisions. Proclamations rapidly fol 
 lowed in shaping the lately rebellious 
 States to the conditions of peace and re 
 storation to the Union. These States were 
 required to hold conventions, repeal seces 
 sion ordinances, accept the abolition of 
 slavery, repudiate Southern war debts, pro 
 vide for Congressional representation, and 
 elect new State Officers and Legislatures. 
 The several constitutional amendments 
 were of course to be ratified by the vote of the 
 people. These conditions were eventually 
 all complied with, some of the States being 
 more tardy than others. The irreconcila- 
 bles charged upon the Military officers, 
 the Freedmen's Bureau, and the stern ap 
 plication of the reconstruction acts, these 
 results, and many of them showed a politi 
 cal hostility which, after the election oi 
 the new Legislatures, took shape in what 
 were in the North at the time denounced as 
 
 "THE BLACK CODES." 
 
 These were passed by all of the eleven 
 
 States in the rebellion. The codes varied 
 
 in severity, according to the views of the 
 Legislatures, and for a time they seriously 
 interfered with the recognition of the 
 States, the Republicans charging that the 
 design was to restore slavery under new 
 forms. In South Carolina Gen'l Sickles 
 issued military orders, as late as January 
 17, 1866, against the enforcement of such 
 laws. 
 
 To assure the rights, of the freedmen 
 the 14th amendment of the Constitution 
 was passed by Congress, June 18th, 1866. 
 President Johnson opposed it, refused to 
 sign, but said he would submit it to the 
 several States. This was done, and it was 
 accepted by the required three-fourths, 
 January 28th, 1868. This had the effect 
 to do away with many of the "black 
 codes," and the States which desired re- 
 admission to the Union had to finally give 
 them up. Since reconstruction, and the 
 political ousting of what were called the 
 "carpet bag governments," some of the 
 States, notably Georgia, has passed class 
 laws, which treat colored criminals differ 
 ently from white, under what are now 
 known as the " conduct laws." Terms of 
 sentence are served out, in any part of the 
 State, under the control of public and 
 private contractors, and " vagrants " are 
 subjected to sentences which it is believed 
 would be less extended under a system of 
 confinement. 
 
 Johnson's Policy. 
 
 While President Johnson's policy did 
 not materially check reconstruction, it en 
 couraged Southern politicians to political 
 effort, and with their well known tact they 
 were not long in gaining the ascendancy 
 in nearly every State. This ascendancy 
 excited the fears and jealousies of the 
 North, and the Republicans announced as 
 their object and platform " that all the re 
 sults of the war " should be secured before 
 Southern reconstruction and representa 
 tion in Congress should be completed. On 
 this they were almost solidly united in 
 Congress, but Horace Greeley trained an 
 independent sentiment which favored com 
 plete amnesty to the South. President 
 Johnson sought to utilize this sentiment, 
 and to divide the Republican party 
 through his policy, which now looked to 
 the same ends. He had said to a delega 
 tion introduced by Gov. Oliver P. Morton, 
 April 21, 1865: 
 
 "Your slavery is dead, but I did not 
 murder it. As Macbeth said to Banquo's 
 bloody ghost: 
 
 1 Never shake thy gory locks at me ; 
 Thou canst not say I did it.' 
 
 " Slavery is dead, and you must pardon 
 me if I do not mourn over its dead body ; 
 you can bury it out of sight. In restoring 
 
IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF JOHNSON. 
 
 179 
 
 l)he State, leave out that disturbing and 
 dangerous element, and use only those 
 parts of the machinery which will move in 
 harmony. 
 
 " But in calling a convention to restore 
 the State, who shall restore and re-estab 
 lish it? Shall the man who gave his in 
 fluence and his means to destroy the 
 Government? Is he to participate in the 
 great work of reorganization ? Shall he 
 who brought this misery upon the State be 
 permitted to control its destinies ? If this 
 be so, then all this precious blood of our 
 brave soldiers and officers so freely poured 
 out will have been wantonly spilled. All 
 the glorious victories won by our noble ar 
 mies will go for nought, and all the battle 
 fields which have been . sown with dead 
 heroes during the rebellion will have been 
 made memorable in vain." 
 
 In a speech at Washington, Feb. 22nd, 
 1866, Johnson said : 
 
 "The Government has stretched forth 
 its strong arm, and with its physical power 
 it has put down treason in the field. That 
 is, the section of country that arrayed itself 
 against the Government has been con 
 quered by the force of the Government itself. 
 Now, what had we said to those people ? 
 We said, ' No compromise ; we can settle 
 this question with the South in eight and 
 forty hours.' 
 
 " I have said it again and again, and I 
 repeat it now, 'disband your armies, ac 
 knowledge the supremacy of the Constitu 
 tion of the United States, give obedience 
 to the law, and the whole question is set 
 tled.' 
 
 " What has been done since ? Their ar 
 mies have been disbanded. They come 
 now to meet us in a spirit of magnanimity 
 and say, 'We were mistaken; we made 
 the effort to carry out the doctrine of se 
 cession and dissolve this Union, and hav 
 ing traced this thing fo its logical and 
 physical results, we now acknowledge the 
 flag of our country, and promise obedience 
 to the Constitution and the supremacy of 
 the law.' 
 
 " I say, then, when you comply with the 
 Constitution, when you yield to the law, 
 when you acknowledge allegiance to the 
 Government I say let the door of the 
 Union be opened, and the relation be re 
 stored to those that had erred and had 
 strayed from the fold of our fathers." 
 
 It is not partisanship to say that John 
 son's views had undergone a change. He 
 did not admit this in his speeches, but the 
 fact was accepted in all sections, and the 
 leaders of parties took position accordingly 
 nearly all of the Republicans against 
 him, nearly all of the Democrats for him. 
 So radical had this difference become that 
 he vetoed nearly all of the political bills 
 passed by the Republicans from 1866 until 
 the end of his administration, but such was 
 
 the Republican preponderance in both 
 Houses of Congress that they passed them 
 over his head by the necessary two-thirds 
 vote. He vetoed the several Freedmen's 
 Bureau Bills, the Civil Rights Bill, that 
 for the admission of Nebraska and Colo 
 rado, the Bill to permit Colored Suffrage 
 in the District of Columbia, one of the 
 Reconstruction Bills, and finally made a 
 direct issue with the powers of Congress by 
 his veto of the Civil Tenure Bill, March 2, 
 1867, the substance of which is shown in 
 the third section, as follows : 
 
 SEC. 3. That the President shall have 
 power to fill all vacancies which may hap 
 pen during the recess of the Senate, by rea 
 son of death or resignation, by granting 
 commissions which shall expire at the end 
 of their next session thereafter. And if 
 no appointment, by and with the advice 
 and consent of the Senate, shall be made 
 to such office so vacant or temporarily 
 filled as aforesaid during such next session 
 of the Senate, such office shall remain in 
 abeyance without any salary, fees, or 
 emoluments attached thereto, until the 
 same shall be filled by appointment 
 thereto, by and with the advice and con 
 sent of the Senate ; and during such time 
 all the powers and duties belonging to such 
 office shall be exercised by such other offi 
 cer as may by law exercise such powers and 
 duties in case of a vacancy in such office. 
 
 The bill originally passed the Senate by 
 22 to 10 all of the nays Democrats save 
 Van Winkle and Willey. It passed the 
 House by 112 to 41 all of the yeas Re 
 publicans ; all of the nays Democrats save 
 Hawkins, Latham and Whaley. The 
 Senate passed it over the veto by 35 to 11 
 a strict party vote ; the House by 138 to 
 40 a strict party vote, except Latham 
 (Rep.) who voted nay. 
 
 The refusal of the President to enforce 
 this act, and his attempted removal of 
 Secretary Stanton from the Cabinet when 
 against the wish of the Senate, led to the 
 effort to impeach him. Stanton resisted 
 the President, and General Grant took an 
 active part in sustaining the War Secre 
 tary. He in fact publicly advised him to 
 " stick," and his attitude showed that in 
 the great political battle which must fol 
 low, they would surely have the support of 
 the army and its great commander. 
 
 Impeachment Trial of Andrew Johnson. 
 
 * The events which led to the impeach 
 ment of President Johnson, maybe briefly 
 stated as follows : On the 21st of Febru 
 ary, 1868, the President issued an order to 
 Mr. Stanton, removing him from office as 
 Secretary of War, and another to General 
 Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General of the 
 
 * From the Century of Independence by John Sully, 
 Boston. 
 
180 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Army, appointing him Secretary of War 
 ad interim, directing the one to surrender 
 and the other to receive, all the books, pa 
 pers, and public property belonging to the 
 War Department. As these orders fill an 
 important place in the history of the im 
 peachment, we give them here. The or 
 der to Mr. Stanton reads : 
 
 " By virtue of the power and authority 
 vested in me as President by the Constitu 
 tion and laws of the United States, you are 
 hereby removed from office as Secretary 
 for the Department of W ar > and your 
 functions as such will terminate upon the 
 receipt of this communication. You will 
 transfer to Brevet Major-General Lorenzo 
 Thomas, Adjutant-General of the Army, 
 who has this day been authorized and em 
 powered to act as Secretary of War ad 
 interim, alh-ecords, books, papers, and other 
 public property now in your custody and 
 charge." 
 
 The order to General Thomas reads : 
 
 "The Hon. Edwin M. Stanton having 
 been this day removed from office as Secre 
 tary for the Department of War, you are 
 hereby authorized and empowered to act 
 as Secretary of War ad interim, and will 
 immediately enter upon the discharge of 
 the duties pertaining to that office. Mr. 
 Stanton has been instructed to transfer to 
 you all the records, books, and other public 
 property now in his custody and charge." 
 
 These orders having been officially com 
 municated to the Senate, that body, after 
 an earnest debate, passed the following 
 resolution : 
 
 " Jtesolved, by the Senate of the United 
 States, That under the Constitution and 
 laws of the United States the President 
 has no power to remove the Secretary of 
 War and designate any other officer to per 
 form the duties of that office." 
 
 The President, upon the 24th, sent a 
 jnessage to the Senate, arguing at length 
 that not only under the Constitution, but 
 also under the laws as now existing, he had 
 the right of removing Mr. Stanton and 
 appointing another to fill his place. The 
 point of his argument is : That by a special 
 proviso in the Tenure-of-Office Bill the va 
 rious Secretaries of Departments "shall 
 hold their offices respectively for and dur 
 ing the term of the President by whom 
 they may have been appointed, and for one 
 month thereafter, subject to removal by 
 and with the advice of the Senate." The 
 President affirms that Mr. Stanton was ap 
 pointed not by him, but by his predeces 
 sor, Mr. Lincoln, and held office onlv by 
 the sufferance, not the appointment, of the 
 present Executive ; and that therefore his 
 tenure is, by the express reading of the 
 law excepted from the general provision, 
 that every person duly appointed to office, 
 " by and with the advice and consent of 
 the Senate," etc., shall be " entitled to hold 
 
 office until a successor shall have been in 
 like manner appointed and duly qualified, 
 except as herein otherwise provided." The 
 essential point of the President's argument, 
 therefore, is that, as Mr. Stanton was not 
 appointed by him, he had, under the Ten 
 ure-of-Office Bill, the right at any time to 
 remove him ; the same right which his own 
 successor would have, no matter whether 
 the incumbent had, by sufferance, not by 
 appointment of the existing Executive, 
 held the office for weeks or even years. 
 " If," says the President, "my successor 
 would have the power to remove Mr. Stan- 
 ton, after permitting him to remain a peri 
 od of two weeks, because he was not ap 
 pointed by him, I who have tolerated Mr. 
 btanton for more than two years, certainly 
 have the same right to remove him, upon 
 the same ground, namely that he was not 
 appointed by me but by my predecessor." 
 
 In the meantime General Thomas pre 
 sented himself at the War Department and 
 demanded to be placed in the position to 
 which he had been assigned by the Pres 
 ident. Mr. Stanton refused to surrender 
 his post, and ordered General Thomas to 
 proceed to the apartment which belonged 
 to him as Adjutant-General. This order 
 was not obeyed, and so the two claimants 
 to the Secretaryship of War held their 
 ground. A sort of legal by-play then en 
 sued. Mr. Stanton entered a formal com 
 plaint before Judge Carter, Chief Justice 
 of the Supreme Court of the District of 
 Columbia, charging that General Thomas 
 had illegally exercised and attempted to 
 exercise the duties of Secretary of War ; 
 and had threatened to " forcibly remove the 
 complainant from the buildings and apart 
 ments of the Secretary of War in the War 
 Department, and forcibly take possession 
 and control thereof under his pretended 
 appointment by the President of the 
 United States as Secretary of War ad in 
 terim ; " and praying that he might be ar 
 rested and held to answer this charge. 
 General Thomas was accordingly arrested, 
 and held to bail in the sum of $15,000 to 
 appear before the court on the 24th. Ap 
 pearing on that day he was discharged 
 from custody and bail ; whereupon he en 
 tered an action against Mr. Stanton for 
 false imprisonment, laying his damages at 
 $150,000. 
 
 On the 22d of February the Hou^e 
 Committee on Reconstruction, through its 
 Chairman, Mr. Stevens, presented a brief 
 report, merely stating the fact of the at 
 tempted removal by the President of Mr. 
 Stanton, and closing as follows : 
 
 " Upon the evidence collected by the 
 Committee, which is hereafter presented, 
 and in virtue of the powers with which 
 they have been invested by the House, 
 they are of the opinion that Andrew John 
 son, President of the LTnited States, should 
 
IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF JOHNSON. 
 
 181 
 
 be impeached of high crimes and misde 
 meanors. They, therefore, recommend to 
 the House the adoption of the following 
 resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, That Andrew Johnson, Pres 
 ident of the United States be impeached of 
 high crimes and misdemeanors." 
 
 After earnest debate, the question on the 
 resolution was adopted, on the 24th, by a 
 vote of 126 to 47. A committee of two 
 members Stevens and Bingham were to 
 notify the Senate of the action of the 
 House ; and another committee of seven 
 Boutwell, Stevens, Bingham, Wilson, Lo 
 gan, Julian, and Ward to prepare the 
 articles of impeachment. On the 25th 
 (February) Mr. Stevens thus announced 
 to the Senate the action which had been 
 taken by the House : 
 
 " In obedience to the order of the House 
 of Representatives we have appeared be 
 fore you, and, in the name of the House of 
 Representatives and of all the people of 
 the United States, we do impeach Andrew 
 Johnson, President of the United States, 
 of high crimes and misdemeanors in office. 
 And we further inform the Senate that the 
 House of Representatives will in due time 
 exhibit particular articles of impeachment 
 against him, to make good the same; and 
 in their name we demand that the Senate 
 take due order for the appearance of the 
 said Andrew Johnson to answer to the 
 said impeachment." 
 
 The Senate thereupon, by a unanimous 
 vote, resolved that this message from the 
 House should be referred to a select Com 
 mittee of Seven, to be appointed by the 
 chair, to consider the same and report 
 thereon. The Committee subsequently 
 made a report laying down the rules of 
 procedure to be observed on the trial. 
 
 On the 29th of February the Committee 
 of the House appointed for that purpose 
 presented the articles of impeachment 
 which they had drawn up. These, with 
 slight modification, were accepted on the 
 2d of March. They comprise nine articles, 
 eight of which are based upon the action 
 of the President in ordering the removal 
 of Mr. Stanton, and the appointment of 
 General Thomas as Secretary of War. The 
 general title to the impeachment is : 
 
 "Articles exhibited by the House of 
 Representatives of the United States, in 
 the name of themselves and all the people 
 of the United States, against Andrew 
 Johnson, President of the United States, 
 as maintenance and support of their im 
 peachment against him for high crimes 
 and misdemeanors in office." 
 
 Each of the articles commences with a 
 preamble to the effect that the President, 
 "unmindful of the high^duties of his office, 
 of his oath of office, and of the require 
 ments of the Constitution that he should 
 take care that the laws be faithfully exe 
 
 cuted, did unlawfully and in violation of the 
 laws and Constitution of the United States, 
 perform the several acts specified in the 
 articles respectively ; " closing with the de 
 claration: "Whereby the said Andrew 
 Johnson, President of the United States, 
 did then and there commit and was guilty 
 of a high misdemeanor in office." The 
 phraseology is somewhat varied. In some 
 cases the offense is designated as a "mis 
 demeanor," in others as a " crime." The 
 whole closes thus : 
 
 " And the House of Representatives, by 
 protestation, saving to themselves the lib 
 erty of exhibiting at any time hereafter 
 any further articles or other accusation or 
 impeachment against the said Andrew 
 Johnson, President of the United States, 
 and also of replying to his answers which 
 he shall make to the articles herein pre 
 ferred against him, and of offering proof 
 to the same and every part thereof, and to 
 all and every other article, accusation, or 
 impeachment which shall be exhibited by 
 them as the case shall require, do demand 
 that the said Andrew Johnson may be put 
 to answer the high crimes and misdemean 
 ors in office herein charged against him, 
 and that such proceedings, examinations, 
 brials, and judgments may be thereupon 
 had and given as may be agreeable to law 
 and justice." 
 
 The following is a summary in brief of 
 the points in the articles of impeachment, 
 iegal and technical phraseology being omit 
 ted: 
 
 Article 1. Unlawfully ordering the re 
 moval of Mr. Stanton as Secretary of War, 
 in violation of the provisions of the Tenure 
 of-Office Act. Article 2. Unlawfully ap 
 pointing General Lorenzo Thomas as Sec 
 retary of War ad interim. Article 3 is sub 
 stantially the same as Article 2, with the 
 addition that there was at the time of the 
 appointment of General Thomas no va 
 cancy in the office of Secretary of War. 
 Article 4 charges the President with " con 
 spiring with one Lorenzo Thomas and other 
 persons, to the House of Representatives 
 inknown," to prevent, by intimidation and 
 ihreats, Mr. Stanton, the legally-appointed 
 Secretary of War, from holding that office. 
 Article 5 charges the President with con 
 piring with General Thomas and others 
 ) hinder the execution of the Tenure-of- 
 Office Act ; and, in pursuance of this con 
 spiracy, attempting to prevent Mr. Stanton 
 "rom acting as Secretary of War. Article 6 
 charges that the President conspired with 
 general Thomas and others to take forcible 
 possession of the War Department. Arti 
 cle 7 repeats the charge, in other terms, 
 .hat the President conspired with General 
 Thomas and others to hinder the execution 
 of the Tenure-of-Office Act, and to pre- 
 ent Mr. Stanton from executing the office 
 of Secretary of War. Article 8 again 
 
182 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 charges the President with conspiring with 
 General Thomas and others to take posses 
 sion of the property in the War Depart 
 ment. Article 9 charges that the President 
 called before him General Emory, who was 
 in command of the forces in the Depart 
 ment of Washington, and declared to him 
 that a law, passed on the 30th of June, 
 1867, directing that " all orders and in 
 structions relating to military operations, 
 issued by the President or Secretary of 
 War, shall be issued through the General 
 of the Army, and, in case of his inability, 
 through the next in rank," was unconsti 
 tutional, and not binding upon General 
 Emory ; the intent being to induce General 
 Emory to violate the law, and to obey or 
 ders issued directly from the President. 
 
 The foregoing articles of impeachment 
 were adopted on the 2d of March, the 
 votes upon each slightly varying, the aver 
 age being 125 ayes to 40 nays. The ques 
 tion then came up of appointment of man 
 agers on the part of the House to conduct 
 the impeachment before the Senate. Upon 
 this question the Democratic members did 
 not vote ; 118 votes were cast, 60 being 
 necessary to a choice. The following was 
 the result, the number of votes cast for 
 each elected manager being given : Stevens 
 of Penn., 105 ; Butler, of Mass., 108 ; Bing- 
 ham, of Ohio, 114; Boutwell, of Mass., 
 113 ; Wilson, of Iowa, 112 ; Williams, of 
 Petm., 107 ; Logan, of 111., 106. The fore 
 going seven Representatives were, there 
 fore, duly chosen as Managers of the Bill 
 of Impeachment. The great body of the 
 Democratic members of the House entered 
 a formal protest against the whole course 
 of proceedings involved in the impeach 
 ment of the President. They claimed to 
 represent "directly or in principle more 
 than one-half of the people of the United 
 States." This protest was signed by forty- 
 five Eepreseutatives. 
 
 On the 3d the Board of Managers pre 
 sented two additional articles of impeach 
 ment, which were adopted by the House. 
 The first charges, in substance, that 
 
 " The President, unmindful of the high 
 duties of his office and of the harmony 
 and courtesies which ought to be main 
 tained between the executive and legisla 
 tive branches of the Government of the 
 United States, designing to set aside the 
 rightful authority and powers of Congress, 
 did attempt to bring into disgrace the Con 
 gress of the United States and the several 
 branches thereof, to impair and destroy the 
 regard and respect of all the good people 
 of the United States for the Congress and 
 legislative power thereof, and to excite the 
 odium and resentment of all the good 
 people of the United States against Con 
 gress and the laws by it enacted ; and in 
 pursuance of his said design openly and 
 publicly, and before divers assemblages 
 
 convened in divers parts thereof to meet 
 and receive said Andrew Johnson as the 
 Chief Magistrate of the United States, did 
 on the 18th day of August, in the year of 
 our Lord 1866, and on divers other days 
 and times, as well before as afterward, 
 make and deliver with a loud voice certain 
 intemperate, inflammatory, and scandalous 
 harangues, and did therein utter loud 
 threats and bitter menaces as well against 
 Congress as the laws of the United States 
 duly enacted thereby." 
 
 To this article are appended copious ex 
 tracts from speeches of Mr. Johnson. The 
 second article is substantially as follows : 
 
 " The President did, on the 18th day of 
 August, 1866, at the City of Washington, 
 by public speech, declare and affirm in 
 substance that the Thirty-ninth Congress 
 of the United States was not a Congress 
 of the United States, authorized by the 
 Constitution to exercise legislative power 
 under the same, but, on the contrary, was 
 a Congress of only a part of the States, 
 thereby denying and intending to deny 
 that the legislation of said Congress was 
 valid or obligatory upon him, except in so 
 far as he saw fit to approve the same, and 
 did devise and contrive means by which he 
 might prevent Edwin M. Stanton from 
 forthwith resuming the functions of the 
 office of Secretary for the Department of 
 War; and, also, by farther unlawfully de 
 vising and contriving means to prevent the 
 execution of an act entitled ' An act mak 
 ing appropriations for the support of the 
 army for the fiscal year ending June 30, 
 1868, and for other purposes/ approved 
 March 2, 1867; and also to prevent the 
 execution of an act entitled 'An act to 
 provide for the more efficient government 
 of the rebel States,' passed March 2, 1867, 
 did commit and was guilty of a high mis 
 demeanor in office." 
 
 On the 4th of March the Senate notified 
 the House that they were ready -to receive 
 the Managers of the Impeachment. They 
 appeared, and the articles were formallv 
 read. The Senate had meanwhile adopted 
 the rules of procedure. Chief Justice Chase 
 sent a communication to the Senate to the 
 effect that this body, when acting upon an 
 impeachment, was a Court presided over by 
 the Chief Justice, and that all orders and 
 rules should be framed by the Court. On 
 the 5th the Court was formally organized. 
 An exception was taken to the eligibility 
 of Mr. Wade as a member of the Court, on 
 the ground that he was a party interested, 
 since, in the event of the impeachment be 
 ing sustained, he, as President of the Senate, 
 would become Acting President of the 
 United States. This objection was with 
 drawn, and Mr. Wade was sworn as a mem 
 ber of the Court. On the 7th the summons 
 for the President to appear was formally 
 served upon him. On the 13th the Court 
 
IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF JOHNSON. 
 
 183 
 
 was again formally reopened. The Presi 
 dent appeared by his counsel, Hon. Henry 
 Stanbery, of Ohio ; Hon. Wm. M. Evarts, 
 of New York ; Hon. Wm. S. Groesbeck, of 
 Ohio ; Hon. Benjamin R. Curtis, of Massa 
 chusetts ; Hon. Thomas A. R. Nelson, of 
 Tennessee, who asked for forty days to pre 
 pare an answer to the indictment. This 
 was refused, and ten days granted ; it be 
 ing ordered that the proceedings should 
 reopen on the 23d. Upon that day the 
 President appeared by his counsel, and 
 presented his answer to the articles of im 
 peachment. This reply was in substance 
 as follows : 
 
 The first eight articles in the Bill of Im 
 peachment, as briefly summed up in our 
 last record, are based upon the action of 
 the President in ordering the removal of 
 Mr. Stanton, and the temporary appoint 
 ment of General Thomas as Secretary of 
 War. The gist of them is contained in the 
 first article, charging the unlawful removal 
 of Mr. Stanton ; for, this failing, the others 
 would fail also. To this article a con 
 siderable part of the President's answer 
 is devoted. It is mainly an amplifica 
 tion of the points put forth in the Mes 
 sage of February 24th, in which he gave 
 his reasons for his orders. The President 
 cites the laws by which this department of 
 the administration was created, and the 
 rules laid down for the duties pertaining to 
 it ; prominent among which are : that the 
 Secretary shall "conduct the business of 
 the department in such manner as the 
 President of the United States shall from 
 time to time order and instruct; " and that 
 he should " hold the office during the plea 
 sure of the President ; " and that Congress 
 had no legal right to deprive the President 
 of the power to remove the Secretary. He 
 was, however, aware that the design of the 
 Tenure-of-Office Bill was to vest this power 
 of removal, in certain cases, jointly in the 
 Executive and the Senate ; and that, while 
 believing this act to be unconstitutional, 
 yet it having been passed over his veto by 
 the requisite majority of two-thirds, he con 
 sidered it to be his duty to ascertain in how 
 far the case of Mr. Stanton came within the 
 provisions of this law; after consideration, 
 he came to the conclusion that the case did 
 not come within the prohibitions of the 
 law, and that, by that law he still had the 
 right of removing Mr. Stanton ; but that, 
 wishing to have the case decided by the Su 
 preme Court, he, on the 12th of August, 
 issued the order merely suspending, not 
 removing, Mr. Stanton, a power expresly 
 granted by the Tenure-of-Office Act, and 
 appointed General Grant Secretary of War 
 ad interim. The President then recites 
 the subsequent action in the case of Mr. 
 Stanton ; and, as he avers, still believing 
 that he had the constitutional power to re 
 move him from office, issued the order of 
 
 February 21st, for such removal, designing 
 to thus bring the matter before the Su 
 preme Court. He then proceeds formally 
 to deny that at this time Mr. Stanton was 
 in lawful possession of the office of Secre 
 tary of War ; and that, consequently, the 
 order for his removal was in violation of the 
 Tenure-of-Office Act; and that it was in 
 violation of the Constitution or of any law ; 
 or that it constituted any official crime or 
 misdemeanor. 
 
 In regard to the seven succeeding arti 
 cles of impeachment the President, while 
 admitting the facts of the order appointing 
 General Thomas as Secretary of War ad 
 interim, denies all and every of the crimi 
 nal charges therein set forth. So of the 
 ninth article, charging an effort to induce 
 General Emory to violate the law, the 
 President denies all such intent, and calls 
 attention to the fact that while, for urgent 
 reasons, he signed the bill prescribing that 
 orders to the army should be issued only 
 through the General, he at the same time 
 declared it to be, in his judgment, unconsti 
 tutional ; and affirms that in his interview 
 with General Emory he said no more than 
 he had before officially said to Congress 
 that is, that the law was unconstitutional. 
 
 As to the tenth article, the first of the 
 supplementary ones, the President, while 
 admitting that he made certain public 
 speeches at the times and places specified, 
 does not admit that the passages cited are 
 fair reports of his remarks ; denies that he 
 has ever been unmindful of the courtesies 
 which ought to be maintained between 
 the executive and legislative departments ; 
 but he claims the perfect right at all times 
 to express his views as to all public matters. 
 
 The reply to the eleventh article, the 
 second supplementary one, is to the same 
 general purport, denying that he ever af 
 firmed that the Thirty-ninth Congress was 
 not a valid Congress of the United States, 
 and its acts obligatory only as they were 
 approved by him ; and denying that he 
 had, as charged in the article, contrived 
 unlawful means for preventing Mr. Stanton 
 from resuming the functions of Secretary 
 of War, or for preventing the execution of 
 the act making appropriations for the sup 
 port of the army, or that to pro vide for the 
 more efficient government of the rebel 
 States. In his answer to this article the 
 President refers to his reply to the first ar 
 ticle, in which he sets forth at length all 
 the steps, and the reasons therefor, relating 
 to the removal of Mr. Stanton. In briefj 
 the answer of the President to the articles 
 of impeachment is a general denial of each 
 and every criminal act charged in the ar 
 ticles of impeachment. 
 
 The counsel for the President then asked 
 for a delay of thirty days after the replication 
 of the managers of the impeachment should 
 have been rendered, before the trial should 
 
134 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 formally proceed. This was refused, and 
 the managers of the impeachment stated 
 that their replication would be presented 
 the next day : it was that, 
 
 " The Senate will commence the trial of 
 the President upon the articles of impeach 
 ment exhibited against him on Monday, 
 the 30th day of March, and proceed there 
 in with all dispatch under the rules of the 
 Senate, sitting upon the trial of an im 
 peachment." 
 
 The replication of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives was a simple denial of each and 
 every averment in the answer of the Pres 
 ident, closing thus : 
 
 " The House of Representatives .... do 
 say that the said Andrew Johnson, Presi 
 dent of the United States, is guilty of the 
 high crimes and misdemeanors mentioned 
 in the said articles, and that the said House 
 of Representatives are ready to prove the 
 same." 
 
 The trial began, as appointed, on March 
 30. There being twenty-seven States rep 
 resented, there were fifty-four Senators, 
 who constituted the Court, presided over 
 by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, of 
 Ohio. SENATORS : California, Cole, Con- 
 ness ; Connecticut, Dixon, Ferry ; Delaware, 
 Bayard, Saulsbury ; Indiana, Hendricks, 
 Morton ; Illinois, Trumbull, Yates ; Iowa, 
 Grimes, Harlan ; Kansas, Pomeroy, Ross ; 
 Kentucky, Davis, McCreery ; Maine, Fes- 
 senden, Morrill (LotM.) ; Maryland, John 
 son, Vickers ; Massachusetts, Sumner, Wil 
 son ; Michigan, Chandler, Howard ; Minne 
 sota, Norton, Ramsay ; Missouri, Drake, 
 Henderson; Nebraska, Thayer, Tipton; 
 Nevada, Nye, Stewart; New Hampshire, 
 Cragin, Patterson (J. W.) ; New Jersey, 
 Cattell, Frelinghuysen ; New York, Conk- 
 lin, Morgan ; Ohio, Sherman, Wade ; Ore 
 gon, Corbett, Williams ; Pennsylvania, 
 Buckalew, Cameron; Rhode Island, An 
 thony, Sprague ; Tennessee, Fowler, Patter 
 son (David); Vermont, Edmunds, Merrill, 
 ( J. S.) ; West Virginia, Van Winkle, Wil- 
 ley; Wisconsin, Doolittle, Howe. 
 
 Managers for the Prosecution: Messrs. 
 Bingham, Boutwell, Butler, Logan, Ste 
 vens, Williams, Wilson. 
 
 Counsel for the President. Messrs. Cur 
 tis, Evarts, Groesbeck, Nelson, Stanbery. 
 
 The following was the order of proce 
 dure : The Senate convened at 11 or 12 
 o'clock, and was called to order by the 
 president of that body, who, after prayer, 
 would leave the chair, which was immedi 
 ately assumed by the Chief Justice, who 
 wore his official robes. The prosecution 
 was mainly conducted by Mr. Butler, who 
 examined the witnesses, and, in conjunc 
 tion with the others, argued the points of 
 law which came up. The defense, during 
 the early part of the trial, was mainly con 
 ducted by Mr. Stanbery, who had resigned 
 the office of Attorney-General for this pur 
 
 pose, but, being taken suddenly ill, Mr. 
 Evarts took his place. According to the 
 rule at first adopted, the trial was to be 
 opened by one counsel on each side, and 
 summed up by two on each side ; but this 
 rule was subsequently modified so as to al 
 low as many of the managers and counsel 
 as chose to sum up, either orally or by 
 filing written arguments. 
 
 THE PROSECUTION. 
 
 The whole of the first day (March 30) 
 was occupied by the opening speech of Mr. 
 Butler. After touching upon the import 
 ance of the case, and the wisdom of the 
 framers of the Constitution in providing for 
 its possible occurrence, he laid down the fol 
 lowing proposition, supporting it by a copi 
 ous array of authorities and precedents : 
 
 " We define, therefore, an impeachable 
 high crime or misdemeanor to be one, in 
 its nature or consequences, subversive of 
 some fundamental or essential principle of 
 government, or highly prejudicial to the 
 public interest, and this may consist of a 
 violation of the Constitution, of law, of an 
 official oath, or of duty, by an act com 
 mitted or omitted, or, without violating a 
 positive law, by the abuse of discretionary 
 powers from improper motives, or for any 
 improper purpose." 
 
 He then proceeded to discuss the nature 
 and functions of the tribunal before which 
 the trial is held. He asked : " Is this pro 
 ceeding a trial, as that term is understood, 
 so far as relates to the rights and duties of 
 a court and jury upon an indictment for 
 crime ? Is it not rather more in the nature 
 of an inquest?" The Constitution, he 
 urged, " seems to have determined it to be 
 the latter, because, under its provisions, 
 the right to retain and hold office is the 
 only subject to be finally adjudicated; all 
 preliminary inquiry being carried on solely 
 to determine that question, and that alone." 
 He then proceeded to argue that this body 
 now sitting to determine the accusation, is 
 the Senate of the United States, and not a 
 court. This question is of consequence, 
 he argued, because, in the latter case, it 
 would be bound by the rules and prece 
 dents of common law-statutes ; the mem 
 bers of the court would be liable to chal 
 lenge on many grounds ; and the accused 
 might claim that he could only be convicted 
 when the evidence makes the fact clear be 
 yond reasonable doubt, instead of by a pre 
 ponderance of the evidence. The fact that 
 in this case the Chief Justice presides, it 
 was argued, does not constitute the Senate 
 thus acting a court, for in all cases of im 
 peachment, save that of the President, its 
 regular presiding officer presides. Moreo 
 ver, the procedures have no analogy to 
 those of an ordinary court of justice. The 
 accused merely receives a notice of the 
 case pending against him. He is not re- 
 
IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF JOHNSON. 
 
 185 
 
 quired to appear personally, and the case 
 will go on without his presence. Mr. 
 Butler thus summed up his position in this 
 regard : 
 
 "A constitutional tribunal solely, you 
 are bound by no law, either statute or com 
 mon, which may limit your constitutional 
 prerogative. You consult no precedents 
 save those of the law and custom of par 
 liamentary bodies. You are a law unto 
 yourselves, bound only by the natural 
 principles of equity and justice, and that 
 solus populi suprema est lex." 
 
 Mr. Butler then proceeded to consider 
 the articles of impeachment. The first 
 eight, he says, " set out, in several distinct 
 forms, the acts of the President in remov 
 ing Mr. Stanton and appointing General 
 Thomas, differing, in legal effect, in the 
 purposes for which, and the intent with 
 which, either or both of the acts were 
 done, and the legal duties and rights in 
 fringed, and the Acts of Congress violated 
 in so doing." In respect to all of these 
 articles, Mr. Butler says, referring to his 
 former definition of what constituted an 
 impeachable high crime : 
 
 " All the articles allege these acts to be 
 in contravention of his oath of office, and 
 in disregard of the duties thereof. If they 
 are so, however, the President might have 
 the power to do them under the law. Still, 
 being so done, they are acts of official mis 
 conduct, and, as we have seen, impeacha 
 ble. The President has the legal power to 
 do many acts which, if done in disregard 
 of his duty, or for improper purposes, then 
 the exercise of that power is an official 
 misdemeanor. For example, he has the 
 power of pardon ; if exercised, in a given 
 case, for a corrupt motive, as for the pay 
 ment of money, or wantonly pardoning all 
 criminals, it would be a misdemeanor." 
 
 Mr. Butler affirmed that every fact 
 charged in the first article, and substan 
 tially in the seven following, is admitted 
 in the reply of the President; and also 
 that the general intent to set aside the 
 Tenure-of-Office Act is therein admitted 
 and justified. He then proceeded to dis 
 cuss the whole question of the power of 
 the President for removals from office, and 
 especially his claim that this power was 
 imposed upon the President by the Consti 
 tution, and that it could not be taken from 
 him, or be vested jointly in him and the 
 Senate, partly or in whole. This, Mr. 
 Butler affirmed, was the real question at 
 issue before the Senate and the American 
 people. He said : 
 
 " Has the President, under the Constitu 
 tion, the more than royal prerogative at 
 will to remove from office, or to suspend 
 from office, all executive officers of the 
 United States, either civil, military or 
 naval, and to fill the vacancies, without 
 any restraint whatever, or possibility of re 
 
 straint, by the Senate or by Congress, 
 through laws duly enacted ? The House 
 of Representatives, in behalf of the people, 
 join issue by affirming that the exercise of 
 such powers is a high misdemeanor in 
 office. If the affirmative is maintained by 
 the respondent, then, so far as the first 
 eight articles are concerned unless such 
 corrupt purposes are shown as will of 
 themselves make the exercise of a legal 
 power a crime the respondent must go, 
 and ought to go, quit and free. 
 
 This point as to the legal right of the 
 President to make removals from office, 
 which constitutes the real burden of the 
 articles of impeachment, was argued at 
 length. Mr. Butler assumed that the Sen 
 ate, by whom, in conjunction with the 
 House, the Tenure-of-Office Act had been 
 passed over the veto of the President, 
 would maintain the law to be constitu 
 tional. The turning point was whether 
 the special case of the removal of Mr. 
 Stanton came within the provisions of this 
 law. This rested upon the proviso of that 
 law, that 
 
 " The Secretaries shall hold their office 
 during the term of the President by whom 
 they may have been appointed, and for 
 one month thereafter, subject to removal 
 by and with the advice and consent of the 
 Senate." 
 
 The extended argument upon this point, 
 made by Mr. Butler, was to the effect that 
 Mr. Stanton having been appointed by Mr. 
 Lincoln^ whose term of office reached to 
 the 4th of March, 1869, that of Mr. Stanton 
 existed until a month later, unless he was 
 previously removed by the concurrent ac 
 tion of the President and Senate. The 
 point of the argument is, that Mr. Johnson 
 is merely serving out the balance of the 
 term of Mr. Lincoln, cut short by his as 
 sassination, so that the Cabinet officers ap 
 pointed by Mr. Lincoln held their places, 
 by this very proviso, during that term and 
 for a month thereafter ; for, he argued, if 
 Mr. Johnson was not merely serving out 
 the balance of Mr. Lincoln's term, then he 
 is entitled to the office of President for four 
 full years, that being the period for which 
 a President is elected. If, continues the 
 argument, Mr. Stanton's commission was 
 vacated by the Tenure-of-Office Act, it 
 ceased on the 4th of April, 1865 ; or, if the 
 act had no retroactive effect, still, if Mr. 
 Stanton held his office merely under his 
 commission from Mr. Lincoln, then his 
 functions would have ceased upon the 
 passage of the bill, March 2, 1867 ; and, 
 consequently, Mr. Johnson, in " employ 
 ing " him after that date as Secretary of 
 War, was guilty of a high misdemeanor, 
 which would give ground for a new arti 
 cle of impeachment. 
 
 After justifying the course of Mr. Stan- 
 ton in holding on to the secretaryship in 
 
186 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 opposition to the wish of the President, 
 on the ground that "to desert it now 
 would be to imitate the treachery of his 
 accidental chief/' Mr. Butler proceeded to 
 discuss the reasons assigned by the Presi 
 dent in his answer to the articles of im 
 peachment for the attempt to remove Mr. 
 Stanton. These, in substance, were, that 
 the President believed the Tenure-of-Of- 
 fice Act was unconstitutional, and, there 
 fore, void and of no effect, and that he 
 had the right to remove him and appoint 
 another person in his place. Mr. Butler 
 urged that, in all of these proceedings, the 
 President professed to act upon the as 
 sumption that the act was valid, and that 
 his action was in accordance with its pro 
 visions. He then went on to charge that 
 the appointment of General Thomas as 
 Secretary of War ad interim, was a sepa 
 rate violation of law. By the act of Feb 
 ruary 20, 1863, which repealed all previous 
 laws inconsistent with it, the President 
 was authorized, in case of the " death, 
 resignation, absence from the seat of Gov 
 ernment, or sickness of the head of an 
 executive department," or in any other 
 case where these officers could not perform 
 .their respective duties, to appoint the head 
 of any other executive department to ful 
 fil the duties of the office " until a succes 
 sor be appointed, or until such absence or 
 disability shall cease." Now, urged Mr. 
 Butler, at the time of the appointment of 
 General Thomas as Sectary of War ad 
 interim, Mr. Stanton "had neither died 
 nor resigned, was not sick nor absent," 
 and, consequently, General Thomas, not 
 being the head of a department, but only 
 of a bureau of one of them, was not eligi 
 ble to this appointment, and that, there 
 fore, his appointment was illegal and void. 
 
 The ninth article of impeachment, 
 wherein the President is charged with en 
 deavoring to induce General Emory to 
 take orders directly from himself, is dealt 
 with in a rather slight manner. Mr. But 
 ler says, " If the transaction set forth in 
 this article stood alone, we might well ad 
 mit that doubts might arise as to the suffi 
 ciency of the proof;" but, he adds, " the 
 surroundings are so pointed and signifi 
 cant as to leave no doubt in the mind of 
 an impartial man as to the intents and 
 purposes of the President " these intents 
 being, according to Mr. Butler, " to induce 
 General Emory to take orders directly 
 from himself, and thus to hinder the exe 
 cution of the Civil Tenure Act, and to 
 prevent Mr: Stanton from holding his 
 office of Secretary of War." 
 
 As to the tenth article of impeachment, 
 based upon various speeches of the Presi 
 dent, Mr. Butler undertook to show that 
 the reports of these speeches, as given in 
 the article, were substantially correct; 
 and accepted the issue made thereupon as 
 
 to whether they are " decent and becom 
 ing the President of the United States, 
 and do not tend to bring the office into 
 ridicule and disgrace." 
 
 After having commented upon the 
 eleventh and closing article, which charges 
 the President with having denied the au 
 thority of the Thirty-ninth Congress, ex 
 cept so far as its acts were approved by 
 him, Mr. Butler summed up the purport 
 of the articles of impeachment in these 
 words : 
 
 " The acts set out in the first eight arti 
 cles are but the culmination of a series of 
 wrongs, malfeasances, and usurpations 
 committed by the respondent, and, there 
 fore, need to be examined in the light of 
 his precedent and concomitant acts to 
 grasp their scope and design. The last 
 three articles presented show the perver 
 sity and malignity with which he acted, 
 so that the man as he is known may be 
 clearly spread upon record, to be seen and 
 
 known of all men hereafter 
 
 We have presented the facts in the con 
 stitutional manner ; we have brought the 
 criminal to your bar, and demand judg 
 ment for his so great crimes." 
 
 The remainder of Monday, and a por 
 tion of the following day, were devoted to 
 the presentation of documentary evidence 
 as to the proceedings involved in the order 
 for the removal of Mr. Stanton and the 
 appointment of General Thomas. The 
 prosecution'then introduced witnesses to 
 testify to the interviews between Mr. 
 Stanton and General Thomas. They then 
 brought forward a witness to show that 
 General Thomas had avowed his deter 
 mination to take forcible possession of the 
 War Office. To this Mr. Stanbery, for the 
 defense, objected. The Chief Justice de 
 cided the testimony to be admissible. 
 Thereupon Senator Drake took exception 
 to the ruling, on the ground that this ques 
 tion should be decided by the Senate not 
 by the presiding officer. The Chief Jus 
 tice averred that, in his judgment, it was 
 his duty to decide, in the first instance, 
 upon any question of evidence, and then, 
 if any Senator desired, to submit the deci 
 sion to the Senate. Upon this objection 
 and appeal arose the first conflict in the 
 Senate as to the powers of its presiding 
 officer. Mr. Butler argued at length in 
 favor of the exception. Although, in this 
 case, the decision was in favor of the 
 prosecution, he objected to the power of 
 the presiding officer to make it. This 
 point was argued at length by the mana 
 gers for the impeachment, who denied the 
 right of the Chief Justice to make such 
 decision. It was then moved that the 
 Senate retire for private consultation on 
 this point. There was a tie vote 25 ayes 
 and 25 nays. The Chief Justice gave his 
 casting vote in favor of the motion for 
 
IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF JOHNSON. 
 
 187 
 
 consultation. The Senate, by a vote of 31 
 to 19, sustained the Chief Justice, deciding 
 that " the presiding officer may rule on all 
 questions of evidence and on incidental 
 questions, which decision will stand as the 
 judgment of the Senate for decision, or he 
 may, at his option in the first instance, 
 submit any such question to a vote of the 
 members of the Senate." In the further 
 progress of the trial the Chief Justice, in 
 most important cases, submitted the ques 
 tion directly to the Senate, without him 
 self giving any decision. Next morning 
 (April 1) Mr. Sumner offered a resolution 
 to the effect that the Chief Justice, in giv 
 ing a casting vote, "acted without author 
 ity of the Constition of the United States." 
 This was negatived by a vote of 27 to 21, 
 thus deciding that the presiding officer 
 had the right to give a casting vote. 
 The witness (Mr. Burleigh, delegate from 
 Dakotah,) who had been called to prove 
 declarations of General Thomas, was then 
 asked whether, at an interview between 
 them, General Thomas had said anything 
 as " to the means by which he intended to 
 obtain, or was directed by the President to 
 obtain, posession of the War Department." 
 To this question Mr. Stanbery objected, on 
 the ground that any statements made by 
 General Thomas could not be used as evi 
 dence against the President. Messrs. But 
 ler and Bingham argued that the testi 
 mony was admissible, on the ground that 
 there was, as charged, a conspiracy be 
 tween the President and General Thomas, 
 and that the acts of one conspirator were 
 binding upon the other ; and, also, that in 
 these acts General Thomas was the agent 
 of the President. The Senate, by 39 to 11, 
 decided that the question was admissible. 
 Mr. Burleigh thereupon testified sub 
 stantially that General Thomas informed 
 him that he had been directed by the Pres 
 ident to take possession of the War De 
 partment ; that he was bound to obey his 
 superior officer ; that, if Mr. Stanton ob 
 jected, he should use force, and if he bolt 
 ed the doors they would be broken down. 
 The witness was then asked whether he 
 had heard General Thomas make any 
 statement to the clerks of the War Office, 
 to the effect that, when he came into con 
 trol, he would relax or rescind the rules of 
 Mr. Stanton. To this question objection 
 was made by the counsel of the President 
 on the ground of irrelevancy. The Chief 
 Justice was of opinion that the question 
 was not admissible, but, if any Senator de 
 manded, he would submit to the Senate 
 whether it should be asked. The demand 
 having been made, the Senate, by a vote 
 of 28 to 22, allowed the question to be put, 
 whereupon Mr. Burleigh testified that 
 General Thomas, in his presence, called 
 before him the heads of the divisions, and 
 told them that the rules laid down by Mr. 
 
 Stanton were arbitrary, and that he should 
 relax them that he should not hold them 
 strictly -to their letters of instruction, but 
 should consider them as gentlemen who 
 would do their duty that they could come 
 in or go out when they chose. Mr. Bur 
 leigh further testified that, subsequently, 
 General Thomas had said to him that the 
 only thing which prevented him from tak 
 ing possession of the War Department was 
 his arrest by the United States marshal. 
 Other witnesses were called to prove the 
 declarations of General Thomas. Mr. 
 Wilkeson testified that General Thomas 
 said to him that he should demand possess 
 ion of the War Department, and, in case 
 Mr. Stanton should refuse to give it up, he 
 should call upon General Grant for a suf 
 ficient force to enable him to do so, and he 
 did not see how this could be refused. 
 Mr. Karsener, of Delaware, testified that 
 he saw General Thomas at the President's 
 house, told him that Delaware, of which 
 State General Thomas is a citizen, expect 
 ed him to stand firm ; to which General 
 Thomas replied that he was standing firm, 
 that he would not disappoint his friends, 
 but, that, in a few days, he would " kick 
 that fellow out," meaning, as the witness 
 supposed, Mr. Stanton. 
 
 Thursday, April 2d. Various witnesses 
 were introduced to testify to the occur 
 rences when General Thomas demanded 
 possession of the War Department. After 
 this General Emory was called to testify 
 to the transactions which form the ground 
 of the ninth article of impeachment. His 
 testimony was to the effect that the Presi 
 dent, on the 22d of February, requested 
 him to call ; that, upon so doing, the Pres 
 ident asked respecting any changes that 
 had been made in the disposition of the 
 troops around Washington ; that he in 
 formed the President that no important 
 changes had been made, and that none 
 could be made without an order from Gen 
 eral Grant, as provided for in an order 
 founded upon a law sanctioned by the 
 President. The President said that this 
 law was unconstitutional. Emory replied 
 that the President had approved of it, and 
 that it was not the prerogative of the officers 
 of the army to decide upon the constitu 
 tionality of a law, and in that opinion he was 
 justified by the opinion of eminent counsel, 
 and thereupon the conversation ended. 
 
 The prosecution then endeavored to in 
 troduce testimony as to the appointment 
 of Mr. Edmund Cooper, the Private Sec 
 retary of the President, as Assistant Sec 
 retary of the Treasury, in support of the 
 eighth and eleventh articles of impeach 
 ment, which charge the President with an 
 unlawful attempt to control the disposition 
 of certain public funds. This testimony, 
 by a vote of 27 to 22, was ruled out. 
 
 The prosecution now, in support of the 
 
188 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 tenth and eleventh articles of impeach 
 ment, charging the President with endeav 
 oring to " set aside the rightful authority 
 of Congress," offered a telegraphic dis 
 patch from the President to Mr. Parsons, 
 at that time (January 17, 1867) Provisional 
 Governor of Alabama, of which the follow 
 ing is the essential part: 
 
 U I do not believe the people of the 
 whole country will sustain any set of in 
 dividuals in the attempt to change the 
 whole character of our Government by en 
 abling acts in this way. I believe, on the 
 contrary, that they will eventually uphold 
 all who have patriotism and courage to 
 stand by the Constitution, and who place 
 their confidence in the people. There should 
 be no faltering on the part of those who 
 are honest in their determination to sustain 
 the several coordinate departments of the 
 Government in accordance with its origi 
 nal design." The introduction of this was 
 objected to by the counsel for the Presi 
 dent, but admitted by the Senate, the vote 
 being 27 to 17. 
 
 The whole Friday, and a great part of 
 Saturday, (April 3d and 4th,) were occu 
 pied in the examination of the persons 
 who reported the various speeches of the 
 President which form the basis of the tenth 
 article, the result being that the reports 
 were shown to be either substantially or 
 verbally accurate. Then, after some tes 
 timony relating to the forms in which 
 commissions to office were made out, the 
 managers announced that the case for the 
 prosecution was substantially closed. The 
 counsel for the President thereupon asked 
 that three working days should be granted 
 them to prepare for the defense. This, 
 after some discussion, was granted by the 
 Senate by a vote of 36 to 9, and the trial 
 was adjourned to Thursday, April 9th. 
 
 THE DEFENSE. 
 
 The opening speech for the defense, oc 
 cupying the whole of Thursday, and a 
 part of Friday, was made by Mr. Curtis. 
 Reserving, for a time, a rejoinder to Mr. 
 Butler's argument as to the functions of 
 the Senate when sitting as a Court of Im 
 peachment, Mr. Curtis proceeded to a con 
 sideration of the articles of impeachment, 
 in their order, his purpose being " to ascer 
 tain, in the first place, what the substantial 
 allegations in each of them are, what is the 
 legal proof and effect of these allegations, 
 and what proof is necessary to be adduced 
 in order to sustain them." The speech is 
 substantially an elaboration of and argu 
 ment for the points embraced in the an 
 swer of the President. The main stress of 
 the argument related to the first article, 
 which, as stated by Mr. Curtis, when 
 stripped of all technical language, amounts 
 exactly to these things : 
 
 " First. That the order set out in the ar 
 
 ticle for the removal of Mr. Stanton, if 
 executed, would have been a violation of 
 the Tenure-of-Office Act. 
 
 " Second. That it was a violation of the 
 Tenure-of-Office Act. 
 
 " Third. That it was an intentional vio 
 lation of the Tenure-of-Office Act. 
 
 "fourth. That it was in violation of the 
 Constitution of the United States. 
 
 "Fifth. That it was intended by the 
 President to be so. 
 
 " Or, to draw all these into one sentence, 
 which I hope may be intelligible and clear 
 enough, I suppose the substance of this 
 first article is that the order for the remo 
 val of Mr. Stanton was, and was intended 
 to be, a violation of the Constitution of 
 the United States. These are the allega 
 tions which it is necessary for the honor 
 able managers to make out in order to 
 support that article." 
 
 Mr. Curtis proceeded to argue that the 
 case of Mr. Stanton did not come within 
 the provisions of the Tenure-of-Office Act, 
 being expressly excepted by the proviso 
 that Cabinet officers should hold their 
 places during the term of the President by 
 whom they were appointed, and for one 
 month thereafter, unless removed by the 
 consent of the Senate. Mr. Stanton was 
 appointed by Mr. Lincoln, whose term of 
 office came to an end by his death. He 
 argued at length against the proposition 
 that Mr. Johnson was merely serving out 
 the remainder of Mr. Lincoln's term. The 
 object of this exception, he said, was evi 
 dent. The Cabinet officers were to be 
 "the immediate confidential assistants of 
 the President, for whose acts he was to be 
 responsible, and in whom he was expected 
 to repose the gravest honor, trust, and con 
 fidence ; therefore it was that this act has 
 connected the tenure of office of these offi 
 cers with that of the President by whom 
 they were appointed." Mr. Curtis gave a 
 new interpretation to that clause in the 
 Constitution which prescribes that the 
 President "may require the opinion, in 
 writing, of the principal officer in each of 
 the executive departments upon any sub 
 ject relating to the duties of their several 
 offices." He understood that the word 
 "their" included the President, so that he 
 might call upon Cabinet officers for advice 
 " relating to the duties of the office of these 
 principal officers, or relating to the duties 
 of the President himself." This, at least, 
 he affirmed, had been the practical inter 
 pretation put upon this clause from the 
 beginning. To confirm his position as to 
 the intent of the Tenure-of-Office Act in 
 this respect, Mr. Curtis quoted from 
 speeches made in both houses at the time 
 when the act was passed. Thus, Senator 
 Sherman said that the act, as passed 
 
 " Would not prevent the present Presi 
 dent from removing the Secretary of War, 
 
IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF JOHNSON. 
 
 189 
 
 the Secretary of the Navy, or the Secretary 
 of State ; and, if I supposed that either of 
 these gentlemen was so wanting in man 
 hood, in honor, as to hold his place after 
 the politest intimation from the President 
 of the United States that his services were 
 no longer needed, I certainly, as a Senator, 
 would consent to his removal at any time, 
 and so would we all." 
 
 Mr. Curtis proceeded to argue that there 
 was really no removal of Mr. Stanton ; he 
 still held his place, and so there was " no 
 case of removal within the statute, and, 
 therefore, no case of violation by removal." 
 But, if the Senate should hold that the or 
 der for removal was, in effect, a removal, 
 then, unless the Tenure-of-Office Act gave 
 Mr. Stanton a tenure of office, this removal 
 would not have been contrary to the pro 
 visions of this act. He proceeded to argue 
 that there was room for grave doubt 
 whether Mr. Stanton's case came within 
 the provisions of the Tenure-of-Office Act, 
 and that the President, upon due conside 
 ration, and having taken the best advice 
 within his power, considering that it did 
 not, and acting accordingly, did not, even 
 if he was mistaken, commit an act " so wil 
 ful and wrong that it can be justly and 
 properly, and for the purposes of this 
 prosecution, termed a high misdemeanor." 
 He argued at length that the view of the 
 President was the correct one, and that 
 " the Senate had nothing whatever to do 
 with the removal of Mr. Stanton, whether 
 the Senate was in session or not." 
 
 Mr. Curtis then went on to urge that the 
 President, being sworn to take care that the 
 laws be faithfully executed, must carry out 
 any law, even though passed over his veto, 
 except in cases where a law which he be 
 lieved to be unconstitutional has cut off a 
 power confided to him, and in regard to 
 which he alone could make an issue which 
 would bring the matter before a court, so 
 as to cause " a judicial decision to come 
 between the two branches of the Govern 
 ment, to see which of them is right." This, 
 said he, is what the President has done. 
 This argument, in effect, was an answer to 
 the first eight articles of impeachment. 
 
 The ninth article, charging the Presi 
 dent with endeavoring to induce General 
 Emory to violate the law by receiving or 
 ders directly from him, was very briefly 
 touched upon, it being maintained that, as 
 shown by the evidence, " the reason why 
 the President sent for General Emory was 
 not that he might endeavor to seduce that 
 distinguished officer from his allegiance to 
 the laws and Constitution of his country, 
 but because he wished to obtain informa 
 tion about military movements which 
 might require his personal attention." 
 
 As to the tenth article, based upon the 
 President's speeches, it was averred that 
 they were in no way in violation of the 
 
 Constitution, or of any law existing at the 
 time when they were made, and were not 
 therefore, impeachable offenses. 
 
 The reply to the eleventh article was very 
 brief. The managers had " compounded it 
 of the materials which they had previously 
 worked up into others," and it " contained 
 nothing new that needed notice." Mr. 
 Curtis concluded his speech by saying that 
 " This trial is and will be the most con 
 spicuous instance that has ever been, or 
 even can be expected to be found, of 
 American justice or of American injustice ; 
 of that justice which is the great policy of 
 all civilized States ; of that injustice which 
 is certain to be condemned, which makes 
 even the wisest man mad, and which, in 
 the fixed and unalterable order of God's 
 providence, is sure to return and plague 
 the inventor." 
 
 At the close of this opening speech for 
 the defense, General Lorenzo Thomas was 
 brought forward as a witness. His testi 
 mony, elicited upon examination and cross- 
 examination, was to the effect that, having 
 received the order appointing him Secre 
 tary of War ad interim, he presented it to 
 Mr. Stanton, who asked, Do you wish 
 me to vacate the office at once, or will you 
 give me time to get my private property 
 together ? " to which Thomas replied, " Act 
 your pleasure." Afterward Stanton said, 
 " I don't know whether I will obey your 
 instructions." Subsequently Thomas said 
 that he should issue orders as Secretary of 
 War. Stanton said he should not do so, 
 and afterward gave him a written direc 
 tion, not to issue any order except as Ad 
 jutant-General. During the examination 
 of General Thomas a question came up 
 which, in many ways, recurred upon the 
 trial. He was asked to tell what occurred 
 at an interview between himself and the 
 President. Objection was made by Mr. 
 Butler, and the point was argued. The 
 question was submitted to the Senate, 
 which decided, by a vote of 42 to 10, that 
 it was admissible. The testimony of Gen 
 eral Thomas, from this point, took a wide 
 range, and, being mainly given in response 
 to questions of counsel, was, apparently, 
 somewhat contradictory. The substance 
 was that he was recognized by the Presi 
 dent as Secretary of War ; that, since the 
 impeachment, he had acted as such only 
 in attending Cabinet meetings, but had 
 given no orders ; that, when he reported to 
 the President that Mr. Stanton would not 
 vacate the War Department, the President 
 directed him to "take possession of the 
 office;" that, without orders from the 
 President, he had intended to do this by 
 force, if necessary ; that, finding that this 
 course might involve bloodshed, he had 
 abandoned this purpose, but that, after 
 this, he had, in several cases, affirmed his 
 purpose to do so, but that these declara- 
 
190 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 tions were " merely boast and brag." On 
 the following day General Thomas was re 
 called as a witness, to enable him to cor 
 rect certain points in his testimony. The 
 
 views, was to the effect that the President 
 said that the relations between himself and 
 Mr. Stanton were such that he could not 
 execute the office of President without 
 
 first was the date of an unimportant trans- making provision to appoint a Secretary 
 action ; he had given it as taking place on of War ad interim, and he offered that 
 the 21st of February, whereas it should office to him (General Sherman), but did 
 have been the 22d. The second was that I not state that his purpose was to bring the 
 the words of the President were that he ' matter directly into the courts. Sherman 
 should " take charge," not " take posses- j said that, if Mr. Stanton would retire, he 
 sion " of the War Department. In expla- , might, although against his own wishes, 
 nation of the fact that he had repeatedly ! undertake to administer the office ad 
 
 sworn to the words " take possession," he 
 said that these were " put into his mouth." 
 Finally, General Thomas, in reply to a di 
 rect question from Mr. Butler, said that 
 his testimony on these points was "all 
 wrong." 
 
 Lieutenant-General Sherman was then 
 called as a witness. After 
 
 some unim 
 
 portant questions, he was asked in refer 
 ence to an interview between himself and 
 the President which took place on the 14th 
 of January: "At that interview what 
 conversation took place between the Presi 
 dent and you in reference to Mr. Stan- 
 ton?" To this question objection was 
 made by Mr. Butler, and the point was 
 elaborately argued. The Chief Justice 
 decided thai; the question was admissible 
 within the vote of the Senate of the pre 
 vious day ; the question then was as to the 
 admissibility of evidence as to a conversa 
 tion between the President and General 
 Thomas ; the present question was as to a 
 conversation between the President and 
 General Sherman. " Both questions," said 
 the Chief Justice, " are asked for the pur 
 pose of procuring the intent of the Presi 
 dent to remove Mr. Stanton." The ques 
 tion being submitted to the Senate, it was 
 decided, by a vote of 28 to 23, that it 
 should not be admitted. The examina 
 tion of General Sherman was continued, 
 the question of the conversation aforesaid 
 being frequently brought forward, and as 
 often ruled out by the Senate. The only 
 important fact elicited was that, the Presi 
 dent had twice, on the 25th and 30th of 
 January, tendered to General Sherman the 
 office of Secretary of War ad interim. 
 
 On Monday, April 13th, after transac 
 tions of minor importance, the general 
 matter of the conversations between the 
 President and General Sherman again 
 came up, upon a question propounded by 
 Senator Johnson "When the President 
 tendered to you the office of Secretary 
 of War ad interim, did he, at the very 
 time of making such tender, state to you 
 what his purpose in so doing was ? " This 
 was admitted by the Senate, by a vote of 
 26 to 22. Senator Johnson then added to 
 his question, " If he did, what did he state 
 his purpose was ? " This was admitted by 
 a vote of 25 to 26. The testimony of Gen 
 eral Sherman, relating to several inter- 
 
 interim, but asked what would be done in 
 case Mr. Stanton would not yield. Ta 
 this the President replied, " He will 
 make no opposition ; you present the or 
 der, and he will retire. I know him bet 
 ter than you do ; he is cowardly." General 
 Sherman asked time for reflection, and 
 then gave a written answer, declining to 
 accept the appointment, but stated that 
 his reasons were mostly of a personal na 
 ture. 
 
 On the 14th the Senate adjourned, on 
 account of the sudden illness of Mr. Stan- 
 bery. It re-assembled on the 15th, but 
 the proceedings touched wholly upon for 
 mal points of procedure and the introduc 
 tion of unimportant documentary evidence. 
 On the 16th Mr. Sumner moved that all 
 evidence not trivial or obviously irrelevant 
 shall be admitted, the Senate to judge of 
 its value. This was negatived by a vote 
 of 23 to 11. 
 
 The 17th was mainly taken up by testi 
 mony as to the reliability of the reports of 
 the President's speeches. Mr. Welles, Sec 
 retary of the Navy, was then called to tes 
 tify to certain proceedings in Cabinet 
 Council at the time of the appointment of 
 General Thomas. This was objected to. 
 The Chief Justice decided that it was ad 
 missible, and his decision was sustained by 
 a vote of 26 to 23. The defense then en 
 deavored to introduce several members of 
 the Cabinet, to show that, at meetings pre 
 vious to the removal of Mr. Stanton, it 
 was considered whether it was not desira 
 ble to obtain a judicial determination of 
 the unconstitutionality of the Tenure-of- 
 Office Act. This question was raised in 
 several shapes, and its admission, after 
 thorough argument on both sides, as often 
 refused, in the last instance by a decisive 
 vote of 30 to 19. The defense considered 
 this testimony of the utmost importance, 
 as going to show that the President had 
 acted upon the counsel of his constitu 
 tional advisers, while the prosecution 
 claimed that he could not plead in justifi 
 cation of a violation of the law that he 
 had been advised by his Cabinet, or any 
 one else, that the law was unconstitutional. 
 His duty was to execute the laws, and, if 
 he failed to do this, or violated them, he 
 did so at his own risk of the consequences. 
 With the refusal of this testimony, the 
 
GRANT. 
 
 191 
 
 case, except the final summings up and the 
 ferdict of the Senate, was virtually closed. 
 
 The case had been so fully set forth in 
 the opening speeches of Messrs. Butler and 
 Curtis, and in the arguments which came 
 up upon points of testimony, that there 
 remained little for the other counsel except 
 to restate what had before been said. 
 
 After the evidence had been closed the 
 case was summed up, on the part of the 
 managers by Messrs. Boutwell, Williams, 
 Stevens, and Bingham in oral arguments, 
 and Mr. Logan, who filed a written argu 
 ment, and on the part of the President by 
 Messrs. Nelson, Groesbeck, Stanbery, and 
 Evarts. Many of these speeches were dis 
 tinguished by great brilliancy and power, 
 but, as no new points were presented, we 
 omit any summary. 
 
 The Court decided to take a vote upon 
 the articles on Tuesday, the 12th of May, 
 at 12 o'clock, M. A secret session was 
 held on Monday, during which several 
 Senators made short speeches, giving the 
 grounds upon which they expected to cast 
 their votes. On Tuesday the Court agreed 
 to postpone the vote until Saturday, the 
 16th. Upon that day, at 12 o'clock, a vote 
 was taken upon the eleventh article, it 
 having been determined to vote on that 
 article first. The vote resulted in 35 votes 
 for conviction, and 19 for acquittal. 
 
 The question being put to each Senator, 
 " How say you, is the respondent, Andrew 
 Johnson, President of the United States, 
 guilty or not guilty of a high misdemeanor 
 as charged in the article ?" those who re 
 sponded guilty were Senators Anthony, 
 Cameron, Cattell, Chandler, Cole, Conk- 
 ling, Conness, Corbett, Cragin, Drake, Ed 
 munds, Ferry, Frelinghuysen, Harlan, 
 Howard, Howe, Morgan, Morrill, of Ver 
 mont, Morrill, of Maine, O. P. Morton, 
 Nye, Patterson, N. H. Pomeroy, Sherman, 
 Sprague, Stewart, Sumner, Thayer, Tipton, 
 Wade, Willey, Williams, Wilson and Yates. 
 
 Those who responded not guilty were 
 
 Senators Bayard, Buckalew, Davis, Dixon, 
 Doolittle, Fessenden, Fowler, Grimes, Hen 
 derson, Hendricks, Johnson, M'Creery, 
 Norton, Patterson of Tennessee, Ross, Sauls- 
 bury, Trumbull, Van Winkle and Vickers. 
 
 The Constitution requiring a vote of 
 two-thirds to convict, the President was 
 acquitted on this article. After taking 
 this vote the Court adjourned until Tues 
 day, May 26th, when votes were taken 
 upon the second and third articles, with 
 precisely the same result as on the elev 
 enth, the vote in each case standing 35 for 
 conviction and 19 for acquittal. A verdict 
 of acquittal on the second, third, and elev 
 enth articles was then ordered to be en 
 tered on the record, and, without voting 
 on the other articles, the Court adjourned 
 sine die. So the trial was ended, and the 
 President acquitted. 
 
 The political differences between Presi 
 dent Johnson and the Republicans were 
 not softened by the attempted impeach 
 ment, and singularly enough the failure of 
 their eifort did not weaken the Republi 
 cans as a party. They were so well united 
 that those who disagreed with them passed 
 at least temporarily from public life, some 
 of the ablest, like Senators Trumbull and 
 Fessenden retiring permanently. Presi 
 dent Johnson pursued his policy, save 
 where he was hedged by Congress, until 
 the end, and retired to his native State, ap 
 parently having regained the love of his 
 early political associates there. 
 
 Grant. 
 
 The Republican National Convention 
 met at Chicago, 111., May 20th, 1868, and 
 nominated with unanimity, Ulysses S. 
 Grant, of Illinois, for President, and Schuy- 
 ler Colfax, of Indiana, for Vice President. 
 The Democratic Convention met in New 
 York City, July 4th, and after repeated 
 ballots finally compromised on its presiding 
 officers,* notwithstanding repeated and ap- 
 
 * The following is a correct table of the ballots in the New York Democratic Convention : 
 
 Candidates. 
 
 1. 
 
 2. 
 
 3. 
 
 4. 
 
 5. 
 
 6. 
 
 7. 
 
 8. 
 
 9. 
 
 10. 
 
 11. 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 George H. Pendleton 
 
 106 
 
 104 
 
 119 \4 
 
 11814 
 
 122 
 
 12214 
 
 137U 
 
 156*4 
 
 144 
 
 147U 
 
 1441^ 
 
 Andrew Johnson .. . . 
 
 65 
 
 52 
 
 34/4 
 
 Wr 
 
 24 
 
 8* 
 
 
 
 514 
 
 
 5/i 
 
 Winfield 8. Hancock 
 
 33U 
 
 40\4 
 
 45> 
 
 4314 
 
 46 
 
 47 
 
 42*3 
 
 28 
 
 ^< 
 
 34 
 
 SS/is 
 
 Sanford E Church 
 
 vT 
 
 S- 
 
 33 
 
 5r* 
 
 33 
 
 33 
 
 JH 
 
 
 
 
 
 Asa Packer 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 27 
 
 27 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26*4 
 
 2714 
 
 26 
 
 Joel Parker 
 
 13 
 
 15\4 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 James E. English 
 
 16 
 
 12% 
 
 1\d 
 
 7V4 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 James B. Doolittle 
 
 13 
 
 12/| 
 
 1' 
 
 1* 
 
 15 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12X4 
 
 Reverdy Johnson 
 
 $y 
 
 g 
 
 11 
 
 g 
 
 91% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thomas A. Hendricks.... 
 
 2l| 
 
 2 
 
 914 
 
 \\y. 
 
 19V4 
 
 30 
 
 39U 
 
 75 
 
 80 Vo 
 
 82\4 
 
 88 
 
 F. P. Blair, Jr 
 
 \L 
 
 10V 
 
 4.12 
 
 2 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 *4 
 
 
 i| 
 
 U 
 
 Thomas Ewing 
 
 /2 
 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 /% 
 
 
 /2 
 
 
 
 J. Q. Adams . 
 
 
 /2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 George B. McClellan 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 Salmon P. Chase 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Franklin Pierce 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 John T. Hoffman 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stephen J. Field 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thomas H. Seymour 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 parently decided declarations on his part, 
 Horatio Seymour, of New York, was there 
 fore nominated for President, and Francis 
 P. Blair, Jr., of Missouri, for Vice Presi 
 dent.* 
 
 An active canvass followed, in which the 
 brief expression "let us have peace" in 
 Grant's letter of acceptance, was liberally 
 employed by Republican journals and ora 
 tors to tone down what were regarded as 
 rapidly growing race and sectional differ- 
 erences, and with such effect that Grant 
 carried all of the States save eight, receiv 
 ing an electoral vote of 214 against 80. 
 
 Grant inaugurated, and the Congres 
 sional plan of reconstruction was rapidly 
 pushed, with at first very little opposition 
 save that manifested by the Democrats in 
 Congress. The conditions of readmission 
 were the ratification of the thirteenth and 
 fourteenth constitutional amendments. 
 
 On the 25th of February, 1869, the fif 
 teenth amendment was added to the list by 
 its adoption in Congress and submission to 
 the States. It conferred the right of suf 
 frage on all citizens, without distinction of 
 " race, color or previous condition of servi 
 tude." By the 30th of March, 1870, it was 
 ratified by twenty-nine States, the required 
 three-fourths of all in the Union. There 
 was much local agitation in some of the 
 Northern States on this new advance, and 
 many who had never manifested their hos 
 tility to the negroes before did it now, and 
 a portion of these passed over to the Demo 
 cratic party, The issue, however, was 
 shrewdly handled, and in most instances 
 met Legislatures ready to receive it. Many 
 of the Southern States were specially inter 
 ested in its passage, since a denial of suf 
 frage would abridge their representation in 
 Congress. This was of course true of all 
 the States, but its force was indisputable 
 in sections containing large colored popu 
 lations. 
 
 The 41st Congress met in extra session 
 March 4th, 1869, with a large Republican 
 majority in both branches. In the Senate 
 there were 58 Republicans, 10 Democrats 
 and 8 vacancies ; in the House 149 Repub 
 licans, 64 Democrats and 25 vacancies, 
 Mississippi, Texas, Virginia and Georgia 
 not being represented. James G. Blaine, 
 for several years previous its leading parlia 
 mentarian and orator, was Speaker of the 
 House. All of Grant's nominations for 
 Cabinet places were confirmed, except A. 
 T. Stewart, of New York, nominated for 
 Secretary of the Treasury, and being en 
 gaged in foreign commerce he was ineligi 
 ble under the law, and his name was with 
 drawn. The names of the Cabinet will be 
 found in the list of all Cabinet officers 
 elsewhere given. Their announcement at 
 first created the impression that the Grant 
 administration was not intended to be par 
 tisan, rather personal, but if there ever 
 was such a purpose, a little political ex 
 perience on the part of the President quick 
 ly changed it. A political struggle soon 
 followed in Congress as to the admission of 
 Virginia, Mississippi and Texas, which had 
 not ratified the Fourteenth Amendment or 
 been reconstructed. A bill was passed 
 April 10th, authorizing their people to 
 vote on the constitutions already prepared 
 by the State conventions, to elect members 
 of Congress and State officers, and requir 
 ing before readmission to the Union, their 
 Legislatures to ratify both the Fourteenth 
 and Fifteenth Amendments. This work 
 done, and the extra session adjourned. 
 
 In all of the Southern States, those who 
 then prided themselves in being " unrecon 
 structed" and "irreconcilable," bitterly 
 opposed both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth 
 Amendments, and on these issues excited 
 new feelings of hostility to the " carpet 
 baggers" and negroes of the South. With 
 the close of the war thousands of North- 
 
 Candidates. 
 
 12. 
 
 13. 
 
 14. 
 
 15. 
 
 16. 
 
 17. 
 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 
 22. 
 
 Horatio Seymour 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 317 
 
 George H. Pendleton 
 
 145\4 
 
 134 Vg 
 
 130 
 
 129 14 
 
 107 14 
 
 7014 
 
 56V< 
 
 
 
 
 
 Andrew Johnson 
 
 ^72 
 
 
 
 5/4 
 
 5% 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 Winfield S. Hancock 
 
 30 
 
 48 A. 
 
 66 
 
 79>| 
 
 113/2 
 
 137\4 
 
 144 V^ 
 
 13514 
 
 14214 
 
 135M 
 
 
 San ford E. Church 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 A;-a Packer 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 
 Joel Parker 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 3U 
 
 
 
 
 
 James E. English 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 16 
 
 19 
 
 
 James R. Doolittle 
 
 12V/ 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 
 Reverdy Johnson 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thomas A. Hendricks 
 
 89 
 
 81 
 
 8414 
 
 |82Vo 
 
 70V< 
 
 80 
 
 87 
 
 10714 
 
 121 
 
 132 
 
 
 F. P. Blair, Jr. 
 
 \s 
 
 i/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13Vl 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 Thomas Ewing 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 J. Q. Adams 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 George B. McClellan 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 Salmon P. Chase 
 
 y. 
 
 y> 
 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 V<> 
 
 Vi 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 Franklin Pierce 
 
 
 T" 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 John T. Hoffman 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stephen J. Field 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 
 Thomas H. Seymour 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Necessary to choice 212 
 
 * General Blair was nominated unanimously on the first ballot. 
 
READMISSION OF REBELLIOUS STATES. 
 
 193 
 
 era men had settled in the South. All o 
 them were now denounced as political ad 
 venturers by the rebels who opposed the 
 amendments, reconstruction and freedman's 
 bureau acts. Many of these organized 
 themselves first into Ku Klux Klans, secrei 
 societies, organized with a view to affright 
 negroes from participancy in the elections 
 and to warn white men of opposing politi 
 cal views to leave the country. The objed 
 of the organization broadened with the 
 troubles which it produced. Efforts to 
 affright were followed by midnight assaults, 
 by horrible whippings, outrages and mur 
 ders, hardly a fraction of which could be 
 traced to the perpetrators. Doubtless 
 many of the stories current at the time 
 were exaggerated by partisan newspapers, 
 but all of the official reports made then 
 and since go to show the dangerous exces 
 ses which political and race hostilities 
 may reach. In Georgia the whites, by 
 these agencies, soon gained absolute politi 
 cal control, and this they used with more 
 wisdom than in most Southern States, for 
 under the advice of men like Stevens and 
 Hill, they passed laws providing for free 
 public schools, etc., but carefully guarded 
 their newly acquired power by also passing 
 tax laws which virtually disfranchised more 
 than half the blacks. Later on, several 
 Southern States imitated this form of po 
 litical sagacity, and soon those in favor of 
 " a white man's government," (the popular 
 battle cry of the period) had undisputed 
 control in Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, 
 Arkansas and Texas States which the Re 
 publicans at one time had reason to believe 
 they could control. 
 
 The Enforcement Acts. 
 
 To repress the Ku Klux outrages, Con 
 gress in May 31, 1870, passed an act giving 
 to the President all needed powers to pro 
 tect the freedmen in their newly acquired 
 rights, and to punish the perpetrators of 
 all outrages, whether upon whites or blacks. 
 This was called in Congress the Enforce 
 ment Act, and an Amendatory Enforce 
 ment Act was inserted in the Sundry Civil 
 Bill, June 10, 1872. The Ku Klux Act 
 was passed April 20, 1871. All of these 
 measures were strongly advocated by Sena 
 tor Oliver P. Morton, who through this 
 advocacy won new political distinction as 
 the special champion of the rights of the 
 blacks. Later on James G. Elaine, then 
 the admitted leader of the House, opposed 
 some of the supplements for its better en 
 forcement, and to this fact is traceable the 
 refusal on the part of the negroes of the 
 South to give him that warm support as a 
 Presidential candidate which his high abili 
 ties commanded in other sections. 
 
 The several Enforcement Acts and their 
 supplements are too voluminous for inser- 
 13 
 
 tion here, and they are of little use save as 
 relics of the bitter days of reconstruction. 
 They have little force now, although some 
 of them still stand. They became a dead 
 letter after the defeat of the " carpet-bag 
 governments," but the President enforced 
 them as a rule with moderation and wisdom. 
 The enforcement of the Ku Klux Act 
 led to the disbanding of that oiganization 
 after the trial, arrest and conviction of 
 many of the leaders. These trials brought 
 out the facts, and awakened many South 
 ern minds, theretofore incredulous, to the 
 enormity of the secret political crimes 
 which had been committed in all the South 
 ern States, and for a time popular senti 
 ment even in the South, and amongst for 
 mer rebel soldiers, ran strongly against the 
 Klan. With fresh political excitements, 
 however, fresh means of intimidation were 
 employed at elections. Rifle clubs were 
 formed, notably in South Carolina and 
 Mississippi, while in Louisiana the " White 
 League'' sprang into existence, and was 
 organized in all of the neighboring States. 
 These were more difficult to deal with.. 
 They were open organizations, created un 
 der the semblance of State militia acts. 
 They became very popular, especially 
 among the younger men, and from this 
 time until the close of the Presidential 
 election in 1876, were potent factors in> 
 several Southern States, and we shall have 
 occasion further on to describe their more 
 important movements. 
 
 Readmisaion of Rebellions States. 
 
 Before the close of 1869 the Supreme 1 
 Court, in the case of Texas vs. White, sus 
 tained the constitutionality of the Recon- 
 
 uction acts of Congress. It held that 
 the ordinances of secession had been " ab 
 solutely null;" that the seceding States 
 bad no right to secede and had never been 
 out of the Union, but that, during and 
 after their rebellion, they had no govern 
 ments " competent to represent these States 
 "n their relations with the National gov 
 ernment," and therefore Congress had the 
 )ower to re-establish the relations of any 
 ebellious State to the Union. This de 
 cision fortified the position of the Repub- 
 icans, and did much to aid President 
 Grant in the difficult work of reconstruc- 
 ion. It modified the assaults of the Dem- 
 >crats, and in some measure changed their 
 mrpose to make Reconstruction the pivot 
 round which smaller political issues 
 should revolve. 
 
 The regular session of the 41st Congress 
 met Dec. 4th, 1869, and before its, close 
 Virginia, Georgia, Texas, and Mississippi 
 had all complied with the conditions of re 
 construction, and were re-admitted to the 
 Union. This practically completed the 
 work of reconstruction. To summarize : 
 
194 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Tennessee was re-admitted July 24th, 
 I860; Arkansas, June 22d, 1868; North 
 Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, 
 Georgia and Florida under the act of June 
 25th, 1868, which provided that as soon as 
 they fulfilled the conditions imposed by 
 the acts of March, 1 67, they should be re 
 admitted. All did this promptly except 
 Georgia. Virginia was re-admitted Jan 
 uary 25th, 1870; Mississippi, Feb. 23d, 
 1870 ; Texas, March 30th, 1870. Georgia, 
 the most powerful and stubborn of all, had 
 passed State laws declaring negroes incapa 
 ble of holding office, in addition to what 
 was known as the " black code," and Con 
 gress refused foil admission until she had 
 revoked the laws and ratified the 15th 
 Amendment. The State finally came back 
 into the Union July 15th, 1870. 
 
 The above named States completed the 
 ratification of the loth amendment, and 
 the powers of reconstruction were plainly 
 used to that end. Some of the Northern 
 States had held back, and for, a time its 
 ratification by the necessary three-fourths 
 was a matter of grave doubt. Congress 
 next parsed a bill to enforce it, May 30th, 
 1870. This made penal any interference, 
 by force or fraud, with the right of free 
 and full manhood suffrage, and authorized 
 the President to use the army to prevent 
 violations. The measure was generally 
 upported by the Republicans, and opposed 
 by all of the Democrats. 
 
 The Republicans through other guards 
 about the ballot by passing an act to 
 amend the naturalization laws, which made 
 it penal to use false naturalization papers, 
 authorized the appointment of Federal 
 supervisors of elections in cities of over 
 20,000 inhabitants ; gave to these power of 
 arrest for any offense committed in their 
 view, and gave alien Africans the right to 
 naturalize. The Democrats in their oppo 
 sition laid particular stress upon the extra 
 ordinary powers given to Federal super 
 visors, while the Republicans charged that 
 Seymour had carried New York by gigan 
 tic naturalization frauds in New York city, 
 and sought to sustain these charges by the 
 unprecedented vote polled. A popular 
 quotation of the time was from Horace 
 Greeley, in the New York Tribune, who 
 showed that under the manipulations of 
 the Tweed ring, more votes had been cast 
 for Seymour in one of the warehouse wards 
 of the city, "than there were men, women, 
 children, and cats and dogs in it" 
 
 ;hat Thaddeus Stevens admitted the Re- 
 >ublicans were travelling; "outside of the 
 constitution " with a view to preserve the 
 overnment, and this soon became one of 
 lis favorite ways of meeting partisan ob- 
 ections to war measures. At the Decem- 
 3er term of the Supreme Court, in 1869, a 
 decision was rendered that the action of 
 Congress was unconstitutional, the Court 
 hen being accidentally Democratic in its 
 iomposition. The Republicans, believing 
 hey could not afford to have their favorite, 
 and it must be admitted most useful finan- 
 ial measure questioned, secured an in 
 crease of two in the number of Supreme 
 Justices one under a law creating an ad 
 ditional Justiceship, the other in place of 
 a Justice who had resigned and in March, 
 L870, after the complexion of the Court 
 lad been changed through Republican ap 
 pointments made by President Grant, the 
 constitutionality of the legal tender act 
 was again raised, and, witlT Chief Justice 
 3hase (who had been Secretary of the 
 Treasury in 1862 presiding) the previous 
 decision was reversed. This was clearly a 
 partisan struggle before the Court, and on 
 the part of the Republicans an abandon 
 ment of old landmarks impressed on the 
 country by the Jackson Democrats, but it 
 is plain that without the greenbacks the 
 war could not have been pressed with half 
 the vigor, if at all. Neither party was 
 consistent in this struggle, for Southern 
 Democrats who sided with their North 
 ern colleagues in the plea of uncon 
 stitutional ity, had when "out of the 
 Union," witnessed and advocated the issue 
 of the same class of money by the Con 
 federate Congress. The difference was 
 only in the ability to redeem, and this 
 ability depended upon success in arms 
 
 The Legal Tender Decision. 
 
 The Act of Congress of 1862 had made 
 " greenback" notes a legal tender, and they 
 passed as such until 1869 against the pro 
 tests of the Democrats in Congress, who 
 had questioned the ri;ht of Congress to 
 issue paper money. It was on thU issue 
 
 the very thing the issue was designed to 
 promote. The last decision, despite its 
 partisan surroundings and opposition, soon 
 won popularity, and this popularity was 
 subsequently taken as the groundwork for 
 the establishment of 
 
 Tlie Greenback Party. 
 
 This party, with a view to ease the 
 rigors of the monetary panic of 1873, ad 
 vocated an unlimited i^sue of greenbacks, 
 or an " issue based upon the resources of 
 the country." So vigorously did dis 
 contented leaders of both parties press this 
 idea, that they soon succeeded in demoral 
 izing the Democratic minority which 
 was by this time such a plain minority, 
 and so greatly in need of new issues to 
 make the people forget the war, that it is 
 not surprising they yielded, at least par 
 tially, to new theories and alliances. The 
 present one took them away from the 
 principles of Jackson, from the hard- 
 money theories of the early days, and would 
 land them they knew not where, nor did 
 
THE GREENBACK PARTY. 
 
 195 
 
 many of them care, if they could once 
 moro get upon their feet. Some resisted, 
 and comparatively few of the Democrats 
 in the Middle States yielded, but in part 
 of New England, the great West, and 
 nearly all of the South, it was for several 
 years quite difficult to draw a line between 
 Greenbackers and Democrats. Some Re 
 publicans, too, who had tired of the " old 
 war issues," or discontented with the man 
 agement and leadership of their party, 
 aided in the construction of the Green 
 back bridge, and kept upon it as long as it 
 was safe to do so. In State elections up 
 to as late as 1880 this Greenback element 
 was a most important factor. Ohio was 
 carried by an alliance of Greenbackers and 
 Democrats, Allen being elected Governor, 
 only to be supplanted by Hayes (after 
 wards President) after a most rsmarkable 
 contest, the alliance favoring the Green 
 back, the Republicans not quite the hard- 
 money, but a redeemable-in-gold theory. 
 Indiana, always doubtful, passed over to 
 the Democratic column, while in the 
 Southern States the Democratic leaders 
 made open alliances until the Greenback- 
 crs became over-confident and sought to 
 win Congressional and State elections on 
 their own merits. They fancied that the 
 desire to repudiate ante-war debts would 
 greatly aid them, and they openly advo 
 cated the idea of repudiation there, but 
 they had experienced and' wise leaders to 
 cope with. They were not allowed to 
 monopolize this issue by the Democrats, 
 and their arrogance, if such it may be 
 called, was punished by a more complete 
 assertion of Democratic power in the South 
 than was ever known before. The theory 
 in the South was welcomed where it would 
 suit the Democracy, crushed where it 
 would not, as shown in the Presidential 
 election of 1880, when Garfield, Hancock 
 and Weaver (Greenbacker) were the can 
 didates. The latter, in his stumping tour 
 of the South, proclaimed that he and his 
 friends were as much maltreated in Ala 
 bama and other States, as the Republicans, 
 and for some cause thereafter (the Demo- 
 crate alleged "a bargain and sale") he 
 practically threw his aid to the Repub 
 licans this when it became apparent that 
 the Greenbackers, in the event of the elec 
 tion going to the House, could have no 
 chance even there. 
 
 Gen'l Weaver went from the South to 
 Maine, the scene of what was regarded at 
 that moment as a pivotal struggle for the 
 Presidency. Elaine had twice been the 
 most prominent candidate for the Presi 
 dency 1876 and 1880 and had both 
 times been defeated by compromise candi 
 dates. He was still, as he had been for 
 many years, Chairman of the Republican 
 State Committee of Maine, and now as 
 ver before swallowed the mortification of 
 
 defeat with true political grace. The 
 Greenbackers had the year before formed 
 a close alliance with the Democrats, and 
 in the State election made the result so 
 close that for many weeks it remained a 
 matter of doubt who was elected Governor, 
 the Democratic Greenbacker or the Re 
 publican. A struggle followed in the 
 Legislature and before the Returning 
 Board composed of State officers, who 
 were Democrats, (headed by Gov. Gar- 
 celon) and sought to throw out returns on 
 slight technicalities. Finally the Repub 
 licans won, but not without a struggle, 
 which excited attention all over the Union, 
 and commanded the presence of the State 
 militia. Following Garfield's nomination 
 another struggle, as we have stated, was 
 inaugurated, with Davis as the Republican 
 nominee for Governor, Plaisted the Demo 
 cratic-Greenback, (the latter a former Re 
 publican). All eyes now turned to Maine,* 
 which voted in September. Gen ? l Weaver 
 was on the stump then, as the Greenback 
 candidate for President, and all of his. 
 efforts were bent to breaking the alliance 
 between the Greenbackers and Demo 
 crats. 
 
 He advocated a straight-out policy for his 
 Greenback friends, described his treatment 
 in the South, and denounced the Demo 
 cracy with such plainness that it displayed 
 his purpose and defeated his object. 
 Plaisted was elected by a close vote, and 
 the Republicans yielded after some threats 
 to invoke the "Garcelon precedents." 
 This was the second Democratic-Green 
 back victory in Maine, the first occurring 
 two years before, when through an alii- 
 ance in the Legislature (no candidate 
 having received a majority of all the popu 
 lar vote) Garland was returned. 
 
 The victory of Plaisted alarmed the Re 
 publicans and enthused the Democrats, 
 who now denounced Weaver, but still 
 sought alliance with his followers. Gene 
 ral B. F. Butler, long a brilliant Republi 
 can member of Congress from Massachu 
 setts, for several years advocated Green 
 back ideas without breaking from his Re 
 publican Congressional colleagues. Be 
 cause of this fact he lost whatever of 
 chance he had for a Republican nomination 
 for Governor, "his only remaining politi 
 cal ambition," and thereupon headed the 
 Greenbackers in Massachusetts, and in 
 spite of the protests of the hard-money 
 Democrats in that State, captured the De 
 mocratic organization, and after these tac 
 tics twice ran for Governor, and was de 
 feated both times by the Republicans, 
 though he succeeded, upon State and 
 " anti-blue blood " theories, in greatly re 
 ducing their majority. In the winter of 
 1882 he still held control of the Demo^ 
 cratic State Committee, after the Green 
 back organization had passed from view, 
 
196 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 and " what will he do next?" is one of the 
 political questions of the hour. 
 
 The Greenback labor party ceased all 
 Congressional alliance with the Democrats 
 after their quarrel with General Weaver, 
 and as late as the 47th session 1881-82 
 refused all alliance, and abstained from 
 exercising what some still believe a " bal 
 ance of power" in the House, though 
 nearly half of their number were elected 
 more as Republicans than Greenbackers. 
 
 As a party, the Greenbackers, standing 
 alone, never carried either a State or a 
 Congressional district. Their local suc 
 cesses were due to alliances with one or 
 other of the great parties, and with the 
 passage of the panic they dissolved in- 
 many sections, and where they still obtain 
 it is in alliance with labor unions, or in 
 strong mining or workingmen's districts. 
 In the Middle States they won few local 
 successes, but were strong in the coal 
 regions of Pennsylvania. Advocates of 
 similar theories have not been wanting in 
 all the countries of Western Europe follow 
 ing great wars or panics, but it was re 
 served to the genius of Americans to estab 
 lish an aggressive political party on the 
 basis of theories which all great political 
 economists have from the beginning an 
 tagonized as unsafe and unsound. 
 
 Tne Prohibitory Party. 
 
 The attempt to establish a third party in 
 the Greenback, begot that to establish a 
 National Prohibitory Party, which in 1880 
 ran James Black of Pennsylvania, as a 
 candidate for the Presidency, and four 
 years previous ran Neal J)ow of Maine. 
 He, however, commanded little attention, 
 and received but sparsely scattered votes 
 in all the States. The sentiment at the 
 base of this party never thrived save as in 
 States, particularly in New England, where 
 it sought to impress itself on the prevail 
 ing political party, and through it to influ 
 ence legislation. Neal Dow of Maine, first 
 advocated a prohibitory law, and by his 
 eloquent advocacy, secured that of Maine, 
 which has stood for nearly thirty years. 
 That of Massachusetts has recently been 
 repealed. The prohibitory amendment to 
 the Constitution of Kansas was adopted in 
 1881, etc. The Prohibitory Party, how 
 ever, never accomplished anything by sep 
 arate political action, and though fond of 
 nominating candidates for State and local 
 officers, has not as yet succeeded in hold 
 ing even a balance of power between the 
 political parties, though it has often con- 
 rused political calculations as to results in 
 New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecti 
 cut, Massachusetts, etc. It seems never to 
 have taken hold in any of the Southern 
 States, and comparatively little in the 
 
 Western, until the whole country was sur 
 prised in 1880 by the passage of the Kan 
 sas amendment by over 20,000 majority in 
 a vote of the people invoked by the Legis 
 lature. An effort followed to submit a sim 
 ilar amendment through the Pennsylvania 
 Legislature in 1881. It passed the House 
 by a large majority, but after discussion in 
 the Senate, and amendments to indemnify 
 manufacturers and dealers in liquor (an 
 amendment which would cripple if it would 
 not bankrupt the State) was adopted. Gov 
 ernor St. John of Kansas, a gentleman fond 
 of stumping for this amendment, insists 
 that the results are good in his State, while 
 its enemies claim that it has made many 
 criminals, that liquor is everywhere smug 
 gled and sold, and that the law has turned 
 the tide of immigration away from that great 
 State. The example of Kansas, however, 
 will probably be followed in other States, 
 and the Prohibitory Party will hardly pass 
 from view until this latest experiment has 
 been fairly tested. It was also the author 
 of " Local Option," which for a time swept 
 Pennsylvania, but was repealed by a large 
 majority after two years' trial. 
 
 Annexation of San Domingo. 
 
 The second session of the 41st Congress 
 began December 5th, 1870. With all of 
 the States represented, reconstruction be 
 ing complete, the body was now divided 
 politically as follows : Senate, 61 Repub- 
 licans, 13 Democrats ; House 172 Republi 
 cans, 71 Democrats. President Grant's an 
 nual message discussed a new question, 
 and advocated the annexation of San Do 
 mingo to the United States. A treaty had 
 been negotiated between President Grant 
 and the President of the Republic of San 
 Domingo as early as September 4th, 1869, 
 looking to annexation, but it had been re 
 jected by the Senate, Charles Sumner be 
 ing prominent in his opposition to the 
 measure. He and Grant experienced a 
 growing personal unpleasantness, because 
 of the President's attempt to negotiate a 
 treaty without consulting Mr. Sumner, who 
 was Chairman of the Committee on For 
 eign Affairs, and it was charged that 
 through the influence of the President he 
 was removed by the Republican caucus 
 from this Chairmanship, and Senator Si 
 mon Cameron put in his place. Whether 
 this was true or not, the differences be 
 tween Grant and Sumner were universally 
 remarked, and Sumner's imperious pride 
 led him into a very vindictive assault up 
 on the proposition. Grant gave few other 
 reasons for annexation than military ones, 
 suggested that as a naval station it" would 
 facilitate all home operations in the Gulf, 
 while in the hands of a foreign power, in 
 the event of war, it would prove the depot 
 for many and dangerous warlike prepa- 
 
THE FORCE BILL. 
 
 197 
 
 rations. The question had little political 
 significance, if it was ever designed to have 
 any, and this second attempt to bring the 
 scheme to the attention of Congress, was 
 that a joint resolution (as in the annexa 
 tion of Texas) might be passed. This 
 would require but a majority, but the ob 
 jection was met that no Territory could be 
 annexed without a treaty, and this must 
 be ratified by two-thirds of the Senate. A 
 middle course was taken, and the Presi 
 dent was authorized to appoint three Com 
 missioners to visit San Domingo and as 
 certain the desires of its people. These 
 reported favorably, but the subject was 
 finally dropped, probably because the pro 
 position could not command a two-thirds 
 vote, and has not since attracted attention. 
 
 Amendatory Enforcement Acts. 
 
 The operation of the 15th Amendment, 
 being still resisted or evaded in portions 
 of the South, an Act was passed to enforce 
 it. This extended the powers of the Fed 
 eral supervisors and marshals, authorized 
 in the first, and gave the Federal Circuit 
 Courts exclusive jurisdiction of all cases 
 tried under the provisions of the Act and 
 its supplements. It also empowered these 
 Courts to punish any State officer who 
 should attempt to interfere with or try 
 such cases as in contempt of the Court's 
 jurisdiction. The Republicans sustained, 
 the Democrats opposed the measure, but 
 it was passed and approved February 28, 
 1871, and another supplement was insert 
 ed in the Sundry Civil Bill, and approved 
 June 10th, 1872, with continued resistance 
 on the part of the Democrats. After the 
 appointment of a committee to investi 
 gate the condition of affairs in the South 
 ern States, Congress adjourned March 4th, 
 1871. 
 
 The Alabama Claims. 
 
 During this year the long disputed Ala 
 bama Claims of the United States against 
 Great Britain, arising from the depreda 
 tions of the Anglo-rebel privateers, built 
 and fitted out in British waters, were re 
 ferred by the Treaty of Washington, dated 
 May 8th, 1871, to arbitrators, and this 
 was the first and most signal triumph 
 of the plan of arbitration, so far as tne 
 Government of the United States was 
 concerned. The arbitrators were appointed, 
 at the invitation of the governments of 
 Great Britain and the United States, from 
 these powers, and from Brazil, Italy, and 
 Switzerland. On September 14th, 1872, 
 they gave to the United States gross dam 
 ages to the amount of $15,500,000, an 
 amount which has subsequently proved to 
 be really in excess of the demands of mer 
 chants and others claiming the loss of 
 
 property through the depredations of the 
 rebel ram Alabama and other rebel priva 
 teers. We append a list of the representa 
 tives of the several governments : 
 
 Arbitrator on the part of the United 
 States CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. 
 
 Arbitrator on the part of Great Britain 
 The Right Honorable Sir ALEXANDER 
 COCKBURN, Baronet, Lord Chief Justice of 
 England. 
 
 Arbitrator on the part of Italy His Ex 
 cellency Senator Count SCLOPIS. 
 
 Arbitrator on the part of Switzerland 
 Mr. JACOB STAMPFLI. 
 
 Arbitrator on the part of Brazil Baron 
 
 D'lTAJUBA. 
 
 Agent on the part of the United States J. 
 C. BANCROFT DAVIS. 
 
 Agent on the part of Great Britain- 
 Eight Honorable LORD TENTERDEN. 
 
 Counsel for the United States CALEB 
 GUSHING, WILLIAM M. EVARTS, MORRI 
 SON R. WAITE. 
 
 Counsel for Great Britain Sir ROUN- 
 DELL PALMER. 
 
 /Solicitor for the United States CHARLES 
 C. BE AM AN, Jr. 
 
 The Force Bill. 
 
 The 42d Congress met March 4, 1871, 
 the Republicans having suffered somewhat 
 in their representation. In the Senate 
 there were 57 Republicans, 17 Democrats; 
 in the House 138 Republicans, 103 Demo 
 crats. James G. Blaine was again chosen 
 Speaker. The most exciting political 
 question of the session was the passage of 
 the " Force Bill," as the Democrats called 
 it. The object was more rigidly to enforce 
 observance of the provisions of the 14th 
 Amendment, as the Republicans claim; 
 to revive a waning political power in the 
 South, and save the " carpet-bag " govern 
 ments there, as the Democrats claimed. 
 The Act allowed suit in the Federal courts 
 against any person who should deprive 
 another of the rights of a citizen, and it 
 made it a penal offense to conspire to take 
 away any one's rights as a citizen. It also 
 provided that inability, neglect, or refusal 
 by any State governments to suppress such 
 conspiracies, or their refusal to call upon 
 the President for aid, should be deemed a 
 denial by such State of the equal protec 
 tion of the laws under the 14th Amend 
 ment. It further declared such conspira 
 cies " a rebellion against the government 
 of the United States," and authorized the 
 President, when in his judgment the pub 
 lic safety required it, to suspend the privi 
 lege of habeas corpus in any district, and 
 suppress any such insurrection by the 
 army and navy. 
 
198 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Pirsident Hayes's Civil Service Order. 
 
 ; EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, June 22, 1877. 
 
 SIR : I desire to call your attention to 
 the following paragraph in a letter ad 
 dressed by me to the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, on the conduct to be observed by 
 the officers of the General Government in 
 relation to the elections : 
 
 " No officer should be required or per 
 mitted to take part in the management of 
 political organizations, caucuses, conven 
 tion,* or election campaigns. Their right to 
 vote and to express their views on public 
 questions, either orally or through the 
 press, is not denied, provided it does not 
 interfere with the discharge of their offi 
 cial duties. No assessment for political 
 purposes on officers or subordinates should 
 be allowed." 
 
 This rule is applicable to every depart 
 ment of vhe Civil Service. It should be 
 understood by every officer of the General 
 Government that he is expected to conform 
 his conduct to its requirements. 
 
 Very respectfully, R. B. HAYES. 
 
 Some of the protests were strong, and it 
 is difficult to say whether Curtis, Julian, 
 or Eaton its three leading advocates or 
 the politicians, had the best of the argu 
 ment. It was not denied, however, that a 
 strong and very respectable sentiment had 
 been created in favor of the reform, and to 
 this sentiment all parties, and the President 
 &4 well, made a show of bowing. It was 
 fashionable to insert civil service planks 
 in National and State platforms, but it was 
 was not such an issue as could livein the 
 presence of more exciting ones; and while 
 to this day it has earnest and able advo 
 cates, it has from year to year fallen into 
 greater disuse. Actual trial showed the 
 impracticability of some of the rules, and 
 President Grant lost interest in Che subject, 
 aa did Congress, for in several instances it 
 neglected to appropriate the funds necessary 
 to carry out the provisions of the law. 
 President Arthur, in his message, to Con 
 gress in December, 1381 , argued against 
 its full application, and showed that it 
 blocked the way to preferment, certainly 
 of the middle-aged and older persons, who 
 could not recall their early lessons ac 
 quired by rote ; that its eifect was to ele 
 vate the inexperienced to positions which 
 required executive ability, sound judgment 
 business aptitude, and experience. The 
 feature of the message met the endorament 
 of nearly the entire Republican press, and 
 at this writing the sentiment, at least of 
 the Republican party, appears to favor a 
 partial modification of the rules. 
 
 The. system was begun January 1st, 1872, 
 but in December, 1874, Congress refused to 
 make any anpropriations, and it was for a 
 "time abandoned, with slight and spasmodic 
 
 revivals under the administration of Presi 
 dent Hayes, who issued the foregoing order. 
 
 By letter from the Attorney-General, 
 Charles Devens, August 1, 1877, this order 
 was held to apply to the Pennsylvania Re 
 publican Association at Washington. Still 
 later there was a further exposition, in 
 which Attorney- General Devens, writing 
 from Washington in October 1, 1877, ex 
 cuses himself from active participation in 
 the Massachusetts State campaign, and 
 says : " I learn with surprise and regret 
 that any of the Republican officials hesitate 
 either to speak or vote, alleging as a reason 
 the President's recent Civil Service order. 
 In distinct terms that order states that the 
 right of officials to vote and express their 
 views on public questions, either orally or 
 through the press, is not denied, provided 
 it does not interfere with the discharge of 
 their official duties. If such gentlemen 
 choose not to vote, or not to express or en 
 force their views in support of the princi 
 ples of the Republican party, either orally 
 or otherwise, they, at least, should give a 
 reason for such a course which is not jus 
 tified by the order referred to, and which 
 is simply a perversion of it. M 
 
 Yet later, when the interest in the Penn 
 sylvania election became general, because 
 of the sharp struggle between Governor 
 Hoyt and Senator Dill for Governor, a 
 committee of gentlemen (Republicans) 
 visited President Hayes and induced him 
 to " suspend the operation of the order " as 
 to Pennsylvania, where political contribu 
 tions were collected. 
 
 And opposition was manifested after even 
 the earlier trials. Benjamin F. Butler de 
 nounced the plan as English and anti-Re 
 publican, and before long some of the more 
 radical Republican papers, which had in 
 deed given little attention to the subject, 
 began to denounce it as a plan to exclude 
 faithful Republicans from and permit 
 Democrats to enter the offices. These 
 now argued that none of the vagaries of 
 political dreamers could ever convince 
 them that a free Government can be run 
 without political parties ; that while rota 
 tion in office may not be a fundamental 
 element of republican government, yet the 
 right of the people to recommend is its 
 corner-stone; that civil service would lead 
 to the creation of rings, and eventually to 
 the purchase of places; that it would es 
 tablish an aristocracy of office-holders, who 
 could not be removed at times when it 
 might be important, as in the rebellion fot 
 the Administration to have only friends in 
 public office ; that it would establish grades 
 and life-tenures in civic positions, etc. 
 
 For later particulars touching civil ser 
 vice, see the Act of Congress of 18S3, and 
 the regulations made pursuant to thesainr 
 in Book V. 
 
THE LIBERAL REPUBLICANS. 
 
 199 
 
 Amnesty. 
 
 The first regular session of the 42d Con 
 gress met Dec. 4th, 1871. The Democrats 
 consumed much of the time in efforts to 
 pass bills to remove the political disabilities 
 of former Southern rebels, and they were 
 materially aided by the editorials of Hor 
 ace Greeley, in the New York Tribune, 
 which had long contended for universal 
 amnesty. At this session all such efforts 
 were defeated by the Republicans, who in 
 variably amended such propositions by ad 
 ding Sumner's Supplementary Civil Rights 
 Bill, which was intended to prevent any dis 
 crimination against colored persons by 
 common carriers, hotels, or other chartered 
 or licensed servants. The Amnesty Bill, 
 however was passed May 22d, 1872, after an 
 an agreement to exclude from its provisions 
 all who held the higher military and civic 
 positions under the Confederacy iu all 
 about 350 persons. The following is a copy : 
 
 Be it enacted, etc., (two-thirds of each 
 House concurring therein,) That all legal 
 and political disabilities imposed by the 
 third section of the fourteenth article of 
 the amendments of the Constitution of the 
 United States are hereby removed from 
 all persons whomsoever, except Senators 
 and Representatives of the Thirty-sixth 
 and Thirty-seventh Congress, officers in 
 the judicial, military, and naval service of 
 the United States, heads of Departments, 
 and foreign ministers of the United States. 
 
 Subsequently many acts removing the 
 disabilities of all excepted (save Jefferson 
 Davis] from the provisions of the above, 
 were passed. 
 
 The Liberal Republicans. 
 
 An issue raised in Missouri gave imme 
 diate rise to the Liberal Republican party, 
 though the course of Horace Greeley had 
 long pointed toward the organization of 
 something of the kind, and with equal 
 plainness it pointed to his desire to be its 
 champion and candidate for the Presi 
 dency. In 1870 the Republican party, 
 then in control of the Legislature of Mis 
 souri, split into two parts on the question 
 of the removal of the disqualifications im 
 posed upon rebels by the State Constitu 
 tion during the war. Those favoring the 
 removal of disabilities were headed by B. 
 Gratz Brown and Carl Schurz, and they 
 called themselves Liberal Republicans; 
 those opposed were called and accepted 
 the name of Radical Republicans. The 
 former quickly allied themselves with the 
 Democrats, and thus carried the State, 
 though Grant's administration " stood in" 
 with the Radicals. As a result the dis 
 abilities were quickly removed, and those 
 who believed with Greeley now sought to 
 promote a reaction in Republican senti 
 
 ment all over the country. Greeley was 
 the recognized head of this movement, and 
 he was ably aided by ex-Governor Curtin 
 and Col. A. K. AJcClure in Pennsylvania ; 
 Charles Francis Adams, Massachusetts ; 
 Judge Trumbull, in Illinois ; Reuben E, 
 Fenton, in New York ; Brown and Schurz 
 in Missouri, and in fact by leading Re 
 publicans in nearly all of the States, wh'> 
 at once began to lay plans to carry the 
 next Presidential election. 
 
 They charged that the Enforcement Act* 
 of Congress were designed more for the 
 political advancement of Grant's adherents 
 than for the benefit of the country ; that 
 instead of suppressing they were calcula 
 ted to promote a war of races in the South ; 
 that Grant was seeking the establishment 
 of a military despotism, etc. These leaders 
 were, as a rule, brilliant men. They had 
 tired of unappreciated and unrewarded 
 service in the Republican party, or had a 
 natural fondness for " pastures new," and, 
 in the language of the day, they quickly 
 succeeded in making political movements 
 " lively." 
 
 In the spring of 1871 the Liberal Repub 
 licans and Democrats of Ohio and Ohio 
 seems to be the most fertile soil for new 
 ideas prepared for a* fusion, and after fre 
 quent consultations of the various leader* 
 with Mr. Greeley in New York, a call was 
 issued from Missouri on the 24th of Janu 
 ary, 1872, for a National Convention of 
 the Liberal Republican party to be held 
 at Cincinnati, May 1st. The well-matured 
 plans of the leaders were carried out in the 
 nomination of Hon. Horace Greeiey for 
 President and B. Gratz Brown for Vice- 
 President, though not without a serious 
 struggle over the chief nomination, which 
 was warmly contested by the friends of 
 Charles Francis Adams. Indeed he led 
 in most of the six ballots, but finally all 
 the friends of other candidates voted for 
 Greeley, and he received 482 to 187 for 
 Adams. Dissatisfaction followed, and a 
 later effort was made to substitute Adams 
 for Greeley, but it failed. The original 
 leaders now prepared to capture the Demo 
 cratic Convention, which met at Baltimore, 
 June 9th. By nearly an unanimous vote 
 it was induced to endorse the Cincinnati 
 platform, and it likewise finally endorsed 
 Greeley and Brown though not without 
 many bitter protests. A few straight-out 
 Democrats met later at Louisville, Ky., 
 Sept. 3d, and nominated Charles O'Coiior, 
 of New York, for President, and John 
 Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, for Vice- 
 President, and these were kept in the race 
 to the end, receiving a popular vote of 
 about 30,000. 
 
 The regular Republican National Con 
 vention was held at Philadelphia, June 
 5th. It renominated President Grant 
 unanimously, and Henry Wilson, of Mas- 
 
200 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 sachusetts, for Vice-President by 
 votes to 321 for Schuyler Colfax, who 
 thus shared the fate of Hannibal Haralin 
 in his second candidacy for Vice-President 
 on the ticket with Abraham Lincoln. 
 This change to Wilson was to favor the 
 solid Republican States of New England, 
 and to prevent both candidates coming 
 from the West. 
 
 Civil Service Reform. 
 
 After considerable and very able agita 
 tion by Geo. W. Curtis, the editor of 
 Harper's Weekly, an Act was passed March 
 3d, 1871, authorizing the President to be 
 gin a reform in the civil service. He ap 
 pointed a Commission headed by Mr. Cur 
 tis, and after more than a year's preparation 
 this body defeated a measure which se 
 cured Congressional approval and that of 
 President Grant. 
 
 The civil service law (and it is still a 
 law though more honored now in the 
 breach than the observance) embraced in 
 a single section of the act making appropri 
 ations for sundry civil expenses for the 
 year ending June 30, 1872, and authorize the 
 President to prescribe such rules and reg 
 ulations for admission into the civil ser 
 vice as will best promote the efficiency 
 thereof, and ascertain the fitness of each 
 candidate for the branch of service into 
 which he seeks to enter. Under this law 
 a commission was appointed to draft rules 
 and regulations which were approved and 
 are now being enforced by the President. 
 All applicants for position in any of the 
 government departments come under these 
 rules : all classes of clerks, copyists, coun 
 ters ; in the customs service all from deputy 
 collector down to inspectors and clerks 
 with the salaries of $1200 or more ; in ap 
 praisers' offices all assistants and clerks 5 
 in the naval service all clerks ; all light 
 house keepers ; in the revenue, supervisors, 
 collectors, assessors, assistants ; in the pos 
 tal really all postmasters whose pay is over 
 $200, and all mail messengers. The rules 
 apply to all new appointments in the de 
 partments or grades named, except that 
 " nothing shall prevent the reappointment 
 at discretion of the incumbents of any of 
 fice the term of which is fixed by law." 
 So that a postmaster or other officer 
 escapes their application. Those specially 
 exempt are the Heads of Departments; 
 their immediate assistants and deputies, the 
 diplomatic service, the judiciary, and the 
 district attorneys. Each branch of the 
 service is to be grouped, and admission 
 ishall always be to the lowest grade of any 
 group. Such appointments are made for a 
 probationary term of six months, when if 
 the Board of Examiners approve the in- 
 caimbent is continued. This Board of Ex 
 aminers, three in number in each case, 
 
 shall be chosen by the President from the 
 several Departments, and they shall ex = 
 amine at Washington for any position 
 there, or, when directed by an Advisory 
 Board, shall assign places for examination 
 in the several States. Examinations are 
 in all cases first made of applicants within 
 the office or department, and from the list 
 three reported in the order of excellence ; 
 if those within fail, then outside applicants 
 may be examined. In the Federal Blue 
 Book, which is a part of this volume, we 
 give the Civil Service Rules. 
 
 When first proposed, partisan politics 
 had no part or place in civil service re 
 form, and the author of the plan was him 
 self a distinguished Republican. In fact 
 both parties thought something good had 
 been reached, and there was practically no 
 resistance at first to a trial. 
 
 The Democrats resisted the passage of 
 this bill with even more earnestness than 
 any which preceded it, but the Republi 
 can discipline was almost perfect, and 
 when passed it received the prompt ap 
 proval of President Grant, who by this 
 time was classed as " the most radical of 
 the radicals." Opponents denounced it as 
 little if any less obnoxious than the old 
 Sedition law of 1798, while the Republi 
 cans claimed that it was to meet a state of 
 growing war in the South a war of races 
 and that, the form of domestic violence 
 manifested was in the highest degree dan 
 gerous to the peace of the Union and the 
 safety of the newly enfranchised citizens. 
 
 The Credit Mobilicr. 
 
 At the second session of the 42d Con 
 gress, beginning Dec. 2, 1872, the speaker 
 (Blaine) on the first day called attention 
 to the charges made by Democratic orators 
 and newspapers during the Presidential 
 campaign just closed, that the Vice Presi 
 dent (Colfax), the Vice President elect 
 (Wilson), the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 several Senators, the Speaker of the House, 
 and a large number of Representatives had 
 been bribed, during the years 1867 and 
 1868, by Oakes Ames, a member of the 
 House from Massachusetts ; that he and 
 his agents had given them presents of 
 stock in a corporation known as the Credit 
 Mobilier, to influence their legislative ac 
 tion for the benefit of the Union Pacific 
 Railroad Compay. 
 
 Upon Speaker Elaine's motion, a com 
 mittee of investigation was appointed by 
 Hon. S. S. Cox, of New York, a noted 
 Democrat temporarily called to the Chair. 
 
 After the close of the campaign, (as was 
 remarked by the Republic Magazine at the 
 time) the dominant party might well have 
 claimed, and would have insisted had they 
 been opposed to a a thorough investigation 
 
THE CREDIT MOBILIER. 
 
 201 
 
 and a full exposure of corruption, that the 
 verdict of the people in the late canvss 
 was sufficient answer to these charges ; but 
 the Republican party not merely granted 
 all the investigations sought, but sum 
 moned on the leading committee a ma 
 jority of its political foes to conduct the 
 inquest. 
 
 The committee consisted of Messrs. Po 
 land, of Vermont; McCreary, of Iowa; 
 Banks, of Massachusetts ; Niblack, of Indi 
 ana, and Merrick, of Maryland. 
 
 Messrs. Poland and McCreary the two 
 Republicans were gentlemen of ability 
 and standing, well known for their integ 
 rity, moderation, and impartiality. Gen 
 eral Banks was an earnest supporter of 
 Horace Greeley, upon the alleged ground 
 that the Republican organization had be 
 come effete and corrupt: while Messrs. 
 Niblack and Merrick are among the ablest 
 representatives of the Democratic party ; 
 in fact, Mr. Merrick belonged to the ex 
 treme Southern school of political thought. 
 
 Having patiently and carefully exam 
 ined and sifted the entire testimony often 
 " painfully conflicting," as the committee 
 remarked their report ought to be con 
 sidered a judicial document commanding 
 universal approval, yet scraps of the testi 
 mony and not the report itself were used 
 with painful frequency against James A. 
 Garfield in his Presidential canvass of 
 1880. There has not been a state paper 
 submitted for many years upon a similar 
 subject that carried with it greater weight, 
 or which bore upon its face a fuller reali 
 zation of the grave responsibilities assumed, 
 and it is the first time in the political his 
 tory of the United States that an all-im 
 portant investigation has been entrusted by 
 the dominant party to a majority of its po 
 litical foes. 
 
 The report of the committee gives the 
 best and by far the most reliable history of 
 the whole affair, and its presentation here 
 may aid in preventing partisan misrepre 
 sentations in the future misrepresenta 
 tions made in the heat of contest, and 
 doubtless regretted afterwards by all who 
 had the facilities for getting at the facts. 
 We therefore give the 
 
 OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE CREDIT MO 
 BILIER INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE. 
 
 Mr. Poland, from the select committee 
 to investigate the alleged Credit Mobilier 
 bribery, made the following report Febru 
 ary 18, 1873 : 
 
 The special committee appointed under 
 the following resolutions of the House to 
 wit : 
 
 WHEREAS, Accusations have been made 
 in the public press, founded on alleged 
 letters of Oakes Ames, a Representative of 
 Massachusetts, and upon the alleged affi 
 davits of Henry S. McComb, a citizen of 
 
 Wilmington, in the State of Delaware, to 
 the effect that members of this House 
 were bribed by Oakes Ames to perform 
 certain legislative acts for the benefit of 
 the Union Pacific Railroad Company, by 
 presents of stock in the Credit Mobilier of 
 America, or by presents of a valuable char 
 acter derived therefrom : therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That a special committee of 
 five members be appointed by the Speaker 
 pro teinpore, whose duty it shall be to in 
 vestigate whether any member of this 
 House was bribed by Oakes Ames, or any 
 other person or corporation, in any matter 
 touching his legislative duty. 
 
 Resolved, further, That the committee 
 have the right to employ a stenographer, 
 and that they be empowered to send for 
 persons and papers ; 
 beg leave to make the following report: 
 
 In order to a clear understanding of the 
 facts hereinafter stated as to contracts and 
 dealings in reference to stock of the Credit 
 Mobilier of America, between Mr. Oakes 
 Ames and others, and members of Con 
 gress, it is necessary to make a preliminary 
 statement of the connection of that com 
 pany with the Union Pacific Railroad Com 
 pany, and their relations to each other. 
 
 The company called the " Credit Mo 
 bilier of America " was incorporated by 
 the Legislature of Pennsylvania, and in 
 1864 control of its charter and franchises 
 had been obtained by certain persons in 
 terested in the Union Pacific Railroad 
 Company, for the purpose of using it as a 
 construction company to build the Union 
 Pacific road. In September, 1864, a con 
 tract was entered into between the Union 
 Pacific Company and H. M. Hoxie, for the 
 building by said Hoxie of one hundred 
 miles of said road from Omaha west. 
 
 This contract was at once assigned by 
 Hoxie to the Credit Mobilier Company, as 
 it was expected to be when made. Under 
 this contract and extensions of it some two 
 or three hundred miles of road were built 
 by the Credit Mobilier Company, but no 
 considerable profits appear to have been 
 realized therefrom. The enterprise of 
 building a railroad to the Pacific was of 
 such vast magnitude, and was beset by so 
 many hazards and risks that the capitalists 
 of the country were generally averse to in 
 vesting in it, and, notwithstanding the lib 
 eral aid granted by the Government it 
 seemed likely to fail of completion. 
 
 In 1865 or 1866, Mr. Oakes Ames, then 
 and now a member of the House from the 
 State of Massachusetts, and his brother 
 Oliver Ames became interested in the 
 Union Pacific Company and also in the 
 Credit Mobilier Company as the agents for 
 the construction of the road. The Mes 
 srs. Ames were men of very large capital, 
 and of known character and integrity in 
 business. By their example and credit, 
 
202 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 and the personal efforts of Mr. Oakes 
 Ames, many men of capital were induced 
 to embark in the enterprise, and to take 
 stock in the Union Pacific Company and 
 also in the Credit Mobilier Company. 
 Among them were the firm of S. Hooper 
 & Co., of Boston, the leading member of 
 which, Mr. Samuel Hooper, was then and 
 is now a member of the House ; Mr. John 
 B. Alley, then a member of the House 
 from Massachusetts, and Mr. Grimes, then 
 a Senator from the State of Iowa. Not 
 withstanding the vigorous efforts of Mr. 
 Ames and others interested with him, great 
 difficulty was experienced in securing the 
 required capital. 
 
 In the spring of 1867 the Credit Mo 
 bilier Company voted to add 50 per cent, 
 to their capital stock, which was then two 
 and a half millions of dollars ; and to cause 
 it to be readily taken each subscriber to it 
 was entitled to receive as a bonus an equal 
 amount of first mortgage bonds of the 
 Union Pacific Company. The old stock 
 holders were entitled to take this increase, 
 but even the favorable terms offered did 
 not induce all the old stockholders to take 
 it, and the stock of the Credit Mobilier 
 Company was never considered worth its 
 par value until after the execution of the 
 Oakes Ames contract hereinafter men 
 tioned. 
 
 On the 16th day of August, 1867, a con 
 tract was executed between the Union Pa 
 cific Railroad Company and Oakes Ames, 
 by which Mr. Ames contracted to build six 
 hundred and sixty-seven miles of the Union 
 Pacific road at prices ranging from $42,000 
 to $96,000 per mile, amounting in the ag 
 gregate to $47,000,000. Before the con 
 tract was entered into it was understood 
 that Mr. Ames was to transfer it to seven 
 trustees, who were to execute it, and the 
 profits of the contract were to be divided 
 among the stockholders in the Credit Mo 
 bilier Company, who should comply with 
 certain conditions set out in the instru 
 ment transferring the contract to the trus 
 tees. The Ames contract and the trans 
 fer to trustees are incorporated in the evi 
 dence submitted, and therefore further re 
 cital of their terms is not deemed neces 
 sary. 
 
 Substantially, all the stockholders of the 
 Credit Mobilier complied with the condi 
 tions named in the transfer, and thus be 
 came entitled to share in any profits said 
 trustees might make in executing the con 
 tract. 
 
 All the large stockholders in the Union 
 Pacific were also stockholders in the Credit 
 Mobilier, and the Ames contract and its 
 transfer to trustees were ratified by the 
 Union Pacific, and received the assent of 
 the great body of stockholders, but not of 
 all. 
 
 After the Ames contract had been exe 
 
 cuted, it was expected by those interested 
 that by reason of the enormous prices 
 agreed to be paid for the work very large 
 profits would be derived from building the 
 road, and very soon the stock of the Cred 
 it Mobilier was understood by those hold 
 ing it to be worth much more than its par 
 value. The stock was not in the market 
 and had no fixed market value, but the 
 holders of it, in December, 1867, consid 
 ered it worth at least double the par value, 
 and in January and February, 1868, three 
 or four times the par value, but it does not 
 appear that these facts were generally or 
 publicly known, or that the holders of the 
 stock desired they should be. 
 
 The foregoing statement the committee 
 think gives enough of the historic details, 
 and condition and value of the stock, to 
 make the following detailed facts intelli 
 gible. 
 
 Mr. Oakes Ames was then a member of 
 the House of Representatives, and came to 
 Washington at the commencement of the 
 session, about the beginning of December, 
 1867. During that month Mr. Ames en 
 tered into contracts with a considerable 
 number of members of Congress, both Sen 
 ators and Representatives, to let them have 
 shares of stock in the Credit Mobilier 
 Company at par, with interest thereon from 
 the first day of the previous July. It does 
 not appear that in any instance he asked 
 any of these persons to pay a higher price 
 than the par value and interest, nor that 
 Mr. Ames used any special effort or ur 
 gency to get these persons to take it. In 
 all these negotiations Mr. Ames did not 
 enter into any details as to the value of 
 the stock or the amount of dividend that 
 might be expected upon it, but stated gen 
 erally that it would be good stock, and in 
 several instances said he would guarantee 
 that they should get at least 10 per cent, 
 on their money. 
 
 Some of these gentlemen, in their con 
 versations with Mr. Ames, raised the ques 
 tion whether becoming holders of this 
 stock would bring them into any embar 
 rassment as members of Congress in their 
 legislative action. Mr. Ames quieted such 
 suggestions by saying it could not, for the 
 Union Pacific had received from Congress 
 all the grants and legislation it wanted, 
 and they should ask for nothing more. In 
 some instances those members who con 
 tracted for stock paid to Mr. Ames the 
 money for the price of the stock, par and 
 interest; in others, where they had not the 
 money, Mr. Ames agreed to carry the 
 stock for them until they could get the 
 money or it should be met by the divi 
 dends. 
 
 Mr. Ames was at this time a large stock 
 holder in the Credit Mobiler, but he did 
 not intend any of these transactions to be 
 sales of his own stock, but intended to nil- 
 
THE CREDIT MOBILIER. 
 
 203 
 
 fill all these contracts from stock belong 
 ing to the company. 
 
 At this time there were about six hun 
 dred and fifty shares of the stock of the com 
 pany, which had for some reason been 
 placed in the name of Mr. T. C. Durant, 
 one of the leading and active men of the 
 concern. 
 
 Mr. Ames claimed that a portion of this 
 stock should be assigned to him to enable 
 him to fulfill engagements he had made 
 for stock. Mr. Durant claimed that he 
 had made similar engagements that he 
 should be allowed stock to fulfill. Mr. 
 McComb, who was present at the time, 
 claimed that he had also made engage 
 ments for stock which he should have 
 stock given him to carry out. This claim 
 of McComb was refused, but after the 
 stock was assigned to Mr. Ames, McComb 
 insisted that Ames should distribute some 
 of the stock to his (McComb's) friends, and 
 named Senators Bayard and Fowler, and 
 Representatives Allison and Wilson, of 
 Iowa. 
 
 It was finally arranged that three hun 
 dred and forty-three shares of the stock of 
 the company should be transferred to Mr. 
 Ames to enable him to perform his engage 
 ments, and that number of shares were set 
 over on the books of the company to Oakes 
 Ames, trustee, to distinguish it from the 
 stock held by him before. Mr. Ames at 
 the time paid to the company the par of 
 the stock and interest from the July pre 
 vious, and this stock still stands on the 
 books in the name of Oakes Ames, trustee, 
 except thirteen shares which have been 
 transferred to parties in no way connected 
 with Congress. The committee dp not find 
 that Mr. Ames had any negotiation what 
 ever with any of these members of Con 
 gress on the subject of this stock prior to 
 the commencement of the session of De 
 cember, 1837, except Mr. Scofield, of Penn 
 sylvania, and it was not claimed that any 
 obligation existed from Mr. Ames to him 
 as the result of it. 
 
 In relation to the purpose and motives 
 of Mr. Ames in contracting to let members 
 of Congress have Credit Mobilier stock at 
 par, which he and all other owners of it 
 considered worth at least double that sum, 
 the committee, upon the evidence taken 
 by them and submitted to the House, can 
 not entertain doubt. When he said he did 
 not suppose the Union Pacific Company 
 would ask or need further legislation, he 
 stated what he believed to be true. But 
 he feared the interests of the road might 
 suffer by adverse legislation, and what he 
 desired to accomplish was to enlist strength 
 and friends in Congress who would resist 
 any encroachment upon or interference 
 with the rights and privileges already se 
 cured, and to that end wished to create in 
 them an interest identical with his own. 
 
 This purpose is clearly avowed in his let 
 ters to McComb, copied in the evidence. 
 He says he intends to place the stock 
 " where it will do most good to us." And 
 again, " we want more friends in this Con 
 gress." In his letter to McComb, and also 
 in his statement prepared by counsel, he 
 gives the philosophy of his action, to wit, 
 " That he has found there is no difficulty 
 in getting men to look after their own 
 property." The committee are also satis 
 fied that Mr. Ames entertained a fear that, 
 when the true relations between the Credit 
 Mobilier Company and the Union Pacific 
 became generally known, and 'the means 
 by which the great profits expected to be 
 made were fully understood, there was 
 danger that congressional investigation and 
 action would be invoked. 
 
 The members of Congress with whom he 
 dealt were generally those who had been 
 friendly and favorable to a Pacific Rail 
 road, and Mr. Ames did not fear or expect 
 to find them favorable to movements hos 
 tile to it; but he desired to stimulate their 
 activity and watchfulness in opposition to 
 any unfavorable action by giving them a 
 personal interest in the success of the en 
 terprise, especially so far as it affected the 
 interest of the Credit Mobilier Company. 
 On the 9th day of December, 1867, Mr. C. C. 
 Washburn, of Wisconsin, introduced in the 
 House a bill to regulate by law the rates 
 of transportation over the Pacific Railroad. 
 
 Mr. Ames, as well as others interested in 
 the Union Pacific road, was opposed to 
 this, and desired to defeat it. Other mea 
 sures apparently hostile to that company 
 were subsequently introduced into the 
 House by Mr. Washburn of Wisconsin, and 
 Mr. Washburne of Illinois The commit 
 tee believe that Mr. Ames, in his distribu 
 tions of stock, had specially in mind the 
 hostile efforts of the Messrs. Washburn, 
 and desired to gain strength to secure their 
 defeat. The reference in one of his letters 
 to " Washbum's move " makes this quite 
 apparent. 
 
 The foregoing is deemed by the commit 
 tee a sufficient statement of facts as to Mr. 
 Ames, taken in connection with what will 
 be subsequently stated of his transactions 
 with particular persons. Mr. Ames made 
 some contracts for stock in the Credit 
 Mobilier with members of the Senate. In 
 public discussions of this subject the names 
 of members of both Houses have been so 
 connected, and all these transactions were 
 so nearly simultaneous, that the committee 
 deemed it their duty to obtain all evidence 
 in their power, as to all persons then mem 
 bers of either House, and to report the 
 same to the House. Having done this, and 
 the House having directed that evidence 
 transmitted to the Senate, the committee 
 consider their own power and duty, as well 
 as that of the House, fully performed, so 
 
204 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 far as members of the Senate are concerned. 
 Some of Mr. Ames's contracts to sell stock 
 were with gentlemen who were then mem 
 bers of the House, but are not members of 
 the present Congress. 
 
 The committee have sought for and ta 
 ken all the evidence within their reach as 
 to those gentlemen, and reported the same 
 to the House. As the House has ceased 
 to have jurisdiction over them as members, 
 the committee have not deemed it their 
 duty to make any special finding of facts 
 as to each, leaving the House and the 
 country to their own conclusions upon the 
 testimony. 
 
 In regard to each of the members of the 
 present House, the committee deem it 
 their duty to state specially the facts they 
 find proved by the evidence, which, in 
 some instances, is painfully conflicting. 
 
 MR. JAMES G. ELAINE, OF MAINE. 
 
 Among those who have in the public 
 press been charged with improper partici 
 pation in Credit Mobilier stock is the pre 
 sent Speaker, Mr. Elaine, who moved the 
 resolution for this investigation. The com 
 mittee have, therefore, taken evidence in 
 regard to him. They find from it that Mr. 
 Ames had conversation with Mr. Elaine in 
 regard to taking ten shares of the stock, 
 and recommended it as a good investment. 
 Upon consideration Mr. Elaine concluded 
 not to take the stock, and never did take 
 it, and never paid or received anything on 
 account of it; and Mr. Elaine never had 
 any interest, direct or indirect, in Credit 
 Mobilier stock or stock of the Union 
 Pacific Railroad Company. 
 
 MR. HENRY L. DAWES, OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Mr. Dawes had, prior to December, 1867, 
 made some small investments in railroad 
 bonds through Mr. Ames. In December, 
 1867, Mr. Dawes applied to Mr. Ames to 
 purchase a thousand -dollar bond of the 
 Cedar Rapids road, in Iowa. Mr. Ames 
 informed him that he had sold them all, 
 but that he would let him have for his 
 thousand dollars ten shares of Credit Mo 
 bilier stock, which he thought was better 
 than the railroad bond. In answer to in 
 quiries by Mr. Dawes Mr. Ames said the 
 Credit Mobilier Company had the con 
 tract to build the Union Pacific road, and 
 thought they would make money out of it, 
 and that it would be a good thing ; that he 
 would guarantee that he should get 10 per 
 cent, on his money, and that if at any 
 time Mr. Dawes did not want the stock he 
 would pay back his money with 10 per 
 cent, interest. Mr. Dawes made some fur 
 ther inquiry in relation to the stock of Mr. 
 John B. Alley, who said he thought it was 
 good stock, but not as good as Mr. Ames 
 thought, but that Mr. Ames's guarantee 
 would make it a perfectly safe investment. 
 
 Mr. Dawes thereupon concluded to pur 
 chase the ten shares, and on the llth of 
 January he paid Mr. Ames $800, and in a 
 few days thereafter the balance of the 
 price of this stock, at par and interest from 
 July previous. In June, 1868, Mr. Ames 
 received a dividend of 60 per cent, in 
 money on this stock, and of it paid to Mr. 
 Dawes $400, and applied the balance of 
 $200 upon accounts between them. This 
 $400 was all that was paid over to Mr. 
 Dawes as a dividend upon this stock. At 
 some time prior to December, 1868, Mr. 
 Dawes was informed that a suit had been 
 commenced in the courts of Pennsylvania 
 by former owners of the charter of the 
 Credit Mobilier, claiming that those then 
 claiming and using it had no right to do 
 so. Mr. Dawes thereupon informed Mr. 
 Ames that as there was a litigation about 
 the matter he did not desire to keep the 
 stock. On the 9th of December, 1868, Mr. 
 Ames and Mr. Dawes had a settlement of 
 their matters in which Mr. Dawes was al 
 lowed for the money he paid for the stock 
 with 10 per cent, interest upon it, and ac 
 counted to Mr. Ames for the $400 he had 
 received as a dividend. Mr. Dawes re 
 ceived no other benefit under the contract 
 than to get 10 per cent, upon his money, 
 and after the settlement had no further in 
 terest in the stock. 
 
 MR. GLENNI W. 8COFIELD, OF PENN 
 SYLVANIA. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. Scofield purchased some 
 Cedar Rapids bonds of Mr. Ames, and in 
 that year they had conversations about 
 Mr. Scofield taking stock in the Credit 
 Mobilier Company, but no contract was 
 consummated. In December, 1867, Mr. 
 Scofield applied to Mr. Ames to purchase 
 more Cedar Rapids bonds, when Mr. Ames 
 suggested he should purchase some Credit 
 Mobilier stock, and explained generally 
 that it was a contracting company to build 
 the Union Pacific road; that it was a 
 Pennsylvania corporation, and he would 
 like to have some P^nnsylvanians in it; 
 that he would sell it to him at par and in 
 terest, and that he would guarantee he 
 should get 8 per cent, if Mr. Scofield would 
 give him half the dividends above that. 
 Mr. Scofield said he thought he would 
 take $1,000 of the stock ; but before any 
 thing further was done Mr. Scofield was 
 called home by sickness in his family. On 
 his return, the latter part of January, 
 1868, he spoke to Mr. Ames about the 
 stock, when Mr. Ames said he thought it 
 was all sold, but he would take his money 
 and give him a receipt, and get the stock 
 for him if he could. Mr. Scofield there 
 upon paid Mr. Ames $1,041, and took his 
 receipt therefor. 
 
 Not long after Mr. Ames informed Mr. 
 Scofield he qpuld have the stock, but could 
 
THE CREDIT MOBILIER. 
 
 205 
 
 not give him a certificate for it until he 
 could get a larger certificate dividend. 
 Mr. Scofield received the bond dividend of 
 80 per cent., which was payable January 3, 
 1868, taking a bond for $1,000 and paying 
 Mr. Ames the difference. Mr. Ames re 
 ceived the 60 per cent, cash dividend on 
 the stock in June, 1868, and paid over to 
 Mr. Scofield $600, the amount of it. 
 
 Before the close of that session of Con 
 gress, which was toward the end of July, 
 Mr. Scofield became, for some reason, dis 
 inclined to take the stock, and a settlement 
 was made between them, by which Mr. 
 Ames was to retain the Credit Mobilier 
 stock and Mr. Scofield took a thousand 
 dollars Union Pacific bond and ten shares 
 of Union Pacific stock. 
 
 The precise basis of the settlement does 
 not appear, neither Mr. Ames nor Mr. 
 Scofield having any full date in reference 
 to it ; Mr. Scofield thinks that he only re 
 ceived back his money and interest upon 
 it, while Mr. Ames states that he thinks 
 Mr. Scofield had ten shares of Union 
 Pacific stock in addition. The committee 
 do not deem it specially important to settle 
 this difference of recollection. Since that 
 settlement Mr. Scofield has had no interest 
 in the Credit Mobilier stock and derived 
 no benefit therefrom. 
 
 MR. JOHN A. BINGHAM, OF OHIO. 
 
 In December, 1867, Mr. Ames advised 
 Mr. Bingham to invest in the stock of the 
 Credit Mobilier, assuring him that it would 
 return him his money with profitable divi 
 dends. Mr. Bingham agreed to take 
 twenty shares, and about the 1st of Febru 
 ary, 1868, paid to Mr. Ames the par value 
 of the stock, for which Mr. Ames executed 
 to him some receipt or agreement. Mr. 
 Ames received all the dividends on the 
 stock, whether in Union Pacific bonds, or 
 stock, or money; some were delivered to 
 Mr. Bingham and some retained by Mr. 
 Ames. The matter was not finally ad 
 justed between them until February, 1872, 
 when it was settled, Mr. Ames retaining 
 the twenty shares of Credit Mobilier stock, 
 and accounting to Mr. Bingham for such 
 dividends upon it as Mr. Bingham had not 
 already received. Mr. Bingham was 
 treated as the real owner of the stock from 
 the time of the agreement to take it, in 
 December, 1867, to the settlement in Feb 
 ruary, 1872, and had the benefit of all the 
 dividends upon it. Neither Mr. Ames nor 
 Mr. Bingham had such records of their 
 dealing as to be able to give the precise 
 amount of those dividends. 
 
 MB. WILLIAM D. KELLEY, OF PENNSYL 
 VANIA. 
 
 The committee find from the evidence 
 that in the early part of the second session 
 of the Fortieth Congress, and probably in 
 
 December, 1867, Mr. Ames agreed with 
 Mr. Kelley to sell him ten shares of Credit 
 Mobilier stock at par and interest from 
 July 1, 1867. Mr. Kelley was not then 
 prepared to pay for the stock, and Mr. 
 Ames agreed to carry the stock for him 
 until he could pay for it. On the third 
 day of January, 1868, there was a dividend 
 of 80 per cent, on Credit Mobilier stock in 
 Union Pacific bonds. Mr. Ames received 
 the bonds, as the stock stood in his name, 
 and sold them for 97 per cent, of their face. 
 In June, 1868, there was a cash dividend 
 of 60 per cent., which Mr. Ames also re 
 ceived. The proceeds of the bonds sold, 
 and the cash dividends received by Mr. 
 Ames, amounted to $1,376. The par value 
 of the stock and interest thereon from the 
 previous July amounted to $1,047 ; so that, 
 after paying for the stock, there was a 
 balance of dividends due Mr. Kelley of 
 $329. On the 23d day of June, 1868, Mr. 
 Ames gave Mr. Kelley a check for that 
 sum on the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House 
 of Representatives, and Mr. Kelley re 
 ceived the money thereon. 
 
 The committee find that Mr. Kelley then 
 understood that the money he thus re 
 ceived was a balance of dividends due him 
 after paying for the stock. 
 
 All the subsequent dividends upon the 
 stock were either in Union Pacific stock 
 or bonds, and they were all received by 
 Mr. Ames. In September, 1868, Mr. 
 Kelley received from Mr. Ames $750 in 
 money, which was understood between 
 them to be an advance to be paid out of 
 dividends. There has never been any ad 
 justment of the matter between them, and 
 there is now an entire variance in the tes 
 timony of the two men as to what the 
 transaction between them was, but the 
 committee are unanimous in finding the 
 facts above stated. The evidence reported 
 to the House gives some subsequent con 
 versations and negotiations between Mr. 
 Kelley and Mr. Ames on this subject. , The 
 committee do not deem it material to refer 
 to it in their report. 
 
 MR. JAMES A. GARFIELD, OF OHIO. 
 
 The facts in regard to Mr. Garfield, as 
 found by the committee, are identical with 
 the case of Mr. Kelley to the point of re 
 ception of the check for $329. He agreed 
 with Mr. Ames to take ten shares of Credit 
 Mobilier stock, but did not pay for the 
 same. Mr. Ames received the 80 per cent, 
 dividend in bonds and sold them for 97 
 per cent., and also received the 60 per cent, 
 cash dividend, which together paid the 
 price of the stock and interest, and left a 
 balance of $329. This sum was paid over 
 to Mr. Garfield by a check on the Sergeant- 
 at-Arms, and Mr. Garfield then understood 
 this sum was the balance of dividends after 
 paying for the stock. Mr. Ames received 
 
206 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 all the subsequent dividends, and the com 
 mittee do not find that, since the payment 
 of the $329, there has been any communi 
 cation between Mr. Ames and Mr. Garfield 
 on the subject until this investigation be 
 gan. Some correspondence between Mr. 
 Garfield and Mr. Ames, and some conver 
 sations between them during this investi 
 gation, will be found in the reported testi 
 mony. 
 
 The committee do not find that Mr. 
 Ames, in his negotiations with the persons 
 above named, entered into any detail of 
 the relations between the Credit Mobilier 
 Company and the Union Pacific Company, 
 or gave them any specific information as 
 to the amount of dividends they would be 
 likely to receive further than has been al 
 ready stated. They all knew from him, or 
 otherwise, that the Credit Mobilier was a 
 contracting company to build the Union 
 Pacific road, but it does not appear that 
 any of them knew that the profits and 
 dividends were to be in stock and bonds of 
 that company. 
 
 The Credit Mobilier Company was a 
 State corporation, not subject to congres 
 sional legislation, and the fact that its pro 
 fits were expected to be derived from 
 building the Union Pacific road did not, 
 apparently, create such an interest in that 
 company as to disqualify the holder of 
 Credit Mobilier stock from participating 
 in any legislation affecting the railroad 
 company. In his negotiations with these 
 members of Congress, Mr. Ames made no 
 suggestion that he desired to secure their 
 favorable influence in Congress in favor of 
 the railroad company, and whenever the 
 question was raised as to Avhether the 
 ownership of this stock would in any way 
 interfere with or embarrass them in their 
 action as members of Congress, he assured 
 them it would not. 
 
 The committee, therefore, do not find, 
 as to the members of the present House 
 above named, that they were aware of the 
 object of Mr. Ames, or that they had any 
 other purpose in taking this stock than to 
 make a profitable investment. It is appa 
 rent that those who advanced their money 
 to pay for their stock present more the ap 
 pearance of ordinary investors than those 
 who did not, but the committee do not feel 
 at liberty to find any corrupt purpose or 
 knowledge founded upon the fact of non 
 payment alone. 
 
 It ought also to be observed that those 
 gentlemen who surrendered their stock to 
 Mr. Ames before there was any public ex 
 citement upon the subject, do not profess 
 to have done so upon any idea of impro 
 priety in holding it, but for reasons affect 
 ing the value and security of the invest 
 ment. But the committee believe that 
 they must have felt that there was some 
 thing so out of the ordinary course of 
 
 business in the extraordinary dividends 
 they were receiving as to render the in 
 vestment itself suspicions, and that this 
 was one of the motives of their action. 
 
 The committee have not been able to 
 find that any of these members of Congress 
 have been affected in their official action 
 in consequence of their interest in Credit 
 Mobilier stock. 
 
 It has been suggested that the fact that 
 none of this stock was transferred to those 
 with whom Mr. Ames contracted was a 
 circumstance from which a sense of impro 
 priety, if not corruption, was to be infer 
 red. The committee believe this is capable 
 of explanation without such inference. 
 The profits of building the road, under the 
 Ames contract, were only to be divided 
 among such holders of Credit Mobilier 
 stock as should come in and become par 
 ties to certain conditions set out in the 
 contract of transfer to the trustees, so that 
 a transfer from Mr. Ames to new holders 
 would cut off the right to dividends from 
 the trustees, unless they also became par 
 ties to the agreement ; *and this the com 
 mittee believe to be the true reasrn why 
 no transfers were made. 
 
 The committee are also of opinion that 
 there was a satisfactory reason for delay 
 on Mr. Ames's part to close settlements 
 with some of these gentlemen for stock 
 and bonds he had received as dividends 
 upon the stock contracted to them. In the 
 fall of 1868 Mr. McComb commenced a 
 suit against the Credit Mobilier Company, 
 and Mr. Ames and others, claiming to be 
 entitled to two hundred and fifty shares 
 of the Credit Mobilier stock upon a sub 
 scription for stock to that amount. That 
 suit is still pending. If McComb pre 
 vailed in that suit, Mr. Ames might be 
 compelled to surrender so much of the 
 stock assigned to him as trustee, and he 
 was not therefore anxious to have the 
 stock go out of his hands until that suit 
 was terminated. It ought also to be stated 
 that no one of the present members of the 
 House above named appears to have had 
 any knowledge of the dealings of Mr. 
 Ames with other members. 
 
 The committee do not find that either 
 of the above-named gentlemen, in contract 
 ing with Mr. Ames, had any corrupt mo 
 tive or purpose himself, or was aware that 
 Mr. Ames had any, nor did either of them 
 suppose he was guilty of any impropriety 
 or even indelicacy in becoming a purchaser 
 of this stock. Had it appeared that these 
 gentlemen were aware of the enormous di 
 vidends upon this stock, and how they 
 were to be earned, we could not thus ac 
 quit them. And here as well as anywhere, 
 the committee may allude to that subject. 
 Congress had chartered the Union Pacific 
 road, given to it a liberal grant of lands, 
 and promised a liberal loan of Government 
 
THE CREDIT MOBILIEB. 
 
 207 
 
 bonds, to be delivered as fast as sections of 
 the road were completed. As these alone 
 might not be sufficient to complete the 
 road, Congress authorized the company to 
 issue their own bonds for the deficit, and 
 secured them by a mortgage upon the road, 
 which should be a lien prior to that of the 
 Government. Congress never intended 
 that the owners of the road should execute 
 a mortgage 011 the road prior to that of the 
 Government, to raise money to put into their 
 own pockets, but only to build the road. 
 
 The men who controlled the Union 
 Pacific seem to have adopted as the basis 
 of their action the right to incumber the 
 road by a mortgage prior to that of the 
 Government to the full extent, whether 
 the money was needed for the construction 
 of the road or not. 
 
 It was clear enough they could not do 
 this directly and in terms, and therefore 
 they resorted to the device of contracting 
 with themselves to build the road, and fix 
 a price high enough to require the issue of 
 bonds to the full extent, and then divide 
 the bonds or the proceeds of them under 
 the name of profits on the contract. All 
 those acting in the matter seem to have 
 been fully aware of this, and that this was 
 to be the effect of the transaction. The 
 sudden rise of value of Credit Mobilier 
 stock was the result of the adoption of this 
 scheme. Any undue and unreasonable 
 profits thus made by themselves were as 
 much a fraud upon the Government as if 
 they had sold their bonds and divided the 
 money without going through the form of 
 denominating them profits on building the 
 road. 
 
 Now had these facts been known to 
 these gentlemen, and had they understood 
 they were to share in the proceeds of the 
 scheme, they would have deserved the 
 severest censure. 
 
 Had they known only that the profits 
 were to be paid in stock and bonds of the 
 Union Pacific Company, and so make them 
 interested in it, we cannot agree to the 
 doctrine, which has been urged before us 
 and elsewhere, that it was perfectly legiti 
 mate for members of Congress to invest in 
 a corporation deriving all its rights from 
 and subject at all times to the action of 
 Congress. 
 
 In such case the rule.3 of the House, as 
 well as the rules of decency, would require 
 such member to abstain from voting on 
 any question affecting his interest. But, 
 after accepting the position of a member of 
 Congress, we do not think he has the 
 right to disqualify himself from acting 
 upon subjects likely to come before Con 
 gress without some higher and more urgent 
 motive than merely to make a profitable 
 investment. But it is not so much to be 
 feared that in such case an interested mem 
 ber would vote as that he would exercise 
 
 his influence by personal appeal to his fel 
 low-members, and by other modes, which 
 often is far more potent than a single silent 
 vote. 
 
 We do not think any member ought to 
 feel so confident of his own strength as to 
 allow himself to be brought into this temp 
 tation. We think Mr. Ames judged 
 shrewdly in saying that a man is much 
 more likely to be watchful of his own in 
 terests than those of other people. But 
 there is a broader view still which we think 
 ought to be taken. This country is fast 
 becoming filled with gigantic corporations, 
 wielding and controlling immense aggrega 
 tions of money, and thereby commanding 
 great influence and power. It is notorious 
 in many State legislatures that these in 
 fluences are often controlling, so that in 
 effect they become the ruling power of the 
 State. Within a few years Congress has, 
 to some extent, been brought within similar 
 influences, and the knowledge of the pub 
 lic on that subject has brought great dis 
 ci edit upon the body, far more, we believe, 
 than there were facts to justify. 
 
 But such is the tendency of the time, and 
 the belief is far too general that all men 
 can be ruled with money, and that the use 
 of such means to carry public measures is 
 legitimate and proper. No member of Con 
 gress ought to place himself in circum 
 stances of suspicion, so that any discredit 
 of the body shall arise on his account. Ifc 
 is of the highest importance that the na 
 tional legislature should be free of all taint 
 of corruption, and it is of almost equal 
 necessity that the people should feel confi 
 dent that it is so. 
 
 In a free government like ours, we can 
 not expect the people will long respect the 
 laws, if they lose respect for the law 
 makers. 
 
 For these reasons we think it behooves 
 every man in Congress or in any public 
 position to hold himself aloof, a? far as 
 possible, from all such influences, that he 
 may not only be enabled to look at every 
 public question with an eye only to the 
 public good, but that his conduct and mo 
 tives be not suspected or questioned. The 
 only criticism the committee feel compelled 
 to make on the action of these members in 
 taking this stock is that they were not suf 
 ficiently careful in ascertaining what they 
 were getting, and that in their judgment 
 the assurance of a good investment was all 
 the assurance they needed. We commend 
 to them, and to all men, the letter of the 
 venerable Senator Bayard, in response to 
 an offer of some of this stock, found on 
 page 74 of the testimony. 
 
 The committee find nothing in the con 
 duct or motives of either of these members 
 in taking this stock, that calls for any 
 recommendation by the committee of the 
 House. 
 
208 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 MR. JAMES BROOKS, OF KETW YORK. 
 
 The case of Mr. Brooks stands upon a 
 different state of facts from any of those al 
 ready given. The committee find from the 
 evidence as follows : Mr. Brooks had been 
 a warm advocate of a Pacific Railroad, both 
 in Congress and in the public press. After 
 persons interested in the Union Pacific 
 road had obtained control of the Credit 
 Mobil ier charter and organized under it 
 for the purpose of making it a construction 
 company to build the road, Dr. Durant, 
 who was then the leading man in the en 
 terprise, made great efforts to get the stock 
 of the Credit Mobilier taken. Mr. Brooks 
 was a friend of Dr. Durant, and he made 
 some efforts to aid Dr. Durant in getting 
 subscriptions for the stock, introduced the 
 matter to some capitalists of New^ York, 
 but his efforts were not crowned with suc- 
 
 Durin^ this period Mr. Brooks had 
 talked with Dr. Durant about taking some 
 of the stock for himself, and had spoken of 
 taking fifteen or twenty thousand dollars 
 of it, but no definite contract was made 
 between them, and Mr. Brooks was under 
 no legal obligation to take the stock, or 
 Durant to give it to him. In October, 
 1867, Mr. Brooks was appointed by the 
 President one of the Government directors 
 of the Union Pacific road. In December, 
 1867, after the stock of the Credit Mobilier 
 was understood, by those familiar with the 
 affairs between the Union Pacific and the 
 Credit Mibilier, to be worth very much 
 more than par, Mr. Brooks applied to Dr. 
 Durant, and claimed that he should have 
 two hundred shares of Credit Mobilier 
 stock. It does not appear that Mr. Brooks 
 claimed he had any legal contract for 
 stock that he could enforce, or that Durant 
 considered himself in any way legally 
 bound to let him have any, but still, on 
 account of what had been said, and the 
 efforts of Mr. Brooks to aid him, he con 
 sidered himself under obligations to satisfy 
 Mr. Brooks in the matter. 
 
 The stock had been so far taken up, and 
 was then in such demand, that Durant 
 could not well comply with Brooks'a de 
 mand for two hundred shares. After con 
 siderable negotiation, it was finally ad 
 justed between them by Durant's agreeing 
 to let Brooks have one hundred shares of 
 Credit Mobilier stock, and giving him with 
 it $5,000 of Union Pacific bonds, and $20,- 
 000 of Union Pacific stock. Dr. Durant 
 testifies that he then considered Credit 
 Mobilier stock worth double the par 
 value, and that the bonds and stock he 
 was to give Mr. Brooks worth about $9,000, 
 so thatlie saved about $1,000 by not giving 
 Brooks the additional hundred shares he 
 claimed. After the negotiation had been 
 concluded between Mr. 'Brooks and Dr. 
 Dnrant, Mr. Brooks said that as he was a 
 
 Government director of the Union Pacific 
 road, and as the law provided such direc 
 tors should not be stockholders in that 
 company, he would not hold this stock, 
 and directed Dr. DuranD to transfer it to 
 Charles H. Neilson, his son-in-law. The 
 whole negotiation with Durant was con 
 ducted by Mr. Brooks himself, and Neilson 
 had nothing to do with the transaction, 
 except to receive the transfer. The $10,- 
 000 to pay for the one hundred shares was 
 paid by Mr. Brooks, and he received the 
 |>5,000 of Pacific bonds which came with 
 the stock. 
 
 The certificate of transfer of the hun 
 dred shares from Durant to Neilson is 
 dated December 26, 1867. On the 3d of 
 January, 1868, there was a dividend of 80 
 per cent, in Union Pacific bonds paid on 
 the Credit Mobilier stock. The bonds 
 were received by Neilson, but passed over 
 at once to Mr. Brooks. It is claimed, both 
 by Mr. Brooks and Neilson, that the $10,- 
 000 paid by Mr. Brooks for the stock was a 
 loan of that sum by him to Neilson, and, 
 that the bonds he received from Durant, 
 and those received for the dividend, were 
 delivered and held by him as collateral 
 security for the loan. 
 
 No note or obligation was given for the 
 money by Neilson, nor, so far as we can 
 learn from either Brooks or Neilson, was 
 any account or memorandum of the trans 
 action kept by either of them. At the 
 time of the arrangement or settlement 
 above spoken of between Brooks and Du 
 rant, there was nothing said about Mr. 
 Brooks being entitled to have 50 per cent, 
 more stock by virtue of his ownership of 
 the hundred shares. Neither Brooks nor 
 Durant thought of any such thing. 
 
 Some time after the transfer of the 
 shares to Neilson, Mr. Brooks called on 
 Sidney Dillon, then the president of the 
 Credit Mobilier, and claimed he or Neilson 
 was entitled to fifty additional shares of 
 the stock, by virtue of the purchase of the 
 one hundred shares of Durant. 
 
 This was claimed by Mr. Brooks as his 
 right by virtue of the 50 per cent, increase 
 of the stock hereinbefore described. Mr. 
 Dillon said he did not know how that was, 
 but he would consult the leading stock 
 holders, and be governed by them. Mr. 
 Dillon, in order to justify himself in the 
 transaction, got up a paper authorizing the 
 issue of fifty shares of the stock to Mr. 
 Brooks, and procured it to be signed by 
 most of the principal shareholders. After 
 this had been done, an entry of fifty shares 
 was made on the stock-ledger to some per 
 son other than Neilson. The name in two 
 places on the book has been erased, and 
 the name of Neilson inserted. The com 
 mittee are satisfied that the stock was first 
 entered on the books in Mr. Brooks's name. 
 
 Mr. Neilson soon after called for the cer- 
 
THE CREDIT MOBILIER. 
 
 209 
 
 tificate for the fifty shares, and on the 29th 
 of February, 1868, the certificate was issued 
 to him, and the entry on the stock-book 
 was changed to Neilson. 
 
 Neilson procured Mr. Dillon to advance 
 the money to pay for the stock, and at the 
 same time delivered to Dillon $4,000 Union 
 Pacific bonds, and fifty shares of Union 
 Pacific stock as collateral security. These 
 bonds and stock were a portion of divi 
 dends received at the time, as he was al 
 lowed to receive the same per centage of 
 dividends on these fifty shares that had 
 previously been paid on the hundred. 
 This mitter has never been adjusted be 
 tween Neilson and Dillon. Brooks and 
 Neilson both testify they never paid Dillon. 
 Dillon thi-iks he has received his pay, as 
 he has not now the collaterals in his pos 
 session. If he has been paid it is probable 
 that it was from the collaterals in some 
 form. The subject has never been named 
 between Dillon and Neilson since Dillon 
 advanced the money, and no one connected 
 with the transaction seems able to give any 
 further light upon it. Tne whole business 
 by which these fifty shares were procured 
 was done by Mr. Brooks. Neilson knew 
 nothing of any right to have them, and 
 only went for the certificate when told to 
 do so by Mr. Brooks. 
 
 The committee find that no such right to 
 fifty shares additional stock passed by the 
 transfer of the hundred. And from Mr. 
 Brooks's familiarity with the affairs of the 
 company, the committee believe he must 
 have known his claim to them was un 
 founded. The question naturally arises, 
 How was he able to procure them ? The 
 stock at this time by the stockholders was 
 considered worth three or four times its 
 par value. Neilson sustained no relations 
 to any of these people that commanded 
 any favor, and if he could have used any 
 influence he did not attempt it ; if he had 
 this right he was unaware of it till told by 
 Mr. Brooks, and left the whole matter in 
 his hands. It is clear that the shares were 
 procured by the sole efforts of Mr. Brooks, 
 and, as the stockholders who consented to 
 it supposed, for the benefit of Mr. Brooks. 
 What power had Mr. Brooks to enforce an 
 unfounded claim, to have for $5,000, stock 
 worth $15,000 or $20,000? Mr. McComb 
 swears that he heard conversation between 
 Mr. Brooks and Mr. John B. Alley, a large 
 stockholder, and one of the executive com 
 mittee, in which Mr. Brooks urged that he 
 should have the additional fifty shares, be 
 cause he was or would procure himself to 
 be made a Government director, and also 
 that, being a member of Congress, he 
 " would take care of the democratic side of 
 the House." 
 
 Mr. Brooks and Mr. Alley both deny 
 having had any such conversation, or that 
 Mr. Brooks ever made such a statement to 
 
 14 
 
 Mr. Alley. If, therefore, this matter rested 
 wholly upon the testimony of Mr. Mc 
 Comb, the committee would not feel justi 
 fied in finding that Mr. Brooks procured 
 the stock by such use of his official posi 
 tion; but all the circumstances seem to 
 I point exactly in that direction, and we can 
 j find no other satisfactory solution of the 
 question above propounded. Whatever 
 I claim Mr. Brooks had to stock, either 
 legal or moral, had been adjusted and 
 satisfied by Dr. Durant. Whether he was 
 getting this stock for himself or to give 
 to his son-in-law, we believe, from the cir 
 cumstances attending the whole transac 
 tion, that he obtained it knowing that it 
 was yielded to its official position and in 
 fluence, and with the intent to secure his 
 favor and influence in such positions. Mr. 
 Brooks claims that he has had no interest 
 in this stock whatever ; that the benefit 
 and advantage of his right to have it he 
 gave to Mr. Neilson, his son-in-law, and 
 that he has had all the dividends upon it. 
 The committee are unable to find this to 
 be the case, for in their judgment all the 
 facts and circumstances show Mr. Brooks 
 to be the real and substantial owner, and 
 that Neilson's ownership is merely nominal 
 and colorable. 
 
 In June, 1868, there was a cash dividend 
 of $9,000 upon this one hundred and fifty 
 shares of stock. Neilson received it, of 
 course, as the stock was in his name ; but 
 on the same day it was paid over to Mr. 
 Brooks, as Neilson says, to pay so much of 
 the $10,000 advanced by Mr. Brooks to 
 pay for the stock. This, then, repaid all 
 but $1,000 of the loan; but Mr. Brooks 
 continued to hold $16,000 of Union Pacific 
 bonds, which Neilson says he gave him as 
 collateral security, and to draw the interest 
 upon all but $5,000. The interest upon the 
 others, Neilson says, he was permitted to 
 draw and retain, but at one time in his 
 testimony he spoke of the amount he was 
 allowed as being Christmas and New 
 Year's presents. Neilson says that during 
 the last summer he borrowed $14,000 of 
 Mr. Brooks, and he now owes Mr. Brooks 
 nearly as much as the collaterals ; but, ac 
 cording to his testimony, Mr. Brooks for 
 four years held $16,000 in bonds as 
 security for $1,000, and received the inter 
 est on $11,000 of the collaterals. No ac 
 counts appear to have been kept between 
 Mr. Brooks and Neilson, and doubtless 
 what sums he has received from Mr. 
 Brooks, out of the dividends, were intended 
 | as presents rather than as deliveries of 
 | money belonging to him. 
 
 Mr. Brooks's efforts procured the stock ; 
 j his money paid for it ; all the cash divi 
 dends he has received ; and he holds all 
 the bonds, except those Dillon received, 
 which seem to have been applied toward 
 paying for the fifty shares. Without 
 
210 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 farther comment on the evidence, the 
 committee find that the one hundred and 
 fifty shares of stock appearing on the 
 books of the Credit Mobilier in the name 
 of Neilson were really the stock of Mr. 
 Brooks, and subject to his control, and 
 that it was so understood by both the par 
 ties. Mr. Brooks had taken such an inter 
 est 'in the Credit Mobilier Company, and 
 was so connected with Dr. Durant, that he 
 must be regarded as having full knowledge 
 of the relations between that company and 
 the railroad company, and of the contracts 
 between them. He must have known the 
 cause of the sudden increase in value of 
 the Credit Mobilier stock, and how the 
 large expected profits were to be made. 
 We have already expressed our views of 
 the propriety of a member of Congress be 
 coming the owner of stock, possessing this 
 knowledge. 
 
 But Mr. Brooks was not only a member 
 of Congress, but he was a Government 
 director of the Union Pacific Company. 
 As such it was his duty to guard and 
 watch over the interests of the Govern 
 ment in the road and to see that they were 
 protected and preserved. To insure such 
 faithfulness on the part of Government 
 directors, Congress wisely provided that 
 they should not be stockholders in the 
 road. Mr. Brooks readily saw that, though 
 becoming a stockholder in the Credit 
 Mobilier was not forbidden by the letter of 
 the law, yet it was a violation of its spirit and 
 essence, and therefore had the stock placed 
 in the name of his son-in-law. The trans 
 fer of the Oakes Ames contract to the 
 trustees and the building of the road un 
 der that contract, from which the enormous 
 dividends were derived, were all during 
 Mr. Brooks's official life as a Government 
 director, must have been within his know 
 ledge, and yet passed without the slightest 
 opposition from him. The committee be 
 lieved this could not have been done 
 without an entire disregard of his official 
 obligation and duty, and that while ap 
 pointed to guard the public interests in 
 the road he joined himself with the pro 
 moters of a scheme whereby the Govern 
 ment was to be defrauded, and shared in 
 the spoil. 
 
 In the conclusions of fact upon the 
 evidence, the committee are entirely 
 agreed. 
 
 In considering what action we ought to 
 recommend to the House upon these facts, 
 the committee encounter a question which 
 has been much debated : Has this House 
 power and jurisdiction to inquire concern 
 ing offenses committed by its members prior 
 to their election, and to punish them by cen 
 sure or expulsion? The committee are 
 unanimous upon the right of jurisdiction 
 of this House over the cases of Mr. Ames 
 and Mr. Brooks, upon the facts found in 
 
 regard to them. Upon the question of 
 jurisdiction the committee present the fol 
 lowing views : 
 
 The Constitution, in the fifth section of 
 the first article, defines the power of either 
 House as follows : 
 
 " Each House may determine the rules 
 of its proceedings, punish its members for 
 disorderly behavior, and with the concur 
 rence of two-thirds expel a member.' 
 
 It will be observed that there is no qual 
 ification of the power, but there is an im 
 portant qualification of the manner of its 
 exercise it must be done " with the con 
 currence of two-thirds." 
 
 The close analogy between this power 
 and the power of impeachment is deserv 
 ing of consideration. 
 
 The great purpose of the power of im 
 peachment is to remove an unfit and un 
 worthy incumbent from office, and though a 
 judgment of impeachment may to some 
 extent operate as punishment, that is not 
 its principal object. Members of Congress 
 are not subject to be impeached, but may 
 be expelled, and the principal purpose of 
 expulsion is not as punishment, but to re 
 move a member whose character and con 
 duct show that he is an unfit man to par 
 ticipate in the deliberations and decisions 
 of the body, and whose presence in it tends 
 to bring the body into contempt and dis 
 grace. 
 
 In both cases it is a power of purgation 
 and purification to be exercised for the 
 public safety, and, in the case of expulsion, 
 for the protection and character of the 
 House. The Constitution defines the 
 causes of impeachment, to wit, " treason, 
 bribery, or other high crimes and mis 
 demeanors." The office of the power of 
 expulsion is so much the same as that of 
 the power to impeach that we think it 
 may be safely assumed that whatever 
 would be a good cause of impeachment 
 would also be a good cause of expulsion. 
 
 It has never been contended that the 
 power to impeach for any of the causes 
 enumerated was intended to be restricted 
 to those which might occur after appoint 
 ment to a civil office, so that a civil officer 
 who had secretly committed such offense 
 before his appointment should not be sub 
 ject upon detection and exposure to be 
 convicted and removed from office. Every 
 consideration of justice and sound policy 
 would seem to require that the public in 
 terests be secured, and those chosen to be 
 their guardians be free from the pollution 
 of high crimes, no matter at what time 
 that pollution had attached. 
 
 If this be so in regard to other civil of 
 ficers, under institutions which rest upon 
 the intelligence and virtue of the people, 
 can it well be claimed that the law-making 
 Representative n*ay be vile and criminal 
 with impunity, provided the evidences of 
 
THE CREDIT MOBILIEB. 
 
 211 
 
 his corruption are found to antedate his 
 election ? 
 
 In the report made to the Senate by John 
 Quincy Adams in December, 1807, upon 
 the case of John Smith, of Ohio, the fol 
 lowing language is used : " The power of 
 expelling a^nember for misconduct results, 
 on the principles of common sense, from 
 the interests of the nation that the high 
 trust of legislation shall be invested in 
 pure hands. When the trust is elective, 
 it is not to be presumed that the constitu 
 ent body will commit the deposit to the 
 keeping of worthless characters. But when 
 a man whom his fellow-citizens have hon 
 ored with their confidence on a pledge of 
 a spotless repution, has degraded himself 
 by the commission of infamous crimes, 
 which become suddenly and unexpectedly 
 revealed to the world, defective indeed 
 would be that institution which should be 
 impotent to discard from its bosom the con 
 tagion of such a member; which should 
 have no remedy of amputation to apply 
 until the poison had reached the heart." 
 
 The case of Smith was that of a Senator, 
 who, after his election, but not during a 
 session of the Senate, had been involved 
 in the treasonable conspiracy of Aaron 
 Burr. Yet the reasoning is general, and 
 was to antagonize some positions which 
 had been taken in the case of Marshall, 
 a Senator from Kentucky; the Senate in 
 that case having, among other reasons, de 
 clined to take jurisdiction of the charge for 
 the reason that the alleged offence had been 
 committed prior to the Senator's election, 
 and was matter cognizable by the criminal 
 courts of Kentucky. None of the com 
 mentators upon the Constitution or upon 
 parliamentary law assign any such limita 
 tion as to the time of the commission of 
 the offense, or the nature of it, which shall 
 control and limit the power of expulsion. 
 On the contrary they all assert that the 
 power in its very nature is a discretionary 
 one, to be exercised of course with grave 
 circumspection at all times, and only for 
 good cause. Story, Kent, and Sergeant, 
 all seem to accept and rely upon the ex 
 position of Mr. Adams in the Smith case 
 as sound. May, in his Parliamentary 
 Practice, page 59, enumerates the causes 
 for expulsion from Parliament, but he no 
 where intimates that the offense must have 
 been committed subsequent to the election. 
 
 When it is remembered that the framers 
 of our Constitution were familiar with the 
 parliamentary law of England, and must 
 have had in mind the then recent contest 
 over Wilkes's case, it is impossible to con 
 clude that they meant to limit the discre 
 tion of the Houses as to the causes of ex 
 pulsion. It is a received principle of con 
 struction that the Constitution is to be in 
 terpreted according to the known rules of 
 law at the time of its adoption, and there 
 
 fore, when we find them dealing with a 
 recognized subject of legislative authority, 
 and while studiously qualifying and re 
 stricting the manner of its exercise, assign 
 ing no limitations to the subject-matter 
 itself, they must be assumed to have in 
 tended to leave that to be determined ac 
 cording to established principles, as a high 
 prerogative power to be exercised accord 
 ing to the sound discretion of the body. 
 It was not to be apprehended that two- 
 thirds of the Representatives of the people 
 would ever exercise this power in any 
 capricious or arbitrary manner, or trifle 
 with or trample upon constitutional rights. 
 At the same time it could not be foreseen 
 what necessities for self-preservation or 
 self-purification might arise in the legisla 
 tive body. Therefore it was that they did 
 not, and would not, undertake to limit or 
 define the boundaries of those necessities. 
 
 The doctrine that the jurisdiction of the 
 House over its members is exclusively con 
 fined to matters arising subsequent to their 
 election, and that the body is bound to re 
 tain the vilest criminal as a member if his 
 criminal secret was kept until his election 
 was secured, has been supposed by many 
 to have been established and declared in 
 the famous case of John Wilkes before al 
 luded to. A short statement of that case 
 will show how fallacious is that supposi 
 tion. Wilkes had been elected a member 
 of Parliament for Middlesex, and in 1764 
 was expelled for having published a libel 
 on the ministry. He was again elected 
 and again expelled for a similar offense on 
 the 3d of February, 1769. Being again 
 elected on the 17th of February, 1769, the 
 commons passed the following resolution : 
 " That John Wilkes, Esq., having been in 
 this session of Parliament expelled this 
 house was and is incapable of being elected 
 a member to serve in this present Parlia 
 ment." Wilkes was again elected, but the 
 House of Commons declared the seat va 
 cant and ordered a new election. At this 
 election Wilkes was again elected by 1,143 
 votes, against 296 for his competitor, Lut- 
 trell. 
 
 On the 15th of April, 1769, the house 
 decided that by the previous action Wilkes 
 had become ineligible, and that the votes 
 given for him were void and could not be 
 counted, and gave the seat to Luttrell. 
 Subsequently, in 1783, the House of Com 
 mons declared the resolution of February 
 17, 1769, which had asserted the incapacity 
 of an expelled member to be re-elected 
 to the same Parliament, to be subversive of 
 the rights of the electors, and expunged it 
 from the journal. It will be seen from 
 this concise statement of Wilkes's case 
 that the question was not raised as to the 
 power of the house to expel a member 
 for offenses committed prior to his election ; 
 the point decided, and afterward moet 
 
212 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 .properly expunged, was that expulsion per 
 3e rendered the expelled member legally 
 ineligible, and that votes cast for him could 
 not be counted. Wilkes's offense was of 
 purely a political character, not involving 
 moral turpitude; he had attacked the 
 ministry in the press, and the proceedings 
 against him in Parliament were then 
 claimed to be a partisan political persecu 
 tion, subversive of the rights of the people 
 and of the liberty of the press. These 
 proceedings in Wilkes's case took place 
 during the appearance of the famous J uni- 
 us letters, and several of them are devoted 
 to the discussion of them. The doctrine 
 that expulsion creates ineligibility was at 
 tacked and exposed by him with great 
 force. Bat he concedes that if the cause 
 of expulsion be one that renders a man | 
 unfit and unworthy to be a member, he | 
 may be expelled for that cause as often as 
 he shall be elected. 
 
 The case of Matteson, in the House of 
 Representatives, has also often been quoted 
 as a precedent for this limitation of juris 
 diction. In the proceedings and debates 
 of the House upon that case it will be seen 
 that this was one among many grounds 
 taken in the debate ; but as the whole sub 
 ject was ended by being laid on the table, 
 it is quite impossible to say what was de 
 cided by the House. It appeared, how 
 ever, in that case that the charge against 
 Matteson had become public, and his letter 
 upon which the whole charge rested had 
 been published and circulated through his 
 district during the canvass preceding his 
 election. This fact, we judge, had a most 
 important influence in determining the 
 action of the House in his case. 
 
 The committee have no occasion in this 
 report to discuss the question as to the 
 power or duty of the House in a case where 
 a constituency, with a full knowledge of 
 the objectionable character of a man, have 
 selected him to be their Representative. 
 It is hardly a case to be supposed that any 
 constituency, with a full knowledge that a 
 man had been guilty of an offense involv 
 ing moral turpitude, would elect him. The 
 majority of the committee are not pre 
 pared to concede such a man could be 
 forced upon the House, and would not con 
 sider the expulsion of such a man any vio 
 lation of the rights of the electors, for 
 while the electors have rights that should 
 be respected, the House as a body has rights 
 also that should be protected and preserved. 
 But that in such case the judgment of the 
 constituency would be entitled to the great 
 est consideration, and that this should form 
 an important element in its determination, 
 is readily admitted. 
 
 It is universally conceded, as we believe, 
 
 that the House has ample jurisdiction to 
 
 punish or expel a member for an offense 
 
 .to T.p.'tteil during his term as a member, 
 
 though committed during a vacation of 
 Congress and in no way connected with 
 his duties as a member. Upon what prin 
 ciple is it that such a jurisdiction can be 
 maintained ? It must be upon one or both 
 of the following: that the offense shows 
 him to be an unworthy and improper man 
 to be a member, or that his conduct brings 
 odium and reproach upon the body. But 
 suppose the offense has been committed 
 prior to his election, but comes to light 
 afterward, is the effect upon his own 
 character, or the reproach and disgrace 
 upon the body, if they allow him to remain 
 a member, any the less? We can see no 
 difference in principle in the two cases, and 
 to attempt any would be to create a purely 
 technical and arbitrary distinction, having 
 no just foundation. In our judgment, the 
 time is not at all material, except it be 
 coupled with the further fact that he was 
 re-elected with a knowledge on the part of 
 his constituents of what he had been guilty, 
 and in such event we have given our views 
 of the effect. 
 
 It seems to us absurd to say that an elec 
 tion has given a man political absolution 
 for an offense which was unknown to his 
 constituents. If it be urged again, as it 
 has sometimes been, that this view of the 
 power of the House, and the true ground 
 of its proper exercise, may be laid hold of 
 and used improperly, it may be answered 
 that no rule, however narrow and limited, 
 that may be adopted can prevent it. If 
 two-thirds of the House shall see fit to ex 
 pel a man because they do not like his 
 political or religious principles, or without 
 any reason at all, they have the power, and 
 there is no remedy except by appeal to the 
 people. Such exercise of the power would 
 be wrongful, and violative of the princi 
 ples of the Constitution, but we see no 
 encouragement of such wrong in the views 
 we hold. 
 
 It is the duty of each House to exercise 
 its rightful functions upon appropriate oc 
 casions, and to trust that those who come 
 after them will be no less faithful to duty, 
 and no less jealous for the rights of free 
 popular representation than themselves. 
 It will be quite time enough to square 
 other cases with right reason and principle 
 when they arise. Perhaps the best way to 
 prevent them will be to maintain strictly 
 public integrity and public honor in all 
 cases as they present themselves. Nor do 
 we imagine that the people of the United 
 States will charge their servants with in 
 vading their privileges when they confine 
 themselves to the preservation of a stand 
 ard of official integrity which the common 
 instincts of humanity recognize as essen 
 tial to all social order and good govern 
 ment. 
 
 The foregoing are the views which we 
 deem proper to submit upon the general 
 
THE CREDIT MOBILIER. 
 
 213 
 
 question of the jurisdiction of the House 
 over its members. But apart from these 
 general views, the committee are of opin 
 ion that the facts found in the present case 
 amply justify the taking jurisdiction over 
 them, for the following reasons : 
 
 The subject-matter upon which the ac 
 tion of members was intended to be influ 
 enced was of a continuous character, and 
 was as likely to be a subject of congres 
 sional action in future Congresses as in the 
 Fortieth. The influences brought to bear 
 on members were as likely to be operative 
 upon them in the future as in* the present, 
 and were so intended. Mr. Ames and Mr. 
 Brooks have both continued members of 
 the House to the present time, and so have 
 most of the members upon whom these in 
 fluences were sought to be exerted. The 
 committee are, therefore, of opinion that 
 the acts of these men may properly be 
 treated as offenses against the present 
 House, and so within its jurisdiction upon 
 the most limited rule. 
 
 Two members of the committee, Messrs. 
 Niblack and McCrary, prefer to express 
 no opinion on the general jurisdictional 
 questions discussed in the report, and rest 
 their judgment wholly on the ground last 
 stated. 
 
 In relation to Mr. Ames, he sold to sev 
 eral members of Congress stock of the 
 Credit Mobilier Company, at par, when it 
 was worth double that amount or more, 
 with the purpose and intent thereby to in 
 fluence their votes and decisions upon 
 matters to come before Congress. 
 
 The facts found in the report as to Mr. 
 Brooks, show that he used the influence of 
 his official positions as member of Congress 
 and Government director in the Union 
 Pacific Railroad Company, to get fifty 
 shares of the stock of the Credit Mobilier 
 Company, at par, when it was worth three 
 or four times that sum, knowing that it 
 was given to him with intent to influence 
 his votes and decisions in Congress, and 
 his action as a Government director. 
 
 The sixth section of the act of February 
 26, 1853, 10 Stat. United States, 171, is in 
 the following words : 
 
 " If any person or persons shall, directly 
 or indirectly, promise, offer, or give, or 
 cause or procure to be promised, offered, or 
 given, any money, goods, right in action, 
 bribe, present, or reward, or any promise, 
 contract, undertaking, obligation, or se 
 curity for the payment or delivery of any 
 money, goods, right in action, bribe, pres 
 ent, or reward, or any other valuable thing 
 whatever, to any member of the Senate or 
 House of Representatives of the United 
 States, after his election as such member, 
 and either before or after he shall have 
 qualified and taken his seat, or to any offi 
 cer of the United States, or person holding 
 any place of trust or profit, or discharging 
 
 any official function under or in connec 
 tion with any Department of the Govern 
 ment of the United States, or under the 
 Senate or House of Representatives of the 
 United States, after the passage of this act, 
 with intent to influence his vote or de 
 cision on any question, matter, cause, or 
 proceeding which may then be pending, or 
 may by law, or under the Constitution of 
 the United States, be brought before him 
 in his official capacity, or in his place of 
 trust or profit, and shall thereof be con 
 victed, such person or persons so offering, 
 promising, or giving, or causing or pro 
 curing to be promised, offered, or given, 
 any such money, goods, right in action, 
 bribe, present, or reward, or any promise, 
 contract, undertaking, obligation, or se 
 curity for the payment or delivery of any 
 money, goods, right in action, bribe, pres 
 ent, or reward, or other valuable thing 
 whatever, and the member, officer, or per 
 son who shall in anywise accept or receive 
 the same, or any part thereof, shall be 
 liable to indictment as for a high crime 
 and misdemeanor in any of the courts of 
 the United States having jurisdiction for 
 the trial of crimes and misdemeanors ; and 
 shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not 
 exceeding three times the amount so 
 offered, promised, or given, and imprisoned 
 in the penitentiary not exceeding three 
 years ; and the person so convicted of so 
 accepting or receiving the same, or any 
 part thereof, if an officer or person holding 
 any such place of trust or profit as afore 
 said, shall forfeit his office or place ; and 
 any person so convicted under this section 
 shall forever be disqualified to hold any 
 office of honor, trust, or profit under the 
 United States." 
 
 In the judgment of the committee, the 
 facts reported in regard to Mr. Ames and 
 Mr. Brooks would have justified their con 
 viction under the above-recited statute and 
 subjected them to the penalties therein 
 provided. 
 
 The committee need not enlarge npon 
 the dangerous character of these offenses. 
 The sense of Congress is shown by the 
 severe penalty denounced by the statute 
 itself. The offenses were not violations of 
 private rights, but were against the very 
 life of a constitutional Government by 
 poisoning the fountain of legislation. 
 
 The duty devolved upon the committee 
 has been of a most painful and delicate 
 character. They have performed it to the 
 best of their ability. They have proceeded 
 with the greatest care and deliberation, 
 for while they desired to do their full duty 
 to the House and the country, they were 
 most anxious not to do injustice to any 
 man. In forming their conclusions they 
 have intended to be entirely cool and dis 
 passionate, not to allow themselves to be 
 swerved by any popular fervor on the one 
 
214 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 hand, or any feeling of personal favor and 
 sympathy on the other. 
 
 The committee submit to the House and 
 recommend the adoption of the following 
 resolutions. 
 
 "1. Whereas Mr. Oakes Ames, a Repre 
 sentative in this House from the State of 
 Massachusetts, has been guilty of selling 
 to members of Congress shares of stock in 
 the Credit Mobilier of America, for prices 
 much below the true value of such stock, 
 with intent thereby to influence the votes 
 and decisions of such members in matters 
 to be brought before Congress for action : 
 Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That Mr. Oakes Ames be, and 
 he is hereby, expelled from his seat as a 
 member of this House. 
 
 2. Whereas Mr. James Brooks, a Repre 
 sentative in this House from the State of 
 New York, did procure the Credit Mo 
 bilier Company to issue and deliver to 
 Charles H. Neilson, for the use and bene 
 fit of said Brooks, fifty shares of the stock 
 of said company, at a price much below its 
 real value, well knowing that the same 
 was so issued and delivered with intent to 
 influence the votes and decisions of said 
 Brooks, as a member of the House, in mat 
 ters to be brought before Congress for ac 
 tion, and also to influence the action of 
 said Brooks as a Government director in 
 the Union Pacific Railroad Company: 
 Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That Mr. James Brooks be, 
 and he is hereby, expelled from his seat as 
 a member of this House." 
 
 The House, after much discussion, modi 
 fied the propositions of the committee of 
 investigation, and subjected Oakes Ames 
 and James Brooks to the " absolute con 
 demnation of the House." Both members 
 died within three months thereafter. 
 
 The session was full of investigations, 
 but all the others failed to develop any 
 tangible scandals. The Democrats de 
 manded and secured the investigation of 
 the New York custom-house ; the United 
 States Treasury ; the use of Seneca sand 
 stone; the Chorpenning claim, and the 
 Navy Department, etc. They were, as 
 stated, fruitless. 
 
 The " Salary Gral. 
 
 At the same session 1871-73, acts were 
 passed to abolish the franking privilege, to 
 increase the President's salary from $25- 
 000 to $50,000, and that of Senators and 
 Representatives from $5,000 to $7,500. The 
 last proved quite unpopular, and was gene 
 rally denounced as " The Salary Grab," 
 because of the feature wlik-h made it ap 
 ply to the Congressmen who passed the 
 bill, and of course to go backward to the 
 beginning of the term. This was not 
 new, as earlier precedents were found to 
 
 excuse it, but the people were neverthe 
 less dissatisfied, and it was made an issue 
 by both parties in the nomination and 
 election of Representatives. Many were 
 defeated, but probably more survived the 
 issue, and are still enjoying public life. 
 Yet the agitation was kept up until the 
 obnoxious feature of the bill and the Con 
 gressional increase of salary were repealed, 
 leaving it as now at the rate of $5,000 a 
 year and mileage. 
 
 A House committee, headed by B. F. 
 Butler, on Feb. 7th, 1873, made a report 
 which gave a fair idea of the expenses un 
 der given circumstances the increase to 
 be preserved, but the franking privilege 
 and mileage to be repealed. We quote 
 the figures : 
 
 Increase of President's salary $25,000 00 
 Increase of Cabinet ministers' 
 
 salary 14,000 00 
 
 Increase of salary of judges 
 
 United States Supreme 
 
 Court 18,500 00 
 
 Increase of salary of Senators, 
 
 Members, and Delegates... 972,000 00 
 
 Total increase $1,029,500 00 
 
 Saving to the Government, \ 
 cording to the official sta 
 
 ac- 
 
 ing to the official state 
 ment of the Postmaster- 
 General, per annum, by the 
 abolition of the franking 
 
 privilege $2,543,327 72 
 
 Saving to the Government by 
 abolition of mileage, sta 
 tionery, postage, and news 
 paper accounts (estimated) 200 000 00 
 
 $2,753,327 72 
 1,029,500 00 
 
 Total net saving $1,713,827 72 
 
 The House passed a bill for the aboli 
 tion of mileage, but in the Senate it was 
 referred to the Committee on Civil Service 
 and Retrenchment, and not again heard 
 from. So that the increased pay no longer 
 obtains, the franking privilege only to the 
 extent of mailing actual' Congressional 
 documents, and mileage remains. 
 
 The following curious facts relating to 
 these questions we take from Hon. Edward 
 McPherson's admirable compilation in his 
 
 Hand-Book of Politics" for 1874. 
 
 Statement of Compensation and Mileage. 
 
 Drawn by U. S. Senators under the various Compensation 
 Acts. 
 
 Mr. Gorham, Secretary of the Senate, 
 prepared, under date of January 3, 1874, a 
 statement, in answer to a resolution of the 
 Senate, covering these points : 
 
COMPENSATION AND MILEAGE. 
 
 215 
 
 I. The several rates of compensation fixed 
 by various laws, and the cases in which 
 the same were retroactive, and for what 
 length of time. 
 
 1. By the act of September 22, 1789, the 
 compensation of Senators and Representa 
 tives in Congress was fixed at six dollars a 
 day, and thirty cents a mile for traveling 
 to and from the seat of Government. This 
 rate was to continue until March 4, 1795. 
 The same act fixed the compensation 
 from March 4, 1795, to March 4, 1796, (at 
 which last-named date, by its terms, it ex 
 pired,) at seven dollars a day, and thirty- 
 five cents a mile for travel. This act was 
 retroactive, extending back six months 
 and eighteen days, namely, to March 4, 
 1789. 
 
 2. The act of March 10, 1796, fixed the 
 compensation at six dollars a day, and 
 thirty cents a mile for travel. (This act 
 extended back over six days only.) 
 
 3. The act of March 19, 1816, fixed the 
 compensation at $1,500 a year, "instead of 
 the daily compensation," and left the mile 
 age unchanged. This act was retroactive, 
 extending back one year and fifteen days, 
 namely to March 4, 1815. (This act was 
 repealed by the act of February 6, 1817, 
 but it was expressly declared that no 
 former act was thereby revived.) 
 
 4. The act of January 22, 1818, fixed the 
 compensation at eight dollars a day, and 
 forty cents a mile for travel. This act was 
 retroactive, extending back fifty-three days, 
 namely, to the assembling of Congress, 
 December 1, 1817. 
 
 5. The act of August 16, 1856, fixed the 
 compensation at $3,000 a year, and left the 
 mileage unchanged. This act was retroac 
 tive, extending back one year, five months, 
 and twelve days, namely, to March 4, 1855. 
 
 6. The act of July 28, 1866, fixed the 
 compensation at $5,000 a year, and twenty 
 cents a mile for travel, (not to affect mile 
 age accounts already accrued. ) This act 
 was retroactive, extending back one year, 
 four months, and twenty-four days, namely, 
 to March 4, 1865. 
 
 7. The act of March 3, 1873, fixed the 
 compensation at $7,500 a year, and actual 
 traveling expenses; the mileage already 
 paid for the Forty-Second Congress to be 
 deducted from the pay of those who had 
 received it. This act was retroactive, ex 
 tending back two years, namely, to March 
 4, 1871. 
 
 NOTE. Stationery was allowed to Sena 
 tors and Representatives without any 
 special limit until March 3, 1868, when 
 the amount for stationery and newspapers 
 for each Senator and Member was limited 
 to $125 a session. This was changed by a 
 subsequent act, taking effect July 1, 1869, 
 to $125 a year. The act of 1873 abolished 
 all allowance for stationery and news 
 papers. 
 
 II. Names of Senators who drew pay un 
 der the retroactive provisions of the 
 several laws, amounts drawn, and dates of 
 same. 
 
 ACT OF 1789. The records of my office 
 do not furnish the exact information de 
 sired under this head concerning the 
 First Congress, the compensation of which 
 was fixed by act of September 22, 1789. It 
 appears, however, that the account of each 
 Senator was made up, and that each re 
 ceived the amount allowed by law. The 
 following is a copy from the record : 
 
 January 19, 1790. That there is due to 
 the Senators of the United States for 
 attendance in Congress the present session, 
 to the 31st of March inclusive, and ex 
 penses of travel to Congress , as allowed 
 by law, as follows, to wit : 
 
 Messrs. Richard Basset, $496.50 ; Pierce 
 Butler, $796; Charles Carroll, $186; 
 Tristram Dalton, $612 ; Oliver Ellsworth, 
 $546.50; Jonathan Elmer, $414 ; William 
 Few, $833.50 ; John Henry, $596.50 ; Ben 
 jamin Hawkins, $615 ; William S. John 
 son, $544 ; Samuel Johnson, $534 ; Rufus 
 King, $522 ; John Langdon, $618 ; William 
 Maclay, $585; Robert Morris, $430.50; 
 William Paterson, $514.50 ; George Read, 
 $195; Caleb Strong, $575.50; Philip 
 Schuyler, $571.50 ; PaineWingate, $616.50. 
 ACT OF 1816. The record contains no 
 showing as to the amount paid to Senators 
 under the retroactive provision of the act 
 of March 19, 1816. The following, taken 
 from the books, shows the amount of com 
 pensation paid to each Senator for the en 
 tire Congress, exclusive of mileage : 
 
 Messrs. Eli P. Ashmun, $920 ; James 
 Barbour, $2,850 ; William T. Barry, $2,080 ; 
 William W. Bibb, $2,070 ; James Brown, 
 $2,980 ; George W. Campbell, $2,950 ; Dud 
 ley Chace, $3,000 ; John Condit, $2,980 ; 
 David Daggett, $3,000 ; Samuel W. Dana, 
 $2,640 ; Elegius Fromentin, $3,000 ; John 
 Gaillard, President, $6,000; Robert H. 
 Goldsborough, $2,840 ; Christopher Gore, 
 $1,940; Alexander Contee Hanson, $530; 
 Martin D. Hardin, $900 ; Robert G. Har 
 per, $1,450; Outerbridge Horsey, $3,000 ; 
 Jeremiah B. Howell, $3,000; William 
 Hunter, $2,930; Rufus King, $2,660; 
 Abner Lacock, $3,000 ; Nathaniel Macon, 
 $2,946 ; Jeremiah Mason of New Hamp 
 shire, $2,680 ; Armistead T. Mason of Vir 
 ginia, $2,360 ; Jeremiah Morrow, $3,000 ; 
 James Noble, $920; Jonathan Roberts, 
 $3,000 ; Benjamin Ruggles, $3,000 ; Nathan 
 Sanford, $2,720; William Smith, $540; 
 Montfort Stokes, $810; Charles Tait, 
 $3,000 ; Isham Talbot, $2,730 ; John Tay 
 lor of South Carolina, $1,990 ; Waller Tay 
 lor of Indiana, $920 ; Thomas W. Thomp 
 son, $2,850 ; Isaac Tichenor, $3,000 ; Georgo 
 M. Troup, $830 ; James Turner, $2,060 ; 
 Joseph B. Varnum, $3,000; William H. 
 
216 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 $2,610; John Williams, $3,000; 
 James J. Wilson, $3,000. 
 
 ACT OF 1818. Under the retroactive 
 provision of the act of January 22, 1818, 
 the following named Senators drew the 
 amounts for compensation and mileage op 
 posite their respective names : 
 
 Messrs. Eli P. Ashmun, $668 ; James 
 Barbour, $520 ; James Burril, $762 ; George 
 W. Campbell, $1,008 ; John J. Crittenden, 
 $1,007.20 ; David Daggett, $690.40 ; Samuel 
 W. Dana, $283.20; Mahlon Dickerson, 
 $628.80; John W. Eppes, $584; James 
 Fisk, $848 ; Elegius Fromentin, $1,393.60 ; 
 John Gaillard, $880 ; Robert H. Golds- 
 borough, $483.20; Outerbridge Horsey, 
 $485.60 ; William Hunter, $543.20 ; Henry 
 Johnson, $1,273.60 ; Rufus King, $627.20 ; 
 Abner Lacock, $649.60; Walter Leake, 
 $1,384; Nathaniel Macon, $600 ; David L. 
 Morril, $876; Jeremiah Morrow, $776; 
 James Noble, $918.40 ; Harrison Gray Otis, 
 $792.80 ; Jonathan Roberts, $564.80 ; Ben 
 jamin Ruggles, $688; Nathan Sanford, 
 $616; William Smith, $774.40; Montfort 
 Stokes, $745.60 ; Clement Storer, $875.20 ; 
 Charles Tait, $952; Isham Talbot, $872; 
 Waller Taylor, $1,080 ; Isaac Tichenor, 
 
 $784; George M. Troup, $952; Van 
 
 Dyke, $380.80; Thomas H. Williams of 
 Mississippi, $1,433.60; John Williams of 
 Tennessee, $861.60; James J. Wilson, 
 $568. 
 
 ACT OF 1856. Under the retroactive 
 provision of the act of August 16, 1856, 
 the following named Senators drew the 
 amounts opposite their respective names : 
 
 Messrs. Stephen Adams, $2,243.77 ; 
 Philip Allen, $2,202.79 ; James A. Bayard, 
 $2,088.03; James Bell, $1,083.93; John 
 Bell, $2,268.36; J. P. Benjamin, $2,210.99 ; 
 Asa Biggs, $2,161.81 ; William Bigler, $1,- 
 594.24; Jesse D. Bright, president pro 
 tetnpore, $6,772.40 ; R. Brodhead, $2,251.- 
 97 ; A. G. Brown, $2,251.97 ; A. P. Butler, 
 $2,202.70; Lewis Cass, $2,251.97; C. C. 
 Clay, jr., $2,251.97 ; J. M. Clayton, $2,292.- 
 95 ; J. Collamer, $2,219.18 ; J. J. Critten 
 den, $2,243.79; H. Dodge, $2,292.95; S. A. 
 Douglas, $2,268.36 ; C. Durkee, $2,235.56 ; 
 J. J. Evans, $2,121.70 ; W. S. Fessenden, 
 $2,276.56 ; H. Fish, $2,237.28 ; B. Fitzpat- 
 rick, $2,194.59; S. Foot, $2,292.94; L. F. 
 S. Foster, $2,112.62; H. S. Geyer, $2,276.- 
 56 ; J. P. Hale, $887.10; H. Hamlin, $1,- 
 989.68 ; J. Harlan, $2,268.36 ; S. Houston, 
 $2,292.95; R. M. T. Hunter, 2,210.99; A. 
 Iverson, $2,210.99; C. T.James, $2,210.99; 
 R. W. Johnson, $632.21 ; G. W. Jones, 
 $2,235.58; J. C. Jones, $2,047.05; S. R. 
 Mallory, $2,276.56 ; J. M. Mason, $2,170 ; 
 J. A. Pearce, $2,191.59 ; T. G. Pratt, $2,- 
 129.02; G. E. Pugh, $2,096.21 ; D. S. Reid, 
 $2,235.58 ; T. J. Rusk, $2,292.95 ; W. K. 
 Sebastian, $2,137.22 ; W. H. Seward, $2,- 
 292.95; John Slidell, $2,276.56; C. E. 
 Stuart, $2,292.95; C. Sumner, $2,292.95; 
 
 J. B. Thompson, $2,235.57; John R. 
 Thomson, $2,022.46 ; Robert Toombs, $2,- 
 006.07 ; Isaac Toucey, $2,292.65 ; L. Trum- 
 bull, $2,251.97 ; B. F. Wade, $2,202.79 ; J. 
 
 B. Weller, $2,251 97 ; H. Wilson, $2,178.- 
 20; W. Wright, $2,120.82; D. L. Yulee, 
 $2,194.59. 
 
 ACT OF 1866. Under the retroactive 
 provision of the act of July 28, 1866, the 
 following named Senators received the 
 amounts opposite their respective names : 
 
 Messrs. H. B. Anthony, $2.805 56 ; B. 
 Gratz Brown, $2,805 56 ; C. R. Buckalew, 
 $2,80556; Z. Chandler, $2,80556; D. 
 Clark, $2,805 56 ; J. Collamer, $1,366 15 ; 
 J. Conness, $2,805 56 ; E. Cowan, $2,- 
 805 56 ; A. H. Cragin, $2,805 56 ; J. A. J. 
 Creswell, $2,805, 56 ; G. Davis, $2,805 56 ; 
 J. Dixon, $2,805 56 ; J. R. Doolittle, $2,- 
 805 56 ; W. P. Fessenden, $2,805 56 ; S, 
 Foot, $2,136 76 ; L. F. S. Foster, President 
 pro tempore, $261 93 ; J. W. Grimes, $2,- 
 805 56 ; J. Guthrie, $2,805 56 ; I. Harris, 
 $2,805 56 ; J. B. Henderson, $2,805 56 ; T. 
 A. Hendricks, $2,805.56 ; J. M. Howard, 
 $2,805 56 ; T. O. Howe, $2,805 56 ; R. John 
 son, $2,80556; H. S. Lane, $2,80556; 
 J. H. Lane, $2,71049; James A. Mc- 
 Dougall, $2,80556; E. D. Morgan, $2,- 
 805 56 ; L. M. Morrill, $2,805 56 ; J. W. 
 Nesmith, $2,805 56 ; D. S. Norton, $2,- 
 805 56 ; J. W. Nye, $2,805 56 ; S. C. Pome- 
 roy, $2, 805 56 ; A. Ramsey, $2,805 56 ; G. 
 R. Riddle, $2,805 56 ; W. Saulsbury, $2,- 
 80556; J. Sherman, $2,80556; W. M. 
 Stewart, $2,805 56 ; C. Sumner, $2,805 56 ; 
 L. Trumbull, $2,805 56 ; P. G. Van Winkle, 
 $2,80556; B. Wade, $2,80556; W. T. 
 Willey, $2,805 56 ; G. H. Williams, $2,- 
 805 56; H. Wilson, $2,805 56 ; W. Wright, 
 $2,805 56 ; R. Yates, $2,805 56 ; J. Harlan, 
 $350 ; L. P. Poland, $1,361 ; John P. Stock 
 ton, $2,131 20; S. J. Kirkwood, $2,361 10; 
 G. F. Edmunds, $666 66 ; E. G. Ross, 
 $180 40. 
 
 ACT OF 1873. Under the retroactive 
 provision of the act of March 3, 1873, the 
 following named Senators received the 
 sums set opposite their respective names : 
 
 Messrs. A. Ames, $2,840 ; J. L. Alcorn, 
 $2,312 39; J. T. Bayard, $4,865 60; F. P. 
 Blair, $3,76160; A. I. Boreman, $4,514; 
 W. G. Brownlow, $4,588 ; A. Caldwell, $2,-' 
 647 60 ; S. Cameron, $4,856 ; M. H. Cai* 
 penter, $3,887 60 ; E. Casserly, $970 40 ; 7* 
 Chandler, $3,906 80 ; P. Clayton, $2,600; 
 
 C. Cole, $97040; H. Cooper, $3,760 ; H. 
 G. Davis, $4,635 20 ; O. S. Ferry, $4,652 ; 
 T. W. Ferry, $3,920; J. W. Flanagan, $2,- 
 000; A. Gilbert, $3,680; George Goldth- 
 waite, $3,924 80 ; M. C. Hamilton, $2,480 ; 
 Joshua Hill, $4,083 20 ; P. W. Hitchcock, 
 $2,85280; T. O. Howe, $3,68960, J. W. 
 Johnston, $4,705 60 ; John T. Lewis, $4>- 
 80440; John A. Logan, $3,800; W. B. 
 Machen, $552 98 ; L. M. Morrill, $4,190 ; 
 J. S. Morrill, (draft in favor of the treas- 
 
RETURNING BOARDS. 
 
 217 
 
 urer of the State of Vermont,) $4,386 80 ; 
 T. M. Norwood, $4,169 60 ; J. W. Nye, $2,- 
 076 80; T. W. Osborn, $3,440 ; J. W. Pat 
 terson, $4,280; S. C. Pomeroy, $3,320; 
 John Pool, $4,620 80 ; M. W. Ransom, $4,- 
 817 60 ; B. F. Rice, $3,200 ; T. J. Robert 
 son, $4,37480; F. A. Sawyer, $4,294 40 ; 
 George E. Spencer, $4,106; W. Sprague, 
 $4,508 ; W. M. Stewart, $1,486 40 ; J. P. 
 Stockton, $4,790 ; T. W. Tipton, $3,358 ; 
 Lyman Trumbull, $3,980 ; G. Vickers, $4,- 
 880 ; J. R. West, $2,468 80. 
 ill. Names of Senators who covered into 
 the Treasury amounts due them under re 
 troactive provisions of law, with date of 
 such action. 
 
 There is no record in my office showing 
 that any Senator covered into the Trea 
 sury any money to which he was entitled 
 by the retroactive provisions of either of 
 the acts of September 22, 1789, March 19, 
 1816, January 22, 1818, August 16, 1856, or 
 July 28, 1866. 
 
 The following Senators covered into the 
 Treasury the amounts due them under the 
 retroactive provision of the act of March 3, 
 1873, namely : 
 
 1873. May 26, H. B. Anthony, $4,497 
 20 ; June 23, W. A. Buckingham, $4,553 60 ; 
 May 21, R. E. Fenton, $4,184; June 2, F. 
 T. Frelinghuysen, $4,644 80 ; May 19, H. 
 Hamlin, $4,136 ; August 14, O. P. Morton, 
 $3,922 40 ; April 9, D. D. Pratt, $4,121 60 ; 
 August 25, A. Ramsey, $3,041 40 ; March 
 28, C. Schurz, $3,76160; May 9, .John 
 Scott, $4,733 06 ; July 11, John Sherman, 
 $4,336 40 ; May 2, C. Sumner, $4,445 60 ; 
 May 22, A. G. Thurman, $4,359 20 ; March 
 28, Henry Wilson, $4,448; September 6, 
 George G. Wright, $3,140 80. 
 
 NOTE. Several of these Senators, as 
 well as others who have not either drawn 
 or covered into the Treasury the amounts 
 due them under the retroactive provision 
 of the act of 1873, expressed to me their 
 intention to allow the money to lapse into 
 the Treasury by the ordinary operation of 
 law, which they supposed would occur 
 July 3, 1873. After learning that it could 
 not be covered in, except by their order, 
 before July 3, 1875, some gave me written 
 instructions to anticipate the latter date. 
 I am unable to furnish from any informa 
 tion in my office the names of Senators 
 who themselves paid into the Treasury 
 salary drawn under the act of 1873 or pre 
 vious acts. I have not furnished the 
 names of Senators who have left increased 
 salary undrawn, as this information was 
 not called for in the resolution. 
 
 IV. A Comparative Statement. 
 Total compensation and allowance of 
 Senators, under act of July 28, 1866, from 
 March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1872 : Com 
 pensation, $370,000 ; mileage, $37,041 20 ; 
 itationery and newspapers, $9,250; total, 
 
 $416,291 20 ; average per Senator, $5,- 
 625 55f f . 
 
 Under same act, from March 4, 1872, to 
 March 3, 1873, during which year members 
 of the Senate received mileage for attend 
 ing the special session of the Senate, held 
 in May, 1872, the following amounts were 
 paid: Compensation, $370,000; mileage, 
 |59,002 80 ; newspapers and stationery, $9,- 
 250 ; total, $438,252 80 ; average per Sen 
 ator, $5,922 23|f. 
 
 Total compensation and allowance of 
 Senators under act of March 3, 1873: 
 Compensation, $555,000 ; traveling ex 
 penses, based upon the certificates of forty- 
 six Senators, (twenty-eight having pre 
 sented none,) amounting to $4,607 95, giv 
 ing an average of $100 17x74=$7,412 58 ;. 
 total, $562,412 58; average per Senator, 
 $7,600 17. 
 
 In connection with this were statements, 
 prepared by the Secretary of the Senate, 
 and laid before that body by Senator 
 CAMERON, January 9, 1874, of the amounts 
 of mileage paid in dollars (cents omitted) 
 at particular dates under the acts of 1856 
 and 1866, are given. The act of 1856 fixed 
 mileage at forty cents per mile each way, 
 and the act of 1866 fixed it at twenty cent* 
 per mile each way. 
 
 Returning Boards. 
 
 At the second session of the 42d Con 
 gress that body, and the President as well, 
 were compelled to consider a new question 
 in connection with politics an actual con 
 flict of State Governments. There had al 
 ways been, in well regulated State govern 
 ments, returning boards, but with a view 
 the better to guard the newly enfranchised 
 citizens of the South from intimidation, 
 the Louisiana Republicans, under very 
 bold and radical leaders, had greatly 
 strengthened the powers of her returning 
 boards. It could canvass the votes, reject 
 the returns in part or as a whole of 
 parishes where force or fraud had been 
 used, and could declare results after such 
 revision. The Governor of Louisiana had 
 made several removals and appointments 
 of State officers for the purpose mainly of 
 making a friendly majority in the return 
 ing board, and this led to the appointment 
 of two bodies, both claiming to be the le 
 gitimate returning board. There soon 
 followed two State governments and legis 
 latures, the Democratic headed by Gover 
 nor John McEnery, the Republican by 
 Governor Wm. Pitt Kellogg, later in the 
 U. S. Senate. Kellogg brought suit 
 against the Democratic officers before 
 Judge Durell, of the Federal District 
 Court, and obtained an order that the 
 U. S. Marshal (S. B. Packard, afterwards 
 Governor), should seize the State House 
 and prevent the meetings of the McEneiy 
 
218 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 legislature. Then both governments were 
 hastily inaugurated, and claimed the re 
 cognition of Congress. The Senate Com 
 mittee reported that Judge Durell's deci 
 sion was not warranted, but the report 
 refused a decisive recognition of either 
 government. A bill was introduced de 
 claring the election of Nov. 4, 1872, on 
 which this condition of affairs was based, | 
 null and void, and providing for a new | 
 election, but this bill was defeated by a 
 close vote. Later on, Louisiana claimed 
 ^ large share in National politics. Some 
 what similar troubles occurred in Alabama, 
 Arkansas, and Texas, but they were settled j 
 with far greater ease than those of Louisi- [ 
 ana. The correspondence in all of these , 
 cases was too voluminous to reproduce j 
 here, and we shall dismiss the subject i 
 until the period of actual hostilities were 
 reached in Louisiana. 
 
 The Grangers. 
 
 So early as 1867 a secret society had 
 been formed first in Washington, known 
 as the Patrons of Husbandry, and it soon 
 succeeded in forming subordinate lodges 
 or granges in Illinois, Wisconsin, and other 
 States. It was declared not to be politi- 1 
 cal; that its object was co-operation among | 
 farmers in purchasing supplies from first 
 hands, so as to do away with middle-men, 
 "but, like many other secret organizations, 
 it was soon perverted to political purposes, i 
 and for a time greatly disturbed the politi 
 cal parties of the Western States. This 
 was especially true of the years 1873-74, 
 when the Grangers announced a contem 
 plated war on railroad corporations, and 
 succeeded in carrying the legislatures of 
 Illinois and Wisconsin, and inducing them I 
 subsequently to pass acts, the validity of | 
 which the Supreme Courts of the State, I 
 under a temporary popular pressure which j 
 was apparently irresistible, could not sus 
 tain. The effect of these laws was to al 
 most bankrupt the Illinois Central, there 
 tofore wealthy, to cripple all railroads, 
 to interfere largely with foreign exports, 
 and to react against the interests of the 
 people of the States passing them, that the 
 demand for repeal was soon very much 
 greater than the original demand for pas 
 sage. As these laws, though repealed, are 
 still often referred to in the discussion of 
 political and corporate questions, we give 
 the text of one of them : 
 
 Illinois Railroad Act of 1873. 
 
 An Act to prevent extortion and unjust 
 discrimination in the rates charged for 
 the transportation of passengers and 
 freights on railroads in this State, and to 
 punish the same, and prescribe a mode 
 of procedure and rules of evidence in 
 
 relation thereto, and to repeal an aot en 
 titled " An act to prevent unjust discrim 
 ination and extortions in the rates to be 
 charged by the different railroads in 
 this State for the transportation of freights 
 on said roads," approved April 7, A. D. 
 1871. 
 
 SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People 
 of the State of Illinois, represented in the 
 General Assembly, If any railroad corpo 
 ration, organized or doing business in this 
 State under any act of incorporation, or 
 general law of this State now in force, or 
 which may hereafter be enacted, or any 
 railroad corporation organized or which 
 may hereafter be organized under the laws 
 of any other State, and doing business in 
 this State, shall charge, collect, demand, 
 or receive more than a fair and reasonable 
 rate of toll or compensation for the trans 
 portation of passengers or freight "of any 
 description, or for the use and transporta 
 tion of any railroad car upon its track, or 
 any of the branches thereof, or upon any 
 railroad within this State which it has the 
 right, license, or permission to use, oper 
 ate, or control, the same shall be deemed 
 guilty of extortion, and upon conviction 
 thereof shall be dealt with as hereinafter 
 provided. 
 
 SEC. 2. If any such railroad corporation 
 aforesaid shall make any unjust discrimi 
 nation in its rates or charges of toll, or 
 compensation, for the transportation of 
 passengers or freight of any description, 
 or for the use and transportation of any 
 railroad car upon its said road, or upon 
 any of the branches thereof, or upon rail- 
 roads connected therewith, which it has 
 the right, license, or permission to operate, 
 control, or use, within this State, the same 
 shall be deemed guilty of having violated 
 the ^provisions of this act, and upon con 
 viction thereof shall be dealt with as here 
 inafter provided. 
 
 SEC. 3. If any such railroad corporation 
 shall charge, collect, or receive for the 
 transportation of any passenger, or freight 
 of any description, upon its railroad, for 
 any distance within this State, the same 
 or a greater amount of toll or compensa 
 tion than is at the same time charged, col 
 lected, or received for the transportation, 
 in the same direction, of any passenger, or 
 like quantity of freight of the same class, 
 over a greater distance of the same rail 
 road ; or if it shall charge, collect, or re 
 ceive at any point upon this railroad a 
 higher rate of toll or compensation for re 
 ceiving, handling, or delivering freight of 
 the same class and quantity than it shall 
 at the same time charge, collect, or receive 
 at any other point upon the same railroad ; 
 or if it shall charge, collect or receive for 
 the transportation of any passenger, or 
 freight of any description, over its railroad 
 a greater amount as toll or compensation 
 
ILLINOIS RAILROAD ACT OF 1873. 
 
 219 
 
 ihan shall at the same time be charged, 
 collected, or received by it for the trans 
 portation of any passenger or like quantity 
 of freight of the same class, being trans 
 ported in the same direction over any por 
 tion of the same railroad of equal distance ; 
 or if it shall charge, collect, or receive from 
 any person or persons a higher or greater 
 amount of toll or compensation than it 
 shall at the same time charge, collect, or 
 receive from any other person or persons 
 for receiving, handling, or delivering freight 
 of the same class and like quantity at the 
 same point upon its railroad ; or if it shall 
 charge, collect, or receive from any person 
 or persons for the transportation of any 
 freight upon its railroad a higher or great 
 er rate of toll or compensation than it shall 
 .at the same time charge, collect, or receive 
 from any other person or persons for the 
 transportation of the like quantity of freight 
 of the same class being transported from 
 the same direction over equal distances of 
 the same railroad ; or if it shall charge, 
 collect, or receive from any person or per 
 sons for the use and transportation of any 
 railroad car or cars upon its railroad for any 
 distance the same or a greater amount of 
 toll or compensation than is at the same 
 time charged, collected, or received from 
 any person or persons for the use and trans 
 portation of any railroad car of the same 
 class or number, for a like purpose, being 
 transported in the same direction over a 
 greater distance of the same railroad ; or 
 if it shall charge, collect, or receive from 
 any person or persons for the use and trans 
 portation of any railroad car or cars upon 
 its railroad a higher or greater rate of toll 
 or compensation than it shall at the same 
 time charge, collect, or receive from any 
 other person or persons for the use and 
 transportation of any railroad car or cars 
 of the same class or number, for a like 
 purpose, being transported from the same 
 point in the same direction over an equal 
 distance of the same railroad ; all such dis 
 criminating rates, charges, collections, or 
 receipts, whether made directly or by means 
 of any rebate, drawback, or other shift or 
 evasion, shall be deemed and taken against 
 such railroad corporation as prima facie 
 evidence of the unjust discriminations 
 prohibited by the provisions of this act, 
 and it shall not be deemed a sufficient ex 
 cuse or justification of such discriminations 
 on the part of such railroad corporation, 
 that the railway station or point at which 
 it shall charge, collect, or receive the same 
 or less rates of toll or compensation for the 
 transportation of such passenger or freight, 
 or for the use and transportation of such 
 railroad car the greater distance than for 
 the shorter distance, is a railway station or 
 point at which there exists competition 
 with any other railroad or means of trans 
 portation. This section shall not be con 
 
 strued so as to exclude other evidence tend 
 ing to show any unjust discrimination in 
 freight and passenger rates. The pro 
 visions of this section shall extend and ap 
 ply to any railroad, the branches thereof, 
 and any road or roads which any railroad 
 corporation has the right, license, or per 
 mission to use, operate, or control, wholly 
 or in part, within the State: Provided, 
 however, That nothing herein c mtained 
 shall be so construed as to prevent railroad 
 corporations from issuing commutation, 
 excursion, or thousand mile tickets, as the 
 same are now issued by such corporations. 
 
 SEC. 4. Any such railroad corporation 
 guilty of extortion, or of making any un 
 just discrimination as to passenger or 
 freight rates, or the rates for the use and 
 transportation of railroad cars, or in re 
 ceiving, handling, or delivering freights 
 shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in 
 any sum not less than one 'thousand dol 
 lars ($1,000) nor more than five thousand 
 dollars ($5,000) for the first offense; and 
 for the second offense not less than five 
 thousand dollars ($5,000) nor more than 
 ten thousand dollars ($10,000;) and for 
 the third offense not less than ten 
 thousand dollars ($10,000) nor more than 
 twenty thousand dollars ($20,000;) and s 
 for every subsequent offense and convic 
 tion thereof shall be liable to a fine of 
 twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000:) 
 Provided, That in all cases under this act 
 either party shall have the right of trial 
 by jury. 
 
 SEC. 5. The fines hereinbefore provided 
 for may be recovered in an action of debt 
 in the name of the people of the State of 
 Illinois, and there may be several counts 
 joined in the same declaration as to extor 
 tion and unjust discrimination, and as to 
 passenger and freight rates, and rates for 
 the use and transportation of railroad cars, 
 and for receiving, handling, or delivering 
 freights. If, upon the trial of any case 
 instituted under this act, the jury shall 
 find for the people, they shall assess and 
 return with their verdict the amount of 
 the fine to be imposed upon the defendant, 
 at any sum not less than one thousand 
 dollars ($1,000) nor more than five thou 
 sand dollars ($5,000,) and the court shall 
 render judgment accordingly ; and if the 
 jury shall find for the people, and that the 
 defendant has been once before convicted 
 of a violation of the provisions of this act, 
 they shall return such finding with their 
 verdict, and shall assess and return with 
 their verdict the amount of the fine to be 
 imposed upon the defendant, at any sum 
 not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) 
 nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,- 
 000,) and the court shall render judgment 
 accordingly ; and if the jury shall find for 
 the people, and that the defendant has 
 been twice before convicted of a violation 
 
220 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 of the provisions of this act, with respect | and the Attorney General shall consent 
 
 to extortion or unjust discrimination, they 
 shall return such finding with their ver 
 dict, and shall assess and return with their 
 verdict the amount of the fine to be im 
 posed upon the defendant, at any sum not 
 less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) 
 nor more than twenty thousand dollars 
 ($20,000;) and in like manner for every 
 subsequent offense and conviction such de 
 fendant shall be liable to a fine of twenty- 
 five thousand dollars ($25,000.) Provided, 
 That in all cases under the provisions of 
 this act a preponderance of evidence in 
 favor of the people shall be sufficient to 
 authorize a verdict and judgment for the 
 people. 
 
 SEC. 6. If any such railroad corporation 
 shall, in violation of any of the provisions 
 of this act, ask, demand, charge, or receive 
 of any person or corporation, any extor 
 tionate charge or charges for the transpor 
 tation of any passengers, goods, mer 
 chandise, or property, or for receiving, 
 handling, or delivering freights, or shall 
 make any unjust discrimination against 
 any person or corporation in its charges 
 therefor, the person or corporation so of 
 fended against may for each offense re 
 cover of such raiiroad corporation, in any 
 form of action, three times the amount of 
 the damages sustained by the party ag 
 grieved, together with cost of suit and a 
 reasonable attorney's fee, to be fixed by 
 the court where the same is heard, on ap 
 
 peal or otherwise, and 
 the costs of the case. 
 
 taxed as a part of 
 
 SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the rail 
 road ad warehouse commissioners to per 
 sonally investigate and ascertain whether 
 the provisions of this act are violated by 
 any railroad corporation in this State, and 
 to visit the various stations upon the line 
 of each railroad for that purpose, as often 
 as practicable ; and whenever the facts in 
 any manner ascertained by said commis 
 sioners shall in their judgment warrant 
 such prosecution, it shall be the duty of 
 said commissioners to immediately cause 
 suits to be commenced and prosecuted 
 against any railroad corporation which 
 may violate the provisions of this act. 
 Such suits and prosecutions may be insti 
 tuted in any county in the State, through 
 or into which the line of the railroad cor 
 poration sued for violating this act may 
 extend. And such railroad and ware 
 house commissioners are hereby author 
 ized, when the facts of the case presented 
 to them shall, in their judgment, warrant 
 the commencement of such action, to em 
 ploy counsel to assist the Attorney General 
 
 thereto. 
 
 SEC. 8. The railroad and warehouse 
 commissioners are hereby directed to make 
 for each of the railroad corporations doing 
 business in this State, as soon as practi 
 cable, a schedule of reasonable maximum 
 rates of charges for the transportation of 
 passengers and freight and cars on each ot 
 said railroads ; and said schedule shall, in 
 all suits brought against any such railroad 
 corporations, wherein is in anv way in 
 volved the charges of any sucn railroad 
 corporation for the transportation of any 
 passenger or freight or cars, or unjust dis 
 crimination in relation thereto, be deemed 
 and taken, in all courts of this State, as 
 prima facie evidence that the rates therein 
 fixed are reasonable maximum rates of 
 charges for the transportation of passen 
 gers and freights and cars upon the rail 
 roads for which said schedules may have- 
 been respectively prepared. Said commis 
 sioners shall, from time to time, and as 
 often as circumstances may require, change 
 and revise said schedules. When such 
 schedules shall have been made or revised 
 as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of said 
 commissioners to cause publication thereof 
 to be made for three successive weeks, in 
 some public newspaper published in the 
 city of Springfield in this state : " Provided,. 
 That the schedules thus prepared shall 
 not be taken as prima facie evidence as 
 herein provided until schedules shall have 
 been prepared and published as aforesaid 
 for all the railroad companies now organ 
 ized under the laws of this State, and until 
 the fifteenth day of January, A.. D. 1874, 
 or until ten days after the meeting of the 
 next session of this General Assembly, 
 provided a session of the General Assembly 
 shall be held previous to the fifteenth day 
 of January aforesaid." All such schedules, 
 purporting to be printed and published as 
 aforesaid, shall be received and held, in 
 all such suits, as prima facie the schedules 
 of said commissioners, without further 
 proof than the production of the paper in 
 which they were published, together with 
 the certificate of the publisher of said 
 paper that the schedule therein contained 
 is a true copy of the schedule furnished 
 for publication by said commissioners, and 
 that it has been published the above speci 
 fied time ; and any such paper purporting 
 to have been published at said city, and to 
 be a public newspaper, shall be presumed 
 to have been so published at the date 
 thereof, and to be a public newspaper. 
 
 SEC. 10. In all cases under the provi 
 sions of this act, the rules of evidence shall 
 be the same as in other civil actions, ex- 
 
 in conducting such suit on behalf of the cept as hereinbefore otherwise provided. 
 State. No such suits commenced by said ! All fines recovered under the provisions of 
 commissioners shall be dismissed, except i this act shall be paid into the county 
 said railroad and warehouse commissioners 1 treasury of the county in which the suit is 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY CIVIL BIGHTS BILL. 
 
 221 
 
 tried, by the person collecting the same, 
 in the manner now provided by law, to be 
 used for county purposes. The remedies 
 hereby given shall be regarded as cumula 
 tive to the remedies now given by law 
 Zinst railroad corporations, and this act 
 11 not be construed as repealing any 
 statute giving such remedies. Suits com 
 menced under the provisions of this act 
 shall have precedence over all other busi 
 ness, except criminal business. 
 
 SEC. 11. The term "railroad corpora 
 tion," contained in this act, shall be 
 deemed and taken to mean all corpora 
 tions, companies, or individuals now own 
 ing or operating, or which may hereafter 
 own or operate any railroad, in whole or 
 in part, in this State ; and the provisions 
 of this act shall apply to all persons, firms, 
 and companies, and to all associations of 
 persons, whether incorporated or other 
 wise, that shall do business as common 
 carriers upon any of the lines of railways 
 in this State (street railways excepted) the 
 same as to railroad corporations therein 
 before mentioned. 
 
 SEC. 12. An act entitled " An act to pre 
 vent unjust discriminations and extortions 
 in the rates to be charged by the different 
 railroads in this State for the transporta 
 tion of freight on said roads," approved 
 April 7, A. D. 1871, is hereby repealed, 
 but such repeal shall not affect nor repeal 
 any penalty incurred or right accrued 
 under said act prior to the time this act 
 takes effect, nor any proceedings or prose 
 cutions to enforce such rights or penalties. 
 
 Approved May 2, 1873. 
 
 S. M. CULLOM, 
 
 Speaker House of Representatives. 
 JOHN EARLY, 
 
 President of the Senate. 
 JOHN L. BEVERIDGE, 
 
 Governor. 
 
 The same spirit, if not the same organi 
 zation, led to many petitions to Congress 
 for the regulation of inter-state commerce 
 and freight rates, and to some able reports 
 on the subject. Those which have com 
 manded most attention were by Senator 
 Windom of Minnesota and Representative 
 Reagan of Texas, the latter being the au 
 thor of a bill which commanded much 
 ronsideration from Congress in the sessions 
 of 1878-' 80, but which has not yet secured 
 favorable action. In lieu of such bill 
 Senator Cameron, of Pennsylvania, intro 
 duced a joint resolution for the appoint 
 ment of a Commission to investigate and 
 report upon the entire question. Final 
 action has not yet been taken, and at this 
 writing interest in the subject seems to 
 have flagged. 
 
 The disastrous political action attempted 
 by the Grangers in Illinois and Wisconsin, 
 led to such general condemnation that sub 
 
 sequent attempts were abandoned save in 
 isolated cases, and as a rule the society has 
 passed away. The principle upon which 
 it was based was wholly unsound, and if 
 strictly carried out, would destroy all home 
 improvements and enterprise. Parties and 
 societies based upon a class, and directed 
 or perverted toward political objects, are 
 very happily short-lived in this Republic 
 of ours. If they could thrive, the Repub 
 lic could not long endure. 
 
 Supplementary Civil Rights Bill. 
 
 Senator Sumner's Supplementary Civil 
 Rights Bill was passed by the second ses 
 sion of the 43d Congress, though its great 
 author had died the year before March 
 llth, 1874. The text of the Act is given 
 in Book Y. of this volume, on Existing 
 Political Laws. Its validity was sustained 
 by the IT. S. District Courts in their in 
 structions to grand juries. The first con 
 viction under the Act was in Philadelphia, 
 in February, 1876. Rev. Fields Cook, 
 pastor of the Third Baptist colored church 
 of Alexandria, Virginia, was refused sleep 
 ing and eating accommodations at the Bing- 
 ham House, by Upton S. Newcomer, one 
 of its clerks ; and upon the trial of the 
 case, in the U. S. District Court, JOHN 
 CADWALADER, Judge, instructed the jury 
 as follows : 
 
 The fourteenth amendment of the Con 
 stitution of the United States makes all 
 persons born or naturalized in the United 
 States, and subject to the jurisdiction 
 thereof, citizens of the United States, and 
 provides that no State shall make or en 
 force any law which shall abridge the 
 privileges or immunities of citizens of the 
 United States; nor shall any State * * * 
 deny to any person within its jurisdiction 
 the equal protection of the laws. This 
 amendment expressly gives to Congress 
 the power to enforce it by appropriate 
 legislation. An act of Congress of March 
 1, 1875, enacts that all persons within the 
 jurisdiction of the United States shall be 
 entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of 
 the accommodations, advantages, facilities 
 and privileges of inns, public conveyances 
 on land or water, theatres and other places 
 of public amusement, subject only to the 
 conditions and limitations established by 
 law, and applicable alike to citizens of 
 every race and color, and makes it a crimi 
 nal offense to violate these enactments by 
 denying to any citizen, except for reasons 
 by law applicable to citizens of every race 
 and color, * * * the full enjoyment of any 
 of the accommodations, advantages, facili 
 ties or privileges enumerated. As the law 
 of Pennsylvania had stood until the 22d of 
 March, 1867, it was not wrongful for inn 
 keepers or carriers by land or water to dis- 
 
222 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 criminate against travelers of the colored 
 race to such an extent as to exclude them 
 from any part of the inns or public con 
 veyances which was set apart for the ex 
 clusive accommodation of white travelers. 
 The Legislature of Pennsylvania, by an 
 act of 22d of March, 1867, altered the law 
 in this respect as to passengers on railroads. 
 But the law of the State was not changed 
 as to inns by any act of the State Legisla 
 ture. Therefore, independently of the 
 amendment of the Constitution of the 
 United States and of the act of Congress 
 now in question, the conduct of the de 
 fendant on the occasion in question might, 
 perhaps, have been lawful. It is not ne 
 cessary to express an opinion upon this 
 point, because the decision of the case de 
 pends upon the effect of this act of Con 
 gress. I am under opinion that under the 
 Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitu 
 tion the enactment of this law was within 
 the legislative power of Congress, and that 
 we are bound to give effect to the act of 
 Congress according to its fair meaning. 
 According to this meaning of the act I am 
 of opinion that if this defendant, being in 
 charge of the business of receiving travelers 
 in this inn, and of providing necessary and 
 proper accommodations for them in it, re 
 fused such accommodations to the witness 
 Cook, then a traveler, by reason of his 
 color, the defendant is guilty in manner 
 and form as he stands indicted. If the 
 case depended upon the unsupported tes 
 timony of this witness alone, there might 
 be some reason to doubt whether this de 
 fendant was the person in charge of this 
 part of the business. But under this head 
 the additional testimony of Mr. Annan 
 seems to be sufficient to remove all reason 
 able doubt. If the jury are convinced of 
 the defendant's identity, they will con 
 sider whether any reasonable doubt of his 
 conduct or motives in refusing the accom 
 modations to Fields Cook can exist. The 
 case appears to the court to be proved ; but 
 this question is for the jury, not for the 
 court. If the jury have any reasonable 
 doubt, they should find the defendant not 
 guilty ; otherwise they will find him guilty 
 The jury brought in a verdict of guilty 
 March 1, 1876, and the Court imposed '< 
 fine of $500. 
 
 The Morton Amendment. 
 
 In the session of '73, Senator Morton, o 
 Indiana, introduced an amendment to the 
 Constitution providing for the general 
 choice of Presidential Electors by Con 
 gressional districts, and delivered several 
 speeches on the subject which attractec 
 much attention at the time. Since then 
 many amendments have been introducec 
 on the subject, and it is a matter for an 
 nual discussion. We quote the Morton 
 
 \mendment as the one most likely to com- 
 land favorable action : 
 " Resolved by the Senate and House of Rep 
 resentatives of the United States of America 
 n Congress assembled, (two-thirds of each 
 louse concurring therein :) That the fol- 
 owing article is hereby proposed as an 
 amendment to the Constitution of the 
 United States, and, when ratified by the 
 egislatures of three-fourths of the several 
 States, shall be valid, to all intents and 
 purposes, as a part of the Constitution, to 
 wit: 
 
 " ARTICLE . 
 
 'I. The President and Vice-President 
 ihall be elected by the direct vote of the 
 people in the manner following: Each 
 State shall be divided into districts, equal 
 n number to the number of Representa 
 tives to which the State may be entitled 
 n the Congress, to be composed of con- 
 iguous territory, and to be as nearly equal 
 .n population as may be ; and the person 
 having the highest number of votes in each 
 district for President shall receive the vote 
 of that district, which shall count one pres- 
 dential vote. 
 
 "II. The person having the highest 
 number of votes for President in a State 
 shall receive two presidential votes from 
 the State at large. 
 
 " III. The person having the highest 
 number of presidential votes in the United 
 States shall be President. 
 
 " IV. If two persons have the same 
 number of votes in any State, it being the 
 highest number, they shall receive each 
 one presidential vote from the State at 
 large ; and if more than two persons shall 
 have each the same number of votes in any 
 State, it being the highest number, no 
 presidential vote shall be counted from the 
 State at large. If more persons than one 
 shall have the same number of votes, it 
 being the highest number in any district, 
 no presidential vote shall be counted from 
 that district. 
 
 " V. The foregoing provisions shall ap 
 ply to the election of Vice-President. 
 
 " VI. The Congress shall have power to 
 provide for holding and conducting the 
 elections of President and Vice-President, 
 and to establish tribunals for the decision 
 of such elections as may be contested." 
 
 VII. The States shall be divided into 
 districts by the legislatures thereof, but the 
 Congress may at any time by law make or 
 alter the same. 
 
 The present mode of election is given in 
 Book V. of this volume. 
 
 The -Whisky Ring. 
 
 During 1875 an extensive Whisky Ring, 
 organized to control revenue legislation 
 and avoidance of revenue taxes, was dia- 
 
THE WHITE LEAGUE. 
 
 223 
 
 covered in the West. It was an associa 
 tion of distillers in collusion with Federal 
 officers, and for a time it succeeded in de 
 frauding the government of the tax on dis 
 tilled spirits. This form of corruption, 
 after the declaration by President Grant 
 'let no guilty man escape" was traced 
 by detectives to the portals of the White 
 House, but even partisan rancor could not 
 connect the President therewith. O. E. 
 Babcock, however, was his private Secre 
 tary, and upon him was charged complicity 
 with the fraud. He was tried and acquit 
 ted, but had to resign. Several Federal 
 officers were convicted at St. Louis. 
 
 Impeachment of Belknap. 
 
 Another form of corruption was dis 
 covered in 1876, when the House im 
 peached Wm. W. Belknap, the Secretary 
 of War, on the charge of selling an Indian 
 trading establishment. The first and main 
 specification was, that 
 
 On or about the second day of Novem 
 ber, eighteen hundred and seventy, said 
 William W. Belknap, while Secretary of 
 War as aforesaid, did receive from Caleb 
 P. Marsh fifteen hundred dollars, in con 
 sideration of his having appointed said 
 John S. Evans to maintain a trading- 
 establishment at Fort Sill aforesaid, and 
 for continuing him therein. 
 
 The following summary of the record 
 shows the result, and that Belknap escaped 
 punishment by a refusal of two-thirds to 
 vote "guilty:" 
 
 The examination of witnesses was be 
 gun, and continued on various days, till 
 July 26, when the case was closed. 
 
 August 1. The SENATE voted. On the 
 first article, thirty-five voted guilty, and 
 twenty-five not guilty. On the second, 
 third and fourth, Mr. MAXEY made the 
 thirty-sixth who voted guilty. On the fifth, 
 Mr. MORTON made the thirty-seventh who 
 voted guilty. The vote on first was : 
 
 VOTING GUILTY Messrs. Bayard, 
 BOOTH, Cameron of Pennsylvania, Cockrell, 
 Cooper, Davis, Dawes, Dennis, Edmunds, 
 Gordon, Hamilton, Harvey, Hitchcock, 
 Kelly, Kernan, Key, Me Cr eery, McDonald, 
 Merrimon, Mitchell, Morrill of Vermont, 
 Norwood, Oglesby, Randolph, Ransom, 
 Robertson, Sargent, Saulsbury, Sherman, 
 Stevenson, Thurman, Wadleigh, Wallace, 
 Whyte, Withers 35. 
 
 VOTING NOT GUILTY Messrs. Allison, 
 Anthony, Boutwell, Bruce, Cameron of 
 Wisconsin, Christiancy, Conkling, Cono- 
 ver, Cragin, Dorsey, Eaton, Ferry of Michi 
 gan, Frelinghuysen, Hamlin, Howe, In- 
 galls, Jones of Nevada, Logan, McMillan, 
 Paddock, Patterson, Spencer, West, Win- 
 dom, Wright 25. 
 
 Mr. JONES of Florida declined to vote. 
 
 Those "voting not guilty" generally de 
 nied jurisdiction, and so voted accordingly. 
 Belknap had resigned and the claim was 
 set up that he was a private citizen. 
 
 The White League. 
 
 By 1874 the Democrats of the South, 
 who then generally classed themselves as 
 Conservatives, had gained control of all 
 the State governments except those of 
 Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina. 
 In nearly all, the Republican governments 
 had called upon President Grant for mili 
 tary aid in maintaining their positions, but 
 this was declined except in the presence of 
 such outbreak as the proper State authori 
 ties could not suppress. In Arkansas, 
 Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas, Grant 
 declined to interfere save to cause the 
 Attorney General to give legal advice. 
 The condition of all these governments 
 demanded constant attention from the Ex 
 ecutive, and his task was most difficult and 
 dangerous. The cry came from the Demo 
 cratic partisans in the South for home-rule ; 
 another came from the negroes that they 
 were constantly disfranchised, intimidated 
 and assaulted by the White League, a body 
 of men organized in the Gulf States for 
 the purpose of breaking up the " carpet 
 bag governments." So conflicting were 
 the stories, and so great the fear of a final 
 and destructive war of races, that the Con 
 gressional elections in the North were for 
 the first time since the war greatly in 
 fluenced. The Forty-fourth Congress, vvhich 
 met in December, 1875, had been changed 
 by what was called " the tidal wave," from 
 Republican to Democratic, and M. C. Kerr r 
 of Indiana, was elected Speaker. The 
 Senate remained Republican with a re 
 duced margin. 
 
 The troubles in the South, and especially 
 in Louisiana, had been in the year previous 
 and were still of the gravest character. 
 Gen'l Sheridan had been sent to New Or 
 leans and on the 10th of January, 1875, 
 made a report which startled the country 
 as to the doings of the White League. As 
 it still remains a subject for frequent quo 
 tation we give its text : 
 
 SHERIDAN'S REPORT. 
 NEW ORLEANS, January 10, 1875. 
 HON. W. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War .- 
 Since the year 1866, nearly thirty-five 
 hundred persons, a great majority of whom 
 were colored men, have been killed and 
 wounded in this State. In 1868 the official 
 record shows that eighteen hundred and 
 eighty-four were killed and wounded. 
 From 1868 to the present time, no official 
 investigation has been made, and the civil 
 authorities in all but a few cases have been 
 
224 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 unable to arrest, convict and punish per 
 petrators. Consequently, there are no cor 
 rect records to be consulted for informa 
 tion. There is ample evidence, however, 
 to show that more than twelve hundred 
 persons have been killed and wounded du 
 ring this time, on account of their political 
 sentiments. Frightful massacres have oc 
 curred in the parishes of Bossier, Caddo, 
 Catahoula, Saint Bernard, Saint Landry, 
 Grant and Orleans. The general charac 
 ter of the massacres in the above named, 
 parishes is so well known that it is unneces 
 sary to describe them. The isolated cases 
 can best be illustrated by the following in 
 stances which I have taken from a mass 
 of evidence now lying before me of men 
 killed on account of their political princi 
 ples. In Natchitoches Parish, the num 
 ber of isolated cases reported is thirty- 
 three. In the parish of Bienville, the 
 number of men killed is thirty. In Ked 
 River Parish the number of isolated cases 
 of men killed is thirty-four. In Winn Par 
 ish the number of isolated cases where men 
 were killed is fifteen. In Jackson Parish 
 the number killed is twenty ; and in Cata 
 houla Parish the number of isolated cases 
 reported where men were killed is fifty ; 
 and most of the country parishes through 
 out the State will show a corresponding 
 state of affairs. The following statement 
 will illustrate the character and kind of 
 these outrages. On the 29th of August, 
 1874, in Eed Eiver Parish, six State and 
 parish officers, named Twitchell, Divers, 
 Holland, Howell, Edgerton and Willis, 
 were taken, together with four negroes, 
 under guard, to be carried out of the State, 
 and were deliberately murdered on the 30th 
 of August, 1874. The White League tried, 
 sentenced, and hung two negroes on the 
 28th of August, 1874. Three negroes were 
 shot and killed at Brownsville, just before 
 the arrival of the United States troops in 
 the parish. Two White Leaguers rode up 
 to a negro cabin and called for a drink of 
 water. When the old colored man turned 
 to draw it, they shot him in the back and 
 killed him. The courts were all broken 
 up in this district, and the district judge 
 driven out. In the parish of Caddo, prior 
 to the arrival of the United States troops, 
 all of the officers at Shreveport were com 
 pelled to abdicate by the White League, 
 which took possession of the place. Among 
 those obliged to abdicate were Walsh, the 
 mayor, Rapers, the sheriff, Wheaton, clerk 
 of the court, Durant, the recorder, and 
 Ferguson and Renfro, administrators. Two 
 colored men, who had given evidence in 
 regard to frauds committed in the parish, 
 were compelled to flee for their lives and 
 reached this city last night, having been 
 smuggled through in a cargo of cotton. In 
 the parish of Bossier the White League 
 have attempted to force the abdication of 
 
 Judge Baker, the United States Commis 
 sioner and parish judge, together with 
 O'Neal, the sheriff, and Walker, the clerk 
 of the court ; and they have compelled the 
 parish and district courts to suspend opera 
 tions. Judge Baker states that the White 
 Leaguers notified him several times that if 
 he became a candidate on the republican 
 ticket, or if he attempted to organize the 
 republican party, he should not live until 
 election. 
 
 They also tried to intimidate him through 
 his family by making the same threats to 
 his wife, and when told by him that he was 
 a United States commissioner, they notified 
 him not to attempt to exercise the functions 
 of his office. In but few of the country 
 parishes can it be truly said that the law is 
 properly enforced, and in some of the par 
 ishes the judges have not been able to hold 
 court for the past two years. Human life 
 in this State is held so cheaply, that when 
 men are killed on account of political 
 opinions, the murderers are regarded rather 
 as heroes than as criminals, in the locali 
 ties where they reside, and by the White 
 League and their supporters An illustra 
 tion of the ostracism that prevails in the 
 State may be found in a resolution of a 
 White League club in the parish of De 
 Soto, which states, "That they pledge 
 themselves under (no?) circumstances after 
 the coming election to employ, rent land 
 to, or in any other manner give aid, com 
 fort, or credit, to any man, white or black, 
 who votes against the nominees of the 
 white man's party." Safety for individuals 
 who express their opinion in the isolated 
 portion of this State has existed only when 
 that opinion was in favor of the principles 
 and party supported by the Ku-Klux and 
 White League organizations. Only yes 
 terday Judge Myers, the parish judge of 
 the parish of Natchitoches, called on me 
 upon his arrival in this city, and stated 
 that in order to reach here alive, he was 
 obliged to leave his home by stealth, and 
 after nightfall, and make his way to Little 
 Rock, Arkansas, and come to this city by 
 way of Memphis. He further states that 
 while his father was lying at the point of 
 death in the same village, he was unable 
 to visit him for fear of assassination ; and 
 yet he is a native of the parish, and pro 
 scribed for his political sentiments only. 
 It is more than probable that if bad gov 
 ernment has existed in this State it is the 
 result of the armed organizations, which 
 have now crystallized into what is called the 
 White League ; instead of bad government 
 developing them, they have by their ter 
 rorism prevented to a considerable extent 
 the collection of taxes, the holding of 
 courts, the punishment of criminals, and 
 vitiated public sentiment by familiarizing 
 it with the scenes above described. I am 
 now engaged in compiling evidence for a 
 
THE WHITE LEAGUE. 
 
 225 
 
 detailed report upon the above subject, but 
 it will be some time before I can obtain 
 all the requisite data to cover the cases 
 that have occurred throughout the State. 
 I will also report in due time upon the same 
 subject in the States of Arkansas and Mis 
 sissippi. 
 
 P. H. SHERIDAN, 
 Lieutenant- General. 
 
 ' President Grant said in a special mes- 
 jsage to Congress, January 13, 1875 : 
 
 "It has been bitterly and persistently 
 alleged that Kellogg was not elected. 
 Whether he was or not is not altogether 
 certain, nor is it any more certain that his 
 competitor, McEnery, was chosen. The 
 election was a gigantic fraud, and there are 
 no reliable returns of its result. Kellogg 
 obtained possession of the office, and in 
 my opinion has more right to it than his 
 competitor. 
 
 " On the 20th of February, 1873, the 
 Committee on Privileges and Elections of 
 the Senate made a report, in which they 
 say they were satisfied by testimony that 
 the manipulation of the election machinery 
 by Warmoth and others was equivalent to 
 twenty thousand votes ; and they add, to 
 recognize the McEnery government 
 ' would be recognizing a government based 
 upon fraud, in defiance of the wishes and 
 intention of the voters of the State.' As 
 suming the correctness of the statements 
 in this report, (and they seem to have been 
 generally accepted by the country,) the 
 great crime in Louisiana, about which so 
 much has been said, is, that one is holding 
 the office of governor who was cheated out 
 of twenty thousand votes, against another 
 whose title to the office is undoubtedly 
 based on fraud, and in defiance of the 
 wishes and intentions of the voters of the 
 State. 
 
 " Misinformed and misjudging as to the 
 nature and extent of this report, the sup 
 porters of McEnery proceeded to displace 
 by force in some counties of the State the 
 appointees of Governor Kellogg ; and on 
 the 13th of April, in an effort of that kind, 
 a butchery of citizens was committed at 
 Colfax, which in blood-thirstiness and bar 
 barity is hardly surpassed by any acts of 
 savage warfare. 
 
 " To put this matter beyond controversy, 
 I quote from the charge of Judge Woods, 
 of the United States circuit court, to the 
 jury in the case of the United States vs. 
 Cruikshank and others, in New Orleans, 
 in March, 1874. He said : 
 
 " ' In the case on trial there are many 
 facts not in controversy. I proceed to 
 state some of them in the presence and 
 hearing of counsel on both sides ; and if I 
 state as a conceded fact any matter that is 
 disputed, they can correct me.' 
 - After stating the origin of the diffi- 
 
 15 
 
 culty, which grew put of an attempt of 
 white persons to drive the parish judge 
 and sheriff, appointees of Kellogg, from 
 office, and their attempted protection by 
 colored persons, which led to some fight 
 ing in which quite a number of negroes 
 were killed, the judge states : 
 
 " ' Most of those who were not killed 
 were taken prisoners. Fifteen or sixteen 
 of the blacks had lifted the boards and 
 taken refuge under the floor of the court 
 house. They were all captured. About 
 thirty -seven men were taken prisoners; 
 the number is not definitely fixed. They 
 were kept under guard until dark. They 
 were led out, two by two, and shot. Most 
 of the men were shot to death. A few 
 were wounded, not mortally, and by pre 
 tending to be dead were afterward, during 
 the night, able to make their escape. 
 Among them was the Levi Nelson named 
 in the indictment. 
 
 " ' The dead bodies of the negroes killed 
 in this affair were left unburied until Tues 
 day, April 15, when they were buried by a 
 deputy marshal and an officer of the 
 militia from New Orleans. These persons 
 found fifty-nine dead bodies. They show 
 ed pistol-shot wounds, the great majority 
 in the head, and most of them in the back 
 of the head. In addition to the fifty-nine 
 dead bodies found, some charred remains 
 of dead bodies were discovered near the 
 court-house. Six dead bodies were found 
 under a warehouse, all shot in the head 
 but one or two, which were shot in the 
 breast. 
 
 " ' The only white men injured from the 
 beginning of these troubles to their close 
 were Hadnot and Harris. The court 
 house and its contents were entirely con 
 sumed. 
 
 " ' There is no evidence that any one in 
 the crowd of whites bore any lawful war 
 rant for the arrest of any of the blacks. 
 There is no evidence that either Nash or 
 Cazabat, after the affair, ever demanded 
 their offices, to which they had set up 
 claim, but Register continued to act as 
 parish judge, and Shaw as Sheriff. 
 
 " ' These are facts in this case, as I under 
 stand them to be admitted.' 
 
 " To hold the people of Louisiana gen 
 erally responsible for these atrocities would 
 not be just ; but it is a lamentable fact that 
 insuperable obstructions were thrown in 
 the way of punishing these murderers, and 
 the so-called conservative papers of the 
 State not only justified the massacre, but 
 denounced as Federal tyranny and despot 
 ism the attempt of the United States offi 
 cers to bring them to justice. Fierce de 
 nunciations ring through the country 
 about office-holding and election matters 
 in Louisiana, while everyone of the Colfax 
 miscreants goes unwhipped of justice, and 
 no way can be found in this boasted land 
 
226 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 of civilization and Christianity to punish 
 the perpetrators of this bloody and mon 
 strous crime. 
 
 " Not unlike this was the massacre in 
 August last. Several northern young men 
 of capital and enterprise had started the 
 little and nourishing town of Coushatta. 
 Some of them were republicans and office 
 holders under Kellogg. They were there 
 fore doomed to death. Six of them were 
 seized and carried away from their homes 
 and murdered in cold blood. No one has 
 been punished ; and the conservative press 
 of the State denounced all efforts to that 
 end, and boldly justified the crime." 
 
 The House on the 1st of March, 1875, 
 by a strict party vote, 155 Republicans to 
 86 Democrats, recognized the Kellogg gov 
 ernment. The Senate did the same on 
 March 5th, by 33 to 23, also a party vote. 
 
 Under the influence of the resolution 
 unanimously adopted by the House of 
 Representatives of the United States, 
 recommending that the House of Repre 
 sentatives of that State seat the persons 
 rightfully entitled thereto from certain 
 districts, the whole subject was, by consent 
 of parties, referred to the Special Commit 
 tee of the House who examined into 
 Louisiana affairs, viz. : Messrs. George F. 
 Hoar, William A. Wheeler, William P. 
 Frye, Charles Foster, William Walter 
 Phelps, Clarkson N. Potter and Samuel S. 
 Marshall, who, after careful examination, 
 made an award, which was adopted by the 
 Legislature in April, 1875. It is popularly 
 known as the " Wheeler Compromise." 
 
 Text of tlie Wheeler Compromise. 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, March, 1875. 
 
 Whereas, It is desirable to adjust the 
 difficulties growing out of the general elec 
 tion in this State, in 1872, the action of 
 the Returning Board in declaring and pro 
 mulgating the results of the general elec 
 tion, in the month of November last, and 
 the organization of the House of Repre 
 sentatives, on the 4th day of January last, 
 such adjustment being deemed necessary 
 to the re-establishment of peace and order 
 in this State. 
 
 Now, therefore, the undersigned mem 
 bers of the Conservative party, claiming to 
 have been elected members of the House 
 of Representatives, and that their certifi 
 cates of election have been illegally with 
 held by the Returning Board, hereby 
 severally agree to submit their claims to 
 seats in the House of Representatives to 
 the award and arbitrament of George F. 
 Hoar, William A. Wheeler, William P. 
 Frye, Charles Foster, William Walter 
 Phelps, Clarkson N. Potter, and Samuel S. 
 Marshall, who are hereby authorized to 
 examine and determine the same upon the 
 equities of the several cases ; and when 
 
 such awards shall be made, we hereby 
 severally agree to abide by. the same : 
 
 And such of us as may become members 
 of the House of Representatives, under 
 this arrangement, hereby severally agree 
 to sustain by our influence and votes the 
 joint resolution herein set forth. 
 
 [Here follow the signatures of the Demo 
 crats who claimed that their certificates of 
 election as members of the House of Re- 
 
 Eresentatives had been illegally withheld 
 y the Returning Board.] 
 
 And the undersigned claiming to havef 
 been elected Senators from the Eighth and 
 Twenty-Second Senatorial Districts, hereby 
 agree to submit their' claims to the fore 
 going award and arbitrament, and in all 
 respects to abide the results of the same. 
 
 [Here follow the signatures of the Demo 
 crats, who made a like claim as to seats in 
 the Senate.] 
 
 And the undersigned, holding certifi 
 cates of election from the Returning Board, 
 hereby severally agree that upon the com 
 ing in of the award of the foregoing arbi 
 trators they will, when the same shall have 
 been ratified by the report of the Commit 
 tee on Elections and Qualifications of the 
 body in session at the State House claim 
 ing to be the House of Representatives, 
 attend the sitting of the said House for the 
 purpose of adopting said report, and if 
 said report shall be adopted, and the mem 
 bers embraced in the foregoing report 
 shall be seated, then the undersigned seve 
 rally agree that immediately upon the 
 adoption of said report they will vote for 
 the following joint resolution : 
 
 [Here follow the signatures of the Demo 
 cratic members of the House of Represen 
 tatives in relation to whose seats there was 
 no controversy.] 
 
 JOINT RESOLUTION. 
 
 Resolved, by the General Assembly of the 
 State of Louisiana, That said Assembly, 
 without approving the same, will not dis 
 turb the present State Government claim 
 ing to have been elected in 1872, known as 
 the Kellogg Government, or seek to im 
 peach the Governor for any past official 
 acts, and that henceforth it will accord to 
 said Governor all necessary and legitimate 
 support in maintaining the laws and ad 
 vancing the peace and prosperity of the 
 people of this State : and that the House 
 of Representatives, as to its members, as 
 constituted under the award of George F. 
 Hoar, W. A. Wheeler, W. P. Frye, Charles 
 Foster, Samuel S. Marshall, Clarkson 
 N. Potter, and William Walter Phelps, 
 shall remain without change except by 
 resignation or death of members until a 
 new general election, and that the Senate, 
 as now organized, shall also remain un 
 changed except so far as thafr body shall 
 make changes on contests. 
 
TEXT OF THE WHEELER COMPROMISE. 
 
 227 
 
 TEXT OF THE AWARD. 
 
 NEW YORK, March 13, 1875. 
 The undersigned having been requested 
 to examine the claims of the persons here 
 inafter named to seats in the Senate and 
 House of Representatives of the State 
 of Louisiana, and having examined the re 
 turns and the evidence relating to such 
 claims, are of opinion, and do hereby find, 
 award and determine, that F. S. Goode is 
 entitled to a seat in the Senate from the 
 Twenty-second Senatorial District; and 
 that J. B. Elam is not entitled to a seat in 
 the Senate from the Eighth Senatorial 
 District; and that the following named 
 persons are entitled to seats in the House 
 of Representatives from the following 
 named parishes respectively: From the 
 Parish of Assumption, R. R. Beaseley, E. 
 F. X. Dugas ; from the Parish of Bien- 
 ville, James Brice ; from the Parish of De 
 Soto, J. S. Scales, Charles Schuler; from 
 the Parish of Jackson, E. Kidd ; from the 
 Parish of Rapides, James Jeffries, R. C. 
 Lucktstt, G. W. Stafford ; from the Parish 
 of Terrebone, Edward McCollum, W. H. 
 Keyes ; from the Parish of Winn, George 
 A. Kelley. And that the following named 
 persons are not entitled to seats which 
 they claim from the following named 
 parishes respectively, but that the persons 
 now holding seats from said parishes are 
 entitled to retain the seats now held by 
 them ; from the Parish of Avoyelles, J. O. 
 Quinn ; from the Parish of Iberie, W. F. 
 Schwing ; from the Parish of Caddo, A. 
 D. Land, T. R. Vaughan, J. J. Horan. 
 We are of opinion that no person is en 
 titled to a seat from the Parish of Grant. 
 
 In regard to most of the cases, the 
 undersigned are unanimous; as to the 
 others the decision is that of a majority. 
 GEORGE F. HOAR, 
 W. A. WHEELER, 
 W. P. FRYE, 
 CHARLES FOSTER, 
 CLARKSON N. POTTER, 
 WILLIAM WALTER PHELPS, 
 SAMUEL S. MARSHALL. 
 
 This adjustment and award were accept 
 ed and observed, until the election in No- 
 vem "er, 1876, when a controversy arose as 
 to tlie result, the Republicans claiming the 
 election of Stephen B. Packard as Govern 
 or by about 3,500 majority, and a Republi 
 can Legislature ; and the Democrats claim 
 ing the election of Francis T. Nicholls as 
 Governor, by about 8,000 majority, and a 
 Democratic Legislature. Committees of 
 gentlemen visited New Orleans, by reques 
 of President Grant and of various politi 
 cal organizations, to witness the count o 
 the votes by the Returning Board. Anc 
 in December, 1876, on the meeting of Con 
 gress, committees of investigation were ap 
 pointed by the Senate and by the House o:" 
 
 Representatives. Exciting events were 
 now daily transpiring. On the 1st of Jan 
 uary, 1877, the Legislature organized in the 
 State House without exhibitions of vio- 
 ence. The Democrats did not unite in the 
 proceedings, but met in a separate build- 
 ng, and organized a separate Legislature. 
 Telegraphic communication was had be- 
 ;ween the State House and the Custom 
 Souse, where was the office of Marshal 
 Pitkin, who with the aid of the United 
 States troops, was ready for any emergency. 
 About noon the Democratic members, ac 
 companied by about 500 persons, called at 
 the State House and demanded admission. 
 The officer on duty replied that the mem- 
 
 s could enter, but the crowd could not. 
 A formal demand was then made upon 
 General Badger and other officials, by the 
 pokesman, for the removal of the obstruc 
 tions, barricades, police, etc., which pre 
 vented the ingress of members, which being 
 denied, Col. Bush, in behalf of the crowd, 
 read a formal protest, and the Democrats 
 retired. Gov. Kellogg was presented by a 
 committee with a copy of the protest, and 
 he replied, that as chief magistrate and 
 conservator of the peace of the State, be 
 lieving that there was danger of the or T 
 ganization of the General Assembly being 
 violently interfered with, he had caused a 
 police force to be stationed in the lower 
 portion of the building ; that he had no 
 motive but to preserve the peace ; that no 
 member or attache of either house will be 
 interfered with in any way, and that no 
 United States troops are stationed in the 
 capitol building. Clerk Trezevant declined 
 to call the House to order unless the police 
 men were removed. Upon the refusal to do 
 so, he withdrew, when Louis Sauer, a mem 
 ber, called the roll, and 68 members a full 
 House being 120 answered to their names. 
 Ex-Gov. Hahn was elected Speaker, re 
 ceiving 53 votes as against 15 for Ex-Gov. 
 Warmoth. 
 
 The Senate was organized by Lieutenant- 
 Governor Antoine with 19 present a full 
 Senate being 30 eight of whom held over, 
 and 11 were returned by the Board. Gov. 
 Kellogg's message was presented 'to each 
 House. 
 
 The Democrats organized their Legisla 
 ture in St. Patrick's hall. The Senators 
 were called to order by Senator Ogden. 
 Nineteen Senators, including nine holding 
 over, and four, who were counted out by 
 the board, were present. 
 
 The Democratic members of the House 
 were called to order by Clerk Trezevant, 
 and 61 answered to their names. Louis 
 Bush was elected Speaker. 
 
 January 3d Republican Legislature 
 passed a resolution asking for military pro 
 tection against apprehended Democratic 
 violence, and it was telegraphed to the 
 President. 
 
228 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 On Sunday, January 8th, Gov. Kellogg 
 telegraphed to President Grant to the same 
 effect. 
 
 January 8th Stephen B. Packard took 
 the oath of office as Governor, and C. C. 
 Antoine as Lieutenant-Governor, at the 
 Brate House at 1 : 30, in the presence of the 
 Legislature. 
 
 January 8 Francis T. Nicholls and L. 
 A. Wiltz to-day took the oath of office of 
 Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, re 
 spectively, on the balcony of St. Patrick's 
 hall. 
 
 By the llth of January both parties were 
 waiting for the action of the authorities at 
 Washington. Gov. Packard to-day com 
 missioned A. S. Badger Major-General of 
 the State National Guard, and directed him 
 to organize the first division at once. Two 
 members of the Packard Legislature, Mr. 
 Barrett, of Rapides, and Mr. Kennedy, of 
 fet. Charles, had withdrawn from that 
 body and gone over to the Nicholls Legis 
 lature. 
 
 Messrs. Breux, Barrett, Kennedy, Es- 
 topiyal. Wheeler, and Hamlet, elected as 
 Republicans, under the advice of Pinch- 
 back a defeated Republican candidate for 
 II. S. Senator, left the Packard or Repub 
 lican, and joined the Nicholls Legislature. 
 
 On the 15th, Governor Packard, after 
 receiving a copy of the telegram of the 
 President to General Augur, issued a 
 proclamation aimed at the " organized and 
 armed combination and conspiracy of men 
 now offering unlawful and violent resist 
 ance to the lawful authority of the State 
 government." 
 
 The Nicholls court issued an order to 
 Sheriff Handy to provide the means for 
 protecting the court from any violence or 
 intrusion on the part of the adherents of 
 "S. B. Packard, a wicked and shameless 
 impostor." 
 
 Governor Packard on the 16th, in a let 
 ter to Gen. Augur, acknowledges the re 
 ceipt of a communication from his aide- 
 de-camp asking for assurances from him 
 that the President's wishes concerning the 
 preservation of the present status be re- 
 gpected, and says that the request would 
 have been more appropriate if made im 
 mediately after his installation as Gov 
 ernor and before many of the main 
 branc-hes of the Government had been 
 forcibly taken possession of by the oppo 
 sition. He says : " I had scarcely taken 
 the oath of office when the White 'League 
 were called to arms; the Court room and 
 the records of the Supreme Court of the 
 State were forcibly taken possession of, 
 and various precinct police-stations were 
 captured in like manner by overwhelm 
 ing forces. Orders had been issued by the 
 Secretary of War early on that day that 
 all unauthorized armed bodies should de- 
 gist. A dispatch from yourself of the same 
 
 date to the Secretary of War, conveyed 
 the assurances that Nicholls had promised 
 the disbandment of his armed forces. * 
 * * * It was my understanding, that 
 neither side should be permitted to inter 
 fere with the status of the other side. Yet 
 the day after this order was received and 
 the pledge given by Nicholls, a force of 
 several hundred armed White Leaguers 
 repaired to the State Arsenal and took there 
 from into their own keeping five pieces of 
 artillery, and a garrison of armed men was 
 placed in and around the Supreme Court 
 building. That on the following day, Jan 
 uary 11, an armed company of the White 
 League broke into and took possession of 
 the office of the Recorder of Mortgages. 
 * * * In view of all these facts it 
 seemed to me that to give the pledge ver 
 bally asked of me this morning would 
 be to sanction revolution, and by acquies 
 cence give it the force of accomplished 
 fact, and I therefore declined." 
 
 Many telegrams followed between the 
 Secretary of War, J. Don. Cameron, Gen'l 
 Augur and Mr. Packard, the latter daily 
 complaining of new " outrages by the 
 White League," while the Nicholls gov 
 ernment professed to accord rights to all 
 classes, and to obey the instructions from 
 Washington, to faithfully maintain the 
 status of affairs until decisive action should 
 be taken by the National government. 
 None was taken, President Grant being 
 unwilling to outline a Southern policy for 
 his successor in office. 
 
 Election of Hayes and Wheeler. 
 
 The troubles in the South, and the al 
 most general overthrow of the " carpet bag 
 government," impressed all with the fact 
 that the Presidential election of 1876 would 
 be exceedingly close and exciting, and the 
 result confirmed this belief. The Green- 
 backers were the first to meet in National 
 Convention, at Indianapolis, May 17th. 
 Peter Cooper of New York was nominated 
 for President, and Samuel F. Cary of Ohio, 
 for Vice President. 
 
 The Republican National Convention 
 met at Cincinnati, June 14th, with James 
 G. Blaine recognized as the leading candi 
 date. Grant had been named for a third 
 term, and there was a belief that his name 
 would be presented. Such was the feeling 
 on this question that the House of Con 
 gress and a Republican State Convention 
 in Pennsylvania, had passed resolutions 
 declaring that a third term for President 
 would be a violation of the " unwritten 
 law " handed down through the examples 
 of Washington, and Jackson. His name, 
 however, was not then presented. The "unit 
 rule " at this Convention was for the first 
 time resisted, and by the friends of Blaine, 
 
THE ELECTORAL COUNT. 
 
 229 
 
 with a view to release from instructions of 
 State Conventions some of his friends. 
 New York had instructed for Conkling, 
 and Pennsylvania for Hartranft. In both 
 of these states some delegates had been 
 chosen by their respective Congressional 
 districts, in advance of any State action, 
 and these elections were as a rule confirmed 
 by the State bodies. Where they were not, 
 there were contests, and the right of dis 
 trict representation was jeopardized if not 
 destroyed by the reinforcement of the 
 unit rule. It was therefore thought to be 
 a question of much importance by the war 
 ring interests. Hon. Edw. McPherson was 
 the temporary Chairman of the Conven 
 tion, and he took the earliest opportunity 
 presented to decide against the binding 
 force of the unit rule, and to assert the lib 
 erty of each delegate to vote as he pleased. 
 The Convention sustained the decision on 
 an appeal. 
 
 Ballots of the Cincinnati Republican 
 Convention, 1876 : 
 
 Ballots, 1234567 
 
 Blaine, 285 293 292 293 287 308 351 
 
 Conkling, 113 114 121 126 114 111 21 
 
 Bristow, 99 93 90 84 82 81 
 
 Morton, 124 120 113 108 95 85 
 
 Hayes, 61 64 67 68 102 113 384 
 
 Hartranft, 58 63 68 71 69 50 
 
 Jewell, 11 
 
 Washb'ne, 11334 
 
 Wheeler, 332222 
 
 Gen. Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, was 
 nominated for President, and Hon. Wm. A. 
 Wheeler, of New York, for Vice President. 
 
 The Democratic National Convention 
 met at St. Louis, June 28th. Great interest 
 was excited by the attitude of John Kel 
 ly, the Tammany leader of New York, 
 who was present and opposed with great 
 bitterness the nomination of Tilden. He 
 afterwards bowed to the will of the major 
 ity and supported him. Both the unit and 
 the two-thirds rule were observed in this 
 body, as they have long been by the Dem 
 ocratic party. On the second ballot, Hon. 
 Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, had 535 
 votes to 203 for all others. His leading 
 competitor was Hon. Thomas A. Hen- 
 dricks, of Indiana, who was nominated for 
 Vice President. 
 
 The Electoral Count. 
 
 The election followed Nov. 7th, 1876, 
 Hayes and Wheeler carrying all of the 
 Northern States except Connecticut, New 
 York, New Jersey and Indiana; Tilden 
 and Hendricks carried all of the Southern 
 States except South Carolina, Florida and 
 Louisiana. The three last named States 
 were claimed by the Democrats, but their 
 members of the Congressional Investiga 
 
 ting Committee quieted rival claims as to 
 South Carolina by agreeing that it had 
 fairly chosen the Republican electors. So 
 close was the result that success or failure 
 hinged upon the returns of Florida and 
 Louisiana, and for days and weeks conflict 
 ing stories and claims came from these 
 States. The Democrats claimed that they 
 had won on the face of the returns from 
 Louisiana, and that there was no authority 
 to go behind these. The Republicans pub 
 licly alleged frauds in nearly all of the 
 Southern States ; that the colored vote had ' 
 been violently suppressed in the Gulf 
 States, but they did not formally dispute 
 the face of the returns in any State save 
 where the returning boards gave them the 
 victory. This doubtful state of affairs in 
 duced a number of prominent politicians 
 of both the great parties to visit the State 
 capitals of South Carolina, Florida and 
 Louisiana to witness the count. Some of 
 these were appointed by President Grant; 
 others by the Democratic National Com 
 mittee, and both sets were at the time 
 called the " visiting statesmen," a phrase 
 on which the political changes were rung 
 for months and years thereafter. 
 
 The electoral votes of Florida were de 
 cided by the returning board to be Repub 
 lican by a majority of 926,' this after 
 throwing out the votes of several districts 
 where fraudulent returns were alleged to be 
 apparent or shown by testimony. The 
 Board was cited before the State Supreme 
 Court, which ordered a count of the face 
 of the returns ; a second meeting only led 
 to a second Republican return, and the 
 Republican electors were then declared to 
 have been choseu by a majority of 206. 
 though before this was done, the Electoral 
 College of the State had met and cast their, 
 four votes for Hayes and Wheeler. Both 
 parties agreed very closely in their counts, 
 except as to Baker county, from which the 
 Republicans claimed 41 majority, the Dem 
 ocrats 95 majority the returning board ae- 
 cepting the Republican claim. 
 
 In Louisiana the Packard returning 
 board was headed by J. Madison Wells, 
 and this body refused to permit the Demo 
 crats to be represented therein. It was in 
 session three weeks, the excitement all the 
 time being at fever heat, and finally made 
 the following average returns : Republican 
 electors, 74,436; Democratic, 70,505; Re 
 publican majority, 3,931. McEnery, who 
 claimed to be Governor, gave the Demo 
 cratic electors a certificate based on an 
 average vote of 83,635 against 75,759, a 
 Democratic majority of 7,876. 
 
 In Oregon, the three Republican electors 
 had an admitted majority of the popular 
 vote, but on a claim that one of the number 
 was a Federal office-holder and therefore 
 ineligible, the Democratic Governor gave 
 a certificate to two of the Republican elec- 
 
230 
 
 AMERICAN: POLITICS. 
 
 tors, and a Mr. Cronin, Democrat. The 
 three Republican electors were certified by 
 the Secretary of State, who was the can 
 vassing officer by law. This Oregon busi 
 ness led to grave suspicions against Mr. 
 Tilden, who was thereafter freely charged 
 by the Republicans with the use of his 
 immense private fortune to control the re 
 sult, and thereafter, the New York Tribune, 
 nvith unexampled enterprise, exposed and 
 reprinted the " cipher dispatches " from 
 Gramercy, which Mr. Pel ton, the nephew 
 and private secretary of Mr. Tilden, had 
 fee nt to Democratic " visiting statesmen " in 
 the four disputed sections. In 1878, the 
 Potter Investigating Committee subse 
 quently confirmed the " cipher dispatches " 
 but Mr. Tilden denied any knowledge of 
 them. 
 
 The second session of the 44th Congress 
 met on Dec. 5th, 1876, and while by that 
 time all knew the dangers of the approach 
 ing electoral count, yet neither House 
 would consent to the revision of the joint 
 rule regulating the count. The Republi 
 cans claimed that the President of the Sen 
 ate had the sole authority to open and an 
 nounce the returns in the presence of the 
 two Houses ; the Democrats plainly disputed 
 this right, and claimed that the joint body 
 could control the count under the law. 
 Some Democrats went so far as to say that 
 the House (which was Democratic, with 
 Samuel J. Randall in the Speaker's chair) 
 could for itself decide when the emergency 
 had arrived in which it was to elect a 
 President. 
 
 There was grave danger, and it was as 
 serted that the Democrats, fearing the 
 President of the Senate would exercise 
 the power of declaring the result, were 
 preparing first to forcibly and at least with 
 secrecy swear in and inaugurate Tilden. 
 Mr. Watterson, member of the House from 
 'Kentucky, boasted that he had completed 
 arrangements to have 100,000 men at 
 Washington on inauguration day, to see 
 that Tilden was installed. President Grant 
 and Secretary of War Cameron, thought 
 the condition of affairs critical, and both 
 made active though secret preparations to 
 secure the safe if not the peaceful inaugu 
 ration of Hayes. Grant, in one of his sen 
 tentious utterances, said he " would have 
 peace if he had to fight for it." To this 
 end he sent for Gov. Hartranft of Penn 
 sylvania, to know if he could stop any at 
 tempted movement of New York troops to 
 Washington, as he had information that 
 the purpose was to forcibly install Tilden. 
 Gov. Hartranft replied that he could do it 
 with the National Guard and the Grand 
 Army of the Republic. He was told to 
 return to Harrisburg and prepare for such 
 an emergency. This he did, and as the 
 Legislature was then in session, a Repub 
 lican caucus was called, and it resolved, 
 
 without knowing exactly why, to sustain 
 any action of the Governor with the re 
 sources of the State. Secretary Cameron 
 also sent for Gen'l Sherman, and for a 
 time went on with comprehensive prepa 
 rations, which if there had been need for 
 completion, would certainly have put a 
 speedy check upon the madness of any 
 mob. There is a most interesting unwrit 
 ten history of events then transpiring 
 which no one now living can fully relate 
 without unjustifiable violations of political 
 and personal confidences. But the danger 
 was avoided by the patriotism of prominent 
 members of Congress representing both of 
 the great political parties. These gentle 
 men held several important and private 
 conferences, and substantially agreed upon 
 a result several days before the exciting 
 struggle which followed the introduction 
 of the Electoral Commission Act. The 
 leaders on the part of the Republicans in 
 these conferences were Conkling, Edmunds, 
 Frelinghuysen ; on the part of the Demo 
 crats Bayard, Gordon, Randall and Hewitt, 
 the latter a member of the House and 
 Chairman of the National Democratic 
 Committee. 
 
 The Electoral Commission Act, the basis 
 of agreement, was supported by Conkling 
 in a speech of great power, and of all men 
 engaged in this great work he was at the 
 time most suspected by the Republicans, 
 who feared that his admitted dislike to 
 Hayes would cause him to favor a bill 
 which would secure the return of Tilden, 
 and as both of the gentlemen were New 
 Yorkers, there was for several days grave 
 fears of a combination between the two. 
 The result showed the injustice done, and 
 convinced theretofore doubting Republi 
 cans that Conkling, even as a partisan, was 
 faithful and far-seeing. The Electoral 
 Commission measure was a Democratic 
 one, if we are to judge from the character 
 of the votes cast for and against it. In the 
 Senate the vote stood 47 for to 17 against. 
 There were 21 Republicans for it and 16 
 against, while there were also 26 Demo 
 crats for it to only 1 (Eaton) against. In 
 the House much the same proportion was 
 maintained, the bill passing that body by 
 191 to 86. The following is the text of the 
 
 ELECTORAL COMMISSION ACT. 
 
 An act to provide for and regulate the 
 counting of votes for President and Vice- 
 President, and the decision of questions 
 arising thereon, for the term commencing 
 March fourth, Anno Domini eighteen 
 hundred and seventy-seven. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 
 Representatives of the United States of 
 America in Congress assembled, That the 
 Senate and House of Representatives shall 
 meet in the hall of the House of Represen 
 tatives, at the hour of one o'clock post 
 
THE ELECTORAL COUNT. 
 
 231 
 
 meridian, on the first Thursday in Febru 
 ary, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and 
 seventy-seven ; the President of the Senate 
 shall be their presiding officer. Two tellers 
 shall be previously appointed on the part 
 of the Senate, and two on the part of the 
 House of Representatives, to whom shall 
 be handed, as they are opened by the Pre 
 sident of the Senate, all the certificates, 
 and papers purporting to be certificates, of 
 the electoral votes, which certificates and 
 papers shall be opened, presented and 
 acted upon in the alphabetical order of the 
 States, beginning with the letter A; and 
 said tellers having then read the same in 
 presence and hearing of the two Houses, 
 shall make a list of 'the votes as they shall 
 appear from the said certificates ; and the 
 votes having been ascertained and counted 
 as in this act provided, the result of the 
 same shall be delivered to the President of 
 the Senate, who shall thereupon announce 
 the state of the vote, and the names of the 
 persons, if any elected, which announce 
 ment shall be deemed a sufficient declara 
 tion of the persons elected President and 
 Vice-President of the United States, and, 
 together with a list of the votes, be entered 
 on the journals of the Houses. Upon such 
 reading of any such certificate or paper 
 when there shall only be one return from 
 a State, the President of the Senate shall 
 call for objections, if any. Every objection 
 shall be made in writing, and shall state 
 clearly and concisely, and without argu 
 ment, the ground thereof, and shall be 
 signed by at least one Senator and one 
 Member of the House of Representatives 
 before the same shall be received. When 
 all objections so made to any vote 
 or paper from a State shall have been re 
 ceived and read, the Senate shall there 
 upon withdraw, and such objections shall 
 be submitted to the Senate for its decision ; 
 and the Speaker of the House of Represen 
 tatives shall, in like manner, submit such 
 objections to the House of Representatives 
 for its decision ; and no electoral vote or 
 votes from any State. from which but one 
 return has been received shall be rejected, 
 except by the affirmative vote of the two 
 Houses. When the two Houses have 
 votes, they shall immediately again meet, 
 and the presiding officer shall then an 
 nounce the decision of the question sub 
 mitted. 
 
 SEC. 2. That if more than one return, or 
 paper purporting to be a return from a State, 
 shall have been received by the President 
 of the Senate, purporting to be the cer 
 tificate of electoral votes given at the last 
 preceding election for President and Vice- 
 President in such State (unless they shall 
 be duplicates of the same return), all such 
 returns and papers shall be opened by him 
 in the presence of the two Houses when met 
 as aforesaid, and read by the tellers, and 
 
 all such returns and papers shall thereupon 
 be submitted to the judgment and decision 
 as to which is the true and lawful electoral 
 vote of such State, of a commission consti 
 tuted as follows, namely : During the ses 
 sion of each House, on the Tuesday next 
 preceding the first Thursday in February, 
 eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, each 
 House shall, by viva voce vote, appoint 
 five of its members, with the five associate 
 justices of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States to be ascertained as hereinafter pro 
 vided, shall constitute a commission for the 
 decision of all questions upon or in respect 
 of such double returns named in this sec 
 tion. On the Tuesday next preceding the 
 first Thursday in February, Anno Domini, 
 eighteen hundred and seventy -seven, or as 
 soon thereafter as may be, the associate 
 justices of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States now assigned to the first, third, 
 eighth, and ninth circuits shall select, in 
 such manner as a majority of them 
 shall deem fit, another of the associ 
 ate justices of said court, which five per 
 sons shall be members of said commission ; 
 and the person longest in commission of 
 said five justices shall be the president of 
 said commission. The members of said 
 commission shall respectively take and 
 
 subscribe the following oath : " I 
 
 do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case 
 may be,) that I will impartially examine 
 and consider all questions submitted to the 
 commission of which I am a member, and 
 a true judgment give thereon, agreeably 
 to the Constitution and the laws : so help 
 me God ; " which oath shall be filed witn 
 the Secretary of the Senate. When the 
 commission shall have been thus organized, 
 it shall not be in the power of either 
 House to dissolve the same, or to with 
 draw any of its members ; but if any such 
 Senator or member shall die or become 
 physically unable to perform the duties 
 required by this act, the fact of such death 
 or physical inability shall be by said 
 commission, before it shall proceed fur 
 ther, communicated to the Senate or 
 House of Representatives, as the case may 
 be, which body shall immediately and 
 without debate proceed by viva voce vote 
 to fill the place so vacated, and the person 
 so appointed shall take and subscribe the 
 oath hereinbefore prescribed, and become 
 a member of said commission ; and in like 
 manner, if any of said justices of the Su 
 preme Court shall die or become physically 
 incapable of performing the duties re 
 quired by this act, the other of said jus 
 tices, members of the said commission, 
 shall immediately appoint another justice 
 of said court a member of said commission, 
 and in like manner, if any of said justices 
 of the Supreme Court shall die or become 
 physically incapable of performing the 
 duties required by this act, the other of said 
 
232 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 justices, members of the said commission, 
 shall immediately appoint another justice 
 of said court a member of said commission, 
 and, iu such appointment, regard shall be 
 had to the impartiality and freedom from 
 bias sought by the original appointments 
 to said commission, who shall thereupon 
 immediately take and subscribe the oath 
 hereinbefore prescribed, and become a 
 member of said commission to fill the 
 vacancy so occasioned. All the certificates 
 and papers purporting to be certificates of 
 the electoral votes of each State shall be 
 opened, iu the alphabetical order of the 
 States, as provided in section one of this 
 act ; and when there shall be more than 
 one such certificate or paper, as the certifi 
 cates and papeis from such State shall so be 
 opened (excepting duplicates of the same 
 return), they shall be read by the tellers, 
 and thereupon the President of the Senate 
 shall call for objections, if any. Every 
 objection shall be made in writing, and 
 ehall state clearly and concisely, and with 
 out argument, the ground thereof, and 
 shall be signed bv at least one Senator and 
 one member of the House of Representa 
 tives before the same shall be received. 
 When all such objections so made to any 
 certificate, vote, or paper from a State shall 
 have been received and read, all such cer 
 tificates, votes and papers so objected to, 
 and all papers accompanying the same, 
 together with such objections, shall be 
 forthwith submitted to said commission, 
 which shall proceed to consider the same, 
 with the same powers, if any, now possessed 
 for that purpose by the two Houses acting 
 separately or together, and, by a majority 
 of votes, decide whether any and what 
 votes from such State are the votes provid 
 ed for by the Constitution of the United 
 States, and how many and what persons 
 were duly appointed electors in such State, 
 and may therein take into view such peti 
 tions, depositions, and other papers, if any, 
 as shall, by the Constitution and now exist 
 ing law, be competent and pertinent in such 
 consideration; which decision shall be 
 made in writing, stating briefly the ground 
 thereof, and signed by the members of said 
 commission agreeing therein ; whereupon 
 the two Houses shall again meet, and 
 such decision shall be read and entered in 
 the journal of each house, and the count 
 ing of the vote shall proceed in conformity 
 therewith, unless, upon objection made 
 thereto in writing by at least five Senators 
 and five members of the House of Repre 
 sentatives, the two Houses shall separately 
 concur in ordering otherwise, in which case 
 Wich concurrent order shall govern. No 
 votes or papers from any other State shall 
 be acted upon until the objections previ 
 ously made to the votes or papers from 
 any State shall have been finally disposed 
 of. 
 
 SEC. 3. That, while the two Houses shall 
 be in meeting, as provided in this act, no 
 debate shall be allowed and no question 
 shall be put by the presiding officer, except 
 to either House on a motion to withdraw ; 
 and he shall have power to preserve order. 
 
 SEC. 4. That when the two Houses sepa 
 rate to decide upon an objection that may 
 have been made to the counting of any 
 electoral vote or votes from any State, or 
 upon objection to a report of said commi- 
 sion, or other question arising under this 
 act, each Senator and Eepresentative may 
 speak to such objection or question ten min 
 utes, and not oftener than once ; but alter 
 such debate shall have lasted two hours, it 
 shall be the duty of each House to put the 
 main question without further debate. 
 
 SEC. 5. That at such joint meeting of the 
 two Houses, seats shall be provided as fol 
 lows : For the President of the Senate, the 
 Speaker's chair ; for the Speaker, immedi 
 ately upon his left; the Senators in the 
 body of the hall upon the right of the pre 
 siding officer ; for the Representatives, in 
 the body of the hall not provided for the 
 Senators ; for the tellers, Secretary of the 
 Senate, and Clerk of the House of Repre 
 sentatives, at the Clerk's desk ; for the other 
 officers of the two Houses, in front of the 
 Clerk's desk and upon each side of the 
 Speaker's platform. Such joint meeting 
 shall not be dissolved until the count of 
 electoral votes shall be completed and the 
 result declared ; and no recess shall be 
 taken unless a question shall have arisen in 
 regard to counting any such votes, or other 
 wise under this act, in which case it shall 
 be competent for either House, acting sepa 
 rately, in the manner hereinbefore provid 
 ed, to direct a recess of such House not be 
 yond the next day, Sunday excepted, at the 
 hour of ten o'clock in the forenoon. And 
 while any question is being considered by 
 said commission, either House may pro 
 ceed with its legislative or other business. 
 
 SEC. 6. That nothing in this act shall be 
 held to impair or aifect any right now ex 
 isting under the Constitution and laws to 
 question, by proceeding in the judicial 
 courts of the United States, the right or 
 title of the person who shall be declared 
 elected, or who shall claim to be President 
 or Vice-President of the United States, if 
 any such light exists. 
 
 SEC. 7. That said commission shall make 
 its own rules, keep a record of its proceed 
 ings, and shall have power to employ such 
 persons as may be necessary for the trans 
 action of its business and the execution of 
 its powers. 
 
 Approved, January 29, 1877. 
 
 Members of the Commission. 
 
 Hon. NATHAN CLIFFORD, Associate Ju* 
 tice Supreme Court, First Circuit. 
 
THE TITLE OF PRESIDENT HAYES. 
 
 233 
 
 Hon. WILLIAM STRONG, Associate Justice 
 Supreme Court, Third Circuit. 
 
 Hon. SAMUEL F. MILLER, Associate 
 Justice Supreme Court, Eighth Circuit. 
 
 Hon. STEPHEN J. FIELD, Associate Jus 
 tice Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit. 
 
 Hon. JOSEPH P. BRADLEY, Associate 
 Justice Supreme Court, Fifth Circuit. 
 
 Hon. GEORGE F. EDMUNDS, United 
 States Senator. 
 
 Hon. OLIVER P. MORTON, United States 
 Senator, 
 
 Hon. FREDERICK T. FRELINGHUYSEN, 
 United States Senator. 
 
 Hon. ALLEN G. THURMAN, United 
 States Senator. 
 
 Hon. THOMAS F. BAYARD, United States 
 Senator. 
 
 Hon. HENRY B. PAYNE, United States 
 Representative. 
 
 Hon. EPPA HUNTON, United States Rep 
 resentative. 
 
 Hon. JOSIAH G. ABBOTT, United States 
 Representative. 
 
 Hon. JAMES A. GARFIELD, United States 
 Representative. 
 
 Hon. GEORGE F. HOAR, United States 
 Representative. 
 
 The Electoral Commission met Febru 
 ary 1st, and by uniform votes of 8 to 7, de 
 cided all objections to the Electoral votes 
 of Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and 
 Oregon, in favor of the Republicans, and 
 while the two Houses disagreed on nearly 
 all of these points by strict party votes, the 
 electoral votes were, under the provisions 
 of the law, given to Hayes and Wheeler, 
 and the final result declared to be 185 
 electors for Hayes and Wheeler, to 184 for 
 Tilden and Hendricks. Questions of eligi 
 bility had been raised against individual 
 electors from Michigan, Nevada, Pennsyl 
 vania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wis 
 consin, but the Commission did not sustain 
 any of them, and as a rule they were un 
 supported by evidence. Thus closed the 
 gravest crisis which ever attended an elec 
 toral count in this country, so far as the 
 Nation was concerned ; and while for some 
 weeks the better desire to peacefully settle 
 all differences prevailed, in a few weeks 
 partisan bitterness was manifested on the 
 part of a great majority of Northern Demo 
 crats, who believed their party had been 
 deprived by a partisan spirit of its right 
 ful President. 
 
 The Title of President Hayes. 
 
 The uniform vote of 8 to 7 on all im 
 portant propositions considered by the 
 Electoral Commission, to their minds 
 showed a partisan spirit, the existence of 
 which it was difficult to deny. The action 
 of the Republican " visiting statesmen " in 
 Louisiana, in practically overthrowing the 
 
 Packard or Republican government there, 
 caused distrust and dissatisfaction in the 
 minds of the more radical Republicans, 
 who contended with every show of reason 
 that if Hayes carried Louisiana, Packard 
 must also have done so. The only sensible 
 excuse for seating Hayes on the one side 
 and throwing out Governor Packard on 
 the other, was a patriotic desire for peace 
 in the settlement of both Presidential and 
 Southern State issues. This desire was 
 plainly manifested by President Hayes on 
 the day of his inauguration and for two 
 years thereafter. He took early occasion 
 to visit Atlanta, Ga.,and while at that point 
 and eri route there made the most concilia 
 tory speeches, in which he called those 
 who had engaged in the Rebellion, " broth 
 ers," " gallant soldiers," etc. These speech 
 es excited much attention. They had lit 
 tle if any effect upon the South, while the 
 more radical Republicans accused the 
 President of " slopping over." They did 
 not allay the hostility of the Democratic 
 party, and did not restore the feeling in 
 the South to a condition better than that 
 which it had shown during the exciting 
 days, of the Electoral count. The South 
 then, under the lead of men like Stephens, 
 Hill and Gordon, in the main showed every 
 desire for a peaceful settlement. As a rule 
 only the Border States and Northern Demo 
 crats manifested extreme distrust and bit 
 terness, and these were plainly told by 
 some of the leaders from the Gulf States, 
 that so far as they were concerned, they 
 had had enough of civil war. 
 
 As late as April 22, 1877, the Maryland 
 Legislature passed the following : 
 
 Resolved by the General Assembly of 
 Maryland, That the Attorney General of 
 the State be, and he is hereby, instructed, 
 in case Congress shall provide for expe 
 diting the action, to exhibit a bill in the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, on 
 behalf of the State of Maryland, with 
 proper parties thereto, setting forth the 
 fact that due effect has not been given to 
 the electoral vote cast by this State on the 
 6th day of December, 1876, by reason of 
 fraudulent returns made from other States 
 and allowed to be counted provisionally by 
 the Electoral Commission, and subject to 
 judicial revision, and praying said court to 
 make the revision contemplated by the act 
 establishing said commission; and upon 
 such revision to declare the returns from 
 the States of Louisiana and Florida, which 
 were counted for Rutherford B. Hayes and 
 William A. Wheeler, fraudulent and void, 
 and that the legal electoral votes of said 
 States were cast for Samuel J. Tilden as 
 President, and Thomas A. Hendricks as 
 Vice President, and that by virtue there 
 of and of 184 votes cast by other States, 
 of which 8 were cast by the State of Mary 
 land, the said Tilden and Hendricks were 
 
234 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 duly elected, and praying said Court to 
 decree accordingly. 
 
 k It was this resolution which induced the 
 Clarkson N. Potter resolution of investi 
 gation, a resolution the passage of which 
 was resisted by the Eepublicans through 
 filibustering for many days, but was finally 
 passed by 146 Democratic votes to 2 Demo 
 cratic votes (Mills and Morse) against, the 
 Republicans not voting. 
 
 Tlte Cipher Despatches. 
 
 An amendment offered to the Potter 
 resolution but not accepted, and defeated 
 by the Democratic majority, cited some 
 fair specimens of the cipher dispatches 
 exposed by the New York Tribune. These 
 are matters of historical interest, and con 
 vey information as to the methods which 
 politicians will resort to in desperate emer 
 gencies. We therefore quote the more per 
 tinent portions. 
 
 Hf solved, That the select committee to 
 whom this House has committed the in 
 vestigation of certain matters affecting, as 
 is alleged, the legal title of the President 
 of the United States to the high office 
 which he now holds, be and is hereby in 
 structed in the course of its investigations 
 to fully inquire into all the facts connected 
 with the election in the State of Florida in 
 November, 1876, and especially into the 
 circumstances attending the transmission 
 and receiving of certain telegraphic dis 
 patches sent in said year between Tallahas 
 see in said State and New York City, viz. : 
 
 "TALLAHASSEE, November 9, 1876. 
 "A. S. HEWITT, New York : 
 "Comply if possible with my telegram. 
 "Geo. P. RAREY." 
 
 Also the following : 
 
 " TALLAHASSEE, December 1, 1876. 
 " W. T. PELTON, New York : 
 
 "Answer Mac's dispatch immediately, 
 or we will be embarrasssed at a critical 
 
 time. 
 
 WILKINSON CALL.' 
 
 Also the following : 
 
 " TALLAHASSEE, December 4, 1876. 
 "W. T. PELTON: 
 
 "Things culminating here. Answer 
 Mac's despatch to-day. W. CALL." 
 
 And also the facts connected with all 
 telegraphic dispatches between one John 
 F. Coyle and said Pelton, under the lat- 
 ter's real or fictitious name, and with any 
 and all demands for money on or about 
 December 1, 1876, from said Tallahassee, 
 on said Pelton, or said Hewitt, or with any 
 attempt to corrupt or bribe any official of 
 the said State of Florida by any person 
 
 acting for said Pelton, or in the interest of 
 Samuel J. Tilden as a presidential candi 
 date. 
 
 Also to investigate the charges of in 
 timidation at Lake City, in Columbia 
 county, where Joel Niblack and other 
 white men put ropes around the necks of 
 colored men and proposed to hang them, 
 but released them on their promise to join 
 a Democratic club and vote for Samuel J. 
 Tilden. 
 
 Also the facts of the election in Jackson 
 county, where the ballot-boxes were kept 
 out of the sight of voters, who voted through 
 openings or holes six feet above the ground, 
 and where many more Republican votes 
 were thus given into the hands of the De 
 mocratic inspectors than were counted or 
 returned by them. 
 
 Also the facts of the election in Waldo 
 precinct, in Alachua county, where the 
 passengers on an emigrant-train, passing 
 through on the day of election, were al 
 lowed to vote. 
 
 Also the facts of the election in Manatee 
 county, returning 235 majority for the 
 Tilden electors, where there were no county 
 officers, no registration, no notice of the 
 election, and where the Republican party, 
 therefore, did not vote. 
 
 Also the facts of the election in the third 
 precinct of Key West, giving 342 Demo 
 cratic majority where the Democratic in 
 spector carried the ballot-box home, and 
 pretended to count the ballots on the next 
 day, outside of the precinct and contrary 
 to law. 
 
 Also the facts of the election in Hamil 
 ton, where the election-officers exercised 
 no control over the ballot-box, but left it 
 in unauthorized hands, that it might be 
 tampered with. 
 
 Also the reasons why the Attorney- 
 General of the State, Wm. Archer Cocke, 
 as a member of the Canvassing Board, offi 
 cially advised the board, and himself voted, 
 to exclude the Hamilton county and Key 
 West precinct returns, thereby giving, in 
 any event, over 500 majority to the Re 
 publican electoral ticket, and afterwards 
 protested against the result which he had 
 voted for, and whether or not said Cocke 
 was afterward rewarded for such protest 
 by being made a State Judge. 
 
 OREGON. 
 
 And that said committee is further in 
 structed and directed to investigate into 
 all the facts connected with an alleged at 
 tempt to secure one electoral vote in the 
 State of Oregon for Samuel J. Tilden for 
 President of the United States, and Thom 
 as A. Hendricks for Vice-President, by un 
 lawfully setting up the election of E. A. 
 Cronin as one of such presidential electors 
 elected from the State of Oregon on the 
 7th of November, the candidates for the 
 
THE CIPHER DESPATCHES. 
 
 235 
 
 presidential electors on the two tickets be 
 ing as follows : 
 
 On the Republican ticket: W. C. Odell, 
 J. C. Cartwright, and John W. Watts. 
 
 On the Democratic ticket : E. A. Cronin, 
 W. A. Laswell, and Henry Klippel. 
 
 The votes received by each candidate, as 
 shown by the official vote as canvassed, 
 declared, and certified to by the Secretary 
 of State under the seal of the State, the 
 Secretary being under the laws of Oregon 
 sole canvassing-officer, as will be shown 
 hereafter, being as follows : 
 
 W. K. Odell received 15,206 votes 
 
 John C. Cartwright received....!5,214 " 
 
 John W. Watts received 15,206 " 
 
 E. A. Cronin received 14,157 " 
 
 W. A. Laswell receiyed 14,149 " 
 
 Henry Klippel received 14,136 
 
 And by the unlawful attempt to bribe one 
 of said legally elected electors to recognize 
 said Cronin as an elector for President and 
 Vice-President, in order that one of the 
 electoral votes of said State might be cast 
 for said Samuel J. Tilden as President and 
 for Thomas A. Hendricks as Vice-Presi 
 dent ; and especially to examine and inquire 
 into all the facts relating to the sending of 
 money from New York to some place in 
 said Oregon for the purposes of such 
 bribery, the parties sending and receiving 
 the same, and their relations to and 
 agency for said Tilden, and more particu 
 larly "to investigate into all the circum 
 stances attending the transmission of the 
 following telegraphic despatches : 
 
 "PORTLAND, Oregon, Nov. 14, 1876. 
 " Gov. L. F. GROVER : 
 " Come down to-morrow if possible. 
 " W. H. EFFINGER, 
 
 " A. NOLTNER, 
 
 " C. P. BELLINGER." 
 "PORTLAND, November 16, 1876. 
 "To Gov. GROVER, Salem : 
 
 " We want to see you particularly on 
 account of despatches from the East. 
 " WILLIAM STRONG, S. H. REED, 
 "C.P.BELLINGER, W. W. THAYER, 
 " C. E. BRONAUGH." 
 
 Also the following cipher despatch sent 
 from Portland, Oregon, on the 28th day of 
 November, 1876, to New York City : 
 
 " PORTLAND, November 28, 1876. 
 " To W. T. Pelton, No. 15 Gramercy Park, 
 
 New York: 
 
 " By vizier association innocuous negli 
 gence cunning minutely previously read 
 mit doltish to purchase afar act with 
 cunning afar sacristy unweighed afar 
 pointer tigress cattle superannuated sylla 
 bus dilatoriness misapprehension contra 
 band Kountz bisulcuous top usher spinifer- 
 ous answer. J. H. N. PATRICK. 
 
 " I fully endorse this. 
 
 " JAMES K. KELLY." 
 
 Of which, when the key was discovered, 
 the following was found to be the true in 
 tent and meaning: 
 
 " PORTLAND, November 28, 1876. 
 " To W. T. PELTON, No. 15 Gramercy Park, 
 
 New York: 
 
 " Certificate will be issued to one Demo 
 crat. Must purchase a Republican elector 
 to recognize and act with Democrats and 
 secure the vote and prevent trouble. De 
 posit $10,000 to my credit with Kountz 
 Brothers, Wall Street. Answer. 
 
 J. H. N. PATRICK. 
 
 " I fully endorse this. 
 
 " JAMES K. KELLY." 
 
 Also the following : 
 
 " NEW YORK, November 25, 1876. 
 " A. BUSH, Salem : 
 
 " Use all means to prevent certificate. 
 Very important. C. E. TILTON." 
 
 Also the following : 
 
 "December 1,1876. 
 
 " To Hon. SAM. J. TILDEN, No. 15 Gra 
 mercy Park, New York : 
 " I shall decide every point in the case 
 of post-office elector in i'avor of the highest 
 Democratic elector, arid grant certificate 
 accordingly on morning of 6th instant. 
 Confidential. GOVERNOR." 
 
 Also the following : 
 
 " SAN FRANCISCO, December 5. 
 " LADD & BUSH, Salem : 
 
 "Funds from New York will be de 
 posited to your credit here to-morrow when 
 bank opens. I know it. Act accordingly. 
 Answer. W. C. GRISWOLD." 
 
 Also the following, six days before the 
 foregoing : 
 
 " NEW YORK, November 29, 1876. 
 " To J. H. N. PATRICK, Portland, Oregon : 
 " Moral hasty sideral vizier gabble cramp 
 by hemistic welcome licentiate muskeete 
 compassion neglectful recoverable hathouse 
 live innovator brackish association dime 
 afar idolater session hemistic mitre." 
 
 [No signature.] 
 
 Of which the interpretation is as follows: 
 
 " NEW YORK, November 29, 1876. 
 " To J. H. N. PATRICK, Portland, Oregon : 
 " No. How soon will Governor decide 
 certificate ? If you make obligation con 
 tingent on the result in March, it can be 
 done, and slightly if necessary." 
 
 [No signature.] 
 
 Also the following, one day later : 
 
236 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 " PORTLAND, November 30, 1876. 
 " To W. T. PELTON, No. 15 Gramercy Park, 
 
 New York : 
 
 "Governor all right without reward. 
 Will issue certificate Tuesday. This is a 
 secret. Republicans threaten if certificate 
 issued to ignore Democratic claims and fill 
 vacancy, and thus defeat action of Gover 
 nor. One elector must be paid to recog 
 nize Democrat to secure majority. Have 
 employed three lawyers, editor of only Re 
 publican paper as one lawyer, fee $3,000. 
 Will take $5,000 for Republican elector ; 
 must raise money ; can't make fee contin 
 gent. Sail Saturday. Kelly and Bellin 
 ger will act. Communicate with them. 
 Must act promptly." [No signature]. 
 
 Also the following : 
 
 FRANCISCO, December 5, 1876. 
 
 " To KOUNTZE BROS., No. 12 Wall St., New 
 
 York: 
 
 " Has my account credit by any funds 
 lately? How much? 
 
 "J. H.N.PATRICK." 
 
 Also the following : 
 
 " NEW YORK, December 6. 
 '* J. H. N. PATRICK, San Francisco: 
 11 Davis deposited eight thousand dollars 
 
 December first. 
 
 KOUNTZE BROS.' 
 
 Also the following : 
 
 " SAN FRANCISCO, December 6. 
 "To JAMES K. KELLY: 
 
 "The eight deposited as directed this 
 morning. Let no technicality prevent 
 winning. Use your discretion." 
 
 [No signature.] 
 
 And the following: 
 
 "NEW YORK, December 6. 
 "HON. JAS. K. KELLY: 
 
 "Is your matter certain? There must 
 be no mistake. All depends on you. Place 
 no reliance on any favorable report from 
 three southward. Sonetter. Answer quick." 
 
 [No signature.] 
 Also the following: 
 
 "DECEMBER 6, 1876. 
 "To Col. W. T. PELTON, 15 Gramercy 
 
 Park, N. Y. : 
 
 "Glory to God I Hold on to the one 
 Vote in Oregon! I have one hundred 
 thousand men to back it up 1 
 
 "CORSE." 
 
 And said committee is further directed 
 to inquire into and bring to light, so far as it 
 may be possible, the entire correspondence 
 and conspiracy referred to in the above 
 telegraphic despatches, and to ascertain 
 what were the relations existing between 
 any of the parties sending or receiving said 
 
 despatches and W. T. Pelton, of New York, 
 and also what relations existed between 
 said W. T. Pelton and Samuel J. Tilden, of 
 New York. 
 
 April 15, 1878, Mr. Kimmel introduced 
 a bill, which was never finally acted upon, 
 to provide a mode for trying and deter 
 mining by the Supreme Court of the United 
 States the title of the President and Vice- 
 Presidentof the United States to take their 
 respective offices when their election to 
 such offices is denied by one or more of the 
 States of the Union. 
 
 The question of the title of President 
 was finally settled June 14, 1878, by the 
 following report of the House Judiciary 
 Commitee : 
 
 Report of the Judiciary Committee. 
 
 June 14 Mr. HARTRIDGE, from the 
 Committee on the Judiciary, made the fol 
 lowing report : 
 
 The Committee on the Judiciary, to 
 whom were referred the bill (H. R. No. 
 4315) and the resolutions of the Legisla 
 ture of the State of Maryland directing 
 judicial proceedings to give effect to the 
 electoral vote of that State in the last elec 
 tion of President and Vice-President of 
 the United States, report back said bill 
 and resolutions with a recommendation 
 that the bill do not pass. 
 
 Your committee are of the opinion that 
 Congress has no power, under the Consti 
 tution, to confer upon the Supreme Court 
 of the United States the .original juris 
 diction sought for it by this bill. The 
 only clause of the Constitution which 
 could be plausibly invoked to enable Con 
 gress to provide the legal machinery for 
 the litigation proposed, is that which gives 
 the Supreme Court original jurisdiction 
 in " cases " or " controversies " between a 
 State and the citizens of another State. 
 The committee are of the opinion that this 
 expression " cases " and " controversies " 
 was not intended by the framers of the 
 Constitution to embrace an original pro 
 ceeding by a State in the Supreme Court 
 of the United States to oust any incum 
 bent from a political office filled by the de 
 claration and decision of the two Houses 
 of Congress clothed with the constitutional 
 power to count the electoral votes and de 
 cide as a final tribunal upon the election 
 for President and Vice-President. The 
 Forty-fourth Congress selected a commis 
 sion to count the votes for President and 
 Vice-President, reserving to itself the rigkc 
 to ratify or reject such count, in the way 
 prescribed in the act creating such com 
 mission. By the joint action of the two 
 Houses it ratified the count made by the 
 commission, and thus made it the expres 
 sion of its own judgment. 
 
 All the Departments of the Federal 
 
THE HAYES ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 237 
 
 Government, all the State governments in 
 their relations to Federal authority, for 
 eign nations, the people of the United 
 States, all the material interests and indus 
 tries of the country, have acquiesced in, 
 and acted in accordance with, the pro 
 nounced finding of that Congress. In the 
 opinion of this committee, the present 
 Congress has no power to undo the work 
 of its predecessor in counting the electoral 
 (vote, or to confer upon any judicial tri 
 bunal the right to pass upon and perhaps 
 set aside the action of that predecessor in 
 reference to a purely political question, the 
 decision of which is confided by the Con 
 stitution in Congress. 
 
 But apart from these fundamental ob 
 jections to the bill under consideration, 
 there are features and provisions in it 
 which are entirely impracticable. Your 
 committee can find no warrant of authority 
 to summon the chief-justices of the 
 supreme courts of the several States to sit 
 at Washington as a jury to try any case, 
 however grave and weighty may be its 
 nature. The right to summon must carry 
 with it the power to enforce obedience to 
 the mandate, and the Committee can see 
 no means by which the judicial officers of 
 a State can be compelled to assume the 
 functions of jurors in the Supreme Court 
 of the United States. 
 
 There are other objections to the prac 
 tical working of the bill under considera 
 tion, to which we do not think it necessary 
 to refer. 
 
 It may be true that the State of Mary 
 land has been, in the late election for 
 President and Vice -President, deprived of 
 her just and full weight in deciding who 
 were legally chosen, by reason of frauds 
 perpetrated by returning boards in some 
 of the States. It may also be true that 
 these fraudulent acts were countenanced 
 or encouraged or participated in by some 
 who now enjoy high offices as the fruit of 
 such frauds. It is due to the present gen 
 eration of the people of this country and 
 their posterity, and to the principles on 
 which our Government is founded, that 
 all evidence tending to establish the fact 
 of such fraudulent practices should be 
 calmly, carefully, and rigorous! v examined. 
 
 But your committee are of the opinion 
 that the consequence of such examination, 
 if it discloses guilt upon the part of any in 
 high official position, should not be an ef 
 fort to set aside the judgment of a former 
 Congress as to the election of a President 
 and Vice-President, but should be confined 
 to the punishment, by legal and constitu 
 tional means, of the offenders, and to the 
 preservation and perpetuation of the evi 
 dences of their guilt, so that the American 
 people may be protected from a recurrence 
 of the crime. 
 
 Your committee, therefore, recommend 
 
 the adoption of the accompanying resolu 
 tion : 
 
 Resolved, That the two Houses of the 
 Forty-fourth Congress having counted the 
 votes cast for President and Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the United States, and having de 
 clared Rutherford B. Hayes to be elected 
 President, and William A. Wheeler to be 
 elected Vice-President, there is no power 
 in any subsequent Congress to reverse that 
 declaration, nor can any such power be 
 exercised by the courts of the United 
 States, or any other tribunal that Congress 
 can create under the Constitution. 
 
 We agree to the foregoing report so far 
 as it states the reasons for the resolution 
 adopted by the committee, but dissent from 
 the concluding portion, as not having re 
 ference to such reasons, as not pertinent 
 to the inquiry before us, and as giving an 
 implied sanction to the propriety of the 
 pending investigation ordered by a ma 
 jority vote of the House of Representatives, 
 to which we were and are opposed. 
 
 WM. P. FRYE. 
 
 O. D. CONGER. 
 
 E. G. LAPHAM. 
 
 Leave was given to Mr. KNOTT to pre 
 sent his individual views, also to Mr. BUT 
 LER (the full committee consisting of 
 Messrs. Knott, Lynde, Harris, of Virginia, 
 Hartridge, Stenger, McMahon, Culberson, 
 Frye, Butler, Conger, Lapham.) 
 
 The question being on the resolution re 
 ported by the committee, it was agreed to 
 yeas 235, nays 14, not voting 42. 
 
 The Hayes Administration. 
 
 It can be truthfully said that from the 
 very beginning the administration of Pre 
 sident Hayes had not the cordial support 
 of the Republican party, nor was it solidly 
 opposed by the Democrats, as was the last 
 administration of General Grant. His 
 early withdrawal of the troops from the 
 Southern States, and it was this with 
 drawal and the suggestion of it from the 
 " visiting statesmen " which overthrew the 
 Packard government in Louisiana, em 
 bittered the hostility of many radical Re 
 publicans. Senator Conkling was conspi 
 cuous in his opposition, as was Logan of 
 Illinois; and when he reached Washing 
 ton, the younger Senator Cameron, of 
 Pennsylvania. It was during this admi 
 nistration, and because of its conservative 
 tendencies, that these three leaders formed 
 the purpose to bring Grant again to the 
 Presidency. Yet the Hayes' administra 
 tion was not always conservative, and 
 many Republicans believed that its mode 
 ration had afforded a much needed breath 
 ing spell to the country. Toward its close 
 all became better satisfied, the radical por- 
 
238 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 tion by the President's later efforts to pre 
 vent the intimidation of negro voters in 
 the South, a form of intimidation which 
 was now accomplished by means of rifle 
 clubs, still another advance from the White 
 League and the Ku Klux. He made this 
 a leading feature in his annual message to 
 the Congress which began December 2d, 
 1878, and by a virtual abandonment of his 
 earlier policy he succeeded in reuniting 
 what were then fast separating wings of 
 his own party. The conference report on 
 the Legislative Appropriation Bill was 
 adopted by both Houses June 18th, and 
 approved the 21st. The Judicial Expenses 
 Bill was vetoed by the President June 23d, 
 on the ground that it would deprive him of 
 the means of executing the election laws. 
 An attempt on the part of the Democrats 
 to pass the Bill over the veto failed for 
 want of a two-thirds vote, the Republicans 
 voting solidly against it. June 26th the 
 veltoed bill was divided, the second division 
 still forbidding the pay of deputy marshals 
 at elections. This was again vetoed, and 
 the President sent a special message urging 
 the necessity of an appropriation to pay 
 United States marshals. Bills were accord 
 ingly introduced, but were defeated. This 
 failure to appropriate moneys called for 
 continued until the end of the session. 
 The President was compelled, therefore, to 
 call an extra session, which he did March 
 19th, 1879, in words which briefly explain 
 the cause : 
 
 THE EXTRA SESSION OF 1879. 
 
 "The failure of the last Congress to 
 make the requisite appropriation for legis 
 lative and judicial purposes, for the ex 
 penses of the several executive departments 
 of the Government, and for the support of 
 the Army, has made it necessary to call 
 a special session of the Forty-sixth Con 
 gress. 
 
 "The estimates of the appropriations 
 needed, which were sent to Congress by the 
 Secretary of the Treasury at the opening 
 of the last session, are renewed, and are 
 herewith transmitted to both the Senate 
 and the House of Representatives. 
 
 " Regretting the existence of the emer 
 gency which requires a special session of 
 Congress at a time when it is the general 
 judgment of the country that the public 
 welfare will be best promoted by perma 
 nency in our legislation, and by peace and 
 rest, I commend these few necessary mea 
 sures to your considerate attention." 
 
 By this time both Houses were Demo 
 cratic. In the Senate there were 42 De 
 mocrats, 33 Republicans and 1 Independent 
 (David Davis). In the House 149 Demo- 
 crate, 130 Republicans, and 14 Nationals 
 a name then assumed by the Greenbackers 
 and Labor-Reformers. The House passed 
 the Warner Silver Bill, providing for the 
 
 unlimited coinage of silver, the Senate Fi 
 nance Committee refused to report it, the 
 Chairman, Senator Bayard, having refused 
 to report it, and even after a request to do 
 so from the Democratic caucus, a course 
 of action which heralded him every where 
 as a " hard-money " Democrat. 
 
 The main business of the extra session 
 was devoted to the consideration of the 
 Appropriation Bills which the regular ses 
 sion had failed to pass. On all of these 
 the Democrats added "riders" for the 
 purpose of destroying Federal supervision 
 of the elections, and all of these political 
 riders were vetoed by President Hayes. 
 The discussions of the several measures 
 and the vetoes were highly exciting, and 
 this excitement cemented afresh the Re 
 publicans, and caused all of them to act in 
 accord with the administration. The De 
 mocrats were equally solid, while the Na 
 tionals divided Forsythe, Gillette, Kelley, 
 Weaver, and Yocum generally voting with 
 the Republicans; De La Matyr, Steven 
 son, Ladd and Wright with the Demo 
 crats. 
 
 President Hayes, in his veto of the Army 
 Appropriation Bill, baid : 
 
 " I have maturely considered the im 
 portant questions presented by the bill en 
 titled 'An Act making appropriations for 
 the support of the Army for the fiscal year 
 ending June 30, 1880, and for other pur 
 poses,' and I now return it to the House of 
 Representatives, in which it originated, 
 with my objections to its approval. 
 
 " The bill provides, in the usual form, for 
 the appropriations required for the support 
 of the Army during the next fiscal year. 
 If it contained no other provisions, it would 
 receive my prompt approval. It includes, 
 however, 'further legislation, which, at 
 tached as it is to appropriations which are 
 requisite for the efficient performance of 
 some of the most necessary duties of the 
 Government, involves questions of the 
 gravest character. The sixth section of the 
 bill is amendatory of the statute now in 
 force in regard to the authority of persons 
 in the civil, military and naval service of 
 the United States ' at the place where any 
 general or special election is held in any 
 State.' This statute was adopted February 
 25, 1865, after a protracted debate in the 
 Senate, and almost without opposition in 
 the House of Representatives, by the con 
 current votes of both of the leading political 
 parties of the country, and became a law 
 by the approval of President Lincoln. It 
 was re-enacted in 1874 in the Revised Sta 
 tutes of the United States, sections 2002 
 
 and 5528. 
 
 ******* 
 
 " Upon the assembling of this Congress, 
 in pursuance of a call for an extra session, 
 which was made necessary by the failure 
 of the Forty-fifth Congress to make the 
 
THE HAYES ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 239 
 
 needful appropriations for the support of 
 the Government, the question was presented 
 whether the attempt made in the last Con 
 gress to engraft, by construction, a new 
 principle upon the Constitution should be 
 persisted in or not. This Congress has 
 ample opportunity and time to pass the 
 appropriation bills, and also to enact any 
 political measures which may be deter 
 mined upon in separate bills by the usual 
 and orderly methods of proceeding. But 
 the majority of both Houses have deemed 
 it wise to adhere to the principles asserted 
 and maintained in the last Congress by the 
 majority of the House of Representatives. 
 That principle is that the House of Repre 
 sentatives has the sole right to originate 
 bills for raising revenue, and therefore has 
 the right to withhold appropriations upon 
 which the existence of the Government may 
 depend, unless the Senate and the Presi 
 dent shall give their assent to any legisla 
 tion which the House may see fit to attach 
 to appropriation bills. To establish this 
 principle is to make a radical, dangerous, 
 and unconstitutional change in the charac 
 ter of our institutions. The various De 
 partments of the Government, and the 
 Army and Navy, are established by the 
 Constitution, or by laws passed in pursuance 
 thereof. Their duties are clearly defined, 
 and their support is carefully provided for 
 by law. The money required for this pur 
 pose has been collected from the people, 
 and is now in the Treasury, ready to be 
 paid out as soon as the appropriation bills 
 are passed. Whether appropriations are 
 made or not, the collection of the taxes 
 will go on. The public money will accu 
 mulate in the Treasury. It was not the in 
 tention of the framers of the Constitution 
 that any single branch of the Government 
 should have the power to dictate conditions 
 upon which this treasure should be applied 
 to the purpose for which it was collected. 
 Any such intention, if it had been enter 
 tained, would have been plainly expressed 
 in the Constitution." 
 
 The vote in the House on this Bill, not 
 withstanding the veto, was 148 for to 122 
 against a party vote, save the division of 
 the Nationals, previously given. Not re 
 ceiving a two-thirds vote, the Bill failed. 
 
 The other appropriation bills with po 
 litical riders shared the same fate, as did 
 the bill to prohibit military interference at 
 elections, the modification of the law touch 
 ing supervisors and marshals at congres 
 sional elections, etc. The debates on these 
 measures were bitterly partisan in their 
 character, as a few quotations from the 
 Congressional Record will show : 
 
 The Republican view was succinctly and 
 very eloquently stated by. General Garfield, 
 when, in his speech of the 29th of March, 
 1879, he said to the revolutionary Demo 
 cratic House : 
 
 " The last act of Democratic domination 
 in this Capitol, eighteen years ago, was 
 striking and dramatic, perhaps heroic. 
 Then the Democratic party said to the Re 
 publicans, * If you elect the man of your 
 choice as President of the United States 
 we will shoot your Government to death ; ' 
 and the people of this country, refusing to 
 be coerced by threats or violence, voted as 
 they pleased, and lawfully elected Abra 
 ham Lincoln President of the United 
 States. 
 
 "Then your leaders, though holding a 
 majority in the other branch of Congress, 
 were heroic enough to withdraw from their 
 seats and fling down the gage of mortal 
 battle. We called it rebellion ; but we 
 recognized it as courageous and manly to 
 avow your purpose, take all the risks, 'and 
 fight it out on the open field. Notwith 
 standing your utmost efforts to destroy it, 
 the Government was saved. Year by year 
 since the war ended, those who resisted you 
 have come to believe that you have finally 
 renounced your purpose to destroy, and are 
 willing to maintain the Government. In 
 that belief you have been permitted to re 
 turn to power in the two Houses. 
 
 " To-day, after eighteen years of defeat, 
 the book of your domination is again 
 opened, and your first act awakens every 
 unhappy memory and threatens to destroy 
 the confidence which your professions of 
 patriotism inspired. You turned down a leaf 
 of the history that recorded your last act of 
 power in 1861, and you have now signal 
 ized your return to power by beginning a 
 second chapter at the same page ; not this 
 time by a heroic act that declares war on 
 the battle-field, but you say if all the legis 
 lative powers of the Government do not 
 consent to let you tear certain laws out of 
 the statute-book, you will not shoot our 
 Government to death as you tried to do in 
 the first chapter ; but you declare that if 
 we do not consent against our will, if you 
 cannot coerce an independent branch of 
 this Government against its will, to allow 
 you to tear from the statute-books some laws 
 put there by the will of the people, you 
 will starve the Government to death. [Great 
 applause on the Republican side.] 
 
 " Between death on the field and death 
 by' starvation, I do not know that the 
 American people will see any great differ 
 ence. The end, if successfully reached, 
 would be death in either case. Gentlemen, 
 you have it in your power to kill this Gov 
 ernment ; you have it in your power, by 
 withholding these two bills, to smite the 
 nerve-centres of our Constitution with the 
 paralysis of death ; and you have declared 
 your purpose to do this, if you cannot break 
 down that fundamental element of free 
 consent which up to this hour has always 
 ruled in the legislation of this Govern 
 ment" 
 
240 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 The Democratic view was ably given by 
 Representative Tucker of Virginia, April 
 3, 1879: "I tell you, gentlemen of the 
 House of Representatives, the Army dies 
 on the 30th day of June, unless we resuscitate 
 it by legislation. And what is the question 
 here on this bill? Will you resuscitate the 
 Army after the 30th of June, with the 
 power to use it as keepers of the polls ? 
 That is the question. It is not a question 
 iof repeal. It is a question of re-enact 
 ment. If you do not appropriate this 
 money, there will be no Army after the 
 30th of June to be used at the polls. The 
 only way to secure an Army at the polls is 
 to appropriate the money. Will you ap 
 propriate the money for the Army in order 
 that they may be used at the polls f We say 
 no, a thousand times no. * * * The 
 gentlemen on the other side say there must 
 be no coercion. Of whom ? Of the Presi 
 dent ? But what right has the President 
 to coerce us ? There may be coercion one 
 way or the other. He demands an uncon 
 ditional supply. We say we will give him 
 no supply but upon conditions. * * * 
 When, therefore, vicious laws have fas 
 tened themselves upon the statute-book 
 which imperil the liberty of the people, 
 this House is bound to say it will appro 
 priate no money to give effect to such laws 
 until and except upon condition that they 
 are repealed. [Applause on the Demo 
 cratic side.] * * We will give him the 
 Army on a single condition that it shall 
 never be used or be present at the polls 
 when an election is held for members of 
 this House, or in any presidential election, 
 or in any State or municipal election. * * * 
 Clothed thus with unquestioned power, 
 bound by clear duty, to expunge these vi 
 cious laws from the statute-book, following 
 a constitutional method sanctioned by 
 venerable precedents in English history, 
 we feel that we have the undoubted right, 
 and are beyond cavil in the right, in de 
 claring that with our grant of supply there 
 must be a cessation of these grievances, 
 and we make these appropriations condi 
 tioned on securing a free ballot and fair 
 juries for our citizens." 
 
 The Senate, July 1, passed the House 
 bill placing quinine on tne free list. 
 
 The extra session finally passed the Ap 
 propriation bills without riders, and ad 
 journed July 1st, 1879, with the Republi 
 can party far more firmly united than at 
 the beginning of the Hayes administra 
 tion. The attempt on the part of the Demo 
 crats to pass these political riders, and their 
 threat, in the words of Garfield, who had 
 then succeeded Stevens and Blaine as the 
 Republican Commoner of the House, re 
 awakened all the partisan animosities 
 which the administration of President 
 Hayes had up to that time allayed. Even 
 the President caught its spirit, and plainly 
 
 manifested it in his veto messages. It was 
 a losing battle to the Democrats, for they 
 had, with the view not to " starve the gov 
 ernment," to abandon their position, and 
 the temporary demoralization which fol 
 lowed bridged over the questions pertain 
 ing to the title of President Hayes, over 
 shadowed the claims of Tilden, and caused 
 the North to again look with grave con 
 cern on the establishment of Democratic 
 power. If it had not been lor this extra 
 session, it is asserted and believed by 
 many, the Republicans could not have so 
 soon gained control of the lower House, 
 which they did in the year following ; and 
 that the plan to nominate General Han 
 cock for the Presidency, which originated 
 with Senator Wallace of Pennsylvania, 
 could not have otherwise succeeded if Til- 
 den's cause had not been kept before his 
 party, unclouded by an extra session which 
 was freighted with disaster to the Demo 
 cratic party. 
 
 Tlie Negro Exodus. 
 
 During this summer political comment, 
 long after adjournment, was kept active by 
 a great negro exodus from the South to the 
 Northwest, most of the emigrants going to 
 Kansas. The Republicans ascribed this to 
 ill treatment, the Democrats to the opera 
 tions of railroad agents. The people of 
 Kansas welcomed them, but other States, 
 save Indiana, were slow in their manifes 
 tations of hospitality, and the exodus soon 
 ceased for a time. It was renewed in South 
 Carolina in the winter of 1881-82, the de 
 sign being to remove to Arkansas, but at 
 this writing it attracts comparatively little 
 notice. The Southern journals generally 
 advise more liberal treatment of the blacks 
 in matters of education, labor contracts, 
 etc., while none of the Northern or West 
 ern States any longer make efforts to get 
 the benefit of their labor, if indeed they 
 ever did. 
 
 Closing Hours of the Hayes Administra 
 tion. 
 
 At the regular session of Congress, which 
 met December 1st, 1879, President Hayes 
 advised Congress against any further legis 
 lation in reference to coinage, and favored 
 the retirement of the legal tenders. 
 
 The most important political action ta 
 ken at this session was the passage, for 
 Congress was still Democratic, of a law to 
 prevent the use of the army to keep the 
 peace at the polls. To this was added the 
 Garfield proviso, that it should not be con 
 strued to prevent the Constitutional use of 
 the army to suppress domestic violence in 
 a State a proviso which in the view of 
 the Republicans rid the bill of material 
 partisan objections, and it was therefore 
 
CLOSING HOURS OF HAYES' ADMINISTRATION. 241 
 
 passed and approved. The " political ri 
 ders " were again added to the Appropria 
 tion and Deficiency bills, but were again 
 vetoed and failed in this form to become 
 laws. Upon these questions President 
 Hayes showed much firmness. During the 
 session the Democratic opposition to the 
 General Election Law was greatly tem 
 pered, the Supreme Court having made an 
 important decision, which upheld its con 
 stitutionality. Like all sessions under the 
 administration of President Hayes and 
 since, nothing was done to provide perma 
 nent and safe methods for completing the 
 electoral count. On this question each 
 party seemed to be afraid of the other. 
 The session adjourned June 16th, 1880. 
 
 The second session of the 46th Congress 
 began December 1st, 1880. The last an 
 nual message of President Hayes recom 
 mended the earliest practicable retirement 
 of the legal -tender notes, and the mainte 
 nance of the present laws for the accumula 
 tion of a sinking fund sufficient to extin 
 guish the public debt within a limited peri 
 od. The laws against polygamy, he said, 
 should be firmly and effectively executed. 
 In the course of a lengthy discussion of 
 the civil service the President declared 
 that in his opinion " every citizen has an 
 equal right to the honor and profit of en 
 tering the public service of his country. 
 The only just ground of discrimination is 
 the measure of character and capacity he 
 has to make that service most useful to the 
 people. Except in cases where, upon just 
 and recognized principles, as upon the 
 theory of pensions, offices and promotions 
 are bestowed as rewards for past services, 
 their bestowal upon any theory which dis 
 regards personal merit is an act of injus 
 tice to the citizen, as well as a breach of 
 that trust subject to which the appointing 
 power is held. Considerable space was 
 given in the Message to the condition of 
 the Indians, the President recommending 
 the passage of a law enabling the govern 
 ment to give Indians a title-fee, inaliena 
 ble for twenty-five years, to the farm lands 
 assigned to them by allotment. He also 
 repeats the recommendation made in a 
 former message that a law be passed admit 
 ting the Indians who can give satisfactory 
 proof of having by their own labor sup 
 ported their families for a number of years, 
 and who are willing to detach themselves 
 from their tribal relations, to the benefit of 
 the Homestead Act, and authorizing the 
 government to grant them patents contain 
 ing the same provision of inalienability 
 for a certain period. 
 
 The Senate, on the 19th, appointed a 
 committee of five to investigate the causes 
 of the recent negro exodus from the South. 
 On the same day a committee was appoint 
 ed by the House to examine into the sub 
 ject of an inter-oceanic ship-canal. 
 
 16 
 
 The payment of the award of the Hali 
 fax Fisheries Commission $5,500,000 to 
 the British government was made by the 
 American minister in London, November 
 23, 1879, accompanied by a communica 
 tion protesting against the payment being 
 understood as an acquiescence in the re 
 sult of the Commission " as furnishing any 
 just measure of the value of a participa 
 tion by our citizens in the inshore fisheries 
 of the British Provinces." 
 
 On the 17th of December 1879, gold was 
 sold in New York at par. It was first sold ; 
 at a premium January 13, 1862. Itreachedi 
 its highest rate, $2.85, July 11, 1864. 
 
 The electoral vote was counted without; 
 any partisan excitement or disagreement. 
 Georgia's electoral college had met on the - 
 second instead of the first Wednesday of 
 December, as required by the Federal law.' 
 She actually voted under her old Confed*- 
 erate law, but as it could not change the 
 result, both parties agreed to the count of 
 the vote of Georgia " in the alternative," 
 i. e. "if the votes of Georgia were counted 
 the number of votes for A and B. for Presi 
 dent and Vice-President would be so 
 many, and if the votes of Georgia were no1>\ 
 counted, the number of votes for A and B. 
 for President and Vice-President would be 
 so many, and that in either case A and B 
 are elected." 
 
 Among the bills not disposed of by this 
 session were the electoral count joint rule ; 
 the funding bill ; the Irish relief bill ; .the 
 Chinese indemnity bill; to restrict Chinese, 
 immigration ; to amend the Constitution 
 as to the election of President ; to regulate 
 the pay and number of supervisors of elec? 
 tion and special deputy-marshals-; to abro- 
 
 pervisors of elections ; for the appointment 
 of a tariff commission; the political assess 
 ment bill ; the Kellogg-Spofford case ; and 
 the Fitz-John Porter bill. 
 
 The regular appropriation bills were all 
 completed. The total amount appropria 
 ted was about $186,000^000. Among the 
 special sums voted were $30,000 for the cen 
 tennial celebration of the Yorktown vic 
 tory, and $100,000 for a monument to com 
 memorate the same. 
 
 Congress adjourned March 3d, 1881, and 
 President Hayes on the following day re 
 tired from office. The effect of his admin 
 istration was, in a political sense, to 
 strengthen a growing independent senti 
 ment in the ranks of the Republicans an 
 element more conservative generally in its 
 views than those represented by Conkling 
 and Blaine. This sentiment began with 
 Bristow, who while in the cabinet made a 
 show of seeking out and punishing all cor 
 ruptions in government office or service. 
 On this platform and record he had con- 
 
242 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 tested with Hayes the honors of the Presi 
 dential nominations, and while the latter 
 was at the time believed to well represent 
 the same views, they were not urgently 
 pressed during his administration. Indeed, 
 without the knowledge of Hayes, what is 
 believed to be a most gigantic "steal," 
 and which is noAV being prosecuted under 
 the name of the Star Route cases, had its 
 birth, and thrived so well that no import 
 ant discovery was made until the incoming 
 of the Garneld administration. The Hayes 
 administration, it is now fashionable to 
 say, made little impress for good or evil 
 upon the country, but impartial historians 
 will give it the credit of softening party as 
 perities and aiding very materially in the 
 restoration of better feeling between the 
 North and South. Its conservatism, al 
 ways manifested save on extraordinary oc 
 casions, did that much good at least. 
 
 The Campaign of 1880. 
 
 The Republican National Convention 
 met June 5th, 1880, at Chicago, in the Ex 
 position building, capable of seating 20,000 
 people. The excitement in the ranks of 
 the Republicans was very high, because of 
 the candidacy of General Grant for what 
 was popularly called a "third term," 
 though not a third consecutive term. His 
 three powerful Senatorial friends, in the 
 face of bitter protests, had secured the in 
 structions of their respective State Conven 
 tions for Grant. Conkling had done this 
 in New York, Cameron in Pennsylvania, 
 Logan in Illinois, but in each of the three 
 States the opposition was so impressive that 
 no serious attempts were made to substi 
 tute other delegates for those which had 
 previously been selected by their Congres 
 sional districts. As a result there was a 
 large minority in the delegations of these 
 States opposed to the nomination of Gene 
 ral Grant, and the votes of them could only 
 be controlled by the enforcement of the 
 unit rule. Senator Hoar of Massachusetts, 
 the President of the Convention, decided 
 against its enforcement, and as a result all 
 of the delegates were free to vote upon ei 
 ther State or.District instructions, or as they 
 chose. The Convention was in session three 
 days. We present herewith the 
 
 ; BALLOTS. 
 
 Ballots. ,1 2 3 4 
 
 Grant, 304 805 305 305 305 305 
 Elaine, 284 282 282 281 281 281 
 
 95 
 31 
 
 31 
 10 
 
 Sherman, 93 94 93 95 95 
 
 Edmunds, 34 32 32 82 32 
 
 Washburne,30 32 31 31 31 
 
 Windom, 1-0 -10 10 10 10 
 
 Garneld, 
 Parrison, 
 
 7 
 
 305 
 281 
 
 94 
 
 Ballots. 
 jrrant, 
 Blaine, 
 Sherman, 
 Edmunds, 32 
 Washburne, 31 
 Windom, 10 
 Garneld, 1 
 Hayes, 
 
 8 9 10 
 
 306 308 305 
 
 284 282 282 
 
 91 
 31 
 
 90 
 31 
 
 32 32 
 10 10 
 
 91 
 30 
 22 
 10 
 2 
 
 11 12 
 
 305 304 
 
 281 283 
 
 62 93 
 
 31 31 
 
 32 33 
 10 10 
 
 2 1 
 
 Ballots, 
 
 jfant, 
 
 Blaine, 
 
 Sherman, 
 
 Edmunds, 
 
 13 
 305 
 
 285 
 89 
 31 
 
 14 15 16 
 305 309 306 
 
 285 281 283 
 
 Washburne, 33 
 
 Windom, 
 Garneld, 
 Hayes, 
 
 Davis, 
 VlcCrary, 
 
 10 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 89 
 31 
 35 
 10 
 
 31 
 36 
 10 
 
 88 
 31 
 36 
 10 
 
 17 18 
 
 303 305 
 
 284 283 
 
 90 92 
 
 31 31 
 
 34 35 
 
 10 10 
 
 Ballots, 19 20 21 22 23 24 
 Grant, 305 308 305 305 304 305 
 Blaine, 279 276 276 275 274 279 
 
 Sherman, 95 93 96 
 Edmunds, 31 31 31 
 
 Washburne, 31 35 35 35 
 Windom, 10 10 10 10 
 Garneld, 1111 
 Hartranft, 1111 
 
 95 98 
 31 31 
 36 
 10 
 2 
 
 93 
 31 
 35 
 10 
 2 
 
 Ballots, 25 26 27 
 
 Grant, 302 303 306 
 
 Blaine, 281 280 277 
 
 Sherman, 94 93 93 j 
 
 Edmunds, 31 31 31 
 
 Washburne, 36 35 36 
 
 Windom, 10 10 10 
 
 Garneld, 222 
 
 There was little change from the 27th 
 ballot until the 36th and final one, which 
 resulted as follows : 
 
 Whole number of votes 755 
 
 Necessary to a choice 378 
 
 Grant 306 
 
 Blaine 42 
 
 Sherman 3 
 
 Washburne 5 
 
 Garneld V 399 
 
 As shown, General James A. Garneld, 
 of Ohio, was nominated on the 36th ballot, 
 the forces of General Grant alone remain 
 ing solid. The result was due to a sudden 
 union of the forces of Blaine and Sherman, 
 it is believed with the full consent of both, 
 for both employed the same wire leading 
 from the same room in Washington in 
 telegraphing to their friends at Chicago. 
 The object was to defeat Grant. After 
 Garfield's nomination there was a tempo 
 rary adjournment, during which the 
 friends of the nominee consulted Conkling 
 and his leading friends, and the result was 
 the selection of General Chester A. Arthur 
 
THE CAMPAIGN OF 1880. 
 
 243 
 
 of New York, for Vice-President. The 
 object of this selection was to carry New 
 York, the great State which was then al 
 most universally believed to hold the key 
 to the Presidential position. 
 
 The Democratic National Convention 
 met at Cincinnati, June 22d. Tilden had 
 up to the holding of the Pennsylvania 
 State Convention been one of the most 
 prominent candidates. In this Convention 
 there was a bitter struggle between the 
 Wallace and Randall factions, the former 
 favoring Hancock, the latter Tilden. Wal 
 lace, after a contest far sharper than he 
 expected, won, and bound the delegation 
 by the unit rule. When the National 
 Convention met, John Kelly, the Tam 
 many leader of New York, was again 
 there, as at St. Louis four years before, to 
 oppose Tilden, but the latter sent a letter 
 disclaiming that he was a candidate, and 
 yet really inviting a nomination on the is- 
 BUC of "the fraudulent counting in of 
 Hayes." There were but two ballots, as 
 follows : 
 
 FIRST BALLOT. 
 
 Randall 6 
 
 Loveland 5 
 
 McDonald 3 
 
 McClellan 3 
 
 English 1 
 
 Jewett 1 
 
 Black 1 
 
 Lothrop 1 
 
 Parker 1 
 
 Hancock 171 
 
 Bayard 153* 
 
 Payne 81 
 
 Thurman 63J 
 
 Field 66 
 
 Morrison 62 
 
 Hendricks 46} 
 
 Tilden 38 
 
 Ewing 10 
 
 Seymour .... 8 
 
 SECOND BALLOT. 
 
 Hancock 705 
 
 Tilden 1 
 
 Bayard 2 
 
 Hendricks 30 
 
 Thus General Winfield S. Hancock, of 
 New York, was nominated on the second 
 ballot. Wm. H. English, of Indiana, was 
 nominated for Vice-President. 
 ^ The National Greenback-Labor Conven 
 tion, held at Chicago, June 11, nominated 
 General J. B. Weaver, of Iowa, for Presi 
 dent, and General E. J. Chambers, of 
 Texas, for Vice-Presiderit. 
 
 In the canvass which followed, the Re 
 publicans were aided by such orators as 
 Conkling, Blaine, Grant, Logan, Curtis, 
 Boutwell, while the Camerons, father and 
 son, visited the October States of Ohio and 
 Indiana, as it was believed that these 
 would determine the result, Maine having 
 in September very unexpectedly defeated 
 the Republican State ticket by a small ma 
 jority. The Democrats were aided by 
 Bayard, Voorhees, Randall, Wallace, Hill, 
 Hampton, Lamar, and hosts of their best 
 orators. Every issue was recalled, but for 
 the first time in the history of the Repub 
 licans of the West, they accepted the tariff 
 
 issue, and made open war on Watterson's 
 plank in the Democratic platform " a 
 tariff for revenue only." Iowa, Ohio, and 
 Indiana, all elected the Republican State 
 tickets with good margins ; West Virginia 
 went Democratic, but the result was, not 
 withstanding this, reasonably assured to 
 the Republicans. The Democrats, how 
 ever, feeling the strong personal popularity 
 of their leading candidate, persisted with 
 high courage to the end. In November 
 all of the Southern States; with New Jer 
 sey, California,* and Nevada in the North, 
 went Democratic; all of the others Re 
 publican. The Greenbackers held only a 
 balance of power, which they could not 
 exercise, in California, Indiana, and New 
 Jersey. The electoral vote of Garfield and 
 Arthur was 214, that of Hancock and Eng 
 lish 155. The popular vote was Republi 
 can, 4,442,950; Democratic, 4,442,035; 
 Greenback or National, 306,867 ; scatter 
 ing, 12,576. The Congressional elections 
 in the same canvass gave the Republicans 
 147 members ; the Democrats, 136 ; Green- 
 backers, 9 ; Independents, 1. 
 
 Fifteen States elected Governors, nine 
 of them Republicans and six Democrats. 
 
 General Garfield, November 10, sent to 
 Governor Foster, of Ohio, his resignation 
 as a Senator, and John Sherman, the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, was in the win 
 ter following elected as his successor. 
 
 The third session of the Forty-sixth 
 Congress was begun December 6. The 
 President's Message was read in both 
 Houses. Among its recommendations to 
 Congress were the following : To create 
 the office of Captain-General of the Army 
 for General Grant ; to defend the inviola 
 bility of the constitutional amendments; 
 to promote free popular education by 
 grants of public lands and appropriations 
 from the United States Treasury ; to ap 
 propriate $25,000 annually for the expen 
 ses of a Commission to be appointed by 
 the President to devise a just, uniform, 
 and efficient system of competitive exami 
 nations, and to supervise the application 
 of the same throughout the entire civil 
 service of the government ; to pass a law 
 defining the relations of Congressmen to 
 appointments to office, so as to end Con 
 gressional encroachment upon the appoint 
 ing power ; to repeal the Tenure-of- office 
 Act, and pass a law protecting office 
 holders in resistance to political assess 
 ments ; to abolish the present system of 
 executive and judicial government in 
 Utah, and substitute for it a government 
 by a commission to be appointed by the 
 President and confirmed by the Senate, or, 
 in case the present government is con 
 tinued, to withhold from all who practice 
 
 * One Democratic elector waa defeated, being cut by 
 over 600 voters on a local issue. 
 
244 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 polygamy the right to vote, hold office, and 
 Bit on juries ; to repeal the act authorizing 
 the coinage of the silver dollar of 41 2 
 grains, and to authorize the coinage of a 
 new silver dollar equal in value as bullion 
 with the gold dollar; to take favorable ac 
 tion on the bill providing for the allotment 
 of lands on the different reservations. 
 
 Two treaties between this country and 
 China were signed at Pekin, November 17, 
 1881, one of commerce, and the other se 
 curing to the United States the control and 
 regulation of the Chinese immigration. 
 
 President Hayes, February 1, 1881, sent 
 a message to Congress sustaining in the 
 main the findings of the Ponca Indian 
 Commission, and approving its recom 
 mendation that they remain on their reser 
 vation in Indian Territory. The Presi 
 dent suggested that the general Indian 
 policy for the future should embrace the 
 following ideas: First, the Indians should 
 be prepared for citizenship by giving to 
 their young of both sexes that industrial 
 and general education which is requisite 
 to enable them to be self-supporting and 
 capable of self-protection in civilized com 
 munities; second, lands should be allot 
 ted to the Indians in severalty, inalienable 
 for a certain period; third, the Indians 
 should have a fair compensation for their 
 lands not required for individual allot 
 ments, the amount to be invested, with 
 suitable safeguards, for their benefit; 
 fourth, with these prerequisites secured, 
 the Indians should be made citizens, and 
 invested with the rights and charged with 
 the responsibilities of citizenship. 
 
 The Senate, February 4, passed Mr. 
 Morgan's concurrent resolution declaring 
 that the President of the Senate is not in 
 vested by the Constitution of the United 
 States with the right to count the votes of 
 electors for President and Vice-President 
 of the United States, so as to determine 
 what votes shall be received and counted, 
 or what votes shall be rejected. An 
 amendment was added declaring in effect 
 that it is the duty of Congress to pass a 
 law at once providing for the orderly 
 counting of the electoral vote. The House 
 concurred February 5, but no action by 
 bill or otherwise has since been taken. 
 
 Senator Pendleton, of Ohio, December 
 15^1881, introduced a bill to regulate the 
 civil service and to promote the efficiency 
 thereof, and also a bill to prohibit Federal 
 officers, claimants, and contractors from 
 making or receiving assessments or contri 
 butions for political purposes. 
 
 The Burnside Educational Bill passed 
 the Senate December 17, 1881. It pro 
 vides that the proceeds of the sale of pub 
 lic land and the earnings of the Patent 
 Office shall be funded at four per cent., 
 and the interest divided among the States 
 in proportion to their illiteracy. An 
 
 amendment by Senator Morgan provides 
 for the instruction of women in the State 
 agricultural colleges in such branches of 
 technical and industrial education as are 
 suited to their sex. No action has yet 
 been taken by the House. 
 
 On the 9th of February the electoral 
 votes were counted by the Vice-President 
 in the presence of both Houses, and Gar- 
 field and Arthur were declared elected 
 President and Vice-President of the United 
 States. There was no trouble as to the 
 count, and the result previously stated was 
 formally announced. 
 
 Tbe Three Per Cent. Funding Bill. 
 
 The 3 per cent. Funding Bill passed the 
 House March 2, and was on the following 
 day vetoed by President Hayes on the 
 ground that it dealt unjustly with the Na 
 tional Banks in compelling them to accept 
 and employ this security for their circu 
 lation in lieu of the old bonds. This fea 
 ture of the bill caused several of the Banks 
 to surrender their circulation, conduct 
 which for a time excited strong political 
 prejudices. The Republicans in Congress 
 as a rule contended that the debt could 
 not be surely funded at 3 per cent. ; that 
 3 was a safer figure, and to go below this 
 might render the bill of no effect. The 
 same views were entertained by President 
 Hayes and Secretary Sherman. The Dem 
 ocrats insisted on 3 per cent., until the 
 veto, when the general desire to fund at 
 more favorable rates broke party lines, and 
 a 3 per cent, funding bill was passed, with 
 the feature objectionable to the National 
 Banks omitted. 
 
 The Republicans were mistaken in their 
 view, as the result proved. The loan was 
 floated so easily, that in the session of 1882 
 Secretary Sherman, now a Senator, him 
 self introduced a 3 per cent, bill, which 
 passed the Senate Feb. 2d, 1882, in this 
 shape : 
 
 Be it enacted, &c. That the Secretary of 
 the Treasury is hereby authorized to 
 receive at the Treasury and at the office of 
 any Assistant Treasurer of the United 
 States and at any postal money order of 
 fice, lawful money of the United States to 
 the amount of fifty dollars or any multiple 
 of that sum or any bonds of the United 
 States, bearing three and a-half per cent, 
 interest, which are hereby declared valid, 
 and to issue in exchange therefore an 
 equal amount of registered or coupon 
 bonds of the United States, of the denom 
 ination of fifty, one hundred, five hundred, 
 one thousand and ten thousand dollars, of 
 such form as he may prescribe, bearing in 
 terest at the rate three per centum per 
 annum, payable either quarterly or semi- 
 annually, at the Treasury of the United 
 
HISTORY OP THE NATIONAL LOANS. 
 
 245 
 
 States. Such bonds shall be exempt from 
 all taxation by or under state authority, 
 and be payable at the pleasure of the 
 United States. " Provided, That the bonds 
 herein authorized shall not be called in and 
 pail so long as any bonds of the United 
 States heretofore issued bearing a higher 
 rate of interest than three per centum, and 
 wilich shall be redeemable at the pleasure 
 of ths United States, shall be outstanding 
 and uncalled. The last of the said bonds 
 originally issued and their substitutes 
 under this act shall be first called in and 
 this order of payment ehall be followed 
 until all shall have been paid." 
 
 The money deposited under this act 
 shall be promptly applied solely to the re 
 demption of the bonds of the United States 
 bearing three and a-half per centum in 
 terest, and the aggregate amount of de 
 posits made and bond? issued under this 
 act shall not exceed the sum of two hun 
 dred million dollars. Ths amount of law 
 ful money so received on deposit, as afore 
 said, shall not exceed, at any time, the 
 sum of twenty-five million dollars Be 
 fore any deposits are received at any pos 
 tal money office under this act, the post 
 master at such office shall file with the 
 Secretary of the Treasury his bond, with 
 satisfactory security, conditioned that he 
 will promptly transmit to the Treasury of 
 tha Unite! States the money received by 
 him in conformity with regulations to be 
 prescribed by such secretary ; and the de 
 posit with any postmaster shall not at any 
 time, excesd the amount of his bond. 
 
 SECTION 2. Any national banking asso 
 ciation now organized cr hereafter or 
 ganized desiring to withdraw its circulat 
 ing notes upon a deposit of lawful money 
 with the Treasury of the United States as 
 provided in section 4 of the Act of Juno 
 20, 1874, entitled " An act fixing the 
 amount of Unite! States notes providing 
 for a re distribution of National bank cur 
 rency and for othsr purposes," shall be re 
 quired to give thirty days' notice to the 
 Controller of the Currency of its intention 
 to deposit lawful money and withdraw its 
 circulating notss; provided that not more 
 than five million of dollars of lawful 
 money shall be deposited during any cal 
 ender month for this purpose; and pro 
 vided further, that the provisions of this 
 section shall not apoly to bonds called for 
 redemption by the Secretary of the Trea 
 sury. 
 
 SECTION" 3. That nothing in this act 
 shall be so construed as to authorize an in 
 crease of the public debt. 
 
 In th3 past few years opinions on the 
 rates of interest have undergone wonderful 
 changes. Many supposed indeed it was 
 a "standard" argument that rates must 
 ever be higher in new than old countries, 
 that these higher rates comported with and 
 
 aided the higher rates paid for commodi 
 ties and labor. The funding operations 
 since the war have dissipated this belief, 
 and so shaken political theories that no 
 party can now claim a monopoly of sound 
 financial doctrine. So high is the credit 
 of the government, and so abundant are 
 the resources of our people after a com 
 paratively short period of general prosper 
 ity, that they seem to have plenty of sur 
 plus funds with which to aid any funding 
 operation, however low the rate of interest, 
 if the government State or National 
 shows a willingness to pay. As late as 
 February, 1882, Pennsylvania funded seven 
 millions of her indebtedness at 3, 3 and 4 
 per cent., the two larger sums commanding 
 premiums sufficient to cause the entire 
 debt to be floated at a little more than 3 
 per cent., and thus floating commands an 
 additional premium in the money ex 
 changes. 
 
 History of the National Loans. 
 
 Iii Book VII of this volume devoted to 
 Tabulated History, we try to give the read 
 er at a glance some idea of the histoiy of 
 our National finances. An attempt to go 
 into details would of itself fill volumes, for 
 no class of legislation has taken so much 
 time or caused such a diversity of opinion. 
 Yet it is shown, by an admirable review of 
 the loans of the United States, by Rafael 
 A. Bayley, of the Treasury Department 
 published in the February (1882) number 
 of the International Review, that the "finan 
 cial system of the government of the 
 United States has continued the same from 
 its organization to the present time." Mr. 
 Bayley has completed a history of our Na 
 tional Loans, which will be published in 
 the Census volume on " Public Debts." 
 From his article in the Review we con 
 dense the leading facts bearing on the his 
 tory of our national loans. 
 
 The financial system of the United States, 
 in all its main features, is simple and well 
 defined, and its very simplicity may proba 
 bly be assigned as the reason why it ap 
 pears so difficult of comprehension by 
 many people of intelligence and education. 
 It is based upon the principles laid down 
 by Alexander Hamilton, and the practical 
 adoption of the fundamental maxim which 
 he regarded as the true secret for render 
 ing public credit immortal, viz., " that the 
 creation of the debt should always be ac 
 companied with the means of extinguish 
 ment." A faithful adherence 'to this sys 
 tem by his successors has stood the test of 
 nearly a century, with the nation at peace 
 or at war, in prosperity or adversity : so 
 that, with all the change that progress lifts 
 entailed upon the people of the age, no 
 valid ground 5 * exist for any change here. 
 
 " During the colonial period, and under 
 
246 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 the confederation, the financial operations 
 of the Government were based on the law 
 of necessity, and depended for success 
 upon the patriotism of the people, the co 
 operation of the several States, and the 
 assistance of foreign powers friendly to our 
 cause. 
 
 "It was the willingness of the people to 
 receive the various kinds of paper money 
 hsued under authority of the Continental 
 Congress, and used in payment for services 
 and supplies, together with the issue of 
 similar obligations by the different States, 
 iOr the redemption of which they assumed 
 the responsibility ; aided by the munificent 
 gift of money from Louis XVI. of France, 
 lollowed by loans for a large amount from 
 both France and Holland, that made vic 
 tory possible, and laid the foundations for 
 the republic of to-day, with its credit un 
 impaired, and with securities command 
 ing a ready sale at a high premium in all 
 the principal markets of the world. 
 
 " Authorities vary as to the amount of 
 paper money issued and the cost of the war 
 for independence. On the 1st of Septem 
 ber, 1779, Congress resolved that it would 
 * on no account whatever emit more bills 
 of credit than to make the whole amount 
 of such bills two hundred millions of dol- 
 lais.' Mr. Jefferson estimates the value 
 of this sum at the time of its emission at 
 $36,367,719.83 in specie, and savs ; ' If we 
 estimate at the same value the like sum of 
 $200,000,000 supposed to have been 
 emitted by the States, and reckon the 
 Federal debt, foreign and domestic, at 
 about $43,000,000, and the State debt at 
 $25,000,000, it will form an amount of 
 $140,000,000, the total sum which the war 
 cost the United States. It continued eight 
 years, from the battle of Lexington to the 
 cessation of hostilities in America. The 
 annual expense was, therefore, equal to 
 about $17,500,000 in specie/ 
 
 " The first substantial aid rendered the 
 colonies by any foreign power was a free 
 gift of money and military supplies from 
 Louis XVI. of France, amounting in the 
 aggregate to 10,000,000 livres, equivalent 
 to $1,815,000. 
 
 "These supplies were not furnished 
 epenly, for the reason that France was not 
 in a position to commence a war with 
 Great Britain. The celebrated Caron de 
 Beaumarchais was employed as a secret 
 agent, between whom and Silas Deane, as 
 the political and commercial agent of the 
 United States, a contract was entered into 
 whereby the former agreed to furnish a 
 large amount of military supplies from the 
 arsenals of France, and to receive Ameri 
 can produce in payment therefor. 
 
 " Under this arrangement supplies were 
 famished by the French Government to 
 the amount of 2,000,000 livres. An addi 
 tional 1,000,000 was contributed by the 
 
 Government of Spain for the same pur 
 pose, and through the same agency. The 
 balance of the French subsidy was paid 
 through Benjamin Franklin. In 1777 a 
 loan of 1,000,000 livres was obtained from 
 the 'Farmers General of France' under 
 a contract for its repayment in American 
 tobacco at a stipulated price. From 1778 
 to 1783, additional loans were obtained 
 from the French King, amounting to 34,- 
 000,000 livres. From 1782 to 1789, loans 
 to the amount of 9,000,< 00 guilders were 
 negotiated in Holland, through the agency 
 of John Adams, then the American Minis 
 ter to the Hague. 
 
 " The indebtedness of the United States 
 at the organization of the present form of 
 government (including interest to Decem 
 ber 31, 1790) may be briefly stated, as fol 
 lows : 
 
 Foreign debt $11,883,315.96 
 
 Domestic debt 40,256,802.45 
 
 Debt due foreign officers... 198,208.10 
 Arrears outstanding (since 
 discharged) 450,395.52 
 
 Total $52,788,722.03 
 
 To this should be added the individual 
 debts of the several States, the precise 
 amount and character of which was then 
 unknown, but estimated by Hamilton at 
 that time to aggregate about $25,000,000. 
 
 " The payment of this vast indebtedness 
 was virtually guarantied by the provisions 
 of Article VI. of the Constitution, which 
 says : ' All debts contracted, and engage 
 ments entered into, before the adoption of 
 this Constitution shall be as valid against 
 the United States under this Constitution 
 as under the confederation.' On the 21st 
 of September, 1789, the House of Kepre- 
 sentatives adopted the following resolu 
 tions : 
 
 Resolved, That this House consider an 
 adequate provision for the support of the 
 public credit as a matter of high import 
 ance to the national honor and prosperity. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary of the 
 Treasury be directed to prepare a plan for 
 that purpose, and to report the same to 
 this House at its next meeting. 
 
 " In reply thereto Hamilton submitted 
 his report on the 9th of January, 1790, in 
 which he gave many reasons for assuming 
 the debts of the old Government, and of 
 the several States, and furnished a plan 
 for supporting the public credit. His rec 
 ommendations were adopted, and embodied 
 in the act making provision for the pay 
 ment of the debt of the United States, 
 approved August 4, 1790. 
 
 " This act authorized a loan of $12,000,- 
 000, to be applied to the payment of the 
 foreign debt, principal and interest ; a loan 
 equal to the full amount of the domestic 
 debt, payable in certificates issued for its 
 
HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL LOANS. 
 
 247 
 
 amount according to their specie value, 
 and computing the interest to December 
 31, 1791, upon such as bore interest; and a 
 further loan of $21,500,000, payable in the 
 principal and interest of the certificates or 
 notes which, prior to January 1, 1790, 
 were issued by the respective States as evi 
 dences of indebtedness incurred by them 
 for the expenses of the late war. ' In the 
 case of the debt of the United States, in 
 terest upon two-thirds of the principal 
 only, at 6 per cent., was immediately paid ; 
 interest upon the remaining third was de 
 ferred for ten years, and only three per 
 cent, was allowed upon the arrears of in 
 terest, making one-third of the whole debt. 
 In the case of the separate debts of the 
 States, interest upon four-ninths only of 
 the entire sum was immediately paid ; in 
 terest upon two-ninths was deferred for ten 
 years, and only 3 per cent, allowed on three- 
 ninths.' Under this authority 6 per cent, 
 stock was issued to the amount of $30,060,- 
 511, and deferred 8 per cent, stock, bear 
 ing interest from January 1, 1800, amount 
 ing to $14,635,386. This stock was made 
 Bubject to redemption by payments not ex 
 ceeding, in one year, on account both of 
 principal and interest, the proportion of 
 eight dollars upon a hundred of the sum 
 mentioned in the certificates ; $19,719,237 
 was issued in 3 per cent, stock, subject to 
 
 4 redemption whenever provision should be 
 
 ' made by law for that purpose. 
 
 " The money needed for the payment of 
 the principal and interest of the foreign 
 debt was procured by new loans negotiated 
 in Holland and Antwerp to the amount of 
 $9,400,000, and the issue of new stock for 
 the balance of $2,024,900 due on the 
 French debt, this stock bearing a rate of 
 interest one-half of one per cent, in ad 
 vance of the rate previously paid, and re 
 deemable at the pleasure of the Govern 
 ment. Subsequent legislation provided 
 for the establishment of a sinking fund, 
 under the management of a board of com 
 missioners, consisting of the President of 
 the Senate, Chief Justice of the Supreme 
 Court, Secretary of State, Secretary of the 
 Treasury, and Attorney General, for the 
 time being, who, or any three of whom, 
 were authorized, under the direction of the 
 President of the United States, to make 
 purchases of stock, and otherwise provide 
 for the gradual liquidation of the entire 
 debt, from funds set apart for this purpose. 
 On assuming the position of Secretary of 
 the Treasury, Hamilton found himself en 
 tirely without funds to meet the ordinary 
 expenses of the Government, except by 
 borrowing, until such time as the revenues 
 from duties on imports and tonnage began 
 to come into the Treasury. Under these 
 circumstances, he was forced to make ar 
 rangements with the Bank of New York 
 and the Bank of North America for tem 
 
 porary loans, and it was from the moneys 
 received from these banks that he paid the 
 fir^t installment of salary due President 
 Washington, Senators, Representatives and 
 officers of Congress, during the first ses 
 sion under the Constitution, which began 
 at the city of New York, March 4, 1789. 
 
 " The first ' Bank of the United States ' 
 appears to have been proposed by Alex 
 ander Hamilton in December, 1790, and it 
 was incorporated by an act of Congress, 
 approved February 25, 1791, with a capi 
 tal stock of $10,000,000 divided into 25,- 
 000 shares at $400 each. The government 
 subscription of $2,000,000, under authority 
 of the act, was paid by giving to the bank 
 bills of exchange on Holland equivalent 
 to gold, and borrowing from the bank a 
 like sum for ten years at 6 per cent, inter 
 est. The bank went into operation very 
 soon after its charter was obtained, and 
 declared its first dividend in July, 1792. 
 It was evidently well managed, and was of 
 great benefit to the Government and the 
 people at large, assisting the Government 
 by loans in cases of emergency, and forc 
 ing the 'wildcat' banks of the country 
 to keep their issues ' somewhere within 
 reasonable bounds.' More than $100,000,- 
 000 of Government money was received 
 and disbursed by it without the loss of a 
 single dollar. It made semi-annual divi 
 dends, averaging about 8} per cent., and 
 its stock rose to a high price. The stock 
 belonging to the United States was sold 
 out at different times at a profit, 2,220 
 shares sold in 1802 bringing an advance of 
 45 per cent. The government subscription, 
 with ten years' interest amounted to $3,200- 
 000, while there was received in dividends 
 and for stock sold $3,773,580, a profit of 
 nearly 28.7 per cent. In 1796 the credit of 
 the Government was very low, as shown by 
 its utter failure to negotiate a loan for the 
 purpose of paying a debt to the Bank of 
 the United States for moneys borrowed and 
 used, partly to pay the expenses of sup 
 pressing the whisky insurrection in Penn 
 sylvania and to buy a treaty with the 
 pirates -of Algiers. On a loan authorized 
 for $5,000,000, only $80,000 could be ob 
 tained, and this at a discount of 12 per 
 cent.; and, there being no other immediate 
 resource, United States Bank stock to the 
 amount of $1,304,260 was sold at a pre 
 mium of 25 per cent. 
 
 " Under an act approved June 30, 1798, 
 the President was authorized to accept 
 such vessels as were suitable to be armed 
 for the public service, not exceeding twelve 
 in number, and to issue certificates, or 
 other evidences of the public debt of the 
 United States, in pavment. The ships 
 George Washington, Merrimack, Maryland 
 and Patapsco, brig Richmond, and frigates 
 Boston, Philadelphia, John Adams, Essex 
 and New York, were purchased, and 6 per 
 
248 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 cent, stock, redeemable at the pleasure of! 
 Congress, was issued in payment to the ' 
 amount of $711,700. 
 
 "The idea of creating a navy by the ' 
 purchase of vessels built by private parties 
 and issuing stock in payment therefor, 
 seems to have originated 'with Hamilton. ! 
 
 " In the years 1797 and 1798 the United 
 States, though nominally at peace with all [ 
 the world, was actually at war with France . 
 a war not formally declared, but carried 
 on upon the ocean with very great viru 
 lence. John Marshall, Elbridge Gerry and 
 Charles C. Pinckney were appointed en 
 voys extraordinary to^the French Repub 
 lic, with power for terminating all differ 
 ences and restoring harmony, good under 
 standing and commercial and friendly in 
 tercourse between the two nations ; but 
 their efforts were in vain, and extensive 
 preparations were made to resist a French i 
 invasion. It was evident that the ordinary 
 revenues of the country would be inade 
 quate for the increased expenditure, and a 
 loan of $5,000,000 was authorized by an 
 act approved July 16, 1798, redeemable at 
 pleasure after fifteen years. The rate of 
 interest was not specified in the act, and 
 the market rate at the time being 8 per 
 cent, this rate was paid, and it was thought 
 by a committee of Congress that the loan 
 was negotiated ' upon the best terms that 
 could be procured, and with a laudable 
 eye to the public interest. ' A loan of 
 $3,500,000 was authorized by an act ap 
 proved May 7, 1800, for the purpose of 
 meeting a large deficit in the revenues of 
 the preceding year, caused by increased 
 expenditures rendered necessary on ac 
 count of the difficulties with France, and 
 stock bearing 8 per cent, interest, reim 
 bursable after fifteen years, was issued to 
 the amount of $1,481,700, on which a pre 
 mium was realized of nearly 5 per cent. 
 These are the only two instances in which 
 the Government has paid 8 per cent, in 
 terest on its bonds. 
 
 "The province of Louisiana was ceded 
 to the United States by a treaty with 
 France, April 30, 1803, in payment for 
 which 6 per cent, bonds, payable in fifteen 
 years, were issued to the amount of $11,- 
 250,000, and the balance which the Gov 
 ernment agreed to pay for the province, 
 amounting to $3,750,000, was devoted to 
 reimbursing American citizens for French 
 depredations on their commerce. These 
 claims were paid in money, and the stock 
 redeemed by purchases made under the di 
 rection of the Commissioners of the Sink 
 ing Fund within twelve years. Under an 
 act approved February 11, 1807, a portion 
 of the 'old 6 per cent.' and 'deferred 
 stocks" was refunded into new stock, bear 
 ing the same rate of interest, but redeema 
 ble at the pleasure of the United States. 
 This was done for the purpose of placing 
 
 it within the power of the Government to 
 reimburse the amount refunded within a 
 short time, as under the old laws these 
 stocks could only be redeemed at the rate 
 of 2 per cent, annually. Stock was issued 
 amounting to $6,294,051, nearly all of 
 which was redeemed within four years. 
 Under the same act old ' 3 per cent, stock ' 
 to the amount of $2,861,309 was converted 
 into 6 per cents., at sixty-five cents on the 
 dollar, but this was not reimbursable with 
 out the assent of the holder until after the 
 whole of certain other stocks named in the 
 act was redeemed. The stock issued under 
 this authority amounted to $1,859,871. It 
 would appear that the great majority of the 
 holders of the *' old stock " preferred it to 
 the new. A loan equal to the amount of 
 the principal of the public debt zeimbursa- 
 ble during the current year was authorized 
 by an act approved May 1, 1810, and $2,- 
 750,000 was borrowed at 6 per cent, interest 
 from the Bank of the United States, for the 
 purpose of meeting any deficiency arising 
 from increased expenditures on account of 
 the military and naval establishments. 
 This was merely a temporary loan, which 
 was repaid the following year. 
 
 " The ordinary expenses for the year 1812 
 were estimated by the Committee of Ways 
 and Means of the House of Representatives 
 at $1,200,000 more than the estimated re 
 ceipts for the same period, and the impend 
 ing war with Great Britain made it abso 
 lutely necessary that some measures should 
 be adopted to maintain the public credit, 
 and provide the requisite funds for carrying 
 on the Government. Additional taxes were 
 imposed upon the people, but as these 
 could not be made immediately available 
 there was no other resource but new loans 
 and the issue of Treasury notes. This was 
 the first time since the formation of the new 
 Government that the issue of such notes 
 had been proposed, and they were objected 
 to as engrafting on our system of finance a 
 new and untried measure. 
 
 " Under various acts of Congress ap 
 proved between March 4, 1812, and Feb 
 ruary 24, 1815, 6 per cent, bonds were is 
 sued to the amount of $50,792,674. These 
 bonds were negotiated at rates varying from 
 20 per cent, discount to par, the net cash 
 realized amounting to $44,530,123. A fur 
 ther sum of $4,025,000 was obtained by 
 temporary loans at par, of which sum 
 $225,000 was for the purpose of repairing 
 the public buildings in Washington, dam 
 aged by the enemy on the night of August 
 24, 1814. These 'war loans' were all 
 made redeemable at the pleasure of the 
 Government after a specified date, and the 
 faith of the United States was solemnly 
 pledged to provide sufficient revenues for 
 this purpose. The ' Treasury note system ' 
 was a new feature, and its success was re 
 garded as somewhat doubtful. 
 
HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL LOANS. 
 
 249 
 
 " Its subsequent popularity, however, 
 Was owing to a variety of causes. The 
 notes were made receivable everywhere for 
 dues and customs, and in payment for pub 
 lic lands. They were to bear interest from 
 the day of issue, at the rate of 5 2-5 per 
 cent, per annum, and their payment was 
 guaranteed by the United States, principal 
 and interest, at maturity. They thus fur 
 nished a circulating medium to the coun 
 try, superior to the paper of the suspend 
 ed and doubtful State banks. These 
 issues were therefore considered more 
 desirable than the issue of additional 
 stock, which could be realized in cash 
 only by the payment of a ruinous dis 
 count. The whole amount of Treasury 
 notes issued during the war period was 
 $36,680,794. The Commissioners of the 
 Sinking Fund were authorized to provide 
 for their redemption by purchase, in the 
 same manner as for other evidences of the 
 public debt, and by authority of law $10,- 
 575,738 was redeemed by the issue of cer 
 tificates of funded stock, bearing interest at 
 from 6 to 7 per cent, per annum, redeema 
 ble at any time after 1824. 
 
 " During the years 1812-13 the sum of 
 $2,984,747 of the old 6 per cent, and de 
 ferred stocks were refunded into new 6 per 
 cent, stock redeemable in twelve years ; and 
 by an act approved March 31, 1814, Con 
 gress having authorized a settlement of the 
 " Yazoo claims ' by an issue of non-interest- 
 bearing stock, payable out of the first re 
 ceipts from the sale of public lands in the 
 Missisipi territory, $4,282,037 was issued for 
 this purpose. On the 24th of February, 
 1815, Secretary Dallas reported to Congress 
 that the public debt had been increased, in 
 consequence of the war with Great Bri 
 tain, $68,783,122, a large portion of which 
 was due and unpaid, while another con- 
 siderabli proportion was fast becoming 
 due. These unpaid or accruing demands 
 were in part for temporary loans, and the 
 balance for Treasury notes either due or 
 maturing daily. To provide for their pay 
 ment a new loan for the full amount 
 needed was authorized by act of March 3, 
 1815, and six per. cent stock redeemable in 
 fifteen years, was issued in the sum of 
 $12,238,148. This stock was sold at from 
 95 per cent, to par, and was nearly all re 
 deemed in 1820 by purchases made by the 
 Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. 
 
 " The Government became a stockholder 
 In the second Bank of the United States, to 
 the amount of 70,000 shares, under the act 
 of incorporation, approved April 10, 1816. 
 The capital stock was limited to $35,000,000, 
 divided into 350,000 shares of $100 each. 
 The Government subscription was paid by 
 the issue of 5 per cent, stock to the amount 
 of $7,000,000, redeemable at the pleasure 
 of the Government. This was a profitable 
 investment for the United States, as in ad 
 
 dition to $1,500,000 which the bank paid a* a 
 bonus for its charter, the net receipts over 
 and above disbursements amounted to 
 $4,993,167. The available funds in the 
 Treasury on the 1st of January, 1820, were 
 less than $250,000, and the estimated defi 
 ciency for the year amounted to nearly 
 $4,000,000. This state of affairs was owing 
 partly to the disastrous effects of the com 
 mercial crisis of 1819, heavy payments for 
 the redemption of the public debt, contin 
 ued through a series of years, and large 
 outstanding claims, amounting to over 
 $30,000,000, resulting from the late war 
 with Great Britain. To meet the emer 
 gency, a loan was authorized by act of May 
 15. 1820. and $999,999. 13 was borrowed at 5 
 per cent., redeemable in twelve years, and 
 $2,0000,000 at 6 t,er cent,, reimbursable at 
 pleasure, this latter stock realizing a pre 
 mium of 2 per cent. By act of March 3, 
 1821, 5 per cent, stock amounting to $4,735,- 
 270 was issued at a premium of over 5 per 
 cent., and the proceeds used in payment of 
 the principal and interest of the public 
 debt falling due within the year. 
 
 u An effort was made in 1822 to refund a 
 portion of the 6 per cent, war loans of 
 1812-14 into 5 per cents., but only $56,705 
 could be obtained. Two years later the 
 Government was more successful, and, un 
 der the act of May 26, 1824, 6 per cent, 
 stock of 1813 to the amount of $4,454,728 
 was exchanged for new stock bearing 4J 
 per cent, interest, redeemable in 1833-34. 
 During the same year $5,000,000 was bor 
 rowed at 4-} per cent, to provide for the 
 payment of the awards made by the Com 
 missioners under the treaty with Spain of 
 February 22, 1819, and a like amount, at 
 the same rate of interest, to be applied in 
 paying off that part of the 6 per cent, 
 stock of 1812 redeemable the following 
 year. The act of M'irch 3, 1825, author 
 ized a loan of $12,000,000, at 4} per cent, 
 interest, the money borrowed to be applied 
 in paying off prior loans, but only $1,539,- 
 336 was exchanged for an equal amount of 
 6 per cent, stock of 1813. 
 
 " In the year 1836 the United States was, 
 for the first time in the history of the coun 
 try, practically out of debt. Secretary 
 Woodbury, in his report of December 8, 
 1836, estimated the amount of public debt 
 still outstanding at about $328,582, and this 
 remained unpaid solely because payment 
 had not been demanded, ample funds to 
 meet it having been deposited in the 
 United States Bank and loan offices. The 
 debt outstanding consisted mainly of un 
 claimed interest and dividends, of claims 
 for services and supplies during the Revo 
 lution, and of old Treasury notes, and it is 
 supposed that payment of these had not 
 been asked for solely because the evidences 
 of the debt had been lost or destroyed. 
 The estimates showed the probability of a 
 
250 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 surplus of at least $14,000,000 in the Trea 
 sury at the close of the year 1836, and this 
 estimate proved to be far below the truth. 
 In this favorable condition of the public 
 finances, Congress adopted the extraordi 
 nary resolution of depositing the surplus 
 over $5,000,000 with the several States, and 
 under the act of June 23, 1836, surplus 
 revenue amounting to $28,101,644.91 was 
 so deposited. 
 
 "In 1837, however, the state of the 
 country had changed. The ' flush ' times 
 of 1835 and 1836 had been succeeded by 
 extraordinary depression, which ultimately 
 produced a panic. In May most of the 
 banks suspended specie payments. The 
 sales of public lands, and the duties on the 
 importations of foreign goods, which had 
 helped to swell the balance in the Treasury 
 to over $42,000,000, had fallen off enor 
 mously. Even on the goods that were im 
 ported it was difficult to collect the duties, 
 for the law compelled them to be paid in 
 specie, and specie was hard to obtain. It 
 had become impossible not only to pay the 
 fourth installment of the surplus at the end 
 of 1836 to the several States, but even to 
 meet the current expenses of the Govern 
 ment from its ordinary revenues. In this 
 emergency the Secretary of the Treasury 
 suggested that contingent authority be 
 given the President to cause the issue of 
 Treasury notes. This measure was gener 
 ally supported on the ground of absolute 
 necessity, as there was a large deficit al 
 ready existing, and this was likely to in 
 crease from the condition of the country at 
 that time. The measure was opposed, 
 however, by some who thought that greater 
 economy in expenditures would relieve 
 the Treasury, while others denounced it as 
 an attempt " to start a Treasury bank." 
 
 "However, an act was approved October 
 12, 1837, authorizing an issue of $10,000,- 
 000 in Treasury notes in denominations 
 not less than fifty dollars, redeemable in 
 one year from date, with interest at 
 rates fixed by the Secretary, not exceed 
 ing 6 per cent. These notes, as usual, 
 were receivable in payment of all duties 
 and taxes levied by the United States, and 
 in payment for public lands. Prior to 
 1846, the issue of notes of this character 
 amounted to $47,002,900, bearing interest 
 at rates varying from one-tenth of one per 
 cent, to 6 per cent. To provide in part for 
 their redemption, authority was granted 
 for the negotiation of several loans, and 
 $21,021,094 was borrowed for this purpose, 
 bonds being issued for a like sum, bearing 
 interest at from 5 to 6 per cent., redeema 
 ble at specified dates. These bonds were 
 sold at from 2 per cent, discount to 3f per 
 cent, premium, and redeemed at from par 
 to 19J- per cent, advance. 
 
 " War with Mexico was declared May 13, 
 1846, and in order to provide against a 
 
 deficiency a further issue of $10,000,000 in 
 Treasury notes was authorized by act of 
 July 22, 1846, under the same limitations 
 and restrictions as were contained in the act 
 of October, 1837, except that the authority 
 given was to expire at the end of one year 
 from the passage of the act. The sum of 
 $7,687,800 was issued in Treasury notes, 
 and six per cent, bonds having ten years to 
 run were issued under the same act to the 
 amount of $4,999,149. These were sold at 
 a small advance, and redeemed at various 
 rates from par to eighteen and two-thirds 
 per cent, premium. 
 
 " The expen?es incurred on account of 
 the war with Mexico were much greater 
 than the original estimates, and the failure 
 to provide additional revenues sufficient to 
 meet the increased demands made a new 
 loan necessary, as well as an additional 
 issue of notes, wnich had now become a 
 popular method of obtaining funds. Under 
 the authority granted by act of January 
 28, 1847, Treasury notes to the amount of 
 $26,122,100 were issued at par, redeemable 
 one and two years from date, with interest 
 at from 5 2-5 to 6 per cent. More money 
 still being needed, a 6 per cent, loan, hav 
 ing twenty years to run, was placed upon 
 the market, under the authority of the 
 same act, and bonds to the amount of $28,- 
 230,350 were sold at various rates, ranging 
 from par to 2 per cent, premium. Of this 
 stock the sum of $18,815,100 was redeemed 
 at an advance of from 1 to 21^ per cent., 
 the premium paid (exc^sive of commis 
 sions) amounting to $3,466,107. Under 
 the act of March 31, 1848, 6 per cent, 
 bonds, running twenty years, were issued 
 to the amount of $16,000,000, and sold at a 
 premium ranging from 3 to 4.05 per cent. 
 This loan was made for the same purpose 
 as the preceding one, and $7,091,658 was 
 redeemed by purchase at an advance 
 ranging from 8 to 22.46 per cent., the 
 premium paid amounting to $1,251,258. 
 
 "The widespread depression of trade 
 and commerce which occurred in 1857 was 
 severely felt by the Government, as well as 
 by the people, and BO great was the de 
 crease in the revenues from customs that it 
 became absolutely necessary to provide 
 the Treasury with additional means for 
 meeting the demands upon it. Treasury 
 notes were considered as preferable to a 
 new loan, and by the act of December 23, 
 1857, a new issue was authorized for such 
 an amount as the exigencies of the public 
 service might require, but not to exceed at 
 any one time $20,000,000. These notes 
 were receivable in payment for all debts 
 due the United States, including customs, 
 and were issued at various rates of inter 
 est, ranging from 3 to 6 per cent., to the 
 amount of $52,778,900, redeemable one 
 year from date, the interest to cease at the 
 expiration of sixty days' notice after 
 
HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL LOANS. 
 
 251 
 
 maturity. In May, 1858, the Secretary of 
 the Treasury informed Congress that, 
 owing to the appropriations having been 
 increased by legislation nearly $10,000,000 
 over the estimates, while the customs 
 revenue had fallen off to a like amount, it 
 would be necessary to provide some means 
 to meet the deficit. In these circumstances, 
 a new loan was authorized by act of June 
 14, 1858, and 5 per cent, bonds amounting 
 to $20,00<),000, redeemable in fifteen years, 
 were sold at an average premium of over 
 3V per cent. Uader the act of December 
 17, 1873, $13,957,000 in bonds of the loan 
 of 1881, and $260,000 in bonds of a loan of 
 19)7, were issued in exchange for a like 
 amount of bonds of this loan. 
 
 " The act of June 22, 1860, authorized 
 the President to borrow $21,000,000 on the 
 credit of the United States, the money to 
 be used only in the redemption of Trea 
 sury notes, and to replace any amount of 
 such notes in the Treasury which should 
 have been paid in for public dues. Only 
 $7,022,000 was borrowed at 5 per cent, in 
 terest, the certificates selling at from par 
 to 1.45 per cent, premium. The failure to 
 realize the whole loan was caused by the 
 political troubles which culminated in the 
 civil war. In September, bids were in 
 vited for $10,000,000, and the whole amount 
 offered was speedily taken. It soon be 
 came evident, however, that war was inevi 
 table, and a commercial crisis ensued, dur 
 ing which a portion of the bidlers forfeit 
 ed their deposits, and the balance of the 
 loan was withdrawn from the market. Au 
 thority was granted by the act of Decem 
 ber 17, 1850, for a new issue of Treasury 
 notes, redeemable in one year from date, 
 but not to exceed $10,000,030 at any one 
 time, with interest at such rates as might 
 be offered by the lowest responsible bid 
 ders after advertisement. An unsuccess 
 ful attempt was made to pledge the receipts 
 from the sale of public lands specifically 
 for their redemption. The whole amount 
 of notes issued under th* act was $10,010,- 
 900, of which $4,810,000 bore interest at 
 12 per cent. Additional offers followed, 
 ranging from 15 to 33 per cent., but the 
 Treasury deslined to accept them. 
 
 "Up to this period of our national exist 
 ence the obtaining of the money necessary 
 for carrying on the Government and the 
 preservation inviolate of the public credit 
 had been comparatively an easy task. The 
 people of the several States had contributed 
 in proportion to their financial resources ; 
 and a strict adherence to the fundamental 
 maxim laid down by Hamilton had been 
 maintained by a judicious system of taxa 
 tion to an extent amply sufficient to pro 
 vide for the redemption of all our national 
 securities as they became due. But the 
 time had come when we were no longer a 
 united people, and the means required for 
 
 defraying the ordinary expenses of the 
 Government were almost immediately cur 
 tailed and jeopardized by the attitude of 
 the States which attempted to secede. The 
 confusion which followed the inauguration 
 of the administration of President Lincoln 
 ! demonstrated the necessity of providing 
 I unusual resources without delay. A sys- 
 i tern of internal revenue taxation was in- 
 j troduced, and the tariff adjusted with a 
 view to increased revenues from customs. 
 As the Government had not only to exist 
 and pay its way, but also to provide for an 
 army and navy constantly increasing in 
 numbers and equipment, new and extraor 
 dinary methods were resorted to for the 
 purpose of securing the money which must 
 be had in order to preserve the integrity 
 of the nation. Among these were the issue 
 of its own circulating medium in the form 
 of United States notes* and circulating 
 notes, f for the redemption of which the 
 faith of the nation was solemnly pledged. 
 New loans were authorized to an amount 
 never before known in our history, and 
 the success of our armies was assured by 
 the determination manifested by the peo 
 ple themselves to sustain the Government 
 at all hazards. A brief review of the loan 
 transactions during the period covered by 
 the war is all that can be attempted within 
 the limited space afforded this article. The 
 first war loan may be considered as having 
 been negotiated under the authority of an 
 act approved February 8, 1861. The cred 
 it of the Government at this time was very 
 low, and a loan of $18,415,000, having 
 twenty years to run, with 6 per cent, inter 
 est, could only be negotiated at a discount 
 of $2,019,776.10, or at an average rate of 
 $89.03 per one hundred dollars. From 
 this time to June 30, 1865, Government se 
 curities of various descriptions were issued 
 under authority of law to the amount of 
 $3,888,686,575, including the several issues 
 of bonds, Treasury notes, seven-thirties, 
 legal tenders and fractional currency. The 
 whole amount issued under the same au 
 thority to June 30, 1880, was $7,137,646,836, 
 divided as follows : 
 
 Six per cent, bonds $1,130,279,000 
 
 Five per cent, bonds 196,118,300 
 
 Temporary loan certificates.. 969,992,250 
 
 Seven-thirty notes 716,099,247 
 
 Treasury notes and certifi 
 cates of indebtedness 1,074,713,132 
 
 Old demand notes, legal tend 
 ers, coin certificates and 
 fractional currency 3,050,444,907 
 
 Total $7,137,646,836 
 
 " This increase may be readily accounted 
 for by the continued issue of legal tenders, 
 
 * Commonly salted " Greenbacks," or " Legal Teapot 
 notes " 
 f Commonly called " National Bank notes." 
 
252 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 compound interest notes, fractional cur 
 rency and coin certificates, together with a 
 large amount of bond- issued in order to 
 raise the money necessary to pay for mili 
 tary supplies, and other forms of indebted 
 ness growing out of the war. The rebel 
 lion was practically at an end in May, 
 1865, yet the large amount of money re 
 quired for immediate use in the payment 
 and disbandment of our enormous armies 
 necessitated the still further negotiation of 
 loans under the several acts of Congress 
 then in force, and it was not until after the 
 31st of August, 1865, that our national 
 debt began to decrease. At that time the 
 total indebtedness, exclusive of the " old 
 funded and unfunded debt" of the Revo 
 lution, and of cash in tbe Treasury, 
 amounted to $2,844,646,626.56. The course 
 of our financial legislation since that date 
 has been constantly toward a reduction of 
 the interest, as well as the principal of the 
 public debt. 
 
 " By an act approved March 3, 1865, a 
 loan of $600,000,000 was authorized upon 
 similar terms as had been granted for pre 
 vious loans, with the exception that no 
 thing authorized by this act should be 
 made a legal tender, or be issued in smaller 
 denominations than fifty dollars. The rate 
 of interest was limited to 6 per cent, in 
 coin, or 7.3 per cent, in currency, the bonds 
 issued to be redeemable in not less than 
 five, nor more than forty, years. Authority 
 was also given for the conversion of Trea 
 sury notes or other interest-bearing obliga 
 tions into bonds of this loan. An amend 
 ment to this act was passed April 12, 1866, 
 authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 at his discretion, to receive any Treasury 
 notes or other obligations issued under any 
 act of Congress, whether bearing interest 
 or not, in exchange for any description of 
 bonds authorized by the original act; and 
 also to dispose of any such bonds, either in 
 the United States or elsewhere, to such an 
 amount, in such manner, and at such rates 
 as he might deem advisable, for lawful 
 money, Treasury notes, certificates of in 
 debtedness, certificates of deposit, or other 
 representatives of value, which had been or 
 might be issued under any act of Congress ; 
 the proceeds to be used only for retiring 
 Treasury notes or other national obligations, 
 provided the public debt was not increased 
 thereby. As this was the first important 
 measure presented to Congress since the 
 close of the war tending to place our secu 
 rities upon a firm basis, the action of Con 
 gress in relation to it was looked forward 
 to with a great deal of interest. The dis 
 cussion took a wide range, in which the 
 whole financial administration of the Go 
 vernment during the war was reviewed at 
 length. After a long and exciting debate 
 the bill finally passed, and was approved by 
 the President. Under the authority of 
 
 these two acts, 6 per cent, bonds to the 
 amount of $958,483,550 have been issued to 
 date. These bonds were disposed of at an 
 aggregate premium of $21,522,074, and un 
 der the acts of July 14, 1870, and January 
 20, 1871, the same bonds to the amount of 
 $725,582,400 have been refunded into other 
 bonds bearing a lower rate of interest. The 
 success of these several loans was remarka 
 ble, every exertion being used to provide for 
 their general distribution among the people. 
 
 " In 1867 the first issue of 6 per cent, 
 bonds, known as five-twenties, authorized 
 by the act of Feb. 25, 1862, became re 
 deemable, and the question of refunding 
 them and other issues at a lower rate of in 
 terest had been discussed by the Secretary 
 of the Treasury in his annual reports, but 
 the agitation of the question as to the kinds 
 of money in which the various obligations 
 of the Government should be paid, had FO 
 excited the apprehension of investors as to 
 prevent the execution of any refunding 
 scheme. 
 
 " The act to strengthen the public credit 
 was passed March 18, 1869, and its effect 
 was such as secured to the public the strong 
 est assurances that the interest and princi 
 pal of the public debt outstanding at that 
 time would be paid in coin, according to 
 the terms of the bonds issued, without any 
 abatement. 
 
 "On the 12th of January, 1870, a bill 
 authorizing the refunding and consolidation 
 of the national debt was introduced in the 
 Senate, and extensively debated in both 
 Houses for several months, during which 
 the financial system pursued by the Go 
 vernment during the war was freely re 
 viewed. The adoption of the proposed 
 measure resulted in an entire revolution of 
 the refunding system, under which the 
 public debt of the United States at that 
 time was provided for, by the transmission 
 of a large amount of debt to a succeeding 
 generation. The effect of this attempt at 
 refunding the major portion of the public 
 debt was far more successful than any si 
 milar effort on the part of any Government, 
 so far as known. 
 
 The act authorizing refunding certifi 
 cates convertible into 4 per cent, bonds, 
 approved February 26, 1879, was merely 
 intended for the benefit of parties of limit 
 ed means, and was simply a continuation 
 of the refunding scheme authorized by 
 previous legislation. 
 
 " The period covered precludes any at 
 tempt toward reviewing the operation by 
 which the immediate predecessor of the 
 present Secretary reduced the interest on 
 some six hundred millions of 5 and 6 per 
 cent, bonds to 3 \ per cent. It is safe to say, 
 however, that under the administration of 
 the present Secretary there will be no de 
 viation from the original law laid down by 
 Hamilton. 
 
REPUBLICAN FACTIONS. 
 
 253 
 
 James A. Garfleld. 
 
 James A. Garficld and Chester A. Ar 
 thur were publicly inaugurated President 
 and Vice President of the United States 
 March 4, 1881. 
 
 President Garfield in his inaugural ad 
 dress promised full and equal protection of 
 the Constitution and the laws for the negro, 
 advocated universal education as a safe 
 guard of suffrage, and recommended such 
 an adjustment of our monetary system 
 "that the purchasing power of every coined 
 dollar will be exactly equal to its debt- 
 paying power in all the markets of the 
 world." The national debt should be re 
 funded at a lower rate of interest, without 
 compelling the withdrawal of the National 
 Bank notes, polygamy should be prohibit 
 ed, and civil service regulated by law. 
 
 An extra S3ssion of the Senate was 
 opened March 4. On the 5th, the follow 
 ing cabinet nominations were made and 
 confirmed: Secretary of State, James G. 
 Blame, of Maine ; Secretary of the Treas 
 ury, William Windom, of Minnesota; 
 Secretary of the Navy, William H. Hunt, 
 of Louisiana ; Secretary of War, Robert 
 T. Lincoln, of Illinois; Attorney General, 
 Wayne MacVeagh, of Pennsylvania ; Post 
 master General, Thomas L. James, of New 
 York ; Secretary of the Interior, Samuel 
 J. Kirkwood, of Iowa. 
 
 In this extra session of the Senate Vice 
 President Arthur had to employ the cast 
 ing vote on all questions where the parties 
 divided, and he invariably cast it on the 
 side of the Republicans. "The evenness of 
 the parties caused a dead-lock on the ques 
 tion of organization, for when David Davis, 
 of Illinois, voted with the Democrats, the 
 Republicans had not enough even with the 
 Vice President, and he was not, therefore, 
 called upon to decide a question of that 
 kind. The Republicans desired new and 
 Republican officers; the Democrats de 
 sired to retain the old and Democratic 
 
 ones. 
 
 Republican Factions. 
 
 President Garfield, March 23d, sent in a 
 large number of nominations, among which 
 was that of William H. Robertson, the 
 leader of the Blaine wing of the Republi 
 can party in New York, to be Collector of 
 Customs. He had previously sent in five 
 names for prominent places in New York, 
 at the suggestion of Senator Conkling, who 
 had been invited by President Garfield to 
 name his friends. At this interview it was 
 stated that Garfield casually intimated that 
 he would make no immediate change in 
 the New York Collectorship, and both fac 
 tions seemed satisfied to allow Genl Edwin 
 A. Merritt to retain that place for a time 
 at least. There were loud protests, however, 
 at the first and early selection of the friends 
 
 of Senator Conkling to five important 
 places, and these protests were heeded by 
 the President. With a view to meet them, 
 and, doubtless, to quiet the spirit of faction 
 rapidly developing between the Grant and 
 anti-Grant elements of the party in New 
 York, the name of Judge Robertson was 
 sent in for the Collectorship. He had bat 
 tled against the unit rule at Chicago, dis 
 avowed the instructions of his State Con 
 vention to vote for Grant, and led the 
 Blaine delegates from that State while 
 Blaine was in the field, and when with 
 drawn went to Garfield. Senator Conkling 
 now sought to confirm his friends, and hold 
 back his enemy from confirmation; but 
 these tactics induced Garfield to withdraw 
 the nomination of Conkling's friends, and 
 in this way Judge Robertson's name was 
 alone presented for a time. Against this 
 course Vice-President Arthur and Senators 
 Conkling and Platt remonstrated in a let 
 ter to the President, but he remained firm. 
 Senator Conkling, under the plea of " the 
 privilege of the Senate," a courtesy and 
 custom which leaves to the Senators of a 
 State the right to say who shall be con 
 firmed or rejected from their respective 
 States if of the same party now sought to 
 defeat Robertson. In this battle he had 
 arrayed against him the influence of his 
 great rival, Mr. Blaine, and it is presumed 
 the whole power of the administration. 
 He lost, and the morning following the 
 secret vote, May 17th, 1881, his own and 
 the resignation of Senator Platt were read. 
 These resignations caused great excitement 
 throughout the entire country. They were 
 prepared without consultation with any 
 one even Vice-President Arthur, the in 
 timate friend of both, not knowing any 
 thing of the movement until the letters 
 were opened at the chair where he pre 
 sided. Logan and Cameron Conkling^ 
 colleagues in the great Chicago battle 
 were equally unadvised. The resignations 
 were forwarded to Gov. Cornell, of New 
 York, who, by all permissible delays, 
 sought to have them reconsidered and 
 withdrawn, but both Senators were firm. 
 The Senate confirmed Judge Robertson 
 for Collector, and General Merritt as Con 
 sul-General at London, May 18th, Presi 
 dent Garfield having wisely renewed the 
 Conkling list of appointees, most of whom, 
 declined under the changed condition of 
 affairs. 
 
 These events more widely separated the 
 factions in New York one wing calling 
 itself " Stalwart," the other " Half-Breed," 
 a term of contempt flung at the Indepen 
 dents by Conkling. Elections must follow 
 to fill the vacancies, the New York Legis 
 lature being in session. These vacancies 
 gave the Democrats for the time control of 
 the United States Senate, but they thought 
 it unwise to pursue an advantage which 
 
254 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 would compel them to show their hands 
 for or against one or other of the opposing 
 Republican factions. The extra session of 
 the Senate adjourned May 20th. 
 
 The New York Legislature began ballot 
 ing for successors to Senators Conkling and 
 Platt on the 31st of May. The majority of 
 the Republicans (Independents or "Half- 
 breeds") supported Chauncey M. Depew 
 as the successor of Platt for the long term, 
 and William A. Wheeler as the successor 
 of Conkling for the short term, a few sup 
 porting Cornell. The minority (Stalwarts) 
 renominated Messrs. Conkling and Platt. 
 The Democrats nominated Francis Kernan 
 for the long term, and John C. Jacobs for 
 the short term ; and, on his withdrawal, 
 Clarkson N. Potter. The contest lasted 
 until July 22, and resulted in a compro 
 mise on Warner A. Miller as Plata's suc 
 cessor, and Elbridge G. Lapham as Conk- 
 ling's successor. In Book VII., our Tabu 
 lated History of Politics, we give a correct 
 table of the ballots. These show at a sin 
 gle glance the earnestness and length of 
 the contest. 
 
 The factious feelings engendered thereby 
 were carried into the Fall nominations for 
 the Legislature, and as a result the Demo 
 crats obtained control, which in part they 
 subsequently lost by the refusal of the 
 Tammany Democrats to support their 
 nominees for presiding officers. This De 
 mocratic division caused a long and tire 
 some deadlock in the Legislature of New 
 York. It was broken in the House by a 
 promise on the part of the Democratic 
 candidate for Speaker to favor the Tam 
 many men with a just distribution of the 
 committees a promise which was not 
 satisfactorily carried out, and as a result 
 the Tammany forces of the Senate joined 
 hands with the Republicans. The Repub 
 lican State ticket would also have been 
 lost in the Fall of 1881, but for the inter 
 position of President Arthur, who quickly 
 succeeded in uniting the warring factions. 
 This work was so well done, that all save 
 one name on the ticket (Gen'l Husted) 
 succeeded. 
 
 The same factious spirit was manifested 
 in Pennsylvania in the election of U. S. 
 Senator in the winter of 1881, the two wings 
 taking the names of " Regulars " and " In 
 dependents." The division occurred be 
 fore the New York battle, and it is trace 
 able not alone to the bitter nominating 
 contest at Chicago, but to the administra 
 tion of President Hayes and the experi 
 ment of civil service reform. Administra 
 tions which are not decided and firm upon 
 political issues, invariably divide their 
 parties, and while these divisions are not 
 always to be deplored, and sometimes lead 
 to good results, the fact that undecided 
 administrations divide the parties which 
 they represent, ever remains. The exam 
 
 ples are plain : Van Buren's, Tyler's, Fill- 
 more's, Buchanan's, and Haves'. The lat- 
 ter's indecision was more excusable than 
 that of any of his predecessors. The in 
 exorable firmness of Grant caused the most 
 bitter partisan assaults, and despite all his 
 efforts to sustain the " carpet-bag govern 
 ments " of the South, they became unpopu 
 lar and were rapidly supplanted. As they 
 disappeared, Democratic representation 
 from the South increased, and this increase 
 continued during the administration of 
 Hayes the greatest gains being at times 
 when he showed the greatest desire to con 
 ciliate the South. Yet his administration 
 did the party good, in this, that while at 
 first dividing, it finally cemented through 
 the conviction that experiments of that 
 kind with a proud Southern people were 
 as a rule unavailing. The re -opening of 
 the avenues of trade and other natural 
 causes, apparently uncultivated, have ac 
 complished in this direction much more 
 than any political effort. 
 
 In Pennsylvania a successor to U. S. 
 Senator Wm. A. Wallace was to be chosen. 
 Henry W. Oliver, Jr., received the nomi 
 nation of the Republican caucus, the 
 friends of Galusha A. Grow refusing to 
 enter after a count had been made, and 
 declaring in a written paper that they 
 would not participate in any caucus, and 
 would independently manifest their choice 
 in the Legislature. The following is the 
 first vote in joint Convention 
 
 OLIVER. WALLACE. 
 
 Senate 20 Senate 16 
 
 House 75 House 77 
 
 Total 95 Total 93 
 
 GROW. AGNEW. 
 
 Senate 12 Senate 1 
 
 House..... 44 House 
 
 Total 56 Total 1 
 
 BREWSTER. BAIRD. 
 
 Senate Senate 
 
 House 1 House 1 
 
 Total , 
 
 M'VEAGH. 
 
 Senate 
 
 House... 
 
 Total. 
 
 Total. 
 
 ... 1 
 
 Whole number of votes cast, 248 ; ne 
 cessary to a choice, 125. 
 
 On the 17th of January the two factions 
 issued opposing addresses. From these 
 we quote the leading ideas, which divided 
 the factions. The "Regulars " said : 
 
 "Henry W. Oliver, jr., of Allegheny 
 county, was nominated on the third ballot, 
 receiving 79 of the 95 votes present. Un 
 der the rules of all parties known to the 
 
REPUBLICAN FACTIONS. 
 
 255 
 
 present or past history of our country, a 
 majority of those participating should have 
 been sufficient; but such was the desire for 
 party harmony and for absolute fairness, 
 that a majority of all the Republican mem 
 bers of the Senate and House was required 
 to nominate. The effect of this was to 
 give those remaining out a negative voice 
 in the proceedings, the extent of any priv 
 ilege given them in regular legislative ses 
 sions by the Constitution. In no other 
 caucus or convention has the minority ever 
 found such high consideration, and we be 
 lieve there remains no just cause of com 
 plaint against the result. Even captious 
 faultfinding can find no place upon which 
 to hang a sensible objection. Mr. Oliver 
 was, therefore, fairly nominated by the 
 only body to which is delegated the power 
 of nomination and by methods which were 
 more than just, which, from every stand 
 point, must be regarded as generous ; and 
 in view of these things, how can we, your 
 Senators and Representatives, in fairness 
 withhold our support from him in open 
 sessions ; rather how can we ever abandon 
 a claim established by the rules regulating 
 the government of all parties, accepted by 
 all as just, and which are in exact harmony 
 with that fundamental principle of our 
 Government which proclaims the right of 
 the majority to rule? To do otherwise is 
 to confess the injustice and the failure of 
 that principle something we are not pre 
 pared to do. It would blot the titles to 
 our own positions. There is not a Senator 
 or member who does not owe his nomina 
 tion and election to the same great prin 
 ciple. To profit by its acceptance in our 
 own cases and to deny it to Mr. Oliver 
 would be an exhibition of selfishness too 
 flagrant for our taste. To acknowledge 
 the right to revolt when no unfairness can 
 be truthfully alleged and when more than 
 a majority have in the interest of harmony 
 been required to govern, would be a tra 
 vesty upon every American notion and 
 upon that sense of manliness which yields 
 when fairly beaten." 
 The "Independent" address said: 
 "First. We recognize a public senti 
 ment which demands that in the selection 
 of a United States Senator we have regard 
 to that dignity of the office to be filled, its 
 important duties and functions, and the 
 qualifications of the individual with refer 
 ence thereto. This sentiment is, we un 
 derstand, that there are other and higher 
 qualifications for this distinguished posi 
 tion than business experience and success, 
 and reckons among these the accomplish 
 ments of the scholar, the acquirements of 
 the student, the mature wisdom of experi 
 ence and a reasonable familiarity with 
 public affairs. It desires that Pennsylva 
 nia shall be distinguished among her sister 
 Commonwealths, not only by her populous 
 
 cities, her prosperous communities, her 
 vast material wealth and diversified indus 
 tries and resources, but that in the wis 
 dom, sagacity and statesmanship of her 
 representative she shall occupy a corres 
 ponding rank and influence. To meet 
 this public expectation and demand we are 
 and have at all times been willing to su 
 bordinate our personal preferences, all 
 local considerations and factional differ 
 ences, and unite with our colleagues in the 
 selection of a candidate in whom are com 
 bined at least some of these important and 
 essential qualifications. It was only when 
 it became apparent that the party caucus 
 was to be used to defeat this popular desire 
 and to coerce a nomination which is con 
 spicuously lacking in the very essentials 
 which were demanded, that we determined 
 to absent ourselves from it. * * * * 
 
 " Second, Having declined to enter the 
 caucus, we adhere to our determination to 
 defeat, if possible, its nominee, but only by 
 the election of a citizen of unquestioned 
 fidelity to the principles of the Republi 
 can party. In declaring our independency 
 from the caucus domination we do not 
 forget our allegiance to the party whose 
 chosen representatives we are. The only 
 result of our policy is the transfer of the 
 contest from the caucus to the joint con 
 vention of the two houses. There will be 
 afforded an opportunity for the expression 
 of individual preferences and honorable 
 rivalry for an honorable distinction. If 
 the choice shall fall upon one not of ap 
 proved loyalty and merit, the fault will not 
 be ours." 
 
 After a long contest both of the leading 
 candidates withdrew, and quickly the Reg 
 ulars substituted General James A. Beaver, 
 the Independent Congressman, Thomas 
 M. Bayne. On these names the dead-lock 
 remained unbroken. Without material 
 change the balloting continued till Febru 
 ary 17th, when both Republican factions 
 agreed to appoint conference committees 
 of twelve each, with a view to selecting by 
 a three-fourths vote a compromise candi 
 date. The following were the respective 
 committees: For the Independents: Sena 
 tors Davis, Bradford ; Lee, Venango ; Stew 
 art, Franklin; Lawrence, Washington; 
 Representatives Wolfe, Union; Silver- 
 thorne, Erie; Mapes, Venango; McKee, 
 Philadelphia; Slack, Allegheny; Stubs, 
 Chester; Niles, Tioga; and Derickson, 
 Crawford. For the Regulars: Senators 
 Greer, Butler; Herr, Dauphin; Smith, 
 Philadelphia; Keefer, Schuylkill; Cooper, 
 Delaware ; Representatives Pollock, Phila 
 delphia; Moore, Allegheny; Marshall, 
 Huntingdon; Hill, Indiana; Eshleman, 
 Lancaster ; Thomson, Armstrong ; and 
 Billingsley, Washington. 
 
 The joint convention held daily sessions 
 and balloted without result until February 
 
256 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 22d, when John I. Mitchell, of Tioga, 
 Congressman from the 16th district, was 
 unanimously agreed upon as a compro 
 mise candidate. He was nominated by a 
 full Eepublican caucus on the morning of 
 February 23d, and elected on the first bal 
 lot in joint convention on that day, the 
 vote standing: Mitchell, 150 ; Wallace, 92; 
 MacVeagh, 1 ; Brewster, 1. 
 
 The spirit of this contest continued until 
 fall. Senator Davies, a friend of Mr. Grow, 
 was a prominent candidate for the Repub 
 lican nomination for State Treasurer. He 
 was beaten by General Silas M. Baily, 
 and Davies and his friends cordially made 
 Baily's nomination unanimous. Charles 
 S. Wolfe, himself the winter before a can 
 didate for United Stales Senator, was dis 
 satisfied. He suddenly raised the Inde 
 pendent flag, in a telegram to the Phila 
 delphia Press, and as he announced was 
 "the nominee of a convention of one" for 
 State Treasurer. After a canvass of re 
 markable energy on the part of Mr. Wolfe, 
 General Baily was elected, without suffer 
 ing materially from the division. Mr. 
 Wolfe obtained nearly 50,000 votes, but as 
 almost half of them were Democratic, the 
 result was, as stated, not seriously affected. 
 
 The Independents in Pennsylvania, 
 however, were subdivided into two wings, 
 known as the Continental and the Wolfe 
 men the former having met since the 
 election last fall, (State Senator John 
 Stewart, chairman) and proclaimed them 
 selves willing and determined to abide all 
 Republican nominations fairly made, and 
 to advocate "reform within the party 
 lines." These gentlemen supported Gen. 
 Baily and largely contributed to his suc 
 cess, and as a rule they regard with dis 
 favor equal to that of the Regulars, what 
 is known as the Wolfe movement. These 
 divisions have not extended to other States, 
 nor have they yet assumed the shape of 
 third parties unless Mr. Wolfe's individual 
 canvass can be thus classed. Up to this 
 writing (March 10, 1882,) neither wing 
 has taken issue with President Arthur or 
 his appointments, though there were some 
 temporary indications of this when Attor 
 ney General MacVeagh, of Pennsylvania, 
 persisted in having his resignation ac 
 cepted. President Arthur refused to ac 
 cept, on the ground that he desired Mac- 
 Veagh's services in the prosecution of the 
 Star Route cases, and Mr. MacVeagh with 
 drew for personal and other reasons not 
 yet fully explained. In this game of po 
 litical fence the position of the President 
 was greatly strengthened. 
 
 Singularly enough, in the only two 
 States where factious divisions have been 
 recently manifested in the Republican 
 ranks, they effected almost if not quite as 
 seriously the Democratic party. There 
 can be but one deduction drawn from this 
 
 to wit: That a number in both of the 
 great parties, were for the time at least, 
 weary of their allegiance. It is possible 
 that nothing short of some great issue will 
 restore the old partisan unity, and partisan 
 unity in a Republic, where there are but 
 two great parties, is not to be deplored if 
 relieved of other than mere political dif 
 ferences. The existence of but two great 
 parties, comparatively free from factions, 
 denotes government health; where divi 
 sions are numerous and manifest increas- 
 ng growth and stubbornness, there is grave 
 danger to Republican institutions. We 
 need not, however, philosophize when 
 Mexico and the South American Repub 
 lics are so near. 
 
 The Caucus. 
 
 Both the "Independents" of Pennsyl 
 vania and the " Half-Breeds " of New York 
 at first proclaimed their opposition to the 
 caucus system of nominating candidates 
 for U. S. Senators, and the newspapers in 
 their interest wrote as warmly for a time 
 against " King Caucus" as did the dissat- 
 tisfied Democratic journals in the days of 
 De Witt Clinton. The situation, however, 
 was totally different, and mere declamation 
 could not long withstand the inevitable. 
 In Pennsylvania almost nightly " confer 
 ences " were held by the Independents, as 
 indeed they were in New York, though in 
 both States a show of hostility was kept up 
 to nominating in party caucus men who 
 were to be elected by representative, more 
 plainly legislative votes. It was at first 
 claimed that in the Legislature each man 
 ought to act for himself or his constituents, 
 but very shortly it was found that the cau 
 cuses of the separate wings were as binding 
 upon the respective wings as they could 
 have been upon the whole. Dead-locks 
 were interminable as long as this condition 
 of affairs obtained, and hostility to the 
 caucus system was before very long quietly 
 discouraged and finally flatly abandoned, 
 for each struggle was ended by the ratifi 
 cation of a general caucus, and none of 
 them could nave been ended without it. 
 The several attempts to find other means 
 to reach a result, only led the participants 
 farther away from the true principle, under 
 republican forms at least, of the right of 
 the majority to rule. In Pennsylvania, 
 when Mr. Oliver withdrew, fifty of his 
 friends assembled and informally named 
 General Beaver, and by this action sought 
 to bind the original 95 friends of Oliver. 
 Their conduct was excused by the plea that 
 they represented a majority of their fac 
 tion. It failed to bind all of the original 
 number, though some of the Independents 
 were won. The Independents, rather the 
 original 44, bound themselves in writing 
 not to change their course of action unless 
 
THE CAUCUS. 
 
 257 
 
 there was secured the previous concurrence 
 of two-thirds, and this principle was ex 
 tended to the 56 who supported Mr. Bayne. 
 Then when the joint committee of 24 was 
 agreed upon, it was bound by a rule re 
 quiring three-fourths to recommend a can 
 didate. All of these were plain departures 
 from a great principle, and the deeper the 
 contest became, the greater the departure. 
 True, these were but voluntary forms, but 
 they were indefensible, and are only re 
 ferred to now to show the danger of mad 
 assaults upon great principles when per 
 sonal and factious aims are at stake. Op 
 position to the early Congressional caucus 
 was plainly right, since one department of 
 the Government was by voluntary agencies 
 actually controlling another, while the law 
 gave legal forms which could be more pro 
 perly initiated through voluntary action. 
 The writer believes, and past contests all 
 confirm the view that the voluntary action 
 can only be safely employed by the power 
 by the law with the right of selection. 
 Thus the people elect township, county and 
 State officers, and it is their right and duty 
 by the best attainable voluntary action to 
 indicate their choice. This is done through 
 the caucus or convention, the latter not 
 differing from the former save in extent 
 and possibly breadth of representation. 
 The same rule applies to all offices elective 
 by the people. It cannot properly apply 
 to appointive offices, and while the attempt 
 to apply it to the election of U. S. Senators 
 shows a strong desire on the part, frequently 
 of the more public-spirited citizens, to ex 
 ercise a greater share in the selection of 
 these officers than the law directly gives 
 them, yet their representatives can very 
 properly be called upon to act as they would 
 act if they had direct power in the pre 
 mises, and such action leads them into a 
 party caucus, where the will of the majority 
 of their respective parties can be fairly 
 ascertained, and when ascertained re 
 spected. The State Legislatures appoint 
 U. S. Senators, and the Representatives 
 and Senators of the States are bound to 
 consider in their selection the good of the 
 entire State. If this comports with the 
 wish of their respective districts, very 
 well ; if it does not, their duty is not less 
 plain. Probably the time will never come 
 when the people will elect United States 
 Senators ; to do that is to radically change 
 the Federal system, and to practically de 
 stroy one of the most important branches 
 of the Government ; yet he is not a careful 
 observer who does not note a growing dis 
 position on the part of the people, and 
 largely the people of certain localities, and 
 imaginary political sub-divisions, to control 
 these selections. The same is true of 
 Presidential nominations, where masses of 
 people deny the right of State Conventions 
 to instruct their delegates-at-large. In 
 
 many States the people composing either 
 of the great parties now select their 
 own representative delegates to National 
 Conventions, and where their selections 
 are not respected, grave party danger is 
 sure to follow. There is nothing wrong in 
 this, since it points to, and is but paving 
 the way for a more popular selection, of 
 Presidents and Vice Presidents to an 
 eventual selection of Presidential electors 
 probably by Congressional districts. Yet 
 those to be selected at large must through 
 practical voluntary forms be nominated in 
 that way, and the partisan State Conven 
 tion is the best method yet devised for this 
 work, and its instructions should be as 
 binding as those of the people upon their 
 representatives. In this government of 
 ours there is voluntary and legal work 
 delegated to the people directly ; there is 
 legal work delegated to appointing powers, 
 and an intelligent discrimination should 
 ever be exercised between the two. " Ren 
 der unto Caesar those things which are 
 Caesar's," unless there be a plain desire, 
 backed by a good reason, to promote popiv- 
 lar reforms as enduring as the practices and 
 principles which they are intended to 
 support. 
 
 Fredrick W. Whitridge, in an able re 
 view of the caucus system published * in La- 
 lor's Encyclopedia of Political /Science, says : 
 
 "A caucus, in the political vocabulary 
 of the United States, is primarily a private 
 meeting of voters holding similar views, 
 held prior to an election for the purpose of 
 furthering such views at the election. 
 With the development of parties, and the 
 rule of majorities, the caucus or some 
 equivalent has become an indispensable 
 adjunct to party government, and it may 
 now be defined as a meeting of the majority 
 of the electors belonging to the same party 
 in any political or legislative body held 
 preliminary to a meeting thereof, for the 
 purpose of selecting candidates to be 
 voted for, or for the purpose of de r 
 termining the course of the party at 
 the meeting of the whole body. The. 
 candidates of each party are univer 
 sally selected by caucus, either directly or 
 indirectly through delegates to conven 
 tions chosen in caucuses. In legislative 
 bodies the course of each party is often 
 predetermined with certainty in caucus, 
 and often discussion between parties has 
 been, in consequence, in some degree 
 superseded. The caucus system is, in 
 short, the basis of a complete electoral 
 system which has grown up within each 
 party, side by side with that which is alone 
 contemplated by the laws. This condition 
 has in recent years attracted much atten 
 tion, and has 'been bitterly announced as 
 an evil. It was, however, early foreseen. 
 John Adams, in 1814, wrote in the " Tenth 
 
 * By Band &.McNally, Chicago, 111., 1882. 
 
258 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Letter on Government:" "They have j themselves with ballots, including the 
 invented a balance to all balance in their ; names of the parties fixed upon, which 
 caucuses. We have congressional caucuses, i they distributed on the days of election, 
 state caucuses, county caucuses, city cau- j By acting in concert, together with a care- 
 cuses, district caucuses, town caucuses, J ful and extensive distribution of ballots, 
 parish caucuses, and Sunday caucuses at I they generally carried their elections to 
 church doors, and in these aristocrat; cal their own mind. In like manner it was 
 caucuses elections have been decided." The ; that Mr. Samuel Adams first became a 
 caucus is a necessary consequence of j representative for Boston." (History of 
 majority rule. If the majority is to define j the American Revolution, vol. i., p. 305.) 
 the policy of a party, there must be some j February, 17G3, Adams writes in his 
 method within each party of ascertaining j diary : *" This day I learned that the cau- 
 the mind of the majority, and settling the j cus club meets at certain times in the gar- 
 party programme, before it meets the op- : ret of Tom Da was, the adjutant of the Bos- 
 posing party at the polls. The Carlton ! ton regiment. He has a large house and 
 and Reform clubs discharge for the Tories he has a movable partition in his garret 
 and Liberals many of the functions of a 
 congressional caucus. Meetings of the 
 members of the parties in the reichstag, 
 
 the corps legislatif and the chamber of 
 deputies are not unusual, although they 
 have generally merely been for consulta 
 tion, and neither in England, France, 
 Germany or Italy, has any such authority 
 been conceded to the wish of the majority 
 of a party as we have rested in the deci 
 sion of a caucus. What has been called a 
 caucus has been established by the 
 Liberals of Birmingham, England, as to 
 which, see a paper by W. Fraser Rae, in 
 the " International Review " for August, 
 1880. The origin of the term caucus is 
 obscure. It has been derived from the 
 Algonquin word Kaw-kaw-wus to con- 
 
 which he takes down and the whole club 
 meets in his room. There they smoke 
 tobacco until they cannot see one end of 
 the room from another. There they drink 
 flip, I suppose, and there they choose a 
 moderator who puts questions to the vote 
 regularly ; and selectmen, assessors, col 
 lectors, wardens, fire wards and representa 
 tives are regularly chosen in the town. 
 Uncle Fairfield, Story, Ruddock, Adams, 
 Cooper, and a rudis indigcstaques moles ol 
 others, are members. They send commit 
 tees to wait on the merchants' club, and to 
 propose in the choice of men and measures. 
 Captain Cunningham says, they have of 
 ten solicited him to go to the caucuses ; 
 they have assured him their benefit in his 
 business, etc." (Adams' Works, vol. ii., p. 
 144.) Under the title caucus should be 
 
 eult, to speak but the more probable 
 
 derivation makes it a corruption of 
 
 caulkers. In the early politics of Boston, | caucus ; the caucuses of legislative assem- 
 
 and particularly during the early difficul- j blies ; primary elections, still known out- 
 
 considered the congressional nominating 
 
 ties between the townsmen and the British 
 troops, the seafaring men and those em 
 ployed about the ship yards were promi 
 nent among the town-people, and there 
 were numerous gatherings which may 
 have very easily come to be called by 
 way of reproach a meeting of caulkers, 
 after the least influential class who at 
 tended them, or from the caulking house 
 or caulk house in which they were held. 
 What was at first a derisive 'description, 
 
 side the larger cities as caucuses ; the evils 
 which have been attributed to the latter, 
 and the remedies which have been pro 
 posed. These will accordingly be men 
 tioned in the order given. 
 
 " The democratic system is the result of 
 the reorganization of the various anti- 
 Tammany democratic factions, brought 
 about, in 1881, by a practically self-ap 
 pointed committee of 100. Under this sys 
 tem primary elections are to be held aiinu 
 
 came to be an appellation, and the gather- I ally in each of 678 election districts, at 
 ings of so-called caulkers became a cau- i which all democratic electors resident in 
 cus. John Pickering, in a vocabulary of the respective districts may participate, pro- 
 words and phrases peculiar to the United j vided they were registered at the last gene- 
 States (Boston, 1816), gives this derivation ! ral election. The persons voting at any 
 
 of the word, and says several gentlemen 
 mentioned to him that they had heard 
 this derivation. ' Gordon, writing in 1774, 
 says : " More than fifty years ago Mr. 
 Samuel Adams' father and twenty others, 
 one or two from the north end of the town 
 where all the shin business is carried on, 
 used to meet, make a caucus and lay their 
 
 primary shall be members of the election 
 district association for the ensuing yea*, 
 which is to be organized in January of each 
 yenr. The associations may admit demo 
 cratic residents in their respective districts, 
 who are not members, to membership, and 
 they have general supervision of the inte 
 rests of the party within their districts. 
 
 plan for introducing certain persons into Primaries are held on not less than four 
 places of trust and power. When they had days' public notice, through the newspa- 
 
 settled it they separated, and each used 
 their particular influence within his own 
 circle. He and hia friends would furnish 
 
 pers, of the time and place, and at the ap 
 pointed time the meeting is called to order 
 by the chairman of the election district as- 
 
THE CAUCUS. 
 
 259 
 
 sociation, provided twenty persons be pre 
 sent ; if that number shall not be present, 
 the meeting may be called to order with a 
 less number, at the end of fifteen minutes. 
 The first business of the meeting is to se 
 lect a chairman, and all elections of dele 
 gates or committeemen shall take place in 
 open meeting. Each person, as he offers to 
 vote, states his name and residence, which 
 may be compared with the registration list 
 at the last election, and each person shall* 
 state for whom he votes, or he may hand to 
 the judges an open ballot, having designated 
 thereon the persons for whom he votes, and 
 for what positions. Nominations are all 
 made by conventions of delegates from the 
 d ; stricts within which the candidate to be 
 cho : en is to be voted for. There is an as 
 sembly district committee in each assembly 
 district, composed of one delegate for each 
 100 votes or fraction thereof, from each 
 election district within the assembly dis 
 trict. There is also a county committee 
 composed of delegates from each of the as 
 sembly district committees. The function 
 of these committees is generally to look af 
 ter the interests of the parties within their 
 respective spheres. This system is too new 
 for its workings to be as yet fairly criti 
 cised. It may prove a really popular sys 
 tem, or it may prove only an inchoate form 
 of the other systems. At present it can 
 only be said that the first primaries under 
 it were participated in by 27,000 electors. 
 
 "The evils of the caucus and primary 
 election systems lie in the stringent obliga 
 tion which is attached to the will of a for 
 mal majority ; in the fact that the process 
 of ascertaining what the will of the major 
 ity is, has been surrounded with so many 
 restrictions that the actual majority of votes 
 are disfranchised, and take no part in that 
 process, so that the formal majority is in 
 consequence no longer the majority in fact, 
 although it continues to demand recogni 
 tion of its decisions as such. 
 
 " The separation between the organiza 
 tion and the party, between those who no 
 minate and those who elect, is the sum of 
 the evils of the too highly organized cau 
 cus system. It has its roots in the notion 
 that the majority is right, because it is the 
 majority, which is the popular view thus 
 expressed by Hammond: 'I think that 
 wh?n political friends consent to go into 
 caucus for the nomination of officers, every 
 member of such caucus is bound in honor 
 to support and carry into effect its deter 
 mination. If you suspect that determina 
 tion will be so preposterous that you can 
 not in conscience support it, then you ought 
 on no account to become one of its mem 
 bers. To try your chance in a caucus, and 
 then, because your wishes are not gratified, 
 to attempt to defeat the result of the deli- 
 berat'on of your friends, strikes me as a 
 palpable violation of honor and good faith. 
 
 You caucus for no other possible purpose 
 than under the implied argument that the 
 opinion and wishes of the minority shall be 
 yielded to the opinions of the majority, and 
 the sole object of caucusing is to ascertain 
 what is the will of the majority. I repeat 
 that unless you intend to carry into effect 
 the wishes of the majority, however con 
 trary to your own, you have no business at 
 a caucus.' ( Political History of New York, 
 vol. i., p. 192). In accordance with this 
 theory, the will of the majority become-) 
 obligatory as soon as it is made known, and 
 one cannot assist at a caucus in order to 
 ascertain the will of the majority, without 
 thereby being bound to follow it; and the 
 theory is so deeply rooted that, under the 
 caucus and primary election system, it has 
 been extended to cases in which the ma 
 jorities are such only in form. 
 
 " The remedies as well as the evils of the 
 caucus and nominating system have been 
 made the subject of general discussion in 
 connection with civil service reform. It is 
 claimed that that reform, by giving to pub 
 lic officers the same tenure of their positions 
 which is enjoyed by the employes of a cor 
 poration or a private business house, o* 
 during the continuance of efficiency or good 
 behaviour, would abolish or greatly dimi 
 nish the evils of the caucus system by de 
 priving public officers of the illegitimate 
 incentive to maintain it under which they 
 now act. Other more speculative remedies 
 have been suggested. It is proposed, on 
 the one hand, to very greatly diminish the 
 number of elective officers, and, in order to 
 do away with the pre-determination of elec 
 tions, to restrict the political action of the 
 people in their own persons to districts so 
 small that they can meet together and act 
 as one body, and that in all other affairs 
 than those of these small districts the 
 people should act by delegates. The the 
 ory here seems to be to get rid of the ne^ 
 cessity for election and nominating ma 
 chinery. (See 'A True Republic? by Al 
 bert Strickney, New York, 1879; and a se 
 ries of articles in Scribncr's Monthly for 
 1881, by the same writer). On the other 
 hand, it is proposed to greatly increase the 
 number of elections, by taking the whole 
 primary system under the protection of the 
 law.* *This plan propose-^ : 1. The direct 
 nomination of candidates by the members 
 of the respective political parties in place 
 of nominations by delegates in conventions. 
 2. To apply the election laws to primary 
 elections. 3. To provide that both politi 
 cal parties shall participate in the same 
 primary election instead of having a differ 
 ent caucus for each party. 4. To provide 
 for a final election to be held between two 
 c n lidates, each representative of n party 
 
 * This was partially done by the Legislature of 
 Pennsylvauia in 1881. 
 
260 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 who have been selected by means of the 
 primary election. This plan would un 
 doubtedly do away with the evils of the 
 present caucus system, but it contains no 
 guarantee that a new caucus system would 
 not be erected for the purpose of influ 
 encing 'the primary election' in the same 
 manner in which the present primary sys 
 tem now influences the final election. (See 
 however ' The Elective Franchise in the 
 United States,' New York, 1880, by D. C. 
 McClellan.) The effective remedy for the 
 evils of the caucus system will probably be 
 found in the sanction of primary elections 
 by law. * * * Bills for this purpose were 
 introduced by the Hon. Erastus Brooks in 
 the New York Legislature in 1881, which 
 provided substantially for the system pro 
 posed by Mr. McClellan, but they were left 
 unacted upon, and no legislative attempt 
 to regulate primaries, except by providing 
 for their being called, and for their pro- 
 cedeure, has been made elsewhere. In 
 Ohio what is known as the Baber law pro 
 vides that where any voluntary political 
 association orders a primary, it must be by 
 a majority vote of the central or control 
 ling committee of such party or association ; 
 that the call must be published for at least 
 five days in the newspapers, and state the 
 time and place of the meeting, the autho 
 rity by which it was called, and the name 
 of the person who is to represent that au 
 thority at each poll. The law also provides 
 for challenging voters, for punishment of 
 illegal voting, and for the bribery or inter 
 vention of electors or judges. (Rev. Stat. 
 Ohio, sees. 2916-2921.) A similar law in 
 Missouri is made applicable to counties 
 only of over 100,000 inhabitants, but by 
 this law it is made optional with the volun 
 tary political association whether it will or 
 not hold its primaries under the law, and 
 if it does, it is provided that the county 
 shall incur no expense in the conduct of 
 such elections. (Laws of Missouri, 1815, 
 
 S. 54.) A similar law also exists in Cali- 
 )rnia. ( Laws of California, 1865-1866, p. 
 438.) These laws comprise all the existing 
 legislation on the subject, except what is 
 known as the Landis Bill of 1881, which 
 requires primary officers to take an oath, 
 and which punishes fraud." 
 
 Assassination of President Garneld. 
 
 At 9 o'clock on the morning of Satur 
 day, July 2d, 1881, President Garfield, ac 
 companied by Secretary Blaine, left the 
 Executive Mansion to take a special train 
 from the Baltimore and Potomac depot 
 for New England, where he intended to 
 visit the college from which he had gradu 
 ated. Arriving at the depot, he was walk 
 ing arm-in-arm through the main waiting- 
 room, when Charles J. Guiteau, a persist 
 ent applicant for an office, who had some 
 
 time previously entered through the main 
 door, advanced to the centre of the room, 
 and having reached within a few feet of 
 his victim, fired two shots, one of which 
 took fatal effect. The bullet was of forty- 
 four calibre, and striking the President 
 about four inches to the right of the spinal 
 column, struck the tenth and badly shat 
 tered the eleventh rib. The President 
 sank to the floor, and was conveyed to a 
 room where temporary conveniences were 
 attainable, and a couch was improvised. 
 Dr. Bliss made an unsuccessful effort to 
 find the ball. The shock to the President's 
 system was very severe, and at first appre 
 hensions were felt that death would ensue 
 speedily. Two hours after the shooting, 
 the physicians decided to remove him to 
 the Executive Mansion. An army ambu 
 lance was procured, and the removal ef 
 fected. Soon after, vomiting set in, and the 
 patient exhibited a dangerous degree of 
 prostration, which threatened to end speed 
 ily in dissolution. This hopeless condition 
 of affairs continued until past midnight, 
 when more favorable symptoms were ex 
 hibited. Dr. Bliss was on this Sunday 
 morning designated to take charge of the 
 case, and he called Surgeon - General 
 Barnes, Assistant Surgeon-General Wood 
 ward, and Dr. Keyburn as consulting phy 
 sician. To satisfy the demand of the 
 country, Drs. Agnew, of Philadelphia, and 
 Hamilton, of New York, were also sum 
 moned by telegraph, and arrived on a 
 special train over the Pennsylvania Bail- 
 road, Sunday afternoon. For several days 
 immediately succeeding the shooting, the 
 patient suffered great inconvenience and 
 pain in the lower limbs. This created an 
 apprehension that the spinal nerves had 
 been injured, and death was momentarily 
 expected. On the night of July 4th a 
 favorable turn was observed, and the morn 
 ing of the 5th brought with it a vague but 
 undefined hope that a favorable issue 
 might ensue. Under this comforting con 
 viction, Drs. Agnew and Hamilton, after 
 consultation with the resident medical at 
 tendants, returned to their homes; first 
 having published to the country an in 
 dorsement of the treatment inaugurated. 
 During July 5th and 6th the pat'ent con 
 tinued to improve, the pulse and respira 
 tion showing a marked approach to the 
 condition of healthfulness, the former 
 being reported on the morning of the 6th 
 at 98, and in the evening it only increased 
 to 104. On the 7th Dr. Bliss became very 
 confident of ultimate triumph over the 
 malady. In previous bulletins meagre 
 hope was given, and the chances for reco 
 very estimated at one in a hundred. 
 
 From July 7th to the 16th there was a 
 slight but uninterrupted improvement, and 
 the country began to entertain a confident 
 hope that the patient would recover. 
 
"BOSS RULE." 
 
 261 
 
 Hope and fear alternated from day to 
 day, amid the most painful excitement. 
 On the 8th of August Drs. Agnew and 
 Hamilton had to perform their second 
 operation to allow a free flow of pus from 
 the wound. This resulted in an important 
 discovery. It was ascertained that the 
 track of the bullet had turned from its 
 downward deflection to a forward course. 
 The operation lasted an hour, and ether 
 was administered, the effect of which was 
 very unfortunate. Nausea succeeded, and 
 vomiting followed every effort to adminis 
 ter nourishment for some time. However, 
 he soon rallied, and the operation was pro 
 nounced successful, and, on the following 
 day, the President, for the first time, wrote 
 his name. On the 10th he signed an im 
 portant extradition paper, and on the llth 
 wrote a letter of hopefulness to his aged 
 mother. On the 12th Dr. Hamilton ex- 
 pre#<ed the opinion that the further at 
 tendance of himself and Dr. Agnew was 
 unnecessary. The stomach continued 
 weak, however, and on the 15th nausea re 
 turned, and the most menacing physical 
 prostration followed the frequent vomiting, 
 and the evening bulletin announced that 
 " the President's condition, on the whole r 
 is less satisfactory." 
 
 Next a new complication forced itself 
 upon the attention of the physicians. This 
 was described as " inflammation of the 
 right parotid gland." On August 24th it 
 was decided to make an incision 'below 
 and forward of the right ear, in order to 
 prevent suppuration. Though this opera 
 tion was pronounced satisfactory, the pa 
 tient gradually sank, until August 25th, 
 when all hope seemed to have left those 
 in attendance. 
 
 Two days of a dreary watch ensued ; on 
 the 27th *an improvement inspired new 
 hope. This continued throughout the 
 week, but failed to build up the system. 
 Then it was determined to remove the pa 
 tient to a more favorable atmosphere. On 
 the 6th of September this design was exe 
 cuted, he having been conveyed in a car 
 arranged for the purpose to Long Branch, 
 where, in a cottage at Elberon, it was 
 hoped vigor would return. At first, indi 
 cations justified the most sanguine expec 
 tations. On the 9th, however, fever re 
 turned, and a cough came to harass the 
 wasted sufferer. It was attended with 
 purulent expectoration, and became so 
 troublesome as to entitle it to be regarded 
 as the leading feature of the case. The 
 surgeons attributed it to the septic condi 
 tion of the blood. The trouble increased 
 until Saturday, September 10th, when it 
 was thought the end was reached. He 
 rallied, however, and improved rapidly, 
 during the succeeding few days, and on 
 Tuesday, the 13th, was lifted from the bed 
 and placed in a chair at the window. The 
 
 improvement was not enduring, however, 
 and on Saturday, September 17th, the 
 rigor returned. During the nights and 
 days succeeding, until the final moment, 
 hope rose and fell alternately, and though 
 the patient's spirits fluctuated to justify 
 this change of feeling, the improvement 
 failed to bring with it the strength neces 
 sary to meet the strain. 
 
 President Garfielcl died at 10.35 on the 
 night of Sept. 19th, 1881, and our nation 
 mourned, as it had only done once before, 
 when Abraham Lincoln also fell by the 
 hand of an assassin. The assassin Guiteau 
 was tried and convicted, the jury rejecting 
 his plea of insanity. 
 
 President Arthur. 
 
 Vice-President Arthur, during the long 
 illness of the President, and at the time of 
 his death, deported himself so well that he 
 won the good opinion of nearly all classes 
 of the people, and happily for weeks and 
 months all i'actious or partisan spirit was 
 hushed by the nation's great calamity. 
 At midnight on the 19th of September the 
 Cabinet telegraphed him from Long 
 Branch to take the oath of office, and this 
 he very properly did before a local judge. 
 The Government cannot wisely be left 
 without a head for a single day. He was 
 soon afterwards again sworn in at Washing 
 ton, with the usual ceremonies, and took 
 occasion to make a speech which improved 
 the growing better feeling. The new 
 President requested the Cabinet to hold 
 on until Congress met, and it would have 
 remained intact had Secretary Windom 
 not found it necessary to resume his place 
 in the Senate. The vacancy was offered 
 to ex-Governor Morgan, of New York, 
 who was actually nominated and confirmed 
 before he made up his mind to decline it. 
 Judge Folger now fills the place. The 
 several changes since made will be found 
 in the Tabulated History, Book VII. 
 
 It has thus far been the effort of Presi 
 dent Arthur to allay whatever of factious 
 bitterness remains in the Republican party. 
 In his own State of New York the terms 
 "Half-Breed "and "Stalwart" are pass 
 ing into comparative disuse, as are the 
 terms " Regulars " and " Independents " 
 in Pennsylvania. 
 
 Boss Rule." 
 
 The complaint of " Boss Rule " in these 
 States by which is meant the control of 
 certain leaders still obtains to some ex 
 tent. Wayne Mac Veagh was the author of 
 this very telling political epithet, and he 
 used it with rare force in his street speeches 
 at Chicago when opposing the nomination 
 of Grant. It was still further cuiiivated 
 
2G2 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 by Rufus E. Shapley, Esq,, of Philadel 
 phia, the author of " Solid for Mulhooly," 
 a most admirable political satire, which 
 had an immense sale. Ite many hits were 
 freely quoted by the Reformers of Phila 
 delphia, who organized under the Com 
 mittee of One Hundred, a body of mer 
 chants who first banded themselves 
 together to promote reforms in the munici 
 pal government. This organization, aided 
 by the Democrats, defeated Mayor Win. 
 S. Stokley for his third term, electing Mr. 
 Kins:, theretofore a very popular Demo 
 cratic councilman. In return for this sup 
 port, the Democrats accepted John Hun 
 ter, Committee's nominee for Tax Receiver, 
 and the combination succeeded. In the 
 fall of 1881 it failed on the city ticket, but 
 in the spring of 1882 secured material suc 
 cesses in the election of Councilmen, who 
 were nominees of both parties, but aided 
 by the endorsement of the Committee of 
 One Hundred. A similar combination 
 failed as between Brown (Rep.) and Eisen- 
 brown (Dem.) for Magistrate. On this 
 part of the ticket the entire city voted, and 
 the regular Republicans won by about 500 
 majority. 
 
 The following is the declaration of prin 
 ciples of the Citizens' Republican Associ 
 ation of Philadelphia, which, under the 
 banner of Mr. Wolfe, extended its organi 
 zation to several counties : 
 
 I. We adhere to the platform of the 
 National Convention of the Republican 
 party, adopted at Chicago, June 2d, 1880, 
 and we proclaim our unswerving alle 
 giance to the great principles upon which 
 that party was founded, to wit : national 
 supremacy, universal liberty, and govern 
 mental probity. 
 
 II. The Republican party, during its 
 glorious career, having virtually estab 
 lished its principles of national supremacy 
 and universal liberty as the law of the 
 land, we shall, while keeping a vigilant 
 watch over the maintenance of those prin 
 ciples, regard the third one, viz. : govern 
 mental probity, as the living issue to be 
 struggled for in the future ; and as the 
 pure administration of government is es 
 sential to the permanence of Republican 
 institutions, we consider this issue as in no 
 way inferior in importance to any other. 
 
 III. The only practical method of re 
 storing purity to administration is through 
 the adoption of a system of civil service, 
 under which public officials shall not be 
 the tools of any man or of any clique, sub 
 ject to dismissal at their behest, or to as 
 sessment in their service; nor appoint 
 ment to office be "patronage" at the 
 disposal of any man to consolidate his 
 power within the party. 
 
 IV. It is the abuse of this appointing 
 power which has led to the formation of 
 the " machine," and the subjection of the 
 
 party to " bosses." Our chosen leader, the 
 late President Garfield, fell a martyr in his 
 contest with the " bosses." We take up 
 the struggle where he left it, and we hereby 
 declare that we will own no allegiance to 
 any "boss," nor be subservient to any 
 " machine ;" but that we will do our ut 
 most to liberate the party from the " boss" 
 domination under which it has fallen. 
 
 V. Recognizing that political parties 
 are simply instrumentalities for the en 
 forcement of certain recognized principles, 
 we shall endeavor to promote the principles 
 of the Republican party by means of that 
 party, disenthralled and released from the 
 domination of its " bosses." But should 
 we fail in this, we shall have no hesitation 
 in seeking to advance the principles of the 
 party through movements and organiza 
 tions outside of the party lines. 
 
 The idea of the Committee of One Hun 
 dred is to war against " boss rule" in muni 
 cipal affairs. James McManes has long 
 enjoyed the leadership of the Republican 
 party in Philadelphia, and the reform ele 
 ment has directed its force against his 
 power as a leader, though he joined at 
 Chicago in the MacVeagh war against the 
 form of " boss rule," which was then di 
 rected against Grant, Conkling, Logan and 
 Cameron. This episode has really little, 
 if anything, to do with Federal politics, 
 but the facts are briefly recited with a view 
 to explain to the reader the leading force 
 which supported Mr. Wolfe in his inde 
 pendent race in Pennsylvania. Summed 
 up, it is simply one of those local wars 
 against leadership which precede and fol 
 low factions. 
 
 The factious battles in the Republican 
 party, as we have stated, seem to have 
 spent their force. The assassination of 
 President Garfield gave them a most seri 
 ous check, for men were then compelled to 
 look back and acknowledge that his plain 
 purpose was to check divisions and heal 
 wounds. Only haste and anger assailed, 
 and doubtless as quickly regretted the as 
 sault. President Arthur, with commend 
 able reticence and discretion, is believed 
 to be seeking the same end. He has made 
 few changes, and these reluctantly. His 
 nomination of ex-Senator Conkling to a 
 seat in the Supreme Bench, which, though 
 declined, is generally accepted as an assu 
 rance to New Yorkers that the leader 
 hated by one side and loved by the other, 
 should be removed from partisan politics 
 peculiar to his own State, but removed 
 with the dignity and honor becoming his 
 high abilities. It has ever been the policy 
 of wise administrations, as with wise gene 
 rals, to care for the wounded, and Conk- 
 ling was surely and sorely wounded in his 
 battle against the confirmation of Robert 
 son and his attempted re-election to the 
 Senate. He accepted the situation with 
 
THE READJUSTEES. 
 
 263 
 
 quiet composure, and saw his friend Ar 
 thur unite the ranks which his resignation 
 had sundered. After this there remained 
 little if any cause for further quarrel, and 
 while in writing history it is dangerous to 
 attempt a prophecy, the writer believer 
 that President Arthur will succeed in 
 keeping his party, if not fully united, at 
 least as compact as the opposing Democra 
 tic forces. 
 
 The Kt adjusters. 
 
 This party was founded in 1878 by Gen'l 
 William Mahoiie, a noted Brigadier in 
 the rebel army. He is of Scotch-Irish de 
 scent, a man of very small stature but 
 most remarkable energy, and acquired 
 wealth in the construction and develop 
 ment of Southern railroads. He sounded 
 the first note of revolt against what he 
 styled the B.mrbon rule of Virginia, and 
 being classed as a Democrat, rapidly di 
 vided that party on the question of the 
 Virginia debt. 'His enemies charge that 
 he sought the repudiation of this debt, but 
 in return he not only denied the charge, 
 but said the Bourbons were actually re 
 pudiating it by making no provision for 
 its payment, either in appropriations or 
 the levying of taxes needed for the pur 
 pose. Doubtless his views on this ques 
 tion have unlergone some modification, 
 and that earlier in the struggle the uglier 
 criticisms were partially correct. Certain 
 it is that he and his friends now advocate 
 full payment less the proportion equitably 
 assigned to West Virginia, which sepa 
 rated from the parent Stats during the 
 war, and in her constitution evaded her 
 responsibility by declaring that the State 
 should never contract a debt except one 
 created to resist invasion or in a war for the 
 government. This fact shows how keenly 
 alive the West Virginians were to a claim 
 which could very justly be pressed ia the 
 event of Virginia being restored to the 
 Union, and this claim Gen'l Mahone has 
 persistently pressed, and latterly urged a 
 funding of the debt of his State at a 3 per 
 cent, rate, on the ground that the State is 
 unable to pay more and that this ia in ac 
 cord with proper rates of interest on the 
 bonds of State governments a view not 
 altogether fair or sound, since it leaves the 
 creditors po.verless to do otherwise than 
 accept. The regular or Bourbon Demo 
 crats proclaimed in favor of full payment, 
 and in this respect differed from their 
 party associates as to ante-war debts in 
 most other Southern States. 
 
 Gen. Mali one rapidly organized his re 
 volt, and as the Republican party was then 
 in a hopeless minority in Virginia, public 
 ly invited an alliance by the passage of a 
 platform which advocated free schools for 
 the blacks and a full enforcement of the 
 
 National laws touching their civil rights. 
 The Legislature was won, and on the 16th 
 of December, 1880, Gen'l Mahone was 
 elected to the U. S. Senate to succeed Sen 
 ator Withers, whose term expired March 
 4, 1881. 
 
 In the Presidential campaign of 1880, 
 the Readjusters supported Gen'l Hancock, 
 but on a separate electoral ticket, while 
 the Republicans supported Garfield on an 
 electoral ticket of their own selection. 
 This division was pursuant to an under 
 standing, and at the time thought advi 
 sable by Mahone, who, if his electors won, 
 could go for Hancock or not, as circum 
 stances might suggest ; while if he failed 
 the Republicans might profit by the sepa 
 ration. There was, however, a third horn 
 to this dilemma, for the regular Democratic 
 electors were chosen, but the political 
 complexion of the Legislature was not 
 changed. Prior to the Presidential nomi 
 nations Mahone's Readjuster Convention 
 had signified their willingness to support 
 Gen'l Grant if he should be nominated at 
 Chicago, and this fact was widely quoted 
 by his friends in their advocacy of Grant's 
 nomination, and in descanting upon his 
 ability to carry Southern States. 
 
 The Readjuster movement at first had 
 no other than local designs, but about the 
 time of its organization there was a great 
 desire on the part of the leading Republi 
 cans to break the <k Solid South," and 
 every possible expedient to that end was 
 suggested. It was solid for the Democratic 
 party, and standing thus could with the 
 aid of New York, Indiana and New Jersey 
 (them all Democratic States) assure the 
 election of a Democratic President. 
 
 One of the favorite objects of President 
 Hayes was to break the " Solid South." 
 He first obtained it by conciliatory speech 
 es, which were so conciliatory in fact that 
 they angered radical Republicans, and 
 there were thus threatened division in un 
 expected quarters. He next tried it 
 through Gen'l Key, whom he made Post 
 master General in the hope that he could 
 resurrect and reorganize the old Whig 
 elements of the South. Key was to attend 
 to Southern postal patronage with this end 
 in view, while Mr. Tener, his able First As 
 sistant, was to distribute Northern or Re 
 publican patronage. So far as dividing 
 the South was concerned, the scheme was 
 a flat failure. 
 
 The next and most quiet and effectual 
 effort was made by Gen'l Simon Cameron, 
 Ex-Senator from Pennsylvania. He started 
 on a brief Southern tour, ostensibly for 
 health and enjoyment, but really to meet 
 Gen'l Mahone, his leading Readjuster 
 friends, and the leading Republicans. 
 Conferences were held, and the union of 
 the two forces was made to embrace Na 
 tional objects. This was in the Fall of 1879. 
 
264 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Not long thereafter Gen'l Mahone consult 
 ed with Senator J. Don. Cameron, who 
 was of course familiar with his father's 
 movements, and he actively devised and 
 carried out schemes to aid the new combi 
 nation by which the " Solid South " was 
 to be broken. In the great State campaign 
 of 1881, when the Bourbon and anti- Bour 
 bon candidates for Governor, were stump 
 ing the State, Gen'l Mahone found that a 
 large portion of his colored friends were 
 handicapped by their inability to pay the 
 taxes imposed upon them by the laws of 
 Virginia, and this threatened defeat. He 
 sought aid from the National administra 
 tion. President Garfield favored the com 
 bination, as did Secretary Windom, but 
 Secretary Blaine withheld his support for 
 several months, finally, however, acceding 
 to the wishes of the President and most of 
 the Cabinet. Administration influences 
 caused the abandonment of a straight-out 
 Republican movement organized by Con 
 gressman Jorgensen and others, and a 
 movement which at one time threatened a 
 disastrous division was overcome. The 
 tax question remained, and this was first 
 met by Senator J. Don. Cameron, who 
 while summering at Manhattan Island, 
 was really daily engaged in New York 
 City raising funds for Mahone, with which 
 to pay their taxes. Still, this aid was insuf 
 ficient, and in the heat of the battle the 
 revenue officers throughout the United 
 States, were asked to contribute. Many of 
 them did so, and on the eve of election all 
 taxes were paid and the result was the 
 election of William E. Cameron (Read- 
 juster) as Governor by about 20,000 ma 
 jority, with other State officers divided be 
 tween the old Readjusters and Republi 
 cans. The combination also carried the 
 Legislature. 
 
 In that great struggle the Readjusters 
 became known as the anti-Bourbon move 
 ment, and efforts are now being made to 
 extend it to other Southern States. It has 
 taken root in South Carolina, Georgia, 
 Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and 
 more recently in Kentucky, where the 
 Union War Democrats in State Convention 
 as late as March 1, 1882, separated from 
 the Bourbon wing of the party. For a 
 better idea of these two elements in the 
 South, the reader is referred to the recent 
 speeches of Hill and Mahone in the me 
 morable Senate scene directly after the 
 latter took the oath of office, and cast his 
 vote with the Republicans. These speeches 
 will be found in Book III of this volume. 
 
 Suppressing Mormonism. 
 
 Polygamy, iustly denounced as "the 
 true relic of barbarism " while slavery ex 
 isted, has ever since the settlement of the 
 
 Mormons in Utah, been one of the vexed 
 questions in American politics. Laws 
 passed for its suppression have proved, thus 
 far, unavailing ; troops could not crush it 
 out, or did not at a time when battles were 
 fought and won ; United States Courts 
 were powerless where juries could not be 
 found to convict. Latterly a new and 
 promising effort has been made for its sup 
 pression. This was begun in the Senate 
 in the session of 1882. On the 16th of 
 February a vote was taken by sections on 
 Senator Edmunds' bill, which like the law 
 of 1862 is penal in its provisions, but di 
 rectly aimed against the crime of poly 
 gamy. 
 
 President Arthur signed the Edmunds 
 anti-polygamy bill on the 23d of March, 
 1882. 
 
 Delegate Cannon of Utah, was on the 
 floor of the Senate electioneering against 
 the bill, and he plead with some success, 
 for several Democratic Senators made 
 speeches against it. The Republicans were 
 unanimously for the bill, and the Demo 
 crats were not solidly against it, though the 
 general tenor of the debate on this side 
 was against it. 
 
 Senator Vest (Democrat) of Missouri, 
 said that never in the darkest days of the 
 rule of the Tudors and Stuarts had any 
 measure been advocated which came so 
 near a bill of attainder as this one. It 
 was monstrous to contend that the people 
 of the United States were at the mercy of 
 Congress without any appeal. If this bill 
 passed it would establish a precedent that 
 would come home to plague us for all 
 time to come. The pressure against poly 
 gamy to-day might exist to-morrow against 
 any church, institution or class in this 
 broad land, and when the crested waves of 
 prejudice and passion mounted high they 
 would be told that the Congress of the 
 United States had trampled upon the Con 
 stitution. In conclusion, he said: " lam 
 prepared for the abuse and calumny that 
 will follow any man who dares to criticise 
 any bill against polygamy, and yet, if my 
 official life had to terminate to-morrow, I 
 would not give my vote for the unconsti 
 tutional principles contained in this bill." 
 Other speeches were made by Messrs. Mor 
 gan, Brown, Jones, of Florida, Saulsbury, 
 Call, Pendleton, Sherman, and Lamar, and 
 the debate was closed by Mr. Edmunds in 
 an eloquent fifteen-minutes' speech, in 
 which he carefully reviewed and contro 
 verted the objections urged against the 
 bill of the committee. 
 
 He showed great anxiety to have the 
 measure disposed of at once and met a re 
 quest from the Democratic side for a post 
 ponement till other features should be em 
 bodied in the bills with the remark that 
 this was the policy that had hitherto proven 
 a hindrance to legislation on this subject 
 
SUPPRESSING MORMONISM. 
 
 265 
 
 and that he was tired of it. In the bill as 
 amended the following section provoked 
 more opposition than any other, although 
 the Senators refrained from making any 
 particular mention of it : " That if any 
 male person in a Territory or other place 
 over which the United States have exclu 
 sive jurisdiction hereafter cohabits with 
 more than one woman he shall be deemed 
 guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction 
 thereof he shall be punished by a fine of 
 not more than $300 or by imprisonment 
 for not more than six months, or by both 
 said punishments in the discretion of the 
 court." The bill passed viva yoce vote 
 after a re-arrangemerit of its sections, one 
 of the changes being that not more than 
 three of the commissioners shall be mem 
 bers of the same party. The fact that the 
 yeas and nays were not called, shows that 
 there is no general desire on either side to 
 make the bill a partisan measure. 
 
 The Edmunds Bill passed the House 
 March 14, 1882, without material amend 
 ment, the Republican majority, refusing to 
 allov/ the time asked by the Democrats for 
 discussion. The vote was 193 for to only 
 45 against, all of the negative votes being 
 Democratic save one, that of Jones, Green- 
 backer from Texas. 
 
 The only question was whether the bill/ 
 as passed by the Senate, would accomplish 
 that object, and whether certain provisions 
 of this bill did not provide a remedy which 
 was worse than the disease. Many Demo 
 crats thought that the precedent of inter 
 fering with the right of suffrage at the 
 polls, when the voter had not been tried 
 and convicted of any crime, was so dan 
 gerous that they could not bring them 
 selves to vote for the measure. Among 
 these democrats were Belmont and Hew 
 itt, of New York, and a number of others 
 equally prominent. But they all professed 
 their readiness to vote for any measure 
 which would affect the abolition of poly 
 gamy without impairing the fundamental 
 rights of citizens in other parts of the coun 
 try. 
 
 THE TEXT OF THE BILL. 
 
 Be it enacted, &c., That section 5,352 of 
 the Revised Statutes of the United States 
 be, and the same is hereby amended so as 
 to read as follows, namely : 
 
 " Every person who has a husband or 
 wife living who, in a Territory or other 
 place over which the United States have 
 exclusive jurisdiction, hereafter marries 
 another, whether married or single, and 
 any man who hereafter simultaneously, or 
 on the same day, marries more than one 
 woman, in a Territory or other place over 
 which the United States has exclusive 
 jurisdiction, is guilty of polygamy, and shall 
 be punished by a fine of not more than 
 $500 and by imprisonment for a term of not 
 
 more than five years ; but this section shall 
 not extend to any person by reason of any 
 former marriage whose husband or wife by 
 such marriage shall have been absent for 
 five successive years, and is not know r n to 
 such person to be living, and is believed by 
 such person to be dead, nor to any person 
 by reason of any former marriage which 
 shall have been dissolved by a valid de 
 cree of a competent court, nor to any per 
 son by reason of any former marriage which 
 | shall have been pronounced void by a val- 
 ' id decree of a competent court, on the 
 ground of nullity of the marriage con 
 tract." 
 
 SEC. 2. That the foregoing provisions 
 shall not affect the prosecution or punish 
 ment of any offence already committed 
 against the section amended by the first 
 section of this act. 
 
 SEC. 3. That if any male person, in a 
 Territory or other place over which the 
 United States have exclusive jurisdiction, 
 hereafter cohabits with more than one wo 
 man, he shall be deemed guilty of a mis 
 demeanor, and on conviction thereof shall 
 be punished by a fine of not more than 
 $300, or by imprisonment for not more 
 than six months, or by both said punish 
 ments in the discretion of the court. 
 
 SEC. 4. That counts for any or all of the 
 offences named in sections 1 and 3 of this 
 act may be joined in the same information 
 or indictment. 
 
 SEC. 5. That in any prosecution for biga 
 my, polygamy or unlawful cohabitation 
 under any statute of the United States, it 
 shall be sufficient cause of challenge to any 
 person drawn or summoned as a juryman 
 or talesman, first, that he is or has been 
 living in the practice of bigamy, poly 
 gamy, or unlawful cohabitation with more 
 than one woman, or that he is or has been 
 guilty of an offence punishable by either 
 of the foregoing sections or by section 5352 
 of the Revised Statutes of the United 
 States or the act of July 1, 1862, entitled 
 " An act to punish and prevent the prac 
 tice of polygamy in the Territories of the 
 United States and other places, and disap 
 proving and annulling certain acts of the 
 Legislative Assembly of the Territory of 
 Utah ;" or, second, that he believes it right 
 for a man to have more than one living and 
 undivorced wife at the same time, or to live 
 in the practice of cohabiting with more 
 than one woman, and any person appear 
 ing or offered as a juror or talesman and 
 challenged on either of the foregoing 
 grounds may be questioned on his oath as 
 to the existence of any such cause of chal 
 lenge, and other evidence may be intro 
 duced bearing upon the question raised by 
 such challenge, and this question shall be 
 tried bv the court. But as to the first ground 
 of challenge before mentioned the person 
 challenged shall be bound to answer if he 
 
266 
 
 'AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 shall say upon his oath that he declines on 
 the ground that his answer may tend to 
 criminate himself, and if he shall answer 
 to said first ground his answer shall not be 
 given in evidence in any criminal prose 
 cution against him for any o flense named 
 in sections 1 or 3 of this act, but if he 
 declines to answer on any ground he shall 
 be rejected as incompetent. 
 
 SEC. 6. That the President is hereby au 
 thorized to grant amnesty to such classes 
 of offenders guilty before the passage of 
 this act of bigamy, polygamy, or unlawful 
 cohabitation before the passage of this act, 
 on such conditions and under such limita 
 tions as he shall think proper ; but no such 
 amnesty shall have effect unless the condi 
 tions thereof shall be complied with. 
 
 SEC. 7. That the issue of bigamous or 
 polygamous marriages known as Mormon 
 marriages, in cases in which such marriages 
 have been solemnized according to the 
 ceremonies of the Mormon sect, in any 
 Territory of the United States, and such 
 issue shall have been born before the 1st 
 day of January, A. D. 1883, are hereby 
 legitimated. 
 
 SEC. 8. That no polygamist, bigamist, or 
 any person cohabiting with more than one 
 woman, and no woman cohabiting with 
 any of the persons described as aforesaid 
 in this section, in any Territory or other 
 place over which the United States have ex 
 clusive jurisdiction, shall be entitled to vote 
 at any election held in any such Territory 
 or other place, or be eligible for election or 
 appointment to or be entitled to hold any 
 office or place of public trust, honor or 
 emolument in, under, or for such Territory 
 or place, or under the United States. 
 
 SEC. 9. That all the registration and 
 election offices of every description in the 
 Territory of Utah are hereby declared va 
 cant, and each and every duty relating to 
 the registration of voters, the conduct of 
 elections, the receiving or rejection of votes, 
 and the canvassing and returning of the 
 same, and the issuing of certificates or 
 other evidence of election in said Terri 
 tory, shall, until other provision be made 
 by the Legislative Assembly of said Terri 
 tory as is hereinafter by this section pro 
 vided, be performed under the existing 
 laws of the United States and of said Ter 
 ritory by proper persons, who shall be ap 
 pointed to execute such offices and perform 
 such duties by a board of five persons, to 
 be appointed by the President, by and with 
 the advice and consent of the Senate, and 
 not more than three of whom shall be mem 
 bers of one political party, and a majority 
 of whom shall constitute a quorum. The 
 members of snid board so appointed by the 
 President shall each receive a salary at the 
 rate of $3,000 per annum, and shall con 
 tinue in office until the Legislative As 
 sembly of said Territory shall make pro 
 
 vision for filling said offices as herein au 
 thorized. The secretary of the Territory 
 shall be the secretary of said board, and 
 keep a journal of its proceedings, and at 
 test the action of said board under this 
 section. The canvass and return of all 
 the votes at elections in said Territory for 
 members of the Legislative Assembly 
 thereof shall also be returned to said board, 
 which shall canvass all such returns and 
 issue certificates of election to those per 
 sons who, being eligible for such election, 
 shall appear to have been lawfully elected, 
 which certificate shall be the only evidence 
 of the right of such persons to sit in such 
 Assembly : Provided, That said board of 
 five persons fchall not exclude any person 
 otherwise eligible to vote from the polls on 
 account of any opinion such person may 
 entertain on the subject of bigamy or po 
 lygamy, nor shall they refuse to count any 
 such vote on account of the opinion of the 
 person casting it on the subject of bigamy 
 or polygamy ; but each house of such As 
 sembly, alter its organization, shall have 
 power to decide upon the elections and 
 qualifications of its members. And at or 
 alter the first meeting of said Legislative 
 Assembly whose members shall have been 
 elected and returned according to the pro 
 visions of this act, said Legislative Assem 
 bly may make such laws, conformable to 
 the organic act of said Territory and not 
 inconsistent with other laws of the United 
 States, as it shall deem proper concerning 
 the filling of the offices in said Territory 
 declared vacant by this act. 
 
 John R. McBride writing in the Febru 
 ary number (1882) of The International 
 Review, gives an interesting and correct 
 vi'ew of the obstacles which the Mormons 
 have erected against the enforcement of 
 United States laws in the Territory. It 
 requires acquaintance with these facts to 
 fully comprehend the difficulties in the 
 way of what seems to. most minds a very 
 plain and easy tatk. Mr. McBride says: 
 Their first care on arriving in Utah was to 
 erect a " free and Independent State," 
 called the "State of Deseret." It included 
 in its nominal limits, not only all of Utah 
 as it now is, but one-half of California, all 
 of Nevada, part of Colorado, and a krge 
 portion of four other Territories now or 
 ganized. Brighrm Young was elected 
 Governor, and its departments, legislative 
 and judicial, were fully organized and put 
 into operation. Its legislative acts were 
 styled "ordinances," and when Congress, 
 disreprarfling the State organization, insti 
 tuted a Territorial Government for Utah, 
 the legislative body chosen by the Mor 
 mons adopted the ordinances of the " State 
 of Deseret." Many of these are yet on 
 the statute book of Utah. They show con 
 clusively the domination of the ecclesiasti 
 cal idea, and how utterly insignificant in 
 
SUPPRESSING MORMONISM. 
 
 267 
 
 comparison was the power of the civil 
 authority. They incorporated the Mormon 
 Church into a body politic and corporate, 
 and by the third section of the act gave it 
 supreme authority over its members in 
 everything temporal and spiritual, and as 
 signed as a reason for so doing that it was 
 because the powers confirmed were in 
 ' " support of morality and virtue, and were 
 founded on the revelations of the Lord." 
 Under this power to make laws and punish 
 and forgive offenses, to hear and determine 
 between brethren, the civil law was super 
 seded. The decrees of the courts of this 
 church, certified under seal, have been ex 
 amined by the writer, and he found them 
 exercising a jurisdiction without limit ex 
 cept that of appeal to the President of the 
 church. That the assassinations of apos 
 tates, the massacres of the Morrisites at 
 Morris Fort and of the Arkansas emigrants 
 at Mountain Meadows, were all in pursu 
 ance of church decrees, more or less formal, 
 no one acquaintad with the system doubts. 
 This act of incorporation was passed Febru 
 ary 8, 1851, and is found in the latest com 
 pilation of Utah statutes. It is proper also 
 to observe that, for many years after the 
 erection of the Territorial Government by 
 Congress, the " State of Deseret" organiza 
 tion vyas maintained by the Mormons, and 
 collision was only prevented because Bri^- 
 ham was Governor of both, and found it 
 unnecessary for his purpose to antagonize 
 either. His church organization made 
 both a shadow, while that was the sub 
 stance of all authority. One of the earli 
 est of their legislative acts was to organ 
 ize a Surveyor General's Department, 1 and 
 title to land was declared to be in the per 
 sons who held a certificate from that office. 3 
 Having instituted their own system of 
 government and taken possession of the 
 land, and assumed to distribute that in a 
 system of their own, the next step was to 
 vest certain leading men with the control 
 of the timbers and waters of the country. 
 By a series of acts granting lands, waters 
 and timber to individuals, the twelve 
 apostles became the practical proprietors of 
 the better and more desirable portions of 
 the country. By an ordinance dated Octo 
 ber 4, 1831, there was granted to Brigham 
 Young the "sole control of City Creek and 
 Canon for the sum of five hundred dollars." 
 By an ordinance dated January 9, 1850, 
 the " waters of North Mill Creek and the 
 waters of the Canon next north" were 
 granted to Heber C. Kimball. On the 
 same day was granted to George A. Smith 
 the " sole control of the canons and timber 
 of the east side of the ' West Mountains." 
 On the 18th of January, 1851, the North 
 Cotton wood Canon was granted exclusively 
 to Williard Richards. On the 15th of Janu- 
 
 l Act of March 2, 1850. 2 Act of January 19, 1866. 
 
 ary, 1851, the waters of the "main chan 
 nel " of Mill Creek were donated to Brig- 
 ham Young. On the 9th of December, 
 1850, there was granted to Ezra T. Benson 
 the exclusive control of the waters of Twin 
 Springs and Rock Springs, in Tooelle Val 
 ley ; and on the 14th of January, 1851, to 
 the same person was granted the control of 
 all the canons of the " West Mountain ;> 
 and the timber therein. By the ordinance 
 of September 14, 1850, a " general con 
 ference of the Church of Latter Day 
 Saints " was authorized to elect thirteen 
 men to become a corporation, to be called 
 the Emigration Company ; and to this com 
 pany, elected exclusively by the church, 
 was secured and appropriated the two 
 islands in Salt Lake known as Antelope 
 and Stansberry Islands, to be under the 
 exclusive control of President Brigham 
 Young. These examples are given to show 
 that the right of the United States to the 
 lands of Utah met no recognition by these 
 people. They appropriated them, not only 
 in a way to make the people slaves, but 
 indicated their claim of sovereignty as 
 superior to any. Young, Smith, Benson 
 and Kimball were apostles. Richards was 
 Brigham Young's counselor. By an act of 
 December 28, 1855, there was granted to 
 the " University of the State of Deseret " 
 a tract of land amounting to about five 
 hundred acres, inside the city limits of 
 Salt Lake City, without any reservation to 
 the occupants whatever ; and everywhere 
 was the authority of the United States 
 over the country and its soil and people 
 utterly ignored. 
 
 Not satisfied with making the grants re 
 ferred to, the Legislative Assembly entered 
 upon a system of municipal incorporations, 
 by which the fertile lauds of the'Territory 
 were withdrawn from the operation of the 
 preemptive laws of Congress; and thus 
 while they occupied these without title, non- 
 Mormons were unable to make settlement 
 on them, and they were thus engrossed 
 to Mormon use. From a report made by 
 the Commissioner of the General Land Of 
 fice to the United States Senate, 1 it appears 
 that the municipal corporations covered 
 over 400,000 acres of the public lands, and 
 over 600 square miles of territory. Theso 
 lands 3 are not subject to either the Home 
 stead or Preemption laws, and thus the non- 
 Mormon settler was prevented from attempt 
 ing, except in rare instances, to secure any 
 lands in Utah. The spirit which prompted 
 this course is well illustrated by an instance 
 which was the subject of an investigation 
 in the Land Department, and the proofs 
 are found in the document just referred to. 
 George Q. Cannon, the late Mormon dele 
 gate in Congress, was called 10 exercise his 
 
 * Senate doc. 181, 46th Congress. 
 Sec. 2, 258, Rev. Stat. U.S. 
 
268 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 duties as an apostle to the Tooelle "Stake" 
 at the city of Grantville. In a discourse 
 on Sunday, the 20th day of July, 1875, Mr. 
 Cannon said : * " God has given us (mean 
 ing the Mormon people) this land, and, if 
 any outsider shall come in to take land 
 which we claim, a piece six feet by two is 
 all they are entitled to, and that will last 
 them to all eternity." 
 
 By measures and threats like these have 
 the Mormons unlawfully controlled the ag 
 ricultural lands of the Territory and ex 
 cluded therefrom the dissenting settler. 
 The attempt of the United States to es 
 tablish a Surveyor-General's office in Utah 
 in 1855, and to survey the lands in view of 
 disposing of them according to law, was 
 met by such opposition that Mr. Burr, the 
 Surveyor-General, was compelled to fly for 
 life. The monuments of surveys made by 
 his order were destroyed, and the records 
 were supposed to have met a like fate, but 
 were afterwards restored by Brigham 
 Young to the Government. The report of 
 his experience by Mr. Burr was instru 
 mental in causing troops to be sent in 1857 
 to assert the authority of the Government. 
 When this army, consisting of regular 
 troops, was on the way to Utah, Brigham 
 Young, as Governor, issued a proclamation, 
 dated September 15, 1857, declaring mar 
 tial law and ordering the people of the 
 Territory to hold themselves in readiness 
 to march to repel the invaders, and on the 
 29th of September following addressed the 
 commander of United States forces an or 
 der forbidding him to enter the Territory, 
 and directing him to retire from it by the 
 same route he had come. Further evidence 
 of the Mormon claim that they were inde 
 pendent is perhaps unnecessary. The trea 
 sonable character of the local organization 
 is manifest. It is this organization that 
 controls, not only the people who belong to 
 it, but the 30,000 non-Mormons who now re 
 side in Utah. 
 
 Every member of the territorial Legisla 
 ture is a Mormon. Every county officer is 
 a Mormon. Every territorial officer is a 
 Mormon, except such as are appointive. 
 The schools provided by law and supported 
 bv taxation are Mormon. The teachers are 
 Mormon, and the sectarian catechism af 
 firming the revelations of Joseph Smith is 
 regularly taught therein. The municipal 
 corporations are under the control of Mor 
 mons. In the hands of this bigoted class 
 all the material interests of the Territory 
 are left, subject only to such checks as a 
 Federal Governor and a Federal judiciary 
 can impose. From beyond the sea they im 
 port some thousands of ignorant converts 
 annually, and, while the non-Mormons are 
 increasing, they are overwhelmed by the 
 muddy tide of fanaticism shipped in upon 
 
 1 According to the affidavits of Samuel Howard and 
 others, page 14. 
 
 them. The suffrage has been bestowed 
 upon all classes by a statute so general that 
 the ballot box is filled with a mass of votes 
 which repels the free citizen from the ex 
 ercise of that right. If a Gentile is cho 
 sen to the Legislature (two or three such 
 instances have occurred), he is not admit 
 ted to the seat, although the act of Congress 
 (June 23, 1874) requires the Territory to 
 pay all the expenses of the enforcement of 
 the laws of the Territory, and of the care 
 of persons convicted of offenses against the 
 laws of the Territory. Provision is made 
 for jurors' fees in criminal cases only, and 
 none is made for the care of criminals. 1 
 While Congress pays the legislative ex 
 penses, amounting to $20,000 per session, 
 the Legislature defiantly refuses to comply 
 with the laws which its members are sworn 
 to support. And the same body, though 
 failing to protect the marriage bond by any 
 law whatever requiring any solemnities for 
 entering it, provided a divorce act which 
 practically allowed marriages to be annulled 
 at will. 2 Neither seduction, adultery nor 
 incest find penalty or recognition in its legal 
 code. The purity of home is destroyed by 
 the beastly practice of plural marriage, and 
 the brows of innocent children are branded 
 with the stain of bastardy to gratify the 
 lust which cares naught for its victims. 
 Twenty-eight of the thirty-six members of 
 the present Legislature of Utah are re 
 ported as having from two to seven wives 
 each. While the Government of the Uni 
 ted States is paying these men their mile 
 age and per diem as law-makers in Utah, 
 those guilty of the same offense outside of 
 Utah are leading the lives of felons in con 
 vict cells. For eight years a Mormon dele 
 gate has sat in the capitol at Washington 
 having four living wives in his harem in 
 Utah, and at the same time, under the 
 shadow of that capitol, lingers in a felon's 
 prison a man who had been guilty of mar 
 rying a woman while another wife was still 
 living. 
 
 For thirty years have the Mormons been 
 trusted to correct these evils and put them 
 selves in harmony with the balance of 
 civilized mankind. This they have refused 
 to do. Planting themselves in the heart 
 of the continent, they have persistently 
 defied the laws of the land, the laws of 
 modern society, and the teachings of a 
 common humanity. They degrade woman 
 to the office of a breeding animal, and, 
 after depriving her of all property rights 
 in her husband's estate, 3 all control of her 
 children, 4 they, with ostentation, bestow 
 upon her the ballot in a way that makes 
 it a nullity if contested, and compels her 
 to use it to perpetuate her own degrada 
 tion if she avails herself of it. 
 
 1 See Report of Attorney-General United States. 1SSO-81. 
 
 2 Act of March 6. l!B62. :i Act of February 10, 1872. 
 * Sees. 1 and 2, act of February o, 1852. 
 
THE SOUTH AMERICAN QUESTION. 
 
 269 
 
 No power has been given to the Mor 
 mon Hierarchy that has not been abused. 
 The right of representation in the legisla 
 tive councils has been violated in the ap 
 portionment of members so as to disfran 
 chise the non-Mormon class. 1 The system 
 of revenue and taxation was for twenty- 
 five years a system of confiscation and ex 
 tortion. 2 The courts were so organized and 
 controlled that they were but the organs of 
 the church oppressions and ministers of 
 its vengeance. 3 The legal profession was 
 abolished by a statute that prohibited a 
 lawyer from recovering on any contract 
 for service, and allowed every person to 
 appear as an attorney in any court. 4 The 
 attorney was compelled to present " all the 
 facts in the case," whether for or against 
 his client, and a refusal to disclose the 
 confidential communications of the latter 
 subjected the attorney to fine and imprison 
 ment. 5 No law book except the statutes 
 of Utah and of the United States, " when 
 applicable," was permitted to be read in 
 any court by an attorney, and the citation 
 of a decision of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, or even a quotation from 
 the Bible, in the trial of any cause, sub 
 jected a lawyer to fine and imprisonment. 6 
 
 The practitioners of medicine were 
 equally assailed by legislation. The use 
 of the most important remedies known to 
 modern medical science, including all an 
 aesthetics, was prohibited except under 
 conditions which made their use impossi 
 ble, " and if death followed " the adminis 
 tration of these remedies, the person ad- 
 nvmistering them was declared guilty of 
 manslaughter or murder. 7 The Legislative 
 Assembly is but an organized conspiracy 
 against the national law, and an obstacle 
 in the way of the advancement of its own 
 people. For sixteen years it refused to lay 
 its enactments before Congress, and they 
 were only obtained by a joint resolution 
 demanding them. Once in armed rebel 
 lion against the authority of the nation, 
 the Mormons have always secretly strug 
 gled for, as they have openly prophesied, 
 its entire overthrow. Standing thus in the 
 pathway of the material growth and devel 
 opment of the Territory, a disgrace to the 
 balance of the country, with no redeeming 
 virtue to plead for further indulgence, this 
 travesty of a local government demands 
 radical and speedy reform. 
 
 The Sontli American Question. 
 
 If it was not shrewdly surmised before it 
 is now known that had President Garfield 
 
 1 See act of January 17 1862. 
 
 2 Act of January 7, 1S54, sec. 14. 
 
 3 Acts of Jan 21, 18. K{, and of January, 1855. sec. 29. 
 * Act of February 18, 1852. 
 
 6 Act of February 18, 1852. 
 6 Act of January 14, 1854. 
 Sec. 106, Act March. Q 1852L 
 
 lived he intended to make his administra 
 tion brilliant at home and abroad a view 
 confirmed by the policy conceived by 
 Secretary Blaine and sanctioned, it must 
 be presumed, by President Garfield. This 
 policy looked to closer commercial and 
 political relations with all of the Eepublics 
 on this Hemisphere, as developed in the 
 following quotations from a correspond 
 ence, the publication of which lacks com 
 pleteness because of delays in transmitting 
 all of it to Congress. 
 
 Ex-Secretary Blaine on the 3d of Janu 
 ary sent the following letter to President 
 Arthur: 
 
 " The suggestion of a congress of all the 
 American nations to assemble in the city 
 of Washington for the purpose of agreeing 
 on such a basis of arbitration for interna 
 tional troubles as would remove all possi 
 bility of war in the Western hemisphere 
 was warmly approved by your predecessor. 
 The assassination of July 2 prevented his 
 issuing the invitations to the American 
 States. After your accession to the Pre 
 sidency I acquainted you with the project 
 and submitted to you a draft for such an 
 invitation. You received the suggestion 
 with the most appreciative consideration, 
 and after carefully examining the form of 
 the invitation directed that it be sent. It 
 was accordingly dispatched in November 
 to the independent governments of Ameri 
 ca North and South, including all, from 
 the Empire of Brazil to the smallest re 
 public. In a communication addressed by 
 the present Secretary of State on January 
 9, to Mr. Trescot and recently sent to the 
 Senate I was greatly surprised to find a 
 proposition looking to the annulment of 
 these invitations, and I was still more sur 
 prised when I read the reasons assigned. 
 If I correctly apprehend the meaning of 
 his words it is that we might offend some 
 European powers if we should hold in the 
 United States a congress of the " selected 
 nationalities" of America. 
 
 " This is certainly a new position for the 
 United States to assume, and one which I 
 earnestly beg you will not permit this 
 government to occupy. The European 
 powers assemble in congress whenever an 
 object seems to them of sufficient import 
 ance to justify it. I have never heard of 
 their consulting the government of the 
 United States in regard to the propriety of 
 their so assembling, nor have I ever known 
 of their inviting an American representa 
 tive to be present. Nor would there, in my 
 judgment, be any good reason for their so 
 doing. Two Presidents of the United 
 States in the year 1881 adjudged it to be 
 expedient that the American powers should 
 meet in congress for the sole purpose of 
 agreeing upon some basis for arbitration of 
 differences that may arise between them 
 and for the prevention, as far as possible, 
 
270 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 of war in the future. If that movement is 
 now to be arrested for fear that it may 
 give offense in Europe, the voluntary hu 
 miliation of this government could not be 
 more complete, unless we should press the 
 European governments for the privilege of 
 holding the congress. I cannot conceive 
 how the United States could be placed in 
 a less enviable position than would be se 
 cured by sending in November a cordial 
 invitation to all the American governments 
 to meet in Washington for the sole pur 
 pose of concerting measures of peace 
 and in January recalling the invitation 
 for fear that it might create "jealousy and 
 ill will " on the part of monarchical govern 
 ments in Europe. It would be difficult to 
 devise a more effective mode for making 
 enemies of the American Government and 
 it would certainly not add to our prestige 
 in the European world. Nor can I see, 
 Mr. President, how European governments 
 should feel " jealousy and ill will " towards 
 the United States because of an effort on 
 our own part to assure lasting peace be 
 tween the nations of America, unless, in 
 deed, it be to the interest of European 
 power that American nations should at 
 intervals fall into war and bring re 
 proach on republican government. But 
 from that very circumstance I see an ad 
 ditional and powerful motive for the 
 American Governments to be at peace 
 among themselves. 
 
 "The United States is indeed at peace 
 with all the world, as Mr. Frelinghuysen 
 well says, but there are and have been 
 serious 'troubles between other American 
 nations. Peru, Chili and Bolivia have 
 been for more than two years engaged in 
 a desperate conflict. It was the fortunate 
 intervention of the United States last 
 spring that averted war between Chili and 
 the Argentine Republic. Guatemala is at 
 this moment asking the United States to 
 interpose its good offices with Mexico to 
 keep off war. These important facts were 
 all communicated in your late message to 
 Congress. It is the existence or the men 
 ace of these wars that influenced President 
 Garfield, and as I supposed influenced 
 yourself, to desire a friendly conference of 
 all the nations of America to devise 
 methods of permanent pence and conse 
 quent prosperity for all. Shall the United 
 States now turn back, hold aloof and re 
 fuse to exert its great moral power for the 
 advantage of its weaker neighbors? 
 
 If you have no* formally and finally re 
 called the invitations to the Peace Con 
 gress, Mr. President, I beg you to consider 
 well the effect of so doing. The invitation 
 was not mine. It was yours. I performed 
 only the part of the Secretary to advise 
 and to draft. You spoke in the name of 
 the United States to each of the indepen 
 dent nations of America. To revoke that 
 
 invitation for any cause would be embar 
 rassing ; to revoke it for the avowed fear of 
 "jealousy and ill will " on the part of 
 European powers would appeal as little to 
 American pride as to American hospitality. 
 Those you have invited may decline, and 
 having now cause to doubt their welcome 
 will, perhaps, do so. This would break up 
 the congress, but it would not touch our 
 dignity. 
 
 " Beyond the philanthropic and Christian 
 ends to be obtained by an American con 
 ference devoted to peace and good-will 
 among men, we might well hope for 
 material advantages, as the result of a bet 
 ter understanding and closer friendship 
 with the nation of America. At present 
 the condition of trade between the United 
 States and its American neighbors is un 
 satisfactory to us, and even deplorable. 
 According to the official statistics of our 
 own Treasury Department, the balance 
 against us in that trade last year was 
 $120,000,000 a sum greater than the 
 yearly product of all the gold and silver 
 mines m the United States. This vast 
 balance was paid by us in foreign exchange, 
 and a very large proportion of it went to 
 England, where shipments of cotton, pro 
 visions and breaastuffs supplied the 
 money. If anything should change or 
 check the balance in our favor in Euro 
 pean trade our commercial exchanges with 
 Spanish America would drain us of our 
 reserve of gold at a rate exceeding $100,- 
 000,000 per annum, and would probably- 
 precipitate a suspension of specie payment 
 in this country. Such a result at home 
 might be wors*e than a little jealousy and 
 ill-will abroad. I do not say, Mr. Presi 
 dent, that the holding of a peace congress 
 will necessarily change the currents of 
 trade, but it will bring us into kindly re 
 lations with all the American nations; it 
 will promote the reign of peace and law 
 and order ; it will increase production and 
 consumption and will stimulate the de 
 mand for articles which American manu 
 facturers can furnish with profit. It will 
 at all events be a friendly and auspicious 
 beginning in the direction of American 
 influence and American trade in a large 
 field which we have hitherto greatly ne 
 glected and which has been practically 
 monopolized by our commercial rivals in 
 Europe. 
 
 As Mr. Frelinghuysen's dispatch, fore 
 shadowing the abandonment of the peace 
 congress, has been made public, I deem it 
 a matter of propriety and justice to give 
 this letter to the press. JAS. G. ELAINE. 
 
 The above well presents the Blaine view 
 of the proposition to have a Con- 
 press of the Republics of America at 
 Washington, and under the patronage of 
 this government, with a view to settle all 
 
THE SOUTH AMERICAN QUESTION. 
 
 271 
 
 difficulties by arbitration, to promote trade, 
 and it is presumed to form alliances ready 
 to suit a new and advanced application of 
 the Monroe doctrine. 
 
 The following is the letter proposing a 
 conference of North and South American 
 Republics sent to the U. S. Ministers in 
 Central and South America : 
 
 SIR: The attitude of the United States 
 with respect to the question of general 
 peace on the American Continent is well 
 known through its persistent efforts for 
 years past to avert the evils of warfare, or, 
 these efforts failing, to bring positive con 
 flicts to an end through pacific counsels or 
 the advocacy of impartial arbitration. 
 This attitude has been consistently main 
 tained, and always with such fairness as to 
 leave no room for imputing to our Govern 
 ment any motive except the humane and 
 disinterested one of saving the kindred 
 States of the American Continent from the 
 burdens of war. The position of the 
 United States, as the leading power of the 
 new world, might well give to its Govern 
 ment a claim to authoritative utterance for 
 the purpose of quieting discord among its 
 neighbors, with all of whom the most 
 friendly relations exist. Nevertheless the 
 good offices of this Government are not, 
 and have not at any time, been tendered 
 with a show of dictation or compulsion, 
 but only as exhibiting the solicitous 
 good will of a common friend. 
 
 THE CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN 
 STATES. 
 
 For some years past a growing disposi 
 tion has been manifested by certain States 
 of Central and South America to refer dis 
 putes affecting grave questions of inter 
 national relationship and boundaries to 
 arbitration rather than to the sword. It 
 has been on several occasions a source of 
 profound satisfaction to the Government 
 of the United States to see that this 
 country is in a large measure looked to by 
 all the American powers as their friend 
 and mediator. The just and impartial 
 counsel of the President in such cases, has 
 never been withheld, and his efforts have 
 been rewarded by the prevention of 
 sanguinary strife or angry contentions be 
 tween peoples whom we regard as brethren. 
 The existence of this growing tendency 
 convinces the President that the time is 
 ripe for a proposal that shall enlist the 
 good will and active co-operation of all the 
 States of the Western Hemisphere both 
 North and South, in the interest of hu 
 manity and for the common weal of na 
 tions. 
 
 He conceives that none of the Govern 
 ment? of America can be less alive than 
 our own to the dangers and horrors of a 
 state of war, and especially of war between 
 kinsmen. He is sure that none of the 
 
 chiefs of Government on the Continent can 
 be less sensitive than he is to the sacred 
 duty of making every endeavor to do away 
 with the chances of fratricidal strife, and 
 he looks with hopeful confidence to such 
 active assistance from them as will serve 
 to show the broadness of our common hu 
 manity, the strength of the ties which 
 bind us all together as a great and har 
 monious system of American Common 
 wealths. 
 
 A GENERAL CONGRESS PROPOSED. 
 
 Impressed by these views, the President 
 extends to all the independent countries of 
 North and South America an earnest in 
 vitation to participate in a general Con 
 gress, to be held in the city of Washing 
 ton, on the 22d of November, 1882, for the 
 purpose of considering and discussing the 
 methods of preventing war between the 
 nations of America. He desires that the 
 attention of the Congress shall be strictly 
 confined to this one great object; and its 
 sole aim shall be to seek a way of per 
 manently averting the horrors of a cruel 
 and bloody contest between countries 
 oftenest of one blood and speech, or the 
 even worse calamity of internal commotion 
 and civil strife; that it shall regard the 
 burdensome and far-reaching consequences 
 of such a struggle, the legacies of exhausted 
 finances, of oppressive debt, of onerous 
 taxation, of ruined cities, of paralyzed in 
 dustries, of devastated fields, of ruthless 
 conscriptions, of the slaughter of men, of 
 the grief of the widow and orphan, of em 
 bittered resentments that long survive 
 those who provoked them and heavily 
 afflict the innocent generations that come 
 after. 
 
 THE MISSION OF THE CONGRESS. 
 
 The President is especially desirous to 
 have it understood that in putting forth this 
 invitation the United States does not as 
 sume the position of counseling or attempt 
 ing, through the voice of the Congress, to 
 counsel any determinate solution of exist 
 ing questions which may now divide any 
 of the countries. Such questions cannot 
 properly come before the Congress. Its 
 mission is higher. It is to provide for the 
 interests of all in the future, not to settle 
 the individual differences of the present. 
 For this reason especially the President 
 has indicated a day for the assembling of 
 the Congress so far in the future as to 
 leave good ground for the hope that by the 
 time named the present situation on the 
 South Pacific coast will be happily termi 
 nated, and that those engaged in the con 
 test may take peaceable part in the discus 
 sion and solution of the general question 
 affecting in an equal degree the well-being 
 of all. 
 
 It seems also desirable to disclaim in ad- 
 
272 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 ranee any purpose on the part of the 
 United States ta prejudge the issues to be 
 presented to the Congress. It is far from 
 the intent of this Government to appear 
 before the Congress as in any sense the 
 protector of its neighbors or the predestined 
 and necessary arbitrator of their disputes. 
 The United States will enter into the deliber 
 ations of the Congress on the same footing 
 as other powers represented, and with the 
 I loyal determination to approach any pro 
 posed solution, not merely in its own inter 
 est, or with a view to asserting its own 
 power, but as a single member among 
 many co-ordinate and co-equal States. So 
 far as the influence of this Government 
 may be potential, it will be exerted in the 
 direction of conciliating whatever con-, 
 flicting interests of blood, or government, 
 or historical tradition that may necessarily 
 come together in response to a call 
 embracing such vast and diverse ele 
 ments. 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS TO THE MINISTERS. 
 
 You will present these views to the 
 Minister of I< oreign Affairs of Costa Ilk a, 
 enlarging, if need be, in such terms as 
 will readily occur to you upon the great 
 mission which it is within the power of the 
 proposed Congress to accomplish in the in 
 terest of humanity, and the firm purpose 
 of the United States of America to main 
 tain a position of the most absolute and 
 impartial friendship toward all. You will, 
 therefore, in the name of the President of 
 the United States, tender to his Excel 
 lency, the President of , a formal 
 
 invitation to send two commissioners to 
 the Congress, provided with such powers 
 and instructions on behalf of their Govern 
 ment as will enable them to consider the 
 questions brought before that body within 
 the limit of submission contemplated by 
 this invitation. 
 
 The United States, as well as the other 
 powers, will in like manner be represented 
 by two commissioners, so that equality and 
 impartiality will be amply secured in the 
 proceedings of the Congress. 
 
 In delivering this invitation through the 
 Minister of Foreign Affairs, you will read 
 this despatch to him and leave with him a 
 copy, intimating that an answer is desired 
 ls>y this Government as promptly as the 
 just consideration of so important a propo 
 sition will permit. 
 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 Minister Logan's Reply. 
 
 The following is an abstract of the re 
 ply of Minister Logan to the .above. 
 
 11 From a full review of the situation, as 
 heretofore detailed to you, I am not clear 
 as to being able to obtain the genuine co 
 
 operation of all the States of Central 
 America in the proposed congress. Each, 
 I have no doubt, will ultimately agree to 
 send the specified number of commission 
 ers and assume, outwardly, an appearance 
 of sincere co-operation, but, as you will 
 perceive from your knowledge of the pos 
 ture of affairs, all hope of effecting a union 
 of these States except upon a basis the 
 leaders will never permit that of a free 
 choice of the whole people will be at an 
 end. The obligation to keep the peace, 
 imposed by the congress, will bind the 
 United States as well as all others, and 
 thus prevent any efforts to bring about the 
 desired union other than those based upon 
 a simple tender of good offices this means 
 until the years shall bring about a radical 
 change must be as inefficient in the future 
 as in the past. The situation, as it ap 
 pears to me, is a difficult one. As a means 
 of restraining the aggressive tendency of 
 Mexico in the direction of Central Ameri 
 ca, the congress would be attended by the 
 happiest results, should a full agreement 
 be reached. But as the Central American 
 States are now in a chaotic condition, politi 
 cally considered, with their future status 
 wholly undefined, and as a final settlement 
 can only be reached, as it now appears, 
 through the operation of military forces, 
 the hope of a Federal union in Central 
 America would be crushed, at least in the 
 immediate present. Wiser heads than my 
 own may devise a method to harmonize 
 these difficulties when the congress is ac 
 tually in session, but it must be constantly 
 remembered that so far as the Central 
 American commissioners are concerned 
 they will represent the interests and posi 
 tive mandates of their respective govern 
 ment chiefs in the strictest and most abso 
 lute sense. While all will probably send 
 commissioners, through motives of expedi 
 ency, they may possibly be instructed to 
 secretly defeat the ends of the convention. 
 I make these suggestions that you may 
 have the whole field under view. 
 
 "I may mention in this connection that 
 I have received information that up to the 
 tenth of the present month only two mem 
 bers of the proposed convention at Pana 
 ma had arrived and that it was considered 
 as having failed." 
 
 Contemporaneous with these movements 
 or suggestions was another on the part of 
 Mr. Elaine to secure from England a mod 
 ification or abrogation of the Clayton- 
 Bulwer treaty, with the object of giving to 
 the United States, rather to the Eepublics 
 of North and South America, full super 
 vision of the Isthmus and Panama Canal 
 when constructed. This branch of the 
 correspondence was sent to the Senate on 
 the 17th of February. Lord Granville, in 
 his despatch of January 7th to Minister 
 West in reference to the Clayton-Bulwer 
 
THE SOUTH AMERICAN QUESTION. 
 
 273 
 
 Treaty controversy, denies any analogy 
 between the cases of the Panama and 
 Suez Canals. He cordially concurs in Mr. 
 Elaine's statement in regard to the unex 
 ampled development of the Pacific Coast, 
 but denies that it was unexpected. 
 
 He says the declaration of President 
 Monfoe anterior to the treaty show that 
 he and his Cabinet had a clear prevision of 
 the great future of that region. The de 
 velopment of the interests of the British 
 possessions also continued, though possibly 
 less rapidly. The Government are of the 
 opinion that the canal, as a water way be 
 tween the two great oceans and Europe and 
 Eastern Asia, is a work which concerns not 
 only the American Continent, but the 
 whole civilized world. With all deference 
 to the considerations which prompted Mr. 
 Elaine he cannot believe that his propo 
 sals will be even beneficial in themselves. 
 He can conceive a no more melancholy 
 spectacle than competition between nations 
 in the construction of fortifications to com 
 mand the canal. He cannot believe that 
 any South American States would like to 
 admit a foreign power to erect fortifications 
 on its territory, when the claim to do so is 
 accompanied by the declaration that the 
 canal is to be regarded as a part of the 
 American coast line. It is difficult to be 
 lieve, he says, that the territory between it 
 and the United States could retain its pres 
 ent independence. Lord Granville believes 
 that an invitation to all the maritime 
 states to participate in an agreement based 
 on the stipulations of the Convention of 
 1850, would make the Convention adequate 
 for the purposes for which it was designed. 
 Her Majesty's Government would gladly 
 see the United States take the initiative 
 towards such a convention, and will be 
 prepared to endorse and support such action 
 in any way. provided it does not conflict 
 with the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. 
 
 Lord Granville, in a subsequent despatch, 
 draws attention to the fact that Mr. Elaine, 
 in using the argument that the treaty has 
 been a source of continual difficulties, 
 omits to state that the questions in dispute 
 which related to points occupied by the 
 British in Central America were removed 
 in 1860 by the voluntary action of Great 
 Britain in certain treaties concluded with 
 Honduras and Nicaragua, the settlement 
 being recognized as perfectly satisfactory 
 by President Buchanan. Lord Granville 
 says, further, that during this controversy 
 America disclaimed any desire to have 
 the exclusive control of the canal. 
 
 The Earl contends that in cases where 
 the details of an international agreement 
 have given rise to difficulties and discus 
 sions to such an extent as to cause the 
 contracting parties at one time to contem 
 plate its abrogation or modification as one 
 of several possible alternatives, and where 
 18 
 
 ' it has yet been found preferable to arrive 
 at a solution as to those details rather than 
 to sacrifice the general bases of the en 
 gagement, it must surely be allowed that 
 such a fact, far from being an argument 
 against that engagement, is an argument 
 distinctly in its favor. It is equally plain 
 that either of the contracting parties which 
 had abandoned its own contention for the 
 purpose of preserving the agreement in its 
 entirety would have reason to complain if 
 the differences which had been settled by 
 its concessions were afterwards urged as a 
 reason for essentially modifying those other 
 provisions which it had made this sacrifice 
 to maintain. In order to strengthen these 
 arguments, the Earl reviews the corres 
 pondence, quotes the historical points made 
 by Mr. Blaine and in many instances in 
 troduces additional data as contradicting 
 the inferences . drawn by Mr. Blaine and 
 supporting his own position. 
 
 The point on which Mr. Blaine laid 
 particular stress in his despatch to Earl 
 Granville, is the objection made by the 
 government of the United States to any 
 concerted action of the European powers 
 for the purpose of guarantying the neu 
 trality of the Isthmus canal or determin 
 ing the conditions of its use. 
 
 CHILI AND PERU. 
 
 The entire question is complicated by 
 the war between Chili and Peru, the latter 
 owning immense guano deposits in which 
 American citizens have become financially 
 interested. These sought the friendly in 
 tervention of our government to prevent 
 Chili, the conquering Republic, from ap 
 propriating these deposits as part of her 
 war indemnity. The Landreau, an original 
 French claim, is said to represent $125,- 
 000,000, and the holders were prior to and 
 during the war pressing it upon Calderon, 
 the Peruvian President, for settlement; 
 the Cochet claim, another of the same 
 class, represented $1,000,000,000. Doubt 
 less these claims are speculative and largely 
 fraudulent, and shrewd agents are inter 
 ested in their collection and preservation. 
 A still more preposterous and speculative 
 movement was fathered by one Shipherd, 
 who opened a correspondence with Minis 
 ter Hurlburt, and with other parties for 
 the establishment of the Credit Industrie!, 
 which was to pay the $20,000,000 money 
 indemnity demanded of Peru by Chili, and 
 to be reimbursed by the Peruvian nitrates 
 and guano deposits. 
 
 THE SCANDAL. 
 
 All of these things surround the ques 
 tion with scandals which probably fail to 
 truthfully reach any prominent officer of 
 our government, but which have neverthe 
 less attracted the attention of Congress to 
 
274 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 such an extent that the following action 
 has been already taken : 
 
 On February 24th Mr. Bayard offered in 
 the Senate a resolution reciting that where 
 as publication has been widely made by 
 the public press of certain alleged public 
 commercial contracts between ceitain com 
 panies and copartnerships of individuals 
 relative to the exports of guano and nitrates 
 from Peru, in which the mediation by the 
 Government of the United States between 
 the Governments of Peru, Bolivia and 
 Chili is declared to be a condition for the 
 effectuation and continuance of the said 
 contracts ; therefore be it resolved, that 
 the Committee on Foreign Eelations be 
 instructed to inquire whether any promise 
 or stipulation by which the intervention by 
 the United States in the controversies ex 
 isting between Chili and Peru or Chili and 
 Bolivia has been expressly or impliedly 
 given by any person or persons officially 
 connected with the Government of the 
 United States, or whether the influence of 
 the Government of the United States has 
 been in any way exerted, promised or inti 
 mated in connection with, or in relation to 
 the said contracts by any one officially con 
 nected with the Government of the United 
 States, and whether any one officially con 
 nected with the Government of the United 
 States is interested, directly or indirectly, 
 with any such alleged contracts in which 
 the mediation as aforesaid of the United 
 States is recited to be a condition, and that 
 the said committee have power. to send for 
 persons and reaper and make report of their 
 proceedings in the premises to the Senate 
 at the earliest possible day. 
 
 Mr. Edmunds said he had drafted a 
 resolution covering all the branches of 
 "that most unfortunate affair" to which 
 reference was now made, and in view of 
 the ill policy of any action which would 
 commit the Senate to inquiries about de 
 claring foreign matters in advance of a 
 careful investigation by a committee, he 
 now made the suggestion that he would 
 have made as to his own resolution, if he 
 had offered it, namely, that the subject be 
 referred to the Committee on Foreign Re 
 lations. He intimated that the proposition 
 prepared by himself would be considered 
 by the committee as a suggestion bearing 
 upon the pending resolution. 
 
 Mr. Bayard acquiesced in the reference 
 with the remark that anything that tended 
 to bring the matter more fully before the 
 country was satisfactory to him. 
 
 The resolution accordingly went to the 
 Committee on Foreign Relations. 
 
 In the House Mr. Kasson, of Iowa, 
 offered a resolution reciting that whereas, 
 it is alleged, in connection with the Chili 
 Peruvian correspondence recently and 
 officially published oa the call of the two 
 Houses of Congress, that one or more 
 
 Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United 
 States were either personally interested or 
 improperly connected with a business 
 transaction in which the intervention of 
 this Government was requested or expected 
 and whereas, it is alleged that certain pa 
 pers in relation to the same subject have 
 been improperly lost or removed from the 
 files of the State Department, that there-, 
 fore the Committee on Foreign Affairs be 
 instructed to inquire into said allegations 
 and ascertain the facts relating thereto. 
 and report the same with such recommen 
 dations as they may deem proper, and they 
 shall have power to send for persons and 
 papers. The resolution was adopted. 
 
 THE CLAIMS. 
 
 The inner history of what is known as 
 the Peruvian Company reads more like a 
 tale from the Arabian Nights than a plain 
 statement of facts. The following is 
 gleaned from the prospectus of the compa 
 ny, of which only a limited number of cop 
 ies was printed. According to a note on 
 the cover of these " they are for the strictly 
 private use of the gentlemen into whose 
 hands they are immediately placed." 
 
 The prospects of the corporation are 
 based entirely upon the claims of Cochet 
 and Landreau, two French chemists, resi 
 dents of Peru. In the year 1833, the Pe 
 ruvian government, by published decree, 
 promised to every discoverer of valuable 
 deposits upon the public domain a premium 
 of one-third of the discovery as an incen 
 tive to the development of great natural 
 resources vaguely known to exist. In the 
 beginning of 1830, Alexandre Cochet, who 
 was a man of superior information, occu 
 pied himself in the laborious work of manu 
 facturing nitrate of soda in a small oficina 
 in Peru, and being possessed with quick 
 intelligence and a careful observer he soon 
 came to understand that the valuable pro 
 perties contained in the guano an article 
 only known to native cultivators of the soil 
 would be eminently useful as a restora 
 tive to the exhausted lands of the old con 
 tinent. With this idea he made himself" 
 completely master of the mode of applica 
 tion adopted by the Indians and small 
 farmers in the province where he resided, 
 and after a careful investigation of the 
 chemical effects produced on the land by 
 the proper application of the regenerating 
 agent, he proceeded in the year 1840 to the 
 capital (Lima) in order to interest some of 
 his friends in this new enterprise. Not 
 without great persuasion and much hesita 
 tion, he induced his countryman, Mr. Achil 
 les Allier, to take up the hazardous specu 
 lation and join with him in his discovery. 
 He succeeded, however, and toward the 
 end of the same year the firm of Quiroz & 
 Allier obtained a concession for six years 
 from the government of Peru for the ex- 
 
THE SOUTH AMERICAN QUESTION. 
 
 275 
 
 portation of all the guano existing in the 
 afterwards famous islands of Chinchi for 
 the sum of sixty thousand dollars. In 
 consequence of the refusal of that firm to 
 admit Cochet, the discoverer, to a partici 
 pation in the profits growing out of this 
 contract a series of lawsuits resulted and a 
 paper war ensued in which Cochet was 
 baffled. In vain he called the attention of 
 the government to the nature and value of 
 this discovery ; he was told that he was a 
 " visionary." In vain he demonstrated 
 that the nation possessed hundreds of mil 
 lions of dollars in the grand deposits: this 
 only confirmed the opinion of the Council 
 of State that he was a madman. In vain 
 he attempted to prove that one cargo of 
 guano was equal to fourteen cargoes of 
 grain ; the Council of State cooly told him 
 that guano was an article known to the 
 Spaniards, and of no value : that Commis 
 sioner Humbolt had referred to it, and that 
 they could not accept his theory respecting 
 its .superior properties, its value and its 
 probable use in foreign agriculture at a pe 
 riod when no new discovery could be made 
 relative to an article so long and of so evi 
 dent small value. 
 
 At length a new light began to dawn on 
 the lethargic understanding of the officials 
 in power, and as rumors continued to ar 
 rive from Europe confirming the assevera 
 tions of Cochet, and announcing the sale 
 of guano at from $90 to $120 per ton, a de 
 gree of haste was suddenly evinced to se 
 cure once more to the public treasury this 
 new and unexpected source of wealth ; and 
 at one blow the contract with Quiroz & 
 Allier, which had previously been extend 
 ed, was reduced to one year. Their claims 
 were cancelled by the payment of ten thou 
 sand tons of guano which Congress de 
 creed them. There still remained to be 
 settled the just and acknowledged indebt 
 edness for benefits conferred on the coun 
 try by Cochet, benefits which could not be 
 denied as wealth and prosperity rolled in 
 on the government and on the people. But 
 few, if any, troubled themselves about the 
 question to whom they were indebted for 
 so much good fortune, nor had time to pay 
 particular attention to Cochet's claims. 
 Finally, however, Congress was led to de 
 clare Cochet the true discoverer of the value, 
 uses and application of guano for European 
 agriculture, and a grant of 5,000 tons was 
 made in his favor September 30th, 1849, 
 but was never paid him. After passing a 
 period of years in hopeless expectancy 
 from 1840 to 1851 his impoverished cir 
 cumstances made it necessary for him to 
 endeavor to procure, through the influence 
 of his own government, that measure of 
 support in favor of his claims which would 
 insure him a competency in his old age. 
 
 He resolved upon returning to France, 
 after having spent the best part of his life 
 
 in the service of a country whose cities had 
 risen from desolation to splendor tinder the 
 sole magic of his touch a touch that had 
 in it for Peru all the fabled power of the 
 long-sought " philosopher's stone." In 1853 
 Cochet returned to France, but he was then 
 already exhausted by enthusiastic explora 
 tions in a deadly climate and never rallied. 
 He lingered in poverty for eleven painful 
 years and died in Paris in an almshouse in 
 1864, entitled to an estate worth $500,000,- 
 000 the richest man in the history of the 
 world and was buried by the city in the 
 Potters' Field ; his wonderful history well il 
 lustrating that truth is stranger than fiction. 
 
 THE LANDREAU CLAIM. 
 
 About the year 1844 Jean Theophile 
 Landreau, also a French citizen, in part 
 nership with his brother, John C. Landreau, 
 a naturalized American citizen, upon the 
 faith of the promised premium of 33 per 
 cent, entered upon a series of extended sys 
 tematic and scientific explorations with a 
 view to ascertaining whether the deposits 
 of guano particularly pointed out by Co 
 chet constituted the entire guano deposit of 
 Peru, and with money furnished by his part 
 ner, John, Theophile prosecuted his search 
 es with remarkable energy and with great 
 success for twelve years, identifying beds 
 not before known to the value of not less 
 than $400,000,000. Well aware, however, 
 of the manner in which his fellow-country 
 man had been neglected by an unprinci 
 pled people, he had the discretion to keep 
 his own counsel and to extort from the Pe 
 ruvian authorities an absolute agreement 
 in advance before he revealed his treasure. 
 This agreement was, indeed, for a royalty 
 of less than one-sixth the amount promised, 
 but the most solemn assurances were given 
 that the lessened amount would be prompt 
 ly and cheerfully paid, its total would give 
 the brothers each a large fortune, and pay 
 ments were to begin at once. The solemn 
 agreement having been concluded and duly 
 certified, the precious deposits having been 
 pointed out and taken possession of by the 
 profligate government, the brothers were at 
 first put off with plausible pretexts of de 
 lay, and when these grew monotonous the 
 government calmly issued a decree recog 
 nizing the discoveries, accepting the trea 
 sure, and annulling the contract, with a sug 
 gestion that a more suitable agreement 
 might be arranged in the future. 
 
 It will be seen that these two men, Co 
 chet and Landreau, have been acknow 
 ledged by the Peruvian government as 
 claimants. No attempt has ever been made 
 to deny the indebtedness. The very de- 
 cree of repudiation reaffirmed the obliga 
 tion, and all the courts refused to pronounce 
 against the plaintiffs. Both of these claims 
 came into the possession of Mr. Peter W. 
 Hevenor, of Philadelphia. Cochet left one 
 
276 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 son whom Mr. Hevenor found in poverty in 
 Lima and advanced money to push his 
 father's claim of $500,000,000 against the 
 government. After $50,000 were spent 
 young Cochet's backer was surprised to 
 learn of the Laudreaus and their claim. 
 Not wishing to antagonize them, he ad 
 vanced them money, and in a short time 
 owned nearly all the fifteen interests in the 
 Landreau claim of $125,000,000. 
 
 To the Peruvian Company Mr. Hevenor 
 has transferred his titles, and on the basis 
 of these that corporation maintains that 
 eventually it will realize not less than $1,- 
 200,000,000, computed as follows : 
 
 The amount of guano already taken out 
 of the Cochet Islands including the Chin- 
 chas will be shown by the Peruvian Cus 
 tom House records, and will aggregate, it is 
 said, not far from $1,200,000,000 worth. The 
 discoverer's one-third of this would be 
 $400,000,000, and interest upon this amount 
 at six per cent. - say for an equalized aver 
 age of twenty years would be $480,000,000 
 more. The amount remaining in these 
 islands is not positively known, and is pro 
 bably not more than $200,000,000 worth ; 
 and in the Landreau deposits say $300,000,- 
 000 more. The Chilian plenipotentiary re 
 cently announced that his government are 
 about opening very rich deposits on the Lo- 
 boa Islands which are included in this 
 group. It is probably within safe limits, 
 says the Peruvian Company's prospectus, to 
 say that, including interest to accrue before 
 the claim can be fully liquidated, its owners 
 will realize no less than $1,200,000,000. 
 
 THE COUNTRIES INVOLVED. 
 
 In South America there are ten inde 
 pendent governments ; and the three Gui- 
 anas which are dependencies on European 
 powers. Of the independent governments 
 Brazil is an empire, having an area of 
 3,609,160 square miles and 11,058,000 in 
 habitants. The other nine are republics. 
 In giving area and population we use the 
 most complete statistics at our command, 
 but they are not strictly reliable, nor as 
 late as we could have wished. The area 
 and the population of the republics are: 
 Venzuela, 426,712 square miles and 2,200,- 
 000 inhabitants ; United States of Colom 
 bia, 475,000 square miles and 2,900,000 in 
 habitants ; Peru, 580,000 square miles and 
 2,500,000 ^inhabitants ; Ecuador, 208,000 
 square miles and 1,300,000 inhabitants; 
 Bolivia, 842,730 square miles and 1,987,352 
 inhabitants; Chili, 200,000 square miles 
 and 2,084,960 inhabitants ; Argentine Re 
 public, 1,323,560 square miles and 1,887,- 
 000 inhabitants; Paraguay, 73,000 square 
 miles and 1,337,439 inhabitants ; Uruguay, 
 66,716 square miles and 240,000 inhabi 
 tants, or a total in the nine republics of 
 3,789,220 square miles and 16,436,751 in 
 habitants. The aggregate area of the nine 
 
 republics exceeds that of Brazil 180,060 
 square miles, and the total population ex 
 ceeds that of Brazil 5,069,552. Brazil, be 
 ing an empire, is not comprehended in the 
 Blaine proposal she rather stands as a 
 strong barrier against it. Mexico and 
 Guatamala are included, but are on this 
 continent, and their character and re 
 sources better understood by our people. 
 In the South American countries generally 
 the Spanish language is spoken. The edu 
 cated classes are of nearly pure Spanish ex 
 traction. The laboring classes are of mixed 
 Spanish and aboriginal blood, or of pure 
 aboriginal ancestry. The characteristics 
 of the Continent are emphatically Spanish. 
 The area and population we have already 
 given. The territory is nearly equally di 
 vided between the republics and the em 
 pire, the former having a greater area of 
 only 180,060 square miles ; but the nine 
 republics have an aggregate population of 
 5,059,522 more than Brazil. The United 
 States has an area of 3,634,797 square 
 miles, including Alaska; but excluding 
 Alaska, it has 3,056,797 square miles. The 
 area of Brazil is greater than that of the 
 United States, excluding Alaska, by 552,- 
 363 square miles, and the aggregate area 
 of the nine republics is greater by 732,423 
 square miles. This comparison of the area 
 of the nine republics and of Brazil with 
 that of this nation gives a definite idea of 
 their magnitude. Geographically, these 
 republics occupy the northern, western and 
 southern portions of South America, and 
 are contiguous. The aggregate exports and 
 imports of South America, according to the 
 last available data, were $529,300,000; 
 those of Brazil, $168,930,000 ; of the nine 
 republics, $360,360,000. 
 
 These resolutions will bring out volumi 
 nous correspondence, but we have given the 
 reader sufficient to reach a fair understand 
 ing of the subject. Whatever of scandal 
 may be connected with it, like the Star 
 Route cases, it should await official in 
 vestigation and condemnation. Last of all 
 should history condemn any one in adv. 
 vance of official inquiry. None of the 
 governments invited to the Congress had 
 accepted formally, and in view of obstacles 
 thrown in the way by the present adminis 
 tration, it is not probable they will. 
 
 Accepting the proposition of Mr. Blaine 
 as stated in his letter to President Arthur, 
 as conveying his true desire and meaning, 
 it is due* to the truth to say that it compre 
 hends more than the Monroe doctrine, the 
 text of which is given in President Mon 
 roe's own words in this volume. While he 
 contended against foreign intervention with 
 the Republics on this Hemisphere, he ne 
 ver asserted the right of our government to 
 participate in or seek the control either of 
 the internal, commercial or foreign policy 
 of any of the Republics of America, by ar- 
 
THE STAR ROUTE SCANDAL. 
 
 277 
 
 bitration or otherwise. So that Mr. Elaine 
 is the author of an advance upon the Mon 
 roe doctrine, and what seems at this time 
 a radical advance. What it may be when 
 the United States seeks to "spread itself" 
 by an aggressive foreign policy, and by 
 aggrandizement of new avenues of trade, 
 possibly new acquisitions of territory, is 
 another question. It is a policy brilliant 
 beyond any examples in our history, and 
 a new departure from the teachings of 
 Washington, who advised absolute non-in 
 tervention in foreign aifairs. The new 
 doctrine might thrive and acquire great 
 popularity under an administration friendly 
 to it ; but President Arthur has already 
 intimated his hostility, and it is now be 
 yond enforcement during his administra 
 tion. The views of Congress also seem to 
 be adverse as far as the debates have gone 
 into the question, though it has some warm 
 friends who may revive it under more favo 
 rable auspices. 
 
 The Star Route Scandal. 
 
 Directly after Mr. James assumed the 
 position of Postmaster-General in the 
 Cabinet of President Garfield, he disco 
 vered a great amount of extravagance and 
 probably fraud in the conduct of the mail 
 service known as the Star Routes, author 
 ized by act of Congress to further extend 
 the mail facilities and promote the more 
 rapid carriage of the mails. These routes 
 proved to be very popular in the West and 
 South-west, and the growing demand for 
 mail facilities in these sections would even 
 in a legitimate way, if not closely watched, 
 lead to unusual cost and extravagance ; but 
 it is alleged that a ring was formed headed 
 by General Brady, one of the Assistant 
 Postmaster-Generals under General Key, 
 by which routes were established with the 
 sole view of defrauding the Government 
 that false bonds were given and enormous 
 and fraudulent sums paid for little or no 
 service. This scandal was at its height at 
 the time of the assassination of President 
 Garfield, at which time Postmaster- General 
 James, Attorney-General MacVeagh and 
 other officials were rapidly preparing for 
 the prosecution of all charged with the 
 fraud. Upon the succession of President 
 Arthur he openly insisted upon the fullest 
 prosecution, and declined to receive the 
 resignation of Mr. MacVeagh from the 
 Cabinet because of a stated fear that the 
 prosecution would suffer by his withdrawal. 
 Mr. MacVeagh, however, withdrew from 
 the Cabinet, believing that the new Presi 
 dent should not by any circumstance be 
 prevented from the official association of 
 friends of his own selection ; and at this 
 writing Attorney-General Brewster is push 
 ing the prosecutions. 
 
 On the 24th of March, 1882, the Grand 
 
 Jury sitting at Washington presented in 
 dictments lor conspiracy in connection with 
 the Star Route mail service against the fol 
 lowing named persons: Thomas J. Brady, 
 J. W. Dorsey, Henry M. Vail, John W. 
 Dorsey, John R. Miner, John M. Peck, M. 
 C. Refdell, J. L. Sanderson, Wm. H. Tur 
 ner. Also against Alvin O. Buck, Wm. S. 
 Barringer and Albert E. Boon* 1 , and against 
 Kate M. Armstrong for perjury. The in 
 dictment against Brady, Dorsey and others, 
 which is very voluminous, recites the ex 
 istence, on March 10, 1879, of the Post Of- 
 fice Department, Postmaster-General and 
 three assistants, and a Sixth Auditor's office 
 and Contract office and division. 
 
 " To the latter was subject," the indict 
 ment continues, " the arrangement of the 
 mail service of the United States and the 
 letting out of the same on contract." It 
 then describes the duties of the inspecting 
 division. On March 10, 1879, the grand 
 jurors represent, Thomas J. Brady was the 
 lawful Second Assistant Postmaster-Gene 
 ral engaged in the performance of the du 
 ties of that office. William H. Turner was 
 a clerk in the Second Assistant Postmaster- 
 General's office, and attended to the busi 
 ness of the contract division relating to tfye 
 mail service over several post routes in Ca 
 lifornia, Colorado, Oregon, Nebraska, and 
 the Territories. On the 16th of March, 
 1879, the indictment represents Thomas J. 
 Brady as having made eight contracts with 
 John W. Dorsey to carry the mails from 
 July 1, 1878, to June 30, 1882, from Ver- 
 million, in Dakota Territory, to Sioux Falls 
 and back, on a fourteen hour time schedule, 
 far $398 each year ; on route from White 
 River to Rawlins, Colorado, once a week 
 of 108 hours' time, for $1,700 a year; on 
 route from Garland, Colorado, to Parrott 
 City, once a week, on a schedule of 168 
 hours' time, for $2,745 ; ow route from Ou- 
 ray, Colorado, to Los Pinos, once a week, in 
 12 hours' time, for $348; on route from Sil- 
 verton, Colorado, to Parrott City, twice a 
 week, on 36 hours' time, for $1,488; on 
 route from Mineral Park, in Arizona Ter 
 ritory, to Pioche and back, once a week, in 
 84 hours' time, $2,982 ; on route from Trea 
 Almos to Clifton and back, once a week, of 
 84 hours' time, for $1,568. 
 
 It further sets forth that the Second As* 
 sistant Postmaster-General entered into 
 five contracts with John R. Miner on June 
 13, 1878, on routes in Dakota Territory and 
 Colorado, and on March 15, 1879, with John 
 M. Peck, over eight post routes. In the 
 space of sixty days after the making of 
 these contracts they were in full force. On 
 March 10, 1879, John W. Dorsey, John R. 
 Miner, and John M. Peck, with Stephen 
 W. Dorsey and Henry M. Vaile, M. C. 
 Rerdell and J. L. Sanderson, mutually in 
 terested in these contracts and money, to 
 be paid by the United States to the three 
 
278 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 parties above named, did unlawfully and 
 maliciously combine and conspire to fraud 
 ulently write, sign, and cause to be written 
 and signed, a large number of fraudulent 
 letters and communications and false and 
 fraudulent petitions and applications to the 
 Postmaster- General for additional service 
 and increase of expenditure on the routes, 
 which were purported to be signed by the 
 people and inhabitants in the neighborhood 
 of the routes, which were filed with the 
 papers in the office of the Second Assistant 
 Postmaster-General. Further that these 
 parties swore falsely in describing the num 
 ber of men and animals required to perform 
 the mail service over the routes and States 
 as greater than was necessary. 
 
 These false oaths were placed on file in 
 the Second Assistant Postmaster-General's 
 office; and by means of Wm. H. Turner 
 falsely making and writing and endorsing 
 these papers, with brief and untrue state 
 ments as to their contents, and by Turner 
 preparing fraudulent written orders for al 
 lowances to be made to these contractors 
 and signed by Thomas J. Brady fraudu 
 lently, and for the benefit and gain of all 
 the parties named in this bill, the service 
 was increased over these routes ; and that 
 Brady knew it was not lawfully needed and 
 required. That he caused the order for in 
 creasing to be certified to and filed in the 
 Sixth Auditor's office for fraudulent addi 
 tional compensation. That Mr. Brady gave 
 orders to extend the service so as to include 
 other and different stations than those men 
 tioned in the contract, that he and others 
 might have the benefits and profits of it : 
 that he refused to impose fines on these 
 contracts for failures and delinquencies, but 
 allowed them additional pay for the ser 
 vice over these routes. During the conti 
 nuance of these contracts the parties ac 
 quired unto themselves several large and 
 excessive sums of money, the property of 
 the United States, fraudulently and un 
 lawfully ordered to be paid them by Mr. 
 Brady. 
 
 These are certainly formidable indict 
 ments. Others are pending against persons 
 in Philadelphia and other cities, who are 
 charged with complicity in these Star Eoute 
 frauds, in giving straw bonds, &c. The 
 Star Route service still continues, the Post 
 Office Department under the law having 
 sent out several thousand notifications this 
 year to contractors, informing them of the 
 official acceptance of their proposals, and 
 some of these contractors are the same 
 named above as under indictment. This 
 well exemplifies the maxim of the law re 
 lative to innocence until guilt be shown. 
 
 The Coming States. 
 
 Bills are pending before Congress for the 
 admission of Dakota, Wyoming, New 
 
 Mexico and Washington Territories. The 
 Bill for the admission of Dakota divides 
 the old Territory, and provides that the 
 new State shall consist of the territory in 
 cluded within the following boundaries : 
 Commencing at a point on the west line 
 of the State of Minnesota where the forty- 
 sixth degree of north latitude intersects the 
 same ; thence south along the west boun 
 dary lines of the States of Minnesota and 
 Iowa to the point of intersection with the 
 northern boundary line of the State of 
 Nebraska; thence westwardly along the 
 northern boundaiy line of the State of 
 Nebraska to the twenty-seventh meridian 
 of longitude west from Washington ; thence 
 north along the said twenty -seventh degree 
 of longitude to the forty-sixth degree of 
 north latitude ; to the place of beginning. 
 The bill provides for a convention of one 
 hundred and twenty delegates, to be chosen 
 by the legal voters, who shall adopt the 
 United States Constitution and then pro 
 ceed to form a State Constitution and gov 
 ernment. Until the next census the State 
 shall be entitled to one representative, who, 
 with the Governor and other officials, shall 
 be elected upon a day named by the Con 
 stitutional Convention. The report sets 
 apart lands for school purposes, and gives 
 the State five per centum of the proceeds 
 of all sales of public lands within its limits 
 subsequent to its admission as a State, ex 
 cluding all mineral lands from being thus 
 set apart for school purposes-. It provides 
 that portion of the the Territory not in 
 cluded in the proposed new State thall 
 continue as a Territory under the name of 
 the Territory of North Dakota. 
 
 The proposition to divide comes from 
 Senator McMillan, and if Congress sus 
 tains the division, the portion admitted 
 would contain 100,000 inhabitants, the en 
 tire estimated population being 175,000 a 
 number in excess of twenty of the present 
 States when admitted, exclusive of the 
 original thirteen ; while the division, which 
 shows 100,000 inhabitants, is still in excess 
 of sixteen States when admitted. 
 
 Nevada, with less than 65,000 popula 
 tion, was admitted before the close Presi 
 dential election of 1876, and it may be said 
 that her majority of 1,075, in a total poll 
 of 19,691 votes, decided the Presidential 
 result in favor of Hayes, and these votes 
 counteracted the plurality of nearly 300,000 
 received by Mr. Tilden elsewhere. This 
 fact well illustrates the power of States, as 
 States, and however small, in controlling 
 the affairs of the country. It also accounts 
 for the jealousy with which closely balanced 
 political parties watch the incoming States. 
 
 Population is but one of the considera 
 tions entering into the question of admit 
 ting territories, State sovereignty does not 
 rest upon population, as in the make-up 
 of the U. S. Senate neither population, 
 
THE STAR ROUTE SCANDAL. 
 
 279 
 
 size, nor resources are taken into account. 
 Rhode Island, the smallest of all the 
 States, and New York, the great Empire 
 State, with over 5,000,000 of inhabitants, 
 stand upon an equality in the conservative 
 branch of the Government. It is in the 
 House of Representatives that the popula 
 tion is considered. Such is the jealousy 
 of the larger States of their representation 
 in the U. S. Senate, that few new ones 
 would be admitted without long and con 
 tinuous knocking if it were not for partisan 
 interests, and yet where a fair number of 
 people demand State Government there is 
 no just cause for denial. Yet all questions 
 of population, natural division, area and 
 resources should be given their proper 
 weight. 
 
 The area of the combined territories 
 Utah, Washington, New Mexico, Dakota, 
 Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and 
 Indian is about 900,000 square miles. We 
 exclude Alaska, which has not been sur 
 veyed. 
 
 Indian Territory and Utah are for some 
 years to come excluded from admission 
 the one being reserved to the occupancy 
 of the Indians, while the other is by her 
 peculiar institution of polygamy, generally 
 thrown out of all calculation. And yet it 
 may be found that polygamy can best be 
 made amenable to the laws by the compul 
 sory admission of Utah as a State an idea 
 entertained by not a few who have given 
 consideration to the question. Alaska may 
 also be counted out for many years to come. 
 There are but 30,000 inhabitants, few of 
 these permanent, and Congress is now con 
 sidering a petition for the establishment of 
 a territorial government there. 
 
 Next to Dakota, New Mexico justly 
 claims admission. The lands comprised 
 within its original area were acquired from 
 Mexico, at the conclusion of the war with 
 that country, by the treaty of Guadalupe 
 Hidalgo in 1848, and by act of September 
 9, 1850, a Territorial government was or 
 ganized. By treaty of December 30, 1853, 
 the region south of the Gila river the 
 Gadsden purchase, so called was ceded by 
 Mexico, and by act of August 4, 1854, 
 added to the Territory, which at that time 
 included within its limits the present Ter 
 ritory of Arizona. Its prayer for admis 
 sion was brought to the serious attention 
 of Congress in 1874. The bill was pre 
 sented in an able speech by Mr. Elkins, 
 then delegate from the Territory, and had 
 the warm support of many members. A 
 bill to admit was also introduced in the 
 Senate, and passed that body February 25, 
 1875, by a vote of thirty-two to eleven, two 
 of the present members of that body, 
 Messrs. Ingalls and Windom, being among 
 its supporters. The matter of admission 
 came up for final action in the House at 
 the same session, just prior to adjournment, 
 
 and a motion to suspend the rules, in order 
 to put it upon its final passage, was lost by 
 a vote of one hundred and fifty-four to 
 eighty -seven, and the earnest efforts to se 
 cure the admission of New Mexico were 
 thus defeated. A bill for its admission is 
 now again before Congress, and it is a mat 
 ter of interest to note the representations 
 as to the condition of the Territory then 
 made, and the facts as they now exist. It 
 has, according to the census of 1880, a 
 population of 119,565. It had in 1870 a 
 population of 91,874. It was claimed by 
 the more moderate advocates of the bill 
 that its population then numbered 135,000 
 (15,435 more than at present), while others 
 placed it as high as 145,000. Of this pop 
 ulation, 45,000 were said to be of American 
 and European descent. It was stated by 
 Senator Hoar, one of the opponents of the 
 bill, that, out of an illiterate population of 
 52,220, by far the larger part were native 
 inhabitants of Mexican or Spanish origin, 
 who could not speak the English language. 
 This statement seems to be in large degree 
 confirmed by the census of 1880, which 
 shows a total native white population of 
 108,721, of whom, as nearly as can be as 
 certained, upward of 80 per cent, are not 
 only illiterates of Mexican and Spanish 
 extraction, but as in 1870, speaking a for 
 eign language. The vote for Mr. Elkins, 
 Territorial Delegate in 1875, was reported 
 as being about 17,000. The total vote in 
 1878 was 18,806, and in 1880, 20,397, show 
 ing a comparatively insignificant increase 
 from 1875 to 1880. 
 
 The Territory of Washington was con 
 stituted out of Oregon, and organized as a 
 Territory by act of March 2, 1853. Its 
 population by the census of 1880 was 75,- 
 116, an increase from 23,955 in 1870. Of 
 this total, 59,313 are of native and 15,803 
 of foreign nativity. Its total white popu 
 lation in the census year was 67,119; Chi 
 nese, 3,186; Indian, 4,105; colored, 326, 
 and its total present population is probably 
 not far from 95,000. Its yield of precious 
 metals in 1880, and for the entire period 
 since its development, while showing re 
 sources full of promise, has been much less 
 than that of any other of the organized Ter 
 ritories. Its total vote for Territorial Dele 
 gate in 1880, while exceeding that of the 
 Territories of Arizona, Idaho, and Wyo 
 ming, was but 15,823. 
 
 The Territory of Arizona, organized out 
 of a portion of New Mexico, and provided 
 with a territorial government in 1863, con 
 tains about 5,000,000 acres less than the 
 Territory of New Mexico, or an acreage 
 exceeded by that of only five States and 
 Territories. Its total population in 1870 
 was 9,658, and in 1880, 40,440, 351,60 of 
 whom were whites. Of its total population 
 in the census year, 24,391 were of native 
 and 16,049 of foreign birth, the number of 
 
280 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Indians, Chinese, and colored being 
 6,000. 
 
 Idaho was originally a part of Oregon, 
 from which it was separated and provided 
 with a territorial government by the act of 
 March 3, 1863. It embraces in its area a 
 little more than 55,000,000 acres, and had 
 in 1880 a total population of 32,610, being 
 an increase from 14,999 in 1870. Of this 
 population, 22,636 are of native and 9,974 
 of foreign birth ; 29,013 of the total inhabi 
 tants are white, 3,379 Chinese and 218 In 
 dians and colored. 
 
 The Territory of Montana, organized by 
 act of May 26, 1864, contains an acreage 
 larger than that of any other Territory save 
 Dakota. While it seems to be inferior in 
 cereal producing capacity, in its area of 
 valuable grazing lands it equals, if it does 
 not excel, Idaho. The chief prosperity of 
 the Territory, and that which promises for 
 it a future of growing importance, lies in 
 its extraordinary mineral wealth, the pro 
 ductions of its mines in the year 1880 hav 
 ing been nearly twice that of any other 
 Territory, with a corresponding excess in 
 its total production, which had reached, 
 on June 30, 1880, the enormous total of 
 over $53,000,000. Its mining industries 
 represent in the aggregate very large in 
 vested capital, and the increasing products, 
 with the development of new mines, are 
 attracting constant additions to its popula 
 tion, which in 1880 showed an increase, as 
 compared with 1870, of over 90 per cent. 
 For particulars see census tables in tabu 
 lated history. 
 
 Wyoming was constituted out of the 
 Territory of Dakota, and provided with 
 territorial government July 25, 1868. Ly 
 ing between Colorado ana Montana, and 
 adjoining Dakota and Nebraska on the 
 east, it partakes of the natural characteris 
 tics of these States and Territories, having 
 a fair portion of land suitable for cultiva 
 tion, a large area suitable for grazing pur 
 poses, and a wealth in mineral resources 
 whose development, although of recent be 
 ginning, has already resulted in an en 
 couraging yield in precious metals. It is 
 the fifth in area. 
 
 Henry Randall Waite, in an able article 
 in the March number of the International 
 Review (1882,) closes with these interest 
 ing paragraphs : 
 
 - It will be thus seen that eleven States 
 organized from Territories, when author 
 ized to form State governments, and the 
 game number when admitted to the Union, 
 had free populations of less than 60,000, 
 and that of the slave States included in 
 this number, seven in all, not one had the 
 required number of free inhabitants, either 
 when authorized to take the first steps to 
 ward admission or when finally admitted ; 
 and that both of these steps were taken by 
 two of the latter States with a total popu 
 
 lation, free and slave, below the required 
 number. Why so many States have been 
 authorized to form State governments, and 
 have been subsequently admitted to the 
 Union with populations so far below the 
 requirements of the ordinance of 1787, and 
 the accepted rules for subsequent ac 
 tion may be briefly explained as follows : 
 1st, by the ground for the use of a wide 
 discretion afforded in the provisions of the 
 ordinance of 1787, for the admission of 
 States, when deemed expedient, before 
 their population should equal the required 
 number; and 2d, by the equally wide dis 
 cretion given by the Constitution in the 
 words, 'New States may be admitted by 
 Congress into this Union,' the only provi 
 sion of the Constitution bearing specifical 
 ly upon this subject. Efforts have been 
 made at various times to secure the strict 
 enforcement of the original rules, with the 
 modification resulting from the increase 
 in the population of the Union, which pro 
 vided that the number of free inhabitants 
 in a Territory seeking admission should 
 equal the number established as the basis 
 of representation in the apportionment of 
 Representatives in Congress, as determined 
 by the preceding census. How little suc 
 cess the efforts made in this direction have 
 met, may be seen by a comparison of the 
 number of inhabitants forming the basis of 
 representation, as established by the dif 
 ferent censuses, and the free population of 
 the Territories admitted at corresponding 
 periods. 
 
 "At this late date, it is hardly to be ex 
 pected that rules so long disregarded will be 
 made applicable to the admission of the 
 States to be organized from the existing 
 Territories. There is, nevertheless, a 
 growing disposition on the part of Con 
 gress to look with disfavor upon the forma 
 tion of States whose population, and the 
 development of whose resources, render 
 the expediency of their admission ques 
 tionable; and an increasing doubt as to 
 the propriety of so dividing the existing 
 Territories as to multiply to an unneces 
 sary extent the number of States, with the 
 attendant increase in the number of Repre 
 sentatives in the National Legislature. 
 
 " To recapitulate the facts as to the pre 
 sent condition of the Territories with re 
 ference to their admission as States, it may 
 be said that only Dakota, Utah, New 
 Mexico and Washington are in possession 
 of the necessary population according to 
 the rule requiring 60,000 ; that only the 
 three first named conform to the rule de 
 manding a population equal to the present 
 basis of representation ; that only Dakota, 
 Utah and Washington give evidence of 
 that intelligence on the part of their in 
 habitants which is essential to the proper 
 exercise, under favorable conditions, of the 
 extended rights of citizenship, and of that 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 
 
 281 
 
 progress in the development of their re 
 sources which makes self-government es 
 sential, safe, or in any way desirable; and 
 that only Dakota can be said, unquestion 
 ably, to possess all of the requirements 
 which, by the dictates of a sound policy, 
 should be demanded of a Territory at this 
 time seeking admission to the Union. 
 
 " Whatever the response to the Terri 
 torial messengers now waiting at the doors 
 of Congress, a few years, at most, will 
 bring an answer to their prayers. The 
 stars of a dozen proud and prosperous 
 States will soon be added to those already 
 blazoned upon the blue field of the Union, 
 and the term Territory, save as applied to 
 the frozen regions of Alaska, will disappear 
 from the map of the United States." 
 
 The Chinese Question. 
 
 Since 1877 the agitation of the prohibi 
 tion of Chinese immigration in California 
 and other States and Territories on the 
 Pacific slope has been very great. This led 
 to many scenes of violence and in some 
 instances bloodshed, when one Dennis 
 Kearney led the Workingmen's party in San 
 Francisco. On this issue an agitator and 
 preacher named Kalloch was elected 
 Mayor. The issue was carried to the Leg 
 islature, and in the vote on a constitu 
 tional amendment it was found that not 
 only the labor but nearly all classes in 
 California were opposed to the Chinese. 
 The constitutional amendment did not 
 meet the sanction of the higher courts. A 
 bill was introduced into Congress restrict 
 ing Chinese immigrants to fifteen on each 
 vessel. This passed both branches, but was 
 vetoed by President Hayes on the ground 
 that it was in violation of the spirit of 
 treaty stipulations. At the sessions of 
 1881-82 a new and more radical measure 
 was introduced. This prohibits immigra 
 tion to Chinese or Coolie laborers for twen 
 ty years. The discussion in the U. S. 
 Senate began on the 28th of February, 
 1882, in a speech of unusual strength by 
 Senator John F. Miller, the author of the 
 Bill. From this we freely quote, not alone 
 to show the later views entertained by the 
 people of the Pacific slope, but to give 
 from the lips of one who knows the lead 
 ing facts in the history of the agitation. 
 
 Abstracts from the Text of Senator 
 Miller's Speech. 
 
 On his Bill to Prohibit Chinese Immigration. 
 
 In the Senate, Feb. 28th, 1882, Mr. 
 Miller said : 
 
 " This measure is not a surprise to the 
 Senate, nor a new revelation to the 
 country. It has been before Congress 
 more than once, if not in the precise ibrin 
 
 in which it is now presented, in substance 
 the same, and it has passed the ordeal of 
 analytical debate and received the affirma 
 tive vote of both Houses. Except for the 
 Executive veto it would have been long 
 ago the law of the land. It is again pre 
 sented, not only under circumstances as 
 imperative in their demands for its enact 
 ment, but with every objection of the veto 
 removed and every argument made against 
 its approval swept away. It is an interest 
 ing fact in the history of this measure, that 
 the action which has cleared its way of the 
 impediments which were made the reasons 
 for the veto, was inaugurated and consum 
 mated with splendid persistance and en 
 ergy by the same administration whose ex 
 ecutive interposed the veto against it. 
 Without stopping to inquire into the mo 
 tive of the Hayes administration in this 
 proceeding, whether its action was in obe 
 dience to a conviction that the measure 
 was in itself right and expedient, or to a 
 public sentiment, so strong and universal 
 as to demand the utmost vigor in the di 
 plomacy necessary for the removal of all 
 impediments to its progress, it must be ap 
 parent that the result of this diplomatic 
 action has been to add a new phase to the 
 question in respect of the adoption of the 
 measure itself. 
 
 " In order to fully appreciate this fact it 
 may be proper to indulge in historical 
 reminiscence for a moment. For many 
 years complaints had been made against 
 the introduction into the United States of 
 the peculiar people who come from China, 
 and the Congress, after careful considera 
 tion of the subject, so far appreciated the 
 evil complained of as to pass a bill to in 
 terdict it. 
 
 " The Executive Department had, prior 
 to that action, with diplomatic finesse, ap 
 proached the imperial throne of China, 
 with intent, as was said, to ascertain 
 whether such an interdiction of coolie im 
 portation, or immigration so called, into 
 the United States would be regarded as a 
 breach of friendly relations with China, 
 and had been informed by the diplomat, to 
 whom the delicate task had been com 
 mitted, that such interdiction would not be 
 favorably regarded by the Chinese Govern 
 ment. Hence, when Congress, with sur 
 prising audacity, passed the bill of inter 
 diction the Executive, believing in the 
 truth of the information given him, thought 
 it prudent and expedient to veto the bill, 
 but immediately, in pursuance of authority 
 granted by Congress, he appointed three 
 commissioners to negotiate a treaty by 
 which the consent of China should be 
 given to the interdiction proposed by 
 Congress. These commissioners appeared 
 before the Government of China upon this 
 special mission, and presented the request 
 of the Government of the United States 
 
282 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 affirmatively, positively, and authorita 
 tively made, and after the usual diplomatic 
 ceremonies, representations, misrepresenta 
 tions, avowals, and concealments, the 
 treaty was made, the concession granted, 
 and the interdiction agreed upon. This 
 treaty was presented here and ratified by 
 the Senate, with what unanimity Senators 
 know, and which the rules of the Senate 
 forbid me to describe. 
 
 "The new phase of this question, which 
 we may as well consider in the outset, sug 
 gests the spectacle which this nation should 
 present if Congress were to vote this or a 
 similar measure down. A great nation 
 cannot afford inconsistency in action, nor 
 betray a vacillating, staggering, incon 
 stant policy in its intercourse with other 
 nations. No really great people will pre 
 sent themselves before the world through 
 their government as a nation irresolute, 
 fickle, feeble, or petulant ; one day eagerly 
 demanding of its neighbor an agreement 
 or concession, which on the next it ner 
 vously repudiates or casts aside. Can we 
 make a solemn request of China, through 
 the pomp of an extraordinary embassy and 
 the ceremony of diplomatic negotiation, 
 and with prudent dispatch exchange ratifi 
 cations of the treaty granting our request, 
 and within less than half a year after t?uch 
 exchange is made cast aside'the concession 
 and, with childish irresolution, ignore the 
 whole proceeding? Can we afford to make 
 such a confession of American imbecility 
 to any oriental power? The adoption of 
 this or some such measure becomes neces 
 sary, it seems to me, to the intelligent and 
 consistent execution of a policy adopted by 
 this Government under the sanction of a 
 treaty with another great nation. 
 
 " If the Executive department, the Sen 
 ate, and the House of Keprcsentatives 
 have all understood and appreciated their 
 own action in respect of this measure ; if 
 in the negotiation and ratification of the 
 new treaty with China, the Executive and 
 the Senate did not act without thought, in 
 blind, inconsiderate recklessness and we 
 know they did not if the Congress of the 
 United Siate? in the passage of the fifteen 
 passenger bill had the faintest conception 
 of what it was doing and we know it had 
 then the policy of this Government in 
 respect of so-called Chinese immigration 
 has been authoritatively settled. 
 
 "This proposition is submitted with the 
 greater confidence because the action I 
 have described was in obedience to, and in 
 harmony with, a public sentiment which 
 seems to have permeated the whole coun 
 try. For the evidence of the existence of 
 such a sentiment, it is only necessary to 
 produce the declarations upon this subject 
 of the two great historical parties of the 
 country, deliberately made by their na 
 tional conventions of 1880. One of these 
 
 (the Democratic convention) declared that 
 there shall be 
 
 " ' No more Chinese immigration except 
 for travel, education, and foreign com 
 merce, and therein carefully guarded.' 
 
 "The other (the Republican) convention 
 declared that - 
 
 " ' Since the authority to regulate immi 
 gration and intercourse between the United 
 States and foreign nations rests with Con 
 gress, or with the United States and its 
 treaty-making power, the Republican 
 party, regarding the unrestricted immi 
 gration of the Chinese as an evil of great 
 magnitude, invokes the exercise of these 
 powers to restrain and limit the immigra 
 tion by the enactment of such just, hu 
 mane, and reasonable provisions as will 
 produce that result.' 
 
 " These are the declarations of the two 
 great political parties, in whose ranks are 
 enrolled nearly all the voters of the United 
 States; and whoever voted at the last 
 Presidential election voted for the adop 
 tion of the principles and policy expressed 
 by those declarations, whether he voted 
 with the one or the other of the two great 
 parties. Both candidates for the Presidency 
 were pledged to the adoption and execu 
 tion of the policy of restriction thus de 
 clared by their respective parties, and the 
 candidate who was successful at the polls, 
 in his letter of acceptance, not only gave 
 expression to the sentiment of his party 
 and the country, but with a clearness and 
 conciseness which distinguished all his ut 
 terances upon great public questions, gave 
 the reasons for that public sentiment." He 
 said: 
 
 " 'The recent movement of the Chinese 
 to our Pacific Coast partakes but little of 
 the qualities of an immigration, either in 
 its purposes or results. It is too much 
 like an importation to be welcomed with 
 out restriction ; too much like an invasion 
 to be looked upon without solicitude. We 
 cannot consent to allow any form of servile 
 labor to be introduced among us under the 
 guise of immigration.' 
 
 " In this connection it is proper also to 
 consider the probable effect of a failure or 
 refusal of Congress to pass this bill, upon the 
 introduction of Chinese coolies into the 
 United States in the future. An adverse 
 vote upon such a measure, is an invitation 
 to the Chinese to corne, It would be in- 
 i terpreted to mean that the Government of 
 I the United States had reversed its policy, 
 ! and is now in favor of the unrestricted im 
 portation of Chinese; that it looks with 
 favor upon the Chinese invasion now in 
 progress. It is a fact well known that the 
 hostility to the influx of Chinese upon the 
 Pacific coast displayed by the people of 
 California has operated as a restriction, 
 and has discouraged the importation of 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 
 
 283 
 
 Chinese to such a degree that it is probable 
 that there are not a tenth part the number 
 of Chinese in the country there would 
 have been had this determined hostility 
 never been shown. Despite the inhospi- 
 tality, not to say resistance, of the Cali 
 fornia people to the Chinese, sometimes 
 while waiting for the action of the General 
 Government difficult to restrain within the 
 bounds of peaceable assertion, they have 
 poured through the Golden Gate in con 
 stantly increased numbers during the past 
 year, the total number of arrivals at San 
 Francisco alone during 1881 being 18,561. 
 Nearly two months have elapsed since the 
 1st of January, and there have arrived, as 
 the newspapers show, about four thousand 
 more. 
 
 " The defeat of this measure now is a 
 shout of welcome across the Pacific Ocean 
 to a myriad host of these strange people to 
 come and occupy the land, and it is a re 
 buke to the American citizens, who have 
 so long stood guard upon the western shore 
 of this continent, and who, seeing the dan 
 ger, have with a fortitude and forbearance 
 most admirable, raised and maintained the 
 only barrier against a stealthy, strategic, 
 but peaceful i ivasion as destructive in its 
 results and more potent for evil, than an 
 invasion by an army with banners. An 
 adverse vote now, is to commission under 
 the broad seal of the United States, all the 
 speculators in human labor, all the im 
 porters of human muscle, all the traffickers 
 in human flesh, to ply their infamous trade 
 without impediment under the protection 
 of the American flag, and empty the teem 
 ing, seething slave pens of China upon the 
 soil of California ! I forbear further spec 
 ulation upon the results likely to flow from 
 such a vote, for it presents pictures to the 
 mind which one would not willingly con 
 template. 
 
 " These considerations which I have 
 presented ought to be, it seems to me, de 
 cisive of the action of the Senate upon this 
 measure ; and I should regard the argu 
 ment as closed did I not know, that there 
 sfcill remain those who do not consider the 
 question as settled, and who insist upon 
 further inquiry into the reasons fora policy 
 of restriction, as applied to the Chinese. I 
 am not one of those who would place the 
 consideration of consistency or mere ap 
 pearances above consideration of right or 
 justice ; but since no change has taken 
 place in our relations with China, nor in 
 our domestic concerns which renders a re 
 versal of the action of the government 
 proper or necessary, I insist that if the 
 measure of re friction was right and good 
 policy whei Congress passed the fifteenth 
 passenger bill, and when the late treaty 
 with China was negotiated and ratified, it 
 is right and expedient now. 
 
 "This measure had its origin in Cali- 
 
 fornia. It has been pressed with great 
 vigor by the Representatives of the Pacific 
 coast in Congress, for many years. It has 
 not been urged with wild vehement decla 
 mation by thoughtless men, at the behest 
 of an ignorant unthinking, prej udiced con 
 stituency. It has been supported by in 
 controvertible fact and passionless reason 
 ing and enforced by the logic of events. 
 Behind these Representatives was an in 
 telligent, conscientious public sentiment 
 universal in a constituency as honest, gen 
 erous, intelligent, courageous, and humane 
 as any in the Republic. 
 
 " It had been said that the advocates of 
 Chinese restriction were to be found only 
 among the vicious, unlettered foreign ele 
 ment of California society. To show the 
 fact in respect of this contention, the Leg 
 islature of California in 1878 provided for 
 a vote of the people upon the que3tion of 
 Chinese immigration (so called) to be had 
 at the general election of 1879. The vote 
 was legally taken, without excitement, and 
 the response was general. When the bal 
 lots were counted, there were found to be 
 883 votes for Chinese immigration and 
 154,638 against it. A similar vote was tak 
 en in Nevada and resulted as follows : 183 
 votes for Chinese immigration and 17,259 
 votes against. It has been said that a 
 count of noses is an ineffectual and illusory 
 method of settling great questions, but this 
 vote of these two States settled the conten 
 tion intended to be settled; and demon 
 strated that the people of all others in the 
 United States who know most of the 
 Chinese evil, and who are most competent 
 to judge of the necessity for restriction are 
 practically unanimous in the support of 
 this measure. 
 
 " It is to be supposed that this vote of 
 California was the effect of an hysterical 
 spasm, which had suddenly seized the 
 minds of 154,000 voters, representing the 
 sentiment of 800,000 people. For nearly 
 thirty years this people had witnessed the 
 effect of coolie importation. For more than 
 a quarter of a century these voters had 
 met face to face, considered, weighed, and 
 discussed the great question upon which 
 they were at last called upon, in the most 
 solemn and deliberate manner, to express 
 an opinion. 1 do not cite this extraordinary 
 vote as a conclusive argument in favor of 
 Chinese restriction ; but I present it as an 
 important fact suggestive of argument. It 
 may be that the people who have been 
 brought face to face with the Chinese in 
 vasion are all wrong, and that those who 
 have seen nothing of it, who have but 
 heard something of it, are more competent 
 (being disinterested) to judge of its pos 
 sible, probable, and actual effects, than 
 those who have had twenty or thirty years 
 of actual continuous experience and con 
 tact with the Chinese colony in America ; 
 
284 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 and it may be that the Chinese question is 
 to be settled upon considerations other 
 than those practical common sense reasons 
 and principles which form the basis of po 
 litical science. 
 
 " It has sometimes happened in dealing 
 with great questions of governmental 
 policy that sentiment, or a sort of emotional 
 inspiration, has seized the minds of those 
 engaged in the solution of great problems, 
 by which they have been lilted up into the 
 ethereal heights of moral abstraction. I 
 trust that while we attempt the path of in- 
 quiry in this instance we shall keep our 
 feet firmly upon the earth. This question 
 relates to this planet and the temporal 
 government of some of its inhabitants ; it 
 is of the earth earthly ; it involves prin 
 ciples of economic, social, and political 
 science, rather than a question of morals ; 
 it is a question of national policy, and 
 should be subjected to philosophical analy 
 sis. Moreover, the question is of to-day. 
 The conditions of the world of mankind at 
 the present moment are those with which 
 we have to deal. If mankind existed now 
 in one grand co-operative society, in one 
 universal union, under one system of laws, 
 in a vast homogeneous brotherhood, 
 serenely beatified, innocent of all selfish 
 aims and unholy desires, with one visible 
 temporal ruler, whose judgments should 
 be justice and whose sway should be eter 
 nal, then there would be no propriety in 
 this measure. 
 
 " But the millennium has not yet begun, 
 and man exists now, as he has existed 
 always in the economy of Providence 
 in societies called nations, separated by 
 the peculiarities if not the antipathies of 
 race. In truth the history of mankind is 
 for the most part descriptive of racial con 
 flicts and the struggles between nations for 
 existence. By a perfectly natural process 
 these nations have evolved distinct civ 
 ilizations, as diverse in their characteristics 
 as the races of men from which they have 
 sprung. These may be properly grouped 
 into two grand divisions, the civilization 
 of the East and the civilization of the 
 West. These two great and diverse civiliza 
 tions have finally met on the American 
 shore of the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 u During the late depression in busi 
 ness affairs, which existed for three or four 
 years in California, while thousands of 
 white men and women were walking the 
 streets, begging and pleading for an oppor 
 tunity to give their honest labor for any 
 wages, the great steamers made their regu 
 lar arrivals from China, and discharged 
 at the wharves of San Francisco their ac 
 customed cargoes of Chinese who were 
 conveyed through the city to the distribu 
 ting dens of the Six Companies, and with 
 in three or four days after arrival every 
 Chinaman was in his place at work, and 
 
 the white people unemployed still went 
 bout the streets. This continued until 
 :he white laboring men rose in their des- 
 jeration and threatened the existence of 
 ihe Chinese colony when the influx was 
 ;emporarily checked ; but now since busi 
 ness has revived, and the pressure is re 
 moved, the Chinese come in vastly in 
 creased numbers, the excess of arrivals over 
 departures averaging about one thousand 
 per month at San Francisco alone. The 
 mporters of Chinese had no difficulty in 
 securing openings for their cargoes now, 
 and when transportation from California 
 to the Eastern States is cheapened, as it 
 soon will be, they will extend their opera 
 tions into the Middle and Eastern States, 
 unless prevented by law, for wherever 
 there is a white man or woman at work 
 for wages, whether at the shoe bench, in 
 the factory, or on the farm, there is an 
 opening for a Chinaman. No matter how 
 low the wages may be, the Chinaman can 
 afford to work for still lower wages, and if 
 the competition is free, he will take the 
 white man's place. 
 
 " At this point we are met by the query 
 from a certain class of political econo 
 mists, 'What of it? Suppose the Chinese 
 work for lower wages than white men, is 
 it not advantageous to the country to em 
 ploy them ? ' The first answer to such 
 question is, that by this process white men 
 are supplanted by Chinese. It is a sub 
 stitution of Chinese and their civilization 
 for white men and Anglo-Saxon civiliza 
 tion. This involves considerations higher 
 than mere economic theories. If the Chi 
 nese are as desirable as citizens, if they 
 are in all the essential elements of man 
 hood the peers or the superiors of the Cau 
 casian ; if they will protect American in 
 terests, foster American .institutions, and 
 become the patriotic defenders of republi 
 can government ; if their civilization does 
 not antagonize ours nor contaminate it ; if 
 they are free, independent men, fit for 
 liberty and self-government as European 
 immigrants generally are, then we may 
 begin argument upon the question whether 
 it is better or worse, wise or unwise, to 
 permit white men, American citizens, or 
 men of kindred races to be supplanted 
 and the Chinese to be substituted in their 
 places. Until all this and more can be 
 shown (he advocates of Chinese importa 
 tion or immigration have no base upon 
 which to even begin to build argument. 
 
 "The statistics of the manufacture of 
 cigars in San Fiancisco are still more sug 
 gestive. This business was formerly car 
 ried on exclusively by white people, many 
 hundreds finding steady and lucrative'em- 
 ployment in that trade. I have here the 
 certified statement from the office of the 
 collector of internal revenue at San Fran 
 cisco, showing the number of white people 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 
 
 285 
 
 and Chinese, relatively, employed on the 
 1st of November last in the manufacture 
 of cigars. The statement is as follows : 
 
 Number of white men employed 493 
 
 Number ot white women employed. 170 
 
 Total whites 663 
 
 Number of Chinese employed 5 182 
 
 " The facts of this statement were care 
 fully ascertained by three deputy collec 
 tors. The San Francisco Assembly of 
 Trades certify that there are 8,265 Chinese 
 employed in laundries. It is a well-known 
 fact that white women who formerly did 
 this work have been quite driven out of 
 that employment. The same authority 
 certifies that the number of Chinese now 
 employed in the manufacture of clothing 
 in San Francisco, is 7,510, and the num 
 ber of whites so employed is 1,000. In 
 many industries the Chinese have entirely 
 supplanted the white laborers, and thou 
 sands of our white people have quit Cali 
 fornia and sought immunity from this 
 grinding competition in other and better- 
 favored regions." 
 ****##** 
 
 "If you would 'secure the blessings of 
 liberty to ourselves and our posterity/ 
 there must be some place reserved *in 
 which, and upon which, posterity can exist. 
 What will the blessings of liberty be worth 
 to posterity if you give up the country to 
 the Chinese? If China is to be the breed 
 ing-ground for peopling this country, what 
 chanct of American posterity? We of 
 this age hold this land in trust for our race 
 and kindred. We hold republican govern 
 ment and free institutions in trust for 
 American posterity. That trust ought not 
 to be betrayed. If the Chinese should in 
 vade the Pacific coast with arms in their 
 hands, what a magnificent spectacle of 
 martial resistance would be presented to a 
 startled world! The mere intimation of 
 an attempt to make conquest of our west 
 ern shore by force would rouse the nation 
 to a frenzy of enthusiasm in its defense. 
 For years a peaceful, sly, strategic con 
 quest has been in progress, and American 
 statesmanship has been almost silent, until 
 the people have demanded action. 
 
 "The land which is being overrun by 
 the oriental invader is the fairest portion 
 of our heritage. It is the land of the vine 
 and the fig tree ; the home of the orange, 
 the olive, and the pomegranate. Its winter 
 is a perpetual spring, and its summer is a 
 golden harvest. There the northern pine 
 peacefully swavs against the southern palm ; 
 the tender azalea and the hardy rose min 
 gle their sweet perfume, and the tropic 
 vine encircles the sturdy oak. Its valleys 
 are rich and glorious with luscious fruits 
 and waving grain,, and its lofty 
 
 Mountains like giants stand, 
 To sentinel the enchanted land. 
 
 " I would see its fertile plains, its se 
 questered vales, its vine-clad hills, its deep 
 blue canons, its furrowed mountain-sides, 
 dotted all over with American homes 
 the homes of a free, happy people, reso 
 nant with the sweet voices of flaxen-haired 
 children, and ringing with the joyous 
 laughter of maiden fair 
 
 Soft as her clime, and sunny as her skies 
 
 like the homes of New England; yet 
 brighter and better far shall be the homes 
 which are to be builded in that wonder 
 land by the sunset sea, the homes of a race 
 from which shall spring 
 
 The flower of men, 
 
 To serve as model for the mighty world, 
 And be the fair beginning of a timo." 
 
 Reply of Senator Geo. F". Hoar. 
 
 Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, replied 
 to Senator Miller, and presented the sup 
 posed view of the Eastern States in a mas 
 terly manner. The speech covered twenty- 
 eight pamphlet pages, and was referred to 
 by the newspaper as an effort equal to 
 some of the best by Charles Sumner. We 
 make liberal extracts from the text, as fol 
 lows : 
 
 "Mr. PRESIDENT: A hundred years 
 ago the American people founded a nation 
 upon the moral law. They overthrew by 
 force the authority of their sovereign, and 
 separated themselves from the country 
 which had planted them, alleging as their 
 justification to mankind certain proposi 
 tions which they held to be self-evident. 
 
 " They declared and that declaration 
 is the one foremost action of human his 
 tory that all men equally derive from 
 their Creator the right to the pursuit of 
 happiness ; that equality in the right to 
 that pursuit is the fundamental rule of the 
 divine justice in its application to man 
 kind ; that its security is the end for which 
 governments are formed, and its destruc 
 tion good cause why governments should 
 be overthrown. For a hundred years this 
 principle has been held in honor. Under 
 its beneficent operation we- have grown al 
 most twenty-fold Thirteen States have 
 become thirty -eight ; three million have 
 become fifty million ; wealth and comfort 
 and education and art have flourished 
 in still larger proportion. Every twenty 
 years there is added 1 to the valuation of 
 this country a wealth enough to buy the 
 whole German Empire, with its buildings 
 and its ships and its invested property. 
 This has been the magnet that has drawn 
 immigration hither. The human stream, 
 hemmed in by banks invisible but impassa 
 ble, does not turn towaid Mexico, which 
 can feed and clothe a world, or South 
 America, which can feed and clothe a hun- 
 
286 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 dred worlds, but seeks only that belt of 
 States where it finds this law in operation. 
 The marvels of comfort and happiness it 
 has wrought for us scarcely surpass what 
 it has done for other countries. The im 
 migrant sends back the message to those 
 he has left behind. There is scarcely a 
 nation in Europe west of Russia which has 
 not felt the force of our example and whose 
 institutions are not more or less slowly ap 
 proximating to our own. 
 
 " Every new State as it takes its place in 
 the great family binds this declaration as a 
 frontlet upon its forehead. Twenty-four of 
 the States, including California herself, 
 declare it in the very opening sentence of 
 their constitutions. The insertion of the 
 phrase l the pursuit of happiness/ in the 
 enumeration of the natural rights for secur 
 ing which government is ordained, and the 
 denial of which constitutes just cause for 
 its overthrow, was intended as an explicit 
 affirmation that the right of every human 
 being who obeys the equal laws to go 
 everywhere on the surface of the earth 
 that "his welfare may require is beyond the 
 rightful control of government. It is a 
 birthright derived immediately from him 
 who ' made of one blood all nations of 
 men for to dwell on all the face of the 
 earth, and hath determined the times be 
 fore appointed and the bounds of their habi 
 tation.' He made, so our fathers held, of 
 one blood all the nations of men. He gave 
 them the whole face of the earth whereon 
 to dwell. He reserved for himself by his 
 agents heat and cold, and climate, and 
 soil, and water, and land to determine the 
 bounds of their habitation. It has long 
 been the fashion in some quarters, when 
 honor, justice, good faith, human rights 
 are appealed to, and especially when the 
 truths declared in the opening sentences of 
 the Declaration of Independence are in 
 voked as guides in legislation to stigmatize 
 those who make the appeal as sentimenta 
 lists, incapable of dealing with practical 
 affairs. It would be easy to demonstrate 
 the falsehood of this notion. The men who 
 erected the structure of this Government 
 were good, practical builders and knew, 
 well the quality of the corner-stone when 
 they laid it. When they put forth for 
 the consideration of their contemporaries 
 and of posterity the declaration which they 
 thought a decent respect for the opinions 
 of mankind required of them, they weighed 
 carefully the fundamental proposition on 
 which their immortal argument rested. 
 Lord Chatham's famous sentence will bear 
 repeating again : 
 
 When your ' lordships look at the 
 papers transmitted to us from America, 
 when you consider their decency, firmness, 
 and wisdom, you cannot but respect their 
 cause and wish to make it your own. For 
 myself I must declare and avow that in all 
 
 my reading and observation and it has 
 been my favorite study, I have read 
 Thucydides, and have studied and admired 
 the master states of the world that for 
 solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and 
 wisdom of conclusion, under such a com 
 plication of difficult circumstances, no na 
 tion or body of men can stand in preference 
 to the general Congress assembled at 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 The doctrine that the pursuit of happi 
 ness is an inalienable right with which men 
 are endowed by their Creator, asserted by 
 as religious a people as ever lived at the 
 most religious period of their history, pro 
 pounded by as wise, practical, and far- 
 sighted statesmen as ever lived as the vin 
 dication for the most momentous public 
 act of their generation, was intended to 
 commit the American people in the most 
 solemn manner to the assertion that the 
 right to change their homes at their plea 
 sure is a natural right of all men. The doc 
 trine that free institutions are a monopoly 
 of the favored races, the doctrine that op 
 pressed people may sever their old alle 
 giance at will, but have no right to find a 
 new one, that the bird may fly but may 
 never light, is of quite recent origin. 
 
 California herself owing her place in our 
 Union to the first victory of freedom in the 
 great contest with African slavery, is 
 pledged to repudiate this modern heresy, 
 not only by her baptismal vows, but by 
 her share in the enactment of the statute 
 of 1868. Her constitution read thus until 
 she took Dennis Kearney for her law 
 giver : 
 
 We, the people of California, grateful to 
 Almighty God for our freedom, in order to 
 secure its blessings, do establish this con 
 stitution. 
 
 DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. 
 
 SECTION 1. All men are by nature free 
 and independent, and have certain inalien 
 able rights, among which are those of enjoy 
 ing and defending life and liberty, acquir 
 ing, possessing, and defending property, 
 and pursuing and obtaining safety and 
 
 happiness. 
 
 ******* 
 
 SEC. 17. Foreigners who are or who 
 may hereafter become bona fide residents 
 of this State, shall enjoy the same rights in 
 respect to the possession, enjoyment, and 
 inheritance of property, as native born 
 citizens. 
 
 In the Revised Statutes, section 1999, 
 Congress in the most solemn manner de 
 clare that the right of expatriation is be 
 yond the lawful control of government: 
 
 SEC. 1999. Whereas the right of expa 
 triation is a natural and inherent right of 
 all people, indispensable to the enjoyment 
 of the rights of life, liberty, and the pur 
 suit of happiness; and 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 
 
 287 
 
 Whereas in the recognition of this prin 
 ciple this Government has freely received 
 emigrants from all nations, and invested 
 them with the rights of citizenship. 
 
 This is a re-enactment, in part, of the 
 statute of 1868, of which Mr. Conness, 
 then a California Senator, of Irish birth, 
 was, if not the author, the chief advocate. 
 
 The California Senator called up the 
 bill day after day. The bill originally 
 provided that the President might order 
 the arrest and detention in custody of 
 " any subject or citizen of such foreign 
 government " as should arrest and detain 
 any naturalized citizen of the United 
 States under the claim that he still re 
 mained subject to his allegiance to his na 
 tive sovereign. This gave rise to debate. 
 
 But there was no controversy about the 
 part of the bill which I have read. The 
 preamble is as follows : 
 
 Whereas the right of expatriation is a 
 natur.il and inherent right of all people, 
 indispensable to the enjoyment of the 
 rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
 happiness, for the protection of which the 
 Government of the United States was es 
 tablished; and whereas in the recogni 
 tion of this principle this Government has 
 freely received emigrants from all nations 
 and vested them with the rights of citizen 
 ship, &c. 
 
 Mr. Howard declares that 
 
 The absolute right of expatriation is the 
 great leading American principle. 
 
 Mr. Morton says: 
 
 That a man's right to withdraw from his 
 native country and make his home in an 
 other, and thus cut himself oft from all 
 connection with his native country, is a 
 part of his natural liberty, and without 
 that his liberty is defective. We claim 
 that the right to liberty is a natural, in 
 herent, God-given right, and his liberty is 
 imperfect unless it carries with it the right 
 of expatriation. 
 
 The bill containing the preamble above 
 recited passed the Senate by a vote of 39 
 to 5. 
 
 The United States of America and the 
 Emperor of China cordially recognize the 
 inherent and inalienable right of man to 
 change his home and allegiance, and also 
 the mutual advantage of the free migra 
 tion and emigration of their citizens and 
 subjects respectively from the one country 
 to the other for purposes of curiosity, of 
 trade, or as permanent residents. 
 
 " The bill which passed Congress two 
 years ago and was vetoed by President 
 Hayes, the treaty of 1881, and the bill now 
 before the Senate, have the same origin 
 and are parts of the same measure. Two 
 years ago it was proposed to exclude Chi 
 nese laborers from our borders, in express 
 disregard of our solemn treaty obligations. 
 This measure was arrested by President 
 
 Hayes. The treaty of 1881 extorted from 
 unwilling China her consent that we might 
 regulate, limit, or suspend the coming of 
 Chinese laborers into this country a con 
 sent of which it is proposed by this bill to 
 take advantage. This is entitled " A bill 
 to enforce treaty stipulations with Chi 
 na." 
 
 ** It seems necessary in discussing the 
 statute briefly to review the history of the 
 treaty. First let me say that the title of 
 this bill is deceptive. There is no stipu 
 lation of the treaty which the bill enforces. 
 The bill where it is not inconsistent with 
 the compact only avails itself of a privi 
 lege which that concedes. China only re 
 laxed the Burlingame treaty so far as to 
 permit us to ' regulate, limit, or suspend 
 the coming or residence ' of Chinese la 
 borers, ' but not absolutely to prohibit it.' 
 The treaty expressly declares ' such limi 
 tation or suspension shall be reasonable.' 
 But here is proposed a statute which for 
 twenty years, under the severest penalties, 
 absolutely inhibits the coming of Chinese 
 laborers to this country. The treaty pledges 
 us not absolutely to prohibit it. The bill 
 is intended absolutely to prohibit it. 
 
 " The second article of the treaty is this : 
 
 " Chinese subjects, whether proceeding to 
 the United States as traders, students, or 
 merchants, or from curiosity, together with 
 their body and household servants, and 
 Chinese laborers, who are now in the Uni 
 ted States, shall be allowed to go and come 
 of their own free will and accord, and 
 shall be accorded all the rights, privileges, 
 immunities, and exemptions which are ac 
 corded to the citizens and subjects of the 
 most favored nations. 
 
 " Yet it is difficult to believe that the com 
 plex and cumbrous passport system pro 
 vided in the last twelve sections of the bill 
 was not intended as an evasion of this 
 agreement. Upon what other nation, fa 
 vored or not, is such a burden imposed? 
 This is the execution of a promise that 
 they may come and go ' of their own free 
 will' 
 
 " What has happened within thirteen 
 years that the great Republic should strike 
 its flag? What change has come over us 
 that we should eat the bravest and the tru 
 est words we ever spoke ? From 1 858 to 
 1880 there was added to the population of 
 the country 42,000 Chinese. 
 
 " I give a table from the census of 1880 
 showing the Chinese population of each 
 State : 
 
 Statement showing the Chinese population 
 in each State and Territory, according to 
 the United States censuses of 1870 and of 
 
 1880. 
 
 Alabama.. 
 Alaska.... 
 Arizona... 
 
 20 1,630 
 
288 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Arkansas 98 
 
 California 49,310 
 
 Colorado 7 
 
 Connecticut 2 
 
 Dakota 
 
 Delaware 
 
 District of Columbia 3 
 
 Florida 
 
 Georgia 1 
 
 134 
 75,025 
 610 
 124 
 238 
 1 
 
 13 
 18 
 17 
 
 Idaho 4,274 3,378 
 
 Illinois 1 210 
 
 Indiana 33 
 
 Iowa 3 47 
 
 Kansas 19 
 
 Kentucky 1 10 
 
 Louisiana 71 481 
 
 Maine 1 9 
 
 Maryland 2 5 
 
 Massachusetts 97 237 
 
 Michigan 2 27 
 
 Minnesota 53 
 
 Misssissippi 16 52 
 
 Missouri 3 94 
 
 Montana 1,949 1,764 
 
 Nebraska 18 
 
 Nevada 3,152 5,420 
 
 New Hampshire 14 
 
 New Jersey 15 176 
 
 New Mexico.. 55 
 
 New York 29 924 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 Ohio 1 114 
 
 Oregon 3,330 9,513 
 
 Pennsylvania 14 160 
 
 Khode Island.. 27 
 
 South Carolina 1 9 
 
 Tennessee 26 
 
 Texas 25 141 
 
 Utah 445 501 
 
 Vermont 
 
 Virginia 4 6 
 
 Washington 234 3,182 
 
 West Virginia 14 
 
 Wisconsin 16 
 
 Wyoming 143 914 
 
 Total 63,254 105,463 
 
 " By the census of 1880 the number of 
 Chinese in this country was 105,000 one 
 five-hundredth part of the whole popula 
 tion. The Chinese are the most easily 
 governed race in the world. Yet every 
 Chinaman in America has four hundred 
 and ninety-nine Americana to control him. 
 
 The immigration was also constantly de 
 creasing for the last half of the decade. 
 The Bureau of Statistics gives the num 
 bers as follows, (for the first eight years the 
 figures are those of the- entire Asiatic im 
 migration:) 
 
 The number of immigrants from Asia, 
 as reported by the United States Bureau 
 of Statistics is as follows, namely : 
 
 1871 7.236 
 
 1872 7,825 
 
 1874 13,857 
 
 1875 16,498 
 
 1S76 22,943 
 
 1877 10,640 
 
 1878 9,014 
 
 Total 108,339 
 
 And from China for the year ended 
 June 30 
 
 1879 9,604 
 
 Ib80 5,802 
 
 Total 15,406 
 
 Grand Total 123,745 
 
 " See also, Mr. President, how this class 
 of immigrants, diminishing in itself, di 
 minishes still more in its proportion to the 
 rapidly increasing numbers who come 
 from other lands. Against 22,943 Asiatic 
 immigrants in 1876, there are but 5,802 in 
 1880. In 1878 there were 9,014 from Asia, 
 in a total of 153,207, or one in seventeen 
 of the entire immigration ; and this in 
 cludes all persons who entered the port of 
 San Francisco to go to any South American 
 country. In 1879 there were 9,604 from 
 China in a total of 250,565, or one in 
 twenty -six. In 1880 there were 5,802 from 
 China in a total immigration of 593,359, or 
 one in one hundred and two. The whole 
 Chinese population, then, when the cen 
 sus of 1880 was taken, was but one in five 
 hundred of our people. The whole Chinese 
 immigration was but one in one hundred 
 and two of the total immigration ; while 
 the total annual immigraticn quadrupled 
 from 1878 to 1880, the Chinese was in 
 1880 little more than one-half what it was 
 in 1878, and one-fourth what it was in 1876. 
 " The number of immigrants of all 
 nations was 720,045 in 1881. Of these 
 20,711 were Chinese. There is no record 
 in the Bureau of Statistics of the number 
 who departed within the year. But a very 
 high anti-Chinese authority places it above 
 10,000. Perhaps the expection that the 
 hostile legislation under the treaty would 
 not affect persons who entered before it 
 took effect stimulated somewhat their 
 coming. Bait the addition to the Chinese 
 population was less than one seventy- 
 seconxl of tiie whole immigration. All 
 Chinese in the country do not exceed 
 ihe population of its sixteenth cily. All 
 ;he Chinese in California hardly surpass 
 the number which is easily governed in 
 
 hanghai by a police of one hundred men. 
 There are as many pure blooded Gypsies 
 wandering about the country as there are 
 Chinese m California. What an insult to 
 American intelligence to ask leave of 
 
 hina to keep out her people, because 
 this little handful of almond-eyed Asiatics 
 tkreaten to destroy our boasted civiliza- 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 
 
 289 
 
 tion. We go boasting of our democracy, 
 and our superiority, and our strength. The 
 flag bears the stars of hope to all nations. 
 A hundred thousand Chinese land in 
 California and everything is changed. God 
 has not made of one blood all the nations 
 any longer. The self-evident truth be 
 comes a self-evident lie. The golden rule 
 does not apply to the natives of the con 
 tinent where it was first uttered. The 
 United St ites surrender to China, the Ee- 
 public to the despot, America to Asia, Jesus 
 to Joss. 
 
 " There is another most remarkable ex 
 ample of this prejudice of race which has 
 happily almost died out here, which has 
 come down from the dark ages and which 
 survives with unabated ferocity in Eastern 
 Europe. I mean the hatred of the Jew. 
 The persecution of the Hebrew has never, 
 so far as I know, taken the form of an 
 affront to labor. In every other particular 
 the reproaches which for ten centuries 
 have been leveled at him are reproduced 
 to do service against the Chinese. The 
 Hebrew, so it was said, was not a Chris 
 tian. He did not affiliate or assimilate 
 into the nations where he dwelt. He was 
 an unclean thing, a dog, to whom the 
 crime of the crucifixion of his Saviour was 
 never to be forgiven. The Chinese quar 
 ter of San Francisco had its type in every 
 city of Europe. If the Jew ventured from 
 his hiding-place he was stoned. His 
 wealth made him the prey of the rapacity 
 of the noble, and his poverty and weakness 
 the victim of the rabble. Yet how has this 
 Oriental conquered Christendom by the 
 sublimity of his patience? The great poet 
 of New England, who sits by every Ameri 
 can fireside a beloved and perpetual guest, 
 in that masterpiece of his art, the Jewish 
 Cemetery at Newport, ha's described the 
 degradation and the triumph of these per 
 secuted children of God. 
 
 How came they here ? What burst of Christian hate, 
 
 What persecution, merciless and blind, 
 Drove o'er the sea that desert desolate 
 
 These Ishmaels and Hagars of mankind ? 
 They lived in narrow streets and lanes obscure, 
 
 Ghetto and Judenstrass, in mirk and mire ; 
 Taught in the school of patience to endure 
 
 The life of anguish and the death of fire. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Anathema, maranatha ! was the cry 
 
 That rang from town to town, from street to street; 
 At every gate the accursed Mordecai 
 
 Was mocked and jeered, and spurned by Christian feet. 
 
 Pride and humiliation hand in hand 
 
 Walked with them through the world where'er they 
 
 went; 
 Trampled and beaten vrere they as the sand, 
 
 And yet unshaken as the continent. 
 
 Forty years ago 
 
 Says Lord Beaconsfield, that great Jew 
 who held England in the hollow of his 
 hand, and who played on her aristocracy 
 as on an organ, who made himself the 
 master of an alien nation, its ruler, its 
 
 19 
 
 oracle, and through it, and in despite of it, 
 for a time the master of Europe 
 
 Forty years ago not a longer period 
 than the children of Israel were wandering 
 in the desert the two most dishonored 
 races in Europe were the Attic and the He 
 brew. The world has probably by this, 
 discovered that it is impossible to destroy 
 the Jews. The attempt to extirpate them 
 has been made under the most favorable 
 auspices and on the largest scale ; the most 
 considerable means that man could com 
 mand have been pertinaciously applied to 
 this object for the longest period of re 
 corded time. Egyptian Pharaohs, Assyrian, 
 kings, Roman emperors, Scandinavian- 
 crusaders, Gothic princes, and holy inqui 
 sitors, have alike devoted their energies tc* 
 the fulfillment of this common purpose. 
 Expatriation, exile, captivity, confiscation, 
 torture on the most ingenious and massa 
 cre on the most extensive scale, a curious. 
 system of degrading customs and debasing: 
 laws which would have broken the heart 
 of any other people, have been tried, and 
 in vain. 
 
 "Lord Beaconsfield admits that the Jew* 
 contribute more than their proportion to 
 the aggregate of the vile ; that the lowest 
 class of Jews are obdurate, malignant, 
 odious, and revolting. And yet this race- 
 of dogs, as it has been often termed in. 
 scorn, furnishes Europe to-day its masters- 
 in finance and oratory and statesmanship- 
 and art and music. Kachel, Mozart, Men 
 delssohn, Disraeli, Eothschild, Benjamin, 
 Heine, are but samples of the intellectual 
 power of a race which to-day controls th& 
 finance and the press of Europe. 
 
 " I do not controvert the evidence which 
 is relied upon to show that there are great 
 abuses, great dangers, great offenses, which: 
 have grown out of the coming of this peo 
 ple. Much of the evil I believe might be- 
 cured by State and municipal authority. 
 Congress may rightfully be called upon to 
 go to the limit of the just exercise of the 
 powers of government in rendering its aid. 
 
 " We should have capable and vigilant 
 consular officers in the Asiatic ports from 
 which these immigrants come, without 
 whose certificate they should not be re 
 ceived on board ship, and who should see 
 to it that no person except those of good 
 character and no person whose labor is not 
 his own property oe allowed to come over. 
 Especially should the trade in human 
 labor under all disguises be suppressed. 
 Filthy habits of living must surely be with 
 in the control of municipal regulation. 
 Every State may by legislation or by muni 
 cipal ordinance in its towns and cities pre 
 scribe the dimension of dwellings and limit 
 the number who may occupy the same 
 tenement. 
 
 "But it is urged and this in my judg 
 ment is the greatest argument for the bill 
 
290 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 that the introduction of the labor of the 
 Chinese reduces the wages of the American 
 laborer. ' We are ruined by Chinese cheap 
 labor " is a cry not limited to the class to 
 whose representative the brilliant humor 
 ist of California first ascribed it. I am not 
 in favor of lowering any where the wages 
 of any American labor, skilled or unskilled. 
 On the contrary, I believe the maintenance 
 and the increase of the purchasing power 
 of the wages of the American working man 
 should be the one principal object of our 
 legislation. The share in the product of 
 agriculture or manufacture which goes to 
 labor should, and I believe will, steadily 
 increase. For that, and for that only, ex 
 ists our protective system. The acquisition 
 of wealth, national or individual, is to be 
 desired only for that. The statement of 
 the accomplished Senator from California 
 on this point meets my heartiest concur 
 rence. I have no sympathy with any men, 
 if such there be, who favor high protection 
 and cheap labor. 
 
 " But I believe that the Chinese, to whom 
 the terms of the California Senator attri 
 bute skill enough to displace the American 
 in every field requiring intellectual vigor, 
 will learn very soon to insist on his lull 
 share of the product of his work. But whe 
 ther that be true or not, the wealth he cre 
 ates will make better and not worse the con 
 dition of every higher class of labor. There 
 may be trouble or failure in adjusting new 
 relations. But sooner or later every new 
 class of industrious and productive labor 
 ers elevates the class it displaces. The 
 dread of an injury to our labor from the 
 Chinese rests on the same fallacy that op 
 posed the introduction of labor-saving ma 
 chinery, and which opposed the coming of 
 the Irishman and the German and the 
 Swede. Within my memory in New Eng 
 land all the lower places in factories, all 
 places of domestic service, were filled by 
 the sons and daughters of American farm 
 ers. The Irishmen came over to take their 
 places ; but the American farmer's son and 
 daughter did not suffer; they were only 
 elevated to a higher plane. In the in 
 creased wealth of the community their 
 share is much greater. The Irishman rose 
 from the bog or the hovel of his native land 
 to the comfort of a New England home, 
 and placed his children in a New England 
 school. The Yankee rises from the loom 
 and the spinning-jenny to be the teacher, 
 the skilled laborer in the machine shop, the 
 inventor, the merchant, or the opulent 
 landholder and farmer of the West. 
 
 A letter from F. A. Bee, Chinese Con 
 sul, approving the management of the es 
 tate, accompanied the report of the re 
 feree : 
 
 "Mr. President, I will not detain the 
 
 Senate by reading the abundant testimony, 
 of which this is but the sample, of the pos 
 session by the people of this race of the 
 possibility of a development of every qua 
 lity of intellect, art, character, which fits 
 them for citizenship, for republicanism, for 
 Christianity. 
 
 " Humanity, capable of infinite depths 
 of degradation, is capable also of infinite 
 heights of excellence. The Chinese, like 
 all other races, has given us its examples 
 of both. To rescue humanity from this 
 degradation is, we are taught to believe, the 
 great object of God's moral government on 
 earth. It is not by injustice, exclusion, 
 caste, but by reverence for the individual 
 soul that we can aid in this consummation. 
 It is not by Chinese policies that China is 
 to be civilized. I believe that the immor 
 tal truths of the Declaration of Indepen 
 dence came from the same source with the 
 Golden Rule and the Sermon on tha 
 Mount. We can trust Him who promul 
 gated these laws to keep the country safe 
 that obeys them. The laws of the universe 
 have their own sanction. They will not 
 fail. The power that causes the compass 
 to point to the north, that dismisses the 
 star on its pathway through the skies, pro 
 mising that in a thousand years it shall re 
 turn again true to its hour and keep His 
 word, will vindicate His own moral law. 
 As surely as the path on which our fathers 
 entered a hundred years ago led to safety, 
 to strength, to glory, so surely will the 
 path on which we now propose to enter 
 bring us to shame, to weakness, and to 
 peril." 
 
 On the 3d of March the debate was re 
 newed. Senator Farley protested that un 
 less Chinese immigration is prohibited it 
 will be impossible to protect the Chinese 
 on the Pacific coast. The feeling against 
 them now is such that restraint is difficult, 
 as the people, forced cut of employment by 
 them, and irritated by their constantly in 
 creasing numbers, are not in a condition to 
 submit to the deprivations they suffer by 
 the presence of a Chinese population im 
 ported as slaves and absorbing to their own 
 benefit the labor of the country. A remark 
 of Mr. Farley about the Chinese led Mr. 
 Hoar to ask if they were not the inventors 
 of the printing press and of gunpowder. 
 To this question Mr. Jones, of Nevada, 
 made a brief speech, which was considered 
 remarkable, principally because it was one 
 of the very few speeches of any length that 
 he has made since he became a Senator. 
 Instead of agreeing with Mr. Hoar that the 
 Chinese had invented the printing press 
 and gunpowder, he said that information 
 he had received led him to believe that the 
 Chinese were not entitled to the credit of 
 either of these inventions. On the con 
 trary, they had stolen them from Aryans or 
 Caucasians who wandered into the king- 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 
 
 291 
 
 dom. Mr. Hoar smiled incredulously and 
 made a remark to the effect that he had 
 never heard of those Aryans or Caucasians 
 before. 
 
 Continuing his remarks, Mr. Farley ex 
 pressed his belief that should the Mongo 
 lian population increase and the Chinese 
 come in contact with the Africans, the con 
 tact would result in demoralization and 
 bloodshed which the laws could not pre 
 vent. Pig-tailed Chinamen would take the 
 place everywhere of the working girl unless 
 Congress extended its protection to Califor 
 nia and her white people, who had by their 
 votes demanded a prohibition of Chinese 
 immigration. Mr. Maxey, interpreting the 
 Constitution in such a way as to bring out 
 of it an argument against Chinese immi 
 gration, said he found nothing in it to jus 
 tify the conclusion that the framers of it 
 intended to bring into this country all na 
 tions and races. The only people the 
 fathers had in view as citizens were those 
 of the Caucasian race, and they contempla 
 ted naturalization only for such, for they 
 had distinctly set forth that the heritage of 
 freedom was to be for their posterity. No 
 body would pretend to express the opinion 
 that it was'expected that the American peo 
 ple should become mixed up with all sorts 
 of races and call the result " our posterity." 
 While the American people had, in conse 
 quence of their Anglo-Saxon origin, been 
 able to withstand the contact with the Af 
 rican, the Africans would never stand be 
 fore the Chinese. Mr. Maxey opposed tho 
 Chinese because they do not come here to 
 be citizens, because the lower classes of 
 Chinese alone are immigrants, and because 
 by contact they poison the minds of the less 
 intelligent. 
 
 Mr. Saulsbury had something to say in 
 favor of the bill, and Mr. Garland, who vo 
 ted against the last bill because the treaty 
 had not been modified, expressed his belief 
 that the Government could exercise proper 
 ly all the powers proposed to be bestowed 
 by this bill. Some time was consumed by 
 Mr. Ingalls in advocacy of an amendment 
 offered by him, proposing to limit the sus 
 pension of immigration to 10 instead of 
 20 years. Mr. Miller and Mr. Bayard op 
 posed the amendment, Mr. Bayard taking 
 the ground that Congress ought not to dis 
 regard the substantially unanimous wish of 
 the people of California, as expressed at 
 the polls, for absolute prohibition. The 
 debate was interrupted by a motion for an 
 executive session, and the bill went over un 
 til Monday, to be taken up then as the un 
 finished business. 
 
 On March 6th a vote was ordered on 
 Senator Ingalls' amendment. It was de 
 feated on a tie vote yeas 23, nays 23. 
 
 The vote in detail is as follows : 
 
 Yeas Messrs. Aldrich, Allison, Blair, 
 Brown, Cockrell, Conger, Davis of Illinois, 
 
 Dawes, Edmunds, Frye, Harris, Hoar, In 
 galls, Jackson, Lapham, McDill, McMil 
 lan, Mitchell, Morrell, Saunders, Sewell, 
 Sherman and Teller 23. 
 
 Nays Messrs. Bayard, Beck, Call, Came 
 ron of Wisconsin, Coke, Fair, Farley, Gar 
 land, George, Hale, Hampton, Hill of 
 Colorado, Jonas, Jones of Nevada, Mc- 
 Pherson, Marcy, Miller of California, Mil 
 ler of New York, Morgan, Ransom, Slater, 
 Vest and Walker 23. 
 
 Pairs were announced between Davis, of 
 West Virginia, Saulsbury, Butler, John 
 son, Kellogg, Jones, of Florida, and Grover, 
 against the amendment, and Messrs. Win- 
 dom, Ferry, Hawley, Platt, Pugh, Rollins 
 and Van Wyck in the affirmative. Mr? 
 Camden was also paired. 
 
 Mr. Edmunds, partially in reply to Mr. 
 Hoar argued that the right to decide what 
 constitutes the moral law was one inherent 
 in the Government, and by analogy the 
 right to regulate the character of the peo 
 ple who shall come into it belonged to a 
 Government. This depended upon national 
 polity and the fact as to most of the ancient 
 republics that they did not possess homo 
 geneity was the cause of their fall. As to 
 the Swiss Republic, it was untrue that it 
 was not homogeneous. The difference 
 there was not one of race but of different 
 varieties of the same race, all of which are 
 analogous and consistent with each other. 
 ]t would not be contended that it is an 
 advantage to a republic that its citizens 
 should be made of diverse races, with di 
 verse views and diverse obligations as to 
 what the common prosperity of all required. 
 Therefore there was no foundation for the 
 charge of a violation of moral and public 
 law in our making a distinction as to the 
 foreigners we admit. He challenged Mr. 
 Hoar to produce an authority on national 
 law which denied the right of one nation 
 to declare what people of other nations 
 should come among them. John Hancock 
 and Samuel Adams, not unworthy citizens 
 of Massachusetts, joined in asserting in the 
 Declaration of Independence the right of 
 the colonies to establish for themselves, 
 not for other peoples, a Government of 
 their own, not the Government of some 
 body else. The declaration asserted the 
 family or consolidated right of a people 
 within any Territory to determine the coi> 
 ditions upon which they would go on, ari 
 this included the matter of receiving tfefc 
 people from other shores into their family. 
 This idea was followed in the Constitution 
 by requiring naturalization. The China 
 man may be with us, but he is not of us. 
 One of the conditions of his naturalization 
 is that he must be friendly to the institu 
 tions and intrinsic polity of our Govern 
 ment. Upon the theory of the Massachu* 
 setts Senators, that there is a universal 
 oneness of one human being with every 
 
292 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 other human "being on the globe, this tra 
 ditional and fundamental principle was 
 entirely ignored. Such a theory as applied 
 to Government was contrary to all human 
 experience, to all discussion, and to every 
 step of the founders of our Government. 
 lie said that Mr. Sumner, the predecessor 
 of Mr. Hoar, was the author of the law on 
 the coolie traffic, which imposes fines and 
 penalties more severe than those in this 
 till upon any master of an American ves- 
 'sel carrying a Chinaman who is a servant. 
 The present bill followed that legislation. 
 Mr. Edmunds added that he would vote 
 against the bill if the twenty-year clause 
 was retained, but would maintain the 
 soundness of principle he had enunciated. 
 Mr. Hoar argued in reply that the right 
 of expatriation carried with it the right to 
 a home for the citizen in the country to 
 which he comes, and that the bill violated 
 not only this but the principles of the 
 Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments 
 which made citizenship the birthright of 
 every one born on our soil, and prohibited 
 an abridgement of the suffrage because of 
 race, color, etc. 
 
 Mr. Ingalls moved an amendment post 
 poning the time at which the act shall take 
 effect until sixty days after information 
 of its passage has been communicated to 
 China. 
 
 After remarks by Messrs. Dawes, Teller 
 and Bayard, at the suggestion of Mr. Brown 
 Mr. Ingalls modified his amendment by 
 providing that the act shall not go into 
 effect until ninety days after its passage, 
 and the amendment was adopted. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Bayard, amendments 
 were adopted making the second section 
 read as follows : " That any master of any 
 vessel of whatever nationality, who shall 
 knowingly on such vessel bring within the 
 jurisdiction of the United States and per 
 mit to be landed any Chinese laborer, " &c. 
 Mr. Hoar moved to amend by add 
 ing the following: "Provided, that this 
 bill shall not apply to any skilled laborer 
 who shall establish that he comes to this 
 country without any contract beyond which 
 his labor is the property of any person be 
 sides himself. " 
 
 Mr. Farley suggested that all the Chinese 
 would claim to be skilled laborers. 
 
 Mr. Hoar replied that it would tesi 
 whether the bill struck at coolies or at 
 skilled labor. 
 
 The amendment was rejected Yeas, 17 
 nays, 27. 
 
 Mr. Call moved to strike out the section 
 which forfeits the vessel for the offense o 
 the master. Lost. 
 
 Mr. Hoar moved to amend by inserting 
 " Provided that any laborer who shall re 
 ceive a certificate from the U. S. Consul at 
 the port where he shall embark that he is 
 an artisan coming to this country at his 
 
 wn expense and of his own will, shall not 
 e affected by this bill." Lost yeas 19, 
 nays 24. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Miller, of California, 
 ;he provision directing the removal of any 
 Chinese unlawfully found in a Customs 
 Collection district by the Collector, was 
 amended to direct that he shall be removed 
 ;o the place from whence he came. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Brown an amendment 
 was adopted providing that the mark of a 
 Chinese immigrant, duly attested by a 
 witness, may be taken as his signature 
 upon the certificate of resignation or regis 
 tration issued to him. 
 
 The question then recurred on the 
 amendment offered by Mr. Farley that 
 hereafter no State Court or United States 
 Court shall admit Chinese to citizenship. 
 
 Mr. Hawley, of Conn., on the following 
 day spoke against what he denounced as 
 " a bill of iniquities." 
 
 On the 9th of March what proved a long 
 and interesting debate was closed, the 
 leading speech being made by Senator 
 Jones (Rep.) of Nevada, in favor of the 
 bil!. After showing the disastrous effects 
 of the influx of the Chinese upon the Pa 
 cific coast and answering some of the argu 
 ments of the opponents of restriction, Mr. 
 Jones said that he had noticed that most 
 of those favoring Chinese immigration 
 were advocates of a high tariff to protect 
 American labor. But, judging from indi 
 cations, it is not the American laborer, but 
 the lordly manufacturing capitalist who is 
 to be protected as against the European 
 capitalist, and who is to sell everything he 
 has to sell in an American market, one in 
 which other capitalists cannot compete 
 with him, while he buys that which he has 
 to buy the labor of men in the most 
 open market. He demands for the latter 
 free trade in its broadest sense, and would 
 have not only free trade in bringing in la 
 borers of our own race, but the Chinese, 
 the most skilful and cunning laborers of 
 the world. The laborer, however, is to 
 buy from his capitalist master in a protec 
 tive market, but that which he himself has 
 to sell, his labor, and which he must sell 
 every day (for he cannot wait, like the 
 capitalist, for better times or travel here 
 and there to dispose of it), he must sell in 
 the openest market of the world. When 
 the artisans of this country shall be made 
 to understand that the market in which 
 they sell the only thing they have to sell 
 is an open one they will demand, as one of 
 the conditions of their existence, that they 
 shall have an open market in which to buy 
 what they want. As the Senator from 
 Massachusetts (Mr. Dawes) said he wanted 
 the people to know that the bill was a blow 
 struck at labor, Mr. Jones said he reitera 
 ted the assertion with the qualification 
 that it was not a blow at our own, but at 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 
 
 293 
 
 underpaid pauper labor. That cheap labor 
 produces national wealth is a fallacy, as 
 shown by the home condition of the 350,- 
 000,000 of Chinamen. 
 
 " Was the bringing of the little brown 
 man a sort of counter balance to the trades 
 unions of this country? If he may be 
 brought here, why may not the products 
 of his toil come in ? Now, when the la 
 borer is allowed to get that share from his 
 labor that civilization has decided he shall 
 have, the little brown man is introduced. 
 He (Mr. Jones) believed in protection, 
 and had no prejudice against the capital 
 ist, but he would have capital and labor 
 equally protected. Enlarging upon the 
 consideration that the intelligence or crea 
 tive genius of a country in overcoming ob 
 stacles, not 'its material resources, consti 
 tutes its wealth, and that the low wages of 
 the Chinese, while benefiting individual 
 employers, 'would ultimately impoverish 
 the country by removing the stimulant to 
 create labor-saving machinery and like in 
 ventions. Mr. Jones spoke of what he 
 called the dearth of intellectual activity in 
 the South in every department but one, 
 that of politics. 
 
 " This was because of the presence of a 
 servile race there. The absence of South 
 ern names in the Patent Office is an illus 
 tration. We would not welcome the 
 Africans here. Their presence was not a 
 blessing to us, but an impediment in our 
 way. The relations of the white and 
 colored races of the South were now no 
 nearer adjustment than they were years 
 ago. He would prophesy that the African 
 race would never be permitted to dominate 
 any State of the South. The experiment 
 to that end had been a dismal failure, and 
 a failure not because we have not tried to 
 make it succeed, but because laws away 
 above human laws have placed the one 
 race superior to and far above the other. 
 The votes of the ignorant class might pre 
 ponderate, but intellect, not 'numbers, is 
 the superior force in this world. We 
 clothed the African in the Union blue and 
 the belief that he was one day to be free 
 was the candle-light in his soul, but it is 
 one thing to aspire to be free and another 
 thing to have the intelligence and sterling 
 qualities of character that can maintain 
 tree government. Mr. Jones here ex 
 pressed his belief that, if left alone to main 
 tain a government, the negro would gradu 
 ally retrograde and go back to the methods 
 of his ancestors. This, he added, may be 
 hereby, but I believe it to be the truth. If, 
 when the first shipload of African slaves 
 came to this country the belief had spread 
 that they would be the came of political 
 agitation, a civil war, and the future had 
 been foreseen, would they have been al 
 lowed to land? 
 
 How much of this country would now 
 
 1 be worth preserving if the North had been 
 I covered by Africans as is South Carolina 
 to-day, in view of their non-assimilative 
 character? The wisest policy would have 
 been to exclude them at the outset. So 
 we say of the Chinese to-day, he exclaim 
 ed, and for greater reason, because their 
 skill makes them more formidable compe 
 titors than the negro. Subtle and adept 
 in manipulation, the Chinaman can be 
 put into almost any kind of a factory. His 
 race is as obnoxious to us and as impossi 
 ble for us to assimilate with as was the 
 negro race. His race has outlived every 
 other because it is homogeneous, and for 
 that reason alone. It has imposed its re 
 ligion and peculiarities upon its conquer 
 ors and still lived. If the immigration is 
 not checked now, when it is within man 
 ageable limits, it will be too late to check 
 it. What do we find in the condition of 
 the Indian or the African to induce us to 
 admit another race into our midst ? It is 
 because the Pacific coast favor our own 
 civilization, not that of another race, that 
 they discourage the coming of these peo 
 ple. They believe in the homogeneity of 
 our race, and that upon this depends the 
 progress of our institutions and everything 
 on which we build our hopes. 
 
 Mr. MORRILL, (Rep.) of Vt., said he ap 
 preciated the necessity of restricting Chi 
 nese immigration, but desired that the bill 
 should strictly conform to treaty require 
 ments and be so perfected that questions 
 arising under it might enable it to pass 
 the ordeal of judicial scrutiny. 
 
 Mr. SHERMAN, (Rep.) of Ohio, referring 
 to the passport system, said the bill adopt 
 ed some of the most offensive features of 
 European despotism. He was averse to 
 hot haste in applying a policy foreign to 
 the habits of our people, and regarded the 
 measure as too sweeping in many of its 
 provisions and as reversing our immigra 
 tion policy. 
 
 After remarks by Messrs. Ingalls, Far 
 ley, Maxey, Brown and Teller, the amend 
 ment of Mr. Farley, which provides that 
 hereafter no court shall admit Chinese to 
 citizenship, was adopted yeas 25, nays 22. 
 
 The following is the vote : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Bayard, Beck, Call, Cam 
 eron of Wisconsin, Cockrell, Coke, Fair, 
 Farley, Garland, George, Gorman, Harris, I 
 Jackson, Jonas, Jones of Nevada, Maxey, 
 Morgan, Pugh, Ransom, Slater, Teller, 
 Vance, Vest, Voorhees and Walker 25. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Aldrich, Allison, Blair, 
 Brown, Conger, Davis of Illinois, Dawes, 
 Edmunds, Frye, Hale, Hill of Colorado, 
 Hoar, Ingalls, Lapham, McDill, McMil 
 lan, Miller of New York, Mitchell, Mor- 
 rill, Plumb, Saunders and Sawyer 22. 
 
 Mr. Grover's amendment construing the 
 words " Chinese laborers," wherever used 
 in the act, to mean both skilled and un- 
 
294 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 skilled laborers and Chinese employed in 
 mining prevailed by the same vote yeas 
 25, nays 22. 
 
 Mr. BROWN, (Dein.) of Ga., moved to 
 strike out the requirement for the produc 
 tion of passports by the permitted classes 
 whenever demanded by the United States 
 authorities. Carried on a viva voce vote, 
 the Chair (Mr. Davis, of Illinois) creating 
 no little merriment by announcing, " The 
 nays are loud but there are not many of 
 them." 
 
 MR. INGALLS' AMENDMENT. 
 
 Upon the bill being reported to the Sen 
 ate from the Committee of the Whole Mr. 
 INGALLS again moved to limit the suspen 
 sion of the coming of Chinese laborers to 
 ten years. 
 
 Mr. JONES, of Nevada, said this limit 
 would hardly have the effect of allaying 
 agitation on 'the subject as the discussion 
 would be resumed in two or three years, 
 and ten years, he feared, would not even 
 be a long enough period to enable Congress 
 intelligently to base upon it any future 
 policy. 
 
 Mr. MILLER, of California, also urged 
 that the shorter period would not measura 
 bly relieve the business interest of the 
 Pacific slope, inasmuch as the white immi 
 grants, who were so much desired, would 
 not come there if they believed the Chi 
 nese were to be again admitted in ten 
 years. Being interrupted by Mr. Hoar, 
 he asserted that that Senator and other 
 republican leaders, as also the last repub 
 lican nominee for President, had hereto 
 fore given the people of the Pacific slope 
 good reason to believe that they would se 
 cure to them the relief they sought by the 
 bill. 
 
 Mr. HOAR, (Kep.) of Mass., briefly re 
 plied. 
 
 The amendment was lost yeas 20 
 nays 21. 
 
 The vote is as follows : 
 YEAS Messrs. Aldrich, Allison, Blair 
 Brown, Conger, Davis of Illinois, Dawes 
 Edmunds, Frye, Hale, Hoar, Ingalls, Lap 
 ham, McDill, McMillan, Mahone, Morrill 
 Plumb, Sawyer and Teller 20. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Bayard, Beck, Call, Cam 
 eron of Wisconsin, Coke, Fair, Farley 
 Garland, George, Gorman, Jackson, Jonas 
 Jones of Nevada, Miller of California 
 Miller of New York, Morgan, Ransom 
 Slater, Vance, Voorhees and Walker 21 
 Messrs. Butler, Camden, McPherson 
 Johnston, Davis of West Virginia, Pendle 
 ton and Ransom were paired with Messrs 
 Hawley, Anthony, Sewell, Platt, Va 
 Wyck, Windom and Sherman. 
 
 Messrs. Hampton, Pugh, Vest, Rollin 
 and Jones of Florida were paired wit 
 absentees. 
 
 PASSAGE OF THE BILL. 
 
 The question recurred on the final pas- 
 age of the bill, and Mr. EDMUNDS closed 
 le debate. He would vote against the 
 ill as it now stood, because he believed it 
 ) be an infraction of good faith as pledged 
 y the last treaty ; because he believed it 
 njurious to the welfare of the people of 
 10 United States, and particularly the 
 eople on the Pacific coast, by preventing 
 be development of our great trade with 
 
 The vote was then taken and the bill 
 ras passed yeas 29, nays 15. 
 
 The following is the vote in detail : 
 
 YEAS Messrs. Bayard, Beck, Call, Cam- 
 ron of Wisconsin, Cockrell, Coke, Fair, 
 Barley, Garland, George, Gorman, Hale, 
 Harris, Hill of Colorado, Jackson, Jonas, 
 'ones of Nevada, Miller of California, 
 liller of New York, Morgan, Pugh, Ran- 
 om, Sawyer, Teller, Vance, Vest, Voor- 
 hees and Walker 29. 
 
 NAYS Messrs. Aldrich, Allison, Blair, 
 Brown, Conger, Davis of Illinois, Dawes, 
 Edmunds, Frye, Hoar, Ingalls, Lapham, 
 McDill, McMillan and Morrill 15. 
 
 Pairs were announced of Messrs. Cam- 
 den, Davis of West Virginia, Grover, 
 lampton, Butler, McPherson, Johnston, 
 Jones of Florida and Pendleton in favor 
 f the bill, with Messrs. Anthony, Win 
 dom, Van Wyck, Mitchell, Hawley, Sewell, 
 Platt, Rollins and Sherman against it. 
 
 Mr. FRYE, (Rep.) of Me., in casting his 
 vote, stated that he was paired with Mr. 
 Hill, of Georgia, on all political questions, 
 but that he did not consider this a politi 
 cal question, and besides, had express per 
 mission from Senator Hill to vote upon it. 
 
 Mr. MITCHELL, (Rep.) of Pa., in an 
 nouncing his pair with Mr. Hampton 
 stated that had it not been for that fact he 
 would vote against the bill, regarding it as 
 un-American and inconsistent with the 
 principles which had obtained in the gov 
 ernment. 
 
 The title of the bill was amended so as 
 to read, " An act to execute certain treaty 
 stipulations relating to Chinese," though 
 Mr. Hoar suggested that " execute " ought 
 to be stricken out and " violate " inserted. 
 
 The Senate then, at twenty minutes to 
 six, adjourned until to-morrow. 
 
 PROVISIONS OF THE BILL. 
 
 The Chinese Immigration bill as passed 
 provides that from and after the expiration 
 of ninety days after the passage of this act 
 and until the expiration of twenty years 
 after its passage the coming of Chinese la 
 borers to the United States shall be sus 
 pended, and prescribes a penalty of im 
 prisonment not exceeding one year and a 
 fine of not more than $500 against the 
 master of any vessel who brings any Chi 
 nese laborer to this country during that 
 
THE CHINESE QUESTION. 
 
 295 
 
 period. It further provides that the classes 
 of Chinese excepted by the treaty from 
 such prohibition such as merchants, teach 
 ers, students, travelers, diplomatic agents 
 and Chinese laborers who were in the Uni 
 ted States on the 17th of November, 1880 
 shall be required, as a condition for their 
 admission, to procure passports from the 
 government of China personally identify 
 ing them and showing that they individ 
 ually belong to one of the permitted classes, 
 which passports must have been indorsed 
 by the diplomatic representative of the 
 United States in China or by the United 
 States Consul at the port of departure. It 
 also provides elaborate machinery for car 
 rying out the purposes of the act, and ad 
 ditional sections prohibit the admission of 
 Chinese to citizenship by any United States 
 or State court and construes the words 
 " Chinese laborers " to mean both skilled 
 and unskilled laborers and Chinese em 
 ployed in mining. 
 
 The sentiment in favor of the passage of 
 this bill has certainly greatly increased 
 since the control of the issue has passed to 
 abler hands than those of Kearney and 
 Kalloch, whose conduct intensified the 
 opposition of the East to the measure, 
 which in 1879 was denounced as " violat 
 ing the conscience of the nation.*' Mr. 
 Elaine's advocacy of the first bill limiting 
 emigrants to fifteen on each vessel, at the 
 time excited much criticism in the Eastern 
 states, and was there a potent weapon 
 against him in the nominating struggle for 
 the Presidency in 1880 ; but on the other 
 hand it is believed that it gave him 
 strength in the Pacific States. 
 
 Chinese immigration and the attempt to 
 restrict it presents a question of the gra 
 vest importance, and was treated as such 
 in the Senate debate. The friends of the 
 bill, under the leadership of Senators Mil 
 ler and Jones, certainly stood in a better 
 and stronger attitude than ever before. 
 
 The anti-Chinese bill passed the House 
 just as it came from the Senate, after a 
 somewhat exended debate, on the 23d of 
 March, 1882. Yeas 167, nays 65, (party 
 lines not being drawn) as follows : 
 
 Yeas Messrs. Aikin, Aldrich, Armfield, 
 Atkins, Bayne, Belford, Belmont, Berry, 
 Bhigham, Blackburn, Blanchard, Bliss, 
 Blount, Brewer, Brumm, Buckner, Burrows, 
 of Missouri; Butter worth, Cabell, Cald- 
 well, Calkins, Campbell, Cannon, Casser- 
 ley, Caswell, Chalmers, Chapman, Clark, 
 Clements, Cobb, Converse, Cook, Cornell, 
 Cox, of New York ; Cox, of North Caro 
 lina ; Covington, Cravens, Culbertson, Cur- 
 tin, Darrell, Davidson; Davis, of Illinois; 
 Davis, of Missouri ; Demotte, Deuster, 
 Dezendorf, Dibble, Dibrell, Dowd, Dugro, 
 Ermentrout, Errett, Farwell, of Illinois; 
 Finley, Flowers, Ford, Forney, Fulkerson, 
 Garrison, Geddes, George, Gibson, Guen- 
 
 ther, Gunter, Hammond, of Georgia ; Har 
 dy, Harmer, Harris, of New Jersey ; Hasel- 
 tine, Hatch, Hazelton, Heilman, Herndon, 
 Hewitt, of New York; Hill, Hiscock, 
 Hoblitzell, Hoge, Hollman, Horr, Houk, 
 House, Hubbell, Hubbs, Hutchins, Jones, 
 of Texas ; Jones, of Arkansas ; Jorgenson, 
 Kenna, King, Klotz, Knott, Ladd, Lee- 
 dom, Lewis, Marsh, Martin, Matson, Mc- 
 Clure, McCook, MeKenzie, McKinley, Mc- 
 Lane, McMillan, Miller, Mills, of Texas ; 
 Money, Morey, Moulton, Murch, Mutchler, 
 O'Neill, Pacheco, Page, Paul, Payson, 
 Pealse, Phelps, Phister, Pound, Randall, 
 Reagan, Rice of Missouri, Richardson, 
 Robertson, Robinson, Rosecrans, Scran- 
 ton, Shallenberger, Sherwin, Simonton, 
 Singleton, of Mississippi, Smith of Penn 
 sylvania, Smith of Illinois, Smith of New 
 York, Sparks, Spaulding, Spear, Springer, 
 Stockslager, Strait, Talbott, Thomas, 
 Thompson of Kentucky, Tillman, Town- 
 send of Ohio, Townsend of Illinois, Tucker, 
 Turner of Georgia, Turner of Kentucky, 
 Updegraff, of Ohio, Upson, Valentine, 
 Vance, Van Horn, Warner, Washburne, 
 Webber, Welborn, Whitthorne, Williams 
 of Alabama, Willis, Willetts, Wilson, Wise 
 of Pennsylvania, Wise of Virginia, and W. 
 A. Wood of New York 167. 
 
 The nays were Messrs. Anderson, Barr, 
 Bragg, Briggs, Brown, Buck, Camp, Cand- 
 ler, Carpenter, Chase, Crapo,Cullen, Dawes, 
 Deering, Dingley, Dunn ell, D wight, Far- 
 well of Iowa, Grant, Hall, Hammond, of 
 New York, Hardenburgh, Harris, of Mas 
 sachusetts, Haskell, Hawk, Henderson, 
 Hepburn, Hooker, Humphrey, Jacobs, 
 Jones of New Jersey, Joyce, Kasson, 
 Ketchum, Lord, McCoid, Morse, Norcross, 
 Orth, Parker, Ramsey, Rice of Ohio, Rice 
 of Massachusetts, Rich, Richardson of New 
 York, Ritchie, Robinson of Massachusetts, 
 Russel, Ryan, Shultz, Skinner, Scooner, 
 Stone, Taylor, Thompson of Iowa, Tyler, 
 Updegraff of Iowa, Urner, Wadsworth, 
 Wait, Walker, Ward, Watson, White and 
 Williams of Wisconsin 65. 
 
 In the House the debate was partici 
 pated in by Messrs. Richardson, of South 
 Carolina ; Wise and Brumm, of Pennsylva 
 nia; Joyce, of Vermont; Dunnell, of Min 
 nesota ; Orth, of Indiana ; Sherwin, of Illi 
 nois ; Hazelton, of Wisconsin; Pacheco, of 
 California, and Townsend, of Illinois, and 
 others. An amendment offered by Mr. 
 Butterworth, of Ohio, reducing the period 
 of suspension to fifteen years, was rejected. 
 Messrs. Robinson, of Massachusetts ; Cur- 
 tin, of Pennsylvania, and Cannon, of Illi 
 nois, spoke upon the bill, the tAvo latter sup 
 porting it. The speech of Ex-Governor 
 Curtin was strong and attracted much at 
 tention. Mr. Page closed the debate in 
 favor of the measure. An amendment of 
 fered by Mr. Kasson, of Iowa, reducing the 
 time of suspension to ten years, was re- 
 
296 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 jected yeas 100, nays 131 and the bill 
 was passed exactly as it came from the 
 Senate by a vote o: 167 to 65. The House 
 then adjourned. 
 
 Our Merchant Marine. 
 
 An important current issue is the increase 
 of the Navy and the improvement of the 
 Merchant Marine, and to these questions 
 the National Administration has latterly 
 given attention. The New York Herald 
 has given much editorial ability and re 
 search to the advocacy of an immediate 
 change for the better in these respects, and 
 in its issue of March 10th, 1882, gave the 
 proceedings of an important meeting of the 
 members of the United States Naval Insti 
 tute held at Annapolis the day before, on 
 which occasion a prize essay on the subject 
 " Our Merchant Marine ; the Cause of its 
 Decline and the Means to be Taken for its 
 Revival," was read. The subject was cho 
 sen nearly a year ago, because it was the 
 belief of the members of the institute that 
 a navy cannot exist without a merchant 
 marine. The naval institute was organized 
 in 1873 for the advancement of profession 
 al and scientific knowledge in the navy. It 
 has on its roll 500 members, principally 
 naval officers, and its proceedings are pub 
 lished quarterly. Bear Admiral C. R. P. 
 Rodgers is president ; Captain J. M. Ram- 
 gay, vice president ; Lieutenant Command 
 er C. M. Thomas, secretary; Lieutenant 
 Murdock, corresponding secretary, and 
 Paymaster R. W. Allen, treasurer. There 
 were eleven competitors for the prize, Avhich 
 is of $100, and a gold medal valued at $50. 
 The judges were Messrs. Hamilton Fish, 
 A. A. Low and J. D. Jones. They awarded 
 the prize to Lieutenant J. D. J. Kelley, U. 
 S. N., whose motto was "Nil Clarius 
 ^Equore," and designated Master C. T. Cal 
 kins, U. S. N., whose motto was " Mais il 
 faut cultiver notre jardin " as next in the 
 order of merit, and further mentioned the 
 essays of Lieutenant R. Wainwright, Uni 
 ted States Navy, whose motto was " Causa 
 latet, vis est notissima," and Lieutenant 
 Commander J. E. Chadwick, United States 
 Navy, whose motto was " Spes Meliora," 
 as worthy of honorable mention, without 
 being entirely agreed as to their compara 
 tive merits. 
 
 STRIKING PASSAGES FROM THE PRIZE 
 
 ESSAY. 
 
 From Lieut. Kelley's prize essay many 
 valuable facts can be gathered, and such of 
 these as contain information of permanent 
 value we quote : 
 
 " So far as commerce influences this 
 country has a vital interest in the carrying 
 trade, let theorists befog the cool air as they 
 may. Every dollar paid for freight im 
 ported or exported in American vessels ac 
 
 crues to American labor and capital, and 
 the enterprise is as much a productive in 
 dustry as the raising of wheat, the spinning 
 of fibre or the smelting of ore. Had the 
 acquired, the 'full' trade of 1860 been 
 maintained without increase $80,000,000 
 would have been added last year to the na 
 tional wealth, and the loss from diverted 
 shipbuilding would have swelled the sum 
 to a total of $100,000,000. 
 
 " Our surplus products must find foreign 
 markets, and to retain them ships controlled 
 by and employed in exclusively American 
 interests are essential instrumentalities. 
 Whatever tends to stimulate competition 
 and to prevent combination benefits the 
 producer, and as the prices abroad estab 
 lish values here, the barter we obtain for 
 the despised one-tenth of exports $665,- 
 000,0t)0 in 1880 determines the profit or 
 loss of the remainder in the home market. 
 During the last fiscal year 11,500,000 gross 
 tons of grain, oil, cotton, tobacco, precious 
 metals, &c., were exported from the United 
 States, and this exportation increases at the 
 rate of 1,500,000 tons annually; 3,800,000 
 tons of goods are imported, or in all about 
 15,000,000 tons constitute the existing com 
 merce of this country. 
 
 " If only one-half of the business of car 
 rying our enormous wealth of surplus pro 
 ducts could be secured for American ships, 
 our tonnage would be instantly doubled, 
 and we would have a greater fleet engaged 
 in a foreign trade, legitimately our own, 
 than Great Britain has to-day. The United 
 States makes to the ocean carrying-trade 
 its most valuable contribution, no other 
 nation giving to commerce so many bulky 
 tons of commodities to be transported those 
 long voyages which in every age have 
 been so eagerly coveted by marine peoples. 
 Of the 17,000 ships which enter and clear 
 at American ports every year, 4,600 seek a 
 cargo empty and but 2,000 sail without ob 
 taining it. 
 
 " Ships are profitable abroad and can be 
 made profitable here, and in truth during 
 the last thirty years no other branch of 
 industry has made such progress as the 
 carrying trade. To establish this there are 
 four points of comparison commerce, rail 
 ways, shipping tonnage and carrying power 
 of the world, limited to the years between 
 1850 and 1880: 
 
 Increase 
 
 Per 
 
 Cent. 
 
 1850. 1880. 
 Commmerce of all na 
 tions $4.280,000,000 814,405,000,000 240 
 
 Railways (miles open) 44,400 222,>0 308 
 
 Shipping tonnage 6,9(t5,000 18,720,000 171 
 
 Carrying tonnage 8,464,000 34,280.000 304 
 
 " In 1850, therefore, for every $5,000,000 
 of international commerce there were fifty- 
 four miles of railway and a maritime car 
 rying power of 9,900 tons ; and in 1880 the 
 respective ratios had risen to seventy -seven 
 
OUR MERCHANT MARINE. 
 
 297 
 
 miles and 12,000 tons"; this has saved one- 
 fourth freight and brought producer and 
 consumers into such contact that we no 
 longer hear " of the earth's products being 
 wasted, of wheat rotting in La Mancha, 
 wool being used to mend wads and sheep 
 being burned for fuel in the Argentine 
 Republic." England has mainly profited by 
 this enormous development, the shipping 
 of the United Kingdom earning $300,000,- 
 000 yearly, and employing 200,000 seamen, 
 whose industry is therefore equivalent to 
 300 per man, as compared with 190 for 
 each of the factory operatives. The 
 freight earned by all flags for sea-borne 
 merchandise is $500,000,00, or about 8 per 
 cent, of the value transported. Hence the 
 toll which all nations pay to England for 
 the carrying trade is equal to 4 per cent 
 (nearly) ot the exported values of the 
 earth's products and manufactures; and 
 pessimists who declare that ship owners 
 are losing money or making small profits 
 must be wrong, for the merchant marine is 
 expanding every year. 
 
 " The maximum tonnage of this country 
 at any time registered in the foreign trade 
 was in 1861, and then amounted to 5,539,- 
 813 tons ; Great Britain in the same year 
 owning 5,895,369 tons, and all the other 
 nations 5,800,767 tons. Between 1855 and 
 1860 over 1,300,000 American tons in ex 
 cess of the country's needs were employed 
 by foreigners in trades with which we had 
 no legitimate connection save as carriers. 
 In 1851 our registered steamships had 
 grown from the 16,000 tons of 1848 to 63,- 
 920 tons almost equal to the 65,920 tons 
 of England, and in 1855 this had increased 
 to 115,000 tons and reached a maximum, 
 for in 1862 we had 1,000 tons less. In 
 1855 we built 388 vessels, in 1856 306 ves 
 sels and in 1880 26 vessels all for the 
 foreign trade. The total tonnage which 
 entered our ports in 1856 from abroad 
 amounted to 4,464,038, of which American 
 built ships constituted 3,194,375 tons, and 
 all others but 1,259,762 tons. In 1880 
 there entered from abroad 15,240,534 tons, 
 of which 3,128,374 tons were American and 
 12,112,000 were foreign that is, in a ratio 
 of seventy-five to twenty-five, or actually 
 65,901 tons less than when we were twenty- 
 four years younger as a nation. The grain 
 fleet sailing last year from the port of New 
 York numbered 2,897 vessels, of which 
 1,822 were sailing vessels carrying 59,822,- 
 033 bushels, and 1,075 were steamers laden 
 with 42,426,533 bushels, and among all 
 these there were but seventy-four Ameri 
 can sailing vessels and not one American 
 steamer. 
 
 " While this poison of decay has been 
 eating into our vitals the possibilities of 
 the country in nearly every other industry 
 have reached a plane of development be 
 yond the dreams of the most enthusiastic 
 
 theorizers. We have spread out in every 
 direction and the promise of the future 
 beggars imaginations attuned even to the 
 key of our present and past development. 
 We have a timber area of 560,000,000 acres, 
 and across our Canadian border there are 
 900,000,000 more acres ; in coal and iron 
 production we are approaching the Old 
 World. 
 
 1842. 1879. 
 
 Coal Tons. Tons. 
 
 Great Britain... 35,000,000 135,000,000 
 United States... 2,000,000 60,000,000 
 
 Iron 
 
 Great Britain... 2,250,000 6,300,000 
 United States... 564,000 2,742,000 
 
 During these thirty-seven years the 
 relative increase has been in coal 300 
 to 2,900 per cent., in iron 200 to 400 per 
 cent., and all in our favor. But this is 
 not enough, for England, with a coal area 
 less than either Pennsylvania or Kentucky, 
 has coaling stations in every part of the 
 world and our steamers cannot reach our 
 California ports without the consent of the 
 English producers. Even if electricity 
 takes the place of steam it must be many 
 years before the coal demand will cease, 
 and to-day, of the 36,000,000 tons of coal 
 required by the steamers of the world, 
 three-fourths of it is obtained from Great 
 Britain. 
 
 " It is unnecessary to wire-draw statis 
 tics, but it may, as a last word, be interest 
 ing to show, with all our development, the 
 nationality and increase of tonnage enter 
 ing our ports since 1856 : 
 
 Country. Increase. Decrease. 
 
 England 6,977,163 
 
 Germany 922,903 
 
 Norway and Sweden.. .1,214,008 
 
 Italy 596,907 
 
 France 208,412 
 
 Spain 164,683 
 
 Austria 226,277 - 
 
 Belgium 204,872 
 
 Russia 104,009 
 
 United States 65,901 
 
 " This," writes Lindsay, " is surely not 
 decadence, but defeat in a far nobler con 
 flict than the wars for maritime supremacy 
 between Rome and Carthage, consisting as 
 it did in the struggle between the skill and 
 industry of the people of two great na 
 tions." 
 
 We have thus quoted the facts gathered 
 from a source which has been endorsed by 
 the higher naval authorities. Some reader 
 will probably ask, "What relation have 
 these facts to American politics?" We 
 answer that the remedies proposed consti 
 tute political questions on which the great 
 parties are very apt to divide. They have 
 thus divided in the past, and parties have 
 turned " about face " on similar questions. 
 
298 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Just now the Democratic party inclines to 
 "free ships" and hostility to subsidies 
 while the Republican party as a rule favors 
 subsidies. Lieutenant Kelley summarized 
 his proposed remedies in the two words: 
 " free ships." 
 
 Mr. Elaine would solve the problem by 
 bounties, for this purpose enacting a gene 
 ral law that should ignore individuals and 
 enforce a policy. His scheme provides 
 that any man or company of men who will 
 build in an American yard, with American 
 material, by American mechanics, a steam 
 ship of 3,000 tons and sail her from any 
 port of the United States to any foreign 
 port, he or they shall receive for a monthly 
 line a mail allowance of $25 per mile per 
 annum for the sailing distance between the 
 two ports ; for a semi-monthly line $45 per 
 mile, and for a weekly line $75 per mile. 
 Should the steamer exceed three thousand 
 tons, a small advance on these rates might 
 be allowed ; if less, a corresponding reduc 
 tion, keeping three thousand as the average 
 and standard. Other reformers propose a 
 bounty to be given by the Government to 
 the shipbuilder, so as to make the price of 
 an American vessel the same as that of a 
 foreign bought, equal, but presumably 
 cheaper, ship. 
 
 Mr. Elaine represents the growing Re 
 publican view, but the actual party views 
 can only be ascertained when bills cover 
 ing the subject come up for considera 
 tion. 
 
 Current Politics. 
 
 We shall close this written history of the 
 political parties of the United States by a 
 brief statement of the present condition of 
 affairs, as generally remarked by our own 
 people, and by quoting the views of an in 
 teresting cotemporaneous English writer. 
 
 President Arthur's administration has 
 had many difficulties to contend with. The 
 President himself is the legal successor of 
 a beloved man, cruelly assassinated, whose 
 well-rounded character and high abilities 
 had won the respect even of those who de 
 famed him in the heat of controversy, while 
 they excited the highest admiration of those 
 who shared his political views and thoughts. 
 Stricken down before he had time to for 
 mulate a policy, if it was ever his intention 
 to do so, he yet showed a proper apprecia 
 tion of his high responsibilities, and had 
 from the start won the kindly attention of 
 the country. Gifted with the power of say 
 ing just the right thing at the right mo 
 ment, and saying it with all the grace and 
 beauty of oratory, no President was better 
 calculated to make friends as he moved 
 along, than Garfield. The manifestations 
 of factional feeling which immediately 
 preceded his assassination, but which can 
 not for a moment be intelligently traced to 
 
 that cause, made the path of his successor 
 tar more difficult than if he had been called 
 to the succession by the operation of natu 
 ral causes. That he has met these difficul 
 ties with rare discretion, all admit, and 
 at this writing partisan interest and dislike 
 are content to "abide a' wee" before be 
 ginning an assault. He has sought no 
 changes in the Cabinet, and thus through 
 personal and political considerations seems 
 for the time to have surrendered a Presi 
 dential prerogative freely admitted by all 
 who understand the wisdom of permitting 
 an executive officer to seek the advice of 
 friends of his own selection. Mr. Elaine 
 and Mr. MacVeagh, among the ablest of 
 the late President's Cabinet, were among 
 the most emphatic in insisting upon the 
 earliest possible exercise of this preroga 
 tive the latter upon its immediate exer 
 cise. Yet it has been withheld in several 
 particulars, and the Arthur administration 
 has sought to unite, wherever divided (and 
 now divisions are rare), the party which 
 called it into existence, while at the same 
 time it has by careful management sought 
 to check party strife at least for a time, and 
 devoted its attention to the advancement 
 of the material interests of the country. 
 Appointments are fairly distributed among 
 party friends, not divided as between fac 
 tions; for such a division systematically 
 made would disrupt any party. It would 
 prove but an incentive to faction for the 
 sake of a division of the spoils. No force 
 of politics is or ought to be better under 
 stood in America than manufactured disa 
 greements with the view to profitable com 
 promises. Fitness, recognized ability, and 
 adequate political service seem to consti 
 tute the reasons for Executive appointments 
 at this time. 
 
 The Democratic party, better equipped 
 in the National Legisture than it has been 
 for years with men like Hill, Bayard, Pen- 
 dleton, Brown, Voorhees, Lamar and Gar 
 land in the Senate Stephens, Randall, 
 Hewitt, Cox, Johnson in tne House with 
 Tilden, Thurman, Wallace and Hancock 
 in the background is led with rare abi 
 lity, and has the advantage of escaping re 
 sponsibilities incident to a majority party. 
 It has been observed that this party is pur 
 suing the traditional strategy of minorities 
 in our Republic. It has partially refused 
 a further test on the tariff issue, and is 
 seeking a place in advance of the Republi 
 cans on refunding questions both popular 
 measures, as shown in all recent elections. 
 It claims the virtue of sympathy with the 
 Mormons by questioning the propriety of 
 legal assaults upon the liberty of con 
 science, while not openly recording itself as 
 a defender of the crime of polygamy. As 
 a solid minority it has at least in the Se 
 nate yielded to the appeal of the States on 
 the Pacific slope, and favored the abridg- 
 
CURRENT POLITICS. 
 
 299 
 
 ment of Chinese immigration. On this 
 question, however, the Western Republi 
 can Senators as a rule were equally active 
 in support of the Miller Bill, so that what 
 ever the result, the issue can no longer be 
 a political one in the Pacific States. The 
 respectable support which the measure has 
 latterly received has cast out of the strug 
 gle the Kearneys and Kallochs, and if 
 Uhere be demagoguery on either side, it 
 comes in better dress than ever before. 
 
 Doubtless the parties will contest their 
 claims to public support on their respective 
 histories yet a while longer. Party history 
 has served partisan purposes an average 
 of twenty years, when with that history 
 recollections of wars are interwoven, and 
 the last war having been the greatest in 
 our history, the presumption is allowable 
 that it will be freely quoted so long as sec 
 tional or other forms of distrust are ob 
 servable any where. When these recollec 
 tions fail, new issues will have to be sought 
 or accepted. In the mere search for issues 
 the minority ought always to be the most 
 active ; but their wise appropriation, after 
 all, depends upon the wisdom and ability 
 of leadership. It has ever been thus, and 
 ever will be. This is about the only poli 
 tical prophecy the writer is willing to risk 
 and in risking this he but presents a 
 view common to all Americans who claim 
 to be " posted " in the politics of their 
 country. 
 
 What politicians abroad think of our 
 "situation" is well told, though not always 
 accurately, by a distinguished writer in the 
 January (1882) number of " The London 
 Quarterly Review." From this we quote 
 some very attractive paragraphs, and at 
 the same time escape the necessity of de 
 scriptions and predictions generallv be 
 lieved to be essential in rounding off a po 
 litical volume, but which are always dan 
 gerous in treating of current affairs. Speak 
 ing of the conduct of both parties on the 
 question of Civil Service Reform, the writer 
 says: 
 
 " What have they done to overthrow the 
 celebrated Jacksonian precept ; * to the 
 victors belongs the spoils ? ' What, in fact, 
 is it possible for them to do under the 
 present system? The political laborer 
 hold? that he is worthy of his hire, and if 
 nothing is given to him, nothing will he 
 give in return. There are tens of thou 
 sands of offices at the bestowal of every 
 administration, and the persons who have 
 helped to bring that administration into 
 power expect to receive them. ' In Great 
 Britain," once remarked the American 
 paper which enjoys the largest circulation 
 in the country, ' the ruling classes have it 
 all to themselves, and the poor man rarely 
 or never gets a nibble at the public crib. 
 Here we take our turn. We know that, 
 if our political rivals have the opportunity 
 
 to-day, we shall have it to-morrow. This 
 is the philosophy of the whole thing com 
 pressed into a nutshell.' If President 
 Arthur were to begin to-day to distribute 
 offices to men who were most worthy to 
 receive them, without reference to politi 
 cal services, his own party would rebel, 
 and assuredly his path would not be 
 strewn with roses. He was himself a vic 
 tim of a gross injustice perpetrated under 
 the name of reform. He filled the impor 
 tant post of Collector of the Port of New 
 York, and filled it to the entire satisfaction 
 of the mercantile community. President 
 Hayes did not consider General Arthur 
 sufficiently devoted to his interests, and he 
 removed him in favor of a confirmed wire 
 puller and caucus-monger, and the admin 
 istration papers had the address to repre 
 sent this as the outcome of an honest effort 
 to reform the Civil Service. No one 
 really supposed that the New York Cus 
 tom House was less a political engine than 
 it had been before. The rule of General 
 Arthur had been, in point of fact, singu 
 larly free from jobbery and corruption, and 
 not a breath of suspicion was ever attached 
 to his personal character. If he had been 
 less faithful in the discharge of his difficult 
 duties, he would have made fewer enemies. 
 He discovered several gross cases of fraud 
 upon the revenue, and brought the perpe 
 trators to justice ; but the culprits were not 
 without influence in the press, and they 
 contrived to make the worse appear the 
 better cause. Their view was taken at 
 second-hand by many of the English jour 
 nals, and even recently the public here 
 were gravely assured that General Arthur 
 represented all that was base in American 
 politics, and moreover that he was an 
 enemy of England, for he had been elected 
 by the Irish vote. The authors of these 
 foolish calumnies did not perceive that, if 
 their statements had been correct, General 
 Garfield, whom they so much honored, 
 must also have been elected by the Irish 
 vote ; for he came to power on the very 
 same ' ticket/ In reality, the Irish vote 
 may be able to accomplish many things in 
 America, but we may safely predict that it 
 will never elect a President. General 
 Arthur had not been many weeks in power, 
 before he was enabled to give a remarkable 
 proof of the injustice that had been done 
 to him in this particular respect. The 
 salute of the English flag at Yorktown is 
 one of the most graceful incidents recorded 
 in American history, and the order origi 
 nated solely with the President. A man 
 with higher character or, it may be added, 
 of greater accomplishments and fitness for 
 his office, never sat in the Presidential 
 chair. His first appointments are now ad 
 mitted to be better than those which were 
 made by his predecessor for the same posts. 
 Senator Frelinghuysen, the new Secretary 
 
300 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 of State, or Foreign Secretary, is a man of 
 great ability, of most excellent judgment, 
 and of the highest personal character. He 
 stands far beyond the reach of all un 
 worthy influences. Mr. Folger, the Secre 
 tary of the Treasury, possesses the confi 
 dence of the entire country, and the 
 nomination of the new Attorney-General 
 was received with universal satisfaction. 
 All this little accords with the dark and 
 forbidding descriptions of President Arthur 
 which were placed before the public here 
 on his accession to office. It is surely time 
 that English writers became alive to the 
 danger of accepting without question the 
 distorted views which they find ready to 
 their hands in the most bigoted or most 
 malicious of American journals. 
 
 "Democrats and Republicans, then, alike 
 profess to be in favor of a thorough reform 
 in the Civil Service, and at the present 
 moment there is no other very prominent 
 question which could be used as a test for 
 the admission of members into either 
 party. The old issue, which no one could 
 possibly mistake, is gone. How much the 
 public really care for the new one, it would 
 be a difficult point to decide. A Civil Ser 
 vice system, such as that which we have in 
 England, would scarcely be suited to the 
 " poor man," who, as the New York paper 
 says, thinks he has a right occasionally to 
 ' get a nibble at the public crib.' If a man 
 has worked hard to bring his party into 
 power, he is apt, in the United States, to 
 think that he is entitled to some ' recogni 
 tion/ and neither he nor his friends would 
 be well pleased if they were told that, be 
 fore anything could be done for him, it 
 would be necessary to examine him in 
 modern languages and mathematics. More 
 over, a service such as that which exists in 
 England requires to be worked with a sys 
 tem of pensions ; and pensions, it is held 
 in America, are opposed to the Republican 
 idea.* If it were not for this objection, it 
 may be presumed that some provision 
 would have been made for more than one 
 of the ex-Presidents, whose circumstances 
 placed them or their families much in 
 need of it. President Monroe spent his 
 last years in wretched circumstances, and 
 died bankrupt. Mrs. Madison 'knew 
 what it was to want bread/ A negro ser 
 vant, who had once been a slave in the 
 family, used furtively to give her ' small 
 sums' they must have been very small 
 out of his own pocket. Mr. Pierce was, 
 we believe, not far removed from in- 
 
 * Enormous sums are, however, given to soldiers who 
 were wounded during the war, or who pretend that they 
 were for jobbery on an unheard of scale is practised in 
 connection with these pensions. It is estimated tbat 
 *120,< -00,000 (24 000,0001.) will have to be paid during the 
 present fiscal year, for arrears of pension, ami the num 
 ber of claimants is constantly increasing, [The writer 
 evidently got these "facts" from sensational sources.] 
 Am. Pol 
 
 digence ; and it has been stated that after 
 Andrew Johnson lei't the White House, 
 he was reduced to the necessity of follow 
 ing his old trade. General Grant was 
 much more fortunate; and we have re 
 cently seen that the American people have 
 subscribed for Mrs. Garfield a sum nearly 
 equal to 70,000. But a pension system 
 for Civil Servants is not likely to be 
 adopted. Permanence in office is another 
 principle which has found no favor with 
 the rank and file of either party in 
 America, although it has sometimes been 
 introduced into party platforms for the 
 saku of producing a good effect. The 
 plan of ' quick rotation ' is far more at 
 tractive to the popular sense. Divide the 
 spoils, and divide them often. It is true 
 that the public indignation is sometimes 
 aroused, when too eager and rapacious a 
 spirit is exhibited. Such a feeling was dis 
 played in 1873, in consequence of an Act 
 passed by Congress increasing the pay of 
 its own members and certain officers of the 
 Government. Each member of Congress 
 was to receive $7,500 a year, or 1,500. 
 The sum paid before that date, down to 
 1865, was $5000 a year, or 1000, and 
 'mileage' free added that is to say, 
 members were entitled to be paid twenty 
 cents a mile for traveling expenses to and 
 from Washington. This Bill soon became 
 known as the 'Salary Grab' Act, and 
 popular feeling against it was so great that 
 it \vas repealed in the following Session, 
 and the former pay was restored. As a 
 general rule, however, the ' spoils ' system 
 has not been heartily condemned by the 
 nation ; if it had been so condemned, it 
 must have fallen long ago. 
 
 " President Arthur has been admonished 
 by his English counsellors to take heed 
 that he follows closely in the steps of his 
 predecessor. General Garfield was not 
 long enough in office to give any decided 
 indications of the policy which he intend 
 ed to pursue ; but, so i'ar as he had gone, 
 impartial observers could detect very little 
 difference between his course of conduct in 
 regard to patronage and that of former 
 Presidents. He simply preferred the 
 friends of Mr. Elaine to the friends of Mr. 
 Conkling ; but Mr. Elaine is a politician of 
 precisely the same class as Mr. Conkling 
 both are men intimately versed in all the 
 intricacies of ' primaries,' the ' caucus,' and 
 the general working of the 'machine/ 
 They are precisely the kind of men which 
 American politics, as at present practised 
 and understood, are adapted to produce. 
 Mr. Conkling, however, is of more impe 
 rious a disposition than Mr. Elaine ; the 
 first disappointment or contradiction turns 
 him from a friend into an enemy. Presi 
 dent Garfield removed the Collector of 
 New York the most lucrative and most 
 coveted post in the entire Union and in- 
 
CURRENT POLITICS. 
 
 301 
 
 stead of nominating a friend of Mr. Conk- 
 ling's for the vacancy, he nominated a 
 friend of Mr. Elaine's. Now Mr. Conk- 
 ling had done much to secure New York 
 State for the Republicans, and thus gave 
 them the victory ; and he thought himself 
 entitled to better treatment than he re 
 ceived. But was it in the spirit of true re 
 form to remove the Collector, against 
 whom no complaint had been made, merely 
 for the purpose of creating a vacancy, and 
 then of putting a friend of Mr. Elaine's 
 into it a friend, moreover, who had been 
 largely instrumental in securing General 
 Garfield's own nomination at Chicago? * 
 Is this all that is meant, when the Reform 
 party talk of the great changes which they 
 desire to see carried out? Again, the new 
 President has been fairly warned by his 
 advisers in this country, that he must 
 abolish every abuse, new or old, connected 
 with the distribution of patronage. If he 
 is to execute this commission, not one term 
 of office, nor three terms, will be sufficient 
 for him. Over every appointment there 
 will inevitably arise a dispute ; if a totally 
 untried nlan is chosen, he will be suspected 
 as a wolf coming in sheep's clothing ; if a 
 well known partizan is nominated, he will 
 be denounced as a mere tool of the leaders, 
 and there will be another outcry against 
 * machine politics/ ' One party or other/ 
 said an American journal not long ago, 
 'must begin the work of administering 
 the Government on business principles,' 
 and the writer admitted that the work 
 would ' cost salt tears to many a politician.' 
 The honor of making this beginning has 
 not yet been sought for with remarkable 
 eagerness by either party ; but seems to be 
 deemed necessary to promise that some 
 thing shall be done, and the Democrats, 
 being out of power, are naturally in the 
 position to bid the highest. The reform 
 will come, as we have intimated, when the 
 people demand it ; it cannot come before, 
 for few, indeed, are the politicians in the 
 United States who venture to trust them 
 selves far in advance of public opinion. 
 And even of that few, there are some who 
 have found out, by hard experience, that 
 there is little honor or profit to be gained 
 by undertaking to act as pioneers. 
 
 " It is doubtless a step in advance, that 
 both parties now admit the absolute ne 
 cessity of devising measures to elevate the 
 character of the public service, to check 
 the progress of corruption, and to intro 
 duce a better class of men into the offices 
 which are held under the Government. 
 The necessity of great reforms in these re 
 spects has been avowed over and over 
 again by most of the leading journals and 
 influential men in the country. The most 
 
 * The undeniable facts of the case were as we have 
 briefly indicated above. See, for example, a letter to the 
 'New York Nation,' Nov. 3, 1881. 
 
 radical of the Republicans, and the most 
 conservative of the Democrats, are of one 
 mind on this point. Mr. Wendell Phil 
 lips, an old abolitionist and Radical, once 
 publicly declared that Republican govern 
 ment in cities had been a complete fail 
 ure.* An equally good Radical, the late 
 Mr. Horace Greeley, made the following 
 still more candid statement : ' There are 
 probably at no time less than twenty 
 thousand men in this city [New York] 
 who would readily commit a safe murder 
 for a hundred dollars, break open a house 
 for twenty, and take a false oath for five. 
 Most of these are of European birth, 
 though we have also native miscreants 
 who are ready for any crime that will pay.' f 
 Strong testimony against the working of 
 the suffrage and it must have been most 
 unwilling testimony was given in 1875 by 
 a politician whose long familiarity with 
 caucuses and ' wire-pulling ' in every form 
 renders him an undeniable authority. 
 Let it be widely proclaimed/ he wrote, 
 ' that the experience and teachings of a 
 republican form of government prove 
 nothing so alarmingly suggestive of and 
 pregnant with danger as that cheap suf 
 frage involves and entails cheap represen 
 tation. 'J Another Republican, of high 
 character, has stated that ' the methods of 
 politics have now become so repulsive, the 
 corruption so open, the intrigues and per 
 sonal hostilities are so shameless, that it 
 is very difficult to engage in them without 
 a sense of humiliation.' " \ 
 
 Passing to another question, and one 
 worthy of the most intelligent discussion, 
 but which has never yet taken the shape 
 of a political demand or issue in this 
 country, this English writer says : 
 
 "Although corruption has been suspect 
 ed at one time or other in almost every 
 Department of the Government, the Pres 
 idential office has hitherto been kept free 
 from its stain. And yet, by an anomaly of 
 the Constitution, the President has some 
 times been exposed to suspicion, and still 
 more frequently to injustice and misrepie- 
 sentation, in consequence of the practical 
 irresponsibility of his Cabinet officers. 
 They are his chief advisers in regard to the 
 distribution of places, as well as in the 
 higher affairs of State, and the discredit of 
 any mismanagement on their part falls 
 upon him. It is true that he chooses them, 
 and may dismiss them, with the concur 
 rence of the Senate ; but, when once ap 
 pointed, they are beyond reach of all effec 
 tive criticism for newspaper attacks are 
 easily explained by the suggestion of party 
 malice. They cannot be questioned in 
 
 * Speech in "N>w York, March 7. 1881. 
 
 i'New York Tribune,' Keb 5, 1870. 
 Letter in Nuw York papers, Feb. 20, 1875. 
 Mr. George \Villiaru Curtia, iu 'Harper's Magazine,' 
 0. 
 
302 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Congress, for they are absolutely pro 
 hibited from sitting in either House. 
 For months together it is quite possible 
 for the Cabinet to pursue a course which is 
 in direct opposition to the wishes of the 
 people. This was seen, among other oc 
 casions, in 1873-4, when Mr. Richardson 
 was Secretary of the Treasury, and at a 
 time when his management of the finances 
 caused great dissatisiaetion. At last a par 
 ticularly gross case of negligence, to use 
 no harsher word, known as the ' JSanborn 
 contracts,' caused his retirement ; that is 
 to say, the demand ior his withdrawal be 
 came so persistent and so general, that the 
 President could no longer refuse to listen 
 to it. His objectionable policy might have 
 been pursued till the end of the Presiden 
 tial term, but for the accidental discovery 
 of a scandal, which exhausted the patience 
 of his friends as well as his enemies. Now 
 had Mr. Richardson been a member of 
 either House, and liable to be subjected to 
 a rigorous cross-questioning as to his pro 
 ceedings, the mismanagement of which he 
 was accused, and which was carried on in 
 the dark, never could have occurred. Why 
 the founders of the Constitution should 
 have thrown this protection round the per 
 sons who happen to fill the chief offices of 
 State, is difficult to conjecture, but the 
 clause is clear : ' No person holding any 
 office under the United States shall be a 
 member of either House during his con 
 tinuance in office.'* Mr. Justice Story de 
 clares that this provision ' has been vindi 
 cated upon the highest grounds of public 
 authority,' but he also admits that, as ap 
 plied to the heads of departments, it leads 
 to many evils. He adds a warning which 
 many events of our own time have shown 
 to be not unnecessary : ' if corruption 
 ever eats its way silently into the vitals of 
 this Republic, it will be because the peo 
 ple are unable to bring responsibility home 
 to the Executive through his chosen Min 
 isters. They will be betrayed when their 
 suspicions are most lulled by the Execu 
 tive, under the guise of an obedience to 
 the will of Congress.'! The inconveniences 
 occasioned to the public service under the 
 present system are very great. There is no 
 official personage in either House to ex 
 plain the provisions of any Bill, or to give 
 information on pressing matters of public 
 business. Cabinet officers are only brought 
 into communication with the nation when 
 they send in their annual reports, or when 
 a special report is called for by some un 
 usual emergency. Sometimes the Presi 
 dent himself goes down to the Capitol to 
 talk over the merits of a Bill with mem 
 bers. The Department which happens to 
 be interested in any particular measure 
 
 * Article I. sect. vi. 2. 
 
 f ' Commentaries, 'I., book lii. sect. 869; 
 
 puts it under the charge of some friend of 
 the Administration, and if a member par 
 ticularly desires any further information 
 respecting it he may, if he thinks proper, 
 go to the Department and ask for it. But 
 Congress and Ministers are never brought 
 face to face. It is possible that American 
 ' Secretaries ' may escape some of the in- ' 
 convenience which English Ministers are 
 at times called upon to undergo ; but the j 
 most capable and honest of them forfeit | 
 many advantages, not the least of which is 
 the opportunity of making the exact na 
 ture of their work known to their country 
 men, and of meeting party misrepresenta 
 tions and calumnies in the most effectual 
 way. In like manner, the incapable mem 
 bers of the Cabinet would not be able, 
 under a different system, to shift the bur 
 den of responsibility for their blunders up 
 on the President. No President suffered 
 more in reputation for the faults of others 
 than General Grant. It is true that he did 
 not always choose his Secretaries with suf 
 ficient care or discrimination, but he was 
 made to bear more than a just proportion 
 of the censure which was provoked by 
 their mistakes. And it was not in Gen 
 eral Grant's disposition to defend himself. 
 In ordinary intercourse he was sparing of 
 his words, and could never be induced to 
 talk about himself, or to make a single 
 speech in defense of any portion of his 
 conduct. The consequence was, that his 
 second term of office was far from being 
 worthy of the man who enjoyed a popu 
 larity, just after the war, which Washing 
 ton himself might have envied, and who 
 is still, and very justly, regarded with re 
 spect and gratitude for his memorable ser 
 vices in the field. 
 
 " The same sentiment, to which we have 
 referred as specially characteristic of the 
 American people hostility to all changes 
 in their method of government which are 
 not absolutely essential will keep the 
 Cabinet surrounded by irresponsible, and 
 sometimes incapable, advisers. Contrary 
 to general supposition, there is no nation 
 in the world so little disposed to look favor 
 ably on Radicalism and a restless desire for 
 change, as the Americans. The Constitu 
 tion itself can only be altered by a long 
 and tedious process, and after every State- 
 in the Union has been asked its opinion on 
 the question. There is no hesitation in 
 enforcing the law in case of disorder, as 
 the railroad rioters in Pennsylvania found 
 out a few years ago. The state of affairs, 
 which the English Government has per 
 mitted to exist in Ireland for upwards of a 
 year, would not have been tolerated twenty- 
 four hours in the United States. The 
 maintenance of the law first, the discussion 
 of grievances afterwards ; such is, and al 
 ways has been, the policy of every Ameri 
 can Government, until the evil day of 
 
CURRENT POLITICS. 
 
 303 
 
 James Buchanan. The governor of every j 
 State is a real ruler, and not a mere orna- i 
 ment, and'the President wields a hundred- i 
 fold more power than has been left to the | 
 Sovereign of Great Britain. Both parties ! 
 as a rule, combine to uphold his authority, i 
 and, in the event of any dispute with a 
 foreign Power, all party distinctions disap 
 pear as if by magic. There are no longer | 
 Democrats and Republicans, but only ! 
 Americans. The species of politician, who i 
 endeavors to gain a reputation for himself j 
 by destroying the reputation of his country 
 was not taken over to America in the ' May 
 flower/ and it would be more difficult than 
 ever to establish it on American ground 
 to-day. A man may hold any opinions 
 that may strike his fancy on other subjects, 
 but in reference to the Government, he is 
 expected, while he lives under it, to give it 
 his hearty support, especially as against 
 foreign nations. There was once a faction 
 called the ' Know Nothings,' the guiding 
 principle of which was inveterate hostility 
 to foreigners ; but a party based upon the 
 opposite principle, of hostility to one's own 
 country, has not yet ventured to lift up its 
 head across the Atlantic. That is an in 
 vention in politics which England has 
 introduced, and of which she is allowed to 
 enjoy the undisputed monopoly. * * * 
 "Display and ceremonial were by no 
 means absent from the Government in the 
 beginning of its history. President Wash 
 ington never went to Congress on public 
 business except in a State coach, drawn by 
 six cream-colored horses. The coach was 
 an object which would excite the admira 
 tion of the throng even now in the streets 
 of London. It was built in the shape of 
 a hemisphere, and its panels were adorned 
 with cupids, surrounded with flowers 
 worthy of Florida, and of fruit not to be 
 equalled out of California. The coachman 
 and postillions were arrayed in gorgeous 
 liveries of white and scarlet. The Phila 
 delphia 'Gazette,' a Government organ, 
 regularly gave a supply of Court news for 
 the edification of the citizens. From that 
 the people were allowed to learn as much 
 as it was deemed proper for them to know 
 about the President's movements, and a fair 
 amount of spacevwas also devoted to Mrs. 
 Washington who was not referred to as 
 Mrs. Washington, but as ' the amiable con 
 sort of our beloved President. ' When the 
 President made his appearance at a ball or 
 public reception, a dais was erected for him 
 upon which he might stand apart from the 
 vulgar throng, and the guests or visitors 
 bowed to him in solemn silence. * Repub 
 lican simplicity' has only come in later 
 times. In our day, the hack-driver who 
 takes a visitor to a public reception at the 
 White House, is quite free to get off his 
 box, walk intaide by side with his fare, and 
 shake hands with the President with as 
 
 much familiarity as anybody else. Very 
 few persons presumed to offer to shake 
 hands with General Washington. One of 
 his friends, Gouverneur Morris, rashly 
 undertook, for a foolish wager, to go up to 
 him and slap him on the shoulder, saying, 
 ' My dear General, I am happy to see you 
 look so well.' The moment fixed upon 
 arrived, and Mr. Morris, already half- 
 repenting of his wager, went up to the 
 President, placed his hand upon his shoul 
 der, and uttered the prescribed words. 
 ' Washington,' as an eye-witness described 
 the scene, ' withdrew his hand, stepped 
 suddenly back, fixed his eye on Morris for 
 several minutes with an angry frown, until 
 the latter retreated abashed, and sought 
 refuge in the crowd.' No one else ever 
 tried a similar experiment. It is recorded 
 of Washington, that he wished the official 
 title of the President to be ' High Mighti 
 ness,' * and at one time it was proposed to 
 engrave his portrait upon the national 
 coinage. No royal levees were more punc 
 tiliously arranged and ordered than those 
 of the First President. It was Jefferson, 
 the founder of the Democratic party, who 
 introduced Democratic manners into the 
 Republic. He refused to hold weekly re 
 ceptions, and when he went to Congress to 
 read his Address, he rode up unattended, 
 tied his horse to a post, and came away 
 with the same disregard for outward show. 
 After his inauguration, he did not even 
 take the trouble to go to Congress with his 
 Message, but sent it by the hands of his 
 Secretary a custom which has been found 
 so convenient that it has been followed 
 ever since. A clerk now mumbles through 
 the President's Message, while members 
 sit at their desks writing letters, or reading 
 the Message itself, if they do not happen 
 to have made themselves masters of its 
 contents beforehand." 
 
 The writer, after discussing monopolies 
 and tariffs, closes with hopes and predic 
 tions so moderately and sensibly stated that 
 any one will be safe in adopting them as 
 his own. 
 
 "The controversies which have yet to be 
 fought out on these issues [the tariff and 
 corporate power] may sometimes become 
 formidable, but we 1 *- may hope that the 
 really dangerous questions that' once con 
 fronted the American people are set at rest 
 for ever. The States once more stand in 
 their proper relation to the Union, and any 
 interference with their self-government is 
 never again likely to be attempted, for the 
 feeling of the whole people would condemn 
 it. It was a highly Conservative system 
 which the framers of the Constitution 
 adopted, when they decided that each State 
 should be entitled to make its own laws, 
 
 * [Those are mere traditions tinged with the spirit of 
 some of the assaults uiado in the " good old days" even 
 against so illustrious a man as Washington.^//!. Pol] 
 
304 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 to regulate its own franchise, to raise its 
 own taxes, and settle everything in connec 
 tion with its own affairs in its own way. The 
 general government has no right whatever 
 to send a single soldier into any State, even 
 to preserve order, until it has been called 
 upon to act by the Governor of that State. 
 The Federal Government, as it has been 
 said by the Supreme Court, is one of enu 
 merated powers ; ' and if it has ever acted 
 in excess of those powers, it was only when 
 officers in States broke the compact which 
 existed, and took up arms for its destruc 
 tion. They abandoned their place in the 
 Union, and were held to have thereby for 
 feited their rights as States. In ordinary 
 times there is ample security against the 
 abuse of power in any direction. If a 
 State government exceeds its authority, the 
 people can at the next election expel the 
 parties who have been guilty of the offense ; 
 if Congress trespasses upon the functions 
 of the States, there is the remedy of an ap 
 peal to the Supreme Court, the ' final in 
 terpreter of the Constitution ; ' if usurpa 
 tion should be attempted in spite of these 
 safeguards, there is the final remedy of an 
 appeal to the whole nation under the form 
 of a Constitutional Amendment, which 
 may at any time be adopted with the con 
 sent of three-fourths of the States. Only, 
 therefore, as Mr. Justice Story has pointed 
 out, when three-fourths of the States have 
 combined to practice usurpation, is the case 
 1 irremediable under any known forms of 
 the Constitution.' It would be difficult to 
 conceive of any circumstances under which 
 such a combination as this could arise. No 
 form of government ever yet devised has 
 proved to be faultless in its operation ; but 
 that of the United States is well adapted 
 to the genius and character of the people, 
 and the very dangers which it has passed 
 through render it more precious in their 
 
 eyes than it was before it had been tried in 
 the fire. It assures freedom to all who live 
 under it ; and it provides for the rigid ob 
 servance of law, and the due protection of 
 every man in his rights. There is much in 
 the events which are now taking place 
 around us to suggest serious doubts, 
 whether these great and indispensable ad 
 vantages are afforded by some of the older 
 European systems of government which 
 we have been accustomed to look upon as 
 better and wiser than the American Con 
 stitution." 
 
 A final word as to a remaining great is 
 sue that of the tariff. It must ever be a 
 political issue, one which parties cannot 
 wholly avoid. The Democratic party as a 
 mass, yet leans to Free Trade ; the Repub 
 lican party, as a mass, favors Tariffs and 
 high ones, at least plainly protective. 
 Within a year, two great National Conven 
 tions were held, one at Chicago and one 
 at New York, both in former times, Free 
 Trade centres, and in these Congress was 
 petitioned either to maintain 01 improve the 
 existing tariff. As a result we see presented 
 and advocated at the current session the 
 Tariff Commission Bill, decisive action 
 upon which has not been taken at the 
 time we close these pages. The effect of 
 the conventions was to cause the Demo 
 cratic Congressional caucus to reject the 
 effort of Proctor Knott, to place it in its 
 old attitude of hostility to protection. 
 Many of the members sought and for the 
 time secured an avoidance of the issue. 
 Their ability to maintain this attitude in 
 the face of Mr. Watterson's* declaration 
 that the Democratic party must stand or 
 fall on that issue, remains to be seen. 
 
 * Mr. Watterson, formerly a distinguished member of 
 Congress, is the author of the ' tariff for revenue only " 
 plank in the Democratic National Platform of 1880, and 
 is now, as he has been for years, the chief editor ol the 
 L(juisi:ilh Courier Journal. 
 
 POLITICAL CHANGES IN 1882. 
 
 With a view to carry this work through 
 the year 1882 and into part of 1883, very 
 plain reference should be made to the 
 campaign of 1882, which in several im 
 portant States was fully as disastrous to 
 the Republican party as any State elec 
 tions since the advent of that party to 
 national supremacy and power. In 1863 
 and 1874 the Republican reverses were 
 almost if not quite as general, but in the 
 more important States the adverse majori 
 ties were not near so sweeping. Political 
 " tidal waves " had been freely talked of 
 as descriptive of the situation in the earlier 
 
 years named, but the result of 1882 has 
 been pertinently described by Horatio 
 Seymour as the " groundswell," and such 
 it seemed, both to the active participants 
 in, and lookers-on, at the struggle. 
 
 Political discontent seems to be periodi 
 cal under all governments, and the periods 
 are probably quite as frequent though less 
 violent under republican as other forms. 
 Certain it is that no political party in our 
 history has long enjoyed uninterrupted 
 success. The National success of the Re 
 publicans cannot truthfully be said to 
 have been uninterrupted since the first 
 
REPUBLICANS DEMOCRATS. 
 
 305 
 
 election of Lincoln, as at times one or the 
 other of the two Houses of Congress have 
 been in the hands of the Democratic party, 
 while since the second Grant administra 
 tion there has not been a safe working 
 majority of Eepublicans in either House. 
 Combinations with Greenbackers, Read- 
 justers, and occasionally with dissenting 
 Democrats have had to be employed to 
 preserve majorities in behalf of important 
 measures, and these have not always suc 
 ceeded, though the general tendency of 
 tide-parties has been to support the majo 
 rity, for the very plain reason that majori 
 ties can reward with power upon commit 
 tees and with patronage. 
 
 Efforts were made by the Democrats in 
 the first session of the 47th Congress to 
 reduce existing tariffs, and to repeal the 
 internal revenue taxes. The Repub 
 licans met the first movement by establish 
 ing a Tariff Commission, which was ap 
 pointed by President Arthur, and com 
 posed mainly of gentlemen favorable to 
 protective duties. In the year previous 
 (1881) the income from internal taxes was 
 $135,264,385.51, and the cost, of collecting 
 $4,327,793.24, or 3.20 per cent. The cus 
 toms revenues amounted to $198,159,676.02, 
 the cost of collecting the same $6,383,288. 
 10, or 3.22 per cent. There was no gene 
 ral complaint as to the cost of collecting 
 these immense revenues, for this cost was 
 greatly less than in former years, but the 
 surplus on internal taxes (about $146,000, 
 000) was so large that it could not be 
 profitably employed even in the payment 
 of the public debt, and as a natural result 
 all interests called upon to pay the tax 
 (save where there was a monopoly in the 
 product or the manufacture) complained 
 of the burden as wholly unnecessary, and 
 large interests and very many people de 4 
 manded immediate and absolute repeal. 
 The Republicans sought to meet this de 
 mand half way by a bill repealing all the 
 taxes, save those on spirits and tobacco, 
 but the Democrats obstructed and defeated 
 every attempt at partial repeal. The 
 Republicans thought that the moral senti 
 ment of the country would favor the re 
 tention of the internal taxes upon spirits 
 and tobacco (the latter having been pre 
 viously reduced) but if there was any such 
 sentiment it did not manifest itself in the 
 fall elections. On the contrary, every 
 form of discontent, encouraged by these 
 great causes, took shape. While the 
 Tariff Commission, by active and very in 
 telligent work, held out continued hope to 
 the more confident industries, those which 
 had been threatened or injured by the 
 failure of the crops in 1881, and by the 
 assassination of President Garfield, saw 
 only prolonged injury in the probable 
 work of the Commission, for to meet the 
 20 
 
 close Democratic sentiment and to unite 
 that which it was hoped would be gene 
 rally friendly, moderate tariff rates had to 
 be fixed; notably upon iron, steel, and 
 many classes of manufactured goods. 
 Manufacturers of the cheaper grades of 
 cotton goods were feeling the pressure of 
 competition from the South where goods 
 could be made from a natural product- 
 close at hand while those of the North 
 found about the same time thai tne tastes 
 of their customers had improved, and 
 hence their cheaper grades were no longer 
 in such general demand. There was over 
 production, as a consequence grave depres 
 sion, and not all in the business could at 
 once realize the cause of the trouble. 
 Doubt and distrust prevailed, and early in 
 the summer of 1882, and indeed until late 
 in the fall, the country seemed upon the 
 verge of a business panic. At the same 
 time the leading journals of the country 
 seemed to have joined in a crusade against 
 all existing political methods, and against 
 all statutory and political abuses. The 
 cry of " Down with Boss Rule ! " was heard 
 in many States, and this rallied to the 
 swelling ranks of discontent all who are 
 naturally fond of pulling down leaders 
 and the United States Senatorial election* 
 of 1883 quickly showed that the blow was 
 aimed at all leaders, whether they were 
 alleged Bosses or not. Then, too, the 
 forms of discontent which could not take 
 practical shape in the great Presidential 
 contest between Garfield and Hancock, 
 came to the front with cumulative force 
 after the assassination. There is little use 
 in philosophizing and searching for suffi 
 cient reasons leading to a fact, when the 
 fact itself must be confessed and when its 
 force has been felt. It is a plain fact that 
 many votes in the fall of 1882 were deter 
 mined by the nominating struggle for the 
 Presidency in 1880, by the quarrels which 
 followed Garfield's inauguration, and by 
 the assassination. Indeed, the nation had 
 not recovered from the shock, and many 
 very good people looked with very grave 
 suspicion upon every act of President 
 Arthur after he had succeeded to the 
 chair. The best informed, broadest and 
 most liberal political minds saw in his 
 course an honest effort to heal existing 
 differences in the Republican party, but 
 many acts of recommendation and appoint 
 ment directed to this end were discounted 
 by the few which could not thus be traced, 
 and suspicion and discontent swelled the 
 chorus of other injuries. The result was 
 the great political changes of 1882. It be 
 gan in Ohio, the only important and de 
 batable October State remaining at this 
 time. The causes enumerated above (save 
 the assassination and the conflict between 
 the friends of Grant and Blaine) operated 
 
306 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 with less force in Ohio than any other sec 
 tion for here leaders had not been held up 
 as " Bosses ;" civil service reform had many 
 advocates among them; the people were 
 not by interest specially wedded to high 
 tariff duties, nor were they large payers of 
 internal revenue taxes. But the liquor 
 issue had sprung up in the Legislature the 
 
 Erevious winter, the Republicans attempt- 
 ig to levy and collect a tax from all who 
 sold, and to prevent the sale on Sundays. 
 These brief facts make strange reading to 
 the people of other States, where the sale 
 of liouor has generally been licensed, and 
 forbidden on Sundays. Ohio had previ 
 ously passed a prohibitory constitutional 
 amendment, in itself defective, and as no 
 legislation had been enacted to enforce it, 
 those who wished began to sell as though 
 the right were natural, and in this way be 
 came strong enough to resist taxation or 
 license. The Legislature of 1882, the ma 
 jority controlled by the Republicans, at 
 tempted to pass the Pond liquor tax act, 
 and its issue was joined. The liquor in 
 terests organized, secured control of the 
 Democratic State Convention, nominated 
 a ticket pledged to their interests, made 
 a platform which pointed to unrestricted 
 sale, and by active work and the free 
 use of funds, carried the election and 
 reversed the usual majority. Governor 
 Foster, the boldest of the Republican lead 
 ers, accepted the issue as presented, and 
 stumped in favor of license and the sanc 
 tity of the Sabbath ; but the counsels of 
 the Republican leaders were divided, Ex- 
 Secretary Sherman and others enacting the 
 role of ' confession and avoidance." The 
 result carried with it a train of Republi 
 can disasters. Congressional candidates 
 whom the issue could not legimately touch, 
 fell before 4t, probably on the principle 
 that " that which strikes the head injures 
 the entire body." The Democratic State 
 and Legislative tickets succeeded, and the 
 German element, which of all others is 
 most favorable to freedom in the observ 
 ance of the Sabbath, transferred its vote 
 almost as an entirety from the Republican 
 to the Democratic party. 
 
 Ohio emboldened the liquor interests, 
 and in their Conventions and Societies in 
 other States they agreed as a rule to check 
 and, if possible, defeat the advance of the 
 prohibitory amendment idea. This started 
 in Kansas in 1880, under the lead of Gov. 
 St. John, an eloquent temperance advo 
 cate. It was passed by an immense 
 majority, and it was hardly in force be 
 fore conflicting accounts were scattered 
 throughout the country as to its effect. 
 Some of the friends of temperance con 
 tended that it improved the public con 
 dition ; its enemies all asserted that in 
 the larger towns and cities it produced 
 
 free and irresponsible instead of licensed 
 sale. The latter seem to have had the 
 best of the argument, if the election re 
 sult is a truthful witness. Gov. St. John 
 was again the nominee of the Repub 
 licans, but while all of the remainder of 
 the State-ticket was elected, he fell under 
 a majority which must have been pro 
 duced by a change of forty thousand votes. 
 Iowa next took up the prohibitory amend 
 ment idea, secured its adoption, but the 
 result was injurious to the Republicans in 
 the Fall elections, where the discontent 
 struck at Congressmen, as well as State 
 and Legislative officers. 
 
 The same amendment had been pro 
 posed in Pennsylvania, a Republican 
 House in 1881 having passed it by almost 
 a solid vote (Democrats freely joining in 
 its support), but a Republican Senate de 
 feated, after it had been loaded down 
 with amendments. New York was co 
 quetting with the same measure, and as a 
 result the liquor interests well-organized 
 and with an abundance of money, as a 
 rule struck at the Republican party in 
 both New York and Pennsylvania, and 
 thus largely aided the groundswell. The 
 same interests aided the election of Genl. 
 B. F. Butler of Massachusetts, but from a 
 different reason. He had, in one of his 
 earlier canvasses, freely advocated the 
 right of the poor to sell equally with those 
 who could pay heavy license fees, and had 
 thus won the major sympathy of the 
 interest. Singularly enough, Massachu 
 setts alone of all the Republican States 
 meeting with defeat in 1882, fails to show 
 in her result reasons which harmonize 
 with those enumerated as making up the 
 elements of discontent. Her people most 
 do favor high tariffs, taxes on liquors and 
 luxuries, civil service reforms, and were 
 supposed to be more free from legal and 
 political abuses than any other. Massa 
 chusetts had, theretofore, been considered 
 to be the most advanced of all the States 
 n notions, in habit, and in law yet 
 Butler's victory was relatively more pro 
 nounced than that of any Democratic 
 candidate, not excepting that of Cleve 
 land over Folger in New York, the 
 Democratic majority here approaching 
 two hundred thousand. How are we to 
 explain the Massachusetts' result? Gov. 
 Bishop was a high-toned and able gentle 
 man, the type of every reform contended 
 for. There is but one explanation. 
 Massachusetts had had too much of re 
 form ; it had come in larger and faster 
 doses than even her progressive people 
 sould stand and an inconsistent discon 
 tent took new shape there that of very 
 slain reaction. This view is confirmed by 
 :he subsequent attempt of Gov. Butler to 
 defeat the re-election of Geo. F. Hoar to 
 
CURRENT POLITICS. 
 
 307 
 
 the U. S. Senate, by a combination of 
 Democrats with dissatisfied Republicans. 
 The movement failed, but it came very 
 near to success, and ior days the result 
 was in doubt. Hoar had been a Senator 
 of advanced views, of broad and com 
 prehensive statesmanship, but that com 
 munistic sentiment which occasionally 
 crops out in our politics and strikes at all 
 leaders, merely from the pleasure of assert 
 ing the right to tear down, assailed him 
 with a vi^or almost equal to that which 
 struck Windom of Minnesota, a statesman 
 of twenty-four years' honorable, able and 
 sometimes brilliant service. To prejudice 
 the people of his State against him, a 
 photograph of his Washington residence 
 had been scattered broadcast. The print 
 in the photograph intended to prejudice 
 being a coach with a liveried lackey It 
 might have been the coach and lackey of 
 a visitor, but the effect was the same where 
 discontent had run into a fever. 
 
 Political discontent gave unmistakable 
 manifestations of its existence in Ohio, 
 Massachusetts, New York (where Ex- 
 Governor Cornell's nomination had been 
 defeated by a forged telegram), Michigan, 
 Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Connecticut, 
 California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and 
 Indiana. The Republican position was 
 well maintained in New Hampshire, Ver 
 mont, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Illinois, 
 and Wisconsin. It was greatly improved 
 in Virginia, where Mahone's Republican 
 Readjuster ticket carried the State by 
 nearly ten thousand, and where a United 
 States' Senator and Congress man-at-large 
 were gained, as well as some of the District 
 Congressmen. The Republicans also im 
 proved the situation in North Carolina 
 and Tennessee, though they failed to 
 carry either. They also gained Congress 
 men in Mississippi and Louisiana, but 
 the Congressional result throughout the 
 country was a sweeping Democratic vic 
 tory, the 48th Congress, beginning March 
 4, 1883, showing a Democratic majority of 
 71 in a total membership of 325. 
 
 In Pennsylvania alone of all the 
 Northern States, were the Republican 
 elements of discontent organized, and 
 here they were as well organized as pos 
 sible under the circumstances. Charles S. 
 Wolfe had the year previous proclaimed 
 what he called his "independence of the 
 Basses," by declaring himself a candidate 
 for State Treasurer, " nominated in a con 
 vention of one." He secured 49,984 votes, 
 and this force was used as the nucleus for 
 the better organized Independent Repub 
 lican movement of 1882. Through this a 
 State Convention was called which placed 
 a full ticket in the field, and which in 
 many districts nominated separate legisla 
 tive candidates. 
 
 The complaints of the Independent 
 Republicans of Pennsylvania were very 
 much like those of dissatisfied Repub 
 licans in other Northern StatesJJwhere no 
 adverse organizations were set up, and 
 these can best be understood by giving the 
 official papers and correspondence con 
 nected with the revolt, and the attempts 
 to conciliate and suppress it by the regular 
 organization. The writer feels a delicacy 
 in appending this data, inasmuch as he 
 was one of the principals in the negotia 
 tions, but formulated complaints, methods 
 and principles peculiar to the time can be 
 better understood as presented by organ 
 ized and official bodies, than where mere 
 opinions of cotemporaneous writers and 
 speakers must otherwise be given. A very- 
 careful summary has been made by Col. 
 A. K. McClure, in the Philadelphia Times 
 Almanac, and from this we quote the data 
 connected with the 
 
 The Independent Republican Revolt in 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 The following call was issued by Chair 
 man McKee, of the committee which con 
 ducted the Wolfe campaign in 1881 : 
 
 HEADQUARTERS STATE COMMITTEE, 
 CITIZENS' REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION, 
 GIRARD HOUSE, 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, December 16, 1881. 
 To the Independent Republicans of Penn 
 sylvania, : 
 
 You are earnestly requested to send re 
 presentatives from each county to a State 
 conference, to be held at Philadelphia, 
 Thursday, January 12th, 1882, at 10 o'clock 
 A. M., to take into consideration the wis 
 dom of placing in nomination proper per 
 sons for the offices of Governor, Lieuten 
 ant Governor, Secretary of Internal Affairs 
 and Supreme Court Judge, and such other 
 matters as may come before the confer 
 ence, looking to the overthrow of " boss 
 rule," and the elimination of the pernicious 
 " spoils system," and its kindred evils, from 
 the administration of public affairs. It is 
 of the utmost importance that those fifty 
 
 rted 
 arles 
 
 State Treasurer 
 as a solemn protest against ring domina 
 tion, together with the scores of thousands 
 of liberty-loving citizens who are ready to 
 join in the next revolt against " bossism," 
 shall be worthily represented at this con 
 ference. 
 
 I. D. McKEE, Chairman. 
 
 FRANK WILLING LEACH, Secretary. 
 
 Pursuant to the above call, two hundred 
 and thirteen delegates, representing thirty- 
 three of the sixty-six counties, met at the 
 Assembly Building, January 12th, 1882, 
 
308 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 and organized by the election of John J. 
 Pinkerton as chairman, together with a 
 suitable list of vice-presidents and secre 
 taries. After a general interchange of 
 views, a resolution was adopted directing 
 the holding of a State Convention for the 
 nomination of a State ticket, May 24th. 
 An executive committee, with power to 
 arrange for the election of delegates from 
 each Senatorial district, was also appointed, 
 consisting of Messrs. I. D. McKee, of 
 Philadelphia-, Wharton Barker, of Mont 
 gomery; John J. Pinkerton, of Chester; 
 F. M. Nichols, of Luzerne ; H. S. McNair, 
 of York, and C. W. Miller, of Crawford. 
 Mr. Nichols aftewards declining to act, 
 George E. Mapes, of Venango, was sub 
 stituted in his place. Before the time 
 . arrived for the meeting of the convention 
 of May 24th, several futile efforts were 
 made to heal the breach between the two 
 wings of the Republican partv. At a con 
 ference of leading Independents held in 
 Philadelphia, April 23d, at which Senator 
 Mitchell was present, a committee was 
 appointed for the purpose of conferring 
 with a similar committee from the regular 
 organization, upon the subject of the party 
 differences. The members of the Peace 
 Conference, on the part of the Indepen 
 dents, were Charles S. Wolfe, I. D. McKee, 
 Francis B. Beeves, J. W. Lee, and Whar- 
 4on Barker. The committee on the part 
 of the Stalwarts were M. S. Quay, John F. 
 Hartranft, C. L. Magee, Howard J. ReeJer, 
 and Thomas Cochran. A preliminary 
 meeting was held at the Continental 
 Hotel, on the evening of April 29th, which 
 adjourned to meet at the same place on 
 the evening of May 1st; at which meeting 
 ,the following peace propositions were 
 agreed upon : 
 
 Resolved, That we recommend the adop 
 tion of the following principles and 
 methods by the Republican State Conven 
 tion of May 10th. 
 
 First. That we unequivocally condemn 
 the use of patronage to promote personal 
 political ends, and require that all offices 
 oestowed within the party shall be upon 
 the sole basis of fitness. 
 
 Second. That competent and faithful 
 officers should not be removed except for 
 cause. 
 
 Third. That the non- elective minor 
 offices should be filled in accordance with 
 rules established by law. 
 
 Fourth. That the ascertained popular 
 will shall be faithfully carried out in State 
 and National Conventions, and by those 
 holding office by the favor of the party. 
 
 Fifth. That we condemn compulsory 
 assessments for political purposes, and pro 
 scription for failure to respond either to 
 such assessments or to requests for volun 
 tary contributions, and that any policy of 
 
 Eolitical proscription is urjust, and calcu- 
 ited to disturb party harmony. 
 
 Sixth. That public office constitutes a 
 high trust to be administered solely for the 
 people, whose interests must be paramount 
 to those of persons or parties, and that it 
 should be invariably conducted with the 
 same efficiency, economy, and integrity as 
 are expected in the execution of private 
 trusts. 
 
 Seventh. That the State ticket should 
 be such as by the impartiality of its con 
 stitution and the high character and ac 
 knowledged fitness of the nominees will 
 justly commend itself to the support of the 
 united Republican party. 
 
 Resolved, That we also recommend the 
 adoption of the following permanent rules 
 for the holding of State Conventions, and 
 the conduct of the party : 
 
 First. That delegates to State Conven 
 tions shall be chosen in the manner in 
 which candidates for the General Assem 
 bly are nominated, except in Senatorial 
 districts composed of more than one coun 
 ty, in which conferees for the selection of 
 Senatorial delegates shall be chosen in the 
 manner aforesaid, and the representation 
 of each county shall be based upon its Re 
 publican vote cast at the Presidential elec 
 tion next preceding the convention. 
 
 Second. Hereafter the State Convention 
 of the Republican party shall be held on 
 the second Wednesday of July, except in 
 the year of the Presidential election, when 
 it shall be held not more than thirty days 
 previous to the day fixed for the National 
 Convention, and at least sixty days' notice 
 shall be given of the date of the State Con 
 vention. 
 
 Third. That every person who voted 
 the Republican electoral ticket at the last 
 Presidential election next preceding any 
 State Convention shall be permitted to 
 participate in the election of delegates to 
 State and National Conventions, and we 
 recommend to the county organizations 
 that in their rules they allow the largest 
 freedom in the general participation in the 
 primaries consistent with the preservation 
 of the party organization. 
 
 M. S. QUAY, 
 J. F. HARTRANFT, 
 THOMAS COCHRAN, 
 HOWARD J. REEDER, 
 C. L. MAGEE, 
 
 On the part of the Republican State Com 
 mittee, appointed by Chairman Cooper. 
 
 CHARLES S. WOLFE, 
 I. D. McKEE, 
 FRANCIS B. REEVES, 
 WHARTON BARKER, 
 J. W. LEE, 
 
 On the part of Senator Mitchell's Inde 
 pendent Republican Committee. 
 
CURRENT POLITICS. 
 
 309 
 
 The following resolution was adopted by 
 the joint conference : 
 
 Resolved, That we disclaim any authority 
 to speak or act for other persons than our 
 selves, and simply make these suggestions 
 as in our opinion are essential to the pro 
 motion of harmony and unity. 
 
 In order, however, that there might be 
 no laying down of arms on the part of the 
 Independents, in the false belief that the 
 peace propositions had ended the contest, 
 without regard to whether they were ac 
 cepted in good faith, and put in practice 
 by the regular convention, the following 
 call was issued by the Independent Execu 
 tive Committee : 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, 
 CITIZENS' REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION OF 
 PENNSYLVANIA, GIRARD HOUSE. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, May 3d, 1882. 
 To the Independent Republicans of Pennsyl 
 vania : 
 
 At a conference of Independent Repub 
 licans held in Philadelphia, on January 
 12th, 1882, the following resolution was 
 adopted, to wit: 
 
 Resolved, That a convention be held on 
 the 24th day of May, 1882, for the purpose 
 of placing in nomination a full Indepen 
 dent Republican ticket for the offices to be 
 filled at the general election next Novem 
 ber. 
 
 In pursuance and by the authority of the 
 above resolution the undersigned, the State 
 Executive Committee appointed at the said 
 conference, request the Independent Re 
 publicans of each county of the Common 
 wealth of Pennsylvania to send delegates 
 to the Independent Convention of May 
 24th, the basis of representation to be the 
 same as that fixed for Senators and Repre 
 sentatives of the General Assembly of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Should the convention of May 10th fail 
 to nominate as its candidates men who in 
 their character, antecedents and affiliations 
 are embodiments of the principles of true 
 Republicanism free from the iniquities of 
 bossism, and of an honest administration 
 of public affairs free from the evils of the 
 spoils system, such nominations, or any 
 such nomination, should be emphatically 
 repudiated by the Independent Convention 
 of May 24th, and by the Independent Re 
 publicans of Pennsylvania in November 
 next. 
 
 The simple adoption by the Harrisburg 
 Convention of May 10th of resolutions of 
 plausible platitudes, while confessing the 
 existence of the evils which we have stren 
 uously opposed, and admitting the justice 
 of our position in opposing them, will not 
 satisfy the Independent Republicans of 
 this Commonwealth. We are not battling 
 
 for the construction of platforms, but for 
 the overthrow of bossism, and the evils of 
 the spoils system, which animated a de 
 spicable assassin to deprive our loved Pres 
 ident Garfield of his life, and our country 
 of its friend and peacemaker. 
 
 The nomination of slated candidates by 
 machine methods, thereby tending to the 
 perpetuation of boss dominion in our Com 
 monwealth, should never be ratified by the 
 Independent Republicans in convention 
 assembled or at the polls. Upon this very 
 vital point there should be no mistake in 
 the mind of any citizen of this State. The 
 path of duty in this emergency leads for 
 ward, and not backward, and forward we 
 should go until bossism and machineism 
 and stalwartism aye, and Cameronism 
 are made to give way to pure Republican 
 ism. The people will not submit to tem 
 porizing or compromising. 
 
 We appeal to the Independent Republi 
 cans of Pennsylvania to take immediate 
 steps toward perfecting their organization 
 in each county, and completing the selec 
 tion of delegates to the Independent State 
 Convention. Use every exertion to secure 
 the choice as delegates of representative, 
 courageous men, who will not falter when 
 the time arrives to act who will not de 
 sert into the ranks of the enemy when the 
 final time of testing comes. Especially see 
 to it that there shall not be chosen as dele 
 gates any Pharisaical Independents, who 
 preach reform, yet blindly follow boss 
 leadership at the crack of the master's 
 whip. Act quickly and act discreetly. 
 
 A State Campaign Committee of fifty, 
 comprising one member from each Sena 
 torial district, has been formed, and any 
 one desiring to co-operate with us in this 
 movement against the enemies of the in 
 tegrity of our State, who shall communi 
 cate with us, will be immediately referred 
 to the committeeman representing the dis 
 trict in which he lives. We urgently invite 
 a correspondence from the friends of politi 
 cal independence from all sections of the 
 State. ^ 
 
 Again we say to the IndependentRepub- 
 licans of Pennsylvania in the interest of 
 justice and the Commonwealth's honor, 
 leave no stone unturned to vindicate the 
 rights of the people. 
 
 I. D. McKEE, Chairman. 
 WHARTON BARKER. 
 JOHN J. PINKERTON. 
 GEO. E. MAPES. 
 H. S. McNAiR. 
 CHARLES W. MILLER. 
 FRANK WILLING LEACH, Secretary. 
 
 In pursuance of the above call, the In 
 dependent Convention met, May 24th, in 
 Philadelphia, and deciding that the action 
 of the regular Republican Convention, held 
 
310 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 at Harrisburg on May 10th, did not give 
 the guarantee of reform demanded by the 
 Independents, proceeded to nominate a 
 ticket and adopt a platform setting forth 
 their views. 
 
 Although the break between the two 
 wings of the party was thus made final to 
 all appearances, yet all efforts for a recon 
 ciliation were not entirely abandoned. 
 Thos. M. Marshall having declined the 
 nomination for Congressman at Large on 
 the Kepublican ticket, the convention was 
 reconvened June 21st, for the purpose of 
 filling the vacancy, and while in session, 
 instructed the State Central Committee to 
 use all honorable means to secure harmony 
 between the two sections of the party. 
 Accordingly, the Kepublican State Com 
 mittee was called to meet in Philadelphia, 
 July>13th. At this meeting the following 
 propositions were submitted to the Inde 
 pendents : 
 
 Pursuant to the resolution passed by 
 the Harrisburg Convention of June 21st, 
 and authorizing the Republican State Com 
 mittee to use all honorable means to pro 
 mote harmony in the party, the said com 
 mittee, acting in conjunction with the Re 
 publican candidates on the State ticket, 
 respectfully submit to the State Committee 
 and candidates of the Independents the 
 following propositions : 
 
 First. The tickets headed by James A. 
 Beaver and John Stewart, respectively, be 
 submitted to a vote of the Republican 
 electors of the State, at primaries, as here 
 inafter provided for. 
 
 Second. The selection of candidates to 
 be voted for by the Republican party in 
 November to be submitted as aforesaid, 
 every Republican elector, constitutionally 
 and legally qualified, to be eligible to 
 nomination. 
 
 Third. A State Convention to be held, 
 to be constituted as recommended by the 
 Continental Hotel Conference, whereof 
 Wharton Barker was chairman and Francis 
 B. Reeves secretary, to select candidates 
 to be voted for by the Republican party in 
 November, its choice to be limited to the 
 candidates now in nomination, or unlimit 
 ed, as the Independent State Committee 
 may prefer. 
 
 The primaries or convention referred to 
 in the foregoing propositions to be held 
 on or before the fourth Wednesday of 
 August next, under regulations or ap 
 portionment to be made by Daniel Agnew, 
 Hampton L. Carson, and Francis B. 
 Reeves, not in conflict, however, with the 
 acts of Assembly regulating primary elec 
 tions, and the candidates receiving the 
 highest popular vote, or the votes of a 
 majority of the members of the convention, 
 to receive the united support of the party. 
 
 Resolved, That in the opinion of the Re 
 
 publican State Committee the above pro 
 positions fully carry out, in letter and 
 spirit, the resolution passed by the Harris 
 burg Convention, June 21st, and that we 
 hereby pledge the State Committee to 
 carry put in good faith any one of the 
 foregoing propositions which may be ac 
 cepted. 
 
 Resolved, That the chairman of the Re 
 publican State Committee be directed to 
 forward an official copy of the proceedings 
 of this meeting, together with the forego 
 ing propositions, to the Independent State 
 Committee and candidates. 
 
 Whereupon, General Reeder, of North 
 ampton, moved to amend by adding a 
 further proposition, as follows. 
 
 Fourth. A State Convention, to be con 
 stituted as provided for by the new rules 
 adopted by the late Republican State Con 
 vention, to select candidates to be voted 
 for by the Republican party in November, 
 provided, if such convention be agreed to, 
 said convention shall be held not later 
 than the fourth Wednesday in August. 
 Which amendment was agreed to, and the 
 preamble and resolutions as amended 
 were agreed to. 
 
 This communication was addressed to 
 the chairman of the Independent State 
 Committee, I. D. McKee, who called the 
 Independent Committee to meet July 27th, 
 to consider the propositions. In the 
 meantime the Independent candidates 
 held a conference on the night of July 
 13th, and four of them addressed the fol 
 lowing propositions to the candidates of 
 the Stalwart wing of the party : 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, July 13th, 1882. 
 
 To General James A. Beaver, Hon. William 
 T. Davies, Hon. John M. Greer, William 
 Henry Rawle, Esq., and Marriott Brosius, 
 Esq. 
 
 Gentlemen: By a communication re 
 ceived from the Hon. Thomas V. Cooper, 
 addressed to us as candidates of the Inde 
 pendent Republicans, we are advised of 
 the proceedings of the State Committee, 
 which assembled in this city yesterday. 
 
 Without awaiting the action of the In 
 dependent State Committee, to which we 
 have referred the communication, and at 
 tempting no discussion of the existing 
 differences, or the several methods pro 
 posed by which to secure party unity, we 
 beg to say that we do not believe that any 
 of the propositions, if accepted, would pro 
 duce harmony in the party, but on the 
 contrary, would lead to wider divisions. 
 We therefore suggest that the desired re 
 sult can be secured by the hearty co-op 
 eration of the respective candidates. We 
 have no authority to speak for the great 
 body of voters now giving their support to 
 the Independent Republican ticket, nor 
 
CURRENT POLITICS. 
 
 311 
 
 can we include them by any action we 
 may take. We are perfectly free, however, 
 to act in our individual capacity, and de 
 sire to assure you that we are not only 
 willing, but anxious to co-operate with 
 you in the endeavor to restore peace and 
 harmony to our party. That this can be 
 accomplished beyond all doubt we feel en 
 tirely assured, if you, gentlemen, are pre 
 pared to yield, with us, all personal con 
 siderations, and agree to the following 
 propositions: 
 
 First. The withdrawal of both tickets. 
 
 Second. The several candidates of these 
 tickets to pledge themselves not to accept 
 any subsequent nomination by the pro 
 posed convention. 
 
 Under these conditions we will unite 
 with you in urging upon our respective 
 constituencies the ^adoption of the third 
 proposition submitted by your committee, 
 and conclude the whole controversy by 
 our final withdrawal as candidates. Such 
 withdrawal of both tickets would remove 
 from the canvass all personal as well as 
 political antagonisms, and leave the party 
 united and unembarrassed. 
 
 We trust, gentlemen, that your judgment 
 will approve the method we have suggest 
 ed, and that, appreciating the importance 
 of concluding the matter with as little de 
 lay as possible, you will give us your re 
 ply within a week from this date. 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servants, 
 JOHN STEWART, 
 LEVI BIRD DUFF. 
 GEORGE W. MERRICK. 
 GEORGE JUNKIN. 
 
 William McMichael, Independent can 
 didate for Congressman at Large, dissented 
 from the proposition of his colleagues, and 
 addressed the following communication to 
 Chairman Cooper : 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, July 13th, 1882. 
 
 Hon. Thomas V. Cooper, Chairman, etc. 
 
 Dear Sir: Your letter of July 12th is 
 received, addressed to the chairman of the 
 State Committee of the Independent Re 
 publicans and their candidates, containing 
 certain propositions of your committee. I 
 decline those propositions, because they 
 involve an abandonment of the cause of 
 the Independent Republicans. 
 
 If a new convention, representing all 
 Republicans, had nominated an entirely 
 new ticket, worthy of popular support, and 
 not containing the name of any candidate 
 on either of the present tickets, and sin 
 cerely supporting the principles of the 
 Independent Republicans, the necessity 
 for a separate Independent Republican 
 movement would not exist. Your propo 
 sition, however, practically proposes to 
 re-nominate General Beaver, and reaffirm 
 the abuse which we oppose. 
 
 The convention of Independent Repub* 
 licans which met in Philadelphia on May 
 24th, announced principles in which I 
 believe. It nominated me for Congress 
 man at Large, and I accepted that nomi 
 nation. It declared boldly against boss- 
 ism, the spoils system, and all the evils 
 which impair Republican usefulness, and 
 in favor of popular rule, equal rights of 
 all, national unity, maintenance of public 
 credit, protection to labor, and all the 
 great principles of true Republicanism. 
 No other ticket now in the field presents 
 those issues. The people of Pennsylvania 
 can say at the polls, in November, whether 
 they approve of those principles, and will 
 support the cause which represents them. 
 I will not withdraw or retire unless events 
 hereafter shall give assurance that ne 
 cessary reform in the civil service shall be 
 adopted; assessments made upon office 
 holders returned, and not hereafter exact 
 ed ; boss, machine, and spoils methods 
 forever abandoned; and all our public 
 offices, from United States Senator to the 
 most unimportant officials, shall be filled 
 only by honest and capable men, who will 
 represent the people, and not attempt to 
 dictate to or control them. 
 
 I shall go on with the fight, asking the 
 support of all my fellow-citizens who believe 
 in the principles of the Independent Re 
 publican Convention of May 24th. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 WILLIAM MCMICHAEL. 
 
 To these propositions General Beaver 
 and his colleagues replied in the following 
 communication : 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, July 15th, 1882. 
 
 Hon. Thomas V. Cooper, Chairman Repub 
 lican State Committee, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Sir : We have the honor to acknowledge 
 the receipt through you of a communica 
 tion addressed to us by the Hon. John 
 Stewart, Colonel Levi Bird Duff, Major G. 
 W. Merrick, and George Junkin, Esq., in 
 response to certain propositions submitted 
 by the Republican State Committee, re 
 presenting the Republican party of Penn 
 sylvania, looking to an amicable and hon 
 orable adjustment of whatever differences 
 there may be among the various element* 
 of the party. Without accepting any of 
 the propositions submitted by your com 
 mittee, this communication asks us, as a 
 condition precedent to any recommenda 
 tion on the part of the writers thereof, to 
 declare that in the event of the calling of 
 a new convention, we will severally forbid 
 the Republicans of Pennsylvania to call 
 upon us for our services as candidates for 
 the various positions to be filled by the 
 people at the coming election. To say 
 
312 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 that in the effort to determine whether or 
 not our nomination was the free and un 
 biased choice of the Republican party we 
 must not be candidates, is simply to try 
 the question at issue. We have no de 
 sire to discuss the question in any of its 
 numerous bearings. We have placed our 
 selves unreservedly in the hands of the 
 Republicans of Pennsylvania. We have 
 pledged ourselves to act concurrently with 
 your committee, and are bound by its ac 
 tion. We therefore respectfully suggest that 
 we have no power or authority to act in 
 dependently of the committee, or make any 
 declaration at variance with the proposi 
 tions submitted in accordance with its ac 
 tion. There ought to be and can be no 
 such thing as personal antagonism in this 
 contest. We socially and emphatically 
 disclaim even the remotest approach to a 
 feeling of this kind toward any person. 
 We fraternize with and are ready to sup 
 port any citizen who loves the cause of 
 pure Republicanism, and with this decla 
 ration we submit the whole subject to your 
 deliberate judgment and wise considera 
 tion. 
 
 JAMES A. BEAVER. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY RAWLE, 
 
 MARRIOTT BROSIUS. 
 
 W. T. DAVIES. 
 
 JOHN M. GREER. 
 
 At the meeting of the Independent State 
 Committee, July 27th, the propositions of 
 the Regular Committee were unanimously 
 rejected, and a committee appointed to 
 draft a reply, which was done in the fol 
 lowing terms : 
 
 Thomas V. Cooper, Esq., Chairman Repub 
 lican State Committee. 
 Dear Sir : I am instructed to advise you 
 that the Independent Republican State 
 Committee have considered the four sug 
 gestions contained in the minutes of the 
 proceedings of your committee, forwarded 
 to me by you on the 12th instant. 
 
 I am directed to say that this committee 
 find that none of the four are methods 
 fitted to obtain a harmonious and honora 
 ble unity of the Republican voters of 
 Pennsylvania. All of them are inadequate 
 to that end, for the reason that they afford 
 no guarantee that, being accepted, the 
 principles upon which the Independent 
 Republicans have taken their stand would 
 be treated with respect or put into action. 
 All of them contain the probability that 
 an attempt to unite the Republicans of the 
 State by their means would either result 
 in reviving and strengthening the political 
 dictatorship which we condemn or would 
 permanently distract the Republican body, 
 and insure the future and continued 
 triumph of our common opponent, the 
 Democratic party. 
 
 Of the four suggestions, the first, second 
 and fourth are so inadequate as to need no 
 separate discussion : the third, which alone 
 may demand attention, has the fatal defect 
 of not including the withdrawal of that 
 " slated '' ticket which was made up many 
 months ago, and long in advance of the 
 Harrisburg Convention, to represent and 
 to maintain the very evils of control and 
 abuses of method to which we stand op 
 posed. This proposition, like the others, 
 supposing it to have been sincerely put 
 forward, clearly shows that you miscon 
 ceive the cause of the Independent Repub 
 lican movement, as well as its aims and 
 purposes. You assume that we desire to 
 measure the respective numbers of those 
 who support the Harrisburg ticket and 
 those who find their principles expressed 
 by the Philadelphia Convention. This is 
 a complete and fatal misapprehension. We 
 are organized to promote certain reforms, 
 and not to abandon them in pursuit of 
 votes. Our object is the overthrow of the 
 " boss system " and of the " spoils system." 
 
 In behalf of this we are willing and 
 anxious to join hands with you whenever 
 it is assured that the union will be honestly 
 and earnestly for that purpose. But we 
 cannot make alliances or agree to com 
 promises that in their face threaten the 
 very object of the movement in which we 
 have engaged. Whether your ticket has 
 the support of many or few, of a majority 
 or a minority of the Republican voters, 
 does not affect in the smallest degree the 
 duty of every citizen to record himself 
 against the abuses which it represents. 
 Had the gentlemen who compose it been 
 willing to withdraw themselves from the 
 field, as they were invited to join in doing, 
 for the common good, by the Independent 
 Republican candidates, this act would 
 have encouraged the hope that a new con 
 vention, freely chosen by the people, and 
 unembarrassed by claims of existing can 
 didates, might have brought forth the 
 needed guarantee of party emancipation 
 and public reform. 
 
 This service, however, they have de 
 clined to render their party ; they not only 
 claim and receive your repeated assurances 
 of support, but they permit themselves to 
 be put forward to secure the use of the In 
 dependent Republican votes at the same 
 time that they represent the "bossism," 
 the "spoils" methods, and the "machine " 
 management which we are determined no 
 longer to tolerate. The manner in which 
 their candidacy was decreed, the means 
 employed to give it convention formality, 
 the obligations which they incur by it, the 
 political methods with which it identifies 
 them, and the political and personal plans 
 for which their official influence would be 
 required, all oin to make it the most iin- 
 
CURRENT POLITICS.^ 
 
 313 
 
 perative public duty not to give them sup 
 port at this election under any circum 
 stances. 
 
 In closing this note, this committee 
 must express its regret, that, having con 
 sidered it desirable to make overtures to 
 the Independent Republicans, you should 
 have so far misapprehended the facts of 
 the situation. It is our desire to unite the 
 Republican party on the sure ground of 
 principle, in the confidence that we are 
 thus serving it with the highest fidelity, and 
 preserving for the future service of the 
 Commonwealth that vitality of Repub 
 licanism which has made the party useful 
 in the past, and which alone confers upon 
 it now the right of continued existence. 
 The only method which promises this re 
 sult in the approaching election is that 
 proposed by the Independent Republican 
 candidates in their letter of July 13th, 
 1882, which was positively rejected by 
 your committee. 
 
 On behalf of the Independent Repub 
 lican State Committee of Pennsylvania, 
 
 I. D. McKEE, Chairman. 
 
 "With this communication ended all 
 efforts at conciliation. 
 ***##*** 
 
 The election followed, and the Demo 
 cratic ticket, headed by Robert E. Pattison 
 of Philadelphia, received an average 
 plurality of 40,000, and the Independent 
 Republican ticket received an average 
 vote of about 43,000 showing that while 
 Independence organized did not do as well 
 in a gubernatorial as it had in a previous 
 off-year, it yet had force enough to defeat 
 the Republican State ticket headed by 
 Gen. James A. Beaver. All of the three 
 several State tickets were composed of 
 able men, and the force of both of the 
 Republican tickets on the hustings excited 
 great interest and excitement ; yet the 
 Republican vote, owing to the division, 
 was not out by nearly one hundred thou 
 sand, and fifty thousand more Republicans 
 than Democrats remained at home, many 
 of them purposely. In New York, where 
 dissatisfaction had no rallying point, about 
 two hundred thousand Republicans re 
 mained at home, some because of anger at 
 the defeat of Gov. Cornell in the State 
 nominating convention some in protest 
 against the National Administrations, 
 which was accused of the desire for direct 
 endorsement where it presented the name 
 of Hon Chas. J. Folger, its Secretary of 
 the Treasury, as the home gubernatorial 
 candidate, others because of some of the 
 many reasons set forth in the bill of 
 complaints which enumerates the causes 
 of the dissatisfaction within the party. 
 
 At this writing the work of Republican 
 repair is going on. Both the Senate and 
 
 House at Washington are giving active 
 work to the passage of a tariff bill, the re 
 peal of the revenue taxes, and the passage 
 of a two-cent letter postage bill measures 
 anxiously hastened by the Republicans in 
 order to anticipate friendly and defeat un 
 friendly attempts on the part of the 
 Democratic House, which comes in with 
 the first session of the 48th Congress. 
 
 In Pennsylvania, as we close this review 
 of the struggle of 1882, the Regular and 
 Independent Republican State Committees 
 at least the heads thereof are devising 
 a plan to jointly call a Republican State 
 Convention to nominate the State ticket 
 to be voted for in November, 1883. The 
 groundswell was so great that it had no 
 sooner passed, than Republicans of all 
 shades of opinion, felt the need of har 
 monious action, and the leaders every 
 where set themselves to the work of repair. 
 
 The Republicans in the South differed 
 from those of the North in the fact that 
 their complaints were all directed against 
 a natural political enemy the Bourbons 
 and wherever there was opportunity they 
 favored and entered into movements with 
 Independent and Readjuster Democrats, 
 with the sole object of revolutionizing 
 political affairs in the South. Their suc 
 cess in these combinations was only great 
 in Virginia, but it proved to be promising 
 in North Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisi 
 ana, and may take more definite and 
 generalshape in the great campaign of 1884. 
 
 The Democratic party was evidently 
 surprised at its great victory in 1882, and 
 has not yet formally resolved what it will 
 do with it. The Congress beginning with 
 December, 1883, will doubtless give some 
 indication of the drift of Democratic 
 events. 
 
 The most notable law passed in the 
 closing session of the 47th Congress, was 
 the Civil Service Reform Bill, introduced 
 by Senator Geo. H. Pendleton of Ohio, 
 but prepared under the direction of the 
 Senate Judiciary Committee. The Re 
 publicans, feeling that there was some 
 public demand for the passage of a 
 measure of the kind, eagerly rushed to its 
 support, at a time when it was apparent 
 that the spoils of office might slip from 
 their hands. From opposite motives the 
 Democrats, who had previously encour 
 aged, now ran away from it, but it passed 
 both Houses with almost a solid Repub 
 lican vote, a few Democrats in each House 
 voting with them. President Arthur 
 signed the bill, but at this writing the 
 Commission which it creates has not been 
 appointed, and of course none of the rules 
 and constructions under the act have been 
 formulated. Its basic principles are fixed 
 tenure in minor places, competitive ex 
 aminations, and non-partisan selections. 
 
: PART III. 
 POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 COMPARISONS AND DESCRIPTION OF ALL LEADING ISSUE& 
 WITH TABLES FOR READY REFERENCE. 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 THE FIRST POLITICAL PLATFORM ENUNCIATED IN THE UNITED STATES TO 
 COMMAND GENERAL ATTENTION WAS DRAWN BY MR. MADISON IN 1798, WHOSE 
 OBJECT WAS TO PliO_*OWCE THE ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS UNCONSTITU 
 TIONAL, AND TO DEFINE THE RIGHTS OF THE STATES. 
 
 Virginia Resolutions of 1798. 
 
 Pronouncing the Alien and Sedition Laws to be unconstitu 
 tional, and Defining tlte rights of the States. Drawn by 
 Jfr. Madison. 
 
 In the Virginia House of Delegates, 
 
 Friday, Lee. 21, 1798. 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly of 
 Virginia doth unequivocally express a 
 firm resolution to maintain and defend 
 the Constitution of the United States, and 
 the constitution of this state, against every 
 aggression t IT ier fc reign or domestic ; and 
 that they wi.i support the government of 
 the Unitet'. States in all measures war 
 ranted by the former. 
 
 That this Assembly most solemnly de 
 clares a warm attachment to the Union of 
 the states, to maintain which it pledges its 
 powers ; and, that for this end, it is their 
 duty to watch over and oppose every in 
 fraction of those principles which consti 
 tute the only basis of that Union, because 
 a faithful observance of them can alone 
 secure its existence and the public happi 
 ness. 
 
 That this Assembly doth explicitly and 
 peremptorily declare, that it views the 
 powers of the federal government, as re 
 sulting from the compact to which the 
 states are parties, as limited by the plain 
 sense and intention of the instrument con 
 stituting that compact, as no farther valid 
 than they are authorized by the grants 
 enumerated in that compact ; and that in 
 case of a deliberate, palpable, and dan 
 gerous exercise of other powers, not granted 
 by the said compact, the states, who are 
 parties thereto, have the right, and are in 
 duty bound, to interpose, for arresting the 
 
 progress of the evil, and for maintaining 
 within their respective limits the authori 
 ties, rights, and liberties appertaining to 
 them. 
 
 That the General Assembly doth also 
 express its deep regret, that a spirit has, 
 in sundry instances, been manifested by 
 the federal government, to enlarge its 
 powers By forced constructions of the con 
 stitutional charter which defines them; 
 and, that indications have appeared of a 
 design to expound certain general phrases 
 (which, having been copied from the very 
 limited grant of powers in the former Ar 
 ticles of Confederation, were the less liable 
 to be misconstrued) so as to destroy the 
 meaning and effect of the particular 
 enumeration which necessarily explains, 
 and limits the general phrases, and so as 
 to consolidate the states by degrees into 
 one sovereignty, the obvious tendency and 
 inevitable result of which would be, to 
 transform the present republican system 
 of the United States into an absolute, or at 
 best, a mixed monarchy. 
 
 That the General Assembly doth par 
 ticularly protest against the palpable and 
 alarming infractions of the Constitution, 
 in the two late cases of the "Alien and 
 Sedition Acts," passed at the last session 
 of Congress ; the first of which exercises a 
 power nowhere delegated to the federal 
 government, and which, by uniting legis 
 lative and judicial powers to those of 
 executive, subverts the general principles 
 of free government, as well as the particu 
 lar organization and positive provisions of 
 the Federal Constitution; and the other 
 
 3 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 of which acts exercises, in like manner, a 
 power not delegated by the Constitution, 
 but on the contrary, expressly and posi 
 tively forbidden by one of the amendments 
 thereto ; a power which, more than any 
 other, ought to produce universal alarm, 
 because it is levelled against the right of 
 freely examining public characters and 
 measures, and of free communication 
 among the people thereon, which has ever 
 been justly deemed the only effectual 
 guardian of every other right. 
 
 That this state having by its Conven 
 tion, which ratified the Federal Constitu 
 tion, expressly declared, that among other 
 essential rights, " the liberty of conscience 
 and the press cannot be cancelled, abridged, 
 restrained, or modified by any authority 
 of the United States," and from its extreme 
 anxiety to guard these rights from every 
 possible attack of sophistry and ambition, 
 having with other states recommended an 
 amendment for that purpose, which amend 
 ment was, in due time, annexed to the 
 Constitution, it would mark a reproachful 
 inconsistency, and criminal degeneracy, if 
 an indifference were now shown to the 
 most palpable violation of one of the 
 rights, thus declared and secured ; and to 
 the establishment of a precedent which 
 may be fatal to the other. 
 
 That the good people of this common 
 wealth, having ever felt, and continuing to 
 feel the most sincere affection for their 
 brethren of the other states; the truest 
 anxiety for establishing and perpetuating 
 the Union of all : and the most scrupulous 
 fidelity to that Constitution, which is the 
 pledge of mutual friendship, and the in 
 strument of mutual happiness ; the General 
 Assembly doth solemnly appeal to the like 
 dispositions in the other fetates, in confi 
 dence that they will concur with this com 
 monwealth, in declaring, as it does hereby 
 declare, that the acts aforesaid are uncon 
 stitutional; and, that the necessary and 
 proper measures will be taken by each for 
 co-operating with this state, in maintain 
 ing unimpaired the authorities, rights, and 
 'iberties, reserved to the states, respectively, 
 or to the people. 
 
 That the governor be desired to transmit 
 a copy of the foregoing resolutions to the 
 executive authority of each of the other 
 states, with a request that the same may be 
 communicated to the legislature thereof; 
 and that a copy be furnished to each of the 
 Senators and Representatives representing 
 this state in the Congress of the United 
 States. 
 
 Attest, JOHN STEWART. 
 
 1798. December 24th. Agreed to by the 
 Senate. H. BROOKE. 
 
 A true copy from the original deposited 
 in the office of the General Assembly. 
 JOHN STEWART, Keeper of Rolls. 
 
 Extracts from the Address to the People, 
 which accompanied the foregoing resolu 
 tions : 
 
 Fellow - Citizens : Unwilling to shrink 
 from our representative responsibility, 
 conscious of the purity of our motives, but 
 acknowledging your right to supervise our 
 conduct, we invite your serious attention 
 to the emergency which dictated the sub 
 joined resolutions. Whilst we disdain to 
 alarm you by ill-founded jealousies, we i 
 recommend an investigation, guided by 
 the coolness of wisdom, and a decision bot 
 tomed, on firmness but tempered with 
 moderation. 
 
 It would be perfidious in those intrusted 
 with the guardianship of the state sover 
 eignty, and acting under the solemn obliga 
 tion of the following oath : " I do swear, 
 that I will support the Constitution of the 
 United States," not to warn you of encroach 
 ments, which, though clothed with the 
 pretext of necessity, or disguised by argu 
 ments of expediency, may yet establish 
 precedents, which may ultimately devote a 
 generous and unsuspicious people to all 
 the consequences of usurped power. 
 
 Encroachments, springing from a govern 
 ment whose organization cannot be main 
 tained without the co-operation of the 
 states, furnish the strongest incitements 
 upon the state legislatures to watchfulness, 
 and impose upon them the strongest obliga 
 tion to preserve unimpaired the line of 
 partition. 
 
 The acquiescence of the states under in 
 fractions of the federal compact, would 
 either beget a speedy consolidation, by 
 precipitating the state governments into 
 impotency and contempt ; or prepare the 
 way for a revolution, by a repetition of 
 these infractions, until the people are 
 aroused to appear in the majesty of their 
 strength. It is to avoid these calamities, 
 that we exhibit to the people the momen 
 tous question, whether the Constitution of 
 the United States shall yield to a construc 
 tion which defies every restraint and over 
 whelms the best hopes of republicanism. 
 
 Exhortations to disregard domestic usur 
 pations until foreign danger shall have 
 passed, is an artifice which may be for ever 
 used ; because the possessors of power, who 
 are the advocates for its extension, can 
 ever create national embarrassments, to be 
 successively employed to soothe the people 
 into sleep, whilst that power is swelling 
 silently, secretly, and fatally. Of the same 
 character are insinuations of a foreign in 
 fluence, which seize upon a laudable en 
 thusiasm against danger from a broad, and 
 distort it by an unnatural application, so 
 as to blind your eyes against danger at 
 home. 
 
 The sedition act presents a scene which 
 was never expected by the early friends of 
 the Constitution. It was then admitted 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 that the state sovereignties were only di 
 minished by powers specifically enumer 
 ated, or necessary to carry the specified 
 powers into effect. Now federal authority 
 is deduced from implication, and from the 
 existence of state law it is inferred that 
 Congress possesses a similar power of legis 
 lation ; whence Congress will be endowed 
 with a power of legislation in all cases 
 whatsoever, and the states will be stript of 
 every right reserved by the concurrent 
 claims of a paramount legislature. 
 
 The sedition act is the offspring of these 
 tremendous pretensions, which inflict a 
 death wound on the sovereignty of these 
 states. 
 
 For the honor of American understand 
 ing, we will not believe that the people 
 have been allured into the adoption of the 
 Constitution by an affectation of denning 
 powers, whilst the preamble would admit 
 a construction which would erect the will 
 of Congress into a power paramount in all 
 cases, and therefore limited in none. On 
 the contrary, it is evident that the objects 
 for which the Constitution was formed 
 were deemed attainable only by a particu 
 lar enumeration and specification of each 
 power granted to the federal government ; 
 reserving all others to the people, or to the 
 states. And yet it is in vain we search for 
 any specified power, embracing the right 
 of legislation against the freedom of the 
 press. 
 
 Had the states been despoiled of their 
 sovereignty by the generality of the 
 
 Ereamble, and had the federal government 
 een endowed with whatever they should 
 judge to be instrumental towards union, 
 justice, tranquillity, common defence, gen 
 eral welfare, and the preservation of liberty 
 nothing could have been more frivolous 
 than an enumeration of powers. 
 
 All the preceding arguments rising from 
 a deficiency of constitutional power in Con 
 gress, apply to the alien act, and this act is 
 liable to other objections peculiar to itself. 
 If a suspicion that aliens are dangerous 
 constitute the justification of that power 
 exercised over them by Congress, then a 
 similar suspicion will justify the exercise 
 of a similar power over natives. Because 
 there is nothing in the Constitution dis 
 tinguishing between the power of a state to 
 permit the residence of natives and aliens. 
 It is therefore a right originally possessed, 
 and never surrendered by the respective 
 states, and which is rendered dear and 
 valuable to Virginia, because it is assailed 
 through the bosom of the Constitution, 
 and because her peculiar situation renders 
 the easy admission of artisans and labor 
 ers an interest of vast importance. 
 
 But this bill contains other features, still 
 more alarming and dangerous. It dispen 
 ses with the trial by jury : it violates the 
 judicial system; it confounds legislative, 
 
 executive, and judicial powers ; it punishes 
 without trial; and it bestows upon the 
 President despotic power over a numerous 
 class of men. Are such measures consistent 
 with our constitutional principles? And 
 will an accumulation of power so extensive 
 in the hands of the executive, over aliens, 
 secure to natives the blessings of republi 
 can liberty ? 
 
 If measures can mould governments, 
 and if an uncontrolled power of construc 
 tion is surrendered to those who administer 
 them, their progress may be easily foreseen 
 and their end easily foretold. A lover of 
 monarchy, who opens the treasures of cor 
 ruption, by distributing emolument among 
 devoted partisans, may at the same time be 
 approaching his object, and deluding the 
 people with professions of republicanism. 
 He may confound monarchy and republic 
 anism, by the art of definition. He may 
 varnish over the dexterity which ambition 
 never fails to display, with the pliancy of 
 language, the seduction of expediency, or 
 the prejudices of the times. And he may 
 come at length to avow that so extensive 
 a territory as that of the United States can 
 only be governed by the energies ^of mon 
 archy ; that it cannot be defended, except 
 by standing armies ; and that it cannot be 
 united, except by consolidation. 
 
 Measures have already been adopted 
 which may lead to these consequences. 
 They consist: 
 
 In fiscal systems and arrangements, which 
 keep a host of commercial and wealthy 
 individuals, embodied and obedient to the 
 mandates of the treasury. 
 
 In armies and navies, which will, on the 
 one hand, enlist the tendency of man to 
 pay homage to his fellow-creature who can 
 feed or honor him ; and on the other, em 
 ploy the principle of fear, by punishing 
 imaginary insurrections, under the pretext 
 of preventive justice. 
 
 In swarms of officers, civil and military, 
 who can inculcate political tenets tending 
 to consolidation and monarchy, both by 
 indulgences and severities ; and can act as 
 spies over the free exercise of human reason. 
 
 In restraining the freedom of the press, 
 and investing the executive with legisla 
 tive, executive, and judicial powers, over 
 a numerous body of men. 
 
 And, that we may shorten the catalogue, 
 in establishing by successive precedents 
 such a mode of construing the Constitution 
 as will rapidly remove every restraint upon 
 federal power. 
 
 Let history be consulted ; let the man of 
 experience reflect ; nay, let the artificers 
 of monarchy be asked what farther mate 
 rials they can need for building up their 
 favorite system? 
 
 These are solemn, but painful truths; 
 and yet we recommend it to you not to for 
 get the possibility of danger from without, 
 
6 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 although danger threatens us from within. 
 Usurpation is indeed dreadful, but against 
 foreign invasion, if that should happen, let 
 us rise with hearts and hands united, and 
 repel the attack with the zeal of freemen, 
 who will strengthen their title to examine 
 and correct domestic measures by having 
 defended their country against foreign ag 
 gression. 
 
 Pledged as we are, fellow-citizens, to 
 these sacred engagements, we yet humbly 
 and fervently implore the Almighty Dis 
 poser of events to avert from our land war 
 and usurpation, the scourges of mankind ; 
 to permit our fields to be cultivated in 
 peace ; to instill into nations the love of 
 friendly intercourse ; to suffer our youth to 
 be educated in virtue ; and to preserve our 
 morality from the pollution invariably in 
 cident to habits of war ; to prevent the 
 laborer and husbandman from being har 
 assed by taxes and imposts; to remove 
 from ambition the means of disturbing the 
 commonwealth; to annihilate all pretexts 
 for power afforded by war; to maintain 
 the Constitution ; and to bless our nation 
 with tranquillity, under whose benign in 
 fluence we may reach the summit of hap 
 piness and glory, to which we are destined 
 by Nature and Nature's God. 
 
 Attest, JOHN STEWART, C. H. D. 
 
 1799, Jan. 23. Agreed to by the Senate. 
 
 H. BROOKE, C. S. 
 
 A true copy from the original, deposited 
 in the office of the General Assembly. 
 JOHN STEWART, Keeper of Eolls. 
 
 Answers of the several State Legislatures. 
 
 STATE OF DELAWARE. In the House 
 of Representatives, Feb. 1, 1799. Resolved, 
 By the Senate and House of Representa 
 tives of the state of Delaware, in General 
 Assembly met, that they consider the reso 
 lutions from the state of Virginia as a very 
 unjustifiable interference with the general 
 government and constituted authorities of 
 the United States, and of dangerous tend 
 ency, and therefore not fit subject for the 
 further consideration of the General As 
 sembly. 
 
 ISAAC DAYIS, Speaker of the Senate. 
 
 STEPHEN LEWIS, Speaker of the H. of 
 R's. Test- 
 
 JOHN FISHER, C. S. 
 JOHN CALDWELL, C. H. R. 
 
 STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROV 
 IDENCE PLANTATIONS. In General As 
 sembly, February, A. D. 1799. Certain 
 resolutions of the Legislature of Virginia, 
 passed on 21st of December last, being 
 communicated to this Assembly, 
 
 1. Resolved, That in the opinion of this 
 legislature, the second section of third ar 
 ticle of the Constitution of the United 
 States in these words, to wit : The judi 
 cial power shall extend to all cases arising 
 under the laws of the United States, vests 
 in the federal courts, exclusively, and in 
 the Supreme Court of the United States 
 ultimately, the authority of deciding on 
 the constitutionality of any act or law of 
 the Congress of the United States. 
 
 2. Resolved, That for any state legisla 
 ture to assume that authority, would be, 
 
 1st. Blending together legislative and 
 judicial powers. 
 
 2d. Hazarding an interruption of the 
 peace of the states by civil discord, in case 
 of a diversity of opinions among the state 
 legislatures ; each state having, in that 
 case, no resort for vindicating its own 
 opinions, but to the strength of its own 
 arm. 
 
 3d. Submitting most important ques 
 tions of law to less competent tribunals. ; 
 and 
 
 4th. An infraction of the Constitution 
 of the United States, expressed in plain 
 terms. 
 
 3. Resolved, That although for the above 
 reasons, this legislature, in their public 
 capacity, do not feel themselves authorized 
 to consider and decide on the constitu 
 tionality of the sedition and alien laws (so 
 called) ; yet they are called upon by the 
 exigency of this occasion, to declare, that 
 in their private opinions, these laws are 
 within the powers delegated to Congress, 
 and promotive of the welfare of the Uni 
 ted States. 
 
 4. Resolved, That the governor commu 
 nicate these resolutions to the supreme ex 
 ecutive of the state of Virginia, and at the 
 same time express to him that this legisla 
 ture cannot contemplate, without extreme 
 concern and regret, the many evil and 
 fatal consequences which may flow from 
 the very unwarrantable resolutions afore 
 said, of the legislature of Virginia, passed 
 on the twenty-first day of December last. 
 
 A true copy. SAMUEL EDDY, Sec. 
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 In Senate, Feb. 9, 1799. The legisla 
 ture of Massachusetts having taken into 
 serious consideration the resolutions of the 
 State of Virginia, passed the 21st day of 
 December last, and communicated by 
 his excellency the governor, relative to 
 certain supposed infractions of the Con 
 stitution of the United States, by the gov 
 ernment thereof, and being convinced that 
 the Federal Constitution is calculated to 
 promote the happiness, prosperity, and 
 safety of the people of these United States, 
 and to maintain that union of the several 
 states, so essential to the welfare of the 
 whole ; and being bound by solemn oath 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 to support and defend that Constitution, 
 feel it unnecessary to make any professions 
 of their attachment to it, or of their firm 
 determination to support it against every 
 aggression, foreign or domestic. 
 
 But they deem it their duty solemnly to 
 declare, that while they hold sacred the 
 principle, that consent of the people is the 
 only pure source of just and legitimate 
 power, they cannot admit the right of the 
 state legislatures to denounce the adminis 
 tration of that government to which the 
 people themselves, by a solemn compact, 
 have exclusively committed their national 
 concerns : That, although a liberal and 
 enlightened vigilance among the people is 
 always to be cherished, yet an unreasona 
 ble jealousy of the men of their choice, 
 and a recurrence to measures of extremity, 
 upon groundless or trivial pretexts, have a 
 strong tendency to destroy all rational lib 
 erty at home, and to deprive the United 
 States of the most essential advantages in 
 their relations abroad : That this legisla 
 ture are persuaded that the decision of all 
 cases in law and equity, arising under the 
 Constitution of the United States, and the 
 construction of all laws made in pursu 
 ance thereof, are exclusively vested by the 
 people in the judicial courts of the United 
 States. 
 
 That the people in that solemn compact, 
 which is declared to be the supreme law 
 of the land, have not constituted the state 
 legislatures the judges of the acts or mea 
 sures of the federal government, but have 
 confided to them the power of proposing 
 such amendments of the Constitution, as 
 shall appear to them necessary to the in 
 terests, or conformable to the wishes of 
 the people whom they represent. 
 
 That by this construction of the Con 
 stitution, an amicable and dispassionate 
 remedy is pointed out for any evil which 
 experience may prove to exist, and the 
 peace and prosperity of the United States 
 may be preserved without interruption. 
 
 But, should the respectable state of Vir 
 ginia persist in the assumption of the 
 right to declare the acts of the national 
 government unconstitutional, and should 
 she oppose successfully her force and will 
 to those of the nation, the Constitution 
 would be reduced to a mere cipher, to the 
 form and pageantry of authority, without 
 the energy of power. Every act of the 
 federal government which thwarted the 
 views or checked the ambitious projects of 
 a particular state, or of its leading and in 
 fluential members, would be the object of 
 opposition and of remonstrance ; while 
 the people, convulsed and confused by the 
 conflict between two hostile jurisdictions, 
 enjoying the protection of neither, would 
 be wearied into a submission to some bold 
 leader, who would establish himself on the 
 ruins of both. 
 21 
 
 The legislature of Massachusetts, al 
 though they do not themselves claim the 
 right, nor admit the authority of any of 
 the state governments, to decide upon the 
 constitutionality of the acts of the federal 
 government, still, lest their silence should 
 be construed into disapprobation, or at 
 best into a doubt of the constitutionality 
 of the acts referred to by the State of Vir 
 ginia ; and, as the General Assembly of 
 Virginia has called for an expression of 
 their sentiments, do explicitly declare, that 
 they consider the acts of Congress, com 
 monly called "the alien and sedition acts," 
 not only constitutional, but expedient and 
 necessary: That the former act respects 
 a description of persons whose rights were 
 not particularly contemplated in the Con 
 stitution of the United States, who are en 
 titled only to a temporary protection, 
 while they yield a temporary allegiance ; 
 a protection which ought to be withdrawn 
 whenever they become " dangerous to the 
 public safety," or are found guilty of 
 " treasonable machination " against the 
 government : That Congress having been 
 especially intrusted by the people with the 
 general defence of the nation, had not onlj 
 the right, but were bound to protect it 
 against internal as well as external foes. 
 That the United States, at the time of pass 
 ing the act concerning aliens, were threat 
 ened with actual invasion, had been driv 
 en by the unjust and ambitious conduct of 
 the French government into warlike pre 
 parations, expensive and burthensome, and 
 had then, within the bosom of the coun 
 try, thousands of aliens, who, we doubt 
 not, were ready to co-operate in any ex 
 ternal attack. 
 
 It cannot be seriously believed, that the 
 United States should have waited till the 
 poignard had in fact been plunged. The 
 removal of aliens is the usual preliminary 
 of hostility, and is justified by the invari 
 able usages of nations. Actual hostility 
 had unhappily long been experienced, and 
 a formal declaration of it the government 
 had reason daily to expect. The law, 
 therefore, was just and salutary, and no 
 officer could, with so much propriety, be 
 intrusted with the execution of it, as the 
 one in whom the Constitution has reposed 
 the executive power of the United States. 
 
 The sedition act, so called, is, in the 
 opinion of this legislature, equally defen 
 sible. The General Assembly of Virginia, 
 in their resolve under consideration, ob 
 serve, that when that state by its conven 
 tion ratified the Federal Constitution, it 
 expressly declared, "That, among other 
 essential rights, the liberty of conscience 
 and of the press cannot be cancelled, 
 abridged, restrained, or modified by any 
 authority of the United States," and from 
 its extreme anxiety to guard these rights 
 from every possible attack of sophistry or 
 
8 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 ambition, with other states, recommend 
 an amendment for that purpose : which 
 amendment was, in due time, annexed to 
 the Constitution ; but they did not surely 
 expect that the proceedings of their state 
 convention were to explain the amend 
 ment adopted by the Union. The words 
 of that amendment, on this subject, are, 
 " Congress shall make no law abridging 
 the freedom of speech or of the press." 
 
 The act complained of is no abridgment 
 of the freedom of either. The genuine 
 liberty of speech and the press, is the lib 
 erty to utter and publish the truth ; but 
 the constitutional right of the citizen to 
 utter and publish the truth, is not to be 
 confounded with the licentiousness in 
 speaking and writing, that is only em 
 ployed in propagating falsehood and slan 
 der. This freedom of the press has been 
 explicitly secured by most, if not all, the 
 state constitutions ; and of this provision 
 there has been generally but one construc 
 tion among enlightened men ; that it is a 
 security for the rational use and not the 
 abuse of the press ; of which the courts of 
 law, the juries, and people will judge; this 
 right is not infringed, but confirmed and 
 established by the late act of Congress. 
 
 By the Constitution, the legislative, ex 
 ecutive, and judicial departments of gov 
 ernment are ordained and established ; 
 and general enumerated powers vested in 
 them respectively, including those which 
 are prohibited to the several states. Cer 
 tain powers are granted in general terms 
 by the people to their general government, 
 for the purposes of their safety and protec 
 tion. The government is not only em 
 powered, but it is made their duty to re 
 pel invasions and suppress insurrections ; 
 to guaranty to the several states a repub 
 lican form of government ; to protect each 
 state against invasion, and, when applied 
 to, against domestic violence ; to hear and 
 decide all cases in law and equity, arising 
 under the Constitution, and under any 
 treaty or law made in pursuance thereof; 
 and all cases of admiralty and maritime 
 jurisdiction, and relating to the law of na 
 tions. Whenever, therefore, it becomes 
 necessary to effect any of the objects de 
 signated, it is perfectly consonant to all 
 just rules of construction, to infer, that the 
 usual means and powers necessary to the 
 attainment of that object, are also granted : 
 But the Constitution has left no occasion 
 to resort to implication for these powers ; 
 it has made an express grant of them, in 
 fee 8th section of the first article, which 
 ordains, " That Congress shall have power 
 to make all laws which shall be necessary 
 and proper for carrying into execution the 
 foregoing powers, and all other powers 
 vested by the Constitution in the govern 
 ment of the United States or in any de 
 partment or officer thereof." 
 
 This Constitution has established a Su 
 preme Court of the United States, but has 
 made no provisions for its protection, even 
 against such improper conduct in its pres 
 ence, as might disturb its proceedings, un 
 less expressed in the section before recited. 
 But as no statute has been passed on this 
 subject, this protection is, and has been 
 for nine years past, uniformly found in the 
 application of the principles and usages of 
 the common law. The same protection 
 may unquestionably be afforded by a stat 
 ute passed in virtue of the before-men 
 tioned section, as necessary and proper, for 
 carrying into execution the powers vested 
 in that department. A construction of 
 the different parts of the Constitution, per 
 fectly just and fair, will, on analogous 
 principles, extend protection and security 
 against the offences in question, to the 
 other departments of government, in dis 
 charge of their respective trusts. 
 
 The President of the United States is 
 bound by his oath " to preserve, protect, 
 and defend the Constitution," and it is ex 
 pressly made his duty, " to take care that 
 the laws be faithfully executed ; " but this 
 would be impracticable by any created 
 being, if there could be no legal restraint 
 of those scandalous misrepresentations of 
 his measures and motives, which directly 
 tend to rob him of the public confidence. 
 And equally impotent would be every 
 other public officer, if thus left to the mercy 
 of the seditious. 
 
 It is holden to be a truth most clear, that 
 the important trusts before enumerated 
 cannot be discharged by the government 
 to which they are committed, without the 
 power to restrain seditious practices and 
 unlawful combinations against itself, and 
 to protect the officers thereof from abusive 
 misrepresentations. Had the Constitution 
 withheld this power, it would have made 
 the government responsible for the effects 
 without any control over the causes which 
 naturally produce them, and would have 
 essentially failed of answering the great 
 ends for which the people of the United 
 States declare, in the first clause of that in 
 strument, that they establish the same, 
 viz : " To form a more perfect union, es 
 tablish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, 
 provide for the common defence, promote 
 the general warfare, and secure the bless 
 ings of liberty to ourselves and posterity." 
 
 Seditious practices and unlawful combi 
 nations against the federal government, or 
 any officer thereof, in the performance of 
 his duty, as well as licentiousness of speech 
 and of the press, were punishable on the 
 principles of common law in the courts of 
 the United States, before the act in ques 
 tion was passed. This act then is an ame 
 lioration of that law in favor of the party 
 accused, as it mitigates the punishment 
 which that authorizes, and admits of any 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 9 
 
 investigation of public men and measures 
 which is regulated by truth. It is not in 
 tended to protect men in office, only as 
 they are agents of the people. Its object 
 is to afford legal security to public offices 
 and trusts created for the safety and hap 
 piness of the people, and therefore the se 
 curity derived from it is for the benefit of 
 the people, and is their right. 
 
 The construction of the Constitution and 
 of the existing law of the land, as well as 
 the act complained of, the legislature of 
 Massachusetts most deliberately and firmly 
 believe results from a just and full view of 
 the several parts of the Constitution : and 
 they consider that act to be wise and ne 
 cessary, as an audacious and unprincipled 
 spirit of falsehood and abuse had been too 
 long unremittingly exerted for the pur 
 pose of perverting public opinion, and 
 threatened to undermine and destroy the 
 whole fabric of government. 
 
 The legislature further declare, that in 
 the foregoing sentiments they have ex 
 pressed the general opinion of their consti 
 tuents, who have not only acquiesced 
 without complaint in those particular 
 measures of the federal government, but 
 have given their explicit approbation by 
 re-electing those men who voted for the 
 adoption of them. Nor is it apprehended, 
 that the citizens of this state will be ac 
 cused of supineness or of an indifference 
 to their constitutional rights; for while, 
 on the one hand, they regard with due vi 
 gilance the conduct of the government, on 
 the other, their freedom, safety and happi 
 ness require, that they should defend that 
 government and its constitutional mea 
 sures against the open or insidious attacks 
 of any foe, whether foreign or domestic. 
 
 And, lastly, that the legislature of Mas- 
 Bacnusetts feel a strong conviction, that 
 the several United States are connected 
 by a common interest which ought to ren 
 der their union indissoluble, and that this 
 state will always co-operate with its con 
 federate states in rendering that union pro 
 ductive of mutual security, freedom, and 
 happiness. 
 
 Bent down for concurrence. 
 
 SAMUEL PHILIPS, President 
 
 In the House of Representatives. Feb. 
 13, 1799. 
 Read and concurred. 
 
 EDWARD H. ROBBINS, Speaker. 
 A true copy. Attest, 
 
 JOHN A VERY, Secretary. 
 
 STATE OF NEW YORK. In Senate, 
 March 5, 1799. Whereas, the people of 
 the United States have established for 
 themselves a free and independent national 
 government: And whereas it is essential 
 to the existence of every government, that 
 it have authority to defend and preserve 
 
 its constitutional powers inviolate, inas 
 much as every infringement thereof tends 
 to its subversion: And whereas the judi 
 cial power extends expressly to all cases of 
 law and equity arising under the Consti 
 tution and the laws of the United States 
 whereby the interference of the legislatures 
 of the particular states in those cases is 
 manifestly excluded: And whereas our 
 peace, prosperity, and happiness, eminent 
 ly depend on the preservation of the Union, 
 in order to which, a reasonable confidence 
 in the constituted authorities and chosen 
 representatives of the people is indispen 
 sable : And whereas every measure calcu 
 lated to weaken that confidence has a ten 
 dency to destroy the usefulness of our pub 
 lic functionaries, and to excite jealousies 
 equally hostile to rational liberty, and the 
 principles of a good republican govern 
 ment : And whereas the Senate, not per 
 ceiving that the rights of the particular 
 states have been violated, nor any uncon 
 stitutional powers assumed by the general 
 government, cannot forbear to express the 
 anxiety and regret with which they observe 
 the inflammatory and pernicious senti 
 ments and doctrines which are contained 
 in the resolutions of the legislatures of 
 Virginia and Kentucky sentiments and 
 doctrines, no less repugnant to the Consti 
 tution of the United States, and the prin 
 ciples of their union, than destructive to 
 the Federal government and unjust to 
 those whom the people have elected to ad 
 minister it: wherefore, Resolved, That 
 while the Senate feel themselves con 
 strained to bear unequivocal testimony 
 against such sentiments and doctrines, 
 they deem it a duty no less indispensable, 
 explicitly to declare their incompetency, as 
 a branch of the legislature of this state, to su 
 pervise the acts of the general government. 
 
 Resolved, That his Excellency, the . 
 Governor, be, and he is hereby requested 
 to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolu 
 tion to the executives of the states of Vir 
 ginia and Kentucky, to the end that the 
 same may be communicated to the legisla 
 tures thereof. 
 
 A true copy. 
 
 ABM. B. BAUCKER, Clerk. 
 
 STATE OF CONNECTICUT. At a General 
 Assembly of the state of Connecticut, 
 holden at Hartford, in the said state, on 
 the second Thursday of May, Anno Domi 
 ni 1799, his excellency the governor hav 
 ing communicated to this assembly sundry 
 resolutions of the legislature of Virginia, 
 adopted in December, 1798, which relate 
 to the measures of the general government ; 
 and the said resolutions having been con 
 sidered, it is 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly views with 
 deep regret, and explicitly disavows, the 
 principles contained in the aforesaid reao- 
 
10 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 lutions; and particularly the opposition 
 to the "Alien and Sedition Acts" acts 
 which the Constitution authorized ; which 
 the exigency of the country rendered ne 
 cessary ; which the constituted authorities 
 have enacted, and which merit the entire 
 approbation of this Assembly. They, 
 therefore, decidedly refuse to concur with 
 the legislature of Virginia, in promoting 
 any of the objects attempted in the afore 
 said resolutions. 
 
 And it is further resolved, That his ex 
 cellency the governor be requested to trans 
 mit a copy of the foregoing resolution to 
 the governor of Virginia, that it may be 
 communicated to the legislature of that 
 state. 
 
 Passed in the House of Kepresentatives 
 unanimously. 
 
 Attest, JOHN C. SMITH, Clerk. 
 
 Concurred, unanimously, in the upper 
 House. 
 
 Teste, SAM. WYLLYS, Sec'y. 
 
 STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. In the 
 House of Representatives, June 14, 1799. 
 The committee to take into considera 
 tion the resolutions of the General Assem 
 bly of Virginia, dated December 21, 1798 ; 
 also certain resolutions of the legislature of 
 Kentucky, of the 10th of November, 1798; 
 report as follows : 
 
 The legislature of New Hampshire, hav 
 ing taken into consideration certain reso 
 lutions of the General Assembly of Vir 
 ginia, dated December 21, 1798 ; also cer 
 tain resolutions of the legislature of Ken 
 tucky, of the 10th of November, 1798, 
 
 Resolved, That the legislature of New 
 Hampshire unequivocally express a firm 
 resolution to maintain and defend the Con 
 stitution of the United States, and the con 
 stitution of this state, against every aggres 
 sion, either foreign or domestic, and that 
 they will support the government of the 
 United States in all measures warranted 
 by the former. 
 
 That the state legislatures are not the 
 proper tribunals to determine the consti 
 tutionality of the laws of the general gov 
 ernment ; that the duty of such decision is 
 properly and exclusively confided to the 
 judicial department. 
 
 That if the legislature of New Hamp 
 shire, for mere speculative purposes, were 
 to express an opinion on the acts of the 
 general government, commonly called 
 "'the Alien and Sedition Bills/' that 
 opinion would unreservedly be, that those 
 acts are constitutional and, in the present 
 critical situation of our country, highly ex 
 pedient. 
 
 That the constitutionality and expedi 
 ency of the acts aforesaid have been very 
 ably advocated and clearly demonstrated 
 by many citizens of the United States, more 
 especially? by the minority of the General 
 
 Assembly of Virginia. The legislature of 
 New Hampshire, therefore, deem it unne 
 cessary, by any train of arguments, to at 
 tempt further illustration of the proposi 
 tions, the truth of which, it is confidently 
 believed, at this day, is very generally seen 
 and acknowledged. 
 
 Which report, being read and considered, 
 was unanimously received and accepted, 
 one hundred and thirty-seven members 
 being present. 
 
 Sent up for concurrence. 
 
 JOHN PRENTICE, Speaker. 
 
 In Senate, same day, read and concurred 
 in unanimously. 
 
 AMOS SHEPARD, President. 
 
 Approved June 15, 1799. 
 
 J. T. GILMAN, Governor. 
 A true copy. 
 
 Attest, JOSEPH PEARSON, Sec'y. 
 
 STATE OF VERMONT. In the House of 
 Representatives, October 30, A. D. 1799. 
 The House proceeded to take under their 
 consideration the resolutions of the Gene 
 ral Assembly of Virginia, relative to cer 
 tain measures of the general government, 
 transmitted to the legislature of this state 
 for their consideration ; whereupon, 
 
 Resolved, that the General Assembly of 
 the state of Vermont do highly disapprove 
 of the resolutions of the General Assembly 
 of the state of Virginia, as being unconsti 
 tutional in their nature and dangerous in 
 their tendency. It belongs not to state 
 legiolatures to decide on the constitution 
 ality of the laws made by the general gov 
 ernment; this power being exclusively 
 vested in judiciary courts of the Union. 
 
 That his excellency the governor be re 
 quested to transmit a copy of this resolu 
 tion to the executive of Virginia, to be 
 communicated to the General Assembly of 
 that state; and that the same be sent to 
 the Governor and Council for their con 
 currence. 
 
 SAMUEL C. CRAFTS, Clerk. 
 
 In Council, October 30, 1799. Read and 
 concurred in unanimously. 
 
 RICHARD WHITNEY, Sec'y. 
 
 Resolutions of 1798 and 1799. 
 
 (The original draught prepared by Thomas Jefferson.) 
 
 The following resolutions passed the 
 House of Representatives of Kentucky, 
 Nov. 10, 1798. On the passage of the first 
 resolution, one dissentient; 2d, 3d, 4th, 
 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, two dissentients; 9th, 
 three dissentients. 
 
 1. Resolved, That the several states com 
 posing the United States of America, are 
 not united on the principle of unlimited 
 submission to their general government ; 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 11 
 
 but that by compact under the style and 
 title of a Constitution for the United States, 
 and of amendments thereto, they consti 
 tuted a general government for special pur 
 poses, delegated to that government certain 
 definite powers, reserving, each state to it 
 self, the residuary mass of right to their 
 own self-government : and, that whenso 
 ever the general government assumes un- 
 delegated powers, its acts are unauthorita- 
 tive, void, and of no force ; that to this 
 compact each state acceded as a state, and 
 is an integral party; that this govern 
 ment, created by this compact, was not 
 made the exclusive or final judge of the 
 extent of the powers delegated to itself; 
 since that would have made its discretion, 
 and not the Constitution, the measure of 
 its powers ; but, that as in all other cases 
 of compact among parties having no com 
 mon judge, each party has an equal right 
 to judge for itself, as well of infractions as 
 of the mode and measure of redress. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the Constitution of 
 the United States having delegated to Con 
 gress a power to punish treason, counter 
 feiting the securities and current coin of 
 the United States, piracies and felonies 
 committed on the high seas, and offences 
 against the laws of nations, and no other 
 crimes whatever ; and it being true, as a 
 general principle, and one of the amend 
 ments to the Constitution having alsq de 
 clared, " that the powers not delegated to 
 the United States by the Constitution, nor 
 prohibited by it to the states, are reserved 
 to the states respectively, or to the people," 
 therefore also the same act of Congress, 
 passed on the 14th day of July, 1798, and 
 entitled "An act in addition to the act 
 entitled An act for the punishment of cer 
 tain crimes against the United States ;" as 
 also the act passed by them on the 27th 
 day of June, 1798, entitled "An act to 
 punish frauds committed on the Bank of 
 the United States," (and all other their 
 acts which assume to create, define, or 
 punish crimes other than those enumerated 
 in the Constitution), are altogether void 
 and of no force, and that the power to 
 create, define, and punish such other crimes 
 is reserved, and of right appertains solely 
 and exclusively to the respective states, 
 each within its own territory. 
 
 3. Resolved, That it is true, as a general 
 principle, and is also expressly declared by 
 one of the amendments to the Constitution, 
 that "the powers not delegated to the 
 United States by the Constitution, nor pro 
 hibited by it to the states, are reserved to 
 the states respectively, or to the people ;" 
 and that no power over the freedom of re 
 ligion, freedom of speech, or freedom of 
 the press being delegated to the United 
 States by the Constitution, nor prohibited 
 by it to the states, all lawful powers respect 
 ing the same did of right remain, and were 
 
 reserved to the states or to the people ; that 
 thus was manifested their determination to 
 retain to themselves the right of judging 
 how far the licentiousness of speech and 
 of the press may be abridged without les 
 sening their useful freedom, and how far 
 those abuses which cannot be separated 
 from their use should be tolerated rather 
 than the use be destroyed ; and thus also 
 they guarded against all abridgment by the 
 United States, of the freedom of religious 
 principles and exercises, and retained to 
 themselves the right of protecting the same, 
 as this, stated by a law passed on the gen 
 eral demand of its citizens, had already 
 protected them from all human restraint or 
 interference : and that, in addition to this 
 general principle and express declaration, 
 another and more special provision has 
 been made by one of the amendments to 
 the Constitution, which expressly declares, 
 that " Congress shall make no laws respect 
 ing an establishment of religion, or pro 
 hibiting the free exercise thereof, or 
 abridging the freedom of speech, or of the 
 press," thereby guarding in the same sen 
 tence, and under the same words, the free 
 dom of religion, of speech, and of the 
 press, insomuch that whatever violates 
 either, throws down the sanctuary which 
 covers the others ; and that libels, false 
 hood, and defamation, equally with heresy 
 and false religion, are withheld from the 
 cognisance of federal tribunals. That there 
 fore the act of the Congress of the United 
 States, passed on the 14th of July, 1798, 
 entitled " An act in addition to the act en 
 titled An act for the punishment of certain 
 crimes against the United States," which 
 does abridge the freedom of the press, is 
 not law, but is altogether void and of no 
 force. 
 
 4. Resolved, That alien friends are under 
 the jurisdiction and protection of the lawa 
 of the state wherein they are: that no 
 power over them has been delegated to the 
 United States, nor prohibited to the indi 
 vidual states distinct from their power over 
 citizens ; and it being true, as a general 
 principle, and one of the amendments to 
 the Constitution having also declared, that 
 " the powers not delegated to the United 
 States by the Constitution, nor prohibited 
 to the states, are reserved to the states re 
 spectively, or to the people," the actof the 
 Congress of the United States, passed the 
 22d day of June, 1798, entitled " An act 
 concerning aliens," which assumes power 
 over alien friends not delegated by the Con 
 stitution, is not law, but is altogether void 
 and of no force. 
 
 5. Resolved, That in addition to the gen 
 eral principle as well as the express de 
 claration, that powers not delegated are re 
 served, another and more special provision 
 inferred in the Constitution, from abund 
 ant caution has declared, "that, the migra-; 
 
12 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 tion or importation of such persons as any 
 of the states now existing shall think 
 proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by 
 the Congress prior to the year 1808." That 
 this commonwealth does admit the migra 
 tion of alien friends described as the sub 
 ject of the said act concerning aliens ; that 
 a provision against prohibiting their migra 
 tion, is a provision against all acts equiva 
 lent thereto, or it would be nugatory ; that 
 to remove them when migrated is equiva- 
 Jent' to a prohibition of their migration, 
 and is, therefore, contrary to the said pro 
 vision of the Constitution, and void. 
 
 6. Resolved, That the imprisonment of 
 a person under the protection of the laws 
 of this commonwealth on his failure to 
 obey the simple order of the President to 
 depart out of the United States, as is under 
 taken by the said act, entitled, " An act 
 concerning aliens," is contrary to the Con 
 stitution, one amendment in which has 
 provided, that " no person shall be deprived 
 of liberty without due process of law," 
 and, that another having provided, " that 
 in all criminal prosecutions, the accused 
 shall' enjoy the right to a public trial by 
 an impartial jury, to be informed as to the 
 nature and cause of the accusation, to be 
 confronted with the witnesses against him, 
 to have compulsory process for obtaining 
 witnesses in his favor, and to have assist 
 ance of counsel for his defence," the same 
 act undertaking to authorize the President 
 to remove a person out of the United States 
 who is under the protection of the law, on 
 liis own suspicion, without jury, without 
 public trial, Avithout confrontation of the 
 witnesses against him, without having wit 
 nesses in his favor, without defence, with 
 out counsel, is contrary to these provisions 
 also of the Constitution, is therefore not 
 law, but utterly void and of no force. 
 
 That transferring the power of judging 
 any person who is under the protection of 
 the laws, from the courts to the President 
 of the United States, as is undertaken by 
 the same act concerning aliens, is against 
 the article of the Constitution which pro 
 vides, that "the judicial power of the 
 United States shall be vested in the courts, 
 the judges of which shall hold their office 
 during good behavior," and that the said 
 act is void for that reason also ; and it is 
 further to be noted that this transfer of 
 judiciary power is to that magistrate of the 
 general government who already possesses 
 all the executive, and a qualified negative 
 in all the legislative powers. 
 
 7. Resolved, That the construction ap 
 plied by the general government (as is 
 evident by sundry of their proceedings) to 
 those parts of the Constitution of the 
 United States which delegate to Congress 
 power to lay and collect taxes, duties, im 
 posts, excises ; to pay the debts, and pro 
 vide for the common defence and general 
 
 welfare of the United States, and to make 
 all laws which shall be necessary and 
 proper for carrying into execution the 
 powers vested by the Constitution in the 
 government of the United States, or any 
 department thereof, goes to the destruction 
 of all the limits prescribed to their power 
 by the Constitution : That words meant by 
 that instrument to be subsidiary only to 
 the execution of the limited powers, ought 
 not to be so construed as themselves to give 
 unlimited powers, nor a partf so to be taken 
 as to destroy the whole residue of the in 
 strument: That the proceedings of the 
 general government under color of those 
 articles, will be a fit and necessary subject 
 for revisal and correction at a time of 
 greater tranquillity, while those specified in 
 the preceding resolutions call for imme 
 diate redress. 
 
 8. Resolved, That the preceding resolu 
 tions be transmitted to the Senators and 
 Eepresentatives in Congress from this com 
 monwealth, who are enjoined to present 
 the same to their respective Houses, and 
 to use their best endeavors to procure at 
 the next session of Congress a repeal of 
 the aforesaid unconstitutional and obnox 
 ious acts. 
 
 9. Resolved lastly, That the governor of 
 this commonwealth be, and is hereby au 
 thorized and requested to communicate the 
 preceding resolutions to the legislatures of 
 the several states, to assure them that this 
 commonwealth considers union for special 
 national purposes, and particularly for 
 those specified in their late federal com 
 pact, to be friendly to the peace, happiness, 
 and prosperity of all the states that, faith 
 ful to that compact, according to the plain 
 intent and meaning in which it was under 
 stood and acceded to by the several parties, 
 it is sincerely anxious for its preservation ; 
 that it does also believe, that to take from 
 the states all the powers of self-govern 
 ment, and transfer them to a general and 
 consolidated government, without regard 
 to the special delegations and reservations 
 solemnly agreed to in that compact, is not 
 for the peace, happiness, or prosperity of 
 these states ; and that, therefore, this com 
 monwealth is determined, as it doubts not 
 its co-states are, to submit to undelegated 
 and consequently unlimited powers in no 
 man, or body of men on earth : that if the 
 acts before specified should stand, these 
 conclusions would flow from them ; that 
 the general government may place any act 
 they think proper on the list of crimes and 
 punish it themselves, whether enumerated 
 or not enumerated by the Constitution as 
 cognisable by them ;*that they may trans 
 fer its cognisance to the President or any 
 other person, who may himself be the ac 
 cuser, counsel, judge, and jury, whose sus 
 picions may be the evidence, his order the 
 sentence, his officer the executioner, and 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 13 
 
 his breast the sole record of the transac 
 tion ; that a very numerous and valuable 
 description of the inhabitants of these 
 states, being by this precedent reduced as 
 outlaws to the absolute dominion of one 
 man and the barriers of the Constitution 
 thus swept from us all, no rampart now re 
 mains against the passions and the power 
 of a majority of Congress, to protect from 
 a like exportation or other grievous pun 
 ishment the minority of the same body, 
 the legislatures, judges, governors, and 
 counsellors of the states, nor their other 
 peaceable inhabitants who may venture to 
 reclaim the constitutional rights and liber 
 ties of the states and people, or who, for 
 other causes, good or bad, may be obnox 
 ious to the view or marked by the suspi 
 cions of the President, or to be thought dan 
 gerous to his or their elections or other 
 interests, public or personal; that the 
 friendless alien has been selected as the 
 safest subject of a first experiment ; but 
 the citizen will soon follow, or rather has 
 already followed ; for, already has a sedi 
 tion act marked him as a prey : that these 
 and successive acts of the same character, 
 unless arrested on the threshold, may tend 
 to drive these states into revolution and 
 blood, and will furnish new calumnies 
 against republican governments, and new 
 pretexts for those who wish it to be be 
 lieved, that man cannot be governed but 
 by a rod of iron ; that it would be a dan 
 gerous delusion were a confidence in the 
 men of our choice to silence our fears for 
 the safety of our rights ; that confidence is 
 everywhere the parent of despotism ; free 
 government is found in jealousy and not 
 in confidence ; it is jealousy and not con 
 fidence which prescribes limited constitu 
 tions to bind down those whom we are 
 obliged to trust with power ; that our Con 
 stitution has accordingly fixed the limits 
 to which, and no farther, our confidence 
 may go ; and let the honest advocate of 
 confidence read the alien and sedition acts, 
 and say if the Constitution has not been 
 wise in fixing limits to the government it 
 created, and whether we should be wise in 
 destroying those limits ? Let him say what 
 the government is, if it be not a tyranny, 
 which the men of our choice have conferred 
 on the President, and the President of our 
 choice has assented to and accepted over 
 the friendly strangers, to whom the mild 
 spirit of our country and its laws had 
 pledged hospitality and protection ; that 
 the men of our choice have more respected 
 the bare suspicions of the President than 
 the solid rights of innocence, the claims of 
 justification, the sacred force of truth, and 
 the forms and substance of law and justice. 
 In questions of power, then, let no more 
 be said of confidence in man, but bind him 
 down from mischief by the chains of the 
 Constitution. That this Commonwealth 
 
 does therefore call on its co-states for an 
 expression of their sentiments on the acts 
 concerning aliens, and for the punishment 
 of certain crimes hereinbefore specified, 
 plainly declaring whether these acts are or 
 are not authorized by the federal compact. 
 And it doubts not that their sense will be 
 so announced as to prove th^ir attachment 
 to limited government, whether general or 
 particular, and that the rights and liberties 
 of their co-states will be exposed to no 
 dangers by remaining embarked on a com 
 mon bottom with their own : but they will 
 concur with this commonwealth in consid 
 ering the said acts as so palpably against 
 the Constitution as to amount to an undis 
 guised declaration, that the compact is not 
 meant to be the measure of the powers of 
 the general government, but that it will 
 proceed in the exercise over these states of 
 all powers whatsoever. That they will 
 view this as seizing the rights of the states 
 and consolidating them in the hands of the 
 general government, with a power assumed 
 to bind the states (not merely in cases 
 made federal) but in all cases whatsoever, 
 by laws made, not with their consent, but 
 by others against their consent ; that this 
 would be to surrender the form of govern 
 ment we Jiave chosen, and live under one 
 deriving its powers from its own will, and 
 not from our authority ; and that the co- 
 states recurring to their natural rights in 
 cases not made federal, will concur in de 
 claring these void and of no force, and will 
 each unite with this Commonwealth in re 
 questing their repeal at the next session of 
 Congress. 
 
 EDMUND BULLOCK, S. H. K. 
 
 JOHN CAMPBELL, S. P. T. 
 
 Passed the House of Representatives, 
 Nov. 10, 1798. 
 
 Attest, THOS. TODD, C. H. E. 
 
 In Senate, Nov. 13, 1798. Unanimously 
 concurred in. 
 
 .Attest, B. THURSTON, C. S. 
 
 Approved, Nov. 19, 1798. 
 
 JAS. GARRARD, Gov. of Ky. 
 
 By the Governor, 
 
 HARRY TOULMIN, Sec. of State. 
 
 House of Representatives, Thursday, ) 
 Nov. 14, 1799. j 
 
 The House, according to the standing 
 order of the day, resolved itself into A 
 committee of the whole House, on the state 
 of the commonwealth, Mr. Desha in the 
 chair ; and after some time spent therein, 
 the speaker resumed the chair, and Mr. 
 Desha reported that the committee had 
 taken under consideration sundry resolu 
 tions passed by several state legislatures, 
 on the subject of the alien and sedition 
 laws, and had come to a resolution there 
 upon, which he delivered in at the clerk's 
 
14 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 table, where it was read and unanimously 
 agreed to by the House, as follows : 
 
 The representatives of the good people 
 of this commonwealth, in General Assem 
 bly convened, having maturely considered 
 the answers of sundry states in the Union, 
 to their resolutions passed the last session, 
 respecting certain unconstitutional laws of 
 Congress, commonly called the alien and 
 sedition laws, would be faithless, indeed, 
 to themselves and to those they represent, 
 were they silently to acquiesce in the prin 
 ciples and doctrines attempted to be main 
 tained in all those answers, that of Vir 
 ginia only excep ted. To again enter the 
 field of argument, and attempt more fully 
 or forcibly to expose the unconstitutional 
 ly of those obnoxious laws, would, it is 
 apprehended, be as unnecessary as unavail 
 ing. We cannot, however, but lament 
 that, in the discussion of those interesting 
 subjects by sundry of the legislatures of 
 our sister states, unfounded suggestions 
 and uncandid insinuations, derogatory to 
 the true character and principles of this 
 commonwealth, have been substituted in 
 place of fair reasoning and sound argu 
 ment. Our opinions of these alarming 
 measures of the general government, to 
 gether with our reasons for those opinions, 
 were detailed with decency and with tem 
 per, and submitted to the discussion and 
 judgment of our fellow-citizens throughout 
 the Union. Whether the like decency 
 and temper have been observed in the an 
 swers of most of those states who have 
 denied or attempted to obviate the great 
 truths contained in those resolutions, we 
 have now only to submit to a candid world. 
 Faithful to the true principles of the Fed 
 eral Union, unconscious of any designs to 
 disturb the harmony of that Union, and 
 anxious only to escape the fangs of despot 
 ism, the good people of this common 
 wealth are regardless of censure or calum 
 niation. Lest, however, the silence of 
 this commonwealth should be construed 
 into an acquiescence in the doctrines and 
 principles advanced and attempted to be 
 maintained by the said answers, or lest 
 those of our fellow-citizens throughout the 
 Union who so widely differ from us on 
 those important subjects, should be deluded 
 by the expectation, that we shall be de 
 terred from what we conceive our duty, or 
 shrink from the principles contained in 
 those resolutions therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That this commonwealth con 
 siders the Federal Union, upon the terms 
 and for the purposes specified in the late 
 compact, as conducive to the liberty and 
 happiness of the several states : That it 
 does now unequivocally declare its attach 
 ment to the Union, and to that compact, 
 agreeably to its obvious and real intention, 
 and will be among the last to seek its dis 
 solution : That it those who administer 
 
 the general government be permitted to 
 transgress the limits fixed by that compact, 
 by a total disregard to the special delega 
 tions of power therein contained, an anni 
 hilation of the state governments, and the 
 creation upon their ruins of a general con 
 solidated government, will be the inevita 
 ble consequence: That the principle and 
 construction contended for by sundry of 
 the state legislatures, that the general gov 
 ernment is the exclusive judge of the ex 
 tent of the powers delegated to it, stop 
 nothing short of despotism since the dis 
 cretion of those who administer the gov 
 ernment, and not the Constitution, would 
 be the measure of their powers : That the 
 several states who formed that instrument 
 being sovereign and independent, have the 
 unquestionable right to judge of the in 
 fraction ; and that a nullification by those 
 sovereignties of all unauthorized acts done 
 under color of that instrument is the right 
 ful remedy : That this commonwealth 
 does, under the most deliberate reconsid 
 eration, declare that the said alien and 
 sedition laws are, in their opinion, palpa 
 ble violations of the said Constitution; 
 and, however cheerfully it may be disposed 
 to surrender its opinion to a majority of its 
 sister states, in matters of ordinary or 
 doubtful policy, yet, in momentous regula 
 tions like the present, which so vitally 
 wound the best rights of the citizen, it 
 would consider a silent acquiescence as 
 highly criminal : That although this com 
 monwealth, as a party to the federal com 
 pact, will bow to the laws of the Union, 
 yet it does, at the same time, declare that 
 it will not now, or ever hereafter, cease to 
 oppose in a constitutional manner every 
 attempt, at what quarter soever offered, to 
 violate that compact. And, finally, in or 
 der that no pretext or arguments may be 
 drawn from a supposed acquiescence on 
 the part of this commonwealth in the con 
 stitutionality of those laws, and be thereby 
 used as precedents for similar future viola 
 tions of the federal compact this com 
 monwealth does now enter against them its 
 solemn protest. 
 
 Extract, &c. Attest, T. TODD, C. H. R 
 In Senate, Nov. 22, 1799 Head and con 
 curred in. 
 Attest, B. THURSTON, C. S. 
 
 Washington's Farewell Address to tlie Peo 
 ple of the United States, Sept. 17, 1796. 
 
 Accepted as a Platform for the People of the Nation, regard 
 less of party. 
 
 FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS: 
 
 The period for a new election of a citi 
 zen to administer the executive govern 
 ment of the United States being not far 
 distant, and the time actually arrived when 
 your thoughts must be employed in desig 
 nating the person who is to be clothed with 
 that important trust, it appears to me pro- 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 15 
 
 per, especially as it may conduce to a more 
 distinct expression of the public voice, that 
 I should now apprise you of the resolution 
 I have formed to decline being considered 
 among the number of those out of whom a 
 choice is to be made. I beg you, at the 
 same time, to do me the justice to be as 
 sured that this resolution has not been 
 taken Avithout a strict regard to all the 
 considerations appertaining to the relation 
 which binds a dutiful citizen to his coun 
 try ; and that in withdrawing the tender of 
 service, which silence, in my situation, 
 might imply, I am influenced by no dimi 
 nution of zeal for your future interests; no 
 deficiency of grateful respect of your past 
 kindness ; but am supported by a full con 
 viction that the step is compatible with 
 both. 
 
 The acceptance of, and continuance 
 hitherto in, the office to which your sui- 
 .frages have twice called me, have been a 
 uniform sacrifice of inclination to the 
 opinion of duty, and to a deference for 
 what appeared to be your desire. I con 
 stantly hoped that it would have been 
 much earlier in my power, consistently 
 with motives which I was not at liberty to 
 disregard, to return to that retirement from 
 whicli I had been reluctantly drawn. The 
 strength of my inclination to do this, pre 
 vious to the last election, had even led to 
 the preparation of an address to declare it 
 to you ; but mature reflection on the then 
 perplexed and critical posture of our affairs 
 with foreign nations, and the unanimous 
 advice of persons entitled to my confidence, 
 impelled me to abandon the idea. 
 
 I rejoice that the state of your concerns, 
 external as well as internal, no longer ren 
 ders the pursuit of inclination incompati 
 ble with the sentiment of duty or propriety ; 
 and am persuaded, whatever partiality 
 may be retained for my services, that, in 
 the present circumstances of our country, 
 you will not disapprove my determination 
 to retire. 
 
 The impressions with which I first un 
 dertook the arduous trust were explained 
 on the proper occasion. In the discharge 
 of this trust, I will only say, that I have 
 with good intentions contributed towards 
 the organization and administration of the 
 government the best exertions of which a 
 very fallible judgment was capable. Not 
 unconscious in the outset of the inferiority 
 of my qualifications, experience, in my 
 own eyes perhaps still more in the eyes 
 of others has strengthened the motives to 
 diffidence of myself; and every day the in 
 creasing weight of years admonishes me, 
 more and more, that the abode of retire 
 ment is as necessary to me as it will be 
 welcome. Satisfied that if any circum 
 stances have given peculiar value to my 
 services, they were temporary, I have the 
 consolation to believe that, while choice 
 
 and prudence invite me to quit the politi 
 cal scene, patriotism does not forbid it. 
 
 In looking forward to the moment which 
 is intended to terminate the career of my 
 public life, my feelings do not permit me 
 to suspend the deep acknowledgment of 
 that debt of gratitude which I owe to my 
 beloved country for the many honors it 
 has conferred upon me ; still more for the 
 steadfast confidence with which it has 
 supported me ; and for the opportunities I 
 have thence enjoyed of manifesting my 
 inviolable attachment, by services faithful 
 and persevering, though in usefulness un 
 equal to my zeal. If benefits have re 
 sulted to our country from these services, 
 let it always be remembered to your 
 praise, and as an instructive example in 
 our annals, that under circumstances in 
 which the passions, agitated in every direc 
 tion, were liable to mislead ; amidst ap 
 pearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes 
 of fortune often discouraging ; in situations 
 in which, not unfrequently, want of suc 
 cess has countenanced the spirit of criti 
 cism, the constancy of your support was 
 the essential prop of the efforts, and a 
 guarantee of the plans, by which they 
 were effected. Profoundly penetrated by 
 this new idea, I shall carry it wif.h me to 
 my grave, as a strong incitement to un 
 ceasing vows, that Heaven may continue 
 to you the choicest tokens of its benefi 
 cence ; that union and brotherly affection 
 may be perpetual ; that the free Constitu 
 tion, which is the work of your hands, 
 may be sacredly maintained ; that its ad 
 ministration, in every department, may be 
 stamped with wisdom and virtue ; that in 
 fine, the happiness of the people of these 
 states, under the auspices of liberty, may 
 be made complete, by so careful a preser 
 vation and so prudent a use of this blessing 
 as will acquire to them the glory of recom 
 mending it to the applause, the affection, 
 and the adoption of every nation which is 
 yet a stranger to it. 
 
 Here, perhaps, I ought to stop; but a 
 solicitude for your welfare, which cannot 
 end but with my life, and the apprehen 
 sion of danger natural to that solicitude, 
 urge me, on an occasion like the present, 
 to offer to your solemn contemplation, and 
 to recommend to your frequent review, 
 some sentiments, which are the result of 
 much reflection, of no inconsiderable ob 
 servation, and which appear to me all-im 
 portant to the permanency of your felicity 
 as a people. These will be afforded to you 
 with the more freedom, as you can only 
 see in them the disinterested warning of a 
 parting friend, who can possibly have no 
 personal motive to bias his counsel ; nor 
 can I forget, as an encouragement to it, 
 your indulgent reception of my sentiments 
 on a former and not dissimilar occasion. 
 
 Interwoven as is the love of liberty with 
 
16 
 
 AMERICAN, POLITICS. 
 
 every ligament of your hearts, no recom 
 mendation of mine is necessary to fortify 
 or confirm the attachment. 
 
 The unity of government which consti 
 tutes you one people, is also now dear to 
 you. It is justly so ; for it is a main pillar 
 in the edifice of 'your real independence 
 the support of your tranquillity at home, 
 your peace abroad, of your safety, of your 
 prosperity, of that very liberty which you 
 so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee 
 that, from different causes and from differ 
 ent quarters, much pains will be taken, 
 many artifices employed, to weaken in 
 your minds the conviction of this truth ; 
 as this is the point in your political fortress 
 against which the batteries of internal and 
 external enemies will be most constantly 
 and actively, (though often covertly and 
 insidiously) directed, it is of infinite mo 
 ment that you should properly estimate the 
 immense value of your national union to 
 your collective and individual happiness ; 
 that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, 
 and immovable attachment to it; accus 
 toming yourself to think and speak of it as 
 of the palladium of your political safety 
 and prosperity, watching for its preserva 
 tion with jealous anxiety; discountenan 
 cing whatever may suggest even a suspicion 
 that it can, in any event, be abandoned ; 
 and indignantly frowning upon the first 
 dawning of every attempt to alienate any 
 portion of our country from the rest, or to 
 enfeeble the sacred ties which now link to 
 gether the various parts. 
 
 For this you have every inducement of 
 sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth 
 or choice, of a common country, that coun 
 try has a right to concentrate your affec 
 tions. The name of American, which be 
 longs to you in your national capacity, 
 must always exalt the just pride of patri 
 otism, more than appellations derived' from 
 local discriminations. With slight shades 
 of difference, you have the same religion, 
 manners, habits, and political principles. 
 You have, in a common cause, fought and 
 triumphed together ; the independence and 
 liberty you possess are the work of joint 
 counsels and joint efforts, of common dan 
 gers, sufferings, and successes. But these 
 considerations, however powerfully they 
 address themselves to yotfr sensibility, are 
 generally outweighed by those which ap 
 ply more immediately to your interest; 
 here eveiy portion of our country finds the 
 most commanding motives for carefully 
 guarding and preserving the union of the 
 whole. 
 
 The North, in an unrestrained inter 
 course with the South, protected by the 
 equal laws of a common government, finds, 
 in the productions of the latter, great ad 
 ditional resources of maritime and com 
 mercial enterprise, and precious materials 
 of manufacturing industry. The South-, in 
 
 [ the same intercourse benefiting by the 
 agency of the North, sees its agriculture 
 grow, and its commerce expanded. Turn 
 ing partly into its own channels the sea 
 men of the North, it finds its particular 
 navigation invigorated ; and while it con 
 tributes, in different ways, to nourish and 
 increase the general mass of the national 
 navigation, it looks forward to the protec 
 tion of a maritime strength to which itself 
 is unequally adapted. The East, in like 
 intercourse with the West, already finds, 
 and in the progressive improvement of in 
 terior communication, by land and by 
 water, will more and more find, a valuable 
 vent for the commodities which each brings 
 from abroad or manufactures at home. The 
 West derives from the East supplies re 
 quisite to its growth or comfort, and what 
 is perhaps of stili greater consequence, it 
 must, of necessity, owe the secure enjoy 
 ment of indispensable outlets for its own 
 productions, to the weight, influence, and 
 the maritime strength of the Atlantic side 
 of the Union, directed by an indissoluble 
 community of interests as one nation. Any 
 other tenure by which the West can hold 
 this essential advantage, whether derived 
 from its own separate strength, or from an 
 apostate and unnatural connexion with any 
 foreign power, must be intrinsically pre 
 carious. 
 
 While, then, every part of our country 
 thus feels an immediate and particular in 
 terest in union, all the parts combined can 
 not fail to find, in the united mass of 
 means and efforts, greater strength, greater 
 resource, proportionably greater security 
 from external danger, a less frequent inter 
 ruption of their peace by foreign, nations ; 
 and what is of inestimable value, they must 
 derive from union an exemption from those 
 broils and wars between themselves, which 
 so frequently afflict neighboring countries, 
 not tied together by the same government ; 
 which their own rivalship alone would be 
 sufficient to produce, but which opposite 
 foreign alliances, attachments and intrigues, 
 would stimulate and embitter. Hence, 
 likewise, they will avoid the necessity of 
 those overgrown military establishments, 
 which, under any form of government, are 
 inauspicious to liberty, and which are to 
 be regarded as particularly hostile to re 
 publican liberty ; in this sense it is that 
 your union ought to be considered as a 
 main prop of your liberty, and that the 
 love of one ought to endear to you the pre 
 servation of the other. 
 
 These considerations speak a persuasive 
 language to every reflecting and virtuous 
 mind, and exhibit the continuance of the 
 Union as a primary object of patriotic de 
 sire. Is there a doubt, whether a common 
 government can embrace so large a sphere ? 
 Let experience solve it. To listen to mere 
 speculation, in such a case, were criminal. 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 17 
 
 We are authorized to hope, that a proper 
 organization of the whole, with the aux 
 iliary agency of governments for the re 
 spective subdivisions, will afford a happy 
 issue to the experiment. It is well worth 
 a fair and full experiment. With such 
 powerful and obvious motives to Union, 
 affecting all parts of our country, while ex 
 perience shall not have demonstrated its 
 impracticability, there will always be rea 
 son to distrust the patriotism of those who, 
 in any quarter, may endeavor to weaken 
 its bands. 
 
 In contemplating the causes which may 
 disturb our Union, it occurs as a matter of 
 serious concern, that any ground should 
 have been furnished for characterizing 
 parties by geographical discriminations 
 Northern and Southern Atlantic and 
 Western : whence designing men may en 
 deavor to excite a belief that there is a real 
 difference of local interests and views. One 
 of the expedients of party to acquire in 
 fluence within particular districts, is to 
 misrepresent the opinions and aims of oth 
 er districts. You cannot shield yourselves 
 too much against the jealousies and heart 
 burnings which spring from these misrep 
 resentations ; they tend to render alien to 
 each other those who ought to be bound 
 together by paternal affection. The inhabi 
 tants of our Western country have lately 
 had a useful lesson on this head ; they have 
 seen in the negotiation by the executive, 
 and in the unanimous ratification by the 
 Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the 
 universal satisfaction at that event through 
 out the United States, decisive proof how 
 unfounded were the suspicions propagated 
 among them, of a policy in the general 
 government, and in the Atlantic States, 
 unfriendly to their interest in regard to the 
 Mississippi that with Great Britain, and 
 that with Spain, which secure to them 
 everything they could desire in respect to 
 our foreign relations, towards confirming 
 their prosperity. Will it not be their wis 
 dom to rely for the preservation of these 
 advantages on the Union by which they 
 were procured? Will they not henceforth 
 be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, 
 who would sever them from their brethren, 
 and connect them with aliens? 
 
 To the efficacy and permanency of your 
 Union a government of the whole is indis 
 pensable. No alliance, however strict be 
 tween the parties, can be an adequate sub 
 stitute ; they must inevitably experience 
 the infractions and interruptions which all 
 alliances, in all time, have experienced. 
 Sensible of this momentous truth, you 
 have improved upon your first essay, by 
 the adoption of a Constitution of govern 
 ment, better calculated than your former 
 for an intimate union, and for the effica 
 cious management of your common con 
 cerns. This government, the offspring of 
 
 our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed 
 adopted upon full investigation and ma 
 ture deliberation, completely free in its 
 principles, in the distribution of its powers 
 uniting security with energy, and con 
 taining within itself a pro vision for its own 
 amendment, has a just claim to your con 
 fidence and your support. Eespect for its 
 authority, compliance with its laws, ac 
 quiescence in its measures, are duties en 
 joined by the fundamental maxims of true 
 liberty. The basis of our political system 
 is the right of the people to make and to 
 alter their Constitutions of government; 
 but the Constitution which at any time 
 exists, till changed by an explicit and 
 authentic act of the whole people, is sacred 
 ly obligatory upon all. The very idea of 
 the power and right of the people to estab 
 lish government, presupposes the duty of 
 every individual to obey the established 
 government. 
 
 All obstruction to the execution of laws, 
 all combinations and associations under 
 whatever plausible character, with the 
 real design to direct, control, counteract, or 
 awe the regular deliberation and action of 
 the constituted authorities, are destructive 
 to this fundamental principle, and of fatal 
 tendency. They serve to organize faction, 
 to give it an artificial and extraordinary 
 force, to put in the place of the delegated 
 will of the nation, the will of a party, often 
 a small but artful and enterprising minority 
 of the community ; and, according to the 
 alternate triumphs of different parties, to 
 make the public administration the mirror 
 of the ill-concerted and incongruous pro 
 jects of fashion, rather than the organ of 
 consistent and wholesome plans, digested 
 by common counsels and modified by mu 
 tual interests. 
 
 However combinations or associations of 
 the above description may now and then 
 answer popular ends, they are likely, in 
 the course of time and things, to become 
 potent engines, by which cunning, am 
 bitious, and unprincipled men will be 
 enabled to subvert the power of the people, 
 and to usurp for themselves the reins of 
 government; destroying, afterwards, the 
 very engines which had lifted them to un 
 just dominion. 
 
 Towards the preservation of your gov 
 ernment, and the permanency of your 
 present happy state, it is requisite, not only 
 that you steadily discountenance irregular 
 oppositions to its acknowledged authority, 
 but also that you resist with care the spirit 
 of innovation upon its principles, however 
 specious the pretexts. One method of as 
 sault may be to effect, in the forms of the 
 Constitution, alterations which will impair 
 the energy of the system, and thus to un 
 dermine what cannot be directly over 
 thrown. In all the changes to which you 
 may be invited, remember that time and 
 
18 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 habit are at least as necessary to fix the 
 true character of governments as of other 
 human institutions ; that experience is the 
 surest standard by which to test the real 
 tendency of the existing constitution of a 
 country ; that facility in changes, upon the 
 credit of mere hypothesis and opinion ex 
 poses to perpetual change, from the end 
 less variety of hypothesis and opinion ; and 
 remember, especially, that for the efficient 
 management of your common interests, in 
 a country so extensive as ours, a govern 
 ment of as much vigor as is consistent with 
 the perfect security of liberty is indispen 
 sable. Liberty itself will find in such a 
 government, with powers properly distri- 
 uted, and adjusted, its surest guardian. 
 It is, indeed, little else than a name, where 
 the government is too feeble to withstand 
 the enterprise of faction, to confine each 
 member of the society within the limits de 
 scribed by the laws, and to maintain all 
 in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of 
 the rights of person and property. 
 
 I have already intimated to you the 
 danger of parties in the state with particu 
 lar reference to the founding of them on 
 geographical discriminations. Let me 
 now take a more comprehensive view, and 
 warn you, in the most solemn manner, 
 against the baneful effects of the spirit of 
 party generally. 
 
 This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable 
 from our nature, having its root in the 
 strongest passions of the human mind. It 
 exists under different shapes in all govern 
 ments, more or less stifled, controlled, or 
 repressed ; but in those of the popular 
 form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and 
 is truly their worst enemy. 
 
 The alternate domination of one faction 
 over another, sharpened by the spirit of 
 revenge, natural to party dissensions, 
 which, in different ages and countries, has 
 perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is 
 itself a frightful despotism. But this 
 leads, at length, to a more formal and 
 permanent despotism. The disorders and 
 miseries which result, gradually incline 
 the minds of men to seek security and re 
 pose in the absolute power of an indi 
 vidual ; and sooner or later, the chief of 
 some prevailing faction, more able or more 
 fortunate than his competitors, turns this 
 disposition to the purposes of his own ele 
 vation on the ruins of public liberty. 
 
 Without looking forward to an ex 
 tremity of this kind (which, nevertheless, 
 ought not to be entirely out of sight), the 
 common and continual mischiefs of the 
 spirit of party are sufficient to make it the 
 interest and duty of a wise people to dis 
 courage and restrain it. 
 
 It serves always to distract the public 
 councils, and enfeeble the public adminis 
 tration. It agitates the community with 
 ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; 
 
 kindles the animosity of one part against 
 another; foments, occasionally, riot and 
 insurrection. It opens the door to foreign 
 influence and corruption, which find a 
 facilitated access to the government itself, 
 through the channels of party passions. 
 Thus the policy and the will of one coun 
 try are subjected to the policy and will of 
 another. 
 
 There is an opinion that parties, in free 
 countries, are useful checks upon the ad 
 ministration of the government, and serve 
 to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This, 
 within certain limits, is probably true; 
 and in governments of a monarchical cast, 
 patriotism may look with indulgence, if 
 not with favor, upon the spirit of party. 
 But in those of the popular character, in 
 governments purely elective, it is a spirit 
 not to be encouraged. From their natural 
 tendency, it is certain there will always be 
 enough of that spirit for every salutary 
 purpose. And there being constant dan 
 ger of excess, the effort ought to be, by 
 force of public opinion, to mitigate and 
 assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it 
 demands a uniform vigilance to prevent 
 its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of 
 warming, it should consume. 
 
 It is important, likewise, that the habits 
 of thinking, in a free country, should in 
 spire caution in those intrusted with its 
 administration, to confine themselves with 
 in their respective constitutional spheres, 
 avoiding, in the exercise of the powers of 
 one department, to encroach upon another. 
 The spirit of encroachment tends to con 
 solidate the powers of all the departments in 
 one, and thus to create, whatever the form 
 of government, a real despotism. A just 
 estimate of that love of power, and prone- 
 ness to abuse it, which predominates in 
 the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us 
 of the truth of this position. 
 
 The necessity of reciprocal checks in the 
 exercise of political power, by dividing 
 and distributing it into different deposito 
 ries, and constituting each the guardian 
 of the public weal, against invasions by 
 the others, has been evinced by experi 
 ments, ancient and modern; some of them 
 in our own country, and under our own 
 eyes. To preserve them must be as neces 
 sary as to institute them. If, in the 
 opinion of the people, the distribution or 
 modification of the constitutional powers 
 be, in any particular, wrong, let it be cor 
 rected by an amendment in the way which 
 the Constitution designates. But let there 
 be no change by usurpation; for though 
 this, in one instance, may be the instru 
 ment of good, it is the customary weapon 
 by which free governments are destroyed. 
 The precedent must always greatly over 
 balance, in permanent evil, any partial or 
 transient benefit which the use can at any 
 time yield. 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 Of all the dispositions and habits which 
 lead to political prosperity, religion and 
 morality are indispensable supports. In 
 vain would that man claim the tribute of 
 patriotism, who should labor to subvert 
 these great pillars of human happiness, 
 these firmest props of the duties of men 
 and citizens. The mere politician, equally 
 with the pious man, ought to respect and 
 cherish them. A volume could not trace 
 all their connexions with private and pub 
 lic felicity. Let it simply be asked, where 
 is the security for property, for reputation, 
 for life, if the sense of religious obligation 
 desert the oaths which are the instruments 
 of investigation in courts of justice? And 
 let us with caution indulge the supposition, 
 that morality can be maintained without 
 religion. Whatever may be conceded to 
 the influence of refined education on minds 
 of peculiar structure, reason and experi 
 ence both forbid us to expect that national 
 morality can prevail in exclusion of re 
 ligious principles. It is substantially true, 
 that virtue or morality is a necessary 
 spring of popular government. The rule, 
 indeed, extends with more or less force to 
 every species of free government. Who, 
 that ia a sincere friend to it, can look with 
 indifference upon attempts to shake the 
 foundation of the fabric? 
 
 Promote then, as an object of primary 
 importance, institutions &>r the general 
 diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as 
 the structure of a government gives force 
 to public opinion, it is essential that pub 
 lic opinion should be enlightened. 
 
 As a very important source of strength 
 and securitv, cherish public credit. One 
 method of preserving it is to use it as spar 
 ingly as possible, avoiding occasions of 
 expense by cultivating peace, but remem 
 bering also that timely disbursements to 
 prepare for da-iger frequently prevent 
 much greater disbursements to repel it ; 
 avoiding, likewise, the accumulation of 
 debt, not only by shunning occasions of 
 expense, but by vigorous exertions in time 
 of peace to discharge the debts which un 
 avoidable wars may have occasioned ; not 
 ungenerously 1 throwing upon posterity the 
 burden which we ourselves ought to bear. 
 The execution of these maxims belongs to 
 your representatives, but it is necessary 
 that public opinion should co-operate. To 
 facilitate to them the performance of their 
 duty, it is essential that you should practi 
 cally bear in mind, that toward the payments 
 of debts there must be revenues ; that to 
 have revenue there must be taxes ; that no 
 taxes can be devised, which are not more 
 or less inconvenient and unpleasant ; that 
 the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable 
 from the selection of the proper objects 
 (which is alwavs a choice of difficulties) 
 ought to be a decisive moment for a can 
 did construction of the conduct of the 
 
 government in making it, and for a spirit 
 of acquiescence in the measure for obtain 
 ing revenue, which the public exigencies 
 may at any time dictate. 
 
 Observe good faith and justice towards 
 all nations ; cultivate peace and harmony 
 with all ; religion and morality enjoin this 
 conduct; and can it be that good policy 
 does not equally enjoin it? It will be 
 worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no 
 distant period a great nation, to give to 
 mankind the magnanimous and too novel 
 example of a people always guided by an 
 exalted justice and benevolence. Who 
 can doubt that, in the course of time and 
 things, the fruits of such a plan would 
 richly repay any temporary advantages 
 which might be lost by a steady adherence 
 to it ? Can it be that Providence has not 
 connected the permanent felicity of a na 
 tion with its virtue? The experiment, at 
 least, is recommended by every sentiment 
 which ennobles human nature. Alas! is 
 it rendered impossible by its vices ? 
 
 In the execution of such a plan, nothing 
 is more essential than that permanent, in 
 veterate antipathies against particular na 
 tions, and passionate attachment for others, 
 should be excluded : and that in place of 
 them, just and amicable feelings towards 
 all should be cultivated. The nation 
 which indulges towards another an habitual 
 hatred, or an habitual fondness, is, in some 
 degree, a slave. It is a slave to its ani 
 mosity or to its affection ; either of which 
 is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty 
 and its interest. Antipathy in one nation 
 against another, disposes each more readily 
 to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of 
 slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty 
 and untractable, when accidental or trifling 
 occasions of dispute occur. Hence fre 
 quent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and 
 bloody contests. The nation, prompted by 
 ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels 
 to war the government, contrary to the best 
 calculations of policy. The government 
 sometimes participates in the national 
 propensity, and adopts, through passion, 
 what reason would reject; at other times 
 it makes the animosity of the nation sub 
 servient to projects of hostility, instigated 
 by pride, ambition, and other sinister and 
 pernicious motives. The peace often, some 
 times perhaps the liberty, of nations has 
 been the victim. 
 
 So likewise a passionate attachment of 
 one nation to another produces a variety 
 of evils. Sympathy for the favorite na 
 tion, facilitating the illusion of an im 
 aginary common interest, in cases where 
 no real common interest exists, and infus 
 ing into one the enmities of the other, 
 betrays the former into a participation in 
 the quarrels and wars of the latter, without 
 adequate inducement or justification. It 
 leads also to concessions to the favorite 
 
20 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 nation of privileges denied to others, which 
 is apt doubly to injure the nation making 
 the concessions ; by unnecessarily parting 
 with what ought to have been retained, 
 and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a 
 disposition to retaliate, in the parties from 
 whom equal privileges are withheld ; and 
 it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or de 
 luded citizens (who devote themselves 
 to the i'avorite nation) facility to betray, or 
 sacrifice the interest of their own country, 
 without odium ; sometimes even with popu 
 larity ; gilding with the appearance of a 
 virtuous sense of obligation, a commend 
 able deference for public opinion, or a 
 laudable zeal for public good, the base or 
 foolish compliances of ambition, corrup 
 tion, or infatuation. 
 
 As avenues to foreign influence in in 
 numerable ways, such attachments are 
 particularly alarming to the truly enlight 
 ened and independent patriot. How many 
 opportunities do they afford to tamper 
 with domestic factions, to practice the art 
 of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to 
 influence or awe the public councils? 
 Such an attachment of a small or weak, 
 towards a great and powerful nation, dooms 
 the former to be the satellite of the latter. 
 
 Against the insidious wiles of foreign 
 influence (I conjure you to believe me, 
 fellow-citizens), the jealousy of a free peo 
 ple ought to be constantly awake ; since 
 history and experience prove that foreign 
 influence is one of the most baneful foes 
 of republican government. But that 
 jealousy, to be useful, must be impar 
 tial ; else it becomes the instrument of the 
 very influence to be avoided, instead of a 
 defence against it. Excessive partiality 
 for one foreign nation, and excessive dis 
 like for another, cause those whom they 
 actuate to see danger only on one side, ancl 
 serve to veil, and even second, the arts of 
 influence on the other. Heal patriots, who 
 may resist the intrigues of the i'avorite, are 
 liable to become suspected and odious; 
 while its tools and dupes usurp the ap 
 plause and confidence of the people, to 
 surrender their interests. 
 
 The great rule of conduct for us, in re 
 gard to .foreign nations, is, in extending 
 our commercial relations, to have with 
 them as little political connexion as possi 
 ble. So far as we have already formed 
 engagements, let them be fulfilled with 
 perfect good faith. There let us stop. 
 
 Europe has a set of primary interests, 
 which to us have none, or a very remote 
 relation. Hence she must be engaged in 
 frequent controversies, the causes of which 
 are essentially foreign to our concerns. 
 Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us 
 to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in 
 the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or 
 the ordinary combinations and collisions 
 of her friendships or enmities. 
 
 Our detached and distant situation in 
 vites and enables us to pursue a different 
 course. If we remain one people under 
 an efficient government, the period is not 
 far off when we may defy material injury 
 from external annoyance ; when we may 
 take such an attitude as will cause the 
 neutrality we may at any time resolve 
 upon, to be scrupulously respected ; when 
 belligerent nations, under the impossibility 
 of making acquisitions upon us, will not 
 lightly hazard the giving us provocation ; 
 when we may choose peace or war, as our 
 interests, guided by justice, shall counsel. 
 
 Why forego the advantages of so pecu 
 liar a situation? Why quit our own to 
 stand upon foreign ground? Why, by in 
 terweaving our destiny with that of any 
 part of Europe, entangle our peace and 
 prosperity in the toils of European ambi 
 tion, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice ? 
 
 It is our true policy to steer clear of 
 permanent alliances with any portion of 
 the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as we 
 are now at liberty to do it; for let me not 
 be understood as capable of patronizing 
 infidelity to existing engagements. I hold 
 the maxim no less applicable to public 
 than to private affairs, that honesty is al 
 ways the best policy. I repeat it, there 
 fore, let those engagements be observed in 
 their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, 
 it is unnecessary, and would be unwise to 
 extend them. 
 
 Taking care always to keep ourselves, by 
 suitable establishments, on a respectable 
 defensive posture, we may safely trust to 
 temporary alliances for extraordinary 
 emergencies. 
 
 Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with 
 all nations, are recommended by policy, 
 humanity, and interest. But even our com 
 mercial policy should hold an equal and 
 impartial hand; neither seeking nor grant 
 ing exclusive favors or preferences; con 
 sulting the natural cause of things ; diffus 
 ing and diversifying, by gentle means, the 
 streams of commerce, by forcing nothing ; 
 establishing, with powers so disposed, in 
 order to give trade a stable course, to de 
 fine the rights of our merchants, and to 
 enable the government to support them, 
 conventional rules of intercourse, the best 
 that present circumstances and mutual 
 opinions will permit, but temporary, and 
 liable to be, from time to time, abandoned 
 or varied, as experience and circumstances 
 shall dictate ; constantly keeping in view, 
 that it is folly in one nation to look for dis 
 interested favors from another; that it 
 must pay, with a portion of its independ 
 ence, for whatever it may accept under 
 that character ; that by such acceptance it 
 may place itself in the condition of hav 
 ing given equivalents for nominal favors, 
 and yet of being reproached with ingrati 
 tude for not giving more. There can be 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 21 
 
 no greater error than to expect, or calcu 
 late upon, real favors from nation to nation. 
 It is an illusion which experience must 
 cure, which a just pride ought to discard. 
 
 In offering to you, my countrymen, these 
 counsels of an old and affectionate friend, 
 I dare not hope they will make the strong 
 and lasting impression I could wish ; that 
 they will control the usual current of the 
 passions, or prevent our nation from run 
 ning the course wt ich has hitherto marked 
 the destiny of nations ; but if I may even 
 flatter myself that they may be productive 
 of some partial benefit, some occasional 
 good ; that they may now and then recur 
 to moderate the fury of party spirit, to 
 warn against the mischiefs of foreign in 
 trigues, to guard against the impostures of 
 pretended patriotism ; this hope will be a 
 full recompense for the solicitude for your 
 welfare by which they have been dictated. 
 
 How far, in the discharge of my official 
 duties, I have been guided by the princi 
 ples which have been delineated, the pub 
 lic records, and other evidences of my con 
 duct, must witness to you and the world. 
 To myself, the assurance of my own con 
 science is, that I have at least believed my 
 self to be guided by them. 
 
 In relation to the still subsisting war in 
 Europe, my proclamation of the 23d of 
 April, 1793, is the index to my plan. 
 Sanctioned by your approving voice, and 
 by that of your representatives in both 
 Houses of Congress, the spirit of that 
 measure has continually governed me, un 
 influenced by any attempts to deter or di 
 vert me from it. 
 
 After deliberate examination, with the 
 aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was 
 well satisfied that our country, under all 
 the circumstances of the case, had a right 
 to take, and was bound in duty and inter- 
 eat to take a neutral position. Having 
 taken it, I determined, as far as should 
 depend upon me, to maintain it with mod 
 eration, perseverance, and firmness. 
 
 The considerations which respect the 
 right to hold this conduct, it is not neces 
 sary on this occasion to detail. I will only 
 observe, that, according to my understand 
 ing of the matter, that right, so far from 
 being denied by any of the belligerent 
 powers, has been virtually admitted by all. 
 
 The duty of holding neutral conduct 
 may be inferred, without anything more, 
 from the obligation which justice and hu 
 manity impose on every nation, in cases in 
 which it is free to act, to maintain invio 
 late the relations of peace and unity to 
 wards other nations. 
 
 The inducements of interests, for observ 
 ing that conduct, will best be referred to 
 your own reflections and experience. 
 With me, a predominant motive has been 
 to endeavor to gain time to our country to 
 settle and mature its yet recent institutions, , 
 
 and to progress, without interruption, to 
 that degree of strength and consistency 
 which is necessary to give it, humanly 
 speaking, the command of its own for 
 tunes. 
 
 Though, in reviewing the incidents of 
 my administration, I am unconscious of 
 intentional error; I am, nevertheless, too 
 sensible of my defects not to think it pro 
 bable that I may have committed many 
 errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently 
 beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate 
 the evils to which they may tend. I shall 
 also carry with me the hope, that my coun 
 try will never come to view them with in 
 dulgence ; and that, after forty -five years 
 of my life dedicated to its service with an 
 upright zeal, the faults of incompetent 
 abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as 
 myself must soon be to the mansions of 
 rest. 
 
 Kelying on its kindness in this, as in 
 other things, and actuated by that fervent 
 love towards it which is so natural to a 
 man who views in it the native soil of 
 himself and his progenitors for several 
 generations, I anticipate, with pleasing ex 
 pectation, that retreat in which I promise 
 myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet 
 enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of 
 my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of 
 good laws under a free government the 
 ever favorite object of my heart and 
 happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual 
 cares, labors, and dangers. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 United States, 17th of Sept., 1796. 
 
 1800. No Federal Platform. 
 
 Republican Platform, Philadelphia. 
 
 Adopted in Congressional Caucus, 
 
 1. An inviolable preservation of the 
 Federal constitution, according to the true 
 sense in which it was adopted by the states, 
 that in which it was advocated by its 
 friends, and not that which its enemies 
 apprehended, who, therefore, became 
 its enemies. 
 
 2. Opposition to monarchizing its fea 
 tures by the forms of its administration, 
 with a view to conciliate a transition, first, 
 to a president and senate for life; and, 
 secondly, to an hereditary tenure of those 
 offices, and thus to worm* out the elective 
 principle. 
 
 3. Preservation to the states of the pow 
 ers not yielded by them to the Union, and 
 to the legislature of the Union its constitu 
 tional share in division of powers; and re 
 sistance, therefore, to existing movements 
 for transferring all the powers of the states 
 
22 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 to the general government, and all of those 
 of that government to the executive 
 branch. 
 
 , 4. A rigorously frugal administration of 
 the government, and the application o x> all 
 the possible savings of the public revenue 
 to the liquidation of the public debt ; and 
 resistance, therefore, to all measures look 
 ing to a multiplication of officers and sala 
 ries, merely to create partisans and to aug- 
 ' ment the public debt, on the principle of 
 its being a public blessing. 
 
 5. Eeliance for internal defense solely 
 upon the militia, till actual invasion, and 
 ior such a naval force only as may be suf 
 ficient to protect our coasts and harbors 
 from depredations ; and opposition, there- 
 lore, to the policy of a standing army in 
 time of peace which may overawe the pub 
 lic sentiment, and to a navy, which, by its 
 own expenses, and the wars in which it 
 will implicate us, will grind us with pub 
 lic burdens and sink us under them. 
 
 6. Free commerce with all nations, po 
 litical connection with none, and little or 
 no diplomatic establishment. 
 
 7. Opposition to linking ourselves, by 
 new treaties, with the quarrels of Europe, 
 entering their fields of slaughter to pre 
 serve their balance, or joining in the con 
 federacy of kings to war against the princi 
 ples of liberty. 
 
 8. Freedom of religion, and opposition 
 to all maneuvers to bring about a legal as 
 cendency of one sect over another. 
 
 9. Freedom of speech and of the press ; 
 and opposition, therefore, to all violations 
 of the constitution, to silence, by force, and 
 not by reason, the complaints or criticisms, 
 just or unjust, of our citizens against the 
 conduct of their public agents. 
 
 10. Liberal naturalization laws, under 
 which the well disposed of all nations who 
 may desire to embark their fortunes with 
 us and share with us the public burdens, 
 may have that oppportunity, under mode 
 rate restrictions, for the development of 
 honest intention, and severe ones to guard 
 against the usurpation of our flag. 
 
 11 Encouragement of science and the 
 arts in all their branches, to the end that 
 the American people may perfect their in 
 dependence of all foreign monopolies, in 
 stitutions and influences. 
 
 1801 1811. No Platforms. 
 
 (No Convention or Caucus held.) 
 
 o Republican Platform. 
 
 No Federal Platform. 
 
 Clintoiiian Platform. 
 
 New York, August 17. 
 
 1. Opposition to nominations of chief 
 magistrates by congressional caucuses, as 
 well because such practices are the exer 
 cise of undelegated authority, as of their 
 repugnance to the freedom of elections. 
 
 2. Opposition to all customs and usages 
 in both the executive and legislative de 
 partments which have for their object the 
 maintenance of an official regency to pre 
 scribe tenets of political faith, the line of 
 conduct to be deemed fidelity or recreancy 
 to republican principles, and to perpetuate 
 in themselves or families the offices of the 
 Federal government. 
 
 3. Opposition to all efforts on the part of 
 particular states to monopolize the princi 
 pal offices of the government, as well be 
 cause of their certainty to destroy the har 
 mony which ought to prevail amongst all 
 the constituent parts of the Union, as of 
 their leanings toward a form of oligarchy 
 entirely at variance with the theory of re 
 publican government ; and, consequently, 
 particular opposition to continuing a citi 
 zen of Virginia in the executive office an 
 other term, unless she can show that she 
 enjoys a corresponding monopoly of talents 
 and patriotism, after she has been honored 
 with the presidency for twenty out of 
 twenty-four years of our constitutional ex 
 istence, and when it is obvious that the 
 practice has arrayed the agricultural 
 against the commercial interests of the 
 country. 
 
 4. Opposition to continuing public men 
 for long periods in offices of delicate trust 
 and weighty responsibility as the reward 
 of public services, to the detriment of all 
 or any particular interest in, or section of, 
 the country; and, consequently, to the 
 continuance of Mr. Madison in an office 
 which, in view of our pending difficulties 
 with Great Britain, requires an incumbent 
 of greater decision, energy and efficiency. 
 
 6. Opposition to the lingering inadequa 
 cy of preparation for the war with Great 
 Britain, now about to ensue, and to the 
 measure which allows uninterrupted trade 
 with Spain and Portugal, which, as it can 
 not be carried on under our flag, gives to 
 Great Britain the means of supplying her 
 armies with provisions, of which they 
 would otherwise be destitute, and thus af 
 fording aid and comfort to our enemy. 
 
 6. Averment of the existing necessity 
 for placing the country in a condition for 
 aggressive action for the conquest of the Bri 
 tish American Provinces and for the defence 
 of our coasts and exposed frontiers: and of 
 the propriety of such a levy of taxes as will 
 raise the necessary funds for the emergency. 
 
 7. Advocacy of the election of De Witt 
 Clinton as the surest method of relieving 
 the country from all the evils existing and 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 prospective, for the reason that his great 
 talents and inflexible patriotism guaranty 
 a firm and unyielding maintenance of our 
 national sovereignty, and the protection of 
 those commercial interests which were 
 nagging under the weakness and imbecility 
 of the administration. 
 
 1815. Resolutions passed by the Hartford 
 Convention, January 4. 
 
 Resolved, That it be and is hereby re 
 commended to the legislatures of the seve 
 ral states represented in this convention, to 
 adopt all such measures as may be neces 
 sary effectually to protect the citizens of 
 said states from the operation and effects of 
 all acts which have been or may be passed 
 by the Congress of the United States, 
 which shall contain provisions subjecting 
 the militia or other citizens to forcible 
 drafts, conscriptions, or impressments not 
 authorized by the constitution of the United 
 States. 
 
 Resolved, That it be and is hereby re 
 commended to the said legislatures, to au 
 thorize an immediate and an earnest ap 
 plication to be made to the government of 
 the United States, requesting their consent 
 to some arrangement whereby the said 
 states may, separately or in concert, be 
 empowered to assume upon themselves the 
 defense of their territory against the ene 
 my, and a reasonable portion of the taxes 
 collected within said states may be paid 
 into the respective treasuries thereof, and 
 appropriated to the balance due said states 
 and to the future defense of the same. 
 The amount so paid into said treasuries to 
 be credited, and the disbursements made 
 as aforesaid to be charged to the United 
 States. 
 
 Resolved, That it be and hereby is re 
 commended to the legislatures of the afore 
 said states, to pass laws where it has not 
 already been done, authorizing the gov 
 ernors or commanders-in-chief of their mi 
 litia to make detachments from the same, 
 or to form voluntary corps, as shall be 
 most convenient and conformable to their 
 constitutions, and to cause the same to be 
 well armed, equipped, and held in readi 
 ness for service, and upon request of the 
 governor of either of the other states, to 
 employ the whole of such detachment or 
 corps, as well as the regular forces of the 
 state, or such part thereof as may be re 
 quired, and can be spared consistently with 
 the safety of the state, in assisting the state 
 making such request to repel any invasion 
 thereof which shall be made or attempted 
 by the public enemy. 
 
 Resolved, That the following amendments 
 of the constitution of the United States be 
 recommended to the states represented as 
 99 
 
 aforesaid, to be proposed by them for 
 adoption by the state legislatures, and in 
 such cases as may be deemed expedient by 
 a convention chosen by the people of each 
 state. And it is further recommended that 
 the said states shall persevere in their ef 
 forts to obtain such amendments, until the 
 same shall be effected. 
 
 First. Eepresentatives and direct taxes 
 shall be apportioned among the several 
 states which may be included within this 
 Union, according to their respective num 
 bers of free persons, including those bound 
 to serve for a term of years, and excluding 
 Indians not taxed, and all other persons; 
 
 Second. No new state shall be admitted 
 into the Union by Congress, in virtue of 
 the power granted in the constitution, 
 without the concurrence of two-thirds of 
 both houses ; 
 
 Third. Congress shall not have power to 
 lay an embargo on the ships or vessels of the 
 citizens of the United States, in the ports or 
 harbors thereof, for more than sixty days ; 
 
 Fourth. Congress shall not have power, 
 without the concurrence of two-thirds of 
 both houses, to interdict the commercial 
 intercourse between the United States and 
 any foreign nation or the dependencies 
 thereof; 
 
 Fifth. Congress shall not make nor de 
 clare war, nor authorize acts of hostility 
 against any foreign nation, without the 
 concurrence of two-thirds of both houses, 
 except such acts of hostility be in defense 
 of the territories of the United States when 
 actually invaded ; 
 
 Sixth. No person who shall hereafter be 
 naturalized shall be eligible as a member 
 of the Senate or House of Eepresentatives 
 of the United States, or capable of holding 
 any civil office under the authority of the 
 United States ; 
 
 Seventh. The same person shall not be 
 elected President of the United States a 
 second time, nor shall the President be 
 elected from the same state two terms in 
 succession. 
 
 Resolved, That if the application of these 
 states to the government of the United 
 States, recommended in a foregoing resolu 
 tion, should be unsuccessful, and peace 
 should not be concluded, and the defense 
 of these states should be neglected, as it has 
 been since the commencement of the war, 
 it will, in the opinion of this convention, 
 be expedient for the legislatures of the 
 several states to appoint delegates to an 
 other convention, to meet at Boston, in the 
 state of Massachusetts, on the third Mon 
 day of June next, with such powers and 
 instructions as the exigency of a crisis so 
 momentous may require. 
 
 Resolved, That the Honorable George 
 Cabot, the Honorable Chauncey Goodrich, 
 the Honorable Daniel Lyman, or any two 
 of them, be authorized to call another 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 meeting of this convention, to be holden 
 in Boston at any time before new delegates 
 shall be chosen as recommended in the 
 above resolution, if in their judgment the 
 situation of the country shall urgently re 
 quire it. 
 
 From 1813-1829. No Platforms by either 
 
 political party, except that at Hartford 
 
 by Federalists, given above. 
 
 1830. Anti-masonic resolution, 
 
 Philadelphia, September. 
 
 Resolved, That it is recommended to the 
 people of the United States, opposed to 
 secret societies, to meet in convention on 
 Monday, the 26th day of September, 1831, 
 at the city of Baltimore, by delegates equal 
 in number to their representatives in both 
 Houses of Congress, to make nominations 
 of suitable candidates for the offices of 
 President and Vice-President, to be sup 
 ported at the next election, and for the 
 transaction of such other business as the 
 cause of Anti-Masonry may require. 
 
 1838. National Democratic Platform, 
 adopted at a ratification Meeting 
 
 at Washington City, May 11. 
 
 Resolved, That an adequate protection 
 to American industry is indispensable to 
 the prosperity of the country ; and that an 
 abandonment of the policy at this period 
 would be attended with consequences ruin 
 ous to the best interests of the nation. 
 
 Resolved, That a uniform system of in 
 ternal improvements, sustained and sup 
 ported by the general government, is calcu 
 lated to secure, in the highest degree, the 
 harmony, the strength and permanency of 
 the republic. 
 
 Resolved, That the indiscriminate remo 
 val of public officers for a mere difference 
 of political opinion, is a gross abuse of 
 power ; and that the doctrine lately boldly 
 preached in the United States Senate, that 
 " to the victors belong the spoils of the 
 vanquished," is detrimental to the interests, 
 corrupting to the morals, and dangerous to 
 the liberties of the country. 
 
 1836." Locofoco " Platform, 
 
 New York, January. 
 
 We hold these truths to be self-evident, 
 that all men are created free and equal ; 
 that they are endowed by their Creator 
 with certain inalienable rights, among 
 which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
 happiness ; that the true foundation of re 
 
 publican government is the equal rights of 
 every citizen in his person and property, 
 and in their management ; that the idea is 
 quite unfounded that on entering into 
 society we give up any natural right ; that 
 the rightful power of all legislation is to 
 declare and enforce only our natural rights 
 and duties, and to take none of them from 
 us ; that no man has the natural right to 
 commit aggressions on the equal rights of 
 another, and this is all from which the 
 law ought to restrain him ; that every man 
 is under the natural duty of contributing 
 to the necessities of society, and this all 
 the law should enforce on him ; that when 
 the laws have declared and enforced all 
 this, they have fulfilled their functions. 
 
 We declare unqualified hostility to bank 
 notes and paper money as a circulating 
 medium, because gold and silver is the only 
 safe and constitutional currency ; hostility 
 to any and all monopolies by legislation, 
 because they are violations of equal rights 
 of the people ; hostility to the dangerous 
 and unconstitutional creation of vested 
 rights or prerogatives by legislation, be 
 cause they are usurpations of the people's 
 sovereign rights ; no legislative or other 
 authority in the body politic can rightful 
 ly, by charter or otherwise, exempt any 
 man or body of men, in any case whatever, 
 from trial by jury and the jurisdiction or 
 operation of the laws which govern the 
 community. 
 
 We hold that each and every law or act 
 of incorporation, passed by preceding le 
 gislatures, can be rightfully altered and re 
 pealed by their successors ; and that they 
 should be altered or repealed, when neces 
 sary for the public good, or when required 
 by a majority of the people. 
 
 1836.- Whig Resolutions, 
 
 Albaiaj, N. Y., February 3. 
 
 Resolved, That in support of our cause, 
 we invite all citizens opposed to Martin 
 Van Buren and the Baltimore nominees. 
 
 Resolved, That Martin Van Buren, by 
 intriguing with the executive to obtain his 
 influence to elect him to the presidency, 
 has set an example dangerous to our free 
 dom and corrupting to our free institutions* 
 
 Resolved, That the support we render to 
 William H. Harrison is by no means given 
 to him solely on account of his brilliant 
 and successful services as leader of our 
 armies during the last war, but that in 
 him we view also the man of high intellect, 
 the stern patriot, uncontaminated by the 
 machinery of hackneyed politicians a 
 man of the school of Washington. 
 
 Resolved, That in Francis Granger we 
 recognize one of our most distinguished 
 fellow-citizens, whose talents we admire, 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 25 
 
 whose patriotism we trust, and whose prin 
 ciples we sanction. 
 
 1839. Abolition Resolution, 
 
 Warsaw, N. T., November 13. 
 
 Resolved, That, in our judgment, every 
 consideration of duty and expediency 
 which ought to control the action of Chris 
 tian freemen, requires of the Abolitionists 
 of the United States to organize a distinct 
 and independent political party, embracing 
 all the necessary means for nominating 
 candidates for office and sustaining them 
 by public suffrage. 
 
 Abolition Platforms. 
 
 The first national platform of the Aboli 
 tion party upon which it went into the 
 contest in 1840, favored the abolition of 
 slavery in the District of Columbia and 
 Territories ; the inter-state slave-trade, and 
 a general opposition to slavery to the fiill 
 extent of constitutional power. 
 
 In 1848, that portion of the party which 
 did not support the Buffalo nominees took 
 the ground of affirming the constitutional 
 authority and duty of the General Govern 
 ment to abolish slavery in the States. 
 
 Under the head of " Buffalo," the plat 
 form of the Free Soil party, which nomi 
 nated Mr. Van Buren, will be found. 
 
 1840. Democratic Platform, 
 
 Baltimore, May 5. 
 
 Resolved, That the Federal government 
 is one of limited powers, derived solely 
 from the constitution, and the grants of 
 power shown therein ought to be strictly 
 construed by all the departments and agents 
 of the government, and that it is inexpe 
 dient and dangerous to exercise doubtful 
 constitutional powers. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the constitution does 
 not confer upon the general government 
 the power to commence and carry on a 
 general system of internal improvements. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the constitution does 
 not confer authority upon the Federal 
 government, directly or indirectly, to as 
 sume the debts of the several states, con 
 tracted for local internal improvements or 
 other state purposes ; nor would such as 
 sumption be just or expedient. 
 
 4. Resolved, That justice and sound po 
 licy forbid the Federal government to 
 foster one branch of industry to the detri 
 ment of another, or to cherish the interests 
 of one portion to the injury of another 
 portion of our common country that every 
 citizen and every section of the country 
 
 has a right to demand and insist upon an 
 equality of rights and privileges, and to 
 complete and ample protection of persons 
 and property from domestic violence or 
 foreign aggression. 
 
 5. Resolved, That it is the duty of every 
 branch of the government to enforce and 
 practice the most rigid economy in con 
 ducting our public affairs, and that no 
 more revenue ought to be raised than is 
 required to defray the necessary expenses 
 of the government. 
 
 6. Resolved, That Congress has no power 
 to charter a United States bank ; that we 
 believe such an institution one of deadly 
 hostility to the best interests of the coun 
 try, dangerous to our republican institu 
 tions and the liberties of the people, and 
 calculated to place the business of the 
 country within the control of a concen 
 trated money power, and above the laws 
 and the will of the people. 
 
 7. Resolved, That Congress has no power 
 under the constitution, to interfere with or 
 control the domestic institutions of the 
 several states ; and that such states are the 
 sole and proper judges of everything per 
 taining to their own affairs, not prohibited 
 by the constitution; that all efforts, by 
 Abolitionists or others, made to induce 
 Congress to interfere with questions of 
 slavery, or to take incipient steps in rela 
 tion thereto, are calculated to lead to the 
 most alarming and dangerous consequen 
 ces, and that all such efforts have an inevi 
 table tendency to diminish the happiness 
 of the people, and endanger the stability 
 and permanence of the Union, and ought 
 not to be countenanced by any friend to 
 our political institutions. 
 
 8. Resolved, That the separation of the 
 moneys of the government from banking 
 institutions is indispensable for the safety 
 of the funds of the government and the 
 rights of the people. 
 
 9. Resolved, That the liberal principles 
 embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration 
 of Independence, and sanctioned in the 
 constitution,, which makes ours the land of 
 liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of 
 every nation, have ever been cardinal prin 
 ciples in the democratic faith ; and every 
 attempt to abridge the present privilege 
 of becoming citizens, and the owners of 
 soil among us, ought to be resisted with 
 the same spirit which swept the alien and 
 sedition laws from our statute book. 
 
 Whereas, Several of the states which 
 have nominated Martin Van Buren as a 
 candidate for the presidency, have put in 
 nomination different individuals as candi 
 dates for Vice-President, thus indicating a 
 diversity of opinion as to the person best 
 entitled to the nomination ; and whereas, 
 some of the said states are not represented 
 in this convention ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the convention deem it 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 expedient at the present time not to choose 
 between the individuals in nomination, 
 but to leave the decision to their repub 
 lican fellow-citizens in the several states, 
 trusting that before the election shall take 
 place, their opinions will become so con 
 centrated as to secure the choice of a Vice- 
 President by the electoral college. 
 
 1843. Liberty Platform. 
 
 Buffalo, August 30. 
 
 1. Resolved, That human brotherhood is 
 a cardinal principle of true democracy, as 
 well as of pure Christianity, which spurns 
 all inconsistent limitations ; and neither 
 the political party which repudiates it, nor 
 the political system which is not based 
 upon it, can be truly democratic or per 
 manent. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the Liberty party, 
 placing itself upon this broad principle, 
 will demand the absolute and unqualified 
 divorce of the general government from 
 slavery, and also the restoration of equal 
 ity of rights among men, in every state 
 where the party exists, or may exist. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the Liberty party has 
 not been organized for any temporary pur 
 pose by interested politicians, but has 
 arisen from among the people in conse 
 quence of a conviction, hourly gaining 
 ground, that no other party in the country 
 represents the true principles of American 
 liberty, or the true spirit of the constitu 
 tion of the United States. 
 
 4. Resolved, That the Liberty party has 
 not been organized merely for the over 
 throw of slavery ; its first decided effort 
 must, indeed, be directed against slave- 
 holding as the grossest and most revolting 
 manifestation of despotism, but it will also 
 carry out the principle of equal rights into 
 all its practical consequences and applica 
 tions, and support every just measure con 
 ducive to individual and social freedom. 
 
 5. Resolved, That the Liberty party is 
 not a sectional party but a national party ; 
 was not originated in a desire to accom 
 plish a single object, but in a comprehen 
 sive regard to the great interests of the 
 whole country ; is not a new party, n0r a 
 third party, but is the party of 1776, re 
 viving the principles of that memorable 
 era, and striving to carry them into prac 
 tical application. 
 
 6. Resolved, That it was understood in the 
 times of the declaration and the constitu 
 tion, that the existence of slavery in some 
 of the states was in derogation of the prin 
 ciples of American liberty, and a deep 
 stain upon the character of the country, 
 and the implied faith of the states and the 
 nation was pledged that slavery should 
 tiever be extended beyond its then exist 
 
 ing limits, but should be gradually, and 
 yet, at no distant day, wholly abolished by 
 state authority. 
 
 7. Resolved, That the faith of the states 
 and the nation thus pledged, was most 
 nobly redeemed by the voluntary aboli 
 tion of slavery in several of the states, and 
 by the adoption of the ordinance of 1787, 
 for the government of the territory north 
 west of the river Ohio, then the only ter 
 ritory in the United States, and conse 
 quently the only territory subject in this 
 respect to the control of Congress, by 
 which ordinance slavery was forever ex 
 cluded from the vast regions which now 
 compose the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
 Michigan, and the territory of Wisconsin, 
 and an incapacity to bear up any other 
 than freemen was impressed on the soil 
 itself. 
 
 8. Resolved, That the faith of the states 
 and the nation thus pledged, has been 
 shamefully violated by the omission, on 
 the part of many of the states, to take any 
 measures whatever for the abolition of 
 slavery within their respective limits ; by 
 the continuance of slavery in the District 
 of Columbia, and in the territories of 
 Louisiana and Florida ; by the legislation 
 of Congress ; by the protection afforded by 
 national legislation and negotiation to 
 slaveholding in American vessels, on the 
 high seas, employed in the coastwise Slave 
 Traffic ; and by the extension of slavery 
 far beyond its original limits, by acts of 
 Congress admitting new slave states into 
 the Union. 
 
 9. Resolved, That the fundamental truths 
 of the Declaration of Independence, that 
 all men are endowed by their Creator with 
 certain inalienable rights, among which 
 are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi 
 ness, was made the fundamental law of 
 our national government, by that amend 
 ment of the constitution which declares 
 that no person shall be deprived of life, 
 liberty, or property, without due process 
 of law. 
 
 10. Resolved, That we recognize as sound 
 the doctrine maintained by slaveholding 
 jurists, that slavery is against natural 
 rights, and strictly local, and that its ex 
 istence and continuance rests on no other 
 support than state legislation, and not on 
 any authority of Congress. 
 
 11. Resolved, That the general govern 
 ment has, under the constitution, no pow 
 er to establish or continue slavery any 
 where, and therefore that all treaties and 
 acts of Congress establishing, continuing 
 or favoring slavery in the District of Co 
 lumbia, in the territory of Florida, or on 
 the high seas, are unconstitutional, and all 
 attempts to hold men as property within 
 the limits of exclusive national jurisdic 
 tion ought to be prohibited by law. 
 
 12. Resolved, That the provisions of the 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 27 
 
 constitution of the United States which 
 confers extraordinary political powers on 
 the owners of slaves, and thereby consti 
 tuting the two hundred and fifty thousand 
 slaveholders in the slave states a privi 
 leged aristocracy ; and the provisions for 
 the reclamation of fugitive slaves from 
 service, are anti-republican in their char 
 acter, dangerous to the liberties of the peo 
 ple, and ought to be abrogated. 
 
 13. Resolved, That the practical opera 
 tion of the second of these provisions, is 
 seen in the enactment of the act of Con 
 gress respecting persons escaping from 
 their masters, which act, if the construc 
 tion given to it by the Supreme Court of 
 the United States in the case of Prigg vs. 
 Pennsylvania be correct, nullifies the ha 
 beas corpus acts of all the states,, takes 
 away the whole legal security of per 
 sonal freedom, and ought, therefore, to be 
 immediately repealed. 
 
 14. Resolved, That the peculiar patron 
 age and support hitherto extended to 
 slavery and slaveholding, by the general 
 government, ought to be immediately with 
 drawn, and the example and influence of 
 national authority ought to be arrayed on 
 the side of liberty and free labor. 
 
 15. Resolved, That the practice of the 
 general government, which prevails in 
 the slave states, of employing slaves upon 
 the public works, instead of free laborers, 
 and paying aristocratic masters, with a 
 view to secure or reward political services, 
 is utterly indefensible and ought to be 
 abandoned. 
 
 16. Resolved, That freedom of speech 
 and of the press, and the right of petition, 
 and the right of trial by jury, are sacred 
 and inviolable ; and that all rules, regula 
 tions and laws, in derogation of either, are 
 oppressive, unconstitutional, and not to be 
 endured by a free people. 
 
 17. Resolved, That we regard voting, in 
 an eminent degree, as a moral and reli 
 gious duty, which, when exercised, should 
 be by voting for those who will do all in 
 their power for immediate emancipation. 
 
 18. Resolved, That this convention re 
 commend to the friends of liberty in all 
 those free states where any inequality of 
 rights and privileges exists on account of 
 color, to employ their utmost energies to 
 remove all such remnants and effects of 
 the slave system. 
 
 Whereas, The constitution of these Uni 
 ted States is a series of agreements, cove 
 nants or contracts between the people of 
 the United States, each with all, and all 
 with each ; and, 
 
 Whereas, It is a principle of universal 
 morality, that the moral laws of the Crea 
 tor are paramount to all human laws ; or, 
 in the language of an Apostle, that " we 
 ought to obey God rather than men ; " 
 and, 
 
 Whereas, The principle of common law 
 that any contract, covenant, or agree 
 ment, to do an act derogatory to natural 
 right, is vitiated and annulled by its in 
 herent immorality has been recognized 
 by one of the justices of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, who in a re 
 cent case expressly holds that " any con 
 tract that rests upon such a basis is void;" 
 and, 
 
 Whereas, The third clause of the second 
 section of the fourth article of the constitu 
 tion of the United States, when construed 
 as providing for the surrender of a fugitive 
 slave, does "rest upon such a basis," in 
 that it is a contract to rob a man of a 
 natural right namely, his natural right 
 to his own liberty and is therefore ab 
 solutely void. Therefore, 
 
 19. Resolved, That we hereby give it to 
 be distinctly understood by this nation 
 and the world, that, as abolitionists, con 
 sidering that the strength of our cause lies 
 in its righteousness, and our hope for it in 
 our conformity to the laws of God, and our 
 respect for the rights of man, we owe it to 
 the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, as a 
 proof of our allegiance to Him, in all our 
 civil relations and offices, whether as pri 
 vate citizens, or public functionaries sworn 
 to support the constitution of the United 
 States, to regard and to treat the third 
 clause of the fourth article of that instru 
 ment, whenever applied to the case of a 
 fugitive slave, as utterly null and void, 
 and consequently as forming no part of the 
 constitution of the United States, when 
 ever we are called upon or sworn to sup* 
 port it. 
 
 20. Resolved, That the power given to 
 Congress by the constitution, to provide 
 for calling out the militia to suppress in 
 surrection, does not make it the duty of 
 the government to maintain slavery by 
 military force, much less does it make 
 it the duty of the citizens to form a part 
 of such military force ; when freemen 
 unsheathe the sword it should be to strike 
 for liberty, not for despotism. 
 
 21. Resolved, That to preserve the peace 
 of the citizens, and secure the blessings of 
 freedom, the legislature of each of the free 
 states ought to keep in force suitable statutes 
 rendering it penal for any of its inhabi 
 tants to transport, or aid in transporting 
 from such state, any person sought to^ be 
 thus transported, merely because subject 
 to the slave laws of any other state ; this 
 remnant of independence being accorded 
 to the free states by the decision of the 
 Supreme Court, in the case of Prigg vs. 
 the state of Pennsylvania. 
 
 184Wt. Wlilg Platform. 
 
 Baltimore, May 1. 
 
 I. Resolved, That these principles may 
 
28 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 be summed as comprising a well-regulated 
 national currency : a tariff for revenue to 
 defray the necessary expenses of the gov 
 ernment, and discriminating with special 
 reference to the protection of the domes 
 tic labor of the country ; the distribution 
 of the proceeds from the sales of the pub 
 lic lands ; a single term for the presidency ; 
 a reform of executive usurpations; and 
 generally such an administration of the 
 affairs of the country as shall impart to 
 every branch of the public service the 
 greatest practical efficiency, controlled by 
 a well-regulated and wise economy. 
 
 1844. -Democratic Platform. 
 
 Baltimore, May 27. 
 
 Resolutions 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, of 
 the platform of 1840, were reaffirmed, to 
 which were added the following : 
 
 10. Resolved, That the proceeds of the 
 public lands ought to be sacredly ap 
 plied to the national objects specified in 
 the constitution, and that we are opposed 
 to the laws lately adopted, and to any law 
 for the distribution of such proceeds 
 among the states, as alike inexpedient in 
 policy and repugnant to the constitution. 
 
 11. Resolved, That we are decidedly op 
 posed to taking from the President the 
 qualified veto power by which he is ena 
 bled, under restrictions and responsibili 
 ties amply sufficient to guard the public 
 interest, to suspend the passage of a bill 
 whose merits can not secure the approval 
 of two-thirds of the Senate and House of 
 Representatives, until the judgment of the 
 people can be obtained thereon, and which 
 has thrice saved the American people from 
 the corrupt and tyrannical domination of 
 the bank of the United States. 
 
 12. Resolved, That our title to the whole 
 of the territory of Oregon is clear and un 
 questionable ; that no portion of the same 
 ought to be ceded to England or any other 
 power, and that the reoccupation of Ore 
 gon and the reanuexation of Texas at the 
 earliest practicable period, are great 
 American measures, which this conven 
 tion recommends to the cordial support of 
 the democracy of the Union. 
 
 1848,-Democratic Platform. 
 
 Baltimore, May 22. 
 
 1. Resolved, That the American democ 
 racy place their trust in the intelligence, 
 the patriotism, and the discriminating jus 
 tice of the American people. 
 
 2. Resolved, That we regard this as a 
 distinctive feature of our political creed, 
 which we are proud to maintain before the 
 world, as the great moral element in a 
 
 form of government springing from and 
 upheld by the popular will ; and contrast 
 it with the creed and practice of federal 
 ism, under whatever name or form, which 
 seeks to palsy the will of the constituent, 
 and which conceives no imposture too 
 monstrous for the popular credulity. 
 
 3. Resolved, Therefore, that entertain 
 ing these views, the Democratic party of 
 this Union, through the delegates assem 
 bled in general convention of the states, 
 coming together in a spirit of concord, of 
 devotion to the doctrines and faith of a free 
 representative government, and appealing 
 to their fellow-citizens for the rectitude of 
 their intentions, renew and reassert before 
 the American people, the declaration of 
 principles avowed by them on a former oc 
 casion, when, in general convention, they 
 presented their candidates for the popular 
 suffrage. 
 
 Resolutions 1, 2, 3 and 4, of the plat 
 form of 1840, were reaffirmed. 
 
 8. Resolved, That it is the duty of every 
 branch of the government to enforce and 
 practice the most rigid economy in con 
 ducting our public affairs, and that no 
 more revenue ought to be raised than is re- 
 uired to defray the necessary expenses of 
 the government, and for the gradual but 
 certain extinction of the debt created by 
 the prosecution of a just and necessary 
 war. 
 
 Resolution 5, of the platform of 1840, 
 was enlarged by the following : 
 
 And that the results of democratic legis 
 lation, in this and all other financial mea 
 sures, upon which issues have been made 
 between the two political parties of the 
 country, have demonstrated to careful and 
 practical men of all parties, their sound 
 ness, safety and utility in all business pur 
 suits. 
 
 Resolutions 7, 8 and 9, of the platform 
 of 1840, were here inserted. 
 
 13. Resolved, That the proceeds of the 
 public lands ought to be sacredly applied 
 to the national objects specified in the con 
 stitution ; and that we are opposed to any 
 law for the distribution of such proceeds 
 among the states as alike inexpedient in 
 policy and repugnant to the constitution. 
 
 14. Resolved, That we are decidedly op 
 posed to taking from the President the 
 qualified veto power, by which he is en 
 abled, un der restrictions and responsibili 
 ties amply sufficient to guard the public in 
 terests, to supend the passage of a bill 
 whose merits can not secure the approval 
 of two-thirds of the Senate and House of 
 Representatives, until the judgment of the 
 people can be obtained thereon, and which 
 has saved the American people from the 
 corrupt and tyrannical domination of the 
 Bank of the United States, and from a cor 
 rupting system of general internal im 
 provements. 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 29 
 
 15. Resolved, That the war with Mexi 
 co, provoked on her part by years of insult 
 and injury, was commenced by her army 
 crossing the Rio Grande, attacking the 
 American troops, and invading our sister 
 state of Texas, and upon all the principles 
 of patriotism and the laws of nations, it is 
 a just and necessary war on our part, in 
 which every American citizen should have 
 shown himself on the side of his country, 
 and neither morally nor physically, by 
 word or by deed, have given "aid and 
 comfort to the enemy. " 
 
 16. Resolved, That we would be rejoiced 
 at the assurance of peace with Mexico, 
 founded on the just principles of indem 
 nity for the past and security for the fu 
 ture ; but that while the ratification of the 
 liberal treaty offered to Mexico remains in 
 doubt, it is the duty of the country to sus 
 tain the administration and to sustain the 
 country in every measure necessary to pro 
 vide for the vigorous prosecution of the 
 war, should that treaty be rejected. 
 
 17. Resolved, That the officers and sol 
 diers who have carried the arms of their 
 country into Mexico, have crowned it with 
 imperishable glory. Their unconquerable 
 courage, their daring enterprise, their un 
 faltering perseverance and fortitude when 
 assailed on all sides by innumerable foes 
 and that more formidable enemy the 
 diseases of the climate exalt their devoted 
 patriotism into the highest heroism, and 
 give them a right to the profound grati 
 tude of their country, and the admiration 
 of the world. 
 
 18. Resolved^ That the Democratic Na 
 tional Convention of thirty states composing 
 the American Republic, tender their fra 
 ternal congratulations to the National Con 
 vention of the Republic of France, now as 
 sembled as the free suffrage representative 
 of the sovereignty of thirty-five millions of 
 Republicans, to establish government on 
 those eternal principles of equal rights, for 
 which their La Fayette and our Washing 
 ton fought side by side in the struggle for 
 our national independence ; and we would 
 especially convey to them, and to the 
 whole people of France, our earnest wishes 
 for the consolidation of their liberties, 
 through the wisdom that shall guide their 
 councils, on the basis of a democratic con 
 stitution, not derived from the grants or 
 concessions of kings or dynasties, but orig 
 inating from the only true source of political 
 power recognized in the states of this 
 Union the inherent and inalienable right 
 of the people, in their sovereign capacity, 
 to make and to amend their forms of gov 
 ernment in such manner as the welfare 
 of the community may require. 
 
 19. Resolved, That in view of the recent 
 development of this grand political truth, 
 of the sovereignty of the people and their 
 capacity and power for self-government, 
 
 which is prostrating thrones and erecting 
 republics on the ruins of despotism in the 
 old world, we feel that a high and sacred 
 duty is devolved, with increased responsi 
 bility, upon the Democratic party of this 
 country, as the party of the people, to sustain 
 and advance among us constitutional lib 
 erty, equality, and fraternity, by continu 
 ing to resist all monopolies and exclusive 
 legislation for the benefit of the few at the 
 expense of the many, and by a vigilant 
 and constant adherence to those principles 
 and compromises of the constitution, which 
 are broad enough and strong enough to 
 embrace and uphold the Union as it was, 
 the Union as it is, and the Union as it 
 shall be in the full expansion of the 
 energies and capacity of this great and 
 progressive people. 
 
 20. Resolved, That a copy of these reso 
 lutions be forwarded, through the American 
 minister at Paris, to the National Conven 
 tion of the Republic of France. 
 
 21. Resolved, That the fruits of the 
 great political triumph of 1844, which elect 
 ed James K. Polk and George M. Dallas, 
 President and Vice-President of the United 
 States, have fulfilled the hopes of the de 
 mocracy of the Union in defeating the de 
 clared purposes of their opponents in 
 creating a National Bank ; in preventing 
 the corrupt and unconstitutional distribu 
 tion of the land proceeds from the com 
 mon treasury of the Union for local pur 
 poses ; in protecting the currency and labor 
 of the country from ruinous fluctuations, 
 and guarding the money of the country for 
 the use of the people by the establishment 
 of the constitutional treasury ; in the noble 
 impulse given to the cause of free trade by 
 the repeal of the tariff of '42, and the crea 
 tion of the more equal, honest, and pro 
 ductive tariff of 1846 ; and that, in our 
 opinion, it would be a fatal error to weaken 
 the bands of a political organization by 
 which these great reforms have been 
 achieved, and risk them in the hands of 
 their known adversaries, with whatever 
 delusive appeals they may solicit our sur 
 render of that vigilance which is the only 
 safeguard of liberty. 
 
 22. Resolved, That the confidence of the 
 democracy of the Union in the principles, 
 capacity, firmness, and integrity of James 
 K. Polk, manifested by his nomination and 
 election in 1844, has been signally justified 
 by the strictness of his adherence to sound 
 democratic doctrines, by the purity of pur 
 pose, the energy and ability, which have 
 characterized his administration in all our 
 affairs at home and abroad ; that we tender 
 to him our cordial congratulations upon 
 the brilliant success which has hitherto 
 crowned his patriotic efforts, and assure 
 him in advance, that at the expiration of 
 his presidential term he will carry with him 
 
30 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 to his retirement, the esteem, respect and 
 admiration of a grateful country. 
 
 23. Resolved, That this convention here 
 by present to the people of the United States 
 Lewis Cass, of Michigan, as the candidate 
 of the Democratic party for the office of 
 President, and William O. Butler, of Ken 
 tucky, for Vice-President of the United 
 States. 
 
 1848. Whig Principles Adopted at a Rati 
 fication Meeting, 
 
 Philadelphia, Jum 9. 
 
 1. Resolved, That the Whigs of the 
 United States, here assembled by their 
 representatives, heartily ratify the nomi 
 nations of General Zachary Taylor as Pres 
 ident, and Millard Fillmore as Vice-Pres 
 ident, of the United States, and pledge 
 themselves to their support. 
 
 2. Resolved, That in the choice of Gen 
 eral Taylor as the Whig candidate for 
 President, we are glad to discover sympathy 
 with a great popular sentiment throughout 
 the nation a sentiment which having its 
 origin in admiration of great military suc 
 cess, has been strengthened by the develop 
 ment, in every action and every word, of 
 sound conservative opinions, and of true 
 fidelity to the great example of former 
 days, and to the principles of the constitu 
 tion as administered by its founders. 
 
 3. Resolved, That General Taylor, in say 
 ing that, had he voted in 1844, he would 
 have voted the Whig ticket, gives us the 
 assurance and no better is needed from a 
 consistent and truth-speaking man that 
 his heart was with us at the crisis of our 
 political destiny, when Henry Clay was 
 our candidate, and when not only Whig 
 principles were well defined and clearly 
 asserted, but Whig measures depended on 
 success. The heart that was with us then 
 is with us now, and, we have a soldier's 
 word of honor, and a life of public and 
 private virtue, as the security. 
 
 4. Resolved, That we look on General 
 Taylor's administration of the government 
 as one conducive of peace, prosperity and 
 union ; of peace, because no one better 
 knows, or has greater reason to deplore, 
 what he has seen sadly on the field of vic 
 tory, the horrors of war, and especially of a 
 foreign and aggressive war ; of prosperity, 
 now more than ever needed to relieve the 
 nation from a burden of debt, and restore 
 industry agricultural, manufacturing, and 
 commercial to its accustomed and peace 
 ful functions and influences; of union, be 
 cause we have a candidate whose very 
 position as a southwestern man, reared on 
 the banks of the great stream whose trib 
 utaries, natural and artificial, embrace the 
 whole Union, renders the protection of the 
 interests of the whole country his first 
 trust, and whose various duties in past life 
 
 have been rendered, not on the soil, or 
 under the flag of any state or section, but 
 over the wide frontier, and under the 
 broad banner of the nation. 
 
 5. Resolved, That standing, as the Whig 
 party does, on the broad and firm platform 
 of the constitution, braced up by all its in 
 violable and sacred guarantees and com 
 promises, and cherished in the affections, 
 because protective of the interests of the 
 people, we are proud to have as the ex 
 ponent of our opinions, one who is pledged 
 to construe it by the wise and generous 
 rules which Washington applied to it, and 
 who has said and no Wnig desires any 
 other assurance that he will make Wash 
 ington's administration his model. 
 
 6. Resolved, That as Whigs and Ameri 
 cans, we are proud to acknowledge our 
 gratitude for the great military services 
 which, beginning at Palo Alto, and end 
 ing at Buena Vista, first awakened the 
 American people to a just estimate of him 
 who is now our Whig candidate. In the 
 discharge of a painful duty for his march 
 into the enemy's country was a reluctant 
 one ; in the command of regulars at one 
 time, and volunteers at another, and of 
 both combined ; in the decisive though 
 punctual discipline of his camp, where all 
 respected and loved him ; in the negotia 
 tion of terms for a dejected and desperate 
 enemy ; in the exigency of actual conflict 
 when the balance was perilously doubtful 
 we have found him the same brave, dis 
 tinguished, and considerate, no heartless 
 spectator of bloodshed, no trifler with hu 
 man life or human happiness ; and we do 
 not know which to admire most, his hero 
 ism in withstanding the assaults of the 
 enemy in the most hopeless fields of Buena 
 Vista mourning in generous sorrow over 
 the graves of Kinggold, of Clay, of Hardin 
 or in giving, in the heat of battle, terms 
 of merciful capitulation to a vanquished 
 foe at Monterey, and not being ashamed to 
 avow that he did it to spare women and 
 children, helpless infancy and more help 
 less age, against whom no American sol 
 dier ever wars. Such a military man, 
 whose triumphs are neither remote nor 
 doubtful, whose virtues these trials have 
 tested, we are proud to make our candidate. 
 
 7. Resolved, That in support of this 
 nomination, we ask our Whig friends 
 throughout the nation to unite, to co-op 
 erate zealously, resolutely, with earnest 
 ness, in behalf of our candidate, whom 
 calumny can not reach, and with respect 
 ful demeanor to our adversaries, whose can 
 didates have yet to prove their claims on 
 the gratitude of the nation. 
 
 1848. Buffalo Platform. 
 
 Utica, June 22. 
 
 Whereas, We have assembled in conven 
 tion as a union of freemen, for the sake of 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 31 
 
 freedom, forgetting all past political dif 
 ference, in a common resolve to maintain 
 the rights of free labor against the aggres 
 sion of the slave power, and to secure free 
 soil to a free people ; and, 
 
 Whereas, The political conventions re 
 cently assembled at Baltimore and Phila 
 delphia the one stifling the voice of a 
 great constituency, entitled to be heard in 
 its deliberations, and the other abandoning 
 its distinctive principles for mere avail 
 ability have dissolved the national party 
 organization heretofore existing, by nomi 
 nating for the chief magistracy of the 
 United States, under the slaveholding dic 
 tation, candidates, neither of whom can be 
 supported by the opponents of slavery ex 
 tension, without a sacrifice of consistency, 
 duty, and self-respect ; and, 
 
 Whereas, These nominations so made, 
 furnish the occasion, and demonstrate the 
 necessity of the union of the people under 
 the banner of free democracy, in a solemn 
 and formal declaration of their independ 
 ence of the slave power, and of their fixed 
 determination to rescue the Federal gov 
 ernment from its control, 
 
 1. Resolved, therefore, That we, the peo 
 ple here assembled, remembering the ex 
 ample of our fathers in the days of the 
 first Declaration of Independence, putting 
 our trust in God for the triumph of our 
 cause, and invoking His guidance in our 
 endeavors to advance it, do now plant our 
 selves upon the national platform of free 
 dom, in opposition to the sectional plat 
 form of slavery. 
 
 2. Resolved, That slavery in the several 
 states of this Union which recognize its 
 existence, depends upon the state laws 
 alone, which can not be repealed or modi 
 fied by the Federal government, and for 
 which laws that government is not respon 
 sible. We therefore propose no interfer 
 ence by Congress with slavery within the 
 limits of any state. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the proviso of Jeffer 
 son, to prohibit the existence of slavery, 
 after 1800, in all the territories of the 
 United States, southern and northern ; the 
 votes of six states and sixteen delegates in 
 Congress of 1784, for the proviso, to three 
 states and seven delegates against it ; the 
 actual exclusion of slavery from the North 
 western Territory, by the Ordinance of 
 1787, unanimously adopted by the states 
 in Congress ; and the entire history of that 
 period, clearly show that it was the settled 
 policy of the nation not to extend, na 
 tionalize or encourage, but to limit, lo 
 calize and discourage, slavery ; and to this 
 policy, which should never have been de 
 parted from, the government ought to 
 return. 
 
 4. Resolved, That our fathers ordained 
 the constitution of the United States, in 
 order, among other great national objects, 
 
 to establish justice, promote the general 
 welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty ; 
 but expressly denied to the Federal gov 
 ernment, which they created, all constitu 
 tional power to deprive any person of life, 
 liberty, or property, without due legal 
 process. 
 
 5. Resolved, That in the judgment of 
 this convention, Congress has no more 
 power to make a slave than to make a 
 king ; no more power to institute or estab 
 lish slavery than to institute or establish a 
 monarchy ; no such power can be found 
 among those specifically conferred by the 
 constitution, or derived by just implication 
 from them. 
 
 6. Resolved, That it is the duty of the 
 Federal government to relieve itself from 
 all responsibility for the existence or con 
 tinuance of slavery wherever the govern 
 ment possesses constitutional power to 
 legislate on that subject, and it is thus re 
 sponsible for its existence. 
 
 7. Resolved, That the true, and, in the 
 judgment of this convention, the only safe 
 means of preventing the extension of 
 slavery into territory now free, is to pro 
 hibit its extension in all such territory by 
 an act of Congress. 
 
 8. Resolved, That we accept the issue 
 which the slave power has forced upon us ; 
 and to their demand for more slave states, 
 and more slave territory, our calm but 
 final answer is, no more slave states and 
 no more slave territory. Let the soil of 
 our extensive domains be kept free for the 
 hardy pioneers of our own land, and the 
 oppressed and banished of other lands, 
 seeking homes of comfort and fields or 
 enterprise in the new world. 
 
 9. Resolved, That the bill lately re 
 ported by the committee of eight in the 
 Senate of the United States, was no com 
 promise, but an absolute surrender of the 
 rights of the non-slaveholders of all the 
 states ; and while we rejoice to know that 
 a measure which, while opening the door 
 for the introduction of slavery into the 
 territories now free, would also have 
 opened the door to litigation and strife 
 among the future inhabitants thereof, to 
 the ruin of their peace and prosperity, was 
 defeated in the House of Bepresentatives, 
 its passage, in hot haste, by a majority, 
 embracing several senators who voted in 
 open violation of the known will of their 
 constituents, should warn the people to 
 see to it that their representatives be not 
 suffered to betray them. There must be 
 no more compromises with slavery; if 
 made, they must be repealed. 
 
 10. Resolved, That we demand freedom 
 and established institutions for our breth 
 ren in Oregon, now exposed to hardships, 
 peril, and massacre, by the reckless hos 
 tility of the slave power to the establish 
 ment of free government and free territo- 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 ries ; and not only for them, but for our 
 brethren in California and New Mexico. 
 
 11. Resolved, It is due not only to this 
 occasion, but to the whole people of the 
 United States, that we should also declare 
 ourselves on certain other questions of na 
 tional policy ; therefore, 
 
 12. Resolved, That we demand cheap 
 postage for the people ; a retrenchment of 
 the expenses and patronage of the Federal 
 government ; the abolition of all unneces 
 sary offices and salaries ; and the election 
 by the people of all civil officers in the 
 service of the government, so far as the 
 same may be practicable. 
 
 13. Resolved, that river and harbor im 
 provements, when demanded by the safety 
 and convenience of commerce with for 
 eign nations, or among the several states, 
 are objects of national concern, and that it 
 is the duty of Congress, in the exercise of 
 ite constitutional power, to provide there 
 for. 
 
 14. Resolved, That the free grant to 
 actual settlers, in consideration of the ex 
 penses they incur in making settlements in 
 the wilderness, which are usually fully 
 equal to their actual cost, and of the pub 
 lic benefits resulting therefrom, of reason 
 able portions of the public lands, under 
 suitable limitations, is a wise and just 
 measure of public policy, which will pro 
 mote in various ways the interests of all 
 the states of this Union ; and we, there 
 fore, recommend it to the favorable con 
 sideration of the American People. 
 
 15. Resolved, That the obligations of 
 honor and patriotism require the earliest 
 practical payment of the national debt, and 
 we are, therefore, in favor of such a tariff 
 of duties as will ra^se revenue adequate to 
 defray the expenses of the Federal govern 
 ment, and to pay annual installments of 
 our debt and the interest thereon. 
 
 16. Resolved, That we inscribe on our 
 banner, "Free Soil, Free Speech, Free 
 Labor, and Free Men," and under it we will 
 fight on, and fight ever, until a triumphant 
 victory shall reward our exertions. 
 
 1853. Democratic Platform. 
 
 Baltimore, June 1. 
 
 Resolutions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, of the 
 platform of 1848, were reaffirmed, to which 
 were added the following : 
 
 8. Resolved, That it is the duty of every 
 branch of the government to enforce and 
 practice the most rigid economy in con 
 ducting our public affairs, and that IK 
 more revenue ought to be raised than is 
 required to defray the necessary expense 
 of the government, and for the gradual but 
 certain extinction of the public debt. 
 
 9. Resolved, That Congress has no power 
 
 to charter a National Bank ; that we be- 
 ieve such an institution one of deadly 
 lostility to the best interests of the coun- 
 ;ry, dangerous to our republican institu 
 tions and the liberties of the people, and 
 calculated to place the business of the 
 country within the control of a concen- 
 ;rated money power, and that above the 
 laws and will of the people ; and that the 
 results of Democratic legislation, in this 
 and all other financial measures, upon 
 which issues have been made between the 
 two political parties of the country, have 
 demonstrated to candid and practical men 
 of all parties, their soundness, safety, and 
 utility, in all business pursuits. 
 
 10. Resolved, That the separation of the 
 moneys of the government from banking 
 institutions is indispensable for the safety 
 of the funds of the government and the 
 rights of the people. 
 
 11. Resolved, That the liberal principles 
 embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration 
 of Independence, and sanctioned in the 
 constitution, which makes ours the land 
 of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed 
 of every nation, have ever been cardinal 
 principles in the Democratic faith ; and 
 every attempt to abridge the privilege of 
 becoming citizens and the owners of the 
 soil among us, ought to be resisted with 
 the same spirit that swept the alien and 
 sedition laws from our statute books. 
 
 12. Resolved, That Congress has no 
 power under the constitution to interfere 
 with, or control, the domestic institutions 
 of the several states, and that such states 
 are the sole and proper judges of every 
 thing appertaining to their own affairs, not 
 prohibited by the constitution; that all 
 efforts of the Abolitionists or others, made 
 to induce Congress to interfere with ques 
 tions of slavery, or to take incipient steps 
 in relation thereto, are calculated to lead 
 to the most alarming and dangerous conse 
 quences ; and that all such efforts have an 
 inevitable tendency to diminish the happi 
 ness of the people, and endanger the sta 
 bility and permanency of the Union, and 
 ought not to be countenanced by any 
 friend of dur political institutions. 
 
 13. Resolved, That the foregoing propo 
 sition covers, and is intended to embrace, 
 the whole subject of slavery agitation in 
 Congress; and therefore the Democratic 
 party of the Union, standing on this na 
 tional platform, will abide by, and adhere 
 to, a faithful execution of the acts known 
 as the Compromise measures settled by 
 last Congress, " the act for reclaiming fugi 
 tives from service labor " included ; which 
 act, being designed to carry out an ex 
 press provision of the constitution, can 
 not, with fidelity thereto, be repealed, nor 
 so changed as to destroy or impair its 
 efficiency. 
 
 14. Resolved, That the Democratic partv 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 33 
 
 will resist all attempts at renewing in Con 
 gress, or out of it, the agitation of the 
 slavery question, under whatever shape or 
 color the attempt may be made. 
 
 [Here resolutions 13 and 14, of the plat 
 form of 1848, were inserted.] 
 
 17. Resolved, That the Democratic party 
 will faithfully abide by and uphold the 
 principles laid down in the Kentucky and 
 Virginia resolutions of 1792 and 1798, and 
 in the report of Mr. Madison to the Vir 
 ginia Legislature in 1799 ; that it adopts 
 those principles as constituting one of the 
 main foundations of its political creed, and 
 is resolved to carry them out in their ob 
 vious meaning and import. 
 
 18. Resolved, That the war with Mexico, 
 upon all the principles of patriotism and 
 the law of nations, was a just and necessary 
 war on our part, in which no American 
 citizen should have shown himself opposed 
 to his country, and neither morally nor 
 physically, by word or deed, given aid and 
 comfort to the enemy. 
 
 19. Resolved^ That we rejoice at the re 
 storation of friendly relations with our 
 sister Republic of Mexico, and earnestly 
 desire for her all the blessings and pros 
 perity which we enjoy under republican 
 institutions, and we congratulate the 
 American people on the results of that 
 war which have so manifestly justified the 
 policy and conduct of the Democratic 
 party, and insured to the United States 
 indemnity for the past and security for the 
 future. 
 
 20. Resolved, That, in view of the condi 
 tion of popular institutions in the old 
 world, a high and sacred duty is devolved 
 with increased responsibility upon the De 
 mocracy of this country, as the party of 
 the people, to uphold and maintain the 
 rights of every state, and thereby the 
 union of states, and to sustain and advance 
 among them constitutional liberty, by con 
 tinuing to resist all monopolies and exclu 
 sive legislation for the benefit of the few 
 at the expense of the many, and by a 
 vigilant and constant adherence to those 
 principles and compromises of the consti 
 tution which are broad enough and strong 
 enough to embrace and uphold the Union 
 as it is, and the Union as it should be, in 
 the full expansion of the energies and ca 
 pacity of this great and progressive people. 
 
 1853. Whig Platform. 
 
 Baltimore, Juiie 16. 
 
 The Whigs of the United States, in con 
 vention assembled adhering to the great 
 conservative principles by which they are 
 controlled and governed, and now as ever 
 relying upon the intelligence of the Ameri 
 can people, with an abiding confidence in 
 their capacity for self-government and 
 
 their devotion to the constitution and the 
 Union, do proclaim the following as the 
 political sentiments and determination for 
 the establishment and maintenance of 
 which their national organization as a 
 party was effected : 
 
 First. The government of the United 
 States is of a limited character, and is con 
 fined to the exercise of powers expressly 
 granted by the constitution, and such as 
 may be necessary and proper for carrying 
 the granted powers into full execution, 
 and that powers not granted or necessarily 
 implied are reserved to the states respec 
 tively and to the people. 
 
 Second. The state governments should 
 be held secure to their reserved rights, and 
 the General Government sustained in its 
 constitutional powers, and that the Union 
 should be revered and watched over as the 
 palladium of our liberties. 
 
 Third. That while struggling freedom 
 everywhere enlists the warmest sympathy 
 of the Whig party, we still adhere to the 
 doctrines of the Father of his Country, as 
 announced in his Farewell Address, of 
 keeping ourselves free from all entangling 
 alliances with foreign countries, and of 
 never quitting our own to stand upon for 
 eign ground ; that our mission as a repub 
 lic is not to propagate our opinions, or im 
 pose on other countries our forms of gov 
 ernment, by artifice or force, but to teach 
 by example, and show by our success, 
 moderation and justice, the blessings of 
 self-government, and the advantages of 
 free institutions. 
 
 Fourth. That, as the people make and 
 control the government, they should obey 
 its constitution, laws and treaties as they 
 would retain their self-respect and the re 
 spect which they claim and will enforce 
 from foreign powers. 
 
 Fifth. Governments should be conduc 
 ted on the principles of the strictest econo 
 my ; and revenue sufficient for the, expen 
 ses thereof, in time of peace, ought to be 
 derived mainly from a duty on imports, 
 and not from direct taxes ; and on laying 
 such duties sound policy requires a just 
 discrimination, and, when practicable, by 
 specific duties, whereby suitable encour 
 agement may be afforded to American in 
 dustry, equally to all classes and to all 
 portions of the country. 
 
 Sixth. The constitution vests in Con 
 gress the power to open and repair har 
 bors, and remove obstructions from navi 
 gable rivers, whenever such improvements 
 are necessary for the common defense, and 
 for the protection and facility of commerce 
 with foreign nations or among the states, 
 said improvements being in every instance 
 national and general in their character. 
 
 Seventh. The Federal and state govern 
 ments are parts of one system, alike neces 
 sary for the common prosperity, peace and 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 security, and ought to be regarded alike 
 with a cordial, habitual and immovable at 
 tachment. Respect for the authority of 
 each, and acquiescence in the just consti 
 tutional measures of each, are duties re 
 quired by the plainest considerations of 
 national, state and individual welfare. 
 
 Eighth. That the series of acts of the 
 32d Congress, the act known as the Fugi 
 tive Slave Law included, are received and 
 acquiesced in by the Whig party of the 
 United States as a settlement in principle 
 and substance of the dangerous and excit 
 ing questions which they embrace ; and, 
 ao far as they are concerned, we will main 
 tain them, and insist upon their strict en 
 forcement, until time and experience shall 
 demonstrate the necessity of further legis 
 lation to guard against the evasion of the 
 laws on the one hand and the abuse of 
 their powers on the other not impairing 
 their present efficiency ; and we deprecate 
 all further agitation of the question thus 
 settled, as dangerous to our peace, and will 
 discountenance all efforts to continue or 
 renew such agitation whenever, where- 
 ever or however the attempt may be made ; 
 and we will maintain the system as essen 
 tial to the nationality of the Whig party, 
 and the integrity of the Union. 
 
 1863. Free-soil Platform. 
 
 PiU&urg, August 11. 
 
 Having assembled in national conven 
 tion as the free democracy of the United 
 States, united by a common resolve to 
 maintain right against wrong, and freedom 
 against slavery; confiding in the intelli 
 gence, patriotism, and discriminating jus 
 tice of the American people ; putting our 
 trust in God for the triumph of our cause, 
 and invoking His guidance in our endea 
 vors to advance it, we now submit to the 
 candid judgment of all men, the following 
 declaration of principles and measures : 
 
 1. That governments, deriving their just 
 powers from the consent of the governed, 
 are instituted among men to secure to all 
 those inalienable rights of life, liberty, and 
 the pursuit of happiness, with which they 
 are endowed by their Creator, and of which 
 none can be deprived by valid legislation, 
 except for crime. 
 
 2. That the true mission of American 
 democracy is to maintain the liberties of 
 the people, the sovereignty of the states, 
 and the perpetuity of the Union, by the 
 impartial application of public affairs, 
 without sectional discriminations, of the 
 fundamental principles of human rights, 
 strict justice, and an economical adminis 
 tration. 
 
 3. That the Federal government is one 
 of limited powers derived solely from the 
 
 constitution, and the grants of power there 
 in ought to be strictly construed by all the 
 departments and agents of the government, 
 and it is inexpedient and dangerous to ex 
 ercise doubtful constitutional powers. 
 
 4. That the constitution of the United 
 States, ordained to form a more perfect 
 Union, to' establish justice, and secure the 
 blessings of liberty, expressly denies to the 
 general government all power to deprive 
 any person of life, liberty, or property, 
 without due process of law ; and, there 
 fore, the government, having no more 
 power to make a slave than to make a 
 king, and no more power to establish 
 slavery than to establish a monarchy, 
 should at once proceed to relieve itself 
 from all responsibility for the existence of 
 slavery, wherever it possesses constitutional 
 power to legislate for its extinction. 
 
 5. That, to the persevering and importu 
 nate demands of the slave power for more 
 slave states, new slave territories, and the 
 nationalization of slavery, our distinct 
 and final answer is no more slave states, 
 no slave territory, no nationalized slavery, 
 and no national legislation for the extra 
 dition of slaves. 
 
 6. That slavery is a sin against God, and 
 a crime against man, which no human en 
 actment nor usage can make right; and 
 that Christianity, humanity, ana patriot 
 ism alike demand its abolition. 
 
 7. That the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 is 
 repugnant to the constitution, to the prin 
 ciples of the common law, to the spirit of 
 Christianity, and to the sentiments of the 
 civilized world; we, therefore, deny its. 
 binding force on the American people, 
 and demand its immediate and total re 
 peal. 
 
 8. That the doctrine that any human 
 law is a finality, and not subject to modi 
 fication or repeal, is not in accordance 
 with the creed of the founders of our gov 
 ernment, and is dangerous to the liberties 
 of the people. 
 
 9. That the acts of Congress, known as 
 the Compromise measures of 1850, by mak 
 ing the admission of a sovereign state con 
 tingent upon the adoption of other mea 
 sures demanded by the special interests of 
 slavery ; by their omission to guarantee 
 freedom in the free territories ; by their at 
 tempt to impose unconstitutional limita 
 tions on the powers of Congress and the 
 people to admit new states ; by their pro 
 visions for the assumption of five millions 
 of the state debt of Texas, and for the pay 
 ment of five millions more, and the cession 
 of large territory to the same state under 
 menace, as an inducement to the relin- 
 quishment of a groundless claim ; and by 
 their invasion of the sovereignty of the 
 states and the liberties of the " people, 
 through the enactment of an unjust, op 
 pressive, and unconstitutional fugitive 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 slave law, are proved to be inconsistent 
 with all the principles and maxims of de 
 mocracy, and wholly inadequate to the 
 settlement of the questions of which they 
 are claimed to be an adjustment. 
 
 10. That no permanent settlement of 
 the slavery question can be looked for ex 
 cept in the practical recognition of the 
 truth that slavery is sectional and freedom 
 national ; by the total separation of the 
 general government from slavery, and the 
 exercise of its legitimate and constitutional 
 influence on the side of freedom ; and by 
 leaving to the states the whole subject of 
 slavery and the extradition of fugitives 
 from service. 
 
 11. That all men have a natural right to 
 a portion of the soil ; and that as the use 
 of the soil is indispensable to life, the right 
 of all men to the soil is as sacred as their 
 right to life itself. 
 
 12. That the public lands of the United 
 States belong to the people and should not be 
 sold to individuals nor granted to corpora 
 tions, but should be held as a sacred trust 
 for the benefit of the people, and should 
 be granted in limited quantities, free of 
 cost, to landless settlers. 
 
 13. That due regard for the Federal 
 constitution, a sound administrative poli 
 cy, demand that the funds of the general 
 government be kept separate from bank 
 ing institutions ; that inland and ocean 
 postage should be reduced to the lowest 
 possible point; that no more revenue 
 should be raised than is required to defray 
 the strictly necessary expenses of the pub 
 lic service and to pay off' the public debt ; 
 and that the power and patronage of the 
 government should be diminished by the 
 abolition of all unnecessary offices, salaries 
 and privileges, and by the election of the 
 people of all civil officers in the service of 
 the United States, so far as may be consist 
 ent with the prompt and efficient transac 
 tion of the public business. 
 
 14. That river and harbor improvements, 
 when necessary to the safety and con 
 venience of commerce with foreign nations, 
 or among the several states, are objects of 
 national concern; and it is the duty of 
 Congress, in the exercise of its constitu 
 tional powers, to provide for the same. 
 
 15. That emigrants and exiles from the 
 old world should find a cordial welcome to 
 homes of comfort and fields of enterprise in 
 the new ; and every attempt to abridge 
 their privilege of becoming citizens and 
 owners of soil among us ought to be resist 
 ed with inflexible determination. 
 
 16. That every nation has a clear right 
 to alter or change, its own government, 
 and to administer its own concerns in such 
 manner as may best secure the rights 
 and promote the happiness of the people ; 
 and foreign interference with that right is 
 a dangerous violation of the law of nations, 
 
 against which all independent govern 
 ments should protest, and endeavor by all 
 proper means to prevent ; and especially is 
 it the duty of the American government, 
 representing the chief republic of the 
 world, to protest against, and by all pro 
 per means to prevent, the intervention of 
 kings and emperors against nations seek 
 ing to establish for themselves republican 
 or constitutional governments. 
 
 17. That the independence of Hayti 
 ought to be recognized by our government, 
 and our commercial relations with it placed 
 on the footing of the most favored nations. 
 
 18. That as by the constitution, "the 
 citizens of each state shall be entitled to 
 all the privileges and immunities of citi 
 zens in the several states," the practice of 
 imprisoning colored seamen of other states, 
 while the vessels to which they belong lie 
 in port, and refusing the exercise of the 
 right to bring such cases before the Su 
 preme Court of the United States, to test 
 the legality of such proceedings, is a fla 
 grant violation of the constitution, and an 
 invasion of the rights of the citizens of 
 other states, utterly inconsistent with the 
 professions made by the slaveholders, that 
 they wish the provisions of the constitu 
 tion faithfully observed by every state in 
 the Union. 
 
 19. That we recommend the introduc 
 tion into all treaties hereafter to be nego 
 tiated between the United States and for 
 eign nations, of some provision for the 
 amicable settlement of difficulties by a re 
 sort to decisive arbitrations. 
 
 20. That the free democratic party is 
 not organized to aid either the Whig or 
 Democratic wing of the great slave compro 
 mise party of the nation, but to defeat 
 them both ; and that repudiating and re 
 nouncing both as hopelessly corrupt and 
 utterly unworthy of confidence, the pur 
 pose of the Free Democracy is to take pos 
 session of the Federal government and ad 
 minister it for the better protection of the 
 rights and interests of the whole people. 
 
 21. ,That we inscribe on our banner 
 Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and 
 Free Men, and under it will fight on and 
 fight ever, until a triumphant victory shall 
 reward our exertions. 
 
 22. That upon this platform, the con 
 vention presents to the American people, 
 as a candidate for the office of President 
 of the United States, John P. Hale, of 
 New Hampshire, and as a candidate for 
 the office of Vice-President of the United 
 States, George W. Julian, of Indiana, and 
 earnestly commend them to the support of 
 all freemen and all parties. 
 
 1856. The American Platform. 
 
 Adopted at Philadelphia February 21. 
 
 1. An humble acknowledgment to the 
 
AMERICAN POLITIoS. 
 
 Supreme Being for His protecting care 
 vouchsafed to our fathers in their success 
 ful revolutionary struggle, and hitherto 
 manifested to us, their descendants, in the 
 preservation of the liberties, the indepen 
 dence, and the union of these states. 
 
 2. The perpetuation of the Federal 
 Union and constitution, as the palladium 
 of our civil and religious liberties, and the 
 only sure bulwarks of American independ 
 ence. 
 
 3. Americans must rule America ; and to 
 this end nafa'ye-born citizens should be se 
 lected for all state, federal, and municipal 
 offices of government employment, in pre 
 ference to all others. Nevertheless, 
 
 4. Persons born of American parents 
 residing temporarily abroad, should be 
 entitled to all the rights of native-born 
 citizens. 
 
 5. No person should be selected for polit 
 ical station (whether of native or foreign 
 birth), who recognizes any allegiance or 
 obligation of any description to any foreign 
 prince, potentate, or power, or who refuses 
 to recognize the federal and state constitu 
 tions (each within its sphere) as paramount 
 to all other laws, as rules of political ac 
 tion. 
 
 6. The unequaled recognition and main 
 tenance of the reserved rights of the several 
 states, and the cultivation of harmony and 
 fraternal good-will between the citizens 
 of the several states, and, to this end, non 
 interference by Congress with questions 
 appertaining solely to the individual states, 
 and non-intervention by each state with 
 the affairs of any other state. 
 
 7. The recognition of the right of native- 
 born and naturalized citizens of the Uni 
 ted States, permanently residing in any 
 territory thereof, to frame their constitu 
 tion and laws, and to regulate their domes 
 tic and social affairs in their own mode, 
 subject only to the provisions of the fed 
 eral constitution, with the privilege of ad 
 mission into the Union whenever they 
 have the requisite population for one 
 Eepresentative in Congress: Provided, al 
 ways, that none but those who are citizens 
 of the United States under the constitu 
 tion and laws thereof, and who have a 
 fixed residence in any such territory, ought 
 to participate in the formation of the con 
 stitution or in the enactment of laws for 
 said territory or state. 
 
 8. An enforcement of the principles 
 that no state or territory ought to admit 
 others than citizens to the right of suffrage 
 or of holding political offices of the United 
 States. 
 
 9. A change in the laws of naturaliza 
 tion, making a continued residence of 
 twenty-one years, of all not heretofore 
 provided for, an indispensable requisite for 
 citizenship hereafter, and excluding all 
 paupers and persons convicted of crime 
 
 from landing upon our shores ; but no in 
 terference with the vested rights of for 
 eigners. 
 
 10. Opposition to any union between 
 church and state; no interference with 
 religious faith or worship; and no test- 
 oaths for office. 
 
 11. Free and thorough investigation 
 into any and all alleged abuses of public 
 functionaries, and a strict economy in pub 
 lic expenditures. 
 
 12. The maintenance and enforcement 
 of all laws constitutionally enacted, until 
 said laws shall be repealed, or shall be de 
 clared null and void by competent judicial 
 authority. 
 
 13. Opposition to the reckless and un 
 wise policy of the present administration 
 in the general management of our national 
 affairs, and more especially as shown in 
 removing "Americans" (by designation) 
 and conservatives in principle, from office, 
 and placing foreigners and ultraists in 
 their places ; as shown in a truckling sub 
 serviency to the stronger, and an insolent 
 and cowardly bravado towards the weaker 
 powers ; as shown in reopening sectional 
 agitation, by the repeal of the Missouri 
 Compromise ; as shown in granting to un- 
 naturalized foreigners the right of suffrage 
 in Kansas and Nebraska ; as shown in its 
 vacillating course on the Kansas and Ne 
 braska question ; as shown in the corrup 
 tions which pervade some of the depart 
 ments of the government ; as shown in dis 
 gracing meritorious naval officers through 
 prejudice or caprice ; and as shown in the 
 blundering mismanagement of our foreign 
 relations. 
 
 14. Therefore, to remedy existing evils- 
 and prevent the disastrous consequences 
 otherwise resulting therefrom, we would 
 build up the " American Party " upon the 
 principles hereinbefore stated. 
 
 15. That each state council shall have 
 authority to amend their several constitu 
 tions, so as to abolish the several degrees, 
 and substitute a pledge of honor, instead 
 of other obligations, for fellowship and 
 admission into the party. 
 
 16. A free and open discussion of all 
 political principles embraced in our plat 
 form. 
 
 1856. Democratic Platform, 
 
 Adopted at Cincinnati, June 6. 
 
 Resolved, That the American democracy 
 place their trust in the intelligence, the 
 patriotism, and discriminating justice of 
 the American people. 
 
 Resolved, That we regard this as a dis 
 tinctive feature of our political creed, 
 which we are proud to maintain before 
 the world as a great moral element in a 
 form of government springing from and 
 upheld by the popular will ; and we co- 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 37 
 
 trast it with the creed and practice of 
 federalism, under whatever name or form, 
 which seeks to palsy the will of the con 
 stituent, and which conceives no imposture 
 too monstrous for the popular credulity. 
 
 Resolved, therefore, That entertaining 
 these views, the Democratic party of this 
 Union, through their delegates, assembled 
 in general convention, coming together in 
 a spirit of concord, of devotion to the doc 
 trines and faith of a free representative 
 government, and appealing to their fellow 
 citizens for the rectitude of their intentions, 
 renew and reassert, before the American 
 people, the declaration of principles 
 avowed by them, when, on former occa 
 sions, in general convention, they have 
 presented their candidates for the popular 
 suffrage. 
 
 1. That the Federal government is one 
 of limited power, derived solely from the 
 constitution, and the grants of power made 
 therein ought to be strictly construed by 
 all the departments and agents of the gov 
 ernment, and that it is inexpedient and 
 dangerous to exercise doubtful constitu 
 tional powers. 
 
 2. That the constitution does not confer 
 upon the general government the power to 
 commence and carry on a general system 
 of internal improvements. 
 
 3. That the constitution does not confer 
 authority upon the Federal government, 
 directly or indirectly, to assume the debts 
 of the several states, contracted for local 
 and internal improvements or other state 
 purposes; nor would such assumption be 
 just or expedient. 
 
 4. That justice and sound policy forbid 
 the Federal government to foster one 
 branch of industry to the detriment of 
 another, or to cherish the interests of one 
 portion of our common country ; that every 
 citizen and every section of the country 
 has a right to demand and insist upon an 
 equality of rights and privileges, and a 
 complete and ample protection of persons 
 and property from domestic violence and 
 foreign aggression. 
 
 5. That it is the duty of every branch 
 of the government to enforce and practice 
 the most rigid economy in conducting our 
 public affairs, and that no more revenue 
 ought to be raised than is required to de 
 fray the necessary expenses of the govern 
 ment and gradual but certain extinction of 
 the public debt. 
 
 6. That the proceeds of the public lands 
 ought to be sacredly applied to the national 
 objects specified in the constitution, and 
 that we are opposed to any law for the dis 
 tribution of such proceeds among the states, 
 as alike inexpedient in policy and repug 
 nant to the constitution. 
 
 7. That Congress has no power to char 
 ter a national bank ; that we believe such 
 an institution one of deadly hostility to 
 
 the best interests of this country, danger 
 ous to our republican institutions and the 
 liberties of the people, and calculated to 
 place the business of the country within 
 the control of a concentrated money power 
 and above the laws and will of the people ; 
 and the results of the democratic legisla 
 tion in this and all other financial measures 
 upon which issues have been made between 
 the two political parties of the country, 
 have demonstrated to candid and practical 
 men of all parties their soundness, safety, 
 and utility in all business pursuits. 
 
 8. That the separation of the moneys of 
 the government from banking institutions 
 is indispensable to the safety of the funds 
 of the government and the rights of the 
 people. 
 
 9. That we are decidedly opposed to 
 taking from the President the qualified 
 veto power, by which he is enabled, under 
 restrictions and responsibilities amply suffi 
 cient to guard the public interests, to sus 
 pend the passage of a bill whose merits 
 can not secure the approval of two-thirds 
 of the Senate and House of Representa 
 tives, until the judgment of the people can 
 be obtained thereon, and which has saved 
 the American people from the corrupt and 
 tyrannical dominion of the Bank of the 
 United States and from a corrupting sys 
 tem of general internal improvements. 
 
 10. That the liberal principles embodied 
 by Jefferson in the Declaration of Inde 
 pendence, and sanctioned in the Constitu 
 tion, which makes ours the land of liberty 
 and the asylum of the oppressed of every 
 nation, have ever been cardinal principles 
 in the democratic faith; and every at 
 tempt to abridge the privilege of becom 
 ing citizens and owners of soil among us, 
 ought to be resisted with the same spirit 
 which swept the alien and sedition laws 
 from our statute books. 
 
 And whereas, Since the foregoing decla 
 ration was uniformly adopted by our prede 
 cessors in national conventions, an adverse 
 political and religious test has been 
 secretly organized by a party claiming to 
 be exclusively Americans, and it is proper 
 that the American democracy should 
 clearly define its relations thereto; and 
 declare its determined opposition to all 
 secret political societies, by whatever name 
 they may be called 
 
 Resolved, That the foundation of this 
 union of states having been laid in, and 
 its prosperity, expansion, and pre-eminent 
 example in free government built upon, 
 entire freedom of matters of religious con 
 cernment, and no respect of persons in re 
 gard to rank or place of birth, no party 
 can justly be deemed national, constitu 
 tional, or in accordance with American 
 principles, which bases its exclusive organ 
 ization upon religious opinions and acci 
 dental birth-place. And hence a political 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 crusade in the nineteenth century, and in 
 the United States of America, against 
 Catholics and foreign-born, is neither justi 
 fied by the past history or future prospects 
 of the' country, nor in unison with the 
 spirit of toleration and enlightened free 
 dom which peculiarly distinguishes the 
 American system of popular government. 
 Resolved, That we reiterate with renewed 
 energy of purpose the well-considered 
 declarations of former conventions upon 
 ihe sectional issue of domestic slavery, 
 and concerning the reserved rights of the 
 states 
 
 1. That Congress has no power under 
 the constitution to interfere with or con 
 trol the domestic institutions of the several 
 states, and that all such states are the sole 
 and proper judges of everything apper 
 taining to their own affairs not prohibited 
 by the constitution ; that all efforts of the 
 Abolitionists or others, made to induce 
 Congress to interfere with questions of 
 slavery, or to take incipient steps in rela 
 tion thereto, are calculated to lead to the 
 most alarming and dangerous conse 
 quences, and that all such efforts have an 
 inevitable tendency to diminish the hap 
 piness of the people and endanger the 
 stability and permanency of the Union, 
 and ought not to be countenanced by any 
 friend of our political institutions. 
 
 2. That the foregoing proposition covers 
 and was intended to embrace the whole 
 subject of slavery agitation in Congress, 
 and therefore the Democratic party of the 
 Union, standing on this national platform, 
 will abide by and adhere to a faithful exe 
 cution of the acts known as the compro 
 mise measures, settled by the Congress of 
 1850 "the act for reclaiming fugitives 
 from service or labor" included; which 
 act, being designed to carry out an express 
 provision of the constitution, can not, with 
 fidelity thereto, be repealed, or so changed 
 as to destroy or impair its efficiency. 
 
 3. That the Democratic party will resist 
 all attempts at renewing in Congress, or 
 out of it, the agitation of the slavery ques 
 tion, under whatever shape or color the 
 attempt may be made. 
 
 4. That the Democratic party will faith 
 fully abide by and uphold the principles 
 laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia 
 resolutions of 1792 and 1798, and in the 
 report of Mr. Madison to the Virginia 
 legislature in 1799; that it adopts these 
 principles as constituting one of the main 
 foundations of its political creed, and is 
 resolved to carry them out in their obvious 
 meaning and import. 
 
 And that we may more distinctly meet 
 the issue on which a sectional party, sub 
 sisting exclusively on slavery agitation, 
 now relies to test the fidelity of the people, 
 north and south, to the constitution and 
 the Union 
 
 1. Resolved, That claiming fellowship 
 with and desiring the co-operation of all 
 who regard the preservation of the Union 
 under the constitution as the paramount 
 issue, and repudiating all sectional parties 
 and platforms concerning domestic slavery 
 which seek to embroil the states and in 
 cite to treason and armed resistance to law 
 in the territories, and whose avowed pur 
 pose, if consummated, must end in civil 
 war and disunion, the American democracy 
 recognize and adopt the principles con 
 tained in the organic laws establishing the 
 territories of Nebraska and Kansas, as em 
 bodying the only sound and safe solution 
 of the slavery question, upon which the 
 great national idea of the people of this 
 whole country can repose in its determined 
 conservation of the Union, and non-inter 
 ference of Congress with slavery in the 
 territories or in the District of Columbia. 
 
 2. That this was the basis of the com 
 promise of 1850, confirmed by both the 
 Democratic and Whig parties in national 
 conventions, ratified by the people in the 
 election of 1852, and rightly applied to the 
 organization of the territories in 1854. 
 
 3. That by the uniform application of 
 the Democratic principle to the organiza 
 tion of territories and the admission of 
 new states, with or without domestic sla 
 very, as they may elect, the equal rights of 
 all the states will be preserved intact, the 
 original compacts of the constitution main 
 tained inviolate, and the perpetuity and 
 expansion of the Union insured to its ut 
 most capacity of embracing, in peace and 
 harmony, every future American state that 
 may be constituted or annexed with a re 
 publican form of government. 
 
 Resolved, That we recognize the right 
 of the people of all the territories, includ 
 ing Kansas and Nebraska, acting through 
 the legally and fairly expressed will of the 
 majority of the actual residents, and when 
 ever the number of their inhabitants justi 
 fies it, to form a constitution, with or with 
 out domestic slavery, and be admitted into 
 the Union upon terms of perfect equality 
 with the other states. 
 
 Resolved, finally, That in view of the 
 condition of* the popular institutions in the 
 old world (and the dangerous tendencies 
 of sectional agitation, combined with the 
 attempt to enforce civil and religious disa 
 bilities against the rights of acquiring and 
 enjoying citizenship in our own land), a 
 high and sacred duty is devolved, with in 
 creased responsibility, upon the Demo 
 cratic party of this country, as the party 
 of the Union, to uphold and maintain the 
 rights of every state, and thereby the 
 union of the states, and to sustain and ad 
 vance among us constitutional liberty, by 
 continuing to resist all monopolies and ex 
 clusive legislation for the benefit of the few 
 at the expense of the many, and by a vigi- 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 39 
 
 lant and constant adherence to those prin 
 ciples and compromises of the constitution 
 which are broad enough and strong enough 
 to embrace and uphold the Union as it 
 was, the Union as it is, and the Union as 
 it shall be, in the full expression of the 
 energies and capacity of this great and 
 progressive people. 
 
 1. Resolved, That there are questions 
 Connected with the foreign policy of this 
 Ountry which are inferior to no domestic 
 fjaestions whatever. The time has come 
 for the people of the United States to de 
 clare themselves in favor of free seas and 
 progressive free trade throughout the world, 
 and, by solemn manifestations, to place 
 their moral influence at the side of their 
 successful example. 
 
 2. Resolved, That our geographical and 
 political position with reference to the other 
 states of this continent, no less than the 
 interest of our commerce and the develop 
 ment of our growing power, requires that 
 we should hold sacred the principles in 
 volved in the Monroe doctrine. Their 
 bearing and import admit of no miscon 
 struction, and should be applied with un 
 bending rigidity. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the great highway 
 which nature, as well as the assent of states 
 most immediately interested in its main 
 tenance, ha.-> marked out for free commu 
 nication between the Atlantic and Pacific 
 oceans, constitutes one of the most impor 
 tant achievements realized by the spirit of 
 modern times, in the unconquerable energy 
 of our people ; and that result would be 
 secured by a timely and efficient exertion 
 of the control which we have the right to 
 claim over it; and no power on earth 
 should be suffered to impede or clog its 
 progress by any interference with relations 
 that may suit our policy to establish be 
 tween our government and the govern 
 ments of the states within whose dominions 
 it lies ; we can under no circumstances sur 
 render our preponderance in the adjust 
 ment of all questions arising out of it. 
 
 4. Resolved, That in view of so com 
 manding an interest, the people of the 
 United States cannot but sympathize with 
 the efforts which are being made by the 
 people of Central America to regenerate 
 that portion of the continent which covers 
 the passage across the inter-oceanic isthmus. 
 
 5. Resolved, That the Democratic party 
 will expect of the next administration that 
 every proper effort be made to insure our 
 ascendency in the Gulf of Mexico, and to 
 maintain permanent protection to the great 
 outlets through which are emptied into its 
 waters the products raised out of the soil 
 and the commodities created by the indus 
 try of the people of our western valleys 
 and of the Union at large. 
 
 6. Resolved, That the administration of 
 Franklin Pierce has been true to Demo- 
 
 23 
 
 cratic principles, and, therefore, true to the 
 great interests of the country ; in the face 
 of violent opposition, he has maintained 
 the laws at home and vindicated the rights 
 of American citizens abroad, and, there 
 fore, we proclaim our unqualified admira 
 tion of his measures and policy. 
 
 1856. Republican Platform, 
 
 Adopted at Philadelphia, June 17. 
 
 This convention of delegates, assembled 
 in pursuance of a call addressed to the 
 people of the United States, without regard 
 to past political differences or divisions, 
 who are opposed to the repeal of the Mis 
 souri Compromise, to the policy of the 
 present administration, to the extension of 
 slavery into free territory ; in favor of ad 
 mitting Kansas as a free state, of restoring 
 the action of the Federal government to 
 the principles of Washington and Jeffer 
 son ; and who purpose to unite in present 
 ing candidates for the offices of President 
 and Vice-President, do resolve as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the maintenance of the 
 principles promulgated in the Declaration 
 of Independence, and embodied in the 
 federal constitution, is essential to the pre 
 servation of our Republican institutions, 
 and that the federal constitution, the rights 
 of the states, and the union of the states, 
 shall be preserved. 
 
 Resolved, That with our republican 
 fathers we hold it to be a self-evident truth 
 that all men are endowed with the inalien 
 able rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit 
 of happiness, and that the primary object 
 and ulterior design of our Federal govern 
 ment were, to secure these rights to all 
 persons within its exclusive jurisdiction ; 
 that as our republican fathers, when they 
 had abolished slavery in all our national 
 territory, ordained that no person should 
 be deprived of life, liberty, or property, 
 without due process of law, it becomes our 
 duty to maintain this provision of the con 
 stitution against all attempts to violate it 
 for the purpose of establishing slavery in 
 any territory of the United States, by posi 
 tive legislation, prohibiting its existence or 
 extension therein. That we deny the au 
 thority of Congress, of a territorial legis 
 lature, of any individual or association of 
 individuals, to give legal existence to sla 
 very in any territory of the United States, 
 while the present constitution shall be 
 maintained. 
 
 Resolved, That the constitution confers 
 upon Congress sovereign power over the 
 territories of the United States for their 
 government, and that in the exercise of 
 this power it is both the right and the im 
 perative duty of Congress to prohibit in 
 the territories those twin relics of barbar 
 ism polygamy and slavery. 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Resolved, That while the constitution of 
 the United States was ordained and estab 
 lished, in order to form a more perfect 
 union, establish justice, insure domestic 
 tranquillity, provide for the common de 
 fense, promote the general welfare, and 
 secure the blessings of liberty, and contains 
 ample provisions for the protection of the 
 life, liberty, and property of every citizen, 
 the dearest constitutional rights of the 
 people of Kansas have been fraudulently 
 and violently taken from them ; their terri 
 tory has been invaded by an armed force ; 
 spurious and pretended legislative, judicial, 
 and executive officers have been set over 
 them, by whose usurped authority, sus 
 tained by the military power of the govern 
 ment, tyrannical and unconstitutional laws 
 have been enacted and enforced ; the rights 
 of the people to keep and bear arms have 
 been infringed ; test oaths of an extraordi 
 nary and entangling nature have been im 
 posed, as a condition of exercising the 
 right of suffrage and holding office ; the 
 right of an accused person to a speedy and 
 public trial by an impartial jury has been 
 denied ; the right of the people to be se 
 cure in their persons, houses, papers, and 
 effects against unreasonable searches and 
 seizures, has been violated ; they have been 
 deprived of life, liberty, and property with 
 out due process of law ; that the freedom 
 of speech and of the press has been abridg 
 ed ; the right to choose their representa 
 tives has been made of no effect ; murders, 
 robberies, and arsons have been instigated 
 or encouraged, and the offenders have been 
 allowed to go unpunished ; that all these 
 things have been done with the knowledge, 
 sanction, and procurement of the present 
 national administration ; and that for this 
 high crime against the constitution, the 
 Union, and humanity, we arraign the ad 
 ministration, the President, his advisers, 
 agents, supporters, apologists, and acces 
 sories, either before or after the facts, be 
 fore the country and before the world ; 
 and that it is our fixed purpose to bring the 
 actual perpetrators of these atrocious out 
 rages, and their accomplices, to a sure and 
 condign punishment hereafter. 
 
 Resolved, That Kansas should be im 
 mediately admitted as a state of the Union 
 with her present free constitution, as at 
 once the most effectual way of securing to 
 her citizens the enjoyment of the rights 
 and privileges to which they are entitled, 
 and of ending the civil strife now raging 
 in her territory. 
 
 Resolved, That the highwayman's plea 
 that "might makes right," embodied in 
 the Ostena circular, was in every respect 
 unworthy of American diplomacy, and 
 would bring shame and dishonor upon any 
 government or people that gave it their 
 sanction. 
 
 Resolved, That a railroad to the Pacific 
 
 ocean, by the most central and practicable 
 route, is imperatively demanded by the in 
 terests of the whole country, and that the 
 Federal government ought to render im 
 mediate and efficient aid in its construc 
 tion, and, as an auxiliary thereto, the im 
 mediate construction of an emigrant route 
 on the line of the railroad. 
 
 Resolved, That appropriations of Con 
 gress for the improvement of rivers and 
 harbors of a national character, required 
 for the accommodation and security of our 
 existing commerce, are authorized by the 
 constitution, and justified by the obligation 
 of government to protect the lives and 
 property of its citizens. 
 
 Resolved, That we invite the affiliation 
 and co-operation of the men of all parties, 
 however differing from us in other respects, 
 in support of the principles herein de 
 clared ; and believing that the spirit of 
 our institutions, as well as the constitution 
 of our country, guarantees liberty of con 
 science and equality of rights among citi 
 zens, we oppose all prescriptive legislation 
 affecting their security. 
 
 1856. Wfcig Platform. 
 
 Baltimore, September 13. 
 
 Resolved, That the Whigs of the United 
 States, now here assembled, hereby de 
 clare their reverence for the constitution 
 of the United States, their unalterable at 
 tachment to the National Union, and a 
 fixed determination to do all in their 
 power to preserve them for themselves and 
 their posterity. They have no new princi 
 ples to announce ; no new platform to es 
 tablish ; but are content to broadly rest 
 where their fathers rested upon the con 
 stitution of the United States, wishing no 
 safer guide, no higher law. 
 
 Resolved, That we regard with the 
 deepest interest and anxiety the present 
 disordered condition of our national af 
 fairs a portion of the country ravaged by 
 civil war, large sections of our population 
 embittered by mutual recriminations; and 
 we distinctly trace these calamities to the 
 culpable neglect of duty by the present 
 national administration. 
 
 Resolved, That the government of the 
 United States was formed by the conjunc 
 tion in political unity of wide-spread geo 
 graphical sections, materially differing, not 
 only in climate and products, but in social 
 and domestic institutions; and that any 
 cause that shall permanently array the 
 different sections of the Union in political 
 hostility and organize parties founded only 
 on geographical distinctions, must inevit 
 ably prove fatal to a continuance of the 
 National Union. 
 
 Resolved, That the Whigs of the United 
 States declare, as a fundamental article of 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 41 
 
 political faith, an absolute necessity for 
 avoiding geographical parties. The dan 
 ger, so clearly discerned by the Father of 
 his Country, has now become fearfully 
 apparent in the agitation now convulsing 
 the nation, and must be arrested at once 
 if we would preserve our constitution and 
 our Union from dismemberment, and the 
 name of America from being blotted out 
 from the family of civilized nations. 
 
 Resolved, That all who revere the con 
 stitution and the Union, must look with 
 alarm at the parties in the field in the 
 present presidential campaign one claim 
 ing only to represent sixteen northern 
 states, and the other appealing mainly to 
 the passions and prejudices of the southern 
 states ; that the success of either faction 
 must add fuel to the flame which now 
 threatens to wrap our dearest interests in 
 a common ruin. 
 
 Resolved, That the only remedy for an 
 evil so appalling is to support a candidate 
 pledged to neither of the geographical sec 
 tions nor arrayed in political antagonism, 
 but holding both in a just and equal regard. 
 We congratulate the friends of the Union 
 that such a candidate exists in Millard 
 Fillmore. 
 
 Resolved, That, without adopting or re 
 ferring to the peculiar doctrines of the 
 party which has already selected Mr. Fill- 
 more as a candidate, we look to him as a 
 well tried and faithful friend of the consti 
 tution and the Union, eminent alike for 
 his wisdom and firmness for his justice 
 and moderation in our foreign relations 
 calm and pacific temperament, so well be 
 coming the head of a great nation for his 
 devotion to the constitution in its true 
 spirit his inflexibility in executing the 
 laws but, beyond all these attributes, in 
 possessing the one transcendent merit of 
 being a representative of neither of the 
 two sectional parties now struggling for 
 political supremacy. 
 
 Resolved, That, in the present exigency 
 of political affairs, we are not called upon 
 to discuss the subordinate questions of ad 
 ministration in the exercising of the con 
 stitutional powers of the government. It 
 is enough to know that civil war is raging, 
 and that the Union is in peril ; and we 
 proclaim the conviction that the restora 
 tion of Mr. Fillmore to the presidency will 
 furnish the best if not the only means of 
 restoring peace. 
 
 I860. Constitutional Union Platform. 
 
 Baltimore, May 9. 
 
 Whereas, Experience has demonstrated 
 that platforms adopted by the partisan 
 conventions of the country have had the 
 effect to mislead and deceive the people, 
 
 and at the same time to widen the political 
 divisions of the country, by the creation 
 and encouragement of geographical and 
 sectional parties ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That it is both the part of 
 patriotism and of duty to recognize no po 
 litical principles other than THE CONSTI 
 TUTION OF THE COUNTRY, THE UNION OP 
 THE STATES, AND THE ENFORCEMENT OF 
 THE LAWS ; and that as representatives of 
 the Constitutional Union men of the coun 
 try, in national convention assembled, we 
 hereby pledge ourselves to maintain, pro 
 tect, and deiend, separately and unitedly, 
 these great principles of public liberty and 
 national safety against all enemies at home 
 and abroad, believing that thereby peace 
 may once more be restored to the country, 
 the rights of the people and of the states 
 re-established, and the government again 
 placed in that condition of justice, frater 
 nity, and equality, which, under the exiam- 
 ple and constitution of our fathers, has 
 solemnly bound every citizen of the United 
 States to maintain a more perfect union, 
 establish justice, insure domestic tranquil 
 lity, provide for the common defense, pro 
 mote the general welfare, and secure the 
 blessings of liberty to ourselves and our 
 posterity. 
 
 I860. Republican Platform, 
 
 Chicago, May 17. 
 
 Resolved, That we, the delegated repre 
 sentatives of the Republican electors of 
 the United States, in convention assembled, 
 in discharge of the duty we owe to our 
 constituents and our country, unite in the 
 following declarations: 
 
 1. That the history of the nation, dur 
 ing the last four years, has fully establish 
 ed the propriety and necessity of the or 
 ganization and perpetuation of the Ee- 
 publican party, and that the causes which 
 called it into existence are permanent in 
 their nature, and now, more than ever be 
 fore, demand its peaceful and constitutional 
 triumph. 
 
 2. That the maintenance of the principles 
 promulgated in the Declaration of Inde 
 pendence and embodied in the federal 
 constitution, "That all men are created 
 equal; that they are endowed by their 
 Creator with certain inalienable rights; 
 that among these are life, liberty, and the 
 pursuit of happiness ; that to secure these 
 rights, governments are instituted among 
 men, deriving their just powers from the 
 consent of the governed/' is essential to 
 the preservation of our republican institu 
 tions ; and that the federal constitution, 
 the rights of the states, and the union of 
 the states, must and shall be preserved. 
 
 3. That to the union of the states this 
 nation owes its unprecedented increase in 
 population, its surprising development of 
 
42 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 material resources, its rapid augmentation 
 of wealth, its happiness at home and its 
 honor abroad ; and we hold in abhorrence 
 all schemes for disunion, come from what 
 ever source they may ; and we congratulate 
 the country that no Republican member of 
 Congress has uttered or countenanced the 
 threats of disunion so often made by De 
 mocratic members, without rebuke and 
 with applause from their political associ 
 ates ; and we denounce those threats of dis 
 union, in case of a popular overthrow of 
 their ascendency, as denying the vital 
 principles of a free government, and as an 
 avowal of contemplated treason, which it 
 is the imperative duty of an indignant 
 people sternly to rebuke and forever silence. 
 
 4. That the maintenance inviolate of the 
 rights of the states, and especially the right 
 of each state to order and control its own 
 domestic institutions according to its own 
 judgment exclusively, is essential to that 
 balance of powers on which the perfection 
 and endurance of our political fabric de 
 pends; and we denounce the lawless in 
 vasion, by armed force, of the soil of any 
 state or territory, no matter under what 
 pretext, as among the gravest of crimes. 
 
 5. That the present Democratic admini 
 stration has far exceeded our worst ap 
 prehensions, in its measureless subserviency 
 to the exactions of a sectional interest, as 
 especially evinced in its desperate exertions 
 to force the infamous Lecompton constitu 
 tion upon the protesting people of Kansas ; 
 in construing the personal relations be 
 tween master and servant to involve an 
 unqualified property in persons ; in its at 
 tempted enforcement, everywhere, on land 
 and sea, through the intervention of Con 
 gress and of the federal courts, of the ex 
 treme pretensions of a purely local interest ; 
 and in its general and unvarying abuse of 
 the power entrusted to it by a confiding 
 people. 
 
 . 6. That the people justly view with alarm 
 the reckless extravagance which pervades 
 every department of the Federal govern 
 ment ; that a return to rigid economy and 
 accountability is indispensable to arrest the 
 systematic plunder of the public treasury 
 by favored partisans; while the recent 
 startling developments of frauds and cor 
 ruptions at the federal metropolis, show 
 that an entire change of administration is 
 imperatively demanded. 
 
 7. That the new dogma, that the consti 
 tution, of its own force, carries slavery into 
 any or all of the territories of the United 
 States, is a dangerous political heresy, at 
 variance with the explicit provisions of 
 that instrument itself, with contemporane 
 ous exposition, and with legislative and 
 judicial precedent is revolutionary in its 
 tendency, and subversive of the peace and 
 harmony of the country. 
 
 8. That the normal condition of all the 
 
 territory of the United States is that of 
 freedom ; that as our republican fathers, 
 when they had abolished slavery in all our 
 national territory, ordained that " no per 
 son shall be deprived of life, liberty, or 
 property, without due process of law," it 
 becomes our duty, by legislation, whenever 
 such legislation is necessary, to maintain 
 this provision of the constitution against 
 all attempts to violate it ; and we deny the 
 authority of Congress, of a territorial legis 
 lature, or of any individuals, to give legal 
 existence to slavery in any territory of the 
 United States. 
 
 9. That we brand the recent reopening 
 of the African slave trade, under the cover 
 of our national flag, aided by perversions 
 of judicial power, as a crime against human 
 ity and a burning shame to our country 
 and age ; and we call upon Congress to 
 take prompt and efficient measures for the 
 total and final suppression of that execrable 
 traffic. 
 
 10. That in the recent vetoes, by their 
 federal governors, of the acts of the legis 
 latures of Kansas and Nebraska, prohibit 
 ing slavery in those territories, we find a 
 practical illustration of the boasted De 
 mocratic principle of non-intervention and 
 popular sovereignty, embodied in the 
 Kansas-Nebraska bill, and a demonstration 
 of the deception and fraud involved 
 therein. 
 
 11. That Kansas should, of right, be 
 immediately admitted as a state under the 
 constitution recently formed and adopted 
 by her people, and accepted by the House 
 of Representatives. 
 
 12. That, while providing revenue for 
 the support of the general government by 
 duties upon imports, sound policy requires 
 such an adjustment of these imports as to 
 encourage the development of the indus 
 trial interest of the whole country ; and 
 we commend that policy of national ex 
 changes which secures to the working men 
 liberal wages, to agriculture remunerative 
 prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an 
 adequate reward for their skill, labor, and 
 enterprise, and to the nation commercial 
 prosperity and independence. 
 
 13. That we protest against any sale or 
 alienation to others of the public lands 
 held by actual settlers, and against any 1 
 view of the homestead policy which re 
 gards the settlers as paupers or suppliants 
 for public bounty; and we demand the 
 passage by Congress of the complete and 
 satisfactory homestead measure which has 
 already passed the House. 
 
 14. That the republican party is opposed 
 to any change in our naturalization laws, 
 or any state legislation by which the rights 
 of citizenship hitherto accorded to immi 
 grants from foreign lands shall be abridged 
 or impaired ; and in favor of giving a full 
 and efficient protection to the rights of all 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 43 
 
 classes of citizens, whether native or na 
 turalized, both at home and abroad. 
 
 15. That appropriations by Congress for 
 river and harbor improvements of a na 
 tional character, required for the accommo 
 dation and security of an existing com 
 merce, are authorized by the constitution 
 and justified by the obligations of govern 
 ment to protect the lives and property of 
 its citizens. 
 
 16. That a railroad to the Pacific ocean 
 is imperatively demanded by the interest 
 of the whole country ; that the Federal 
 government ought to render immediate and 
 efficient aid in its construction ; and that 
 as preliminary thereto, a daily overland 
 mail should be promptly established. 
 
 17. Finally, having thus set forth our 
 distinctive principles and views, we invite 
 the co-operation of all citizens, however 
 differing on other questions, who substan 
 tially agree with us in their affirmance and 
 support. 
 
 I860. Democratic (Douglas) Platform, 
 
 Charleston, April 23, and Baltimore, June 18. 
 
 '1. Resolved, That we, the Democracy of 
 the Union, in convention assembled, here 
 by declare our affirmance of the resolutions 
 unanimously adopted and declared as a 
 Platform of principles by the Democratic 
 convention at Cincinnati, in the year 1856, 
 believing that democratic principles are 
 unchangeable in their nature when applied 
 to the same subject-matters ; and we recom 
 mend, as the only further resolutions, the 
 following : 
 
 Inasmuch as differences of opinion exist 
 in the Democratic party as to the nature 
 and extent of the powers of a territorial 
 legislature, and as to the powers and duties 
 of Congress, under the constitution of the 
 United States, over the institution of sla 
 very within the territories : 
 
 2. Resolved, That the Democratic party 
 will abide by the decisions of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States on the questions 
 of constitutional law. 
 
 3. Resolved, That it is the duty of the 
 United States to afford ample and complete 
 protection to all its citizens, whether at 
 home or abroad, and whether native or 
 foreign. 
 
 4. Resolved, That one of the necessities 
 of the age, in a military, commercial, and 
 postal point of view, is speedy communi 
 cation between the Atlantic and Pacific 
 states; and the Democratic party pledge 
 such constitutional government aid as will 
 insure the construction of a railroad to the 
 Pacific coast at the earliest practicable 
 period. 
 
 5. Resolved, That the Democratic party 
 are in favor of the acquisition of the island 
 of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honor 
 able to ourselves and just to Spain. 
 
 6. Resolved, That the enactments of state 
 legislatures to defeat the faithful execution 
 of the Fugitive Slave Law are hostile in 
 character, subversive of the constitution, 
 and revolutionary in their effect. 
 
 7. Resolved, That it is in accordance 
 with the true interpretation of the Cincin 
 nati platform, that, during the existence of 
 the territorial governments, the measure 
 of restriction, whatever it may be, imposed 
 by the federal constitution on the power of 
 the territorial legislature over the subject 
 of domestic relations, as the same has been, 
 or shall hereafter be, finally determined by 
 the Supreme Court of the United States, 
 shall be respected by all good citizens, and 
 enforced with promptness and fidelity by 
 every branch of the general government. 
 
 I860. Democratic (Breckinridge) Platform. 
 
 Charleston and Baltimore. 
 
 Resolved, That the platform adopted by 
 the Democratic party at Cincinnati be af 
 firmed, with following explanatory resolu 
 tions : 
 
 1. That the government of a territory, 
 organized by an act of Congress, is pro 
 visional and temporary ; and, during its 
 existence, all citizens of the United States 
 have an equal right to settle, with their 
 property, in the territory, without their 
 rights, either of person or property, being 
 destroyed or impaired by congressional or 
 territorial legislation. 
 
 2. That it is the duty of the Federal 
 government, in all its departments, to pro 
 tect, when necessary, the rights of per 
 sons and property in the territories, and 
 wherever else its constitutional authority 
 extends. 
 
 3. That when the settlers in a territory 
 having an adequate population form a 
 state constitution in pursuance of law, the 
 right of sovereignty commences, and, be 
 ing consummated by admission into the 
 Union, they stand on an equal footing 
 
 th the people of other states, and the 
 state thus organized ought to be admit 
 ted into the Federal Union, whether its 
 constitution prohibits or recognizes the in 
 stitution of slavery. 
 
 4. That the Democratic party are in 
 favor of the acquisition of the island of 
 ~uba, on such terms as shall be honorable 
 to ourselves and just to Spain, at the earli 
 est practicable moment. 
 
 5. That the enactments of state legisla 
 tures to defeat the faithful execution of 
 :he Fugitive Slave Law are hostile in 
 character, subversive of the constitution, 
 and revolutionary in their effect. 
 
 6. That the Democracy of the United 
 States recognize it as the imperative duty 
 of this government to protect the natural- 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 ized citizen in all his rights, whether at 
 home or in foreign lands, to the same ex 
 tent as its native-born citizens. 
 
 Whereas, One of the greatest necessi 
 ties of the age, in a political, commercial, 
 postal, and military point of view, is a 
 speedy communication betAveen the Pa 
 cific and Atlantic coasts ; therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the Democratic party do 
 hereby pledge themselves to use every 
 means in their power to secure the passage 
 of some bill, to the extent of the constitu 
 tional authority of Congress, for the con 
 struction of a Pacific railroad from the 
 Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean, at 
 the earliest practicable moment. 
 
 1864. Radical Platform. 
 
 Cleveland, May 31. 
 
 1. That the Federal Union shall be pre 
 served. 
 
 2. That the constitution and laws of 
 the United States must be observed and 
 obeyed. 
 
 3. That the Rebellion must be sup 
 pressed by force of arms, and without com 
 promise. 
 
 4. That the rights of free speech, free 
 press and the habeas corpus be held invio 
 late, save in districts where martial law 
 has been proclaimed. 
 
 5. That the Rebellion has destroyed 
 slavery ; and the federal constitution 
 should be so amended as to prohibit its 
 re-establishment, and to secure to all men 
 absolute equality before the law. 
 
 6. That integrity and economy are de 
 manded, at all times in the administration 
 of the government, and that in time of 
 war the want of them is criminal. 
 
 7. That the right of asylum, except for 
 crime and subject to law, is a recognized 
 principle of American liberty ; and that 
 any violation of it can not be overlooked, 
 and must not go unrebuked. 
 
 8. That the national policy known as 
 the " Monroe Doctrine" has become a re 
 cognized principle ; and that the estab 
 lishment of an anti-republican govern 
 ment on this continent by any foreign 
 power can not be tolerated. 
 
 9. That the gratitude and support of 
 the nation are due to the faithful soldiers 
 and the earnest leaders of the Union army 
 and navy, for their heroic achievements 
 and deathless valor in defense of our im 
 periled country and of civil liberty. 
 
 10. That the one-term policy for the 
 presidency, adopted by the people, is 
 Strengthened by the force of the existing 
 crisia, and should be maintained by con 
 stitutional amendment. 
 
 11. That the constitution should be so 
 amended that the President and Vice- 
 
 President shall be elected by a direct vote 
 of the people. 
 
 12. That the question of the reconstruc 
 tion of the rebellious states belongs to the 
 people, through their representatives in 
 Congress, and not to the Executive. 
 
 13. That the confiscation of the lands of 
 the rebels, and their distribution among 
 the soldiers and actual settlers, is a mea 
 sure of justice. 
 
 1864. Republican Platform. 
 
 Bullhnore, June 7. 
 
 Resolved, That it is the highest duty 
 of every American citizen to maintain, 
 against all their enemies, the integrity of 
 the union and the paramount authority of 
 the constitution and laws of the United 
 States ; and that, laying aside all differ 
 ences of political opinions, we pledge our 
 selves, as Union men, animated by a com 
 mon sentiment and aiming at a common 
 object, to do everything in our power to 
 aid the government in quelling, by force 
 of arms, the Rebellion now raging against 
 its authority, and in bringing to the pun 
 ishment due to their crimes the rebels and 
 traitors arrayed against it. 
 
 Resolved, That we approve the determi 
 nation of the government of the United 
 States not to compromise with rebels, nor 
 to offer them any terms of peace, except 
 such as may be based upon an " uncondi 
 tional surrender " of their hostility and a 
 return to their allegiance to the constitu 
 tion and laws of the United States ; and 
 that we call upon the government to main 
 tain this position, and to prosecute the 
 war with the utmost possible vigor to the 
 complete suppression of the Rebellion, in 
 full reliance upon the self-sacrificing pa 
 triotism, the heroic valor, and the undying 
 devotion of the American people to the 
 country and its free institutions. 
 
 Resolved, That as slavery was the cause, 
 and now constitutes the strength, of this 
 Rebellion, and as it must be always and 
 everywhere hostile to the principles of re 
 publican government, justice and the na 
 tional safety demand its utter and com 
 plete extirpation from the soil of the Re 
 public ; and that we uphold and maintain 
 the acts and proclamations by which the 
 government, in its own defense, has aimed 
 a death-blow at the gigantic evil. We are 
 in favor, furthermore, of such an amend 
 ment to the constitution, to be made by 
 the people in conformity with its provis 
 ions, as shall terminate and forever pro 
 hibit the existence of slavery within the 
 limits or the jurisdiction of the United 
 States. 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the Amer 
 ican people are due to the soldiers and 
 sailors of the army and navy, who have 
 periled their lives in defense of their 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 45 
 
 country and in vindication of the honor of 
 its flag ; that the nation owes to them 
 some permanent recognition of their pa 
 triotism and their vaior, and ample and 
 permanent provision for those of their 
 survivors who have received disabling and 
 honorable wounds in the service of the 
 country ; and that the memories of those 
 who have fallen in its defense shall be 
 held in grateful and everlasting remem 
 brance. 
 
 Resolved, That we approve and applaud 
 the practical wisdom, the unselfish patri 
 otism, and the unswerving fidelity to the 
 constitution and the principles of Ameri 
 can liberty with which Abraham Lincoln 
 has discharged, under circumstances of 
 unparalleled difficulty, the great duties 
 and responsibilities of the presidential 
 office ; that we approve and indorse, as 
 demanded by the emergency and essential 
 to the preservation of the nation, and as 
 within the provisions of the constitution, 
 the measures and acts which he has adopt 
 ed to defend the nation against its open 
 and secret foes ; that we approve, especial 
 ly, the Proclamation of Emancipation, 
 and the employment, as Union soldiers 
 of men heretofore held in slavery ; and 
 that we have full confidence in his deter 
 mination to carry these, and all other con 
 stitutional measures essential to the salva 
 tion of the country, into full and complete 
 effect. 
 
 Resolved, That we deem it essential to 
 the general welfare that harmony should 
 prevail in the national councils, and we 
 regard as worthy of public confidence and 
 official trust those only who cordially in 
 dorse the principles proclaimed in these 
 resolutions, and which should characterize 
 the administration of the government. 
 
 Resolved, That the government owes to 
 all men employed in its armies, without 
 regard to distinction of color, the full pro 
 tection of the laws of war ; and that any 
 violation of these law,-:, or of the usages of 
 civilized nations in the time of war, by 
 the rebels now in arms, should be made 
 the subject of prompt and full redress. 
 
 Resolved, That foreign immigration, 
 which in the past has added so much to 
 the wealth, development of resources, and 
 increase of power to this nation the asy 
 lum of the oppressed of all nations should 
 be fostered and encouraged by a liberal 
 and just policy. 
 
 Resolved, That we are in favor of the 
 speedy construction of the railroad to the 
 Pacific coast. 
 
 Resolved, That the national faith, pledged 
 for the redemption of the public debt, must 
 be kept inviolate ; and that, for this pur 
 pose, we recommend economy and rigid 
 responsibility in the public expenditures 
 and a vigorous and just system of taxa 
 tion ; and that it is the duty of every loyal 
 
 state to sustain the credit and promote the 
 use of the national currency. 
 
 Resolved, That we approve the position 
 taken by the government, that the people 
 of the United States can never regard with 
 indifference the attempt of any European 
 power to overthrow by force, or to sup 
 plant by fraud, the institutions of any re 
 publican government on the western con 
 tinent, and that they will view with ex 
 treme jealousy, as menacing to the peace 
 and independence of this, oar country, the 
 efforts of any such power to obtain new 
 footholds for monarchical governments, 
 sustained by a foreign military force, in 
 near proximity to the United States. 
 
 1864. Democratic Platform. 
 
 Chicago, Augutt 29. 
 
 Resolved, That in the future, as in the 
 past, we will adhere with unswerving fidel 
 ity to the Union under the constitution, 
 as the only solid foundation of our 
 strength, security, and happiness as a peo 
 ple, and as a frame-work of government 
 equally conducive to the welfare and pros 
 perity of all the states, both northern and 
 sputhern. 
 
 Resolved, That this convention does ex 
 plicitly declare, as the sense of the Ameri 
 can people, that after four years of failure 
 to restore the Union by the experiment of 
 war, during which, under the pretense of 
 a military necessity of a war power higher 
 than the constitution, the constitution it 
 self has been disregarded in every part, 
 and public liberty and private right alike 
 trodden down, and the material prosperity 
 of the country essentially impaired, justice, 
 humanity, liberty, and the public welfare 
 demand that immediate efforts be made 
 for a cessation of hostilities, with a view 
 to an ultimate convention of all the states, 
 or other peaceable means, to the end that, 
 at the earliest practicable moment, peace 
 may be restored on the basis of the federal 
 union of all the states. 
 
 Resolved, That the direct interference of 
 the military authority of the United States 
 in the recent elections held in Kentucky, 
 Maryland, Missouri, and Delaware, was a 
 shameful violation of the constitution ; 
 and the repetition of such acts in the ap 
 proaching election will be held as revolu 
 tionary, and resisted with all the means 
 and power under our contrel. 
 
 Resolved, That the aim and object of the 
 Democratic party is to preserve the Fede 
 ral Union and the rights of the states un 
 impaired ; and they hereby declare that 
 they consider the administrative usurpa 
 tion of extraordinary and dangerous pow 
 ers not granted by the constitution, the 
 subversion of the civil by the military law 
 in states not in insurrection, the arbitrary 
 
46 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 military arrest, imprisonment, trial, and 
 sentence of American citizens in states 
 where civil law exists in full force, the 
 suppression of freedom of speech and of 
 the press, the denial of the right of asy 
 lum, the open and avowed disregard of 
 state rights, the employment of unusual 
 test-oaths, and the interference with and 
 denial of the right of the people to 
 bear arms in their defense, as calculated 
 to prevent a restoration of the Union and 
 the perpetuation of a government deriving 
 its j ust powers from the consent of the gov 
 erned. 
 
 Resolved, That the shameful disregard of 
 the administration to its duty in respect to 
 our fellow-citizeiis who now are, and long 
 have been, prisoners of war, in a suffering 
 condition, deserves the severest reproba 
 tion, on the score alike of public policy 
 and common humanity. 
 
 Resolved, That the sympathy of the De 
 mocratic party is heartily and earnestly 
 extended to the soldiery of our army and 
 the sailors of our navy, who are and have 
 been in the field and on the sea under the 
 flag of their country ; and, in the event of 
 our attaining power, they will receive all 
 the care and protection, regard and kind 
 ness, that the brave soldiers of the Kepub- 
 lic have so nobly earned. 
 
 1868. Republican Platform. 
 
 Chicago, May 20. 
 
 1. We congratulate the country on the 
 assured success of the reconstruction poli 
 cy of Congress, as evinced by the adoption, 
 in the majority of the states lately in rebel 
 lion, 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 guarantee by Congress of equal 
 suffrage to all loyal men at the south was 
 demanded by every consideration of pub 
 lic safety, of gratitude, and of justice, and 
 must be maintained ; while the question of 
 suffrage in all the loyal states properly be 
 longs 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 con 
 tracted. 
 
 4. It is due* to the labor of the nation 
 .that taxation should be equalized and re 
 duced 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 honest 
 ly done. 
 
 6. That the best policy to diminish our 
 burden of debts 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 re 
 pudiation, 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 re 
 form. 
 
 8. We profoundly deplore the tragic 
 death of Abraham Lincoln, and regret the 
 accession to 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, 
 liberty, and life of the citizen ; who has 
 abused the pardoning power ; who has 
 denounced the national legislature as un 
 constitutional ; who has persistently and 
 corruptly resisted, by every means in his 
 power, every proper attempt at the recon 
 struction 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 pro 
 perly 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 au 
 thorized by the laws of nations, and at war 
 with our national honor and independence. 
 Naturalized citizens are entitled to pro 
 tection in all their rights of citizenship as 
 though they were native-born ; and no 
 citizen of the United States, native or na 
 turalized, must be liable to arrest and im 
 prisonment 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 
 tiis behalf. 
 
 10. Of all who were faithful in the trials 
 of the late war, there were none entitled to 
 more special honor than the brave soldiers 
 and seamen who endured the hardships of 
 campaign and cruise, and imperiled their 
 lives in the service of the country. The 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 47 
 
 bounties and pensions provided by the 
 laws for these brave defenders of the na 
 tion 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 protect 
 ing care. 
 
 11. Foreign immigration, which in the 
 past has added so much to the wealth, de 
 velopment, 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 who 
 are struggling for their rights. 
 
 13. That we highly commend the spirit 
 of magnanimity and forbearance with 
 which men who have served in the Rebel 
 lion, 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 re 
 ceived back into the communion of the 
 loyal people ; and we favor the removal of 
 the disqualifications and restrictions im 
 posed upon the late rebels, in the same 
 measure as the spirit of disloyalty shall die 
 out, and as may be consistent with the 
 safety of the loyal people. 
 
 14. That we recognize the great princi 
 ples laid down in the immortal Declara 
 tion of Independence, as the true founda 
 tion of democratic government; and we 
 hail with gladness every effort toward 
 making these principles a living reality on 
 every inch of American soil. 
 
 1868. Democratic Platform. 
 
 New York, July 4. 
 
 The Democratic party, in national con 
 vention assembled, reposing its trust in 
 the intelligence, patriotism, and discrimi 
 nating j ustice of the people, standing upon 
 the constitution as the foundation and 
 limitation of the powers of the government 
 and the guarantee of the liberties of the 
 citizen, and recognizing the questions of 
 slavery and secession as having been set 
 tled, for all time to come, by the war or 
 voluntary action of the southern states in 
 constitutional conventions assembled, and 
 never to be revived or reagitated, do, with 
 the return of peace, demand 
 
 1. Immediate restoration of all the states 
 to their rights in the Union under the con 
 stitution, and of civil government to the 
 American people. 
 
 2. Amnesty for all past political offenses, 
 and the regulation of the elective franchise 
 in the states by their citizens. 
 
 3. Payment of all the public debt of the 
 United States as rapidly as practicable 
 
 all money drawn from the people by taxa*. 
 tion, except so much as is requisite for the 
 necessities of the government, economically 
 administered, being honestly applied to 
 such payment ; and where the obligations 
 of the government do not expressly state 
 upon their face, or the law under which 
 they were issued does not provide that 
 they shall be paid in coin, they ought, in 
 right and in justice, to be paid in the law 
 ful money of the United States. 
 
 4. Equal taxation of every species of 
 property according to its real value, in 
 cluding government bonds and other pub 
 lic securities. 
 
 5. One currency for the government and 
 the people, the laborer and the office 
 holder, the pensioner and the soldier, the 
 producer and the bondholder. 
 
 6. Economy in the administration of the 
 government ; the reduction of the standing 
 army and navy ; the abolition of the Freed- 
 men's Bureau and all political instrumen 
 talities designed to secure negro suprema 
 cy ; simplification of the system and dis 
 continuance of inquisitorial modes of as 
 sessing and collecting internal revenue; 
 that the burden of taxation may be equal 
 ized and lessened, and the credit of the 
 government and the currency made good ; 
 the repeal of all enactments for enrolling 
 the state militia into national forces in 
 time of peace ; and a tariff for revenue 
 upon foreign imports, and such equal taxa 
 tion under the internal revenue laws 'as 
 will afford incidental protection to domes 
 tic manufactures, and as will, without im 
 pairing the revenue, impose the least bur 
 den upon, and best promote and encourage, 
 the great industrial interests of the coun 
 try. 
 
 7. Reform of abuses in the administra 
 tion ; the expulsion of corrupt men from 
 office; the abrogation of useless offices; 
 the restoration of rightful authority to, 
 and the independence of, the executive and 
 judicial departments of the government; 
 the subordination of the military to the 
 civil power, to the end that the usurpa 
 tions of Congress and the despotism of the 
 sword may cease. 
 
 8. Equal rights and protection for na 
 turalized and native-born citizens, at home 
 and abroad ; the assertion of American na 
 tionality which shall command the re 
 spect of foreign powers, and furnish an 
 example and encouragement to people 
 struggling for national integrity, constitu 
 tional liberty and individual rights ; and 
 the maintenance of the rights of natural 
 ized citizens against the absolute doctrine 
 of immutable allegiance and the claims of 
 foreign powers to punish them for alleged 
 crimes committed beyond their jurisdic 
 tion. 
 
 In demanding these measures and re 
 forms, we arraign the Radical party for its 
 
48 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 disregard of right and the unparalleled 
 oppression and tyranny which have 
 marked its career. After the most solemn 
 and unanimous pledge of both Houses of 
 Congress to prosecute the war exclusively 
 for the maintenance of the government 
 and the preservation of the Union under 
 the constitution, it has repeatedly violated 
 1 the most sacred pledge under which alone 
 was rallied that noble volunteer army 
 which carried our flag to victory. Instead 
 of restoring the Union, it has, so far as in 
 its power, dissolved it, and subjected ten 
 states, in time of profound peace, to mili 
 tary despotism and negro supremacy. It 
 has nullified there the right of trial by 
 jury; it has abolished the habeas corpus, 
 that most sacred writ of liberty ; it has 
 overthrown the freedom of speech and 
 press; it has substituted arbitrary seizures 
 and arrests, and military trials and secret 
 star-chamber inquisitions, for the consti 
 tutional tribunals ; it has disregarded, in 
 time of peace, the right of the people to be 
 free from searches and seizures ; it has 
 entered the post and telegraph offices, and 
 even the private rooms of individuals, and 
 seized their private papers and letters, 
 without any specific charge or notice of 
 affidavit, as required by the organic law. 
 It has converted the American capitol 
 into a bastile ; it has established a system 
 of spies and official espionage to which no 
 constitutional monarchy of Europe would 
 now dare to resort. It has abolished the 
 right of appeal, on important constitutional 
 questions, to the supreme judicial tribu 
 nals, and threatens to curtail or destroy 
 its original jurisdiction, which is irrevoca 
 bly vested by the constitution ; while the 
 learned Chief Justice has been subjected 
 to the most atrocious calumnies, merely 
 because he would not prostitute his high 
 office to the support of the false and parti 
 san charges preferred 'against the Presi 
 dent. Its corruption and extravagance 
 have exceeded anything known in history; 
 and, by its frauds and monopolies, it has 
 nearly doubled the burden of the debt 
 created by the war. It has stripped the 
 President of his constitutional power of 
 appointment, even of his own cabinet. 
 Under its repeated assaults, the pillars 
 of the government are rocking on their 
 base ; and should it succeed in November 
 next, and inaugurate its President, we will 
 meet, as a subjected and conquered people, 
 amid the ruins of liberty and the scattered 
 fragments of the constitution. 
 
 And we do declare and resolve that 
 ever since the people of the United States 
 threw off all subjection to the British 
 crown, the privilege and trust of suffrage 
 have belonged to the several states, and 
 have been granted, regulated, and con 
 trolled exclusively by the political power 
 of each state respectively ; and that any 
 
 attempt by Congress, on any pretext what 
 ever, to deprive any state of this right, 01 
 interfere with its exercise, is a flagrant 
 usurpation of power which can find no 
 warrant in the constitution, and, if sanc 
 tioned by the people, will subvert our 
 form of government, and can only end in a 
 single, centralized, and consolidated, gov 
 ernment, in which the separate existence 
 of the states will be entirely absorbed, and 
 an unqualified despotism be established in 
 place of a federal union of co-equal states. 
 And that we regard the construction acts 
 (so called) of Congress as usurpations, and 
 unconstitutional, revolutionary, and void. 
 
 That our soldiers and sailors, who car 
 ried the flag of our country to victory 
 against the most gallant and determined 
 foe, must ever be gratefully remembered, 
 and all the guarantees given in their favor 
 must be faithfully carried into execution. 
 
 That the public lands should be dis 
 tributed as widely as possible among the 
 people, and should be disposed of either 
 under the pre-emption of homestead lands 
 or sold in reasonable quantities, and to 
 none but actual occupants, at the minimum 
 price established by the government. 
 When grants of public lands may be al 
 lowed, necessary for the encouragement of 
 important public improvements, the pro 
 ceeds of the sale of such lands, and not 
 the lands themselves, should be so applied. 
 
 That the President of the United States, 
 Andrew Johnson, in exercising the power 
 of his high office in resisting the aggres 
 sions of Congress upon the constitutional 
 rights of the states and the people, is en 
 titled to the gratitude of the whole Ameri 
 can people; and, on behalf of the Demo 
 cratic party, we tender him our thanks for 
 his patriotic efforts in that regard. 
 
 Upon this platform, the Democratic 
 party appeal to every patriot, including all 
 the conservative element and all who de 
 sire to support the constitution and restore 
 the Union, forgetting all past differences 
 of opinion, to unite with us in the present 
 great struggle for the liberties of the peo 
 ple; and that to all such, to whatever 
 party they may have heretofore belonged, 
 we extend the right hand of fellowship, 
 and hail all such, co-operating with us, as 
 friends and brethren. 
 
 Resolved, That this convention sympa 
 thizes cordially with the workingmen of 
 the United States in their efforts to protect 
 the rights and interests of the laboring 
 classes of the country. 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the con 
 vention are tendered to Chief Justice 
 Salmon P. Chase, for the justice, dignity. 
 and impartiality with which he presided 
 over the court of impeachment on the 
 trial of President Andrew Johnson. 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 49 
 
 1873. Labor Reform Platform. 
 
 Columbus, February 21. 
 
 We hold that all political power is in 
 herent in the people, and free government 
 founded on their authority and established 
 for their benefit ; that all citizens are equal 
 in political rights, entitled to the largest 
 religious and political liberty compatible 
 with the good order of society, as also the 
 use arid enjoyment of the fruits of their 
 labor and talents; and no man or set of 
 men is entitled to exclusive separable en 
 dowments and privileges or immunities 
 from the government, but in consideration 
 of public services ; and any laws destruc 
 tive of these fundamental principles are 
 without moral binding force, and should 
 be repealed. And believing that all the 
 evils resulting from unjust legislation now 
 affecting the industrial classes can be re 
 moved by the adoption of the principles 
 contained in the following declaration : 
 therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That it is the duty of the gov 
 ernment to establish a just standard of 
 distribution of capital and labor, by provid 
 ing a purely national circulating medium, 
 based on the faith and resources of the na 
 tion, issued directly to the people without 
 the intervention of any system of banking 
 corporations, which money shall be legal 
 tender in the payment of all debts, public 
 and private, and interchangeable, at the 
 option of the holder, for government 
 bonds bearing a rate of interest not to ex 
 ceed 3.65 per cent., subject to future legis 
 lation by Congress. 
 
 2. That the national debt should be j>aid 
 in good faith, according to the original 
 contract, at the earliest option of the gov 
 ernment, without mortgaging the property 
 of the people or the future exigencies of 
 Jabor to enrich a few capitalists at home 
 land abroad. 
 
 3. That justice demands that the burdens 
 of government should be so adjusted as to 
 bear equally on all classes, and that the 
 exemption from taxation of government 
 bonds bearing extravagant rates of inter 
 est, is a violation of all just principles of 
 revenue laws. 
 
 4. That the public lands of the United 
 States belong to the people, and should 
 not be sold to individuals nor granted to 
 corporations, but should be held as a sa 
 cred trust for the benefit of the people, and 
 should be granted to landless settlers only, 
 in amounts not exceeding one hundred and 
 sixty acres of land. 
 
 5. That Congress should modify the 
 tariff so as to admit free such articles of 
 common use as we can neither produce nor 
 grow, and lay duties for revenue mainly 
 upon articles of luxury and upon such ar 
 ticles of manufacture as will, we having 
 the raw materials, assist in further develop 
 ing the ra^ources of the country. 
 
 6. That the presence in our country of 
 Chinese laborers, imported by capitalists 
 in lar^e numbers for servile use is an evil 
 entailing want and its attendant train of 
 misery and crime on all classes of the 
 American people, and should be prohib 
 ited by legislation. 
 
 7. That we ask for the enactment of a 
 law by which all mechanics and day-la 
 borers employed by or on behalf of the 
 government, whether directly or indirectly, 
 through persons, firms, or corporations, 
 contracting with the state, shall conform 
 to the reduced standard of eight hours a 
 day, recently adopted by Congress for na 
 tional employes ; and also for an amend 
 ment to the acts of incorporation for cities 
 and towns, by which all laborers and me 
 chanics employed at their expense shall 
 conform to the same number of hours. 
 
 8. That the enlightened spirit of the age 
 demands the abolition of the system of 
 contract labor in our prisons and other re 
 formatory institutions. 
 
 9. That the protection of life, liberty, 
 and property are the three cardinal prin 
 ciples of government, and the first two 
 are more sacred than the latter ; therefore, 
 money needed for prosecuting wars should, 
 as it is required, be assessed and collected 
 from the wealthy of the country, and not 
 entailed as a burden on posterity. 
 
 10. That it is the duty of the govern 
 ment to exercise its power over railroads 
 and telegraph corporations, that th^y shall 
 not in any case be privileged to exact such 
 rates of freight, transportation, or charges, 
 by whatever name, as may bear unduly or 
 unequally upon the producer or consumer. 
 
 11. That there should be such a reform 
 in the civil service of the national govern 
 ment as will remove it beyond all partisan 
 influence, and place it in the charge and 
 under the direction of intelligent and com 
 petent business men. 
 
 12. That as both history and experience 
 teach us that power ever seeks to perpetu 
 ate itself by every and all means, and that 
 its prolonged possession in the hands of 
 one person is always dangerous to the in 
 terests of a free people, and believing that 
 the spirit of our organic laws and the sta 
 bility and safety of our free institutions are 
 best obeyed on the one hand, and secured 
 on the other, by a regular constitutional 
 change in the chief of the country at each 
 election; therefore, we are in favor of 
 limiting the occupancy of the presidential 
 chair to one term. 
 
 13. That we are in favor of granting 
 general amnesty and restoring the Union 
 at once on the basis of equality of rights 
 and privileges to all, the impartial adminis 
 tration of justice being the only true bond 
 of union to bind the states together and re 
 store the government of the people. 
 
 14. That we demand the subjection of 
 
50 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 the military to the civil authorities, and 
 the confinement of its operations to nation 
 al purposes alone. 
 
 15. That we deem it expedient for Con 
 gress to supervise the patent laws so as to 
 give labor more fully the benefit of its own 
 ideas and inventions. 
 
 16. That fitness, and not political or per 
 sonal considerations, should be the only 
 recommendation to public office, either ap 
 pointive or elective ; and any and all laws 
 looking to the establishment of this prin 
 ciple are heartily approved. 
 
 1873. Prohibition Platform. 
 
 Columbus, Ohio, February 22. 
 
 The preamble recites that protection and 
 allegiance are reciprocal duties ; and every 
 citizen who yields obediently to the full 
 commands of government should be pro 
 tected in all enjoyment of personal security, 
 personal liberty, and private property. 
 That the traffic in intoxicating drinks 
 greatly impairs the personal security and 
 personal liberty of a great mass of citizens, 
 and renders private property insecure. 
 That all political parties are hopelessly un 
 willing to adopt an adequate policy on this 
 question : Therefore, as a national conven 
 tion, we adopt the following declaration of 
 principles : 
 
 That while we acknowledge the pure 
 patriotism and profound statesmanship of 
 those patriots who laid the foundation of 
 this government, securing at once the 
 rights of the states severally and their in 
 separable union by the federal constitution, 
 we would not merely garnish the sepulchres 
 of our republican fathers, but we do hereby 
 renew our pledges of solemn fealty to the 
 imperishable principles of civil and reli 
 gious liberty embodied in the Declaration 
 of Independence and our federal constitu 
 tion. 
 
 That the traffic in intoxicating beverages 
 is a dishonor to Christian civilization, a 
 political wrong of unequalled enormity, 
 subversive of ordinary objects of govern 
 ment, not capable of being regulated or re 
 strained by any system of license whatever, 
 and imperatively demands, for its suppres 
 sion, effective legal prohibition, both by 
 state and national legislation. 
 
 That there can be no greater peril to a 
 nation than existing party competition for 
 the liquor vote. That any party not op 
 posed to the traffic, experience shows will 
 engage in this competition will court the 
 favor of criminal classes will barter away 
 the public morals, the purity of the ballot, 
 and every object of good government, for 
 party success. 
 
 That, as prohibitionists, we will individ 
 ually use all efforts to persuade men from 
 
 the use of intoxicating liquors ; and we in 
 vite all persons to assist in this movement. 
 
 That competence, honesty, and sobriety 
 are indispensable qualifications for holding 
 office. 
 
 That removals from public office for 
 mere political differences of opinion are 
 wrong. 
 
 That fixed and moderate salaries of pub 
 lic officers should take the places of fees and 
 perquisites; and that all means should be 
 taken to prevent corruption and encourage 
 economy. 
 
 That the President and Vice-President 
 should be elected directly by the people. 
 
 That we are in favor of a sound national 
 currency, adequate to the demands of bus 
 iness, and convertible into gold and silver 
 at the will of the holder, and the adoption 
 of every measure compatible with justice 
 and public safety to appreciate our present 
 currency to the gold standard. 
 
 That the rates of ocean and inland post 
 age, and railroad telegraph lines and 
 water transportation, should be made as 
 low as possible by law. 
 
 That we are opposed to all discrimination 
 in favor of capital against labor, as well as 
 all monopoly and class legislation. 
 
 That the removal of the burdens imposed 
 in the traffic in intoxicating drinks will 
 emancipate labor, and will practically pro 
 mote labor reform. 
 
 That suffrage should be granted to all 
 persons, without regard to sex. 
 
 That the fostering and extension of com 
 mon schools is a primary duty of the gov 
 ernment. 
 
 That a liberal policy should be pursued 
 to promote foreign immigration. 
 
 1873. Liberal Republican Platform. 
 
 Cincinnati, May 1. 
 
 We, the Liberal Republicans of the 
 United States, in national convention as 
 sembled at Cincinnati, proclaim the follow 
 ing principles as essential to just govern 
 ment. 
 
 1. We recognize the equality of all men 
 before the law, and hold that it is the duty 
 of government, in its dealings with the 
 people, to mete out equal and exact justice 
 to all, of whatever nativity, race, color, or 
 persuasion, religious or political. 
 
 2. We pledge ourselves to maintain the 
 union of these states, emancipation, and 
 enfranchisement, and to oppose any re 
 opening of the questions settled by the 
 thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amend 
 ments of the constitution. 
 
 3. We demand the immediate and abso 
 lute removal of all disabilities imposed on 
 account of the Rebellion, which w r as finally 
 subdued seven years ago, believing that 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 51 
 
 universal amnesty will result in complete 
 pacification in all sections of the country. 
 
 4. Local self-government, with impartial 
 suffrage, will guard the rights of all citi 
 zens more securely than any centralized 
 power. The public welfare requires the 
 supremacy of the civil over the military 
 authority, and the freedom of person under 
 the protection of the habeas corpus. We 
 demand for the individual the largest lib 
 erty consistent with public order, for the 
 state self-government, and for the nation a 
 return to the methods of jpeace and the 
 constitutional limitations ot power. 
 
 5. The civil service of the government 
 has become a mere instrument of partisan 
 tyranny and personal ambition, and an ob 
 ject of selfish greed. It is a scandal and 
 reproach upon free institutions, and breeds 
 a demoralization dangerous to the per 
 petuity of republican government. We, 
 therefore, regard a thorough reform of the 
 civil service as one of the most pressing 
 necessities of the hour ; that honesty, ca 
 pacity, and fidelity constitute the only valid 
 claims to public employment ; that the of 
 fices of the government cease to be a mat 
 ter of arbitrary favoritism and patronage, 
 and that public station shall become again 
 a post of honor. To this end, it is impera 
 tively required that no President shall be 
 a candidate for re-election. 
 
 6. We demand a system of federal taxa 
 tion which shall not unnecessarily interfere 
 with the industry of the people, and which 
 shall provide the means necessary to pay 
 the expenses of the government, economi 
 cally administered, the pensions, the inter 
 est on the public debt, and a moderate re 
 duction annually of the principal thereof ; 
 and recognizing that there are in our midst 
 honest but irreconcilable differences of 
 opinion with regard to the respective sys 
 tems of protection and free trade, we remit 
 the discussion of the subject to the people 
 in their congressional districts and the de 
 cision of Congress thereon, wholly free 
 from Executive interference or dictation. 
 
 7. The public credit must be sacredly 
 maintained, and we denounce repudiation 
 in every form and guise. 
 
 8. A speedy return to specie payment is 
 demanded alike by the highest considera 
 tions of commercial morality and honest 
 government. 
 
 9. We remember with gratitude the hero 
 ism and sacrifices of the soldiers and sailors 
 of the Republic ; and no act of ours shall 
 ever detract from their justly earned fame 
 or the full rewards of their patriotism. 
 
 10. We are opposed to all further grants 
 of lands to railroads or other corporations. 
 The public domain should be held sacred 
 to actual settlers. 
 
 11. We hold that it is the duty of the 
 government, in its intercourse with foreign 
 nations, to cultivate the friendships of 
 
 peace, by treating with all on fair and equal 
 terms, regarding it alike dishonorable 
 either to demand what is not right or sub 
 mit to what is wrong. 
 
 12. For the promotion and success of 
 these vital principles and the support of 
 the candidates nominated by this conven 
 tion, we invite and cordially welcome the 
 co-operation of all patriotic citizens, with 
 out regard to previous political affiliations. 
 
 1873. Democratic Platform, 
 
 BaltimorQ, Jvly 9. 
 
 We, the Democratic electors of the 
 United States, in convention assembled, 
 do present the following principles, already 
 adopted at Cincinnati, as essential to just 
 government : 
 
 [Here followed the "Liberal Republican 
 Platform ;" which see above.] 
 
 1873. Republican Platform, 
 
 Philadelphia, June 5. 
 
 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 sol 
 emn duties of the time. It suppressed a 
 gigantic rebellion, emancipated four mil 
 lions 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 their 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 gener 
 ously aided and successfully conducted, the 
 public lands freely given to actual settlers, 
 immigration protected and encouraged, 
 and a full acknowledgment of the natural 
 ized citizen's 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 rev 
 enues have been carefully collected and 
 honestly applied. Despite annual large 
 reductions of the rates of taxation, the 
 public debt has been reduced during Gen 
 eral Grant's presidency at the rate of a 
 hundred millions a year, great financial 
 
62 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 crises Iiave been avoided, and peace and 
 plenty prevail throughout the land. Me 
 nacing foreign difficulties have been peace 
 fully and honorably compromised, 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 
 chietiy 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 
 salely be intrusted 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 to citizens by 
 reason of race, creed, color, or previous 
 condition of servitude. 
 
 4. The national government should seek 
 to maintain honorable peace with all na 
 tions, protecting its citizens everywhere, 
 and sympathizing with all peoples who 
 strive for greater liberty. 
 
 5. Any system of 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 quali 
 fications for public positions, without prac 
 tically creating a life tenure of office. 
 
 6. We are opposed to further grants of 
 the- public lands to corporations and mo 
 nopolies, and demand that the national 
 domain be set apart for free homes for the 
 people. 
 
 7. The annual revenue, after paying cur 
 rent expenditures, pensions, and the inter 
 est 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 upon | 
 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 sol 
 diers 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 en 
 
 titled to the care of a generous and grate 
 ful people. We favor such additional legis 
 lation as will extend the bounty of the 
 government to all our soldiers and sailors 
 who were honorably discharged, and who 
 ia the line of duty became disabled, with 
 out regard to the length of service or the 
 cause of such discharge. 
 
 9. The doctrine of Great Britain and 
 other European powers concerning alle 
 giance "once a subject always a subject" 
 having at last, through the efforts of the 
 Kepublican 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 as 
 sumption of unauthorized claims by their 
 former governments, and we urge contin 
 ued careful encouragement and protection 
 of voluntary immigration. 
 
 10. The franking privilege ought to be 
 abolished, and a way prepared for a speedy 
 reduction in the rates of postage. 
 
 11. Among the questions which press for 
 attention is that which concerns the rela 
 tions of capital and labor ; and the Re 
 publican party recognizes the duty of so 
 shading legislation as to secure full pro 
 tection 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 ser 
 vants of civilization. 
 
 12. We hold that Congress and the 
 President have only fulfilled an imperative 
 duty in their measures for the suppression 
 of violence 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 bal 
 ance, and confidently expect that our ex 
 cellent 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 considera 
 tion. 
 
 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 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 53 
 
 themselves as carefully as the powers dele 
 gated by them to the states and to the 
 federal government. It disapproves of the 
 resort to unconstitutional laws for the pur 
 pose 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 govern 
 ment to adopt such measures as may tend 
 to encourage and restore American com 
 merce and ship-building. 
 
 18. We believe that the modest patriot 
 ism, the earnest purpose, the sound judg 
 ment, the practical wisdom, the incorrupti 
 ble 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 insti 
 tutions, is worthy to associate with our 
 great leader and share the honors which 
 we pledge our best efforts to bestow upon 
 them 
 
 1872. Democratic (Straight-out) Platform , 
 
 Louisville, Ky., September 3. 
 
 Whereas, A frequent recurrence to first 
 principles and eternal vigilance against 
 abuses are the wisest provisions for liberty, 
 which is the source of progress, and fidelity 
 to our constitutional system is the only 
 protection for either : therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the original basis of our 
 whole political structure is consent in every 
 part thereof. The people of each state 
 voluntarily created their state, and the 
 states voluntarily formed the Union ; and 
 each state provided by its written constitu 
 tion for everything a state could do for the 
 protection of life, liberty ? and property 
 within it ; and each state, jointly with the 
 others, provided a federal union for foreign 
 and inter-state relations. 
 
 Resolved, That all governmental powers, 
 whether state or federal, are trust powers 
 coming from the people of each state, and 
 that they are limited to the written letter 
 of the constitution and the laws passed in 
 pursuance of it ; which powers must be 
 exercised in the utmost good faith, the 
 constitution itself stating in what manner 
 they may be altered and amended. 
 
 Resolved, That the interests of labor and 
 capital should not be permitted to conflict, 
 but should be harmonized by iudicious 
 Jftcrisiation. While such a conflict con 
 tinues, labor, which is the parent of wealth, 
 is entitled to paramount consideration. 
 
 Resolved, That we proclaim to the world 
 that principle is to be preferred to power ; 
 that the Democratic party is held together 
 by the cohesion of time-honored princi 
 ples, which they will never surrender in 
 exchange for all the offices which Presi 
 dents can confer. The pangs of the mi 
 norities are doubtless excruciating ; but 
 | we welcome an eternal minority, under ih.9 
 banner inscribed with our principles, 
 rather than an almighty and everlasting^ 
 majority, purchased by their abandonment. 
 
 Resolved, That, having been betrayed at 
 Baltimore into a false creed and a false 
 leadership by the convention, we repudiate 
 both, and appeal to the people to approve 
 our platform, and to rally to the polls and 
 support the true platform and the candi 
 dates who embody it. 
 
 1875. The American National Platform, 
 
 Adopted in Mass Meeting, PUtsburg, June 9. 
 
 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 importa 
 tion, 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 legisla 
 tures should be withdrawn, and their 
 oaths prohibited by law. 
 
 5. That the civil equality secured to all 
 American citizens by articles 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 educa 
 tional institutions. 
 
 8. That land and other monopolies 
 should be discountenanced. 
 
 9. That the government should furnish 
 the people with an ample and sound cur 
 rency 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, 
 
AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 r [Their candidates were James B. Walker, 
 Wheaton, Illinois, for President ; and Don 
 ald Kirkpatrick, Syracuse, New York, for 
 Vice-President.] 
 
 1876. Prohibition Reform Platform, 
 
 Cleveland, Ohio, May 17. 
 
 The Prohibition Keform party of the 
 United States, organized in the name of 
 the people, to revive, enforce, and perpet 
 uate in the government the doctrines of 
 the Declaration of Independence, submit, in 
 this centennial year of the republic, for the 
 eufFrages of'all good citizens, the following 
 platform of national reforms and measures : 
 
 First. The legal prohibition in the Dis 
 trict 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 constitu 
 tion, to render these prohibitory measures 
 universal and permanent ; and the adop 
 tion of treaty stipulations with foreign 
 powers, to prevent the importation and 
 exportation of all alcoholic beverages. 
 
 Second. The abolition of class legisla 
 tion, and of special privileges in the gov 
 ernment, and the adoption of equal suffrage 
 and eligibility to office, without distinction 
 of race, religious creed, property, or sex. 
 
 Third. The appropriation of the public 
 lands, in limited quantities, to actual set 
 tlers only ; the reduction of the rates of 
 inland and ocean postage ; of telegraphic 
 communication; of railroad and water 
 transportation and travel, to the lowest 
 practical point, by force of laws, wisely 
 and justly framed, with reference, not only 
 to the interest of capital employed, but to 
 the higher claims of the general good. 
 i . Fourth. The suppression, by laws, of 
 ' lotteries and gambling in gold, stocks, pro 
 duce, and every form of money and pro 
 perty, and the penal inhibition of the use 
 of the public mails for advertising schemes 
 of gambling and lotteries. 
 
 Fifth. The abolition of those foul enor 
 mities, polygamy and the social evil ; and 
 the protection of purity, peace, and hap 
 piness of homes, by ample and efficient 
 legislation. 
 
 Sixth. 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. 
 
 Seventh. The establishment, by manda 
 tory provisions in national and state con 
 stitutions, 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. 
 
 Eighth. The free use of the Bible, not 
 as a ground of religious creeds, but as a 
 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 prin 
 ciples may pervade our nation. 
 
 Ninth. The separation of the govern 
 ment in all its departments and institu- 
 ions, including the public schools and all 
 funds for their maintenance, from the con 
 trol of every religious sect or other asso 
 ciation, and the protection alike of all 
 sects by equal laws, with entire freedom of 
 religious faith and worship. 
 
 Tenth. The introduction into all treaties 
 iereafter negotiated with foreign govern 
 ments of a provision for the amicable set 
 tlement of international difficulties by 
 arbitration. 
 
 Eleventh. The abolition of all barbar 
 ous modes and instruments of punishment; 
 :he 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. 
 
 Twelfth. 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 peo 
 ple. 
 
 Thirteenth. The practice of a friendly 
 and liberal policy to immigrants from all 
 nations, the guaranty to them of ample 
 protection, and of equal rights and privi 
 leges. 
 
 Fourteenth. The separation of the money 
 of government from all banking institu 
 tions. 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 stand 
 ards of value recognized by the civilized 
 world. 
 
 Fifteenth. 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 prac 
 tice of strict economy in government ex 
 penses ; and a free and thorough investi 
 gation into any and all alleged abuses of 
 public trusts. 
 
 1876. Independent (Greenback) PlatforM, 
 
 Indianapolis, Ind., May 17. 
 
 The Independent party is called into 
 existence by the necessities of the people, 
 whose industries are prostrated, whoss 
 labor is deprived of its just reward by a 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 55 
 
 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 suffer 
 ing people, we delare our principles, and 
 invite all independent and patriotic men 
 to join our ranks in this movement for fi 
 nancial reform and industrial emancipation. 
 
 First. We demand the immediate and 
 unconditional repeal of the specie resump 
 tion act of January 14, 1875, and the res 
 cue of our industries from ruin and disas 
 ter 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. 
 
 Second. We believe that a United States 
 note, issued directly by the government, 
 and convertible, on demand, into United 
 States obligations, bearing a rate of inter 
 est 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 tenders for all purposes, except for 
 the payment of such obligations as are, by 
 existing contracts, especially made paya 
 ble in coin ; and we hold that it is the 
 duty of the government to provide such a 
 circulating medium, and insist, in the 
 language of Thomas Jefferson, that " bank 
 
 Caper must be suppressed, and the circu- 
 ition restored to the nation, to whom it 
 belongs." 
 
 Third. It is the paramount duty of the 
 government, in all its legislation, to keep 
 in view the full development of all legiti 
 mate business, agricultural, mining, manu 
 facturing, and commercial. 
 
 Fourth. 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" to for 
 eigners, 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 op 
 tion of the holder, and bearing interest at 
 3.65 per cent, per annum or even a lower 
 rate. 
 
 Fifth. We further protest against the 
 sale of government bonds for the purpose 
 of purchasing silver to be used as a sub 
 stitute for our more convenient and less 
 fluctuating fractional currency, which, al 
 though well calculated to enrich owners of 
 silver mines, yet in operation it will still 
 further oppress, in taxation, an already 
 overburdened people. 
 
 24 
 
 1876. Republican Platform, 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, June 14. 
 
 When, in the economy of Providence, 
 this land was to be purged of human 
 slavery, and when the strength of the gov 
 ernment 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 as 
 sembled, 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 govern 
 ments, under their respective constitu 
 tions, the rights of every citizen are se 
 cured, at home and abroad, and the com 
 mon welfare promoted. 
 
 2. The Republican party has preserved 
 these governments to the hundredth anni 
 versary of the nation's birth, and they are 
 now embodiments of the great truths spo 
 ken at its cradle " That all men are cre 
 ated 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 at 
 tainment of these ends governments have 
 been instituted among men, deriving their 
 just powers from the consent of the gov 
 erned." Until these truths are cheerfully 
 obeyed, or, if need be, vigorously enforced, 
 the work of the Republican party is un 
 finished. 
 
 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 sa 
 credly pledged. The power to provide for 
 the enforcement of the principles embodied 
 in the recent constitutional amendments is 
 vested, by those amendments, in the Con 
 gress of the United States ; and we declare 
 it to be the solemn obligation of the legis 
 lative 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 de 
 mand 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 doubt of its pur- 
 
56 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 pose to discharge all just obligations to 
 .the public creditors, and "solemnly pledged 
 its faith to make provision at the earliest 
 practicable period for the redemption of 
 the United States notes in coin." Com 
 mercial prosperity, public morals, and na 
 tional credit demand that this promise be 
 fulfilled by a continuous and steady pro 
 gress to specie payment. 
 
 5. Under the constitution, the President 
 and heads of departments are to make 
 nominations for office, the Senate is to ad 
 vise and consent to appointments, and the 
 House of Representatives is to accuse and 
 prosecute faithless officers. The best in 
 terest of the public service demand that 
 these distinctions be respected ; that Sena 
 tors and Representatives who may be 
 judges and accusers should not dictate ap 
 pointments 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 rep 
 resented, but permitting all others to be 
 filled by persons selected with sole refer 
 ence 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 quickened con 
 science 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 be 
 tray official trusts shall be swift, thorough, 
 and unsparing. 
 
 7. The public school system of the several 
 states is the bulwark of the American Re 
 public ; and, with a view to its security 
 and permanence, we recommend an amend 
 ment 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 
 the interests of American labor and ad 
 vance 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 na 
 tional domain be devoted to free homes 
 for the people. 
 
 10. It is the imperative duty of the gov 
 ernment so to modify existing treaties with 
 European governments, that the same pro 
 tection shall be afforded to the adopted 
 American citizen that is given to the na 
 tive-born ; and that all necessary laws 
 should be passed to protect emigrants in 
 
 the absence of power in the states for that 
 purpose. 
 
 11. It is the immediate duty of Con 
 gress to fully investigate the effect of the 
 immigration and importation of Mongo 
 lians upon the moral and material in 
 terests of the country. 
 
 12. The Republican party recognizes, 
 with approval, the substantial advances 
 recently made towards the establishment 
 of equal rights for women by the many 
 important amendments effected by Repub 
 lican legislatures in the laws which con 
 cern 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 de 
 mands of this class of citizens for addi 
 tional rights, privileges, and immunities, 
 should be treated with respectful consider 
 ation. 
 
 13. The constitution confers upon Con 
 gress 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 institu 
 tions in all the territories. 
 
 14. The pledges which the nation has 
 given to her soldiers and sailers must be 
 fulfilled, and a grateful people will always 
 hold those who imperiled their lives for 
 the country's preservation in the kindest 
 remembrance. 
 
 15. We sincerely deprecate all sectional 
 feeling and tendencies. We, therefore, 
 note with deep solicitude that the Demo 
 cratic 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 na 
 tion ; and we invoke the earnest attention 
 of the country to the grave truth that a 
 success thus achieved would reopen sec 
 tional strife, and imperil national honor 
 and human rights. 
 
 16. We charge the Democratic party 
 with being the same in chnracterand spirit 
 as when it sympathized with treason ; with 
 making its control of the House of Repre 
 sentatives the triumph and opportunity of 
 the nation's recent foes ; with reasserting 
 and applauding, in the national capital, 
 the sentiments of unrepentant rebellion; 
 with sending Union soldiers to the rear, 
 and promoting Confederate soldiers to the 
 front ; with deliberately proposing to repu 
 diate the plighted faith of the government; 
 with being equally false and imbecile upon 
 the overshadowing financial questions; 
 with thwarting the ends of justice by its 
 partisan mismanagement and obstruction 
 of investigation; with proving itself 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 57 
 
 through the period of its ascendency in 
 the lower house of Congress, utterly in 
 competent to administer the government ; 
 and we warn the country against trusting 
 a party thus alike unworthy, recreant, and 
 incapable. 
 
 17. The national administration merits 
 co nmendation for its honorable work in 
 the management of domestic and foreign 
 affairs, and President Grant deserves the 
 continued hearty gratitude of the Ameri 
 can people for his patriotism and his emi 
 nent 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 con 
 spicuously 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. 
 
 18T6. Democratic Platform. 
 
 St. Louis, Mo., June 27. 
 
 We, the delegates of the Democratic 
 party of the United States, in national con 
 vention assembled, do hereby declare the 
 administration of the Federal government 
 to be in urgent need of immediate reform ; 
 do hereby enjoin upon the nominees ol 
 this convention, and of the Democratic 
 party in each state, a zealous effort and co 
 operation to this end ; and do hereby ap 
 peal to our fellow-citizens of every former 
 political connection to undertake, with us, 
 this first and most pressing patriotic duty. 
 
 For the Democracy of the whole coun 
 try, we do here reaffirm our faith in the per- 
 manence of the Federal Union, our devo 
 tion to the constitution of the United States, 
 with its amendments universally accepted 
 as a final settlement of the controversies 
 that engendered civil war, and do here re 
 cord our steadfast confidence in the per 
 petuity of republican self-government. 
 
 In absolute acquiescence in the will of 
 tjie majority the vital principle of repub 
 lics ; in the supremacy of the civil over the 
 military authority ; in the total separation 
 of church and state, for the sake alike of 
 civil and religious freedom ; in the equal 
 ity of all citizens before just laws of their 
 own enactment; in the liberty of indi 
 vidual conduct, unvexed by sumptuary 
 laws ; in the faithful education of the ris 
 ing generation, that they may preserve, 
 enjoy, and transmit these best conditions 
 of human happiness and hope we behold 
 the noblest products of a hundred years of 
 changeful history; but while upholding 
 the bond of our Union and great charter 
 of these our rights, it behooves a free peo 
 ple to practice also that eternal vigilance 
 which is the price of liberty. 
 
 Reform is necessary to rebuild and es 
 tablish in the hearts of the whole people 
 the Union, eleven years ago happily res 
 cued from the danger of a secession of 
 states, but now to be saved from a corrupt 
 centralism which, after inflicting upon ten 
 states the rapacity of carpet-bag tyranny, 
 has honey-combed the offices of the Federal 
 government itself, with incapacity, waste, 
 and fraud ; infected states and municipali 
 ties with the contagion of misrule; and 
 locked fast the prosperity of an industrious 
 people in the paralysis of " hard times." 
 
 Reform is necessary to establish a sound 
 currency, restore the public credit, and 
 maintain the national honor. 
 
 We denounce the failure, for all these 
 eleven years of peace, to make good the 
 promise of the legal tender notes, whiclji 
 are a changing standard of value in the 
 hands of the people, and the non-payment 
 of which is a aisregard of the plighted 
 faith of the nation. 
 
 We denounce the improvidence which, 
 in eleven years of peace, has taken from 
 the people, in federal taxes, thirteen times 
 the whole amount of the legal-tender notes, 
 and squandered four times their sum in 
 useless expense without accumulating any 
 reserve for their redemption. 
 
 We denounce the financial imbecility 
 and immorality of that party which, dur 
 ing eleven years of peace, has made no ad 
 vance toward resumption, no preparation 
 for resumption, but, instead, has obstructed 
 resumption, by wasting our resources and 
 exhausting all our surplus income ; and, 
 while annually professing to intend a 
 speedy return to specie payments, has an 
 nually enacted fresh hinderances thereto. 
 As such hinderance we denounce the re 
 sumption clause of 1875, and we here de 
 mand its repeal. 
 
 We demand a judicious system of prepa 
 ration, by public economies, by official re 
 trenchments, and by wise finance, which 
 shall enable the nation soon to assure the 
 whole world of its perfect ability and of its 
 perfect readiness to meet any of its pro 
 mises at the call of the creditor entitled to 
 payment. We believe such a system, well 
 devised, and, above all, intrusted to com 
 petent hands for execution, creating, at no 
 time, an artificial scarcity of currency, and 
 at no time alarming the public mind into 
 a withdrawal of that vaster machinery of 
 credit by which ninety-five per cent, of all 
 business transactions are performed. A 
 system open, public, and inspiring general 
 confidence, would, from the day of its 
 adoption, bring healing on its wings to all 
 our harassed industries set in motion the 
 wheels of commerce, manufactures, and the 
 mechanic arts restore employment to la 
 bor and, renew, in all its natural sources, 
 the prosperity of the people. 
 
 iicibrm is necessary in the sum and 
 
58 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 modes of federal taxation, to the end that 
 capital may be set free from distrust and 
 labor lightly burdened. 
 
 We denounce the present tariff, levied 
 upon nearly four thousand articles, as a 
 masterpiece of injustice, inequality, and 
 false pretence. It yields a dwindling, not 
 a yearly rising, revenue. It has impover 
 ished many industries to subsidize a few. 
 It prohibits imports that might purchase 
 the products of American labor. It has 
 degraded American commerce from the 
 first to an inferior rank on the high seas. 
 It has cut down the sales of American 
 manufactures at home and abroad, and 
 depleted the returns of American agri 
 culture an industry followed by half our 
 people. It costs the people five times 
 more than it produces to the treasury, ob 
 structs the processes of production, and 
 wastes the fruits of labor. It promotes 
 fraud, fosters smuggling, enricnes dis 
 honest officials, and bankrupts honest 
 merchants. We demand that all custom 
 house taxation shall be only for revenue. 
 
 Reform is necessary in the scale of public 
 expense federal, state, and municipal. 
 Our federal taxation has swollen from sixty 
 millions gold, in 1860, to four hundred and 
 fifty millions currency, in 1870 ; our ag 
 gregate taxation from one hundred and fifty- 
 four millions gold, in 1860, to seven hun 
 dred and thirty millions currency, in 1870 
 or, in one decade, from less than five 
 dollars per head to more than eighteen 
 dollars per head. Since the peace, the 
 people have paid to their tax-gatherers 
 more than thrice the sum of the national 
 debt, and more than twice that sum for the 
 Federal government alone. We demand 
 a rigorous frugality in every department 
 and from every officer of the government. 
 
 Reform is necessary to put a stop to the 
 profligate waste of public lands, and their 
 diversion from actual settlers, by the party 
 in power, which has squandered 200,000,000 
 of acres upon railroads alone, and, out of 
 more than thrice that aggregate, has dis 
 posed of less than a sixth directly to tillers 
 of the soil. 
 
 Re.form is necessary to correct the omis 
 sion of a Republican Congress, and the 
 errors of our treaties and our diplomacy 
 which have stripped our fellow-citizens of 
 foreign birth and kindred race, recrossing 
 the Atlantic, of the shield of American 
 citizenship, and have exposed our brethren 
 of the Pacific coast to the incursions of a 
 race not sprung from the same great parent 
 stock, and in fact now, by law, denied 
 citizenship through naturalization, as being 
 neither accustomed to the traditions of a 
 progressive civilization nor exercised in 
 liberty under equal laws. We denounce 
 the policy which thus discards the liberty- 
 loving German and tolerates a revival of 
 the coolie trade in Mongolian women, im 
 
 ported for immoral purposes, and Mongolian 
 men, held to perform servile labor contracts 
 and demand such modification of the treaty 
 with the Chinese Empire, or such legisla 
 tion within constitutional limitations, as 
 shall prevent further importation or immi 
 gration of the Mongolian race. 
 
 Reform is necessary, and can never be 
 effected but by making it the controlling 
 issue of the elections, and lifting it above 
 the two false issues with which the office- 
 holding class and the party in power seek 
 to smother it: 
 
 1. The false issue with which they would 
 enkindle sectarian strife in respect to the 
 public schools, of which the establishment 
 and support belongs exclusively to the 
 several states, and which the Democratic 
 party has cherished from their foundation, 
 and is resolved to maintain, without preju 
 dice or preference for any class, sect, or 
 creed, and without largesses from the trea 
 sury to any. 
 
 2. The false issue by which they seek to 
 light anew the dying embers of sectional hate 
 between kindred peoples once estranged, 
 but now reunited in one indivisible re 
 public and a common destiny. 
 
 Reform is necessary in the civil service. 
 Experience proves that efficient, economical 
 conduct of the governmental business is 
 not possible if its civil service be subject 
 to change at every election, be a prize 
 fought for at the ballot-box, be a brief re 
 ward of party zeal, instead of posts of honor 
 assigned for proved competency, and held 
 for fidelity in the public employ ; that the 
 dispensing of patronage should neither be a 
 tax upon the time of all our public men. 
 nor the instrument of their ambition. 
 Here, again, promises, falsified in the per 
 formance, attest that the party in power 
 can work out no practical or salutary re 
 form. 
 
 Reform is necessary, even more, in the 
 higher grades of the public service. Presi 
 dent, Vice-President, Judges, Senators, 
 Representatives, Cabinet officers these, 
 and all others in authority are the people's 
 servants. Their offices are not a private 
 perquisite ; they are a public trust. When 
 the annals of this Republic show the dis 
 grace and censure of a Vice-President ; a 
 late Speaker of the House of Representa 
 tives 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 late House 
 of Representatives exposed in jobbery ; a 
 late Secretary of the Treasury forcing ba 
 lances in the public accounts ; a late At 
 torney-General misappropriating public 
 funds ; a Secretary of the Navy enriched, 
 or enriching friends, by percentages levied 
 off the profits of contractors with his de 
 partment ; an Ambassador to England con 
 cerned in a dishonorable speculation ; the 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 59 
 
 President's private secretary barely escap 
 ing conviction upon trial for guilty compli 
 city in frauds upon the revenue ; a Secre 
 tary 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 poli 
 tical 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 the 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 80,000 office-hold 
 ers, 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 a 
 change of measures and of men. 
 
 Resolved, That this convention, repre 
 senting the Democratic party of the United 
 States, do cordially indorse the action of 
 the present House of Representatives, in re 
 ducing and curtailing the expenses of the 
 Federal government, in cutting down sa 
 laries and extravagant appropriations, and 
 in abolishing useless offices and places not 
 required by the public necessities ; and we 
 shall trust to the firmness of the Democra 
 tic members of the House that no commit 
 tee of conference and no misinterpretation 
 of the rules will 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 or 
 phans of those who have fallen in battle, 
 have a just claim upon the care, protection, 
 and gratitude of their fellow-citizens. 
 
 1S7H. -National Platform. 
 
 Toledo, Ohio, February 22. 
 
 Whereas, Throughout our entire country 
 the value of real estate is depreciated, in 
 dustry paralyzed, trade depressed, business 
 incomes and wages reduced, unparalleled 
 distress inflicted upon the poorer and mid 
 dle ranks of our people, the land filled 
 with fraud, embezzlement, bankruptcy, 
 crime, suffering, pauperism, and starvation ; 
 and 
 
 Whereas, This state of things has been 
 brought about by legislation in the interest 
 of, and dictated by, money-lenders, bankers 
 and bondholders ; and 
 
 Whereas, While we recognize the fact 
 that the men in Congress connected with 
 
 the old political parties have stood up man 
 fully for the rights of the people, and met 
 the threats of the money power, and the 
 ridicule of an ignorant and subsidized 
 press, yet neither the Republican nor the 
 Democratic parties, in their policies, pro 
 pose remedies for the existing evils ; and 
 
 Whereas, The Independent Greenback 
 party, and other associations more or less 
 effective, have been unable, hitherto, to 
 make a formidable opposition to old party 
 organizations ; and ( 
 
 Whereas, The limiting of the legal-tender 
 quality of the greenbacks, the changing of 
 currency bonds into coin bonds, the de 
 monetization of the silver dollar, the ex 
 empting of bonds from taxation, the con 
 traction of the circulating medium, the 
 proposed forced resumption of specie pay 
 ments, and the prodigal waste of the public 
 lands, were crimes against the people ; and, 
 as far as possible, the results of these cri 
 minal acts must be counteracted by judi 
 cious legislation : 
 
 Therefore, We assemble in national con 
 vention and make a declaration of our 
 principles, and invite all patriotic citizens 
 to unite in an effort to secure financial re 
 form and industrial emancipation. The 
 organization shall be known as the " Na 
 tional Party," and under this name we will 
 perfect, without delay, national, state, and 
 local associations, to secure the election to 
 office of such men only as will pledge 
 themselves to do all in their power to es 
 tablish these principles : 
 
 First. It is the exclusive function of the 
 general government to coin and create 
 money and regulate its value. All bank 
 issues designed to circulate as money should 
 be suppressed. The circulating medium, 
 whether of metal or paper, shall be issued 
 by the government, and made a full legal- 
 tender for all debts, duties, .and taxes ii| 
 the United States, at its stamped value. 
 
 Second. There shall be no privileged 
 class of creditors. Official salaries, pensions, 
 bonds, and all other debts and obligations, 
 public and private, shall be discharged in 
 the legal-tender money of the United 
 States strictly according to the stipulations 
 of the laws under which they were con 
 tracted. 
 
 Third. The coinage of silver shall be 
 placed on the same footing as that of gold. 
 
 Fourth. Congress shall provide said 
 money adequate to the full employment of 
 labor, the equitable distribution of its pro 
 ducts, and the requirement of business, 
 fixing a minimum amount per capita of the 
 population as near as may be, and other 
 wise regulating its value by wise and equi 
 table provisions of law, so that the rate of 
 interest will secure to labor its just reward. 
 
 Fifth. It is inconsistent with the genius 
 of popular government that any species of 
 private property should be exempt from 
 
60 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 bearing its proper share of the public 
 burdens. Government bonds and money 
 should be ^axed precisely as other property, 
 and a graduated income tax should be 
 levied for the support of the government 
 and the payment of its debts. 
 
 Sixth. Public lands are the common 
 property of the whole people, and should 
 not be sold to speculators nor granted to 
 railroads or other corporations, but should 
 be donated to actual settlers, in limited 
 quantities. 
 
 Seventh. The government should, by gen 
 eral enactments, encourage the develop 
 ment of our agricultural, mineral, mecha 
 nical, manufacturing, and commercial re 
 sources, to the end that labor may be fully 
 an4 profitably employed ; but no monopo 
 lies should be legalized. 
 
 Eighth. All useless offices should be abol 
 ished, the most rigid economy favored in 
 every branch of the public service, and 
 severe punishment inflicted upon public 
 officers who betray the trusts reposed in 
 them. 
 
 Ninth. As educated labor has devised 
 means for multiplying productions by in 
 ventions and discoveries, and as their use 
 requires the exercise of mind as well as 
 body, such legislation should be had that 
 the number of hours of daily toil will be 
 reduced, giving to the working classes more 
 leisure for mental improvement and their 
 geveral enjoyments, and saving them from 
 premature decay and death. 
 
 Tenth. The adoption of an American 
 monetary system, as proposed herein, will 
 harmonize all differences in regard to tariff 
 and federal taxation, reduce and equlize 
 the cost of transportation by land arid 
 water, distribute equitably the joint earn 
 ings of capital and labor, secure to the 
 producers of wealth the results of their 
 labor and skill, and muster out of service 
 the vast army of idlers, who, under the 
 existing system, grow rich upon the earn 
 ings of others, that every man and woman 
 may, by their own efforts, secure a compe 
 tency, so that overgrown fortunes and ex 
 treme poverty will be seldom found within 
 the limits of our republic. 
 
 Eleventh. Both national and state govern 
 ments should establish bureaus of labor 
 and industrial statistics, clothed with the 
 power of gathering and publishing the 
 same. 
 
 Twelfth, That the contract system of em 
 ploying labor in our prisons and reforma 
 tory institutions works great injustice to 
 our mechanics and artisans, and should be 
 prohibited. 
 
 Thirteenth. The importation of servile 
 labor into the United States from China is 
 a problem of the most serious importance, 
 and we recommend legislation looking to 
 its suppression. 
 
 Fourteenth. We believe in the supremacy 
 
 of law over and above all perishable ma 
 terial, and in the necessity of a party of 
 united people that will rise above old party 
 lines and prejudices. We will not affiliate 
 in any degree with any of the old parties, 
 but, in all cases and localities, will organize 
 anew, as united National men nominate 
 for office and official positions only such 
 persons as are clearly believers in and 
 identified with this our sacred cause ; and, 
 irrespective of creed, color, place of birth, 
 or past condition of political or other serv 
 itude, vote only for men who entirely 
 abandon old party lines and organizations. 
 
 1819. National Liberal Platform. 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, September 14. 
 
 1. Total separation of Church and State, 
 to be guaranteed by amendment of the 
 United States constitution ; including the 
 equitable taxation of church property, se 
 cularization of the public schools, abroga 
 tion of Sabbatarian laws, abolition of chap 
 laincies, prohibition of public appropria 
 tions for religious purposes, and all mea 
 sures necessary to the same general end. 
 
 2. National protection for national citi 
 zens in their equal civil, political, and re 
 ligious rights, to be guaranteed by amend 
 ment of the United States constitution 
 and afforded through the United States 
 courts. 
 
 3. Universal education, the basis of uni 
 versal suffrage in this secular Republic, to 
 be guaranteed by amendment of the United 
 States constitution, requiring every state to 
 maintain a thoroughly secularized public 
 school system, and to permit no child 
 within its limits to grow up without a good 
 elementary education. 
 
 1880. Independent Republican Principles. 
 
 I. Independent Republicans adhere to 
 the republican principles of national supre 
 macy, sound finances, and civil service re 
 form, expressed in the Republican plat 
 form of 1876, in the letter of acceptance of 
 President Hayes, and in his message of 
 1879; and they seek the realization of 
 those principles in practical laws and their 
 efficient administration. This requires, 
 
 1. The continuance on the statute-book 
 of laws protecting the rights of voters at 
 national elections. But national supre 
 macy affords no pretext for interference 
 with the local rights of communities ; and 
 the development of the south from its pre 
 sent defective civilization can be secured 
 only under constitutional methods, such as 
 those of President Hayes. 
 
 2. The passage of laws which shall de 
 prive greenbacks of their legal-tender 
 quality, as a first step toward their ulti- 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 61 
 
 mate withdrawal and cancellation, and 
 shall maintain all coins made legal tender 
 at such weight and fineness as will enable 
 them to be used without discount in the 
 commercial transactions of the world. 
 
 3. The repeal of the acts which limit the 
 terms of office of certain government offi 
 cials to four years ; the repeal of the 
 tenure-of-office acts, which limit the power 
 of the executive to remove for cause ; the 
 establishment of a permanent civil service 
 commission, or equivalent measures to as 
 certain, by open competition, and certify 
 to the President or other appointing power 
 the fitness of applicants for nomination or 
 appointment to all non-political offices. 
 
 II. Independent Republicans believe 
 that local issues should be independent of 
 party. The words Republican and Demo 
 crat should have no weight in determining 
 whether a school or city shall be adminis 
 tered on business principles by capable 
 men. With a view to this, legislation is 
 asked which shall prescribe for the voting 
 for local and for state officers upon sepa 
 rate ballots. 
 
 III. Independent Republicans assert 
 that a political party is a co-operation of 
 voters to secure the practical enactment 
 into legislation of political convictions set 
 forth as its platform. Every voter accept 
 ing that platform is a member of that 
 party ; any representative of that party op 
 posing the principles or evading the pro 
 mises of its platform forfeits the support 
 of its voters. No voter should be held by 
 the action or nomination of any caucus or 
 convention of his party against his private 
 judgment. It is his duty to vote against 
 bad measures and unfit men, as the only 
 means of obtaining good ones ; and if his 
 party no longer represents its professed 
 principles in its practical workings, it is 
 his duty to vote against it. 
 
 IV. Independent Republicans seek good 
 nominations through participation in the 
 primaries and through the defeat of bad 
 nominees ; they will labor for the defeat of 
 any local Republican candidate, and, in 
 co-operation with those holding like views 
 elsewhere, for the defeat of any general 
 Republican candidate whom they do not 
 deem fit. 
 
 1880. Republican Platform. 
 
 Chicago, Illinois, June 2. 
 
 The Republican party, in national con 
 vention 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 its brief 
 report of its administration : 
 
 It suppressed a rebellion which had 
 armed nearly a million of men to subvert 
 the national authority. It reconstructed 
 the union of the states with freedom, in 
 
 stead of slavery, as its corner-stone. It 
 transformed four million of human beings 
 from the likeness of things to the rank of 
 citizens. It relieved Congress from the in 
 famous work of hunting fugitive slaves, 
 and charged it to see that slavery does not 
 exist. 
 
 It has raised the value of our paper cur 
 rency 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 to 
 that where four per cent, bonds are eagerly 
 sought at a premium. 
 
 Under its administration railways have 
 increased from 31,000 miles in 1860, to more 
 than 82,000 miles in 1879. 
 
 Our foreign trade has increased from 
 $700,000,000 to $1,150,000,000 in the same 
 time ; and our exports, which were $20,- 
 000,000 less than our imports in 1860, were 
 $264,000,000 more than our imports in. 
 1879. 
 
 Without resorting to loans, it has, since 
 the war closed, defrayed the ordinary ex 
 penses of government, besides the accruing 
 interest on the public debt, and disbursed, 
 annually, over $30,000,000 for soldiers' 
 pensions. It has paid $888,000,000 of the 
 public debt, and, by refunding the balance 
 at lower rates, has reduced the annual 
 interest charge from nearly $151,000,000 
 to less than $89,000,000. 
 
 All the industries of the country have 
 revived, labor is in demand, wages have 
 increased, and throughout the entire coun 
 try 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 sup 
 port 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 years has been such as to com 
 mend itself to the favor of the nation, and 
 that the fruits of the costly victories which 
 we have achieved, through immense diffi 
 culties, should be preserved ; that the peace 
 regained should be cherished ; that the 
 dissevered Union, now happily restored, 
 should be perpetuated, and that the liber 
 ties secured to this generation should be 
 transmitted, undiminished, to future gene 
 rations; that the order established and the 
 credit acquired should never be impaired ; 
 that the pensions promised should be paid ; 
 that the debt so much reduced should be 
 extinguished by the full payment of every 
 dollar thereof; that the reviving industries 
 should be further promoted ; and that the 
 
62 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 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 confederate states it made a sove 
 reign nation. Some powers are denied to 
 the nation, while others are denied to 
 states ; but the boundary between the pow 
 ers 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 constitu 
 tional ability. The intelligence of the na 
 tion 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 aver 
 age genius of all. 
 
 4. The constitution wisely forbids Con 
 gress to make any law respecting an es 
 tablishment 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 prohibi 
 tion upon the legislature of each state, to 
 forbid the appropriation of public funds to 
 the support of sectarian schools. 
 
 5. We reaffirm the belief, avowed in 
 1876, that the duties levied for the pur 
 pose 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 pro 
 tection accorded to citizens of American 
 birth must be secured to citizens by Ameri 
 can adoption. That we esteem it the duty 
 of Congress to develop and improve our 
 water-courses and harbors, but insist that 
 further subsidies to private persons or cor 
 porations must cease. That the obliga 
 tions of the republic to the men who pre 
 served its integrity in the day of battle 
 are undiminished by the lapse of 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 immi 
 gration and intercourse between the United 
 States and foreign nations rests with the 
 Congress of the United States and its 
 treaty-making powers, the Republican 
 party, regarding the unrestricted immigra 
 tion of the Chinese as an evil of great 
 magnitude, invoke the exercise of that 
 power to restrain and limit that immigra 
 tion by the enactment of such just, humane, 
 and reasonable provisions as will produce 
 that result. 
 
 That the purity and patriotism which 
 characterized the early career of Ruther 
 ford B. Hayes in peace and war, and which 
 guided the thoughts of our immediate pre 
 decessors to select him for a presidential 
 candidate, have continued to inspire him 
 in his career as chief executive, and that 
 history will accord to his administration 
 the honors which are due to an efficient, 
 just, and courteous discharge of the public 
 business, and will honor his interposition 
 between the people and proposed partisan 
 laws. 
 
 8. We charge upon the Democratic party 
 the habitual sacrifice of patriotism and 
 justice to a supreme and insatiable lust for 
 office and patronage. That to obtain pos 
 session of the national and state govern 
 ments, and the control of place and position, 
 they have obstructed all efforts to promote 
 the purity and to conserve the freedom of 
 suffrage ; have devised fraudulent certifi 
 cations and returns ; have labored to un 
 seat lawfully-elected members of Congress, 
 to secure, at all hazards, the vote of a ma 
 jority of the states in the House of Repre 
 sentatives ; have endeavored to occupy, by 
 force and fraud the places of trust given to 
 others by the people of Maine, and rescued 
 by the courageous action of Maine's pa 
 triotic sons ; have, by methods vicious in 
 principle and tyrannical in practice, at 
 tached partisan legislation to appropria 
 tion bills, upon whose passage the very 
 movements of government depend ; have 
 crushed the rights of the individual ; have 
 advocated the principle and sought the 
 favor of rebellion against the nation, and 
 have endeavored to obliterate the sacred 
 memories of the war, and to overcome its 
 inestimably valuable results of nationality, 
 personal freedom, and individual equality. 
 Equal, steady, and complete enforcement 
 of the laws, and protection of all our citizens 
 in the enjoyment of all privileges and im 
 munities guaranteed by the constitution, 
 are the first duties of the nation. The dan 
 ger of a solid south can only be averted by 
 the faithful performance of every promise 
 which the nation made to the citizen. The 
 execution of the laws, and the punishment 
 of all those who violate them, are the only 
 safe methods by which an enduring peace 
 can be secured, and genuine prosperity es 
 tablished throughout the south. What 
 ever promises the nation makes, the na 
 tion must perform ; and the nation can not 
 with safety relegate this duty to the states. 
 The solid south must be divided by the 
 peaceful agencies of the ballot, and all 
 opinions must there find free expression ; 
 and to this end honest voters must be pro 
 tected against terrorism, violence, or fraud. 
 And we affirm it to be the duty and the 
 purpose of the Republican party to use all 
 legitimate means to restore all the states of 
 this Union to the most perfect harmony 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 63 
 
 which may be practicable ; and we submit to 
 the practical, sensible people of the United 
 States to say whether it would not be dan- 
 gerou* t) the dearest interests of our coun 
 try, at this time to surrender the adminis 
 tration of the national government to a 
 party which seeks to overthrow the exist 
 ing policy, under which we are so prosper 
 ous, and thus bring distrust and confusion 
 where there is now order, confidence, and 
 hope. 
 
 9. The Republican party, adhering to a 
 principle affirmed by its last national con 
 vention, of respect for the constitutional 
 rule covering appointments to office, adopts 
 the declaration of President Hayes, that 
 the ref >rm of the civil service should be- 
 thorough, radical, and complete. To this 
 end it demands the co-operation of the 
 legislative with the executive department 
 of the government, and that Congress shall 
 so legislate that fitness, ascertained by 
 proper practical tests, shall admit to the 
 public service ; and that the power of re 
 moval for cause, with due responsibility 
 for the good conduct of subordinates, shall 
 accompany the power of appointment. 
 
 1880. Xatloiial (Greenback;) Platform, 
 
 Chicago, Illinois. June 9. 
 
 The civil government should guarantee 
 the divine right of every laborer to the re 
 sults of his toil, thus enabling the pro 
 ducers of wealth to provide themselves 
 with the means for physical comfort, and 
 facilities for mental, social, and moral cul 
 ture ; and we condemn, as unworthy of our 
 civilization, the barbarism which imposes 
 upon wealth-producers a state of drudgery 
 as the price of a bare animal existence. 
 Notwithstanding the enormous increase of 
 productive power by the universal intro 
 duction of labor-saving machinery and the 
 discovery of new agents for the increase of 
 wealth, the task of the laborer is scarcely 
 lightened, the hours of toil are but little 
 shortened, and few producers are lifted 
 from poverty into comfort and pecuniary 
 independence. The associated monopolies, 
 the international syndicates, and other in 
 come classes demand dear money, cheap 
 labor, and a strong government, and, hence, 
 a weak people. Corporate control of the 
 volume of money has been the means 
 of dividing society into hostile classes, of 
 an unjust distribution of the products of 
 labor, and of building up monopolies of 
 associated capital, endowed with power to 
 confiscate private property. It has kept 
 money scarce ; and the scarcity of money 
 enforces debt-trade, and public and cor 
 porate loans ; debt engenders usury, and 
 usury ends in the bankruptcy of the bor 
 rower. Other results are deranged mar 
 kets, uncertainty in manufacturing enter 
 
 prises and agriculture, precarious and 
 intermittent employment for the laborer, 
 industrial war, increasing pauperism and 
 crime, and the consequent intimidation 
 and disfranchisement of the producer, and 
 a rapid declension into corporate feudalism. 
 Therefore, we declare 
 
 First. That the right to make and issue 
 money is a sovereign power, to be main 
 tained by the people for their common 
 benefit. The delegation of this right to 
 corporations is a surrender of the central 
 attribute of sovereignty, void of constitu 
 tional sanction, and conferring upon a sub 
 ordinate and irresponsible power an abso 
 lute dominion over industry and commerce. 
 All money, whether metallic or paper, 
 should be issued, and its volume controlled, 
 by the government, and not by or through 
 banking corporations ; and, when so issued, 
 should be a full legal tender for all debts, 
 public and private. 
 
 Second. That the bonds of the United 
 States should not be refunded, but paid as 
 rapidly as practicable, according to con 
 tract. To enable the government to meet 
 these obligations, legal-tender currency 
 should be substituted for the notes of the 
 national banks, the national banking sys 
 tem abolished, and the unlimited coinage 
 of silver, as well as gold, established by 
 law. 
 
 Third. That labor should be so pro 
 tected by national and state authority as to 
 equalize its burdens and insure a just dis 
 tribution of its results. The eight hour 
 law of Congress should be enforced, the 
 sanitary condition of industrial establish 
 ments placed under the rigid control, the 
 competition of contract convict labor abol 
 ished, a bureau of labor statistics estab 
 lished, factories, mines, and workshops in 
 spected, the employment of children under 
 fourteen years of age forbidden, and wages 
 paid in cash. 
 
 Fourth. Slavery being simply cheap 
 labor, and cheap labor being simply sla 
 very, the importation and presence of 
 Chinese serfs necessarily tends to brutalize 
 and degrade American labor; therefore, 
 immediate steps should be taken to ab 
 rogate the Burlingame treaty. 
 
 Fifth. Railroad land grants forfeited by 
 reason of non-fulfillment of contract should 
 be immediately reclaimed by the govern 
 ment, and, henceforth, the public domain 
 reserved exclusively as homes for actual 
 settlers. 
 
 Sixth. It is the duty of Congress to reg 
 ulate inter-state commerce. All lines of 
 communication and transportation should 
 be brought under such legislative control 
 as shall secure moderate, fair, and uniform 
 rates for passenger and freight traffic. 
 
 Seventh. We denounce as destructive to 
 property and dangerous to liberty the ac 
 tion of the old parties in fostering and sua* 
 
64 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 taming gigantic land, railroad, and money j ing platform of national reforms and mea- 
 
 corporations, and monopolies invested with sures : 
 
 and exercising powers belonging to the In the examination and discussion of the 
 
 government, and yet not responsible to it temperance question, it has been proven, 
 
 for the manner of their exercise. | and is an accepted truth, that alcoholic 
 
 Eiyhth. That the constitution, in giving drinks, whether fermented, brewed, or dis- 
 
 Congress the power to borrow money, to tilled, are poisonous to the healthy human 
 
 declare war, to raise and support armies, body, the drinking of which is not only 
 
 to provide and maintain a navy, never in- needless but hurtful, necessarily tending to 
 
 tended that the men who loaned their form intemperate habits, increasing greatly 
 
 money for an interest-consideration should the number, severity, and fatal termina- 
 
 be preferred to the soldiers and sailors who tion of diseases, \veakening and deranging 
 
 periled their lives and shed their blood on the intellect, polluting the affections, hard 
 
 land and sea in defense of their country ; 
 and we condemn the cruel class legislation 
 of the Republican party, which, while pro 
 fessing great gratitude to the soldier, has 
 most unjustly discriminated against him 
 and in favor of the bondholder. 
 
 Ninth. All property should bear its just 
 proportion of taxation, and we demand a 
 
 graduated income tax. 
 
 Tenth. We denounce as dangerous 
 
 the 
 
 efforts everywhere manifest to restrict the 
 right of suifrage. 
 
 Eleventh. We are opposed to an increase 
 of the standing army in time of peace, and 
 the insidious scheme to establish an enor 
 mous military power under the guise of 
 militia laws. 
 
 Twelfth. We demand absolute democra 
 tic rules for the government of Congress, 
 placing all representatives of the people 
 upon an equal footing, and taking away 
 from committees a veto power greater than 
 that of the President. 
 
 Thirteenth. We demand a government of 
 the people, by the people, and for the peo 
 
 ening the heart and corrupting the morals, 
 depriving many of reason and still more of 
 its healthful exercise, and annually bring 
 ing down large numbers to untimely graves, 
 producing, in the children of many who 
 drink, a predisposition to intemperance, 
 insanity, and various bodily and mental 
 diseases, causing diminution of strength, 
 feebleness of vision, fickleness of purpose, 
 and premature old age, and inducing, in 
 all future generations, deterioration of 
 moral and physical character. Alcoholic 
 drinks are thus the implacable foe of man 
 as an individual. 
 
 First. The legalized importation, manu 
 facture, and sale of intoxicating drinks 
 ministers to their use, and teaches the erro 
 neous and destructive sentiment that such 
 use is right, thus tending to produce and 
 perpetuate the above mentioned evils. 
 
 Second. To the home it is an enemy 
 proving itself to be a disturber and de 
 stroyer of its peace, prosperity, and happi 
 ness ; taking from it the earnings of th< 
 husband; depriving the dependent 
 
 e 
 
 wife 
 
 pie, instead of a government of the bond- j and children of essential food, clothing, 
 holder, by the bondholder, and for the and education ; bringing into it profanity, 
 bondholder ; and we denounce every at- abuse, and violence ; setting at naught the 
 tempt to stir up sectional strife as an effort to ' vows of the marriage altar ; breaking up 
 conceal monstrous crimes against the people, j the family and sundering the children from 
 Fourteenth. In the furtherance of these I the parents, and thus destroying one of 
 
 the most beneficent institutions of our Cre 
 ator, and removing the sure foundation of 
 
 ends we ask the co-operation of all fair- 
 minded people. We have no quarrel with 
 
 individuals, wage no war on classes, but 
 only against vicious institutions. We are 
 not content to endure further discipline 
 from our present actual rulers, who, having 
 dominion over money, over transportation, 
 over land and labor, over the press and the 
 machinery of government, wield unwar 
 rantable power over our institutions and 
 over life and property. 
 
 1880. Prohibition Reform Platform, 
 
 Cleveland, Ohio, June 17. 
 
 The prohibition Reform party of the 
 United States, organized, in the name of 
 the people, to revive, enforce, and perpetu 
 ate in the government the doctrines of the 
 Declaration of Independence, submit, for 
 the suffrage of all good citizens, the follow- 
 
 good government, national prosperity, and 
 welfare. 
 
 Third. To the community it is equally 
 an enemy producing vice, demoralization, 
 and wickedness ; its places of sale being 
 resorts of gaming, lewdness, and debauch 
 ery, and the hiding-place of those who 
 prey upon society; counteracting the 
 efficacy of religious effort, and of all means 
 of intellectual elevation, moral purity, 
 social happiness, and the eternal good of 
 mankind, without rendering any counter 
 acting or compensating benefits ; being in 
 its influence and effect evil and only evil, 
 and that continually. 
 
 Fourth. To the state it is equally an 
 enemy legislative inquiries, judicial inves 
 tigations, and official reports of all penal, 
 reformatory, and dependent institutions 
 showing that the manufacture and sale of 
 such beverages is the promoting cause of 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 65 
 
 intemperance, crime, and pauperism, and of 
 demands upon public and private charity, 
 imposing the larger part of taxation, para 
 lyzing thrift, industry, manufactures, and 
 commercial life, which, but for it, would 
 be unnecessary ; disturbing the peace of 
 streets and highways ; filling prisons and 
 poor-houses ; corrupting politics, legisla 
 tion, and the execution of the laws ; short 
 ening lives ; diminishing health, industry, 
 and productive power in manufactures and 
 art; and is manifestly unjust as well as 
 injurious to the community upon which it 
 is imposed, and is contrary to all just 
 views of civil liberty, as well as a violation 
 of the fundamental maxim of our common 
 law, to use your own property or liberty 
 so as not to injure others. 
 
 Fifth. It is neither right nor politic for 
 the state to afford legal protection to any 
 traffic or any system which tends to waste 
 the resources, to corrupt the social habits, 
 and to destroy the health and lives of the 
 people ; that the importation, manufacture, 
 and sale of intoxicating beverages is 
 proven to be inimical to the true interests 
 of the individual home, community, and 
 state, and destructive to the order and wel 
 fare of society, and ought, therefore, to be 
 classed among crimes to be prohibited. 
 
 Sixth. In this time of profound peace at 
 home and abroad, the entire separation of 
 the general government from the drink- 
 traffic, and its prohibition in the District 
 of Columbia, territories, and in all places 
 and ways over which, under the constitu 
 tion, Congress has control and power, is a 
 political issue of the first importance to the 
 peace and prosperity of the nation. There 
 can be no stable peace and protection to 
 personal liberty, life, or property, until 
 secured by national or state constitutional 
 provisions, enforced by adequate laws. 
 
 Seventh. All legitimate industries require 
 deliverance from the taxation and loss 
 which the liquor traffic imposes upon them ; 
 and financial or other legislation could not 
 accomplish so much to increase production 
 and cause a demand for labor, and, as a 
 result, for the comforts of living, as the 
 suppression of thh traffic would bring to 
 thousands of homes as one of its blessings. 
 
 Eighth. The administration of the gov 
 ernment and the execution of the laws are 
 through political parties ; and we arraign 
 the Republican party, which has been in 
 continuous power in the nation for twenty 
 years, as being false to duty, as falne to 
 loudly-proclaimed principles of equal jus 
 tice to all and special favors to none, and 
 of protection to the weak and dependent, 
 insensible to the mischief which the trade 
 in liquor has constantly inflicted upon in 
 dustry, trade, commerce, and the social 
 happiness of the people ; that 5,652 dis 
 tilleries, 3,830 breweries, and 175,266 places 
 for the sale of these poisonous liquors, in 
 
 volving an annual waste to the nation of 
 one million five hundred thousand dollars, 
 and the sacrifice of one hundred thousand 
 lives, have, under its legislation, grown up 
 and been fostered as a legitimate source of 
 revenue ; that during its history, six terri 
 tories have been organized and five states 
 been admitted into the Union, with consti 
 tutions provided and approved by Con 
 gress, but the prohibition of this debasing 
 and destructive traffic has not been pro 
 vided, nor even the people given, at the 
 time of admission, power to forbid it in 
 any one of them. Its history furthei 
 shows, that not in a single instance has an 
 original prohibitory law been passed by 
 any state that was controlled by it, while 
 in four states, so governed, the laws found 
 on its advent to power have been repealed. 
 At its national convention in 1872, it de 
 clared, as part of its party faith, that " it 
 disapproves of the resort to unconstitu 
 tional laws for the purpose of removing 
 evils, by interference with rights not sur 
 rendered by the people to either the state 
 or national government," which, the au 
 thor of this plank says, was adopted by 
 the platform committee with the full and 
 implicit understanding that its purpose 
 was the discountenancing of all so-called 
 temperance, prohibitory, and Sunday laws. 
 
 Ninth. We arraign, also, the Democra 
 tic party as unfaithful and unworthy of 
 reliance on this question ; for, although 
 not clothed with power, but occupying the 
 relation of an opposition party during 
 twenty years past, strong in numbers and 
 organization, it has allied itself with 
 liquor-traffickers, and become, in all tli3 
 states of the Union, their special political 
 defenders, and in its national convention 
 in 1876, as an article of its political faith, 
 declared against prohibition and just laws 
 in restraint of the trade in drink, by say 
 ing it was opposed to what it was pleased 
 to call "all sumptuary laws." The Na 
 tional party has been dumb on this que3- 
 tion. 
 
 Tenth. Drink-traffickers, having the his 
 tory and experience of all ages, climes, and 
 conditions of men, declaring their business 
 destructive of all good finding no support 
 in the Bible, morals, or reason appeal to 
 misapplied law for their justification, and 
 intrench themselves behind the evil ele 
 ments of political party for defense, party 
 tactics and party inertia become battling 
 forces, protecting this evil. 
 
 Eleventh. In view of the foregoing facts 
 and history, we cordially invite all voters, 
 without regard to former party affiliations, 
 to unite with us in the use of the ballot for 
 the abolition of the drinking system, under 
 the authority of our national and state 
 governments. We also demand, as a right, 
 that women, having the privileges of citi 
 zens in other respects, be clothed with the 
 
66 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 ballot for their protection, and as a rightful 
 means for the proper settlement of the 
 liquor question. 
 
 Twelfth. To remove the apprehension of 
 some who allege that a loss of public rev 
 enue would follow the suppression of the 
 direct trade, we confidently point to the 
 experience of governments abroad and at 
 home, which siiows that thrift and revenue 
 from the consumption of legitimate manu 
 factures and commerce have so largely fol 
 lowed the abolition of drink as to fully 
 supply all loss of liquor taxes. 
 
 Thirteenth. We recognize the good provi 
 dence of Almighty God, who has preserved 
 and prospered us as a nation ; and, asking 
 ibr His Spirit to guide us to ultimate suc 
 cess, we all look for it, relying upon His 
 omnipotent arm. 
 
 1880. Democratic Platform, 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, June 22. 
 
 The Democrats of the United States, in 
 convention assembled, declare : 
 
 First. We pledge ourselves anew to the 
 constitutional doctrines and traditions of 
 the Democratic party, as illustrated by the 
 teachings and examples of a long line of 
 Democratic statesmen and patriots, and 
 embodied in the platform of the last na 
 tional convention of the party. 
 
 Second. Opposition to centralization, 
 and to that dangerous spirit of encroach 
 ment which tends to consolidate the powers 
 of all the departments in one, and thus to 
 create, whatever the form of government, 
 a real despotism ; no sumptuary laws ; 
 separation of the church and state for the 
 good of each; common schools fostered 
 and protected. 
 
 Third. Home rule ; honest money, con 
 sisting of gold and silver, and paper, con 
 vertible into coin on demand ; the strict 
 maintenance of the public faith, state and 
 national ; and a tariff for revenue only ; 
 the subordination of the military to the 
 civil power ; and a general and thorough 
 reform of the civil service. 
 
 Fourth. The right to a free ballot is a 
 right preservative of all rights ; and must 
 and shall be maintained in every part of 
 the United States. 
 
 Fifth. The existing administration is the 
 representative of conspiracy only ; and its 
 claim of right to surround the ballot-boxes 
 with troops and deputy marshals, to in 
 timidate and obstruct the elections, and 
 the unprecedented use of the veto to main 
 tain its corrupt and despotic power, insults 
 the people and imperils their institutions. 
 We execrate the course of this administra 
 tion in making places in the civil service a 
 reward for political crime ; and demand a 
 reform, by statute, which shall make it for 
 
 ever impossible for a defeated candidate to 
 bribe his way to the seat of a usurper by 
 billeting villains upon the people. 
 
 Sixth. The great fraud of 1876-7, by 
 which, upon a false count of the electoral 
 votes of two states, the candidate defeated 
 at the polls was declared to be President, 
 and, for the first time in American history, 
 the will of the people was set aside under 
 a threat of military violence, struck a 
 deadly blow at our system of representa 
 tive government. The Democratic party, 
 to preserve the country from the horrors of 
 a civil war, submitted for the time, in the 
 firm and patriotic belief that the people 
 would punish the crime in 1880. This is 
 sue precedes and dwarfs every other. It 
 imposes a more sacred duty upon the people 
 of the Union than ever addressed the con 
 sciences of a nation of freemen. 
 
 Seventh. The resolution of Samuel J. 
 Tilden, not again to be a candidate for the 
 exalted place to which he was elected by 
 a majority of his countrymen, and from 
 which he was excluded by the leaders of 
 the Republican party, is received by the 
 Democrats of the United States with deep 
 sensibility ; and they declare their confi 
 dence in his wisdom, patriotism, and in 
 tegrity unshaken by the assaults of the 
 common enemy ; and they further assure 
 him that he is followed into the retirement 
 he has chosen for himself by the sympathy 
 and respect of his fellow-citizens, who re 
 gard him as one who, by elevating the 
 standard of the public morality, and adorn 
 ing and purifying the public service, merits 
 the lasting gratitude of his country and 
 his party. 
 
 Eighth. Free ships, and a living chance 
 for American commerce upon the seas ; 
 and on the land, no discrimination in favor 
 of transportation lines, corporations, or 
 monopolies. 
 
 Ninth. Amendments of the Burlingame 
 treaty ; no more Chinese immigration, ex 
 cept for travel, education, and foreign com 
 merce, and, therein, carefully guarded. 
 
 Tenth. Public money and public credit 
 for public purposes solely, and public land 
 for actual settlers. 
 
 Eleventh. The Democratic party is the 
 friend of labor and the laboring man, and 
 pledges itself to protect him alike against 
 the cormorants and the commune. 
 
 Twelfth. We congratulate the country 
 upon the honesty and thrift of a Demo 
 cratic Congress, which has reduced the 
 public expenditure $10,000,000 a year; 
 upon the continuation of prosperity at 
 home and the national honor abroad ; and, 
 above all, upon the promise of such a 
 change in the administration of the govern 
 ment as shall insure a genuine and lasting 
 reform in every department of the public 
 service. 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 67 
 
 Virginia Republican. 
 
 [Adopted August 11.] 
 
 Whereas, It is proper that when the 
 people assemble in convention they should 
 avow distinctly the principles of govern 
 ment on which they stand ; now, therefore, 
 be it, 
 
 Resolved, That we, the Republicans of 
 Virginia, hereby make a declaration of our 
 allegiance and adhesion to the principles 
 of the Republican party of the country, 
 and our determination to stand squarely by 
 the organization of the Republican party 
 of Virginia, always defending it against 
 the assaults of all persons or parties what 
 soever. 
 
 Second. That amongst the principles of 
 the Republican party none is of more vital 
 importance to the welfare and interest of 
 the country in all its parts than that which 
 pertains to the sanctity of Government 
 contracts. It therefore becomes the special 
 duty and province of the Republican party 
 of Virginia to guard and protect the credit 
 of our time-honored State, which has been 
 besmirched with repudiation, or received 
 with distrust, by the gross mismanagement 
 of various factions of the Democratic 
 party, which have controlled the legisla 
 tion of the State. 
 
 Third. That the Republican party of 
 Virginia hereby pledges itself to redeem 
 the State from the discredit that now hangs 
 over her in regard to her just obligations 
 for moneys loaned her for constructing her 
 internal improvements and charitable in 
 stitutions, which, permeating every quarter 
 of the State, bring benefits of far greater 
 value than their cost to our whole people, 
 and we in the most solemn form pledge the 
 Republican party of the State to the full 
 payment of the whole debt of the State, less 
 the one-third set aside as justly falling on 
 West Virginia ; that the industries of the 
 country should be fostered through pro 
 tective laws, so as to develop our own re 
 sources, employ our own labor, create a 
 home market, enhance values, and promote 
 the happiness and prosperity of the people. 
 
 Fourth. That the public school system 
 of Virginia is the creature of the Repub 
 lican party, and we demand that every 
 dollar the Constitution dedicates to it shall 
 be sacredly applied thereto as a means of 
 educating the children of the State, with 
 out regard to condition or race. 
 
 Fifth. That the elective franchise as an 
 equal right should be based on manhood 
 qualification, and that we favor the repeal 
 of the requirements of the prepayment of 
 the capitation tax as a prerequisite to the 
 franchise as opposed to the Constitution of 
 the United States, and in violation of the 
 condition whereby the State was read 
 mitted as a member of our Constitutional 
 Union, as well as against the spirit of the 
 
 Constitution ; but demand the imposition 
 of the capitation tax as a source of revenue 
 for the support of the public schools with 
 out its disfranchising effects. 
 
 Sixth. That we favor the repeal of the 
 disqualification for the elective franchise 
 by a conviction of petty larceny, and of 
 the infamous laws which place it in the 
 power of a single justice of the peace (oft- 
 times being more corrupt than the criminal 
 before him) to disfranchise his fellow-man. 
 
 Seventh. Finally, that we urge the repeal 
 of the barbarous law permitting the im 
 position of stripes as degrading and inhu 
 man, contrary to the genius of a true and 
 enlightened people, and a relic of bar 
 barism. 
 
 [The Convention considered it inexpe 
 dient to nominate candidates for State 
 officers.] 
 
 Virginia IU adjuster. 
 
 [Adopted Jnne 2.] 
 
 First. We recognize our obligation to 
 support the institution for the deaf, dumb 
 and blind, the lunatic asylum, the public 
 free schools and the Government out of 
 the revenues of the State ; and we depre 
 cate and denounce that policy of ring rule 
 and subordinated sovereignty which for 
 years borrowed money out of banks at high 
 rates of interest .for the discharge of these 
 paramount trusts, while our revenues were 
 left the prev of commercial exchanges, 
 available to ths State only at the option 
 of speculators and syndicates. 
 
 /Second. We reassert our purpose to settle 
 and adjust our State obligations on the 
 principles of the " Bill to re-establish pub 
 lic credit," known as the " Riddleberger 
 bill," passed by the last General Assembly 
 and vetoed by the Governor. We main 
 tain that this measure recognizes the just 
 debt of Virginia, in this, that it assumes 
 two-thirds of all the money Virginia bor 
 rowed, and sets aside the other third to 
 West Virginia to be dealt with by her in 
 tier own way and at her own pleasure; that 
 it places those of her creditors who have 
 received but 6 per cent, instalments of in 
 terest in nine years upon an exact equality 
 with those who by corrupt agencies were 
 enabled to absorb and monopolize our 
 means of payment ; that it agrees to pay 
 such rate of interest on our securities as 
 can with certainty be met out of the rev 
 enues of the State, and that it contains all 
 the essential features of finality. 
 
 Third. We reassert our adherence to the 
 Constitutional requirements for the " equal 
 and uniform" taxation of property, ex 
 empting none except that specified by the 
 Constitution and used exclusively for " re 
 ligious, charitable and educational pur 
 poses." 
 
68 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Fourth. We reassert that the paramount 
 obligation of the various works of internal 
 improvement is to the people of the State, 
 by whose authority they were created, by 
 whose money they were constructed and 
 by whose grace they live ; and it is enjoin 
 ed upon our representative and executive 
 officers to enforce the discharge of that 
 duty ; to insure to our people such rates, 
 facilities and connections as will protect 
 every industry and interest against dis 
 crimination, tend to the development of 
 our agricultural and mineral resources, en 
 courage the investment of active capital in 
 manufactures and the profitable employ 
 ment of labor in industrial enterprises, 
 grasp for our city and our whole State those 
 advantages to which by their geographical 
 position they are entitled, and fulfil all the 
 great public ends for which they were de- 
 s'gned. 
 
 Fifth. The Readjusters hold the right to 
 a free ballot to be the right preservative of 
 all rights, and that it should be maintained 
 in every State in the Union. We believe 
 the capitation tax restriction upon the suf 
 frage in Virginia to be in conflict with the 
 XlVth Amendment to the Constitution of 
 the United States. We believe that it is a 
 violation of that condition of reconstruc 
 tion wherein the pledge was given not so 
 to amend our State Constitution as to de 
 prive any citizen or class of citizens of a 
 right to vote, except as punishment for 
 such crimes as are felony at common law. 
 We believe such a prerequisite to voting to 
 be contrary to the genius of our institu 
 tions, the very foundation of which is re 
 presentation as antecedent to taxation. 
 We know that it has been a failure as a 
 measure for the collection of revenue, the 
 pretended reason for its invention in 1876, 
 and we know the base, demoralizing and 
 dangerous uses to which it has been pros 
 tituted. We know it contributes to the 
 increase of monopoly power, and to cor 
 rupting the voter. For these and other 
 reasons we adhere to the purpose hitherto 
 expressed to provide more effectual legisla 
 tion for the collection of this tax, dedicated 
 by the Constitution to the public free 
 schools, and to abolish it as a qualification 
 for and restriction upon suffrage. 
 
 Sixth. The Readjusters congratulate the 
 whole people of Virginia on the progress 
 of the last few years in developing mineral 
 resources and promoting manufacturing 
 enterprises in the State, and they declare 
 their purpose to aid these great and grow 
 ing industries by all proper and essential 
 legislation, State and Federal. To this end 
 they will continue their efforts in behalf 
 of more cordial and fraternal relations be 
 tween the sections and States, and espe 
 cially for that concord and harmony which 
 will make the country to know how earn 
 estly and sincerely Virginia invites all men 
 
 into her borders as visitors or to become 
 citizens without fear of social or political 
 ostracism ; that every man, from whatever 
 section of country, shall enjoy the fullest 
 freedom of thought, speech, politics and 
 religion, and that the State which first 
 formulated these principles as fundamental 
 in free government is yet the citadel for 
 their exercise and protection. 
 
 Virginia Democratic. 
 
 [Adopted August 4.] 
 
 The Conservative Democratic party of 
 Virginia Democratic in its Federal rela 
 tions and Conservative in its State policy 
 assembled in convention, in view of the 
 present condition of the Union and of this 
 Commonwealth, for the clear and distinct 
 assertion of its political principles, doth 
 declare that we adopt the following articles 
 of political faith : 
 
 First. Equality of right and exact jus 
 tice to all men, special privileges to none ; 
 freedom of religion, freedom of the press, 
 and freedom of the person under the pro 
 tection of the habeas corpus ; of trial by 
 juries impartially selected, and of a pure, 
 upright and non-partisan judiciary ; elec 
 tions by the people, free from force or fraud 
 of citizens or of the military and civil of 
 ficers of Government ; and the selection 
 for public offices of those who are honest 
 and best fitted to fill them ; the support of 
 the State governments in all their rights as 
 the most competent administrations of our 
 domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks 
 against anti-republican tendencies ; and 
 the preservation of the General Govern 
 ment in its whole constitutional vigor as 
 the best sheet-anchor of our peace at home 
 and our safety abroad. 
 
 Second. That the maintenance of the 
 public credit of Virginia is an essential 
 means to the promotion of her prosperity. 
 We condemn repudiation in every shape 
 and form as a blot upon her honor, a blow 
 at her permanent welfare, and an obstacle 
 to her progress in wealth, influence and 
 power ; and that we will make every effort 
 to secure a settlement of the public debt, 
 with the consent of her creditors, which is 
 consistent with her honor and dictated by 
 justice and sound public policy ; that it is 
 eminently desirable and proper that the 
 several classes of the debt now existing 
 should be unified, so that equality, which 
 is equity, may control in the annual pay 
 ment of interest and the ultimate redemp 
 tion of principal ; that, with a view of se 
 curing such equality, we pledge our party 
 to use all lawful authority to secure a settle 
 ment of the State debt so that there shall 
 be but one class of the public debt ; that 
 we will use all lawful and constitutional 
 means in our power to secure a settlement 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 69 
 
 of the State debt upon the basis of a 3 per 
 cent, bond, and that the Conservative- 
 Democratic party pledges itself, as a part 
 of its policy, not to increase the present 
 rate of taxation. 
 
 Third. That we will Uphold, in its full 
 constitutional integrity and efficiency, our 
 public-school system for the education of 
 both white and colored children a system 
 inaugurated by the Constitution of the 
 State and established by the action of the 
 Conservative party years before it was re 
 quired by the Constitution ; and will take 
 the most effectual means for the faithful 
 execution of the same by applying to its 
 support all the revenues set apart for that 
 object by the Constitution or otherwise. 
 
 Fourth. Upon this declaration of prin 
 ciples we cordially invite the co-operation 
 of all Conservative Democrats, whatever 
 may have been or now are their views 
 upon the public debt, in the election of the 
 nominees of this Convention and in the 
 maintenance of the supremacy of the 
 Democratic party in this State. 
 
 Resolved, further, That any intimation, 
 coming from any quarter, that the Con 
 servative-Democratic party of Virginia has 
 been, is now, or proposes to be, opposed to 
 an honest ballot and a fair count, is a 
 calumny upon the State of Virginia as un 
 founded in fact as it is dishonorable to its 
 authors. 
 
 That special efforts be made to foster and 
 encourage the agricultural, mechanical, 
 mining, manufacturing and other indus 
 trial interests of the State. 
 
 That, in common with all good citizens 
 of the Union, we reflect with deep abhor 
 rence upon the crime of the man who 
 aimed a blow at the life of the eminent 
 citizen who was called by the constitutional 
 voice of fifty millions of people to be the 
 President of the United States ; and we 
 tender to him and to his friends the sym 
 pathy and respect of this Convention and 
 of those we represent, in this great calam 
 ity, and our hearty desire for his complete 
 restoration to health and return to the dis 
 charge of his important duties, for the wel 
 fare and honor of our common country. 
 
 COMPARISON OF PLATFORM PLANKS ON GREAT 
 
 POLITICAL QUESTIONS. 
 General Party Doctrines. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1856 That the 
 liberal principles 
 embodied by Jeffer 
 son in the Declara 
 tion of Independ 
 ence, and sanctioned 
 in the Constitution, 
 which makes ours 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1856 That the 
 maintenance of the 
 principles promul 
 gated in the Decla 
 ration of Independ 
 ence and embodied 
 in the Federal Con 
 stitution, is essentia] 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 the land of liberty 
 and the asylum of 
 h e oppressed o f 
 very nation, have 
 ever been cardinal 
 principles in the 
 Democratic faith; 
 and every attempt to 
 abridge the present 
 privilege of becom 
 ing citizens and the 
 owners of soil among 
 us ought to be re 
 sisted with the same 
 spirit which swept 
 :he alien and sedi 
 tion laws from our 
 statute books. 
 
 [Plank 8. 
 
 1860 Re affirm 
 ed. 
 
 1864 
 
 1868 
 
 1872 We recog 
 nize the equality of 
 all men before the 
 law, and hold that 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 to the preservation 
 of our Republican 
 institutions, and 
 that the Federal 
 Constitution, the 
 rights of the States, 
 and the union of the 
 States shall be pre 
 served; that with our 
 Republican fathers, 
 we hold it to be a 
 self-evident truth 
 that all men are en 
 dowed with the in 
 alienable rights to 
 iife, liberty, and the 
 pursuit o f happi 
 ness, and that the 
 primary object and 
 ulterior design of 
 our Federal Govern 
 ment were to secure 
 these rights to all 
 persons within its 
 exclusive jurisdic 
 tion. [Plank 1. 
 1860 That the 
 maintenance of the 
 principles promul 
 gated in the Decla 
 ration of Independ 
 ence and embodied 
 in the Federal Con 
 stitution. "That all 
 men are created 
 equal ; that they are 
 endowed by their 
 Creator with certain 
 inalienable rights ; 
 that among these 
 are life, liberty, and 
 the pursuit of hap 
 piness; that to se 
 cure these rights 
 governments are in 
 stituted among men, 
 deriving their just 
 powers from the 
 consent of the gov 
 erned," is essential 
 to the preservation 
 of our Republican 
 institutions ; and 
 that the Federal 
 Constitution, the 
 rights of the States, 
 and the Union of 
 the States must and 
 shall be preserved. 
 [Plank 2. 
 1864 
 1868 
 
 1872 Complete 
 liberty and exact 
 equality in the en 
 joyment of all civil, 
 
70 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 it is the duty of Gov 
 ernment in its deal 
 ings with the peo 
 ple to mete out 
 equal and exact jus 
 tice to all, of what 
 ever nativity, race, 
 color, or persuasion, 
 religious or politi 
 cal. [Plank 1. 
 
 1876 
 
 1880 Opposi 
 tion to centraliza- 
 tionism, and to that 
 dangerous spirit of 
 encroachment 
 which tends to con 
 solidate the powers 
 of all the depart 
 ments in one, and 
 thus to create, what 
 ever be the form of 
 Government, a real 
 despotism. 
 
 [Plank 2. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 political and public 
 rights should be es 
 tablished and eifec- 
 tually maintained 
 throughout the Un 
 ion by efficient and 
 appropriate State 
 and Federal Legis 
 lation. Neither the 
 law nor its adminis 
 tration should ad 
 mit any discrimina 
 tion in respect of 
 citizens by reasons 
 of race, creed, color 
 or previous condi 
 tion of servitude. 
 
 f Plank 3. 
 1876 The United 
 Stales of America is 
 a Na t i o n not a 
 league. By the com 
 bined workings of 
 the National and 
 {State Governments, 
 under their respec 
 tive constitutions, 
 the rights of every 
 citizen are secured 
 at home or abroad, 
 and the common 
 welfare promoted. 
 
 1880 The consti 
 tution of the United 
 States is a supreme 
 law and not a mere 
 contract. O u t of 
 confederate States it 
 made a sovereign 
 nation. Some pow 
 ers are denied to the 
 nation, while others 
 are denied to the 
 States, but the 
 boundary between 
 the powers dele 
 gated and those re 
 served is to be de 
 termined by the Na 
 tional, and not by 
 the State tribunal. 
 [Cheers.1 
 [Plank 2. 
 
 The Rebellion. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1864 That this 
 convention does ex 
 plicitly declare, as 
 the sense of the 
 American people, 
 that after four years 
 of failure to restore 
 the Union by the ex- 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1864r-That it is 
 the highest duty of 
 every American cit- 
 i z e n to maintain 
 against all their 
 enemies the integ 
 rity of the Union 
 and the paramount 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 periment of war, 
 during which, un 
 der the pretense of 
 a military necessity 
 or war-power higher 
 than the Constitu 
 tion, the Constitu 
 tion itself has been 
 disregarded in every 
 part, and public lib 
 erty and private 
 right alike trodden 
 down, and the ma 
 terial prosperity of 
 the country essen 
 tially impaired, jus 
 tice, humanity, lib 
 erty, and the public 
 welfare demand that 
 immediate efforts be 
 made for a cessation 
 of /wstilities, with a 
 view to the ultimate 
 convention of the 
 States, or other 
 peaceable means, 
 to the end that, at 
 the earliest practi 
 cable moment peace 
 may be restored on 
 the basis of the Fed 
 eral Union of the 
 States. 
 
 [1st resolution. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 authority of the 
 Constitution and 
 laws of the United 
 States ; and that lay 
 ing aside all difter- 
 ences of political 
 opinions, we pledge 
 ourselves as Union 
 men, animated by 
 a common senti 
 ment, and aiming at 
 a common object, to 
 d o everything i n 
 our power to aid the 
 Government, in 
 quelling by force of 
 arms the rebellion 
 now raging against 
 its authority, and in 
 bringing to the pun 
 ishment due to their 
 crimes the rebels 
 and traitors arrayed 
 against it. 
 
 That we approve 
 the determination 
 of the Government 
 of the United States 
 not to compromise 
 with rebels, or to 
 offer them any terms 
 of peace, except 
 such as may be 
 based upon an un- 
 conditional sur 
 render of their hos 
 tility and a return 
 to their just allegi 
 ance to the Constitu 
 tion and laws of the 
 United States; and 
 that we cull upon 
 the Government to 
 maintain this posi 
 tion and to prose 
 cute the war with 
 the utmost possible 
 vigor to the com- 
 
 Slete suppression of 
 le rebellion, in full 
 reliance upon the 
 self-sacrificing p a- 
 triotism, the heroic 
 valor, and the un 
 dying devotion of 
 the American peo 
 ple to the country 
 and its free institu 
 tions. 
 
 [1st and 2d resolu 
 tions.] 
 
 Home Rule. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1856 That we 1856 * * * 
 recognize the right The dearest consti- 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 71 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 of the people in all 
 the Territories, in 
 cluding Kansas and 
 Nebraska, acting 
 through the legally 
 and fairly expressed 
 will of a majority of 
 actual residents, 
 and wherever the 
 number of their in 
 habitants justifies it, 
 to form a constitu 
 tion * * * and 
 be admitted into the 
 Union upon terms 
 of perfect equality 
 with the other 
 States. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 tutional rights of 
 the people of Kan 
 sas have been fraud 
 ulently and violent 
 ly taken from them ; 
 their territory has 
 been invaded by an 
 armed force; spur 
 ious and pretended 
 legislative, judicial, 
 and executive of 
 ficers have been set 
 over them, by whose 
 usurped authority, 
 sustained by the 
 military power of 
 the Government, 
 tyrannical and un 
 constitutional laws 
 have been enacted 
 and enforced ; the 
 right of the people 
 to keep and bear 
 arms has been in 
 fringed ; test-paths 
 of an extraordinary 
 and entangling na 
 ture have been im 
 posed as a condition 
 of exercising the 
 right of suffrage 
 and holding office; 
 the right of an ac 
 cused person to a 
 speedy and public 
 trial by an impartial 
 jury has been de 
 nied; the right of 
 the people to be se 
 cure in their per 
 sons, houses, papers, 
 and effects against 
 unreasonable 
 searches and seiz 
 ures, has been vio 
 lated ; they have 
 been deprived of life, 
 liberty, and prop 
 erty without due 
 process of law ; that 
 the freedom of 
 speech and of the 
 press has been 
 abridged; the right 
 to choose their rep- 
 resentatives has 
 been made of no 
 effect ; murders, rob 
 beries, and arsons 
 have been instigated 
 and encouraged, 
 and the offenders 
 have been allowed 
 to go unpunished; 
 that all these things 
 have been done 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 25 
 
 1860 That when 
 the settlers in a Ter 
 ritory, having an ad 
 equate population, 
 form a State Consti 
 tution, the right of 
 sovereignty com 
 mences, and, being 
 consummated by ad 
 mission into the Un 
 ion, they stand on 
 an equal footing with 
 the people of other 
 States; and the State 
 thus organized ought 
 to be admitted into 
 the Federal Union, 
 whether its consti 
 tution prohibits or 
 recognizees the insti- 
 tution of slavery. 
 [Plank 3, Breckin- 
 
 ridge, Dem. 
 
 1864 
 
 1868 After the 
 most solemn and 
 unanimous pledge of 
 both Houses of Con 
 gress to prosecute the 
 war exclusively for 
 the maintenance of 
 the Government and 
 the preservation of 
 the Union under the 
 Constitution, it [the 
 Republican party] 
 has repeatedly vio- 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 with the knowledge, 
 sanction, and pro 
 curement of the 
 present Adminis 
 tration, and that for 
 this high crime 
 against the Consti 
 tution, the Union, 
 and humanity, we 
 arraign the Admin 
 istration, the Presi 
 dent, his advisers, 
 agents, supporters, 
 apologists, and ac 
 cessories, either be 
 fore or after the fact, 
 before the country 
 and before the 
 world; and that it 
 is our fixed purpose 
 to bring the actual 
 perpetrators of these 
 atrocious outrages 
 and their accom 
 plices to a sure and 
 condign punish' 
 ment. [Plank 3. 
 
 1860 That the 
 maintenance invio 
 late of the rights of 
 the States, and espe 
 cially the right of 
 each State to order 
 and control its own 
 domestic institutions 
 according to its own 
 judgment exclusive 
 ly, is essential to that 
 balance of power on 
 which the perfection 
 and endurance of our 
 political fabric de 
 pends ; and we de 
 nounce the lawless 
 invasion by armed 
 force of the soil of 
 any State or Terri 
 tory, no matter un 
 der what pretext, as 
 among the gravest 
 of crimes. 
 
 [Plank 4. 
 
 1864 
 
 1868 We con 
 gratulate the coun 
 try on the assured 
 success of the recon 
 struction policy of 
 Congress, as evinced 
 by the adoption, in 
 the majority of the 
 States lately in re 
 bellion, of constitu 
 tions securing ec^ual 
 civil and political 
 rights to all ; and it 
 
72 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 lated that most sa 
 cred pledge under 
 which alone was ral 
 lied that noble vol 
 unteer army which 
 carried our flag to 
 victory. Instead of 
 restoring the Union, 
 it has, so far as in its 
 power, dissolved it, 
 and subjected ten 
 States, in time of 
 profound peace, to 
 military despotism 
 and negro suprema 
 cy. It has nullified 
 there the right of 
 trial by jury ; it has 
 abolished the habeas 
 corpus, that most sa 
 cred writ of liberty ; 
 it has overthrown the 
 freedom of speech 
 and the press ; it has 
 substituted arbitrary 
 seizures and arrests, 
 and military trials 
 and secret star-cham 
 ber inquisitions for 
 the constitutional 
 tribunals ; it has 
 disregarded in time 
 of peace the right of 
 the people to be free 
 from searches and 
 seizures ; it has en 
 tered the post and 
 telegraph offices, and 
 even the private 
 rooms of individuals, 
 and seized their pri 
 vate papers and let 
 ters witnout any spe 
 cific charge or notice 
 of affidavit, as re 
 quired by the or 
 ganic law ; it has 
 converted the Amer- 
 can Capitol into a 
 bastile ; it has estab 
 lished a system of 
 spies and official es 
 pionage to which no 
 constitutional mon 
 archy of Europe 
 would now dare to 
 resort; it has abol 
 ished the right of 
 appeal on important 
 constitutional ques 
 tions to the supreme 
 judicial tribunals, 
 and threatens to cur 
 tail or destroy its 
 original jurisdiction 
 which is irrevocably 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 is the duty of the 
 Government to sus 
 tain those institu 
 tions and prevent 
 the people of such 
 States from being 
 remitted to a state 
 of anarchy. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 vested by the Con 
 stitution, while the 
 learned Chief Jus 
 tice has been sub 
 jected to the most 
 atrocious calumnies, 
 merely because he 
 would not prostitute 
 his high office to the 
 support of the false 
 and partisan charges 
 preferred against the 
 President. * * * 
 Under its repeated 
 assaults the pillars 
 of the Government 
 are rocking on their 
 base, and should it 
 succeed in Novem 
 ber next and inaugu 
 rate its President, we 
 will meet as a sub 
 jected and conquered 
 people, amid the 
 ruins of liberty and 
 the scattered frag 
 ments of the Consti 
 tution. 
 
 1872 Local self- 
 government, with 
 impartial suffrage, 
 will guard the rights 
 of all citizens more 
 securely than any 
 centralized power. 
 The public welfare 
 requires the supre 
 macy of the civil 
 over the military au 
 thority, and freedom 
 of persons under the 
 protection of the ha 
 beas corpus. We de 
 mand for the indi 
 vidual the largest 
 liberty consistent 
 with public order; 
 for the State self- 
 government, and for 
 the nation a return 
 to the methods of 
 peace and the con 
 stitutional limita 
 tions of power. 
 
 [Plank 4. 
 
 1880 ** "Home 
 Kule." [Plank 3. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1872 We hold 
 that Congress and 
 the President have 
 only fulfilled an im 
 perative duty in 
 their measures for 
 the suppression of 
 violent and treason 
 able organizations in 
 certain lately rebel 
 lious regions, and for 
 the protection of the 
 ballot-box; and, 
 therefore, they are 
 entitled to the thanks 
 of the nation. 
 
 [Plank 12. 
 
 1880- 
 
 Internal Improvements. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1856 That the 
 Constitution does 
 not confer upon the 
 general Government 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1856 That ap 
 propriations by con 
 gress for the im 
 provement of river* 
 
 the power to com- and harbors of a na- 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 mence and carry on 
 a general system of 
 internal improve 
 ments. [Plank 2. 
 
 1860 Reaffirmed. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 tional character, re 
 quired for the ac 
 commodation and 
 security of our exist 
 ing commerce, are 
 authorized by the 
 Constitution and 
 justified by the obli 
 gation of Govern 
 ment to protect the 
 lives and property 
 of its citizens. 
 
 [Plank 7. 
 
 I860 That ap 
 propriations by Con 
 gress for river and 
 harbor improve 
 ments of a national 
 character, required 
 for the accommoda 
 tion and security of 
 an existing c o m - 
 merce, are author 
 ized by the Constitu 
 tion and justified by 
 the obligation of 
 Government to pro 
 tect the lives and 
 property of its citi 
 zens. [Plank 15. 
 
 1864 
 
 1868 
 
 1872 
 
 1876 
 
 1880 *** That 
 we deem it the duty 
 of Congress to de 
 velop and improve 
 our seacoast and 
 harbors, but insist 
 that further subsi 
 dies to private per 
 sons or corporations 
 must cease. 
 
 The National Dent and Interest, the Public 
 Credit, Repudiation, etc. 
 
 1864 
 1868 
 1872 
 1876 
 
 1880 Plank 2 of 
 1856 reaffirmed. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1864- 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1864 That the 
 National faith, 
 pledged for the re 
 demption of the 
 public debt, must be 
 kept inviolate, and 
 that for this purpose 
 we recommend eco 
 nomy and rigid re 
 sponsibility in the 
 public expenditures, 
 and a vigorous and 
 just system of taxa 
 tion ; and that it is 
 the duty of every 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1868 Payment of 
 the public debt of 
 the United States as 
 rapidly as practica 
 ble ; all moneys 
 drawn from the peo 
 ple by taxation, ex 
 cept so much as is 
 requisite for the ne 
 cessities of the Gov 
 ernment, economi 
 cally administered, 
 being honestly ap 
 plied to such pay 
 ment, and where the 
 obligations of the 
 Government do not 
 expressly state upon 
 their face, or the law 
 under which they 
 were issued does not 
 provide that they 
 shall be paid in coin, 
 they ought, in right 
 and in justice, to be 
 paid in the lawful 
 money of the United 
 States. [Plank 3. 
 
 Equal taxation of 
 every species of pro 
 perty according to 
 its real value, in 
 cluding Government 
 bonds and other 
 public securities. 
 
 [Plank 4. 
 
 1872 We de 
 mand a system of 
 Federal taxation 
 which shall not un 
 necessarily interfere 
 with the industries 
 of the people, and 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 loyal State to sustain 
 the credit and pro 
 mote the use of the 
 National currency. 
 [Plank 10. 
 
 1868 We de 
 nounce all forms of 
 repudiation as a Na 
 tional crime ; and 
 the National honor 
 requires the pay 
 ment 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. 
 
 [Plank 3. 
 
 It is due to the 
 labor of the nation 
 that taxation should 
 be equalized and re 
 duced as rapidly as 
 the national faith 
 will permit. 
 
 [Plank 4. 
 
 The national debt, 
 contracted as it has 
 been for the preser 
 vation of the Union 
 for all time to come, 
 should be extended 
 over a fair period for 
 redemption; and it 
 is the duty of Con 
 gress to reduce the 
 rate of interest 
 thereon whenever it 
 can be honestly 
 done. [Plank 5. 
 
 That the best po 
 licy to diminish our 
 burden of debt is to 
 so improve our cred 
 it 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 threat 
 ened or suspected. 
 [Plank 6. 
 
 1872 * * * A 
 uniform national 
 currency has been 
 provided, repudia 
 tion frowned down, 
 the national credit 
 sustained under the 
 
74 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 which shall provide 
 the means necessa 
 ry to pay the expen 
 ses of the Govern 
 ment, economically 
 administered, the 
 pensions, the inter 
 est on the public 
 debt, and a mode 
 rate reduction an 
 nually of the princi 
 pal thereof. * * * 
 
 The public credit 
 must be sacredly 
 maintained, and we 
 denounce repudia 
 tion in every form 
 and guise. [Plank?. 
 
 1876 Reform is 
 accessary to estab 
 lish a sound curren 
 cy, restore the pub 
 lic credit, and main 
 tain the national 
 honor. 
 
 1880 *** Hon 
 est m o n e y t h e 
 strict maintenance 
 of the public faith 
 consisting of gold 
 and silver, and pa 
 per convertible into 
 coin on demand ; 
 the strict mainte 
 nance of the public 
 faith, State and na 
 tional. [Plank 3. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 most extraordinary 
 burdens, and new 
 bonds negotiated at 
 lower rates. * * 
 [Plank 1. 
 We denounce re 
 pudiation of the 
 public debt, in any 
 form of 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. 
 
 [Plank 13. 
 
 1876 In the first 
 act of Congress 
 signed by President 
 Grant, the National 
 Government as 
 sumed to remove 
 any doubts of its 
 purpose to discharge 
 all just obligations 
 to the public credi 
 tors, and " solemnly 
 pledged its faith to 
 make provision at 
 the earliest practica 
 ble period for the 
 redemption of the 
 United States notes 
 in coin." Commer 
 cial prosperity, pub 
 lie morals, and na 
 tional credit demand 
 that this promise be 
 fulfilled by a con 
 tinuance and steady 
 progress to specie 
 payment. [Plank 4. 
 
 1880 It [the Re 
 publican party] has 
 raised the value of 
 our paper currency 
 from 38 per cent, to 
 the par of gold [ap 
 plause] ; it has re 
 stored, upon a solid 
 basis, payment in 
 coin of all national 
 obligations, and has 
 given us a currency 
 absolutely good and 
 equal in every parl 
 of our extended 
 country [applause] 
 it has lifted the 
 credit of the nation 
 from the point o 
 where 6 per cent 
 bonds sold at 86, to 
 that where 4 per 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 cent, bonds are 
 eagerly sought at a 
 premium. 
 
 [Preamble. 
 
 Resumption. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1872 A speedy 
 return to specie pay 
 ment is demanded 
 alike by the highest 
 c o n s i d e rations of 
 commercial morali 
 ty and honest gov- 
 rnment. 
 
 [Plank 8. 
 
 1876 We de 
 nounce the financial 
 imbecility and im 
 morality of that 
 party, which, during 
 eleven years of 
 peace, has made no 
 advance toward re 
 sumption, no prepa 
 ration for resump 
 tion, but instead has 
 obstructed resump 
 tion, by wasting our 
 resources and ex 
 hausting all our sur 
 plus income; and, 
 while annually pro 
 fessing to intend a 
 speedy return to 
 specie payments, 
 has annually enac 
 ted fresh hindrances 
 thereto. As such 
 hindrance we de 
 nounce the resump 
 tion clause of the act 
 of 1875, and we here 
 demand its repeal. 
 
 1880* * * Hon 
 est money, * * * 
 consisting of gold, 
 and silver, and pa 
 per convertible into 
 coin on demand. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1872* * * Our 
 excellent national 
 currency will be 
 perfected by a spee 
 dy resumption of 
 specie payment. 
 [Plank 13. 
 
 1876 In the first 
 act of Congress 
 signed by President 
 Grant, the National 
 Government as 
 sumed to remove 
 any doubts of its 
 purpose to discharge 
 all just obligations 
 to the public credi 
 tors, and solemnly 
 pledged its faith 
 to make provision 
 at the "earliest 
 practicable period 
 for the redemption 
 of the United States 
 notes in coin." Com 
 mercial prosperity, 
 public morals and 
 national credit de 
 mand that this pro 
 mise be fulfilled by 
 a continuous ana 
 steady progress to 
 specie payment. 
 
 1880 * * * It 
 [the Republican 
 party] has restored, 
 upon a solid basis, 
 payment in coin of 
 all National obli- 
 g a t i o n s , and has 
 given us a currency 
 absolutely good and 
 equal in every part 
 of our extended 
 country. 
 
 Capital and Labor. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1868 Resolved, 
 That this conven 
 tion sympathize cor- 
 d i a 1 1 y with the 
 working men of the 
 United States in 
 
 1868 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 '75 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 their efforts to pro 
 tect the rights and 
 interests of the la 
 boring classes of the 
 country. 
 1872 
 
 1880 The Demo 
 cratic party is the 
 friend of labor and 
 the laboring man, 
 and pledges itself to 
 protect him alike 
 against the cormo 
 rant and the com 
 mune. [Plank 13. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1872 Among the 
 questions which 
 press for attention is 
 that which concerns 
 the relations of capi 
 tal and labor, and 
 the Republican par 
 ty recognizes the du 
 ty of so shaping le 
 gislation as to secure 
 rail protection and 
 the amplest field for 
 capital, and for labor, 
 the creator of capital 
 the largest opportu 
 nities and a just 
 share of the mutual 
 profits of these two 
 great servants of ci 
 vilization. 
 
 [Plank 11. 
 1880 
 
 Tariff. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1856 The time 
 has come for the 
 people of the United 
 States to declare 
 themselves in favor 
 of * * * progressive 
 free trade through 
 out the world, by 
 solemn manifesta 
 tions, to place their 
 moral influence at 
 the side of their suc 
 cessful example. 
 [Resolve I. 
 
 That justice and 
 sound policy forbid 
 the Federal Govern 
 ment to foster one 
 branch of industry 
 to the detriment of 
 any other, or to 
 cherish the interests 
 of one portion to 
 the injury of another 
 portion of our com 
 mon country. 
 
 [Plank 4. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 1856 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 I860 Reafirmed. 
 
 1864r- 
 
 1868 * * * A 
 tariff for revenue 
 upon foreign im 
 ports, and such equal 
 taxation under the 
 Internal Revenue 
 laws as will afford 
 incidental protec 
 tion to domestic 
 manufactures, and 
 as will, without im 
 pairing the revenue, 
 impose the least 
 burden upon and 
 best promote and 
 encourage the great 
 industrial interests 
 of the country. 
 
 [Plank 6. 
 
 1872 **** Re 
 cognizing that there 
 are in our midst 
 honest but irrecon 
 cilable differences of 
 opinion with regard 
 to the respective 
 systems of protection 
 and free trade, we 
 remit the discussion 
 of the subject to the 
 people in their Con 
 gressional districts, 
 and to the decision 
 of the Congress 
 thereon, wholly free 
 from executive in- 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1860 That, while 
 providing revenue 
 for the support of 
 the general Govern 
 ment by duties upon 
 imports, sound poli 
 cy requires such an 
 adjustment of these 
 imposts as to encour 
 age the development 
 of the industrial in 
 terests of the whole 
 country ; and we 
 commend that poli 
 cy of national ex 
 changes which se 
 cures to the work- 
 ingmen liberal wa 
 ges, to agriculture re 
 munerative prices, 
 to mechanics and 
 manufacturers an 
 adequate reward for 
 their skill, labor, and 
 enterprise, and to 
 the nation commer 
 cial prosperity and 
 independence. 
 
 [Plank 12. 
 
 1864^- 
 
 1868 
 
 1872 * * * * 
 Revenue except 
 so much as may 
 be derived from a 
 tax upon 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 pro 
 mote the industries, 
 prosperity, and 
 
 growth of the whole 
 country. [Plank 7. 
 
76 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 terference or dicta 
 tion. [Plank 6. 
 
 1876 * * * * We 
 demand that all 
 custom-house taxa 
 tion shall be only for 
 revenue. 
 
 [Plank 11. 
 
 1880 * * * * A 
 tariff for revenue on 
 ly. [Plank 3. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1876 The reve 
 nue necessary for 
 current expendi 
 tures and the obliga 
 tions of the public 
 debt must be largely 
 derived from duties 
 upon importations, 
 which so far as pos 
 sible, should be ad 
 justed to promote 
 the interests of 
 American labor and 
 advance the prosper 
 ity of the whole 
 country. [Plank 8. 
 
 1880 Reaffirmed. 
 
 Education. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1876 The false 
 issue with which 
 they [the Republi 
 cans] would enkindle 
 sectarian strife in re 
 spect to the public 
 schools, of which 
 the establishment 
 and support belong 
 exclusively to the 
 several States, and 
 which the Democra 
 tic party has cherish 
 ed from their foun 
 dation, and is resolv 
 ed to maintain with 
 out prejudice or 
 preference for any 
 class, sect, or creed, 
 and without larges 
 ses from the Trea 
 sury to any. 
 
 1880 ** Com 
 mon Schools foster 
 ed and protected. 
 [Plank 2. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1876 The public 
 school system of the 
 several States is the 
 bulwark of the 
 American Republic, 
 and with a view to 
 its security and per 
 manence we recom 
 mend an Amend 
 ment to the Consti 
 tution of the United 
 States, forbidding 
 the application of 
 any public funds or 
 property for the ben 
 efit of any schools or 
 institutions under 
 sectarian control. 
 [Plank 4. 
 
 1880 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 ex 
 tent of its constitu 
 tional ability. The 
 intelligence of the 
 nation is but the 
 aggregate of the in 
 telligence in the 
 several States, and 
 the destiny of the 
 Nation must be 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN. 
 
 guided, not by the 
 genius of any one 
 State, but by the 
 average genius of 
 all. [Plank 3. 
 
 Duty to Union Soldiers and Sailors. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1864 That the 
 sympathy of the De 
 mocratic party is 
 heartily and earnest 
 ly extended to the 
 soldiery of our army 
 and sailors of our 
 navy, who are and 
 have been in the field 
 and on the sea under 
 the flag of our coun 
 try, and, in the event 
 of its attaining pow 
 er, they will receive 
 all the care, protec 
 tion, and regard that 
 the brave soldiers 
 and sailors of the 
 Republic so nobly 
 earned. [Plank 6. 
 
 1868 ******* 
 That our soldiers 
 and sailors, who car 
 ried the flag of our 
 country to victory, 
 against a most gal 
 lant and determined 
 foe, must ever be 
 gratefully remem 
 bered, and all' the 
 guarantees given in 
 their favor must be 
 faithfully carried 
 into execution. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 186^-That the 
 thanks of the Ameri 
 can people are due 
 to the soldiers and 
 sailors of the army 
 and navy, who have 
 periled their lives in 
 defense of the coun 
 try and in vindica 
 tion of the honor of 
 its flag; that the na 
 tion owes to them 
 some permanent re 
 cognition of their pa 
 triotism and their 
 valor, and ample and 
 permanent provi 
 sion for those of their 
 survivors who have 
 received disabling 
 and honorable 
 
 wounds in the serv 
 ice of the country ; 
 and that the memor 
 ies of those who have 
 fallen in its defence 
 shall be held in 
 grateful and ever 
 lasting remem 
 brance. [Plank 4. 
 
 1868 Of all who 
 were faithful in the 
 trials of the late war, 
 there were none en 
 titled to more espe 
 cial honor than the 
 brave soldiers and 
 seamen who endured 
 the hardships of 
 campaign and cruise 
 and imperiled their 
 lives in the service 
 of their country ; 
 the bounties and 
 pensions provided 
 by the laws for these 
 brave defenders of 
 the nation are obli 
 gations never to be 
 forgotten ; the wi 
 dows and orphans of 
 the gallant dead are 
 the wards of the peo 
 ple a sacred legacy 
 bequeathed to the 
 nation's care. 
 
 [Plank 10. 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 77 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1872* We re 
 member with grati 
 tude the heroism 
 and sacrifices of the 
 soldiers and sailors 
 of the Republic, and 
 no act of ours shall 
 ever detract from 
 their justly earned 
 fame for the full re 
 ward of their patriot 
 ism [Plank 9. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1872 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 gen 
 erous and grateful 
 people. We favor 
 such additional le 
 gislation as will ex 
 tend the bounty of 
 the Government to 
 all our soldiers and 
 sailors who were 
 honorably discharg 
 ed, and who in the 
 line of duty became 
 disabled, without re 
 gard to the length of 
 service or the cause 
 of such discharge. 
 [Plank 8. 
 
 1876 The pledges 
 which the nation 
 has given to her 
 soldiers and sailors 
 must be fulfilled, 
 and a grateful people 
 will always hold 
 those who imperiled 
 their lives for the 
 country's preserva 
 tion, in the kindest 
 remembrance. 
 
 [Plank 14. 
 1880 1880 That the 
 
 obligations of the 
 Republic to the men 
 who preserved its in 
 tegrity in the day of 
 battle are undimin- 
 ished by the lapse 
 of fifteen years since 
 their final victory. 
 To do them honor 
 is and shall forever 
 be the grateful pri 
 vilege and sacred 
 duty of the Ameri 
 can people. 
 
 Naturalization and Allegiance. 
 
 1876*** The 
 soldiers and sailors 
 of the Republic, and 
 the widows and or 
 phans of those who 
 have fallen in battle, 
 have a just claim 
 upon the care, pro 
 tection, and grati 
 tude of their fellow- 
 citizens. 
 
 [Last resolution. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1860 That the De 
 mocracy of the Uni 
 ted States recognize 
 it as the imperative 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1860 The Re 
 publican party is 
 opposed to any 
 change in our na- 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 duty of this Govern 
 ment to protect the 
 naturalized citizen 
 in all his rights, 
 whether at home or 
 in foreign lands, to 
 the same extent as 
 Its native-born ci 
 tizens. [Plank 6. 
 
 1864- 
 
 1868 Equal 
 rights and protec 
 tion for naturalized 
 and native-born citi 
 zens at home and 
 abroad, the assertion 
 of American nation 
 ality which shall 
 command the re 
 spect of foreign 
 powers, and furnish 
 an example and en 
 couragement to peo 
 ple struggling for 
 national integrity, 
 constitutional liber 
 ty, and individual 
 rights and the main 
 tenance of the rights 
 of naturalized citi 
 zens against the ab 
 solute doctrine of 
 immutable allegi 
 ance, and the claims 
 of foreign powers to 
 punish them for al 
 leged crime com 
 mitted beyond their 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 [Plank 8. 
 
 1872 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 turalization laws, or 
 any State legislation 
 by which the rights 
 of citizenship hith 
 erto accorded to im 
 migrants from for 
 eign lands shall be 
 abridged or impair 
 ed ; and in favor of 
 giving a full and ef 
 ficient protection to 
 the right of all clas 
 ses of citizens, 
 whether native or 
 naturalized, both 
 home and abroad. 
 [Plank 14. 
 
 1864 
 
 1868 The doc 
 trine of Great Bri 
 tain and other Euro 
 pean Powers, that 
 because a man is 
 once a subject he is 
 always so, must be 
 resisted at every 
 hazard by the Uni 
 ted States, as a re 
 lic of feudal times, 
 not authorized by 
 the laws of nations, 
 and at war with our 
 national honor and 
 independence. Na 
 turalized citizens are 
 entitled to protec 
 tion in all their 
 rights of citizenship 
 as though they were 
 native-born ; and no 
 citizen of the United 
 States, native or na 
 turalized, 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 im 
 prisoned, it is the 
 duty of the Govern 
 ment to interfere in 
 his behalf. 
 
 [Plank 9. 
 
 1872 The doc 
 trine of Great Bri 
 tain and other Eu 
 ropean Powers con 
 cerning allegiance 
 " once a subject 
 always a subject " 
 having at last, 
 through the efforts 
 of the Republican 
 party, been aban- 
 
78 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1876 
 
 1880 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 doned, and the Ame 
 rican idea of the in 
 dividual's right to 
 transfer allegiance 
 having been accep 
 ted by European 
 nations, it is the 
 duty of our Govern 
 ment to guard with 
 jealous care the 
 rights of adopted 
 citizens against the 
 assumption of unau 
 thorised claims by 
 their former Gov 
 ernments, and we 
 urge continued care 
 ful encouragement 
 and protection of 
 voluntary immigra 
 tion. [Plank 9. 
 
 1876 It is the im 
 perative duty of the 
 Government so to 
 modify existing trea 
 ties with European 
 governments, that 
 the same protection 
 shall be afforded to 
 the adopted Ameri 
 can citizen that is 
 given to the native- 
 born, and that all 
 necessary laws 
 should be passed to 
 protect emigrants in 
 the absence of pow 
 er in the State for 
 that purpose. 
 
 1880 ^ * * * 
 Everywhere the pro 
 tection accorded to a 
 citizen of American 
 birth must be se 
 cured to citizens by 
 American adoption. 
 [Plank 5. 
 
 The Chinese. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1876 Reform is 
 necessary to correct 
 the omissions of a 
 Republican C o n - 
 gress, and the errors 
 of our treaties and 
 our diplomacy, 
 which have stripped 
 our fellow-citizens 
 of foreign birth and 
 kindred race re- 
 crossing the Atlan 
 tic, of the shield of 
 American citizen- 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1876 It is the 
 immediate duty of 
 Congress to fully in 
 vestigate the effect 
 of the immigration 
 and importation 
 of Mongolians upon 
 the moral and ma 
 terial interests of the 
 country. 
 
 [Plank 11. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 ship, and have ex 
 posed our brethren 
 of the Pacific coast 
 to the incursions of 
 a race not sprung 
 from the same great 
 parent stock, and in 
 fact now by law de 
 nied citizenship 
 through naturaliza 
 tion as being neither 
 accustomed to the 
 traditions of a pro 
 gressive civili 
 zation nor ex 
 ercised in liberty 
 under equal laws. 
 We denounce the 
 policy which thus 
 discards the liberty- 
 loving German and 
 tolerates a revival of 
 the coolie trade in 
 Mongolian women 
 imported for im 
 moral purposes, and 
 Mongolian men held 
 to perform servile 
 labor contracts, and 
 demand such modi 
 fication of the trea 
 ty with the Chinese 
 Empire, or such le 
 gislation within con 
 stitutional limita 
 tions, as shall pre 
 vent further impor 
 tation or immigra 
 tion of the Mongo 
 lian race. 
 
 1880 Amend 
 ment of the Burlin- 
 game Treaty. No 
 more Chinese immi 
 gration, except for 
 travel, education, 
 and foreign com 
 merce, and therein 
 carefully guarded. 
 [Plank 11. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1880- Since the 
 authority to regu- 
 1 a t e immigration 
 and intercourse be 
 tween the United 
 States and foreign 
 nations rests with 
 the Congress of the 
 United States and 
 the treaty-making 
 power, the Republi 
 can party, regarding 
 the unrestricted im 
 migration of Chinese 
 as a matter of grave 
 concernment under 
 the exercise of both 
 these powers, would 
 limit and restrict 
 that immigration by 
 the enactment of 
 such just, humane, 
 and reasonable laws 
 and treaties as will 
 produce that result. 
 [Plank 6. 
 
POLITICAL PLATFORMS. 
 
 Civil Service. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 1872 The civil 
 service of the gov 
 ernment has become 
 a mere instrument 
 of partisan tyranny 
 and personal ambi 
 tion and an object of 
 selfish greed. It is 
 a scandal and re 
 proach upon free in 
 stitutions and breeds 
 a demoral iza- 
 tion dangerous to 
 the perpetuity of 
 Republican Govern 
 ment. We therefore 
 regard a thorough 
 reform of the civil 
 service as one of the 
 most pressing neces 
 sities of the hour; 
 that honesty, ca 
 pacity and fideli 
 ty constitute the 
 only valid claim to 
 public employment; 
 and the offices of the 
 Government cease 
 to be a matter of ar 
 bitrary favoritism 
 and patronage, and 
 public station be 
 come again a post 
 of honor. To this 
 end it is imperative 
 ly required that no 
 President shall be a 
 candidate for re 
 election. 
 
 1876 Reform is 
 necessary in the 
 civil service. Ex 
 perience that proves 
 efficient, economical 
 conduct of Govern 
 mental business is 
 not possible if the 
 civil service be sub 
 ject to change at 
 every election, be a 
 prize fought for at 
 the ballot-box, be a 
 brief reward of party 
 zeal, instead of posts 
 of honor assigned for 
 proved competency, 
 and held for fidelity 
 in the public m- 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 1872 Any system 
 of the civil service, 
 under which the 
 subordinate p o s i - 
 tions of the Govern 
 ment 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 es 
 sential qualifications 
 for public positions, 
 without practically 
 creating a life ten 
 ure of office. 
 
 [Plank 5. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC. 
 
 loy ; that the dis- 
 >ensing of patron 
 age should neither 
 )e a tax upon the 
 ime of all our pub 
 ic men, nor the in- 
 >trument of their 
 ambition. 
 
 1876 Under the 
 Constitution the 
 President and heads 
 of Departments are 
 to make nomina 
 tions for office ; the 
 Senate is to advise 
 and consent to ap 
 pointments, and the 
 House of Represen 
 tatives to accuse anc 
 prosecute faithless 
 officers. The bes 
 interest of the pub 
 lie service demand; 
 that these distinc 
 tions be respected 
 that Senators an< 
 Representatives 
 
 1880* * Tho 
 rough reform in the 
 civil service. 
 
 REPUBLICAN. 
 
 who may be judges 
 and accusers should 
 not dictate appoint 
 ments to office. The 
 invariable rule in 
 a p po intm ents 
 should have refer 
 ence to the honesty, 
 fidelity and capacity 
 of the appointees, 
 giving to the party 
 in power those 
 places where harmo 
 ny and vigor of ad 
 ministration require 
 its policy to be re 
 presented, but per 
 mitting all others to 
 be filled by persons 
 selected with sole 
 reference to the effi 
 ciency of the public 
 service, and the 
 right of all citizens 
 to share in the honor 
 of rendering faith 
 ful service to the 
 country. 
 
 [Plank 5. 
 
 1880 The Re 
 publican party, ad 
 hering to the prin 
 ciples affirmed by 
 its last National 
 Convention of re 
 spect for the Consti 
 tutional rules gov 
 erning appoint- 
 ments to o fli c e , 
 adopts the declara 
 tion of President 
 Hayes, that the re 
 form of the civil ser 
 vice should be tho 
 rough, radical and 
 complete. To this 
 end it demands the 
 co-operation of the 
 legislative with the 
 executive depart- 
 ments of the Gov 
 ernment, and that 
 Congress shall so 
 legislate that fitness, 
 ascertained by pro 
 per practical tests, 
 shall admit to the 
 public service. 
 
80 
 
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 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 Dr~lOkQCOCOrHi-lrH^4 
 
 83 
 
 rH rH rH rH CM rH 
 
 TO 
 
 ;co 
 
 8IAV 
 
 S-BX8J, 
 
 ijnossij\[ 
 
 55 : 
 
 emsiptq 
 
 3 
 
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 CO 
 
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 fli *T2 ? -i ! C8 * ^^ ^* DQ p rf 
 
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 3*3*3* 
 
 ss 
 
 S 
 
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 r>PH 
 
 P 
 
 OBfc 
 
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 !rS5 
 
84 
 
 TABULATED HISTORY APPORTIONMENT. 
 
 rH^rH<^OOCOrHI^rH 
 r-i <M rH rH rH 
 
 i^<^OOCO^Ir-^ 
 rH <M r-. rH rH 
 
 ^Hi-HOO(>lt^Ot--i(^O 
 01 <N rH ft rH 
 
 838 
 
 338 
 
 CO O CO rH T*< rH 
 
 OZ2 
 
 618 
 
 818 
 
 rHTf<rH<MOOCOOCOrH 
 
 918 
 
 rH <M T-H rH i-l 
 
 918 
 
 i-l^rH(NOOCOO<>rH 
 rl <M rH ,-H ^H 
 
 C<lO5O 
 CO <M 
 
 818 
 
 OT8 
 
 608 
 
 808 
 
 Z08 
 
 908 
 
 rHO5OrHCO<MCOOO 
 CO (M <M rH rH 
 
 908 
 
 808 
 
 308 
 
 108 
 
 008 
 
 663 
 
 863 
 
 Z63 
 
 963 
 
 863 
 
 QOOirHlOWCOOSOlMOS^OD 
 
 I 
 
 'a ' 
 
 * e8 
 
 d -73 2 
 
 f 25^boS^3feflrt'3'3|Hw r Bgggg F o*^ 
 
 l2lli5lfll3aalalSiliSz 
 
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 08 S .0 
 
 Q cS %-i 
 
 111 
 
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TABULATED HISTORY AMERICAN TARIFFS' 
 
 85 
 
86 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS. 
 
 State Laws with reference to limitations of actions, show 
 ing the limit of time on which action may be brought. 
 
 COMMODITIES. RATE OF DOTT. 
 
 Do. printed or colored, value 25 f5%c. per sq.) 
 cents or less per square yard ( yd. 4 20 p. c. j 
 Do. Hosiery 35 per cent. 
 
 STATES AND 
 TEBBITORIES. 
 
 f* 1 
 
 
 
 111 
 
 "3 p. 
 
 i! 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 8 
 
 M 
 
 o 
 a 
 -> 
 
 03 
 
 lhp 
 
 g 
 
 ||| 
 
 02 ^ C 
 
 Do. Lac^s, cords, braids, gimps, 
 galloons and cotton laces, colorea 
 and insertings 35 per cent 
 
 Do. Thread-yarn, warps, or warp- 
 yarn not wound on spools, valued 
 at over 60 and not exceeding 80 /30 c. per Ib. ) 
 cents per pound (and 20 p c f 
 
 Cotton, valued at over 80 cents per j 40 c. per Ib. ) 
 pound 1 and 20 p c j 
 
 Alabama 
 
 Yrs 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 3 
 2 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 2 
 
 tj 
 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 1,2 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 I 
 2 
 5 
 2 
 5 
 2 
 1 
 
 Yrs. 
 3 
 3 
 2 
 2 
 6 
 6 
 3 
 3 
 5 
 4 
 2 
 5 
 6 
 5 
 3 
 5 
 3 
 6 
 3 
 6 
 6 
 6 
 3 
 4 
 2 
 6 
 6 
 
 6 
 3 
 6 
 3 
 6 
 5 
 1 
 6 
 5 
 6 
 6 
 6 
 2 
 2 
 6 
 5 
 3 
 5 
 6 
 6 
 
 Yrs. 
 6 
 5 
 4 
 2 
 6 
 6 
 6 
 3 
 3 
 6 
 4 
 10 
 20 
 10 
 5 
 5 
 5 
 20 
 3' 
 20 
 6 
 6 
 6 
 5 
 4 
 20 
 20 
 
 6 
 10 
 15 
 10 
 15 
 5 
 6 
 6 
 5 
 6 
 6 
 6 
 4 
 4 
 14 
 5 
 6 
 6 
 6 
 15 
 
 Yrs. 
 20 
 10 
 5 
 3 
 6 
 20 
 20 
 12 
 20 
 7 
 5 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 5 
 15 
 10 
 20 
 12 
 20 
 10 
 10 
 7 
 5 
 6 
 20 
 20 
 10 
 20 
 10 
 15 
 10 
 15 
 30 
 10 
 20 
 30 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 10 
 5 
 8 
 10 
 9 
 10 
 20 
 10 
 
 Yrs. 
 10 
 10 
 5 
 3 
 17 
 20 
 20 
 12 
 20 
 20 
 5 
 10 
 20 
 10 
 15 
 15 
 20 
 20 
 12 
 20 
 10 
 20 
 7 
 10 
 4 
 10 
 20 
 10 
 20 
 10 
 15 
 10 
 15 
 30 
 20 
 20 
 30 
 20 
 20 
 
 10 
 7 
 8 
 20 
 20 
 10 
 20 
 21 
 
 Do. Velvet, velveteens, velvet bind 
 ings, ribbons, and vestings 35 per cent. 
 Currants, Zante, or other 1 c. per Ib. 
 Diamonds (cut), cameos, mosaics, 
 gems, pearls, rubies, and other 
 precious stones not set 10 per cent. 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 California 
 
 Colorado 
 Connecticut 
 Dakota 
 
 Delaware .... 
 
 Dolls 35 per cent 
 
 Dist. of Columbia... 
 Florida .. . 
 
 Embroideries, of cotton or wool.... 35 per cent! 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Feathers, ostrich, cock, and other 
 ornamental 25 per cent 
 
 Idaho 
 
 Illinois. 
 
 Feathers and flowers, artificial and 
 ornamental, not otherwise pro 
 vided for 50 per cent 
 
 Indiana 
 Iowa 
 
 Kansas 
 
 Figs . . . 2l/ c per Ib 
 
 Kentucky 
 Louisiana. 
 Maine 
 
 Fire-crackers, in boxes of 40 packs, 
 not exceeding 80 to the pack $1 per box. 
 Flax linens, valued at 30 cents or 
 less per square yard 35 per cent 
 
 Maryland 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 Do. valued at above 30 cents per 
 square yard 40 per cent 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 Do. Burlaps, and like manufac 
 tures of flax, jute, or hemp, of 
 which either shall be the com 
 ponent of chief value (except 
 
 Mississippi 
 Missouri 
 Montana 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 Nevada 
 
 New Hampshire 
 New Jersey 
 
 Do. Duck, canvas, paddings, cotton 
 bottoms, diapers, crash, hucka 
 backs, handkerchiefs (not hem 
 med), lawns, or other manufac 
 tures of flax, jute, or hemp, 
 valued at 30 cents or less per 
 square yard 35 per cent 
 
 New Mexico 
 New York 
 
 North Carolina 
 Ohio 
 
 Ontario (U. Canada) 
 Oregon 
 
 Do. valued at above 30 cents per 
 sqnare yard 40 per cent 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 Quebec (L. Canada) 
 Rhode Island 
 South Carolina. 
 Tennessee . 
 
 Do. Thread, twine and pack-thread 40 per cent. 
 Do. all other manufacture* of flax 
 not otherwise provided for 40 per cent. 
 Fruits and nuts : 
 Almonds, not shelled 6 c. per Ib. 
 " shelled 10 c. per Ib. 
 
 Texas 
 
 Virginia. 
 
 Filberts and walnuts 3 c. per Ib. 
 Prunes 1 c. per Ib. 
 
 Washington Tertry 
 West Virginia 
 
 Raisins 2> c. per Ib. 
 Furs, and manufactures of 26 per cent 
 
 Glass-ware : 
 Porcelain, Bohemian, cut, en 
 graved, painted, colored, printed, 
 stained, silvered, or gilded, not 
 including plate-glass silvered, or 
 
 Wisconsin 
 Wyoming 
 
 Tne Uecent Am< 
 vised Statu 
 
 COMMODIT 
 
 Ale, porter, and beer 
 
 Aniline dyes or colo 
 
 Animals, living 
 horses, sheep, etc 
 Barley . 
 
 jricaii Tariffs, i 
 tes, Sec. 9491, el 
 
 IBS. RA 
 
 in bottles.... 35 
 in casks 25 
 f50 
 
 under Re- 
 . geq. 
 
 PE OF DUTY. 
 
 e. per gall, 
 o. per gall, 
 c. per Ib. ) 
 id 35 p. c. / 
 
 per cent. 
 . per bush, 
 per cent, 
 per cent, 
 per cent, 
 per cent. 
 c. per Ib. 
 
 per cent, 
 per cent. 
 
 per cent. 
 3. per ton. 
 
 per doz. 
 per cent. 
 
 oar so. vd. 
 
 Plate-glass, cast, polished, not 
 silvered, above 24 by 30, and not 
 above 24 by 60 25 c per sq ft 
 
 Above 24 by 60 50 c per sq. ft 
 
 rs lar 
 cattle, hogs, 
 on 
 
 Window-glass, cylinder, crown, 
 or common, unpolished, above 10 
 by 15 and not above 16 by 24 2 c. per Ib. 
 Above 16 by 24 and not above 24 
 by 30 2\4 c per Ib 
 
 
 . 15 C 
 25 
 30 
 
 Books and other printed matter.. 
 Braids of straw 
 
 Above 24 by 30 3 c per Ib. 
 
 Brushes 
 
 40 
 30 
 4 
 
 45 
 
 Manufactures of, not otherwise 
 
 Buttons 
 
 Cheese 
 
 Hats, bonnets, and hoods, straw.... 40 per cent. 
 
 Hemp, jute, and other fibre : 
 Bflgs, cotton-bags, and bagging 
 (except bagging for cotton) 40 per cent. 
 
 China, porcelain and parian ware 
 plain, white, and not decoratec 
 in any manner , 
 
 Do. gilded, ornamei 
 rated in any mann< 
 Do. other earthen, st 
 ery ware, white, g 
 printed, or dippe 
 colored 
 
 ited or deco 
 jr 
 
 50 
 
 , 
 1 
 40 
 . 75 < 
 
 * 12 
 35 
 i 
 
 . 5VCc. 
 
 Jute butts ~ $6 per ton 
 
 3ne, or crock 
 lazed, edged 
 i, or crean 
 
 Manila, India, and other like sub 
 stitutes for hemp 825 per ton. 
 
 ndia Rubber, manufactures of : 
 
 Coal, bitumen, and shale 
 Corsets and corset-cloth, valued a 
 $6 per dozen, or less 
 Do. valued over $6 per dozen 
 Cotton, manufactures of plair 
 bleached, value 20 cents or less 
 Mr sauare vard 
 
 Braces, webbing, etc 35 per cent, 
 ron and steel, manufactures of: 
 In slabs, blooms, loops, etc 35 per cent. 
 Pie-iron $7 P fi r ton. 
 
 
 Manufactures of iron, not other 
 wise orovided for .... 35 per cent 
 
TABULATED HISTORY AMERICAN TARIFFS. 
 
 87 
 
 {50 c. per cu.) 
 ft. & 20 p. c. \- 
 per cu. ft. J 
 
 COMMODITIES. KATE OF DUTY. 
 
 Iron and steel, manufactures oft- 
 Steel, and manufactures of pen 
 knives, jack-knives and pocket- 
 knives 60 per cent 
 
 All other cutlery.including sword 
 
 blades 35 per cent. 
 
 In ingots, bars, coils, sheets, and 
 
 steel-wire, not less than % inch 
 
 diameter, valued at 7 cents per 
 
 pound or less 2*4 c. per Ib. 
 
 Valued at above 7 cents and not 
 
 over 11 cents per pound 3 c. per Ib. 
 
 Muskets, rifles, and other fire 
 arms 35 per cent. 
 
 Railway bar, or rails, wholly of 
 
 steel 1% c. per Ib. 
 
 Man ufaclures of steel, not other 
 wise provided for 45 per cent. 
 
 Jewelry of gold, silver, or other 
 
 metal, or imitations of. 25 per cent. 
 
 Lfad, and manufactures of: 
 
 Pigs and bars, and molten 2 c. per Ib. 
 
 Leather, and manufactures of: 
 
 Calf-skins, tanned, or tanned and 
 
 dressed 25 per cent. 
 
 Glove?, of kid or leather, of all 
 
 descriptions 60 percent. 
 
 Upper leather of all kinds, and 
 
 skins, dressed an4 finished, of all 
 
 kinds, not otherwise provided for 20 per cent. 
 
 Manufactures of ? and articles of 
 
 leather, or of which leather shall 
 
 be a component part, not other 
 wise provided for 35 per cent. 
 
 Lemons and oranges 20 per cent. 
 
 Marble, and manufactures of: 
 
 Veined and all other, in block, 
 
 roughed or squared, not other 
 wise specified 
 
 Mats of cocoa-nut, china, and all 
 
 other floor-matting, of flags, jute, 
 
 or grass 30 per cent. 
 
 Metal, manufactures of, not other 
 wise provided for ... 35 per cent. 
 
 Musical instruments 30 per cent. 
 
 Oils, olive, salad, in bottles or flasks $1 per gall. 
 
 Opium $1 per Ib. 
 
 Opium prepared for smoking $6 per Ib. 
 
 Paintings and statuary, not by 
 
 American artists 10 per cent. 
 
 Papier-mache, manufactures, arti- 
 
 cle.a, and wares of. 35 per cent. 
 
 Pickles, sauces, and capers 35 per cent. 
 
 Rice, cleaned 2^ c. per Ib. 
 
 Salt, in bags, sacks, barrels, or 
 
 other packages 12 c. per 100 Ibs. 
 
 Salt, in bulk 8 c. per 100 Ibs. 
 
 Sardines and anchovies, packed in 
 
 oil or otherwise 4 c. per box. 
 
 Seeds, flaxs. or lius. (56 Ibs. to bush.) 20 c. per bush. 
 Silk : 
 
 Braids, laces, fringes, galloons, 
 
 buttons, and ornaments, dress 
 
 and piece goods 60 per cent. 
 
 Velvets 60 per cent. 
 
 Ribbons 60 per cent. 
 
 Ribbons (edge of cotton) 50 per cent. 
 
 Silk manufactures not otherwise 
 
 provided for, made of silk, or of 
 
 which silk is the component or 
 
 chief value 60 per cent 
 
 Manufactures of, which have as 
 
 a component thereof 25 per cent., 
 
 or over, in value of cotton, flax, 
 
 wool, or worsted 60 per cent. 
 
 Soda caustic 1V4 c. per Ib. 
 
 Soda ash % c. per Ib. 
 
 Spices: 
 
 Cassia, and Cassia Vera 10 c. per Ib. 
 
 Nutmegs 20 c. per Ib. 
 
 Pepper, black and white grain ... 5 c. per Ib. 
 Spirits and wines : 
 
 Brandy, proof $2 per gall. 
 
 Cordials, liqueurs, arrack, ab 
 ch 
 
 $2 per gall. 
 
 sinthe, kirschwasser, ratafia 
 
 Spirits, other, manufactured or 
 
 distilled from grain 82 per gall. 
 
 Spirits, other (except brandy), 
 manufactured or distilled from 
 
 other materials 82 per gall. 
 
 Cologne-wat^r and other pe--- ( $:J per gall. "| 
 fumery, of which alcohol forms < and 50 per c. > 
 the principal ingredient C P er 8 all> ) 
 
 26 
 
 RATS OF DUTY. 
 
 5 c. plus 25 
 
 per cent. 
 
 per Ib. 
 
 1H c. plus 
 
 25 c. per Ib. 
 
 1% c. plus 
 25 p. c. p. Ib. 
 2 c. plus 25 
 p. c. per Ib. 
 
 2 c per Ib. 
 
 COMMODITIES. 
 
 Sugar and molasses : 
 
 Molasses 
 
 Molasses concentrated, tank-bot 
 toms, .sirup of sugar-cane, and 
 
 roelado 
 
 Sugar: 
 
 All not above No. 7 Dutch standard 
 
 Above No. 7 and not above No. 
 
 10 
 
 Above No. 7 and not above No. 10 
 
 Above No. 13 and not above No. /2%c. plus 25) 
 
 16 i p. c. per Ib. j 
 
 Tartar, cream of 10 c. per Ib. 
 
 Tartar, argols, other than crude 6 c. per Ib. 
 
 Tin, plates or sheets 1 1-10 c. per Ib. 
 
 Tobacco, and manufactures of: 
 
 Leaf, unmanufactured and not 
 
 stemmed 35 c. per Ib. 
 
 (82.50 per Ib.) 
 
 Cigars, cigarettes, and cheroots.. < and 25 p. c. > 
 I per Ib. J 
 
 Toyg, wooden and other 50 per cent. 
 
 Watches, of gold or silver 25 per cent. 
 
 Wines. Champagne, and all other 
 
 sparkling, in bottles, containing 
 
 not more than 1 pint each and 
 
 more than % pint 
 
 Wines, Champagne, and all other 
 
 sparkling, in bottles, containing 
 
 not more than 1 quart and more 
 
 than 1 pint dozens 
 
 " Still wines, in casks galls. 
 
 " in bottles, containing each not 
 
 more than 1 quart and not more 
 
 than 1 pint doz. bots. $1.60 per doz. 
 
 Wood : Boards, planks, deals, and 
 
 $3 per dozen. 
 
 86 per doz. 
 40 c. per gall. 
 
 P 
 Wo 
 
 other lumber..'. M. ft. 82 per M. ft 
 
 Manufactures of, not otherwise 
 
 rovided for 35 per cent 
 
 bols, hair of the alpaca, goat, 
 etc. : Raw and manufactured, 
 Class No. 1, clothing wool, value 
 
 Class JNo. 1, clothing wool, value 
 32 cents or less per Ib lbs. 
 
 10 c. per Ib. 
 & 11 p. c. 
 
 10 c. p. " 
 
 11 p. c., 
 
 10 per c. 
 
 12 c. per Ib. > 
 &10p.c. v 
 
 ** f ^ 9 
 
 ;. p. Ib. &) 
 >. c., less } 
 3 per c. ) 
 
 Value 32 cents or less per 
 pound lbs. 
 
 Value over 32 counts per 
 
 Sund IDS. 
 ass No. 2, value over 32 cents f 12 c. per Ib. 
 
 per pound lbs. \ & 10 p. c. / 
 
 Class No. 3, carpet and other 
 
 similar wools, valued at 12 cents 
 
 or less per Ib lbs. 
 
 Value over 12 cents per 
 
 pound lbs. 
 
 Carpets and carpetings of all 
 
 kinds, Aubusson and Axminster, 
 
 and carpets woven whole for 
 
 rooms sq. yds. 
 
 Brussels carpet wrought by Jac- 
 
 quard machine sq. yd. 
 
 Brussels tapestry, printed on 
 
 the warp or otherwise sq. yds. 
 
 Patent velvet and tapestry vel 
 vet, printed on the warp or 
 
 otherwise sq. yds. 
 
 Dress goods, women *nd chil 
 dren's, and real or imitation 
 
 Italian cloths, valued at not ex 
 ceeding 20 cents per sq. 
 
 yd sq. yds. 
 
 Valued at above 20 cents per 
 
 square yd sq. yds. 
 
 " Dress goods, women and chil 
 dren's, and real or imitation 
 
 Italian cloths, weighing 4 ounces 
 
 and over per square yard lbs. 
 
 14 Hosiery, valued at above 80 f 50 c. per Ib. ) 
 
 cents per pound lbs. 1 & 35 p. c. / 
 
 Manufactures not otherwise 
 
 specified, valued at above 80 
 
 cents per pound lbs. 
 
 Wool cloths lbs. 
 
 * a 
 
 Cloths lbs. 
 
 Clothing articles of wear lbs. -j 
 
 ,, / 50 c. per Ib. 
 Clothing ready-made ~ lbs. | & 40 p. c. 
 
 3 c. per Ib. 
 6 c. per Ib. ^ 
 
 50 per cent. 
 
 44 c. per sq. 
 yd. &35p. c. 
 28 c. per sq. 
 yd.&35p.c. 
 
 40 o. per aq. 
 yd. & 35 p. c. 
 
 6 c. per sq. 
 yd. & 35 p. c. 
 
 f 8 c. per sq. ) 
 yd.&40p.c.j 
 
 50 c. per Ib. I 
 & 35 p. c. 
 
88 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 COMMODITIES. 
 
 Wool, manufactures wholly or in 
 part of, not otherwise provided 
 for Ibs. 
 
 " Shawls, woolen Ibs. 
 
 " Worsted, etc., not otherwise pro 
 vided for Ibs. 
 
 BATE OF DUTY. 
 
 i 50 c. per Ib.' 
 & 35 p. c. 
 
 "60 c. per Ib. 
 
 & 35 p. c. 
 '50c. per Ib.' 
 
 & 40 p. c. 
 
 COMMODITIES. RATE OF DUTY. 
 
 " Webbings leltings, bindings, ( ,. ) 
 
 braids, galloons, fringes, cord- < V : V 
 
 buttons, etc Ibs! ( & 50 p. c f 
 
 " Yarns, valued at above 80 cents /50 c. per lb.1 
 
 per pound Ibs. \ & 50 p. c. j 
 
 Zinc, in sheets 2% c. per Ib. 
 
 THE CUSTOMS TARIFF OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 No protective duties are now levied on goods imported, Customs duties being charged solely for the sake 
 of revenue. Formerly the articles subject to duty numbered nearly a thousand ; now they are only twen 
 ty-two, the chief being tobacco, spirits, tea, and wine. The following is a complete list: 
 
 ARTICLES. Duty. 
 s. d. 
 Ale or beer, spec, gravity not exceeding 
 
 1065, per bhl 080 
 
 Ale or beer, spec, gravity not exceeding 
 
 1090, per bbl 11 
 
 Ale or beer, spec, gravity exceeding 1090, 
 
 per bbl.... .:. .7. ! 016 
 
 Beer, Mum, per bbl 110 
 
 Beer, spruce, spec, gravity not exceeding 
 
 1190, per bbl 110 
 
 Beer, spruce, exceeding 1190, per barrel.. 140 
 
 Cards, playing, per doz. packs 039 
 
 Chickory (raw or kiln-dried), cwt- 13 3 
 
 Chicory (roasted or ground), Ib 002 
 
 Chloral hydrate, pound 013 
 
 Chloroform, pound 030 
 
 Cocoa, pound. 001 
 
 Cocoa, cwt., husks and shells 020 
 
 Cocoa paste and chocolate, pound 002 
 
 Coffee, raw, cwt 14 
 
 Coffee, kiln-dried, roasted or ground, per 
 
 pound 002 
 
 Collodion, gallon 014 
 
 Essence of spruce, 10 per cent, ad valorem 
 
 Ethyl, iodide of, gallon 13 
 
 Ether, gallon 016 
 
 Fruit, dried, cwt 070 
 
 AETICLKS. 
 
 gallon 
 
 r, gallon 
 
 Plate, gold, ounce 
 
 Plate, silver, ounce 
 
 Spirits, brandy, Geneva, rum, etc., gallon. 
 
 Spirits, rum, from British Colonies, gallon 
 
 Spirits, cologne water, gallon 
 
 Tea, pound 
 
 Tobacco, unmanufactured, Ib 
 
 Tobacco, containing less than ten per ct. 
 of moisture, Ib 
 
 Cavendish or Negro hoad 
 
 Other manufactured tobacco 
 
 Snuff, containing more than 13 per cent, 
 of moisture, Ib 
 
 Snuff, less than 13 per cent, of moisture, Ib. 
 
 Tobacco, cigars, pound 
 
 Varnish, containing alcohol, gallon 
 
 Vinegar, gallon 
 
 Wine, containing less than 26 proof spi 
 rit, gallon 
 
 Wine, containing more than 26 and less 
 than 42 spirit, gallon 
 
 Wine, for each additional degree of 
 strength beyond 42, gallon 
 
 Duty. 
 s. s. 
 1 4 9 
 10 5 
 001 
 17 
 016 
 10 5 
 10 2 
 16 6 
 006 
 31 
 
 036 
 046 
 040 
 
 039 
 046 
 060 
 12 
 003 
 
 010 
 026 
 003 
 
 PRESIDENTS AND VICE-PRESIDENTS. 
 
 Term 
 
 PRESIDENTS. 
 Name. 
 
 Qualified. 
 
 Ulysses 8. Grant March 4,1869 
 
 22 " " March 4, 1873 
 
 28 Rutherford B. Hayes March 5, 1877 
 
 24 James A. Garfield March 4, 1881 
 
 24a Chester A. Arthur Oct. 20,1881 
 
 VICE-PRESIDEETS. 
 Name. Qualified. 
 
 *1 George Washington April 30,1789 
 
 2 " " March 4,1793 
 
 3 John Adams March 4,1797 
 
 4 Thomas Jefferson March 4, 1801 
 
 5 " " March 4,1805 
 
 6 James Madison March 4,1809 
 
 7 " March 4,1813 
 
 8 James Monroe March 4, 1817 
 
 9 " " March 5,1821 
 
 10 John Q. Adams March 4,1825 
 
 11 Andrew Jackson March 4,1829 
 
 12 " " March 4,1833 
 
 13 Martin Van Buren March 4,1837 
 
 14 Wm. H. Harrison March 4,1841 
 
 14a John Tyler April 6,1841 
 
 15 James K. Polk March 4,1845 
 
 16 Zachary Taylor March 6, 1849 
 
 16a Millard Fillmore July 10, 1850 
 
 17 Franklin Pierce March 4, 1853 
 
 18 James Buchanan March 4,1857 
 
 19 Abraham Lincoln March 4,1861 
 
 20 " March 4, 1865 
 
 BOa Andrew Johnson April 15,1865 
 
 21 
 
 John Adams. 
 
 George 
 
 June 3, 1789 
 
 " " Dec. 2,1793 
 
 Thomas Jefferson March 4, 1797 
 
 Aaron Burr March 4, 1801 
 
 Clinton March 4, 18^5 
 
 March 4,1809 
 
 Elbridge Gerry March 4, 1813 
 
 John Gaillard Nov. 25,1814 
 
 Daniel D. Tompkins March 4,1817 
 
 " March 5,1821 
 
 John C. Calhoun March 4, 1825 
 
 " March 4, 1829 
 
 Martin Van Buren March 4, 1SS3 
 
 Richard M. Johnson March 4,1837 
 
 John Tyler March 4. 1MI 
 
 fSamuel L. Southard April 6,1841 
 
 j-Willie P. Mangum May 31. 1842 
 
 George M. Dallas March 4,1845 
 
 Millard Fillmore March 5,1849 
 
 tWilliam R. King July 11, 1850 
 
 William R. King Maroh 4, 1853 
 
 fDavid R. Atrhison April 18,1853 
 
 tJes*e D Bright Dec. 5,1*54 
 
 John C. Breckinridge March 4,1857 
 
 Hannibal Hamlin March 4, 18(11 
 
 Andrew Johnson March 4, 1865 
 
 {Lafayette S. Foster April 15, 18G5 
 
 fBenjamin F. Wade March 2, 1867 
 
 Schuyler Colfax March 4, 18C9 
 
 Henry Wilson March 4, 1873 
 
 fThomas W. Ferrv Nov. 22. 1875 
 
 William A. Wheeler March 5,1877 
 
 Chester A. Arthur March 4' 1881 
 
 fThomas F. Bayard Oct. 12,1881 
 
 fDavid Davis Oct. 13, 1881 
 
 *The figures in this column mark the terms held by the Presidents. 
 \ Acting Vice-President and President pro tern, of the Senate, 
 
TABULATED HISTORY POPULAR VOTE. 
 
 89 
 
 SUMMARY OP POPULAR AND ELECTORAL VOTES IN PRESIDENTIAL 
 ELECTIONS, 1789-1880. 
 
 o 
 
 KH 
 
 Number of 
 
 States. 
 
 Total 
 Elect. Vote. 
 
 Party. 
 
 Candidates. 
 
 1 
 
 03 
 
 Popular Vote. 
 
 Elect. Vole. 
 
 1769 
 
 [ 1792 
 1796 
 
 isoa 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 73 
 
 135 
 138 
 
 138 
 
 
 George Washington 
 
 
 
 CS 
 ?4 
 9 
 
 6 
 6 
 4 
 3 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 4 
 
 132 
 77 
 50 
 4 
 1 
 3 
 
 71 
 68 
 59 
 30 
 15 
 11 
 7 
 5 
 3 
 2 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 
 73 
 73 
 65 
 64 
 1 
 
 
 John Adams 
 
 
 
 
 John Jay 
 
 
 
 
 R R. Harrison 
 
 
 
 
 John Rutledge 
 
 
 
 
 John Hancock 
 
 
 
 
 George Clinton 
 
 
 
 
 Samuel Huutington . 
 
 
 
 
 John Milton 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 James Armstrong 
 
 
 
 
 Edward Telfair 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Federalist 
 
 George Washington 
 
 
 
 Federalist 
 
 
 
 
 
 George Clinton 
 
 
 
 
 Thomas Jefferson 
 
 
 
 Republican 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Federalist 
 
 John Adams 
 
 
 
 Republican..... 
 
 Thomas Jefferson 
 Thomas Pinckney 
 
 
 
 Federalist .. . . 
 
 
 
 Republican 
 
 Aaron Burr 
 
 
 
 
 Samuel Adams 
 
 
 
 
 Oliver Ellsworth 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 John Jay 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 John Henry 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Charles C Pinckney . ... 
 
 
 
 Republican 
 
 
 
 
 Republican 
 
 Aaron Burr 
 
 
 
 Federalist 
 
 
 
 
 Federalist 
 
 
 
 
 Federalist 
 
 John Jay 
 
 
 
 8' 
 
 >** 
 
 V-i 
 
 o 
 / 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 '< 
 
 s 
 
 _ 
 
 *> 
 
 5 -a 
 
 ^i 
 S 
 
 Party. 
 
 For President. 
 
 n 
 2 
 2 
 03 
 
 15 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 Popular 
 Vote. 
 
 Elect. Vote. 
 
 For Vice-President."? 
 
 Elect. Vote. 
 
 1804 
 1808 
 
 1812 
 1816 
 
 1820 
 1824 
 
 21 
 17 
 
 18 
 19 
 
 24 
 24 
 
 170 
 176 
 
 218 
 221 
 
 235 
 261 
 
 Republican 
 
 Thomas Jefferson 
 Chas. C. Pinckney 
 
 James Madison 
 
 ;:z"'.y.r. 
 
 162 
 14 
 
 122 
 6 
 47 
 
 George Clinton 
 Rufus King 
 
 George Clinton 
 James Madison 
 
 162 
 14 
 
 113 
 3 
 
 4T 
 9 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 131 
 86 
 
 1 
 
 183 
 22 
 5 
 4 
 3 
 4 
 
 218 
 8 
 4 
 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 
 182 
 30 
 24 
 13 
 9 
 2 
 1 
 
 Federalist 
 
 
 Republican 
 
 George Clinton 
 
 
 
 Federalist 
 
 Chas. C Pinckney 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 Rufus King 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Tames Monroe 
 
 
 Vacancy 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 James Madison 
 De Witt Clinton 
 
 11 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 128 
 89 
 1 
 
 Elbridge Gerry 
 Jared Ingersoll 
 
 Federalist 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Republican 
 
 James Monroe 
 
 16 
 q 
 
 
 183 
 34 
 
 D. D. Tornpkins 
 John E. Howard 
 James Ross 
 
 
 
 
 l 
 
 
 
 John Marshall. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Robt G. Harper 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 Republican . . 
 
 James Monroe 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 231 
 1 
 
 D. D. Tompkins... .... 
 Rich. Stockton 
 Daniel Rodney 
 Robt. G. Harper.. 
 Richard Rush 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *ji *. 
 
 
 
 T 
 
 
 Republican.. 
 
 Andrew Jackson 
 J^hn Q Adam" 
 
 10 
 8 
 3 
 3 
 
 155,872 
 105,321 
 144,282 
 46,587 
 
 99 
 84 
 41 
 27 
 
 ::::: 
 
 John C. Calhoun 
 Nathan Sanford 
 Nathaniel Macon 
 Andrew Jackson .. 
 Vf. Van Buren 
 Henry Clay ~. 
 
 Repuhlic in. 
 
 Republican 
 
 Wm. H Crawford 
 Henry Clay 
 
 RfipubMcan 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Vacancy 
 
 
 
90 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 SUMMARY OP POPULAR AND ELECTORAL VOTES. [Continue 
 
 u 
 
 1 
 
 1828 
 1832 
 
 1836 
 1840 
 
 1844 
 1848 
 1852 
 1856 
 1860 
 
 1864 
 1868 
 1872 
 
 1876 
 1880 
 
 Number of ; 
 States. 
 
 0) 
 
 __ ( "o 
 
 B -i 
 
 S 
 
 Party. 
 
 For President. 
 
 States.. 
 
 Popular 
 Vote. 
 
 "o 
 
 For Vice- President. 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 24 
 24 
 
 26 
 26 
 
 26 
 30 
 31 
 31 
 33 
 
 36 
 37 
 37 
 
 38 
 38 
 
 261 
 
 288 
 
 294 
 294 
 
 275 
 290 
 296 
 296 
 303 
 
 314 
 317 
 366 
 
 369 
 369 
 
 Democratic 
 Nat. Republican 
 
 Andrew Jaoksou 
 John Q. Adams 
 
 15 
 
 9 
 
 647,231 
 509,097 
 
 178 
 83 
 
 John C. Calhotni . . . 
 
 171 
 7 
 
 189 
 49 
 7 
 11 
 30 
 2 
 
 147 
 
 77 
 47 
 23 
 
 Richard R sh 
 
 
 William Smilh 
 
 Democratic 
 Nat. Republican 
 
 Andrew Jackon 
 
 15 
 7 
 1 
 1 
 
 687,502 
 5: JO, 189 
 33,108 
 
 219 
 49 
 7 
 11 
 
 M. Van Buren 
 
 John Sergeant 
 
 Henry Clay 
 
 William Wirt 
 
 
 e . 
 
 
 Henry Lee.. . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 William Wilkin* 
 
 
 Vacancies 
 
 Martin Van Buren 
 Wm H Harrison 
 
 15 
 T 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 
 19 
 7 
 
 ""761,549 
 I 736,656 
 
 1,275,017 
 1,128,702 
 7,059 
 
 2 
 
 170 
 73 
 26 
 14 
 11 
 
 234 
 
 60 
 
 
 Democratic 
 
 Whig 
 
 R. M. Johnson 
 
 
 
 Hugh L. White 
 Daniel Webster 
 W P Mangum 
 
 John Tvler 
 
 
 William Smilh 
 
 
 
 Whig 
 
 Wm. H. Harrison 
 Martin Van Buren 
 James G. Birney 
 
 John Tyler 
 
 234 
 48 
 ...... 
 
 1 
 
 170 
 
 105 
 
 103 
 127 
 
 2T>4 
 42 
 
 Democratic 
 
 R. M. Johnson 
 
 Liberty 
 
 
 
 
 i w Tazewell 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 James K. Polk 
 
 Democratic 
 Whig 
 
 James K. Polk 
 Henry Clay 
 
 15 
 11 
 
 15 
 
 15 
 
 27 
 4 
 
 19 
 11 
 1 
 
 17 
 11 
 2 
 3 
 
 22 
 3 
 
 1,337,243 
 
 1,299,008 
 62,300 
 
 1.3CO,10i 
 1,220^44 
 291,203 
 
 1601,474 
 1,386,578 
 156,149 
 
 1,838,169 
 1,341.204 
 874,534 
 
 1,860,352 
 845,763 
 1,375,157 
 589,581 
 
 2,216,007 
 1,808,725 
 
 170 
 105 
 
 Geo M Dallas 
 
 T. Frelinghuysen 
 
 Liberty ... 
 
 James G. Birney 
 
 Whig 
 
 103 
 127 
 
 254 
 42 
 
 174 
 114 
 
 8 
 
 180 
 72 
 12 
 39 
 
 212 
 21 
 81 
 
 Millard Fillmore ... 
 
 Democratic 
 Free Soil . ... 
 
 Lewis Cass 
 
 Wm. O. Butler 
 Chas. F. Adams 
 
 Wm. R King 
 
 Martin Van Buren 
 
 Franklin Pierce 
 
 Winfield Scott 
 
 Democratic...., 
 Whig 
 
 
 Free Democracy 
 
 John P. Hale 
 
 Geo. W. Julian 
 
 James Buchanan 
 John C. Fremont 
 Millard Fillmore 
 
 Abraham Lincoln 
 
 J. C. BreckinrMge 
 Wm. L. Dayton 
 A. J Donelson 
 
 174 
 114 
 8 
 
 180 
 72 
 12 
 39 
 
 212 
 
 11 
 
 214 
 
 80 
 23 
 
 286 
 47 
 
 Republican 
 
 American 
 
 Republican 
 
 Hannibal Hamlin 
 
 J. C. Breckinndge 
 
 Joseph Lane 
 
 
 H V Johnon 
 
 "Const. Union" 
 
 Republican.' 
 Democratic 
 
 John Bell 
 
 Edward Everett 
 
 Abraham Lincoln... 
 Geo. B. McClellan 
 Vacancies* . 
 
 Andrew Johnson 
 
 Geo. H. Pendleton... . 
 
 
 Republican 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant 
 Horatio Seymour 
 
 26 
 8 
 3 
 
 3,015,071 
 2,709,613 
 
 214 
 
 80 
 23 
 
 Schuvler Colfax 
 F P Blair Jr 
 
 
 
 Republican 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant 
 Horace Greeley 
 Chas. O'Conor 
 James Biaok. 
 
 31 
 
 6 
 
 3,597,070 
 2.834,079 
 29.408 
 6,608 
 
 286 
 
 "'42 
 18 
 2 
 1 
 
 Henry Wilson .. 
 
 Dem. and Lib. Rep... 
 Democratic 
 
 B Gratz Brown 
 
 John Q. Adams T.. 
 
 A. H. Colquite 
 lohn M. Palmer 
 Geo. W. Juiian 
 
 6 
 3 
 5 
 3 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 14 
 
 185 
 
 184 
 
 
 T. A. Hendricks 
 
 
 
 B. Grata Brown 
 
 
 
 
 Chas J Jenkins 
 
 
 
 T. E. Bramlette 
 W. S. Groesbeck 
 Willis B. Machen 
 N P Banks 
 
 
 
 
 
 . .. ...... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Not counted 1 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 Republican 
 
 R. B. Haves ........ 
 
 21 
 17 
 
 4,033,950 
 
 4,284.885 
 81,740 
 9,522 
 
 4,442,9.50 
 4,442,035 
 306,867 
 12,576 
 
 185 
 184 
 
 214 
 155 
 
 Wm. A. Wheeler 
 T. A. Hendricks 
 
 S F Cary 
 
 Democratic 
 
 S. J Tilden 
 
 "Greenback" 
 "Prohibition" 
 
 Republican 
 Democratic 
 "Greenback" 
 
 Peter Cooper 
 Green C Smith 
 
 R. T. Stewart 
 
 James A. Garfield 
 W. S. Hancock, 
 James B. Weaver 
 Scattering 
 
 19 
 19 
 
 Chester A. Arthur 
 Wm. H. English 
 
 214 
 155 
 
 
 
 *Not voting Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia. Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South 
 Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. 
 
 t Not voting Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia. 
 
 t Seventeen votes rejected, viz.: 3 from Georgia for Horace Greeley (dead), and 8 from Louisiana, and 
 6 from Arkansas for U. S. Grant ' 
 
TABULATED HISTORY CABINET OFFICERS. 
 
 91 
 
 CABINET OFFICERS OF THE ADMINISTRATIONS. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, President. 
 I. and II. ; 1789-1797. 
 
 Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, Virginia, 
 September 2(5th, 17*9 ; Edmund Randolph, Virginia, 
 January 2d, 1791; Timothy Pickering. Pennsylvania, 
 December lOtn, 1795. Secretary of Treasury, Alex 
 ander Hamilton, New York, September llth, 1789; 
 Oliver Wolcott, Connecticut, February 2d, 1795. 
 Secretary of War, Henry Ivnox, Massachusetts, 
 September 12th, 1789; Timothy Pickering, Penn 
 sylvania, January 2d, 1795; James McHenry, Mary 
 land, January 27th, 1796. Attorney General, Edmund 
 Randolph, Virginia, S-ptemher 2(ith, 1789; William 
 Bradford, Pennsylvania, January 27th, 1794 ; Charles 
 Lee, Virginia, December 10th, 1795. Postmaster- 
 General* Samuel Osgood, Massachusetts, Septem 
 ber 26th, 1789; Timotny Pickering, Pennsylvania, 
 August 12th, 1791 ; Joseph Habersham, Georgia, 
 February 25th, 1795. 
 
 JOHN ADAMS, President. 
 III.; 1797-1801. 
 
 Secretary of State, Timothy Pickering, continued; 
 John Marshall, Virginia, May 13th, 1800. Secretary 
 of Treasury, Oliver WolcoU. continued; Samuel 
 Dexter, Massachusetts, January 1st, 1801. Secretary 
 of War, James McHenry, continued; Samuel Dex 
 ter, Massachusetts, May 13th, l&X); Roger Griswold, 
 Connecticut, February 3d, 1801. Secretary of tfaoy,^ 
 George Cabot, Massachusetts, May 3d, 1798; Benja 
 min Stoddert, Maryland, May 21st, 1798. Attorney- 
 General, Charles Lee, continued; Theophilus 1'ar- 
 eons, Massachusetts, February 20th, 1801. Post 
 master-General, Joseph Haberisham, continued. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON, President. 
 IV. and V. ; 1801-1809. 
 
 Secretary nf State, James Madison, Virginia, March 
 6th, 1801. Secretary of Treasurn, Samuel D-xter, 
 continued; Albert Gallatin, Pennsylvania, May 14th, 
 1801. Secretary of War, Henry Dearborn, Massachu 
 setts. March 5th, 1801. Secretary of Navy, Benjamin 
 Stoddart, con;inued; Robert Smith, Maryland, July 
 15th, 1801 ; Jac ->b Crowninshield, Massachusetts, May, 
 3d, 18<>5. Attorney-General. Levi Lincoln, Massa 
 chusetts. March 5th, 1801; Robert Smith, Maryland, 
 March 3d, 1805; John Breckinridg*, Kentucky, 
 August 7th, 1805; Caesar A. Rodney, Pennsylvania 
 January 20th, 1807. Postmaster-General, Joseph 
 Habersham, continued ; Gideon Granger, Connecti 
 cut, November 28th, 1801. 
 
 JAMES MADISON, President. 
 VI. and VII. ; 1809-1817. 
 
 Secretary of State, Robert Smith, Maryland, March 
 6th, 1809;" James Monroe, Virginia, April 2d, 1811. 
 Secretary of Treasury, Albert Gallatin, continued; 
 Georgfi W. Campbell, Tennessee, February 9th, 
 1814; A. J. Dallas, Pennsylvania, October 6th, 1814; 
 William H. Crawford, Georgia, October 22d, 1816. 
 Secretary of War, William Eustis, Massachusetts, 
 March 7th, 1809; John Armstrong, New York, Janu 
 ary 13th, 1813; James Monroe, Virginia, September 
 27th, 1814; William H. Crawford, Georgia, August 
 1st, 1815. Secretary of N'ivy, Paul Hamilton, South 
 Carolina, March 7th, 1809; William Jones, Pennsyl- 
 ,vania, January 12th, 1813; B. W. Cro*-ninshield, 
 'Massachusetts, December 19th, 1814. Attorney-Gen 
 era', C. A. Rodney, continued; William Pinckney, 
 Maryland, December llth, 1811; Richard Rush, 
 Pennsylvania, February 10th, 18U. Pnstmnster-Gen- 
 eral Gideon Granger, continued ; Return J. Meigs, 
 Ohio, March 17th, 1814. 
 
 *Nota Cabinet officer, huf a subordinate of the 
 Treasury Department until 1829. 
 
 fNav'il affairs were under the control of the Sec 
 retary of War until a separate Navy Department was 
 organized by Act of April 30th, 1798. Ttie Acts 
 organizing the other Departments were of the fol 
 lowing dates: State, September 15th, 1789; Treasury, 
 September 2d, 178'J; War, August 7th, 17S9. The 
 Attorney-General's duties were regulated by the 
 Judiciary Act of September 24th. 1789. 
 
 JAMES MONBOE, President. 
 VIII. and IX. ; 1817-1825. 
 
 Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, Masachu 
 setts, March 5th, 1817. Secretary of Trensun;, Wil 
 liam H. Crawford, continued. Secretary of 'War, 
 George Graham, Virginia, April 7th, 1817; John C. 
 Calhoun, South Carolina, October 8th, 1817. Secretary 
 of Navy, B. W. Crowninshield, continued; Smith 
 Thompson, New York, November 9 h, 1818: John 
 Rogers, Massachusetts, September 1st, 1823; Samuel 
 L. Southard, New Jersey, September Kith, 18M3. 
 Attorney-General, Richard Kush, continued ; William 
 Wirt, Virginia, November 13th, 1817. Postmaster* 
 General, R. J. Meigs, continued; John McLean, 
 Ohio, June 26th, 1823. 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, President. 
 X.; 1825-1829. 
 
 Secretary of State, Henry Clay, Kentucky, March 
 7th, 1825. 'Secretary of Treasury, Richard Rush, 
 Pennsylvania, March 7th, 1825. Secretary of War, 
 James Barbour, Virginia, March 7th, 1825; Peter B. 
 Porter, New York, May 26th 1828. Secretary of Navy, 
 S. L. Southard, continued. Attorney-General, William 
 Wirt, continued. Postmaster-General, John McLean, 
 continued. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON, President. 
 XI. and XII. ; 1829-1837. 
 
 Secretary of State, Martin Van Buren, New York, 
 March 6th, 1829; Edward Liingston, Louisiana, 
 May 24th, 1831 ; Louis MeLane*, Delaware, M <y 29th, 
 1833 ; John Forsyth, Georgia June 27th, 1834. Se^re- 
 tary of Treasury, Samuel D. Ingham, Pennsylvania, 
 March 6th, 1 829; Louis McLaae, Delaware, August 
 8th, 1831; William J, Duane, Pennsylvania, May 
 29th, 1833; Roger B. Taney, Maryland, September 
 23d, 1833; Levi Woodbury, New Hampshire, June 
 27th, 1834. Secretary of War, John H. Eaton. Ten 
 nessee, March 9th, 1829; Lewis Cass, Michigan, 
 August 1st, 1831; Benjamin F Butler, New York, 
 March 3d, 1837. Secretary of Navy, John Branch, 
 North Carolina, March 9th, 1829; Levi Woodbury, 
 New Hampshire, May 23d, 1831; Mahlon Dickersoa, 
 New Jersey, June 30th, 1834. Attorneu-Generat, John 
 M. Berrien, Georgia. March 9th. 1829; Roger B. 
 Taney, Maryland, July 20th, 1831; Benjamin F. 
 Butler, New York, November loth, 1833. P >stmaster~ 
 Genera!,, William T. Barry, Kentucky, Blaroh 9th, 
 1823f; Amos Kendall, Kentucky, May 1st, 1835. 
 
 MARTIN VAN BUREN, President. 
 
 XIII.; 1837-1841. 
 
 Secretary of State, John Forsyth, continued. Secre- 
 tary of Treasury, Levi Woodbury. continued. Secre 
 tory of War, Joel R. Poin sett. South Carolina. March 
 7th, 1837. Secretary of Navy, Mahlon Diokerson, 
 continued; James 'K. Paulding, New York, June 
 25th, 1838. Attorney-General, Benjamin F. Butler; 
 Felix Grundy, Tennessee, July 5th, 1838 ; Henry D. 
 Gilpin, Pennsylvania. January llth, 1810. Post 
 master Genera/, Amos Kendall, continued; John M. 
 Niles, Connecticut, May 19th, 1840. 
 
 WM. H. HARRISON AND JOHN TYLEU, Presidents. 
 XIV.; 1841-1845. 
 
 Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, Massachusetts, 
 March 5th, '1841 ; Hueh S. Legar, South Carolina, 
 May 9th, 1843; A. P Uphur, Virginia, July 24th, 
 1843; John C. Calhoun, South Carolina, March 6'h, 
 1844. Secretary of Treasury, Thomas Ewing, Ohio, 
 March 5th, Wl; Waller' Forward, Pennsylvania, 
 September 13th, 1841 ; John C. Spencer, New York, 
 March 3d, 1843; George M. Bibb, Kentucky. June 
 15th, 1844. Secretary of War, John Bell, Tonnes -ee, 
 March fith, 1841 ; John McLean, Ohio, September 
 13th, 1841 ; J >hn C. Spencer, New York. October 
 12th, 1841; James M. Porter, Pennsylvania, March 
 8th, 1843; William Wilkins, Pennsylvania, Feb 
 ruary 15th, 1844. Secretary of Navy, G. E. Baderer, 
 North Carolina, March 5th, 18 U ; A. P. Upshur, Vir 
 ginia, September 13th, 1S41 : D.ivid Hensha\y, Mas 
 sachusetts, July 24th, 1843; T. W. Gilmer, Virginia, 
 February 15th, 1844: John Y. Ma=<on, Virginia, 
 March 14th, 1844. Attorney-General, John J. Critton- 
 den, Kentucky, March *th. mi : Hugh S. Legare, 
 South Carolina, September 13th. mi; John Nelson, 
 Maryland, Julv 1st. 1843. Postmaster-General. Fran 
 cis Gratieer. Now York, Mar^h fith, 1841 : Charles A. 
 Wickliffe, Kentucky, September 13th, 1841. 
 
92 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 JAMES K. POLK, PRESIDENT. 
 XV.; 1845-1849. 
 
 Secretary of StateJJ&mes Buchanan, Pennsylvania 
 March 6th, 1845. Secretary of Treasury, Robert J 
 Walker, Mississippi, March 6th, 1845. Secretary oj 
 War, William L. Marcy, New York, March Gth, 1845 
 Secretary of Navy, Gsorge Bancroft, Massachusetts 
 March 10th, 1845; John Y. Mason, September 9th, 
 3846. Attorney-General, John Y. Mason, Virginia, 
 March 5th, 1845 ; Nathau Clifford, Maine, October 
 17th, 1846. Postmaster- General, Cave Johnson, Ten 
 nessee, March Gth, 1845. 
 
 ZACHARY TAYLOR AND MILLARD FIU.MORE, Presidents 
 
 XVI. ; 1849-1853. 
 
 Secretary of State, John M. Clayton, Delaware, 
 March 7th, 1840; Daniel Webster, Massachusetts, 
 July 22d, 1850; Edward Everett, Massachusetts, 
 December 6th, W52. Secretary of Treasury, W. M. 
 Meredith, Pennsylvania, March 8th, 1349 ;' Thomas 
 Corwin, Ohio, July 23d, 1850. Secretary of War, 
 George W. Crawford, Georgia, March 8th, 1849; 
 Winfield Scott (ad interim), July 23d, 1850 ; Charles 
 M. Conrad, Louisiana, August 15th, 1850. Secretary 
 of Navy, William B. Preston, Virginia, March 8th, 
 1849; William A. Graham, North Carolina, July 22d, 
 1850; J. P. Kennedy, Maryland, July 22d, 1852. Sec 
 retary of Interior, Thoma* H. Ewing, Ohio, March 
 8th, 1849; A. H. H. Stuart, Virginia, September 12th, 
 1850. Attorney General, Reverdy Johnson, Mary 
 land, March 8th, 1S49 ; John J. Crittenden. Kentucky, 
 July 22d, 1850. Potitmaster-Gsneral, Jacob Col lamer, 
 Vermont, March 8th, 1849; Nathan K. Hall, New 
 York. July 23d, 1850; S. D Hubbard, Connecticut, 
 August 31st, 1852. 
 
 FBANKUN PIERCE, President. 
 
 XVII.; 1853-1857. 
 
 Secretary of State, William L. Marcy, New York, 
 March 7th, 1853. Secretary of Treasury, James 
 Gntlrifl, Ken ucky, March 7th, 1853. Secretary 
 of War, Jetterson Davis Mississippi, March 7th, 
 18->3. Secretary of Navy, James C. Dobbin, 
 North Carolina, March 7th, 1853. Secretary of 
 Interior, Robert McClelland, Michigan, March 7th, 
 1853; Jacob Thompson, Mississippi, March Gth, 1856. 
 A ",->r net/- General, Caleb Gushing, Massachusetts, 
 March 7th, 1853. Postmaster- General, James Camp- 
 tell, Pennsylvania, March 7th, 1853. 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN, President. 
 
 XVIII.; 18571861. 
 Secretary of State, Lewis Cass, Michigan, March 
 6th, 1857 ;'J. S. Black, Pennsylvania, December 17th, 
 I860. Secretary of Treasury, Howell Cobb, Georgia, 
 March 6th, 1857; Philip F. Thomas, Maryland, 
 December Hth, 1860; John A. Dix, New York, Janu 
 ary 1 Itn. 1861. Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, Vir 
 ginia, March 6th, 1857; Joseph Holt. Kentucky, 
 Jail nary I8th,1861. Secretary of Navy, Isaac Toucy, 
 Connecticut, March Gth, 1857. Secretary of Interior 
 Jneob Thompson, continued. Attorney-General, J. S. 
 Biaek, Pennsylvania, March 6th, 1857; E. M. Stan- 
 t" i, Pennsylvania, December 20th, 1800. Postmaster- 
 G''wrai, Aaron V. Brown, Tennessee, March 6th, 
 1 ; :.>7; Joseph Holt, Kentucky, March 14th, 1859; 
 Horatio King, Maine, February 12th, 1861. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOIN AND ANDREW JOHNSON, Presidents. 
 
 XIX. and XX.; 1881-1869. 
 
 &crcf/try of State, William H. Sevvard, New York, 
 March 5th, 1861. Secrstary of Treasury, S. P. Chase 
 Ohi.->, March 5th, 18 ;l ; W. P. Fessenden, Maine, 
 July 1st, 1864; Hugh McCulloch, Indiana, March 
 7th, 1865. Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, Penn 
 sylvania, March 5th, 1861 ; Edwin M. Stanton, Penn 
 
 sylvania, January 15th, 18<52; U.S Grant (ad interim), 
 August I2tn, 1867: Edwin M. Stanton (reinstated), 
 January 14th, 1868; J. M. Schotield; Illinois, May 
 28th, 1868. Secretary of Navy, Gideon Welles Con 
 necticut, March 5th. 1861. Secretary of Interior, 
 Caleb P. Smith, March 5th, 1861 ; John P. Usher, In 
 diana. January 8th, 1803; James Harlan, Iowa, May 
 15th, 1885; O. H. Browning, Illinois, July 27th, ISGG. 
 Attorney -General, Edward Bates, Missouri, March 
 5th, 1861; Titian J. Coffee, June 22d, 1863; James 
 Speed, Kentucky, December 2d. 1S64; Henrv Stan- 
 bery, Ohio, July 23d, 1866; William M. Evarts, New 
 York, July 15th, 1868. Postmaster-General, Mont 
 gomery Blair, Maryland, March 5th, 1861 ; William 
 Denmson, Ohio, September 24th, 18C4; Alexander 
 W. Kandall, Wisconsin, July 25th, 1836. 
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT, President. 
 
 XXI. and XXII.; 1869-1877. 
 
 Secretary of State, E. B. Washburne, Illinois, 
 March 5th, 1869 ; Hamilton Fish, New York, March 
 llth, 1839. Secretary of Treasury, George S. Boutwell, 
 Massachusetts, March lith, 1869; William A. Rich 
 ardson, Massachusetts, March 17th, 1873; Benjamin 
 H. Bristow, Kentucky, June 2d, 1874; Lot M. Mor- 
 rill, Maine, June 21st, 1876 Secretary of War, John 
 A. Rawlins, Illinois. March llth, 1869; William T. 
 Sherman, Ohio, September 9th, 1869; William W. 
 Belknap, Iowa October 25th, 1869 ; Alphonso Taft, 
 Ohio, March 8th, 1876; J. D. Cameron, Pennsylvania, 
 May 22d, 1876. Secretary of Navy, Adolph E. Borie, 
 Pennsylvania. March 5th, 1869; George M. Robeson, 
 New Jersey, June 25th. 1869. Secretary of Interior, 
 Jacob D. Cox, Ohio, March 5th, 1869; Columbus 
 Delano. Ohio, November 1st, 1870 ; Zachariah Chan 
 dler, Michigai,Octoher 19th, 1875. Attorney General, 
 E. R. Hoar," Massachusetts, March 5th, 1869; Amos 
 T. Akerman, Georgia, June 23d, 1870; George H. 
 Williams, Oregon, December, 14th, 1871; Edwards 
 Pi'M-repont, New York, April 26th, 1875; Alphonso 
 Taft. Ohio, May 22d, 1876. Postmaster- General, J. A. 
 J. Creswell, Maryland, March 5th, 186!); Mar-hall 
 Jewell, Connecticut, August 24th, 1874; James M. 
 Tyner, Indiana, July 12th, 1876. 
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, President. 
 
 XXIII. ; 1877-1881. 
 
 Secretary of State, William M. Evarts, New York, 
 March l-2th,'l877. Secretary of Treasury, John Sher 
 man, Ohio, March 8th, 1877. Secretary of Wnr, George 
 W. McCrary, Iowa, March 12th, 1877; Alexander 
 Ramsey, Minnesota. December 12th, 1879. Secretary 
 of Navn, Richard W. Thompson, Indiana, March 
 12th, 1877; Nathan Goff, Jr., West Virginia, January 
 Gth, 1881. Secretary of Interior, Cur] Schurz, Mis- 
 <ouri, March 12th, 1877. Attorney-General, Charles 
 Devon*, Massachusetts, March 12th, 1877. Post 
 master-General, David M. Key, Tennessee, Match 
 12th, 1877; Horace Maynard, Tennessee, August 
 25th, 1880. 
 
 JAMES A. GARFIKLD AND CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 
 
 Presidents. 
 XXIV. ; 1881-1885. 
 
 Secretary of State, James G. Elaine, Maine. March 
 5th, 1881 ; Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, New Jersey, 
 December 12th, 1881. Secretary of 'Treasury, William 
 H. Windom, Minnesota, March 5th, 1881; Charles J. 
 Folger. New York, October '27th, 1881. Secretary oj 
 War, Robert T. Lincoln, Illinois, March 5th, 1881. 
 Secretary of Navy, W. H. Hunt, Louisiana. March 
 5th, J881. Secretary of Interior, S. J. Kirkwood, 
 Iowa, March 5th, 1881. Attorney- General, Wayne 
 VlacVeagh, Pennsylvania. March 5th, 1881 ; Benja 
 min H. Brewster, Pennsylvania, December 16th, 
 1881. Postmaster-General, Thomas L. James, New 
 York, March 5th, 1881; Timothy 0. Howe, Wiscon- 
 sin, December 2()th, 1881, 
 
 FOItEIGN IMMIGRATION SINCE 18TO, BY FISCAL YEARS. Official. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Number. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Number. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Number. 
 
 1S70 
 
 387 203 
 
 1874 
 
 313,339 
 
 1878 
 
 138,469 
 
 K~t 
 
 321 350 
 
 1875 
 
 227408 
 
 1879 
 
 177,826 
 
 K72 
 
 404 806 
 
 1876 
 
 169,986 
 
 1880 
 
 457,257 
 
 H7* 
 
 459 803 
 
 1877 
 
 141 857 
 
 1881 
 
 669,431 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Of the arri vr.l* in 1881, 410,729 were males and 253,702 females. There were 153.718 from Great Britain 
 and Irelana; 210,485 from Germany; 21,109 from Austria; 11,890 from China; 102,922 from Quebec and 
 Ontario: 14,4?,7 from Nova Scotia ; 40,760 from Sweden : 22,795 from Norway; 15,387 from Italy ; 5,227 from 
 France; 9,117 from Denmark, and 11,293 from Switzerland. 
 
TABULATED HISTORY PATENT FEES. 
 
 93 
 
 SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF 1 INDEPENDENCE. IN CONGRESS ASSEM 
 BLED JUL.Y 4th, 1TT6. 
 
 The following list of members of the Continental Congress, who signed the Declaration of Independence 
 (although the nanv s are included in the general list of that Congress, from 1774 to 1778), is given separately 
 for the purpose of showing the places and dates of their birth, and the times of their respective deatns, tor 
 convenient reference : 
 
 NAMES OF THE SIGNERS. 
 
 BORN AT 
 
 DELEGATED FROM 
 
 DIED. 
 
 Adam'' John 
 
 Braintree, Mass., 19 Oct. 1735 
 Boston, Mass., 27 S 'pt, 1722 
 Amesburv, Mass., in Nov. 1729 
 Newington, Va, 10 Sept. 1736 
 Annapolis, Md., 20 Sept 1737 ... . 
 
 
 4 July, 1826. 
 2 Oct. 18JC5. 
 19 !Mav 1705. 
 10 Oct. 1797. 
 14 November, 1832. 
 19 June, ill. 
 September, 1794. 
 23 Jan. 1813. 
 15 Feb. 1820. 
 4 Aug 18''l 
 
 Adams, Samuel 
 Bartle't Josiah 
 
 'Massachusetts . 
 
 New Hampshire 
 Virginia 
 
 Braxton Carter 
 
 Carroll, Chas of Carrollton.. 
 Chae, Samuel 
 
 i Maryland 
 
 Somerset Co., Md., 17 Apr. 1741. ... 
 Elizabethtown, N. J., 15 Feb. 1726 
 Philadelphia. Pa., in 1739. 
 Newport, R. I., 22 Dec. 1727 
 
 Suffolk Co N. Y 17 Dec 1734 
 
 (Maryland. 
 
 Clark, Abraham 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 R. I. & Prov. PI 
 New York 
 
 El'lery, William , 
 
 Floyd William 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin 
 Gerry, Elbridge 
 Gwinnet Button .. . 
 
 Boston, Mass., 17 Jan. 1706 
 
 Pennsylvania., 
 
 17 April, 1790. 
 23 November, 1814. 
 27 May, 1777. 
 Feb. 1790. 
 8 Oct. 1793. 
 April, 1791. 
 1880. 
 March, 180ft 
 10 Oct. 1779. 
 Oct. 1790. 
 13 July, 1785. 
 5 Jan. 179(5. 
 9 Mav, 1790. 
 4 July. 1826. 
 19 June, 1794. 
 April, 1797. 
 30 Dec. 1803. 
 12 June, 1778. 
 Lost at sea, 1779 
 24 June, 1817. 
 1 Jan. 1787. 
 22 Jan. 1798. 
 8 May, 1806 
 April, 1777. 
 4 Jan. 1789. 
 ., 1709 
 
 Marblehead, Mass., 1 July 1744.. . 
 Eneland in 1732 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Hal 1 Ly man 
 
 Connecticut in 1731 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Hancock, John iBraintree, Mass., in 1737 
 
 Massachusetts 
 Virginia 
 
 Harrison Benjamin i Berkley Va , 
 
 Hart, John HonewelL N.J.. in 1715 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 Heyward Thomas Jr 
 
 St. Luke's, S, C., in 1746 
 Kingston N J in 1730 . 
 
 South Carolina 
 North Carolina 
 North Carolina 
 R.I. & Prov. PI 
 Connecticut 
 
 Hewes Joseph 
 
 Hooper, William 
 
 Boston, Mass., 17 June, 1742 
 
 Hopkins Stephen 
 
 Scituate, Mass., 7 Mar., 1707 
 Windham, Conn., 3 July 1732 
 Philadelphia, Pa., in 1737. . . 
 
 
 Hookinson, Francis 
 Jefferson, Thomas 
 
 
 Shadwell, Va., 13 Apr. 1734 
 Stratford Va 20 Jan 1732 
 
 Virginia 
 
 Virginia 
 
 Lee, Francis Lightfoot 
 Lewis Francis F 
 
 Stratford, Va., 14 Oct. 1734 
 Landaff, Wales, in Mar. 1713 
 Albany, N. Y., 15 Jan. 1716 
 St. George's, S. C., 5 Aug. 1749 
 Chester Co.. Pa., 19 Mar 1734 
 Middleton Place, S.C., in 1743 
 Morrissianna, N. Y., in 1726 
 Lancashire, Eng., Jan. 1733-4 
 Ridley Pa iti 17?4 
 
 Virginia 
 
 New York 
 
 
 New York 
 
 Lynch, Thomas, Jr 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 McKean, Thomas 
 Middleton, Arthur 
 
 Delaware . . 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 Morris Lewis 
 
 New York 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Morris Robert 
 
 
 Nelson'Thomas, Jr ... 
 Paca, Wm 
 Paine, Robert Treat 
 Penn John 
 
 York \^a 26 Dec 1738 
 
 Virginia 
 
 Wye-Hill, Md., 31 Oct. 1740 
 Boston, Mass., in 1731 
 
 
 Massachusetts 
 North Carolina 
 Delaware 
 
 11 May, 1804. 
 26 Oct. 1800. 
 1708 
 
 Caroline Co , Va., 17 May 1741 
 Cecil Co Md in 1734 
 
 Read, George 
 
 Dover, Del. in 1730 
 
 
 , 1783. 
 July, i77i>. 
 19 April, 1813. 
 23 Jan. 18<K). 
 23 July, 1793. 
 11 July, 1806. 
 28 Feb. 1781. 
 5 Oct. 1787. 
 23 Feb. 1781. 
 24 June, 1803. 
 2 Feb. 1804 
 28 Nov. 1785. 
 2 Aug. 1811. 
 28 Aug. 1798. 
 15 Nov. 1794. 
 1 Dec. 1797. 
 8 June, 1806. 
 
 R<~>s<* George 
 
 New Castle Del in 1730 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Rush, Benjamin, M. D 
 Rutledge, Edward 
 
 Byberry Pa 24 Dec 1745 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Charleston, S.C., in Nov. 1743 
 Newton, Mass., 19 Apr. 1721 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 Sherman Roger 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 
 
 Stockton, Richard 
 Stone Thomas 
 
 Princeton, l^.J., 1 Oct. 1730. .1. 
 Charles Co Md in 1742 
 
 New Jersey 
 Maryland 
 
 
 , Ireland, in 1716 
 
 Pennsylvania . . 
 
 Thornton Matthew 
 
 New Hampshire 
 Georgia 
 
 Walton George 
 
 Frederick Co.,'Va., in 1740 
 Kittery Maine in 1730 
 
 Whipple Wm .. . 
 
 New Hampshire 
 Connecticut 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Williams, Wm 
 
 Lebanon, Conn., 8 Apr. 1731 
 Scotland ab~>ut (742 
 
 Wilson James 
 
 Witherspoon, John 
 Wolcott, Oliver 
 
 Yester. Scotland, 5 Feb. 1722 
 Windsor, Conn., 26 Nov. 1726 
 Elizabeth City Co., Va., in 1726... 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 
 Wythe George 
 
 Virginia 
 
 
 
 ANTE-WAR DEBTS OP THE SEVERAL STATES. 
 
 TABLE showing the Debts of the several States before the war (1800-61). 
 
 STATES. 
 
 In 1860-61. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 In 1860-61. 
 
 Maine 
 
 $699 500 
 
 Iowa 
 
 200.00C 
 
 
 31 669 
 
 
 24,734,000 
 
 
 
 
 150,00^ 
 
 
 7,132,627 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 4,729,234 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 none, 
 
 California 
 
 55,372 
 
 New York 
 
 34 182 976 
 
 
 33,248.141 
 
 
 'loi'ooo 
 
 
 9,129,50* 
 
 
 37 964 602 
 
 
 3,091,*74 
 
 
 
 
 2,670,750 
 
 Maryland 
 
 
 
 Florida 
 
 3S3 000 
 
 Ohio 
 
 14.250,173 
 7 770 '^33 
 
 
 none. 
 
 Michigan 
 
 2,388.843 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 10,023,90* 
 
 Illinois 
 
 10?77,lrtl 
 100 000 
 
 
 3,m2,r.23 
 
 i 'con in 
 
 ''50 OUO 
 
 
 10,643,666 
 
 " 
 
 
 
 
94 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS. 
 
 CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT, 
 
 Since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, March 1st, 1789. 
 
 The following is a list of the Presidents and Vice- Presidents of the United States, as well as those who 
 were candidates for each office, since the organization of the Government : (vide pp. 21-25, 62.) 
 
 1789 George Washington* and John Adams, two 
 terms, no opposition. 
 
 , 1797 John Adams, opposed by Thomas Jefferson,* 
 who, having the next highest electoral vote, became 
 Vice President. 
 
 1801 Thomas Jefferson* and Aaron Burr; beating 
 John Adams and Charles C. Pinckney.* 
 
 1805 Thomas Jefferson* and George Clinton ; 
 beating Charles C. Pinebney* and Rufus King. 
 
 18t)0 James Madison* and George Clinton ; beat 
 ing Charles C. Pinckney.* 
 
 18 3 James Madison* and Eldridge Gerry ; beat 
 ing DeWitt Clinton. 
 
 1817 James Monroe* and Daniel D. Tompkins ; 
 besting Rufus King. 
 
 1821 James Monroe* and Daniel D. Tompkins; 
 beating John Quincy Adams. 
 
 1825 John Quincy Adams and John O. Calhoun ;* 
 beating Andrew Jackson,* Henry Clay,* and Wil 
 liam H. Crawford ;* there being four candidates for 
 President, and Albert Gallatin for Vice President. 
 
 1829 Andrew Jackson* and John C. Calhoun*; 
 beating John Quincy Adams and Richard Rush. 
 
 1833 Andrew Jackson* and Martin Van Buren ; 
 beating Henry Clay * John Floyd,* and William Wirt 
 for President; and William Wilkins, John Sergeant, 
 aii'l Henry Lee* for Vice President. 
 
 1837 Martin Van Buren and Richard M. John 
 son*; beating William H. Harrison, Hugh L. White, 
 and Daniel Webster for President, and John Tyler* 
 for Vice President. 
 
 1841 William H. Harrison and John Tyler* ; beat- 
 iug Martin Van Buren and Littleton W. Tazewell.* 
 
 Harrison died one month after his inauguration 
 and John Tyler* became President for the rest of 
 the term. 
 
 1845 James K. Polk* and George M. Dallas ; beat 
 ing Henry Clay* and Theodore Frelingrhuy-en. 
 
 1849 Zachary Taylor* and Mi!I*rd Fillmore; beat 
 ing l>wis Cass and Martin Van Buren for President;^ 
 and William O. Butler* and C. F. Adams, for Vice 
 Pres dent. 
 
 1853 franklin Pierce and William R. King*: 
 beating Winn'eld Scott and William A. Graham.* 
 
 1857 James Buchanan and John C. Breckin- 
 ridge*; beating John C. Fremont and Millard Fill- 
 more for President, and William L. Dayton and A. 
 J. Donaldson* for Vice President. 
 
 1861 Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin ; 
 beating John Bell, Stephen A. Douglas, and J. C. 
 Breckinridg -* for President. 
 
 1865 Abraham Lincoln and ndrew Johnson,* 
 Union candidates ; beating G. B. McClellan and G. 
 H. Pendleton. 
 
 1*69 Ulysses S Grant and Schuyler Col fax; beat 
 ing Horatio Seymour and Fr^nk P. Blair, jr. 
 
 1873 Ulysses S. Grant and Henry Wjlson ; beating 
 Horace Greeley and B. Gratz Brown, for President 
 and Vice President. 
 
 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes and Wm. A. Wheeler ; 
 beating Samuel Tilden and Thomas A. Hendiicks. 
 
 1881 James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur; 
 beating General W. S. Hancock and W. H. English. 
 Arthur .succeeded Garfield, after his death from as 
 sassination, Sept. 19, 1881, and David Davis is now 
 Acting Vice President. 
 
 * Candidates from Southern States. 
 
 NUMBER OF ELECTORAL VOTES TO WHICH EACH STATE HAS BEEN ENTI 
 TLED, AT EACH ELECTION, 1789-1816. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 g 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 GO 
 
 w 
 
 GO 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 S 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 *t> 
 
 00 
 
 i 
 
 S 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 S 
 
 cc 
 
 (M 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 j 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 3 
 
 J 
 
 < 
 
 9 
 
 ^ 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 | 
 
 { 
 
 10 
 6 
 6 
 
 K 
 6 
 ( 
 t 
 6 
 3 
 
 ^ 
 
 11 
 21 
 15 
 11 
 
 12 
 8 
 7 
 8 
 13 
 11 
 5 
 8 
 15 
 3 
 3 
 5 
 9 
 36 
 
 10 
 22 
 3 
 20 
 4 
 7 
 1-2 
 8 
 5 
 11 
 5 
 10 
 
 12 
 7 
 8 
 3 
 6 
 3 
 4 
 12 
 22 
 15 
 13 
 9 
 13 
 8 
 6 
 8 
 14 
 13 
 7 
 9 
 16 
 5 
 3 
 4 
 9 
 36 
 11 
 23 
 3 
 30 
 4 
 9 
 12 
 13 
 4 
 12 
 6 
 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Connecticut ... 
 Delaware 
 
 Florida 
 
 7 
 3 
 
 9 
 3 
 
 9 
 3 
 
 9 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 <j 
 3 
 
 9 
 4 
 
 9 
 4 
 
 9 
 4 
 
 8 
 3 
 
 8 
 3 
 
 8 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 C 
 
 "ii 
 
 5 
 9 
 
 8 
 3 
 
 "ii 
 
 
 
 f 
 3 
 
 "if 
 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 r 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 3 
 
 6 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 3 
 4 
 11 
 21 
 15 
 11 
 5 
 12 
 8 
 7 
 8 
 13 
 11 
 5 
 8 
 15 
 3 
 3 
 5 
 9 
 35 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 29 
 4 
 7 
 12 
 8 
 5 
 11 
 5 
 10 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 3 
 
 *J 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 11 
 9 
 
 10 
 9 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 K 
 11 
 1:1 
 4 
 
 ii 
 
 11 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 K 
 11 
 13 
 4 
 
 9 
 16 
 13 
 * 
 3 
 11 
 7 
 7 
 7 
 12 
 8 
 4 
 7 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 K 
 13 
 8 
 
 11 
 
 - 
 
 7 
 7 
 12 
 8 
 4 
 7 
 11 
 3 
 3 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 33 
 9 
 21 
 3 
 2(5 
 4 
 6 
 10 
 6 
 6 
 10 
 5 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 12 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 | 
 
 12 
 3 
 9 
 11 
 15 
 
 14 
 5 
 fl 
 
 11 
 15 
 
 14 
 5 
 
 
 11 
 15 
 
 15 
 5 
 10 
 10 
 14 
 
 15 
 5 
 10 
 10 
 14 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 i< 
 
 10 
 14 
 3 
 
 12 
 6 
 9 
 8 
 12 
 5 
 
 12 
 6 
 9 
 8 
 
 12 
 5 
 
 12 
 6 
 8 
 8 
 
 13 
 6 
 
 12 
 6 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 I 
 
 12 
 6 
 8 
 8 
 13 
 6 
 4 
 7 
 1 
 
 
 
 Maine 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 10 
 
 10 
 16 
 
 10 
 16 
 
 10 
 16 
 
 11 
 19 
 
 11 
 
 19 
 
 11 
 22 
 
 11 
 
 22 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 6 
 7 
 
 6 
 7 
 
 7 
 9 
 
 7 
 9 
 
 Missouri 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nevada 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 5 
 7 
 33 
 9 
 21 
 3 
 20 
 4 
 f> 
 10 
 6 
 5 
 10 
 5 
 8 
 
 New Hampshire 
 New Jersey 
 New York 
 
 5 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 7 
 12 
 12 
 
 6 
 7 
 12 
 12 
 
 6 
 7 
 12 
 12 
 
 7 
 8 
 19 
 14 
 3 
 
 7 
 8 
 19 
 14 
 3 
 
 8 
 8 
 
 29 
 15 
 8 
 
 8 
 8 
 
 20 
 15 
 8 
 
 8 
 8 
 2!) 
 15 
 8 
 
 8 
 8 
 
 36 
 15 
 16 
 
 8 
 8 
 
 36 
 15 
 16 
 
 7 
 8 
 42 
 15 
 21 
 
 7 
 8 
 42 
 15 
 21 
 
 7 
 8 
 42 
 15 
 21 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 30 
 11 
 23 
 
 6 
 7 
 3(5 
 11 
 23 
 
 5 
 7 
 35 
 Id 
 23 
 
 5 
 7 
 35 
 10 
 
 23 
 
 5 
 7 
 36 
 10 
 23 
 3 
 27 
 4 
 8 
 12 
 4 
 6 
 15 
 
 North Carolina 
 < >hio 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 10 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 15 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 15 
 4 
 8 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 28 
 
 28 
 
 3D 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 21'. 
 
 26 
 
 27 
 
 27 
 4 
 8 
 12 
 4 
 5 
 15 
 
 South Carolina 
 Tennessee 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 5 
 
 10 
 5 
 
 11 
 8 
 
 11 
 
 8 
 
 11 
 8 
 
 11 
 11 
 
 11 
 11 
 
 11 
 15 
 
 11 
 15 
 
 11 
 15 
 
 
 13 
 
 9 
 13 
 
 S 
 
 17 
 
 8 
 12 
 4 
 5 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 21 
 
 4 
 
 21 
 
 4 
 21 
 
 6 
 24 
 
 6 
 24 
 
 8 
 
 25 
 
 8 
 25 
 
 8 
 25 
 
 7 
 24 
 
 7 
 24 
 
 7 
 
 23 
 
 7 
 2:5 
 
 7 
 23 
 
 6 
 
 17 
 
 
 12 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 5 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 Total 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 91 
 13 
 
 135 
 .15 
 
 138 
 16 
 
 138 
 16 
 
 176 
 17 
 
 176 
 17 
 
 218 
 18 
 
 221 
 19 
 
 235 
 24 
 
 261 
 24 
 
 261 
 24 
 
 28S 
 24 
 
 294 
 26 
 
 294 
 26 
 
 275 
 
 26 
 
 2'JO 
 30 
 
 296 
 31 
 
 296 
 31 
 
 303 
 33 
 
 314 
 36 
 
 317 
 37 
 
 366 
 37 
 
 3G9 
 38 
 
 401 
 38 
 
 Number of States.... 
 
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 RENEWED BOOKS ARE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE 
 RECALL 
 
 LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS 
 
 Book S]ip-50m-8,'66(G5530s4)458 
 
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 Cooper, T.V. C682 
 
 Campaign of '84. 
 
 LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY^FCALIFORNIA